Realization of Zero-Refractive-Index Lens with Ultralow Spherical Aberration

Optical complex materials offer unprecedented opportunity to engineer fundamental band dispersion which enables novel optoelectronic functionality and devices. Exploration of photonic Dirac cone at the center of momentum space has inspired an exceptional characteristic of zero-index, which is similar to zero effective mass in fermionic Dirac systems. Such all-dielectric zero-index photonic crystals provide an in-plane mechanism such that the energy of the propagating waves can be well confined along the chip direction. A straightforward example is to achieve the anomalous focusing effect without longitudinal spherical aberration, when the size of zero-index lens is large enough. Here, we designed and fabricated a prototype of zero-refractive-index lens by comprising large-area silicon nanopillar array with plane-concave profile. Near-zero refractive index was quantitatively measured near 1.55 um through anomalous focusing effect, predictable by effective medium theory. The zero-index lens was also demonstrated to perform ultralow longitudinal spherical aberration. Such IC compatible device provides a new route to integrate all-silicon zero-index materials into optical communication, sensing, and modulation, and to study fundamental physics on the emergent fields of topological photonics and valley photonics.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Novel end-fly-cutting-servo system for deterministic generation of hierarchical micro–nanostructures

This paper reports on the diamond cutting based generation of hierarchical micro-nanostructures, which are conventionally difficult for both mechanical and non-mechanical methods to achieve. A novel end-fly-cutting-servo (EFCS) system, with four-axis servo motions that combine the concepts of fast/slow tool servo and endface fly-cutting, is proposed and investigated. In the EFCS system, an intricately shaped primary surface is generated by material removal, while the desired secondary nanostructures are simultaneously constructed using residual tool marks by actively controlling tool loci. The potential of the EFCS system is demonstrated firstly by fabricating a nanostructured F-theta freeform surface and a nanostructured micro-aspheric array

Epstein-Barr virus encoded latent membrane protein 1 regulates mTOR signaling pathway genes which predict poor prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The oncoprotein Epstain-Barr Virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein1 (LMP1) modulates the pathological effects of the NF-κB, AP-1 and JAK/STAT pathways in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Microarray analysis was performed on the NPC cell line HONE1 stably transfected with a LMP1-expression plasmid or an empty vector. Based on assigned pathways analyzed using the KEGG database, the mTOR signaling pathway was selected for verification by quantitative RT-PCR. Western blot, RNA interference and immunofluorescence were used to determine the relationship between LMP1 and mTOR signing pathway genes, and their clinical significance to NPC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our studies revealed that overexpression of LMP1 upregulated the mTOR signaling pathway, possibly through phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR/P70S6K/4EBP1 in the NPC cell lines HONE1 and 6-10B. Knockdown of LMP1 reduced expression of p-mTOR and p-4EBP1 in EBV-positive NPC cell line C666-1. In addition, LMP1 expression closely correlated with expression of p-mTOR, p-P70S6K and p-4EBP1 in NPC tumors. Expression of p-P70S6K, p-4EBP1 and LMP1, but not p-mTOR, significantly correlated with overall survival of NPC patients. However, only LMP1 was an independent prognostic factor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that the mTOR signaling pathway is regulated by LMP1 expression in NPC. LMP1 and the genes in the mTOR pathway such as p-P70S6K and p-4EBP1 may be potential prognostic biomarkers.</p

A Hybrid GRASP+VND Heuristic for the Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problem Arising in City Logistics

The two-echelon vehicle routing problem (2E-VRP) is a variant of the classical vehicle routing problem (VRP) arising in twolevel transportation systems such as those encountered in the context of city logistics. In the 2E-VRP, freight from a depot is compulsorily delivered through intermediate depots, named satellites. The first echelons are routes that distribute freight from depot to satellites, and the second are those from satellites to customers. This problem is solved by a hybrid heuristic which is composed of a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) with a route-first cluster-second procedure embedded and a variable neighborhood descent (VND), called GRASP+VND hereafter. Firstly, an extended split algorithm in the GRASP continuously splits randomly generated permutations of all customers and assigns customers to satellites reasonably until a feasible assignment appears, and a complete 2E-VRP feasible solution is obtained by solving the first echelon problem subsequently and, secondly, a VND phase attempts to improve this solution until no more improvements can be found. The process above is iterated until the maximum number of iterations is reached. Computational tests conducted on three sets of benchmark instances from the literature show that our algorithm is both effective and efficient and outperforms the best existing heuristics for the 2E-VRP

The Impact of General Self-Efficacy on Psychological Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Posttraumatic Growth and the Moderating Role of Deliberate Rumination

