All-optical vector visual cryptography with high security and rapid decryption

Meta optics-empowered vector visual cryptography at the abundant degrees of freedom of light and spatial dislocation can open an avenue for optical information security and anti-counterfeiting with a compact footprint and rapid decryption

Association of Two Polymorphisms in CCL2 With Parkinson's Disease: A Case-Control Study

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder that is known to be related to neuro-inflammation. Chemokines participate in this process usually through upregulation of expression levels, which are closely related to the polymorphisms in their genes. Recent studies have further revealed the association between these polymorphisms and the risk of PD in multiple populations, but not the Chinese Han population.Methods:The promoter region of CCL2 was sequenced in 411 PD patients and 422 gender-age matched control from a Chinese Han population using PCR-RFLP method. Their genotype frequencies were analyzed statistically. Dual-luciferase reporter assays were conducted in neuroblastoma cells to assess the promoter transcriptional activity of the rs1024611 variants (T>C) and the GRCh38.p12chr17:34252593 G>C alleles in CCL2.Results:We found that the frequency of the CCL2 genotype of rs1024611 was significantly different between the PD and control groups (p = 0.021), while the C allele was associated with a significantly increased risk in the PD group (p = 0.004). Moreover, C allele of this newly identified alteration in CCL2 (GRCh38.p12chr17:34252593 G>C) was also found to be associated with an increased risk of PD (P genotype = 0.006, P allele = 0.006). Dual-luciferase reporter assay results indicated that rs1024611 C allele and GRCh38.p12chr17:.34252593 C allele increased the transcriptional activity of the CCL2 promoter.Conclusions: We, for the first time, report a risk polymorphism (rs1024611) and a new locus (GRCh38.p12chr17:.34252593 G>C) on CCL2, both of which are suggested as risk factors for PD in a Chinese Han population

Distribution of Cenozoic plant relicts in China explained by drought in dry season

Cenozoic plant relicts are those groups that were once widespread in the Northern Hemisphere but are now restricted to some small isolated areas as a result of drastic climatic changes. They are good proxies to study how plants respond to climatic changes since their modern climatic requirements are known. Herein we look at the modern distribution of 65 palaeoendemic genera in China and compare it with the Chinese climatic pattern, in order to find a link between the plant distribution and climate. Central China and Taiwan Island are shown to be diversity centres of Cenozoic relict genera, consistent with the fact that these two regions have a shorter dry season with comparatively humid autumn and spring in China. Species distribution models indicate that the precipitation parameters are the most important variables to explain the distribution of relict genera. The Cenozoic wide-scale distribution of relict plants in the Northern Hemisphere is therefore considered to be linked to the widespread humid climate at that time, and the subsequent contraction of their distributional ranges was probably caused by the drying trend along with global cooling.Peer reviewe

A Parallelized Implementation of Turbo Decoding Based on Network on Chip Multi-core Processor

With the evolution of wireless communication systems, it is increasingly difficult for Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) solutions to meet the daily changing requirements. A network on chip (NOC) multi-core processor based on message-passing programming model is designed to implement the LTE-A turbo decoder in a parallel mode using pure Software Defined Radio (SDR) approach. The NOC is well balanced between the hardware and software design with a high degree of programmability and re-configurability. According to the features of the NOC multi-core processor, the implementation of turbo decoder is optimized to reduce the computational complexity and to increase the parallelization. Several aspects of turbo decoder are investigated in software radio approach rather than hardware. Compared with the results of the software simulation and the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) demonstration, the NOC multicore processor is flexible to realize the proposed turbo decoding algorithm. In addition, our solution has comparable performance with other published ones

Rich CuO Nanowires Fabrication via Laser Post-Treatment of Laser-Textured Copper Substrate

The superhydrophobic and anti-icing properties of copper-based materials have been widely concerned. Laser texturing followed by thermal oxidation is a method to prepare durable CuO nanowires on Cu substrate. Rich CuO nanowires on micro-structures are required to meet its applications for anti-icing based on sustaining better Cassie–Baxter state stability. In this paper, dense CuO nanowires are obtained by additional laser post-treatment between the laser texturing and thermal oxidation. Uniform Cu2O and CuO layers form on the micro-structures by the laser post-treatment, which serves as the precursors for the growth of nanowires. The density of CuO nanowire increases from 44.3% to 61.4%, resulting in excellent superhydrophobicity and anti-icing performance. The delayed freezing time increases from 17 s to 1519 s at the temperature of −10 °C, which is more than 80 times longer compared to pure Cu substrate. The resulting anti-icing property shows durability through icing–melting cycles and taping tests. This feasible method opens new possibilities for enhanced anti-icing property on copper-based equipment used in low-temperature environments

Rich CuO Nanowires Fabrication via Laser Post-Treatment of Laser-Textured Copper Substrate

The superhydrophobic and anti-icing properties of copper-based materials have been widely concerned. Laser texturing followed by thermal oxidation is a method to prepare durable CuO nanowires on Cu substrate. Rich CuO nanowires on micro-structures are required to meet its applications for anti-icing based on sustaining better Cassie–Baxter state stability. In this paper, dense CuO nanowires are obtained by additional laser post-treatment between the laser texturing and thermal oxidation. Uniform Cu2O and CuO layers form on the micro-structures by the laser post-treatment, which serves as the precursors for the growth of nanowires. The density of CuO nanowire increases from 44.3% to 61.4%, resulting in excellent superhydrophobicity and anti-icing performance. The delayed freezing time increases from 17 s to 1519 s at the temperature of −10 °C, which is more than 80 times longer compared to pure Cu substrate. The resulting anti-icing property shows durability through icing–melting cycles and taping tests. This feasible method opens new possibilities for enhanced anti-icing property on copper-based equipment used in low-temperature environments

Synthesis of Cu2O-Modified Reduced Graphene Oxide for NO2 Sensors

Nowadays, metal oxide semiconductors (MOS)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites have attracted significant research attention for gas sensing applications. Herein, a novel composite material is synthesized by combining two p-type semiconductors, i.e., Cu2O and rGO, and a p-p-type gas sensor is assembled for NO2 detection. Briefly, polypyrrole-coated cuprous oxide nanowires (PPy/Cu2O) are prepared via hydrothermal method and combined with graphene oxide (GO). Then, the nanocomposite (rGO/PPy/Cu2O) is obtained by using high-temperature thermal reduction under Ar atmosphere. The results reveal that the as-prepared rGO/PPy/Cu2O nanocomposite exhibits a maximum NO2 response of 42.5% and is capable of detecting NO2 at a low concentration of 200 ppb. Overall, the as-prepared rGO/PPy/Cu2O nanocomposite demonstrates excellent sensitivity, reversibility, repeatability, and selectivity for NO2 sensing applications

Phylogeographic analysis reveals significant spatial genetic structure of <it>Incarvillea sinensis</it> as a product of mountain building

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Incarvillea sinensis</it> is widely distributed from Southwest China to Northeast China and in the Russian Far East. The distribution of this species was thought to be influenced by the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Quaternary glaciation. To reveal the imprints of geological events on the spatial genetic structure of <it>Incarvillea sinensis</it>, we examined two cpDNA segments ( <it>trn</it>H- <it>psb</it>A and <it>trn</it>S- <it>trnf</it>M) in 705 individuals from 47 localities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 16 haplotypes was identified, and significant genetic differentiation was revealed (<it>G</it>_ST =0.843, <it>N</it>_ST = 0.975, P < 0.05). The survey detected two highly divergent cpDNA lineages connected by a deep gap with allopatric distributions: the southern lineage with higher genetic diversity and differentiation in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the northern lineage in the region outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The divergence between these two lineages was estimated at 4.4 MYA. A correlation between the genetic and the geographic distances indicates that genetic drift was more influential than gene flow in the northern clade with lower diversity and divergence. However, a scenario of regional equilibrium between gene flow and drift was shown for the southern clade. The feature of spatial distribution of the genetic diversity of the southern lineage possibly indicated that allopatric fragmentation was dominant in the collections from the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results revealed that the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau likely resulted in the significant divergence between the lineage in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the other one outside this area. The diverse niches in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau created a wide spectrum of habitats to accumulate and accommodate new mutations. The features of genetic diversity of populations outside the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau seemed to reveal the imprints of extinction during the Glacial and the interglacial and postglacial recolonization. Our study is a typical case of the significance of the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Quaternary Glacial in spatial genetic structure of eastern Asian plants, and sheds new light on the evolution of biodiversity in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at the intraspecies level.</p