Unscrambling Structured Chirality with Structured Light at the Nanoscale Using Photoinduced Force

We show that the gradient force generated by the near field of a chiral nanoparticle carries information about its chirality. On the basis of this physical phenomenon we propose a new microscopy technique that enables the prediction of spatial features of chirality of nanoscale samples by exploiting the photoinduced optical force exerted on an achiral tip in the vicinity of the test specimen. The tip-sample interactive system is illuminated by structured light to probe both the transverse and longitudinal (with respect to the beam propagation direction) components of the sample's magnetoelectric polarizability as the manifestation of its sense of handedness, i.e., chirality. We specifically prove that although circularly polarized waves are adequate to detect the transverse polarizability components of the sample, they are unable to probe the longitudinal component. To overcome this inadequacy and probe the longitudinal chirality, we propose a judiciously engineered combination of radially and azimuthally polarized beams as optical vortices possessing pure longitudinal electric and magnetic field components along their vortex axis, respectively. The proposed technique may benefit branches of science such as stereochemistry, biomedicine, physical and material science, and pharmaceutics

Enantiospecific Detection of Chiral Nanosamples Using Photoinduced Force

We propose a high-resolution microscopy technique for enantiospecific detection of chiral samples down to sub-100-nm size based on force measurement. We delve into the differential photoinduced optical force ΔF exerted on an achiral probe in the vicinity of a chiral sample when left and right circularly polarized beams separately excite the sample-probe interactive system. We analytically prove that ΔF is entangled with the enantiomer type of the sample enabling enantiospecific detection of chiral inclusions. Moreover, we demonstrate that ΔF is linearly dependent on both the chiral response of the sample and the electric response of the tip and is inversely related to the quartic power of probe-sample distance. We provide physical insight into the transfer of optical activity from the chiral sample to the achiral tip based on a rigorous analytical approach. We support our theoretical achievements by several numerical examples highlighting the potential application of the derived analytic properties. Lastly, we demonstrate the sensitivity of our method to enantiospecify nanoscale chiral samples with chirality parameter on the order of 0.01 and discuss how the sensitivity of our proposed technique can be further improved

Applying virtual reality to teach the software development process to novice software engineers

Software development is a complicated process that requires experienced human resources to produce successful software products. Although this process needs experience from the individuals, it is hard to provide this experience without encountering real incidents during the software development process. To fill this gap, this study proposes a Virtual Reality Based Software Development Framework (VR-SODEF), which provides an interactive virtual reality experience for individuals learning about the tasks of software development starting from requirement analysis through software testing. In the VR-SODEF, the participant takes on the role of a novice software developer being recruited into a virtual software development organisation who should work alongside five virtual characters, played by artificial intelligence. This exclusive viewpoint draws participants from the 2D separation of the classical experience and virtually into the world of the software development itself. Participants experience the intense dramatic elements created for simulation and confront the challenges of virtual software practitioners in a somewhat uncompromising virtual simulation environment. To examine the efficiency of the VR-SODEF, it was tested on 32 computing students, with results indicating that virtual reality can be an effective educational medium, especially for skills that might traditionally be acquired through experience rather than traditional classroom-based teaching

Determination of CPUA and distribution pattern of families Haemulidae, Nemipteridae and Ariidae in the Oman Sea

This trawl survey was carried out during 2013 for the stock assessment of families Haemulids, Nemipterids and Ariids in the Oman Sea. Sampling was carried out at five different stratum and depths. The highest value of CPUA of Haemulidae was estimated for Pomadasys stridens in “B” stratum (885.78 kg nm^-2), for Pomadasys kaakan at depths of 10-20 m (330.35 kg nm^-2), and for Nemipteridae it was estimated for Nemipterus japonicus in “D” stratum (1042.31 kg nm^-2) at 30-50 m depths (1734.97 kg nm^-2), and for Ariidae, it was estimated for Netuma thalassina in the stratum B (752.64 kg nm^-2) at 20-30 m depths (428.33 kg nm^-2). The highest biomass for Haemulidae was estimated in stratum B (320.53 ton) at 50-100 m depths (282.98 tons), and for Nemipteridae in “D” stratum (559.72 tons) and at depths of 30-50 m (604.04 tons), and for Ariidae it was estimated in “B” stratum (272.35 tons) and at 50-100 m depths (255.12 ton). Based on the results obtained, the highest species diversity for Haemulids was in “A” stratum at depths less than 50 m, while for Nemipterids it was similar in the total study area and different depth layers. Highest species diversity for Ariids were found in “A” and “D” strata at depth layers of 10-20 m and 30-50 m, respectively. In light of the fact that fishing efforts decreased during these years, our results illustrate that CPUA and biomass have ascending trends which indicate the relative stability of the stocks of these families

Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field on the Lens of the Rats

The present aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF MF) on lens epithelial cells. Twenty adult female Spraque Dawley rats were divided into two groups, each containing 10 rats. The experimental group received magnetic field 2 hours/day for 7 days. The second group receiving standard laboratory care, was used as a control. The specimens were evaluated for cataractogenesis alteretion of lens and histological changes in lens epithelial cells.On biomicroscopic examination, no pathological damage to the lens was detected. In addition, on microscopic examination of materials in the controls, there were also no changes in lens fibrils and lens epithelial cells. In experimental group, however, only a slight pleomorphism was determined at the surface of epithelial cells.In the study, it is cocluded that ELF MF exposure do might not lead to histopathological alterations of the lens fibrils and lens epithelial cells

