Characterizations of realized metal-insulator-silicon-insulator-metal waveguides and nanochannel fabrication via insulator removal

We investigate experimentally metal-insulator-silicon-insulator-metal (MISIM) waveguides that are fabricated by using fully standard CMOS technology. They are hybrid plasmonic waveguides, and they have a feature that their insulator is replaceable with functional material. We explain a fabrication process for them and discuss fabrication results based on 8-inch silicon-on-insulator wafers. We measured the propagation characteristics of the MISIM waveguides that were actually fabricated to be connected to Si photonic waveguides through symmetric and asymmetric couplers. When incident light from an optical source has transverse electric (TE) polarization and its wavelength is 1318 or 1554 nm, their propagation losses are between 0.2 and 0.3 dB/mu m. Excess losses due to the symmetric couplers are around 0.5 dB, which are smaller than those due to the asymmetric couplers. Additional measurement results indicate that the MISIM waveguide supports a TE-polarized hybrid plasmonic mode. Finally, we explain a process of removing the insulator without affecting the remaining MISIM structure to fabricate similar to 30-nm-wide nanochannels which may be filled with functional material.open8

Highly efficient active optical interconnect incorporating a partially chlorinated ribbon POF in conjunction with a visible VCSEL

A low-loss 4-ch active optical interconnect (AOI) enabling passive alignment was proposed and built resorting to a transmitter (Tx) incorporating a red 680-nm VCSEL, which is linked to a receiver (Rx) module via a partially chlorinated ribbon POF. The POF was observed to exhibit an extremely low loss of similar to 0.24 dB/m at lambda = 680 nm, in comparison to similar to 1.29 dB/m at lambda = 850 nm, and a large numerical aperture of similar to 0.42. Both the Tx and Rx, which taps into a beam router based on collimated beam optics involving a pair of spherical lenses, were meant to be substantially alignment tolerant and compact. The achieved tolerance for the constructed modules was beyond 40 m in terms of the positioning of VCSEL and photodetector. The proposed AOI was completed by linking the Tx with the Rx via a 3-m long ribbon POF, incurring a transmission loss of as small as 3.2 dB. The AOI was practically assessed in terms of a high-speed data transmission over a wide range of temperatures and then exploited to convey full HD video signals. (C) 2014 Optical Society of Americ

Tunable Polarization-Dependent Loss Element Based on Acoustooptic Mode Coupling in a Polarization-Maintaining Fiber

Abstract-We demonstrate a tunable polarization-dependent loss (PDL) element based on the polarization-dependent coupling of the fundamental core mode to the cladding mode by the flexural acoustic wave in a polarization-maintaining fiber with an elliptical stress member. The resonant wavelength of PDL is tunable by adjusting the frequency of radio-frequency (RF) signal applied to the acoustic transducer, while the magnitude of PDL is variable by the voltage of the same RF signal. Over the wavelength from 1530 to 1570 nm, the variable ranges of PDL for two linear orthogonal polarizations are 16 and 17 dB, respectively

Clear-cut observation of clearance of sustainable upconverting nanoparticles from lymphatic system of small living mice

The significance of lymphatic system has gathered great attention for immunotechnology related to cancer metastasis and immunotherapy. To develop innovative immunodiagnostics and immunotherapy in in vivo environments, it is very important to understand excretion pathways and clearance of injected cargoes. Herein, we employed Tm3+-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) with versatile advantages suitable for long-term non-invasive in vivo optical imaging and tracking. Transport and retention of the UCNPs in the lymphatic system were evaluated with high-quality NIR-to-NIR upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging. We obtained their kinetic luminescence profiles for the injection site and sentinel lymph node (SLN) and observed luminescence signals for one month; we also examined UCL images in SLN tissues, organs, and faeces at each time point. We speculate that the injected UCNPs in a footpad of a small mouse are transported rapidly from the lymphatic system to the blood system and then eventually result in an efficient excretion by the hepatobiliary route. These results will support development of novel techniques for SLN biopsy as well as immunotechnology

Release of SOS2 kinase from sequestration with GIGANTEA determines salt tolerance in Arabidopsis

