Experimental study of subwavelength grating bimodal waveguides as ultrasensitive interferometric sensors

[EN] Over the recent years, subwavelength grating (SWG) structures have increasingly attracted attention in the area of evanescent-field photonic sensors. In this Letter, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate experimentally the real-time refractive index (RI) sensing using the SWG bimodal interferometric structures. Two different configurations are considered to compare the effect of the nonlinear phase shift, obtained between the two first transverse electromagnetic propagating modes, in the measured bulk sensitivity. Very high experimental values up to 2270 nm/RIU are reached, which perfectly match the numerical simulations and significantly enhance other existing SWG and spectralbased sensors. By measuring the spectral shift, the obtained experimental sensitivity does not depend on the sensor length. As a result, a highly sensitive and compact singlechannel interferometer is experimentally validated for refractive index sensing, thus opening new paths in the field of optical integrated sensors.European Commission (PHC-634013 PHOCNOSIS project); Spanish Government (TEC2015-63838-C3-1-R-OPTONANOSENS project); Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (grant PAID 01-18).Torrijos-Morán, L.; Griol Barres, A.; García-Rupérez, J. (2019). Experimental study of subwavelength grating bimodal waveguides as ultrasensitive interferometric sensors. Optics Letters. 44(19):4702-4705. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.44.004702S470247054419Cheben, P., Xu, D.-X., Janz, S., & Densmore, A. (2006). Subwavelength waveguide grating for mode conversion and light coupling in integrated optics. Optics Express, 14(11), 4695. doi:10.1364/oe.14.004695Schmid, J. H., Cheben, P., Janz, S., Lapointe, J., Post, E., & Xu, D.-X. (2007). Gradient-index antireflective subwavelength structures for planar waveguide facets. Optics Letters, 32(13), 1794. doi:10.1364/ol.32.001794Bock, P. J., Cheben, P., Schmid, J. H., Lapointe, J., Delâge, A., Janz, S., … Hall, T. J. (2010). Subwavelength grating periodic structures in silicon-on-insulator: a new type of microphotonic waveguide. Optics Express, 18(19), 20251. doi:10.1364/oe.18.020251Halir, R., Bock, P. J., Cheben, P., Ortega‐Moñux, A., Alonso‐Ramos, C., Schmid, J. H., … Janz, S. (2014). Waveguide sub‐wavelength structures: a review of principles and applications. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 9(1), 25-49. doi:10.1002/lpor.201400083Cheben, P., Halir, R., Schmid, J. H., Atwater, H. A., & Smith, D. R. (2018). Subwavelength integrated photonics. Nature, 560(7720), 565-572. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0421-7Gonzalo Wangüemert-Pérez, J., Cheben, P., Ortega-Moñux, A., Alonso-Ramos, C., Pérez-Galacho, D., Halir, R., … Schmid, J. H. (2014). Evanescent field waveguide sensing with subwavelength grating structures in silicon-on-insulator. Optics Letters, 39(15), 4442. doi:10.1364/ol.39.004442Donzella, V., Sherwali, A., Flueckiger, J., Grist, S. M., Fard, S. T., & Chrostowski, L. (2015). Design and fabrication of SOI micro-ring resonators based on sub-wavelength grating waveguides. Optics Express, 23(4), 4791. doi:10.1364/oe.23.004791Flueckiger, J., Schmidt, S., Donzella, V., Sherwali, A., Ratner, D. M., Chrostowski, L., & Cheung, K. C. (2016). Sub-wavelength grating for enhanced ring resonator biosensor. Optics Express, 24(14), 15672. doi:10.1364/oe.24.015672Yan, H., Huang, L., Xu, X., Chakravarty, S., Tang, N., Tian, H., & Chen, R. T. (2016). Unique surface sensing property and