Pixel level optical-transfer-function design based on the surface-wave-interferometry aperture

The design of optical transfer function (OTF) is of significant importance for optical information processing in various imaging and vision systems. Typically, OTF design relies on sophisticated bulk optical arrangement in the light path of the optical systems. In this letter, we demonstrate a surface-wave-interferometry aperture (SWIA) that can be directly incorporated onto optical sensors to accomplish OTF design on the pixel level. The whole aperture design is based on the bull’s eye structure. It composes of a central hole (diameter of 300 nm) and periodic groove (period of 560 nm) on a 340 nm thick gold layer. We show, with both simulation and experiment, that different types of optical transfer functions (notch, highpass and lowpass filter) can be achieved by manipulating the interference between the direct transmission of the central hole and the surface wave (SW) component induced from the periodic groove. Pixel level OTF design provides a low-cost, ultra robust, highly compact method for numerous applications such as optofluidic microscopy, wavefront detection, darkfield imaging, and computational photography

Is there still a weather anomaly? An investigation of stock and foreign exchange markets

Since Saunders (1993), there has been ongoing research on whether the weather can affect asset prices. Our study of the impact of weather on stock and foreign exchange (henceforth FX) markets shows that the weather has no effect during 2002–2018, suggesting that any effect may have dissipated after discovery as practitioners have tried to use investment vehicles to exploit it. The results indicate that mood changes caused by the weather do not significantly affect FX and stock returns

Fully automated synthesis of [18F]T807, a PET tau tracer for Alzheimer’s disease

The authentic standard T807 and its nitro-precursor T807P as well as t-Boc-protected T807P precursor for radiolabeling were synthesized from (4-bromophenyl)boronic acid, 3-bromo-4-nitropyridine and 3-bromo-6-nitropyridine with overall chemical yield 27% in three steps, 4–7% in three to five steps, and 3–8% in four to five steps, respectively. [18F]T807 was synthesized from T807P by the nucleophilic [18F]fluorination with K[18F]F/Kryptofix 2.2.2 in DMSO at 140 °C followed by reduction with Fe powder/HCOOH through manual synthesis with 5–10% decay corrected radiochemical yield in two steps. [18F]T807 was also synthesized from t-Boc-protected T807P by a concurrent [18F]fluorination and deprotection with K[18F]F/Kryptofix 2.2.2 in DMSO at 140 °C and purified by HPLC-SPE method in a home-built automated [18F]radiosynthesis module with 20–30% decay corrected radiochemical yield in one step. The specific activity of [18F]T807 at end of bombardment (EOB) was 37–370 GBq/μmol

Characterization of acceptance angles of small circular apertures

We characterize the acceptance angles of small circular apertures for light collection by simulations and experimental measurements. By examining the full width half maximum acceptance angle as a function of the aperture size, we show that the acceptance angle of a circular aperture reaches a minimum of 67 deg before rebounding around the transition between single mode and multimode transmission (approximately 400 nm). This behavior can be explained by the change of mode-coupling efficiency during the transition from single mode to multimode propagation regime. This work in understanding of the behavior of light transmission through subwavelength apertures will guide the design of better aperture based imaging devices where apertures are used as light collection units

Research on the Application of Blockchain in SMEs Credit Risk

The credit of an enterprise is related to its own development. This paper mainly discusses the relationship between the credit risk of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the application degree of blockchain. 64 listed companies with block chain technology as the core theme are selected to analyze their comprehensive financial data. Factor analysis is used to quantitatively evaluate the application degree of blockchain in SMEs, and then the Logistic model is used to evaluate the credit risk of SMEs. Finally, combining the application degree of blockchain in small and medium-sized enterprises and the credit risk assessment of these two groups of data. It confirms the conclusion that the higher the degree of blockchain application, the closer the supply chain finance relationship, and the better the credit status

Synthesis of carbon-11-labeled CK1 inhibitors as new potential PET radiotracers for imaging of Alzheimer’s disease

The reference standards methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate (5a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-methoxybenzamide (5c), and their corresponding desmethylated precursors 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoic acid (6a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-hydroxybenzamide (6b), were synthesized from 5-amino-2,2-difluoro-1,3-benzodioxole and 3-substituted benzoic acids in 5 and 6 steps with 33% and 11%, 30% and 7% overall chemical yield, respectively. Carbon-11-labeled casein kinase 1 (CK1) inhibitors, [11C]methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate ([11C]5a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-[11C]methoxybenzamide ([11C]5c), were prepared from their O-desmethylated precursor 6a or 6b with [11C]CH3OTf through O-[11C]methylation and isolated by HPLC combined with SPE in 40–45% radiochemical yield, based on [11C]CO2 and decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB). The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the molar activity (MA) at EOB was 370–740 GBq/μmol with a total synthesis time of ∼40-min from EOB

Synthesis of [11C]MK-1064 as a new PET radioligand for imaging of orexin-2 receptor

The reference standard MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5,6-dimethoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} was synthesized from methyl 2-chloro-5-iodonicotinate and 5-(chloropyridin-3-yl)boronic acid in 4 steps with 33% overall chemical yield. The precursor desmethyl-MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5-hydroxy-6-methoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} for radiolabeling was synthesized from 2-bromopyridin-3-ol and 5″-chloro-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxylic acid in 6 steps with 17% overall chemical yield. The target tracer [11C]MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5-[11C]methoxy-6-methoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} was prepared by O-[11C]methylation of its corresponding precursor desmethyl-MK-1064 with [11C]CH3OTf under basic condition and isolated by a simplified solid-phase extraction (SPE) method in 50–60% decay corrected radiochemical yields based on [11C]CO2 at end of bombardment (EOB). The overall synthesis time from EOB was 23 min, the radiochemical purity was >99%, and the specific activity at end of synthesis (EOS) was 185–555 GBq/μmol