RFID Tag Design Using Spiral Resonators and Defected Ground Structure

This paper presents a simple generalized approach to design a compact chipless radio frequency identification tag. The proposed chipless tag encodes data into the spectral signature using a set of spiral resonators on both sides of substrate. Transmission amplitude component of the tag is used for data encoding. For miniaturization purpose, defected ground structure is used to reduce the circuit size by half compared to the conventional cascading technique. The proposed chipless tag operates between 4-6 GHz and produces 256 different binary strings through eight encoded bits. Measurement and simulation results verify the authenticity of this design

Chest trauma experience over eleven-year period at al-mouassat university teaching hospital-Damascus: a retrospective review of 888 cases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Thoracic trauma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In this study, we present our 11-year experience in the management and clinical outcome of 888 chest trauma cases as a result of blunt and penetrating injuries in our university hospital in Damascus, Syria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We reviewed files of 888 consequent cases of chest trauma between January 2000 and January 2011. The mean age of our patients was 31 ± 17 years mostly males with blunt injuries. Patients were evaluated and compared according to age, gender, etiology of trauma, thoracic and extra-thoracic injuries, complications, and mortality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The leading cause of the trauma was violence (41%) followed by traffic accidents (33%). Pneumothorax (51%), Hemothorax (38%), rib fractures (34%), and lung contusion (15%) were the most common types of injury. Associated injuries were documented in 36% of patients (extremities 19%, abdomen 13%, head 8%). A minority of the patients required thoracotomy (5.7%), and tube thoracostomy (56%) was sufficient to manage the majority of cases. Mean hospital LOS was 4.5 ± 4.6 days. The overall mortoality rate was 1.8%, and morbidity (n = 78, 8.7%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>New traffic laws (including seat belt enforcement) reduced incidence and severity of chest trauma in Syria. Violence was the most common cause of chest trauma rather than road traffic accidents in this series, this necessitates epidemiologic or multi-institutional studies to know to which degree violence contributes to chest trauma in Syria. The number of fractured ribs can be used as simple indicator of the severity of trauma. And we believe that significant neurotrauma, traffic accidents, hemodynamic status and GCS upon arrival, ICU admission, ventilator use, and complication of therapy are predictors of dismal prognosis.</p

Monophasic synovial sarcoma of the pharynx: a case report

Synovial sarcomas are a rare form of soft tissue sarcomas. We present a case of a 62 year-old male presenting with a left thyroid lump initially though to be a thyroid adenoma but subsequently diagnosed as a monophasic synovial sarcoma of the pharynx. We discuss the diagnosis and treatment of this case

Field evaluation of phostoxin and zinc phosphide for the control of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in a hyperendemic area, central Iran

Background & objectives: ZCL is a growing threat in many rural areas of Iran which involves 17 out of 31 provinces. This study was conducted from April to November 2011 for evaluation of the efficacy of phostoxin and zinc phosphide against rodents. Methods: Rodent control operations were carried out using phostoxin and zinc phosphide. To evaluate the effect of rodent control operation on the main vector density, an entomological survey was carried out. The effects of the operation on the disease incidence were also evaluated. Results: After intervention, the reduction rate of rodent burrows was 32.68% in the village treated with phostoxin and 58.14% in the village treated with zinc phosphide. The number of rodent holes in the control area showed 6.66-fold increase at the end of the study. The incidence of the disease decreased to 19.23 and 11.40 in areas treated with phostoxin and zinc phosphide, respectively. A total of 4243 adult sandflies were collected and identified. The most common and dominant species was Phlebotomus papatasi. In the village treated with phostoxin, the density of P. papatasi in outdoors was lower than indoors. Nevertheless, the density of P. papatasi in the village treated with zinc phosphide was higher in outdoors. Interpretation & conclusion: It is concluded that phostoxin is less effective and has low safety in comparison with zinc phosphide, so that this rodenticide can be used only in special situations such as lack or ineffective rodenticides and only in the colonies far from human and animal dwelling places in small scales

VEuPathDB: the eukaryotic pathogen, vector and host bioinformatics resource center in 2023.

The Eukaryotic Pathogen, Vector and Host Informatics Resource (VEuPathDB, https://veupathdb.org) is a Bioinformatics Resource Center funded by the National Institutes of Health with additional funding from the Wellcome Trust. VEuPathDB supports >600 organisms that comprise invertebrate vectors, eukaryotic pathogens (protists and fungi) and relevant free-living or non-pathogenic species or hosts. Since 2004, VEuPathDB has analyzed omics data from the public domain using contemporary bioinformatic workflows, including orthology predictions via OrthoMCL, and integrated the analysis results with analysis tools, visualizations, and advanced search capabilities. The unique data mining platform coupled with >3000 pre-analyzed data sets facilitates the exploration of pertinent omics data in support of hypothesis driven research. Comparisons are easily made across data sets, data types and organisms. A Galaxy workspace offers the opportunity for the analysis of private large-scale datasets and for porting to VEuPathDB for comparisons with integrated data. The MapVEu tool provides a platform for exploration of spatially resolved data such as vector surveillance and insecticide resistance monitoring. To address the growing body of omics data and advances in laboratory techniques, VEuPathDB has added several new data types, searches and features, improved the Galaxy workspace environment, redesigned the MapVEu interface and updated the infrastructure to accommodate these changes