enhanced sensitivity in microring resonator biosensors based on subwavelength grating waveguides. Optics Express, 24(26), 29724. doi:10.1364/oe.24.029724Huang, L., Yan, H., Xu, X., Chakravarty, S., Tang, N., Tian, H., & Chen, R. T. (2017). Improving the detection limit for on-chip photonic sensors based on subwavelength grating racetrack resonators. Optics Express, 25(9), 10527. doi:10.1364/oe.25.010527Benedikovic, D., Berciano, M., Alonso-Ramos, C., Le Roux, X., Cassan, E., Marris-Morini, D., & Vivien, L. (2017). Dispersion control of silicon nanophotonic waveguides using sub-wavelength grating metamaterials in near- and mid-IR wavelengths. Optics Express, 25(16), 19468. doi:10.1364/oe.25.019468Halir, R., Cheben, P., Luque‐González, J. M., Sarmiento‐Merenguel, J. D., Schmid, J. H., Wangüemert‐Pérez, G., … Molina‐Fernández, Í. (2016). Ultra‐broadband nanophotonic beamsplitter using an anisotropic sub‐wavelength metamaterial. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 10(6), 1039-1046. doi:10.1002/lpor.201600213Luque-González, J. M., Herrero-Bermello, A., Ortega-Moñux, A., Molina-Fernández, Í., Velasco, A. V., Cheben, P., … Halir, R. (2018). Tilted subwavelength gratings: controlling anisotropy in metamaterial nanophotonic waveguides. Optics Letters, 43(19), 4691. doi:10.1364/ol.43.004691Jahani, S., Kim, S., Atkinson, J., Wirth, J. C., Kalhor, F., Noman, A. A., … Jacob, Z. (2018). Controlling evanescent waves using silicon photonic all-dielectric metamaterials for dense integration. Nature Communications, 9(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04276-8Torrijos-Morán, L., & García-Rupérez, J. (2019). Single-channel bimodal interferometric sensor using subwavelength structures. Optics Express, 27(6), 8168. doi:10.1364/oe.27.008168Levy, R., & Ruschin, S. (2009). Design of a Single-Channel Modal Interferometer Waveguide Sensor. IEEE Sensors Journal, 9(2), 146-1. doi:10.1109/jsen.2008.2011075Zinoviev, K. E., Gonzalez-Guerrero, A. B., Dominguez, C., & Lechuga, L. M. (2011). Integrated Bimodal Waveguide Interferometric Biosensor for Label-Free Analysis. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 29(13), 1926-1930. doi:10.1109/jlt.2011.2150734Kozma, P., Kehl, F., Ehrentreich-Förster, E., Stamm, C., & Bier, F. F. (2014). Integrated planar optical waveguide interferometer biosensors: A comparative review. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 58, 287-307. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2014.02.049Levy, R., & Ruschin, S. (2008). Critical sensitivity in hetero-modal interferometric sensor using spectral interrogation. Optics Express, 16(25), 20516. doi:10.1364/oe.16.020516García-Rupérez, J., Toccafondo, V., Bañuls, M. J., Castelló, J. G., Griol, A., Peransi-Llopis, S., & Maquieira, Á. (2010). Label-free antibody detection using band edge fringes in SOI planar photonic crystal waveguides in the slow-light regime. Optics Express, 18(23), 24276. doi:10.1364/oe.18.024276Zhang, W., Serna, S., Le Roux, X., Vivien, L., & Cassan, E. (2016). Highly sensitive refractive index sensing by fast detuning the critical coupling condition of slot waveguide ring resonators. Optics Letters, 41(3), 532. doi:10.1364/ol.41.000532Di Falco, A., O’Faolain, L., & Krauss, T. F. (2009). Chemical sensing in slotted photonic crystal heterostructure cavities. Applied Physics Letters, 94(6), 063503. doi:10.1063/1.3079671Molina-Fernández, Í., Leuermann, J., Ortega-Moñux, A., Wangüemert-Pérez, J. G., & Halir, R. (2019). Fundamental limit of detection of photonic biosensors with coherent phase read-out. Optics Express, 27(9), 12616. doi:10.1364/oe.27.01261

LungBEAM: A prospective multicenter study to monitor stage IV NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations using BEAMing technology

Objectives: The aim of LungBEAM was to determine the value of a novel epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation test in blood based on BEAMing technology to predict disease progression in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with first- or second-generation EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Another goal was to monitor the dynamics of EGFR mutations, as well as to track EGFR exon 20 p.T790M (p.T790M) resistance during treatment, as critical indicators of therapeutic efficacy and patient survival. Methods: Stage IV NSCLC patients with locally confirmed EGFR-TKI sensitizing mutations (ex19del and/or L858R) in biopsy tissue who were candidates to receive first- or second-generation EGFR-TKI as first-line therapy were included. Plasma samples were obtained at baseline and every 4 weeks during treatment until a progression-free survival (PFS) event or until study completion (72-week follow-up). The mutant allele fraction (MAF) was determined for each identified mutation using BEAMing. Results: A total of 68 of the 110 (61.8%) patients experienced a PFS event. Twenty-six patients (23.6%) presented with an emergent p.T790M mutation in plasma at some point during follow-up, preceding radiologic progression with a median of 76 (interquartile ratio: 54–111) days. Disease progression correlated with the appearance of p.T790M in plasma with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48–2.54; p < 0.001). The HR for progression in patients showing increasing plasma sensitizing mutation levels (positive MAF slope) versus patients showing either decreasing or unchanged plasma mutation levels (negative or null MAF slopes) was 3.85 (95% CI, 2.01–7.36; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Detection and quantification of EGFR mutations in circulating tumor DNA using the highly sensitive BEAMing method should greatly assist in optimizing treatment decisions for advanced NSCLC patients. © 2021 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The PAU survey: classifying low-z SEDs using Machine Learning clustering

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 524.3 (2023): 3569-3581 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/524/3/3569/7225529?redirectedFrom=fulltextWe present an application of unsupervised Machine Learning clustering to the PAU survey of galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED) within the COSMOS field. The clustering algorithm is implemented and optimized to get the relevant groups in the data SEDs. We find 12 groups from a total number of 5234 targets in the survey at 0.01 < z < 0.28. Among the groups, 3545 galaxies (68 per cent) show emission lines in the SEDs. These groups also include 1689 old galaxies with no active star formation. We have fitted the SED to every single galaxy in each group with CIGALE. The mass, age, and specific star formation rates (sSFR) of the galaxies range from 0.15 < age/Gyr <11; 6 < log (M/M⊙) <11.26, and -14.67 < log (sSFR/yr-1) <-8. The groups are well-defined in their properties with galaxies having clear emission lines also having lower mass, are younger and have higher sSFR than those with elliptical like patterns. The characteristic values of galaxies showing clear emission lines are in agreement with the literature for starburst galaxies in COSMOS and GOODS-N fields at low redshift. The star-forming main sequence, sSFR versus stellar mass and UVJ diagram show clearly that different groups fall into different regions with some overlap among groups. Our main result is that the joint of low- resolution (R ∼50) photometric spectra provided by the PAU survey together with the unsupervised classification provides an excellent way to classify galaxies. Moreover, it helps to find and extend the analysis of extreme ELGs to lower masses and lower SFRs in the local UniverseThis work has been supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain, project PID2019-107408GB-C43 (ESTALLIDOS), and the Government of the Canary Islands through EU FEDER funding, projects PID2020010050 and PID2021010077. This article is based on observations made in the Observatorios de Canarias of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) with the WHT operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. The PAU Survey is partially supported by MINECO under grants CSD2007-00060, AYA2015-71825, ESP2017-89838, PGC2018-094773, PGC2018-102021, PID2019-111317GB, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, MDM-2015-0509 and Juan de la Cierva fellowship and LACEGAL and EWC Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant No 734374 and no.776247 with ERDF funds from the EU Horizon 2020 Programme, some of which include ERDF funds from the European Union. IEEC and IFAE are partially funded by the CERCA and Beatriu de Pinos program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Funding for PAUS has also been provided by Durham Univer sity (via the ERC StG DEGAS-259586), ETH Zurich, Leiden University (via ERC StG ADULT-279396 and Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Vici grant 639.043.512), University College London and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 776247 EWC. The PAU data center is hosted by the Port d’Información Científica (PIC), maintained through a collaboration of CIEMAT and IFAE, with additional support from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and ERDF. We acknowledge the PIC services department team for their support and fruitful discussion

Coordinación entre las asignaturas del área de ingeniería térmica y energía de los grados y el Máster Universitario en Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

El trabajo que se presenta tiene por objetivo establecer la coordinación existente entre los objetivos y actividades de las asignaturas del área de ingeniería térmica, energía y propulsión del Máster en Ingeniería Naval y Oceánica, y los objetivos y actividades del mismo tipo de asignaturas en los Grados en Ingeniería Marítima y en Arquitectura Naval de la ETSI Navales de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Igualmente, se plantea estudiar la coordinación de estas materias entre sí dentro de los Grados. Pueden mencionarse asignaturas obligatorias tales como Termodinámica, Ingeniería Térmica, Energía y Propulsión, Motores Diésel Marinos, Turbomáquinas Térmicas y Diseño integral de plantas de Energía y Propulsión. Entre las asignaturas optativas se encuentran Refrigeración y Climatización en Buques y Tecnología de las Pilas de Combustible y Energía del Hidrógeno. Para poder coordinar dos especialidades de Grado universitario con campos tan dispares, pero a la vez tan relacionados, con el Máster Universitario que se cursará en ambos casos, se deben exigir unas pautas muy marcadas para no solapar las actividades y/o habilidades necesarias para alcanzar dichas capacidades. De la necesidad de comprender mejor y con mayor exactitud las necesidades de cada uno de los planes de estudios en el área de ingeniería térmica, energía y propulsión, y más concretamente, las relaciones que existen entre ellos, nace este trabajo. Para mejorar la eficacia de la enseñanza de los actuales y futuros alumnos, será fundamental desarrollar, entre otras, una serie de acciones que incluyen un estudio a fondo de los objetivos del Máster y de los Grados en relación con estas materias; el diseño y aplicación de una plantilla de descripción de las asignaturas en Máster y en Grado, que permita la elaboración de árboles de relación entre Máster-Grados; partiendo del Máster que vinculen los objetivos, las competencias generales, específicas y transversales (y el nivel de desarrollo propuesto) y los conocimientos previos; la confección y análisis de encuestas dirigidas a alumnos egresados, profesores y empresas, que emplean a estos alumnos con el fin de evaluar el nivel de consecución de los objetivos planteados. Esto permitirá determinar, en cuanto al área de ingeniería térmica, energía y propulsión, la viabilidad de la consecución de los objetivos del Máster en función de los objetivos planteados en los Grados al identificar vacíos y redundancias en cuanto a los objetivos, las competencias y los conocimientos previos del Máster en relación con los Grados. Con todo ello será posible proponer las modificaciones oportunas, en los casos en los que se consideren necesarias.Los autores desean agradecer a la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid su soporte y ayuda en este trabajo, en el marco del Proyecto de Innovación Educativa IE1415-08002

Membrane anchoring stabilizes and favors secretion of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase

Carbapenems, 'last-resort' β-lactam antibiotics, are inactivated by zinc-dependent metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs). The host innate immune response withholds nutrient metal ions from microbial pathogens by releasing metal-chelating proteins such as calprotectin. We show that metal sequestration is detrimental for the accumulation of MBLs in the bacterial periplasm, because those enzymes are readily degraded in their nonmetallated form. However, the New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) can persist under conditions of metal depletion. NDM-1 is a lipidated protein that anchors to the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Membrane anchoring contributes to the unusual stability of NDM-1 and favors secretion of this enzyme in outer-membrane vesicles (OMVs). OMVs containing NDM-1 can protect nearby populations of bacteria from otherwise lethal antibiotic levels, and OMVs from clinical pathogens expressing NDM-1 can carry this MBL and the bla[subscript NDM] gene. We show that protein export into OMVs can be targeted, providing possibilities of new antibacterial therapeutic strategies.Kinship Foundation. Searle Scholars ProgramMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistr

Spatially resolved properties of the ionized gas in the H II galaxy J084220+115000

We present a spatially resolved spectroscopic study for the metal poor H II galaxy J084220+115000 using MEGARA Integral Field Unit observations at the Gran Telescopio Canarias. We estimated the gas metallicity using the direct method for oxygen, nitrogen, and helium and found a mean value of 12 + log (O/H) = 8.03 ± 0.06, and integrated electron density and temperature of ∼161 cm−3 and ∼15400 K, respectively. The metallicity distribution shows a large range of Δ(O/H) = 0.72 dex between the minimum and maximum (7.69 ± 0.06 and 8.42 ± 0.05) values, unusual in a dwarf star-forming galaxy. We derived an integrated log (N/O) ratio of −1.51 ± 0.05 and found that both N/O and O/H correspond to a primary production of metals. Spatially resolved maps indicate that the gas appears to be photoionized by massive stars according to the diagnostic line ratios. Between the possible mechanisms to explain the starburst activity and the large variation of oxygen abundance in this galaxy, our data support a possible scenario where we are witnessing an ongoing interaction triggering multiple star-forming regions localized in two dominant clumps. © 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.DFA work is funded by a Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT, Mexico) grant through project A1-S-22784. This publication is based on data obtained with the MEGARA instrument at the GTC, installed in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, in the island of La Palma. MEGARA has been built by a Consortium led by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and that also includes the Instituto de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica (INAOE, Mexico), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC, Spain), and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). This work is based on data obtained with the MEGARA instrument, funded by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), through the Programa Operativo Canarias FEDER 2014–2020. YDM thanks CONACYT for the research grant CB-A1-S-25070 and DRG for the research grant CB-A1-S-22784 from which the postdoctoral grant that supported DFA was obtained. RC also thanks CONACyT for the research grant CF2022-320152. RA acknowledges support from ANID Fondecyt Regular 1202007. ALGM acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project PID2019-107408GB-C43 (ESTALLIDOS), and from Gobierno de Canarias through EU FEDER funding, project PID2020010050. JMA acknowledges the support of the Viera y Clavijo Senior program funded by ACIISI and ULL. JIP acknowledges financial support from projects Estallidos6 AYA2016-79724-C4 (Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad), Estallidos7 PID2019-107408GB-C44 (Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion), grant P18-FR-2664 (Junta de Andalucía), and grant SEV-2017-0709 ‘Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa Program’ (State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU).With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).Peer reviewe

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure

Next Generation Flow for highly sensitive and standardized detection of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma

[EN]Flow cytometry has become a highly valuable method to monitor minimal residual disease (MRD) and evaluate the depth of complete response (CR) in bone marrow (BM) of multiple myeloma (MM) after therapy. However, current flow-MRD has lower sensitivity than molecular methods and lacks standardization. Here we report on a novel next generation flow (NGF) approach for highly sensitive and standardized MRD detection in MM. An optimized 2-tube 8-color antibody panel was constructed in five cycles of design-evaluation-redesign. In addition, a bulk-lysis procedure was established for acquisition of ⩾107 cells/sample, and novel software tools were constructed for automatic plasma cell gating. Multicenter evaluation of 110 follow-up BM from MM patients in very good partial response (VGPR) or CR showed a higher sensitivity for NGF-MRD vs conventional 8-color flow-MRD -MRD-positive rate of 47 vs 34% (P=0.003)-. Thus, 25% of patients classified as MRD-negative by conventional 8-color flow were MRD-positive by NGF, translating into a significantly longer progression-free survival for MRD-negative vs MRD-positive CR patients by NGF (75% progression-free survival not reached vs 7 months; P=0.02). This study establishes EuroFlow-based NGF as a highly sensitive, fully standardized approach for MRD detection in MM which overcomes the major limitations of conventional flow-MRD methods and is ready for implementation in routine diagnostics.This work has been supported by the International Myeloma Foundation-Black Swan Research Initiative, the Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer (RTICC); grant SA079U14 from the Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain and; grant DTS15/00119 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Madrid, Spain