Kim, Woe-Yeon et al.--Environmental challenges to plants typically entail retardation of vegetative growth and delay or cessation of flowering. Here we report a link between the flowering time regulator, GIGANTEA (GI), and adaptation to salt stress that is mechanistically based on GI degradation under saline conditions, thus retarding flowering. GI, a switch in photoperiodicity and circadian clock control, and the SNF1-related protein kinase SOS2 functionally interact. In the absence of stress, the GI:SOS2 complex prevents SOS2- based activation of SOS1, the major plant Na+/H+-antiporter mediating adaptation to salinity. GI over-expressing, rapidly flowering, plants show enhanced salt sensitivity, whereas gi mutants exhibit enhanced salt tolerance and delayed flowering. Salt-induced degradation of GI confers salt tolerance by the release of the SOS2 kinase. The GISOS2 interaction introduces a higher order regulatory circuit that can explain in molecular terms, the long observed connection between floral transition and adaptive environmental stress tolerance in Arabidopsis.This research was supported by the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (Systems and Synthetic Agrobiotech Center, no. PJ008025), a Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ007850), and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for the World Class University (WCU) program (R32-10148) from the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea, and by grant BIO2009-08641 financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the FEDER program.Peer reviewe

Overexpression of arabidopsis YUCCA6 in potato results in high-auxin developmental phenotypes and enhance

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a major plant auxin, is produced in both tryptophan-dependent and tryptophanindependent pathways. A major pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana generates IAA in two reactions from tryptophan. Step one converts tryptophan to indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) by tryptophan aminotransferases followed by a rate-limiting step converting IPA to IAA catalyzed by YUCCA proteins. We identified eight putative StYUC (Solanum tuberosum YUCCA) genes whose deduced amino acid sequences share 50%-70% identity with those of Arabidopsis YUCCA proteins. All include canonical, conserved YUCCA sequences: FATGY motif, FMO signature sequence, and FAD-binding and NADPbinding sequences. In addition, five genes were found with ~50% amino acid sequence identity to Arabidopsis tryptophan aminotransferases. Transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Jowon) constitutively overexpressing Arabidopsis AtYUC6 displayed high-auxin phenotypes such as narrow downward-curled leaves, increased height, erect stature, and longevity. Transgenic potato plants overexpressing AtYUC6 showed enhanced drought tolerance based on reduced water loss. The phenotype was correlated with reduced levels of reactive oxygen species in leaves. The results suggest a functional YUCCA pathway of auxin biosynthesis in potato that may be exploited to alter plant responses to the environment. © 2012 The Author

Artificial neural networks for prostate carcinoma risk assessment

No abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34357/1/1178_ftp.pd

Occurrence and characterization of oseltamivir-resistant influenza virus in children between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons

PurposeThere was a global increase in the prevalence of oseltamivir-resistant influenza viruses during the 2007-2008 influenza season. This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence and characteristics of oseltamivir-resistant influenza viruses during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 influenza seasons among patients who were treated with oseltamivir (group A) and those that did not receive oseltamivir (group B).MethodsA prospective study was conducted on 321 pediatric patients who were hospitalized because of influenza during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 influenza seasons. Drug resistance tests were conducted on influenza viruses isolated from 91 patients.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the clinical characteristics of groups A and B during both seasons. Influenza A/H1N1, isolated from both groups A and B during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 periods, was not resistant to zanamivir. However, phenotypic analysis of the virus revealed a high oseltamivir IC50 range and that H275Y substitution of the neuraminidase (NA) gene and partial variation of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene did not affect its antigenicity to the HA vaccine even though group A had a shorter hospitalization duration and fewer lower respiratory tract complications than group B. In addition, there was no significant difference in the clinical manifestations between oseltamivir-susceptible and oseltamivir-resistant strains of influenza A/H1N1.ConclusionEstablishment of guidelines to efficiently treat influenza with oseltamivir, a commonly used drug for treating influenza in Korean pediatric patients, and a treatment strategy with a new therapeutic agent is required

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio