Author Correction: Multifunctional light beam control device by stimuli-responsive liquid crystal micro-grating structures

Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70783-8, published online 14 August 2020 This Article contains a typographical error in the Acknowledgements section. “the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2013-47342-C2-2-R)” should read: "the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2016-77242-C3-1-R)"This work was supported by the Comunidad de Madrid and FEDER Program (S2018/NMT-4326), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2013-47342-C2-2-R and TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R), the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (RTC2017-6321-1, PID2019-109072RB-C31 and PID2019-107270RB-C21). The authors also acknowledge the support by the Ministry of National Defense of Poland (GBMON/13-995/2018/WAT), Military University of Technology (Grant no. 23-895)

Cylindrical and Powell liquid crystal lenses with positive-negative optical power

We demonstrate a technique to engineer cylindrical and Powell liquid crystal lenses with positive or negative optical power. The device is based on two indium-tin-oxide electrode combs and a microstructured voltage transmission electrode. The technique features the advantages of a multielectrode lens, albeit using a single lithographic step and only two voltage sources. Extensive control of the phase profile across the device active area is demonstrated, achieving both positive and negative optical power. The lens aperture is not constrained by the geometrical parameters and can be scaled to larger values.This work was supported in part by the Comunidad de Madrid and FEDER Program under Grant S2018/NMT-4326, in part by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain under Grant TEC2013-47342-C2-2-R and Grant TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R, in part by the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación under Grant RTC2017-6321-1, Grant PID2019-109072RB-C31, and Grant PID2019-107270RB-C21, in part by the Ministry of National Defense of Poland under Grant GBMON/13-995/2018/WAT, and in part by the Military University of Technology under Grant 23-895

Positive-negative tunable liquid crystal lenses based on a microstructured transmission line

In this work, a novel technique to create positive-negative tunable liquid crystal lenses is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This structure is based on two main elements, a transmission line acting as a voltage divider and concentric electrodes that distribute the voltage homogeneously across the active area. This proposal avoids all disadvantages of previous techniques, involving much simpler fabrication process (a single lithographic step) and voltage control (one or two sources). In addition, low voltage signals are required. Lenses with switchable positive and negative focal lengths and a simple, low voltage control are demonstrated. Moreover, by using this technique other optical devices could be engineered, e.g. axicons, Powell lenses, cylindrical lenses, Fresnel lenses, beam steerers, optical vortex generators, etc. For this reason, the proposed technique could open new venues of research in optical phase modulation based on liquid crystal materials.This work was supported by Comunidad de Madrid and FEDER Program (S2018/NMT-4326), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2016-77242-C3-1-R and TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R), the FEDER/ Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (RTC2017-6321-1). Also, the Ministry of National Defense of Poland (GBMON/13-995/2018/WAT)

Research-based flow cytometry assays for pathogenic assessment in the human B-cell biology of gene variants revealed in the diagnosis of inborn errors of immunity: a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase case-study

IntroductionInborn errors of immunity (IEI) are an expanding group of rare diseases whose field has been boosted by next-generation sequencing (NGS), revealing several new entities, accelerating routine diagnoses, expanding the number of atypical presentations and generating uncertainties regarding the pathogenic relevance of several novel variants.MethodsResearch laboratories that diagnose and provide support for IEI require accurate, reproducible and sustainable phenotypic, cellular and molecular functional assays to explore the pathogenic consequences of human leukocyte gene variants and contribute to their assessment. We have implemented a set of advanced flow cytometry-based assays to better dissect human B-cell biology in a translational research laboratory. We illustrate the utility of these techniques for the in-depth characterization of a novel (c.1685G>A, p.R562Q) de novo gene variant predicted as probably pathogenic but with no previous insights into the protein and cellular effects, located in the tyrosine kinase domain of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene, in an apparently healthy 14-year-old male patient referred to our clinic for an incidental finding of low immunoglobulin (Ig) M levels with no history of recurrent infections.Results and discussionA phenotypic analysis of bone marrow (BM) revealed a slightly high percentage of pre-B-I subset in BM, with no blockage at this stage, as typically observed in classical X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) patients. The phenotypic analysis in peripheral blood also revealed reduced absolute numbers of B cells, all pre-germinal center maturation stages, together with reduced but detectable numbers of different memory and plasma cell isotypes. The R562Q variant allows Btk expression and normal activation of anti-IgM-induced phosphorylation of Y551 but diminished autophosphorylation at Y223 after anti IgM and CXCL12 stimulation. Lastly, we explored the potential impact of the variant protein for downstream Btk signaling in B cells. Within the canonical nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation pathway, normal IκBα degradation occurs after CD40L stimulation in patient and control cells. In contrast, disturbed IκBα degradation and reduced calcium ion (Ca2+) influx occurs on anti-IgM stimulation in the patient’s B cells, suggesting an enzymatic impairment of the mutated tyrosine kinase domain

FishPath: computer application for design of vertical slot fishways

[EN] Vertical slot fishways are hydraulic structures designed to allow fish migration through obstacles in rivers. The appropriate design of these devices depends on an interplay between hydraulic and biological variables, since the hydrodynamic properties of the fishway must meet the requirements of the fish species for which it is intended. This paper presents a computer application to analyze the efficiency of a fishway model according to biological criteria. The proposed model applies restrictions relative to the swimming capacity of fish, their depth requirements and their needs regarding turbulent energy dissipation. It allows the objective comparison of designs and the determination of which is to be more efficient. It is expected that the application can provide guidance to the technicians involved in fishway design regarding the systematic application of hydrobiological criteria, which also incorporate the latest research findings in this field.[ES] Las escalas de peces de hendidura vertical son estructuras hidráulicas diseñadas para permitir la migración de las especies piscícolas a través de obstáculos en ríos. El diseño adecuado de estos dispositivos depende de la interacción entre variables hidráulicas y biológicas, dado que las propiedades hidrodinámicas de la escala deben ajustarse a los requisitos de las especies objetivo. En este artículo se presenta una aplicación informática que analiza la eficiencia de un modelo de escala de acuerdo con criterios biológicos. El modelo propuesto aplica restricciones referidas a la capacidad de natación de los peces, a sus necesidades de calado y a sus requisitos en relación con la energía disipada en forma de turbulencias. Permite así comparar diseños de forma objetiva y determinar cuál será previsiblemente más eficiente. Con esta herramienta se busca facilitar a los técnicos involucrados en el diseño de escalas de peces de hendidura vertical la aplicación sistemática de criterios hidrobiológicos, que incorporen además los resultados de las investigaciones más recientes en este ámbito.Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por fondos FEDER y el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Ref. CGL2012-34688 y PCT-380000-2007-3). María Bermúdez expresa su agradecimiento al programa postdoctoral del Plan I2C de la Xunta de Galicia (Ref. ED481B 2014/156-0).Bermúdez, M.; Rico, Á.; Rodríguez, Á.; Pena, L.; Rabuñal, JR.; Puertas, J.; Balairón, L.... (2015). FishPath: aplicación informática de diseño de escalas de peces de hendidura vertical. 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Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum