The asymmetric lossy near-perfect lens

We extend the ideas of the perfect lens recently proposed [J.B. Pendry, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3966 (2000)] to an alternative structure. We show that a slab of a medium with negative refractive index bounded by media of different positive refractive index also amplifies evanescent waves and can act as a near-perfect lens. We examine the role of the surface states in the amplification of the evanescent waves. The image resolution obtained by this asymmetric lens is more robust against the effects of absorption in the lens. In particular, we study the case of a slab of silver, which has a negative dielectric constant, with air on one side and other media such as glass or GaAs on the other side as an ‘asymmetric’ lossy near-perfect lens for p-polarized waves. It is found that retardation has an adverse effect on the imaging due to the positive magnetic permeability of silver, but we conclude that subwavelength image resolution is possible in spite of it

Silver Columnar Thin-Film-Based Half-Wavelength Antennas for Bright Directional Emission from Nanodiamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers

© 2019 American Physical Society. Nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centers in nanodiamond (ND) are a promising single-photon-source candidate for quantum technology. However, the poor N-V emission rate and low outcoupling of light significantly hinder their effective use in practical implementations. To overcome this limit, we place NDs hosting N-V centers on silver columnar thin films (CTFs) and measure an increase in emission by an order of magnitude. The CTFs consist of silver nanocolumns the length of which is chosen to be half the wavelength of the emitted light. The silver nanocolumns act as efficient optical antennas that couple to the N-V centers via the optical near field and outcouple the excitation energy of the N-V centers effectively into the optical far field. A large distribution of radiated powers from different NDs is observed. Computer simulations show this distribution to arise from the different orientations of the emitting dipoles with respect to the columnar axis. We also report that further structuring of the silver CTF into gratings yields higher photon emission

Focusing: coming to the point in metamaterials

The point of the paper is to show some limitations of geometrical optics in the analysis of subwavelength focusing. We analyze the resolution of the image of a line source radiating in the Maxwell fisheye and the Veselago-Pendry slab lens. The former optical medium is deduced from the stereographic projection of a virtual sphere and displays a heterogeneous refractive index n(r) which is proportional to the inverse of 1+r^2. The latter is described by a homogeneous, but negative, refractive index. It has been suggested that the fisheye makes a perfect lens without negative refraction [Leonhardt, Philbin arxiv:0805.4778v2]. However, we point out that the definition of super-resolution in such a heterogeneous medium should be computed with respect to the wavelength in a homogenized medium, and it is perhaps more adequate to talk about a conjugate image rather than a perfect image (the former does not necessarily contains the evanescent components of the source). We numerically find that both the Maxwell fisheye and a thick silver slab lens lead to a resolution close to lambda/3 in transverse magnetic polarization (electric field pointing orthogonal to the plane). We note a shift of the image plane in the latter lens. We also observe that two sources lead to multiple secondary images in the former lens, as confirmed from light rays travelling along geodesics of the virtual sphere. We further observe resolutions ranging from lambda/2 to nearly lambda/4 for magnetic dipoles of varying orientations of dipole moments within the fisheye in transverse electric polarization (magnetic field pointing orthogonal to the plane). Finally, we analyse the Eaton lens for which the source and its image are either located within a unit disc of air, or within a corona 1<r<2 with refractive index $n(r)=\sqrt{2/r-1}$. In both cases, the image resolution is about lambda/2.Comment: Version 2: 22 pages, 11 figures. More figures added, additional cases discussed. Misprints corrected. Keywords: Maxwell fisheye, Eaton lens; Non-Euclidean geometry; Stereographic projection; Transformation optics; Metamaterials; Perfect lens. The last version appears at J. Modern Opt. 57 (2010), no. 7, 511-52

Controlling surface plasmon polaritons in transformed coordinates

Transformational optics allow for a markedly enhanced control of the electromagnetic wave trajectories within metamaterials with interesting applications ranging from perfect lenses to invisibility cloaks, carpets, concentrators and rotators. Here, we present a review of curved anisotropic heterogeneous meta-surfaces designed using the tool of transformational plasmonics, in order to achieve a similar control for surface plasmon polaritons in cylindrical and conical carpets, as well as cylindrical cloaks, concentrators and rotators of a non-convex cross-section. Finally, we provide an asymptotic form of the geometric potential for surface plasmon polaritons on such surfaces in the limit of small curvature.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Dynamics of localization in a waveguide

This is a review of the dynamics of wave propagation through a disordered N-mode waveguide in the localized regime. The basic quantities considered are the Wigner-Smith and single-mode delay times, plus the time-dependent power spectrum of a reflected pulse. The long-time dynamics is dominated by resonant transmission over length scales much larger than the localization length. The corresponding distribution of the Wigner-Smith delay times is the Laguerre ensemble of random-matrix theory. In the power spectrum the resonances show up as a 1/t^2 tail after N^2 scattering times. In the distribution of single-mode delay times the resonances introduce a dynamic coherent backscattering effect, that provides a way to distinguish localization from absorption.Comment: 18 pages including 8 figures; minor correction

Tumor-Targeted Delivery of IL-2 by NKG2D Leads to Accumulation of Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cells in the Tumor Loci and Enhanced Anti-Tumor Effects

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been shown to promote tumor-specific T-cell proliferation and differentiation but systemic administration of IL-2 results in significant toxicity. Therefore, a strategy that can specifically deliver IL-2 to the tumor location may alleviate concerns of toxicity. Because NKG2D ligands have been shown to be highly expressed in many cancer cells but not in healthy cells, we reason that a chimeric protein consisting of NKG2D linked to IL-2 will lead to the specific targeting of IL-2 to the tumor location. Therefore, we created chimeric proteins consisting of NKG2D linked to Gaussia luciferase (GLuc; a marker protein) or IL-2 to form NKG2D-Fc-GLuc and NKG2D-Fc-IL2, respectively. We demonstrated that NKG2D linked to GLuc was able to deliver GLuc to the tumor location in vivo. Furthermore, we showed that TC-1 tumor-bearing mice intramuscularly injected with DNA encoding NKG2D-Fc-IL2, followed by electroporation, exhibited an increased number of luciferase-expressing E7-specific CD8+ T cells at the tumor location. More importantly, treatment with the DNA construct encoding NKG2D-Fc-IL2 significantly enhanced the therapeutic anti-tumor effects generated by intradermal vaccination with therapeutic HPV DNA in tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, by linking NKG2D to IL2, we are able to specifically deliver IL-2 to the tumor location, enhancing antigen-specific T-cell immune response and controlling tumor growth. Our approach represents a platform technology to specifically deliver proteins of interest to tumor loci

Hydroxyapatite Mineralization on the Calcium Chloride Blended Polyurethane Nanofiber via Biomimetic Method

Polyurethane nanofibers containing calcium chloride (CaCl2) were prepared via an electrospinning technique for the biomedical applications. Polyurethane nanofibers with different concentration of CaCl2 were electrospun, and their bioactivity evaluation was conducted by incubating in biomimetic simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. The morphology, structure and thermal properties of the polyurethane/CaCl2 composite nanofibers were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry. SEM images revealed that the CaCl2 salt incorporated homogeneously to form well-oriented nanofibers with smooth surface and uniform diameters along their lengths. The SBF incubation test confirmed the formation of apatite-like materials, exhibiting enhanced bioactive behavior of the polyurethane/CaCl2 composite nanofibers. This study demonstrated that the electrospun polyurethane containing CaCl2 composite nanofibers enhanced the in vitro bioactivity and supports the growth of apatite-like materials

Two Nuclear Localization Signals in USP1 Mediate Nuclear Import of the USP1/UAF1 Complex

The human deubiquitinase USP1 plays important roles in cancer-related processes, such as the DNA damage response, and the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of osteosarcoma cells. USP1 deubiquitinase activity is critically regulated by its interaction with the WD40 repeat-containing protein UAF1. Inhibiting the function of the USP1/UAF1 complex sensitizes cancer cells to chemotherapy, suggesting that this complex is a relevant anticancer target. Intriguingly, whereas UAF1 has been reported to locate in the cytoplasm, USP1 is a nuclear protein, although the sequence motifs that mediate its nuclear import have not been functionally characterized. Here, we identify two nuclear localization signals (NLSs) in USP1 and show that these NLSs mediate the nuclear import of the USP1/UAF1 complex. Using a cellular relocation assay based on these results, we map the UAF1-binding site to a highly conserved 100 amino acid motif in USP1. Our data support a model in which USP1 and UAF1 form a complex in the cytoplasm that subsequently translocates to the nucleus through import mediated by USP1 NLSs. Importantly, our findings have practical implications for the development of USP1-directed therapies. First, the UAF1-interacting region of USP1 identified here might be targeted to disrupt the USP1/UAF1 interaction with therapeutic purposes. On the other hand, we describe a cellular relocation assay that can be easily implemented in a high throughput setting to search for drugs that may dissociate the USP1/UAF1 complex

Association of a germline copy number polymorphism of APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B with burden of putative APOBEC-dependent mutations in breast cancer.

The somatic mutations in a cancer genome are the aggregate outcome of one or more mutational processes operative through the lifetime of the individual with cancer. Each mutational process leaves a characteristic mutational signature determined by the mechanisms of DNA damage and repair that constitute it. A role was recently proposed for the APOBEC family of cytidine deaminases in generating particular genome-wide mutational signatures and a signature of localized hypermutation called kataegis. A germline copy number polymorphism involving APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B, which effectively deletes APOBEC3B, has been associated with modestly increased risk of breast cancer. Here we show that breast cancers in carriers of the deletion show more mutations of the putative APOBEC-dependent genome-wide signatures than cancers in non-carriers. The results suggest that the APOBEC3A-APOBEC3B germline deletion allele confers cancer susceptibility through increased activity of APOBEC-dependent mutational processes, although the mechanism by which this increase in activity occurs remains unknown.We would like to thank the Wellcome Trust for support (grant reference 098051). SN-Z is a Wellcome-Beit Prize Fellow and is supported through a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship (grant reference WT100183MA). PJC is personally funded through a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Research Fellowship (grant reference WT088340MA). NB is an EHA fellow and is supported by a Lady Tata Memorial Trust award. The H.L. Holmes Award from the National Research Council Canada and an EMBO Fellowship supports AS