247 research outputs found
Silicon nitride metalenses for unpolarized high-NA visible imaging
As one of nanoscale planar structures, metasurface has shown excellent
superiorities on manipulating light intensity, phase and/or polarization with
specially designed nanoposts pattern. It allows to miniature a bulky optical
lens into the chip-size metalens with wavelength-order thickness, playing an
unprecedented role in visible imaging systems (e.g. ultrawide-angle lens and
telephoto). However, a CMOS-compatible metalens has yet to be achieved in the
visible region due to the limitation on material properties such as
transmission and compatibility. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a divergent
metalens based on silicon nitride platform with large numerical aperture
(NA~0.98) and high transmission (~0.8) for unpolarized visible light,
fabricated by a 695-nm-thick hexagonal silicon nitride array with a minimum
space of 42 nm between adjacent nanoposts. Nearly diffraction-limit virtual
focus spots are achieved within the visible region. Such metalens enables to
shrink objects into a micro-scale size field of view as small as a single-mode
fiber core. Furthermore, a macroscopic metalens with 1-cm-diameter is also
realized including over half billion nanoposts, showing a potential application
of wide viewing-angle functionality. Thanks to the high-transmission and
CMOS-compatibility of silicon nitride, our findings may open a new door for the
miniaturization of optical lenses in the fields of optical fibers,
microendoscopes, smart phones, aerial cameras, beam shaping, and other
integrated on-chip devices.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Molecular Tweezers-like Calix[4]arene Based Alkaline Earth Metal Cation (Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+) Chemosensor and Its Imaging in Living Cells and Zebrafish
Although alkaline earth metal cations play an important role in our daily life, little attention has been paid to the field of fast quantitative analysis of their content due to a lack of satisfactory precision and a fast and convenient means of detection. In this study, we have designed a set of molecular tweezers based on the calix[4]arene chemosensor L, which was found to exhibit high selectivity and sensitivity toward Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ (by UV-vis and fluorescence methods) with low detection limits of the order of 10-7 to 10-8 M and high association constants (of the order of 106). More significantly, sensor L not only can recognize Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ but also can further discriminate between these three cations via the differing red shifts in their UV-vis spectra (560 nm for L·Ca2+, 570 nm for L·Sr2+, and 580 nm for L·Ba2+ complex) which is attributed to their different atomic radii. A rare synergistic effect for the recognition mechanism has been demonstrated by 1H NMR spectroscopic titration. Sensor L constructed a high shielding field by the cooperation of Tris with alkaline earth metal ion after complex. Additionally, the presence of acetoxymethyl group in sensor L results in enhancement of cell permeability, and as a consequence, sensor L exhibited excellent sensing and imaging (in vivo) in living cells and in zebrafish
Atomically resolved electrically active intragrain interfaces in perovskite semiconductors
Deciphering the atomic and electronic structures of interfaces is key to developing state-of-the-art perovskite semiconductors. However, conventional characterization techniques have limited previous studies mainly to grain-boundary interfaces, whereas the intragrain-interface microstructures and their electronic properties have been much less revealed. Herein using scanning transmission electron microscopy, we resolved the atomic-scale structural information on three prototypical intragrain interfaces, unraveling intriguing features clearly different from those from previous observations based on standalone films or nanomaterial samples. These intragrain interfaces include composition boundaries formed by heterogeneous ion distribution, stacking faults resulted from wrongly stacked crystal planes, and symmetrical twinning boundaries. The atomic-scale imaging of these intragrain interfaces enables us to build unequivocal models for the ab initio calculation of electronic properties. Our results suggest that these structure interfaces are generally electronically benign, whereas their dynamic interaction with point defects can still evoke detrimental effects. This work paves the way toward a more complete fundamental understanding of the microscopic structure–property–performance relationship in metal halide perovskites
Surgical outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma with extrahepatic bile duct tumor thrombus: a multicenter study
BackgroundThe long-term prognosis after surgery of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and extrahepatic bile duct tumor thrombus (Ex-BDTT) remains unknown. We aimed to identify the surgical outcomes of patients with HCC and Ex-BDTT.MethodsA total of 138 patients with Ex-BDTT who underwent hepatectomy with preservation of the extrahepatic bile duct from five large hospitals in China between January 2009 and December 2017 were included. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).ResultsWith a median follow-up of 60 months (range, 1–127.8 months), the median OS and RFS of the patients were 28.6 and 8.9 months, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates of HCC patients with Ex-BDTT were 71.7%, 41.2%, and 33.5%, respectively, and the corresponding RFS rates were 43.5%, 21.7%, and 20.0%, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified that major hepatectomy, R0 resection, and major vascular invasion were independent prognostic factors for OS and RFS. In addition, preoperative serum total bilirubin ≥ 4.2 mg/dL was an independent prognostic factor for RFS.ConclusionMajor hepatectomy with preservation of the extrahepatic bile duct can provide favorable long-term survival for HCC patients with Ex-BDTT
Clinical characteristics and acute complication of COVID-19 patients with diabetes: a multicenter, retrospective study in Southern China
AimsThis study aims to describe the clinical characteristics, laboratory data and complications of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) since epidemic prevention and control optimization was adjusted in December 2022 in China.MethodsThis retrospective multicenter study included 298 patients with confirmed type 2 diabetes mellitus with or without COVID-19. We collected data from the first wave of the pandemic in The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Loudi Central Hospital and The First People’s Hospital of Xiangtan from December 1, 2022 to February 1, 2023. We extracted baseline data, clinical symptoms, acute complications, laboratory findings, treatment and outcome data of each patient from electronic medical records.ResultsFor among 298 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes, 136 (45.6%) were COVID-19 uninfected, and 162 (54.4%) were COVID-19 infected. We found that the incidence of cough, fatigue, fever, muscle soreness, sore throat, shortness of breath, hyposmia, hypogeusia and polyphagia (all p<0.01) were significantly higher in the exposure group. They showed higher levels of ketone (p=0.04), creatinine (p<0.01), blood potassium (p=0.01) and more diabetic ketoacidosis (p<0.01). Patients with COVID-19 less use of metformin (p<0.01), thiazolidinediones (p<0.01) and SGLT2 (p<0.01) compared with patients without COVID-19.ConclusionCOVID-19 patients with diabetes showed more severe respiratory and constitutional symptoms and an increased proportion of hyposmia and hypogeusia. Moreover, COVID-19 patients with diabetes have a higher incidence of acute complications, are more prone to worsening renal function, and are more cautious about the use of antidiabetic drugs
Study of and
The decays and have been
investigated with a sample of 225.2 million events collected with the
BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The branching fractions are
determined to be and . Distributions of the angle
between the proton or anti-neutron and the beam direction are well
described by the form , and we find
for and
for . Our branching-fraction
results suggest a large phase angle between the strong and electromagnetic
amplitudes describing the decay.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, the 2nd version, submitted to PR
Search for the Lepton Flavor Violation Process at BESIII
We search for the lepton-flavor-violating decay of the into an
electron and a muon using events
collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. Four candidate
events are found in the signal region, consistent with background expectations.
An upper limit on the branching fraction of (90% C.L.) is obtained
First observation of the M1 transition
Using a sample of 106 million \psi(3686) events collected with the BESIII
detector at the BEPCII storage ring, we have made the first measurement of the
M1 transition between the radially excited charmonium S-wave spin-triplet and
the radially excited S-wave spin-singlet states: \psi(3686)\to\gamma\eta_c(2S).
Analyses of the processes \psi(2S)\to \gamma\eta_c(2S) with \eta_c(2S)\to
\K_S^0 K\pi and K^+K^-\pi^0 gave an \eta_c(2S) signal with a statistical
significance of greater than 10 standard deviations under a wide range of
assumptions about the signal and background properties. The data are used to
obtain measurements of the \eta_c(2S) mass (M(\eta_c(2S))=3637.6\pm
2.9_\mathrm{stat}\pm 1.6_\mathrm{sys} MeV/c^2), width
(\Gamma(\eta_c(2S))=16.9\pm 6.4_\mathrm{stat}\pm 4.8_\mathrm{sys} MeV), and the
product branching fraction (\BR(\psi(3686)\to \gamma\eta_c(2S))\times
\BR(\eta_c(2S)\to K\bar K\pi) = (1.30\pm 0.20_\mathrm{stat}\pm
0.30_\mathrm{sys})\times 10^{-5}). Combining our result with a BaBar
measurement of \BR(\eta_c(2S)\to K\bar K \pi), we find the branching fraction
of the M1 transition to be \BR(\psi(3686)\to\gamma\eta_c(2S)) = (6.8\pm
1.1_\mathrm{stat}\pm 4.5_\mathrm{sys})\times 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl
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