Magnetic light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation in subwavelength systems of a dielectric cavity and magnetic quantum emitters

We propose a magnetic laser in a subwavelength system consisting of a high-refractive-index dielectric cavity and an active medium formed by magnetic quantum emitters. Stimulated emissions of magnetic quantum emitters induced by their coherent interactions with quantized magnetic fields of a cavity are theoretically considered. The condition to archive such a magnetic laser is obtained. Numerical results show that magnetic lasers are feasible in some realistic systems, for example, a silicon disk of high-quality whispering gallery modes with embedded emitters. Furthermore, the competitions between the electric interaction and magnetic one in terms of their Purcell factors are also considered in some magnetic laser achievable systems. In a wavelength-scale silicon block of a high-order magnetic mode, the ratio of magnetic Purcell factor to the electric one can reach more than ~10^3 large. Our results open up ways to enhanced magnetic light-matter interactions.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Allergic Asthma-Induced Cognitive Impairment is Alleviated by Dexamethasone

Allergic asthma is a typical chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory tract. Clinical data shows that patients with allergic asthma have different degrees of cognitive dysfunction. The molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of asthma-induced cognitive disorder is not yet well defined. Dexamethasone (DEX), one of the first-line drugs being widely used in the treatment of asthma, has not been reported to have an effect on cognitive dysfunction in mice model. To investigate the effect of asthma on cognitive impairment as well as the effect of DEX on asthma-caused morphological and behavioral changes, C57BL/6J mice received treatment with house dust mites (HDM) for 60 days to become allergic asthma model mice, and a group of HDM-treated asthma model mice were treated with DEX. HDM-treated asthma model mice exhibited increased airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and inflammatory infiltration in lung tissue. An elevated level of IL-4, IL-5, and TNF-α was detected in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) by Luminex liquid suspension chip. Asthma model mice also presented memory deficits accompanied with morphological changes at the synaptic levels in the cortex and hippocampus. Meanwhile, vascular edema and increased expression of HIF-1α and HIF-2α were found in the brain of asthma model mice. Interestingly, DEX treatment could reverse the inflammatory changes in asthma model mice airway, rescue the cognitive impairment and improve the synaptic plasticity. Besides, DEX significantly decreased the expression of HIF-1α and HIF-2α in mice brain and lung. These processes may be used to decipher the complex interplay and pathological changes between asthma and cognition. This study provides laboratory evidence for the prevention and treatment of cognitive malfunction induced by asthma

Defective Expression of Mitochondrial, Vacuolar H+-ATPase and Histone Genes in a C. elegans Model of SMA

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe motor neuron degenerative disease caused by loss-of-function mutations in the survival motor neuron gene SMN1. It is widely posited that defective gene expression underlies SMA. However, the identities of these affected genes remain to be elucidated. By analyzing the transcriptome of a Caenorhabditis elegans SMA model at the pre-symptomatic stage, we found that the expression of numerous nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes and vacuolar H+-ATPase genes was significantly down-regulated, while that of histone genes was significantly up-regulated. We previously showed that the uaf-1 gene, encoding key splicing factor U2AF large subunit, could affect the behavior and lifespan of smn-1 mutants. Here, we found that smn-1 and uaf-1 interact to affect the recognition of 3′ and 5′ splice sites in a gene-specific manner. Altogether, our results suggest a functional interaction between smn-1 and uaf-1 in affecting RNA splicing and a potential effect of smn-1 on the expression of mitochondrial and histone genes

2-(4-Fluoro­phen­yl)quinoxaline

In the title compound, C14H9FN2, the dihedral angle between the benzene ring and the quinoxaline ring system is 22.2 (3)°. Any aromatic π–π stacking in the crystal must be very weak, with a minimum centroid–centroid separation of 3.995 (2) Å

Comparison of quality of life following unilateral or bilateral Symfony implantation

AIM: To compare the postoperative quality of life between patients who underwent binocular and unilateral Symfony continuous-vision intraocular lens(IOL)implantation. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study was performed. The visual function-related quality of life(QoL)was evaluated with the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25(NEI VFQ-25)which was developed by the National Eye Institute. Thirty patients(60 eyes)who underwent phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation from March 2017 to March 2018 were divided into two groups according to the type of implanted IOL. For bilateral group(36 eyes in 18 cases), patients accepted TECNIS Symfony(ZXR00, AMO)in both eyes. For unilateral group(24 eyes in 12 cases), patients accepted TECNIS Symfony(ZXR00, AMO)in one eye and an aspherical monofocal IOL(PCB00,AMO)in the other eye. Follow-up was performed 3-6mo after surgery. Postoperative binocular uncorrected distant, intermediate and near visual acuity(bUCDVA, bUCIVA and bUCNVA)were compared and the quality of life was evaluated for every patient. RESULTS:There were no statistical differences in bUCDVA, bUCIVA and bUCNVA between two groups(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in composite scores of the NEI VFQ-25 questionnaire between bilateral group and unilateral group(88.95±4.01 vs 88.99±4.22, t=-0.025, P=0.980). A comparison of the 12 scales acquired from the questionnaire showed that there were no statistical differences in visual function-related quality of life in the two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSION:Compared with bilateral implantation of ZXR00, the patients with the implantation of ZXR00 in one eye and PCB00 in the other eye share the excellent binocular uncorrected distant, intermediate and near visual acuity and postoperative quality of life. For patients who have undergone monofocal IOL implantation in one eye or whose one eye is not suitable for multifocal IOLs, unilateral implantation of Symfony continuous-vision IOL is feasible to meet patients' need for spectacle independency

Black-Box watermarking and blockchain for IP protection of voiceprint recognition model

Deep neural networks are widely used for voiceprint recognition, whilst voiceprint recognition models are vulnerable to attacks. Existing protection schemes for voiceprint recognition models are insufficient to withstand various robustness attacks and cannot prevent model theft. This paper proposes a black-box voiceprint recognition model protection framework that combines active and passive protection. It embeds key information into the Mel spectrogram to generate trigger samples that are difficult to detect and remove and injects them into the host model as watermark W, thereby enhancing the copyright protection performance of the voiceprint recognition model. To restrict the use of the model by unauthorized users, the index number corresponding to the model and the encrypted model information are stored on the blockchain, and then, an exclusive smart contract is designed to restrict access to the model. Experimental results show that this framework effectively protects voiceprint recognition model copyrights and restricts unauthorized access

Protein kinases mediate increment of the phosphorylation of cyclic AMP -responsive element binding protein in spinal cord of rats following capsaicin injection

BACKGROUND: Strong noxious stimuli cause plastic changes in spinal nociceptive neurons. Intracellular signal transduction pathways from cellular membrane to nucleus, which may further regulate gene expression by critical transcription factors, convey peripheral stimulation. Cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) is a well-characterized stimulus-induced transcription factor whose activation requires phosphorylation of the Serine-133 residue. Phospho-CREB can further induce gene transcription and strengthen synaptic transmission by the activation of the protein kinase cascades. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which CREB phosphorylation is regulated by protein kinases during nociception. This study was designed to use Western blot analysis to investigate the role of mitogen-activated protein (MAP)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK 1/2), PKA and PKC in regulating the phosphorylation of CREB in the spinal cord of rats following intraplantar capsaicin injection. RESULTS: We found that capsaicin injection significantly increased the phosphorylation level of CREB in the ipsilateral side of the spinal cord. Pharmacological manipulation of MEK 1/2, PKA and PKC with their inhibitors (U0126, H89 and NPC 15473, respectively) significantly blocked this increment of CREB phosphorylation. However, the expression of CREB itself showed no change in any group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the activation of intracellular MAP kinase, PKA and PKC cascades may contribute to the regulation of phospho-CREB in central nociceptive neurons following peripheral painful stimuli