Ultrafast flow of interacting organic polaritons

The strong-coupling of an excitonic transition with an electromagnetic mode results in composite quasi-particles called exciton-polaritons, which have been shown to combine the best properties of their bare components in semiconductor microcavities. However, the physics and applications of polariton flows in organic materials and at room temperature are still unexplored because of the poor photon confinement in such structures. Here we demonstrate that polaritons formed by the hybridization of organic excitons with a Bloch Surface Wave are able to propagate for hundreds of microns showing remarkable third-order nonlinear interactions upon high injection density. These findings pave the way for the studies of organic nonlinear light-matter fluxes and for a technological promising route of dissipation-less on-chip polariton devices working at room temperature.Comment: Improved version with polariton-polariton interactions. 13 pages, 4 figures, supporting 6 pages, 6 figure

Altered processing of sensory stimuli in patients with migraine

Migraine is a cyclic disorder, in which functional and morphological brain changes fluctuate over time, culminating periodically in an attack. In the migrainous brain, temporal processing of external stimuli and sequential recruitment of neuronal networks are often dysfunctional. These changes reflect complex CNS dysfunction patterns. Assessment of multimodal evoked potentials and nociceptive reflex responses can reveal altered patterns of the brain's electrophysiological activity, thereby aiding our understanding of the pathophysiology of migraine. In this Review, we summarize the most important findings on temporal processing of evoked and reflex responses in migraine. Considering these data, we propose that thalamocortical dysrhythmia may be responsible for the altered synchronicity in migraine. To test this hypothesis in future research, electrophysiological recordings should be combined with neuroimaging studies so that the temporal patterns of sensory processing in patients with migraine can be correlated with the accompanying anatomical and functional changes

Exploring Light-Matter Interaction Phenomena under Ultrastrong Coupling Regime

Exciton-polaritons are bosonic quasiparticles that arise from the normal mode splitting of photons in a microcavity and excitons in a semiconductor material. One of the most intriguing extensions of such a lightmatter interaction is the so-called ultrastrong coupling regime. It is achieved when the Rabi frequency (Omega(R), the energy exchange rate between the emitter and the resonant photonic mode) reaches a considerable fraction of the emitter transition frequency, omega(0). Here, we report a Rabi energy splitting (2h Omega(R)) of 1.12 eV and record values of the coupling ratio (2 Omega(R)/omega(0)) up to 0.6-fold the material band gap in organic semiconductor microcavities and up to 0.5-fold in monolithic heterostructure organic light-emitting diodes working at room temperature. Furthermore, we show that with such a large coupling strength it is possible to undress the exciton homogeneous linewidth from its inhomogeneous broadening, which allows for an unprecedented narrow emission line (below the cavity finesse) for such organic LEDs. The latter can be exploited for the realization of novel monochromatic sources and near-IR organic emitting device

An odd couple: acalculous cholecystitis masking a fulminant myocarditis

: Acute myocarditis is an inflammatory cardiac disease with different underlying causes and a wide spectrum of clinical presentations from asymptomatic cases to sudden or rapidly evolving acute heart failure. Furthermore, the initial diagnosis can be challenging as it can mimic other respiratory or gastrointestinal disorders. We report the case of an otherwise healthy 24-year-old Caucasian man with a fulminant myocarditis successfully treated with mechanical circulatory support, which was initially misdiagnosed as an isolated uncomplicated acute acalculous cholecystitis

Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Background: Guillain–Barré syndrome is a rare disorder in which our body’s immune system attacks nerves determining weakness and tingling of extremities as first symptoms. It can also be associated to respiratory failure and require mechanical ventilation during hospitalization (up to 30% of patients). Nowadays patient’s hyper-reactive immune responses benefits from immunotherapies such as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and new biological drugs. Case Report: We report our experience with the case of a 64-year-old woman who presented a symmetric progressive flaccid paralysis after a week of mild cold symptoms. The respiratory and neurological symptoms worsened despite immunoglobulin infusions and intensive supportive care. She gradually improved with TPE, but we didn’t respect schedules of the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) and we decided to extend the number of TPE treatments to sixteen. Conclusions: Although the first case of Guillain-Barré syndrome was described a century ago, there are still many dark sides about its etiology, pathogenesis, clinical variants and therapeutic strategies. Further studies are necessary to find answer to many still unanswered questions. The management of these patients must include a high index of clinical suspicion, a prompt diagnosis and adequate therapy without mistakes

Polariton-Induced Enhanced Emission from an Organic Dye under the Strong Coupling Regime

Exciton-polaritons in semiconductors are quasi-particles which have recently shown the capability to undergo phase transition into a coherent hybrid state of light and matter. The observation of such quasi-particles in organic microcavities has attracted increasing attention for their characteristic of reaching condensation at room temperature. In this work, the emission properties of organic polaritons are demonstrated not to depend on the overlap between the absorption and emission states of the molecule and that the emission dynamics are modified in the strong coupling regime, showing a significant enhancement of the photoluminescence intensity as compared to the bare dye. This paves the way to the investigation of molecules with large absorption coefficients but poor emission efficiencies for the realization of polariton condensates and organic electrically injected lasers by exploiting strong exciton-photon coupling regimes

Exploring Light–Matter Interaction Phenomena under Ultrastrong Coupling Regime

Exciton-polaritons are bosonic quasiparticles that arise from the normal mode splitting of photons in a microcavity and excitons in a semiconductor material. One of the most intriguing extensions of such a light–matter interaction is the so-called ultrastrong coupling regime. It is achieved when the Rabi frequency (Ω_R, the energy exchange rate between the emitter and the resonant photonic mode) reaches a considerable fraction of the emitter transition frequency, ω₀. Here, we report a Rabi energy splitting (2ℏΩ_R) of 1.12 eV and record values of the coupling ratio (2Ω_R/ω₀) up to 0.6-fold the material band gap in organic semiconductor microcavities and up to 0.5-fold in monolithic heterostructure organic light-emitting diodes working at room temperature. Furthermore, we show that with such a large coupling strength it is possible to undress the exciton homogeneous linewidth from its inhomogeneous broadening, which allows for an unprecedented narrow emission line (below the cavity finesse) for such organic LEDs. The latter can be exploited for the realization of novel monochromatic sources and near-IR organic emitting devices

Lactobacillus crispatus M247 oral administration: Is it really an effective strategy in the management of papillomavirus-infected women?

Recent studies have shown the importance of the microbiota in women's health. Indeed, the persistence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-related lesions in patients with dysbiosis can be the antechamber to cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether long term administration of oral Lactobacillus crispatus can restore eubiosis in women with HPV infections and hence achieve viral clearance