Purpose: This study used a moderated mediation model to explore the relationship between general self-efficacy (GSE) and psychological resilience (PR) and the associated mechanisms, the mediating role of posttraumatic growth (PTG), and the moderating role of deliberate rumination (DR) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Knowledge of the relationship between these four variables examined further understanding of the PR improvement mechanism of college students and even the general public.Methods: The college students who participated in this study came from an independent college in Guangdong Province, China. A total of 918 college students completed the survey, and the final data sample size was 881. SPSS 23.0 and PROCESS (version 3.3) were used to conduct Pearson's correlation analysis and hierarchical regression linear analysis on the data.Results: (1) The correlation analysis showed that GSE and PR were positively correlated and that PTG was positively correlated with GSE and PR. DR was positively correlated with GSE, PTG, and PR. (2) The results of mediation analysis showed that GSE had a direct predictive effect on DR, and PTG partially mediated the relationship between the two. (3) The results of moderating effect analysis showed that DR hindered the effect of GSE on PTG but enhanced the positive impact of PTG on PR.Conclusions: General self-efficacy can improve PR under the mediating influence of PTG. DR played a positive moderating role in the relationship between GSE and PTG, and played a negative moderating role in the relationship between PTG and PR. These results advance the understanding of the mechanism between GSE and PR

Non-Markovian dynamics for an open two-level system without rotating wave approximation: Indivisibility versus backflow of information

By use of the two measures presented recently, the indivisibility and the backflow of information, we study the non-Markovianity of the dynamics for a two-level system interacting with a zero-temperature structured environment without using rotating wave approximation (RWA). In the limit of weak coupling between the system and the reservoir, and by expanding the time-convolutionless (TCL) generator to the forth order with respect to the coupling strength, the time-local non-Markovian master equation for the reduced state of the system is derived. Under the secular approximation, the exact analytic solution is obtained and the sufficient and necessary conditions for the indivisibility and the backflow of information for the system dynamics are presented. In the more general case, we investigate numerically the properties of the two measures for the case of Lorentzian reservoir. Our results show the importance of the counter-rotating terms to the short-time-scale non-Markovian behavior of the system dynamics, further expose the relations between the two measures and their rationality as non-Markovian measures. Finally, the complete positivity of the dynamics of the considered system is discussed

Fault Orientation Trumps Fault Maturity in Controlling Coseismic Rupture Characteristics of the 2021 Maduo Earthquake

Fault maturity has been proposed to exert a first order control on earthquake rupture, yet direct observations linking individual rupture to long-term fault growth are rare. The 2021 Mw 7.4 Maduo earthquake ruptured the east-growing end of the slow-moving (∼1 mm/yr) Jiangcuo fault in north Tibet, providing an opportunity to examine the relation between rupture characteristics and fault structure. Here we combine field and multiple remote sensing techniques to map the surface rupture at cm-resolution and document comprehensively on-fault offsets and off-fault deformation. The 158 km-long surface rupture consists of misoriented structurally inherited N110°-striking segments and younger optimally oriented N093°-striking segments, relative to the regional stress field. Despite being comparatively newly formed, the ∼N093°-striking fault segments accommodate more localized strain, with up to 3 m on-fault left-lateral slip and 25%–50% off-fault deformation, and possibly faster rupture speed. These results are in contrast with previous findings showing more localized strain and faster rupture speed on more mature fault segments; instead, our observations suggest that fault orientation with respect to the regional stress can exert a more important control than fault maturity on coseismic rupture behavior when both factors are at play

Birth Measurements, Family History, and Environmental Factors Associated With Later-Life Hypertensive Status

BACKGROUND This birth cohort study was conducted to investigate the contribution of prenatal and antenatal environmental exposures to later-life hypertensive status. METHODS Two thousand five hundred and three individuals born in 1921-1954 at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) were targeted; 2,081 (83.1%) participated. Clinical examinations included an interview, blood pressure (BP) measurements, and laboratory assays. Statistical analyses were performed using ordinal regression models with later-life hypertensive status as the dependent variable. Similar analyses were for subpopulations divided by family history of hypertension. RESULTS In the 2,081 subjects, 449 were normotensive, 531 were prehypertensive, and 1,101 had hypertension. Three hundred and forty two hypertensive patients were classified as high-risk (BP &gt;= 180/110 mm Hg, or accompanied with diabetes or three well-established cardiovascular risk factors); the other 759 patients were at mid-to-low risks. Lower birth weight (&lt;2,500 g: odds ratio (OR) = 1.67, P = 0.02; 2,500-&lt;3,000 g: OR = 1.64, P &lt; 0.01; 3,000-&lt;3,500 g, OR = 1.40, P = 0.01), family history of hypertension (OR 1.73, P &lt; 0.01), poor education (OR = 1.76, P &lt; 0.01), and alcoholism (OR = 3.05, P &lt; 0.01) significantly predicted later-life high-risk hypertension. For participants with hypertensive family history (57.7%), the association with birth weight became nonsignificant, but poor education (OR = 2.33, P &lt; 0.01) and alcoholism (OR = 3.10, P = 0.01) remained important. For participants without hypertensive family history (42.3%), the effects of lower birth weight (&lt;2,500 g: OR = 2.26, P = 0.02; 2,500-&lt;3,000 g: OR = 1.91, P = 0.01; 3,000-&lt;3,500 g, OR = 1.78, P = 0.01) and alcoholism (OR = 3.23, P &lt; 0.01) remained significant. CONCLUSION Low birth weight, low education, alcoholism, and hypertensive family history are linked to later-life hypertensive status. Low birth weight is also partly associated with one&apos;s genetic background; whereas the association with education and alcoholism are independent from hypertensive family history.Peripheral Vascular DiseaseSCI(E)0ARTICLE4464-4712