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Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a common cause of death, leading to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Features of the CO poisoning with low carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels remain to be characterized. This study collected a total of 307 CO poisoning cases from Shanghai Public Security Bureau, an official organization that handles the most complicated and life-threatening cases across Shanghai municipality in China, and regrouped these cases into three categories: group 1, 10% p = 0.03). All the CO poisoning from group 2 and 3 occurred in enclosed spaces, whereas cases from group 1 died additionally in outdoor spaces (p = 0.01). 81.03% of group 1 cases died in fire circumstances, while only 45.57% from group 2 and 30.59% from group 3 were fire-related (p = 0.00). Accordingly, group 1 was mostly related with fire burns, while group 2 or 3 were largely associated with gas leakage (p = 0.00). A combination with alcohol, but not other psychotropic drugs, associated with significant higher levels of blood COHb% in fire-unrelated (p = 0.021) but not fire-related cases (p = 0.23). Five extremely low COHb% (

Nanophotonics, driven by low processing power and high density integration, is appearing as the next logical step for microwave photonics. Optical frequency combs (OFCs), which play a vital role in integrated microwave photonics, have not yet generated using nano-structured devices. In this paper, we propose OFC generation based on all-optical modulation of nanophotonic structures. A theoretical model based on temporal coupled mode theory is developed to describe cascaded all-optical photonic crystal intensity and phase modulators. Using a modulation light with a sinusoidal waveform, a separate carrier light is modulated to generate an OFC. By manipulating the modulation power and device dimensions, a flat OFC that spans over a 600 GHz is delivered. The proposed system offers OFC generation with tunable comb line spacing using devices with high density integration capabilities.

Sufficient water and fertilizer inputs in agriculture play a major role in crop growth, production, and quality. In this study, the response of sugarcane to limited water irrigation and foliar application of potassium salt of active phosphorus (PSAP) for photosynthetic responses were examined, and PSAP's role in limited water irrigation management was assessed. Sugarcane plants were subjected to limited irrigation (95-90 and 45-40% FC) after three months of germination, followed by a foliar spray (0, 2, 4, 6, and 10 M) of PSAP. The obtained results indicated that limited water irrigation negatively affected sugarcane growth and reduced leaf gas exchange activities. However, the application of PSAP increased the photosynthetic activities by protecting the photosynthetic machinery during unfavorable conditions. Mathematical modeling, a Skewed model, was developed and compared with the existing Gaussian model to describe the photosynthetic responses of sugarcane leaves under the limited irrigation with and without PSAP application. The models fitted well with the observed values, and the predicted photosynthetic parameters were in close relationship with the obtained results. The Skewed model was found to be better than the Gaussian model in describing the photosynthetic parameters of plant leaves positioned over a stem of limited water irrigation and applied PSAP application and is recommended for further application.

The performances of a fiber laser stabilized by a whispering-gallery-mode(WGM) resonator depends heavily on the coupling of the resonator and fiber system, and is labile due to the lasing mode competitions among excitable WGMs. Here, we propose a hybrid cavity where a linear fiber cavity is coupled by a WGM resonator for dual stabilizations of the laser mode, and experimentally demonstrate single-mode lasing emission with stable and high signal to noise ratio (up to 61 dB), narrow linewidth (low to ∼5 kHz) operations. By adjusting the coupling of the linear fiber cavity and the WGM resonator, the fiber laser can operate in two- to four- mode lasing without mode hopping as well.

Purpose To investigate whether acquiring basic knee arthroscopic skills via a spaced retraining schedule could prevent skills deterioration and achieve further skills improvement. Methods In the learning phase, 16 residents with no previous hands-on experience in practicing arthroscopic skills were asked to perform basic arthroscopic tasks on a simulator until they attained perfect scores in each task. Immediately after completing the learning phase, a pretest was performed to assess their performance. Next, they were randomly assigned into 2 groups. The spaced retraining group, which undertook a spaced repetitive training phase with a fixed-time interval, returned on days 2, 4 and 6 to repeat the same tasks for 20 minutes per day, whereas the control group did nothing. On day 7, all participants performed a posttest. A 2 × 2 mixed analysis of variance model was used for statistical analysis. Results Significant differences between the 2 groups were found in task completion time (P = .003) and camera path length (P = .043) but not cartilage injury (P = .186). Residents in the spaced retraining group decreased their task completion time (163.2 ± 23.9 seconds) whereas the task time in the control group increased (351.3 ± 25.5 seconds). The same pattern was found with the camera path length. Conclusions Implementing a spaced retraining schedule in 1 week resulted in a reduced task completion time and camera path length but no significant reduction in cartilage injury. It appears that introducing a spaced retraining schedule to retain arthroscopic skills acquired through massed learning may be advantageous. Clinical Relevance In consideration of the training time available to residents and the trend toward massed learning, this spaced retraining schedule may offer a cost-effective and convenient way for residents to maintain and improve their basic arthroscopic skills with no significant increase in time invested.

In this work, the authors demonstrate the control of quality factor (Q‐factor) is laterally coupled vertical cavities. A 3 μm‐side‐length square cavity directly connected to a 1.5 μm‐width, 10 μm‐length Fabry–Perot (FP) cavity has been fabricated and measured. Dynamic tuning of the Q‐factor has been successfully observed by bringing the square cavity and FP cavity into resonance. The vertical‐cavity‐based Q‐factor control scheme provides a new choice for the modulation of light and holds potentials for applications associated with optical information processing.

Microcavity-feedback fiber-loop laser gives a promise for single-mode and tunable lasing. Here, a whispering gallery mode(WGM) microcavity-feedback fiber-loop laser is constructed and dynamic lasing mechanisms are investigated by rate equation models. For the single-mode lasing, the results show that the lasing efficiency can be maximized by tuning the coupling of waveguide and WGM microcavity, and two critical coupling rates exist for a fixed internal coupling coefficient of clockwise and counter-clockwise WGMs. By simply increasing the total length of fiber-loop laser, multi-mode lasing originated from one WGM feedback of a silica microsphere is explored, the lasing behaviors are well predicted by the rate equations and the WGM resonance linewidth can be effectively evaluated from the beat notes bandwidth of multiple lasings. We wish the results demonstrated here can be used for optimization on the lasing output of a fiber-loop laser with an external feedback mirror.

In this paper, we propose a novel surface plasmon resonance sensor for both liquid and gas detections, which is based on the two dielectric planar waveguide (PWG)-coupled plasmonic structure. Two sharp Fano-type resonances, which arise from the electromagnetic coupling between surface plasmon polariton (SPP) and PWG modes, appear in the reflection curve, and they can be used to monitor the minute changes of the refractive indices of gas and liquid due to their high imaging sensitivities (> 9.0 × 103 RIU− 1). The Fano resonance angles and the figures of merit for imaging sensitivity can be effectively manipulated by the thicknesses of guiding layers, and the sensor system can measure over a wide range of the refractive indices of sensing media.

Objective Endovascular treatment of unruptured wide-necked aneurysms located at the middle cerebral artery bifurcation remains challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular treatment for middle cerebral artery bifurcation unruptured wide-necked aneurysms using a low-profile visualized intraluminal support (LVIS) stent. Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients with middle cerebral artery bifurcation unruptured wide-necked aneurysms treated using an LVIS device at our institution between October 2014 and December 2018. Clinical presentation, aneurysmal characteristics, technical feasibility, perioperative complications, clinical outcome, and angiographic and clinical follow-up results were evaluated. Results Fifty-seven patients with 57 wide-necked aneurysms arising from the middle cerebral artery bifurcation were identified. The technical success rate of stent deployment was 100%. Immediate postoperative angiograms showed Raymond 1 in 26 aneurysms (45.6%), Raymond 2 in 10 (17.6%), and Raymond 3 in 21 (36.8%). Perioperative complications developed in two patients (3.5%), including one procedure-related hemorrhagic event and one thromboembolic event. The follow-up angiogram was available for 47 aneurysms obtained at an average of 11.7 months (range, 5 to 49 months) after intervention; the latest follow-up angiograms revealed complete occlusion in 37 (78.7%) aneurysms, improvement in three (6.4%), stabilization in five (10.6%), and recanalization in two (4.3%). During the follow-up, one patient was found to have in-stent stenosis and two patients were found to have slow flow or occlusion of the jailed branch. All three of these patients were asymptomatic. No hemorrhagic or thromboembolic events occurred during clinical follow-up. Conclusions Our experience suggests that endovascular treatment of middle cerebral artery bifurcation unruptured wide-necked aneurysms with an LVIS stent is safe and effective, but the effect on branches needs to be further studied.

In this work, we present the assembly of a γ-In2Se3/GaAs heterostructure-based photodetector linear array composed of 1 × 10 device units. The layered γ-In2Se3 films with a well-defined pattern are deposited directly onto a planar GaAs substrate via radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering deposition assisted by a pre-photolithography process. The as-fabricated heterojunction exhibits an apparent photovoltaic effect, which endows the device with a function to operate as a self-driven photodetector. The critical photoresponse performance parameters in terms of the Ilight/Idark ratio, responsivity (R), specific detectivity (D*) and response speed can reach 1.29 × 104, 0.25 A W−1, 7.34 × 1012 Jones and 23.6/146.7 μs (rise/fall times), respectively, upon 660 nm light irradiation at 0 V. What is more, further device evaluation reveals that the photodetector array shows good uniformity with a minor unit-to-unit variation. The above merits endow the photodetector array with the ability to monitor a moving optical signal and to record an “E” image produced by visible illumination. It is believed that the present photodetector array is very promising for some optoelectronic purposes such as real-time light trajectory tracking and visible light image sensing applications.

Background Measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) is essential for glaucoma patients. Many factors such as central corneal thickness (CCT) can affect the accuracy of IOP measurement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the agreement of IOP measured by non-contact tonometer (NCT), iCare pro rebound tonometer (iCare), and Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) in different IOP group. Methods This was a Hospital-based cross-sectional study. Two hundred subjects were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent IOP measurement using an NCT–iCare–GAT sequence. Bland-Altman, Pearson correlation and intraclass correlation analysis were performed using SPSS 17.0 software. The influence of CCT on each IOP measurement methods was evaluated by linear regression analysis. Results The mean difference (Δ) of NCT–GAT did not differ from (Δ) iCare–GAT in IOP 30 mmHg group (P P P Conclusions ICare pro shows a higher agreement with GAT over a wide range of IOP compared with NCT. The consistency between the three tonometers was similar in a low and normal IOP range. However, NCT shows a greater overestimate of IOP in moderate and higher IOP group. The variability of IOP measurement affected by CCT is NCT > iCare pro > GAT.

In this paper, a dynamic operational linear regulator (DOLR) based on a GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) and wide-bandwidth operational amplifier was developed and implemented. The driving current could be regulated and controlled by the DOLR for 632 nm laser diodes. The constant-current mode for the continuous-wave laser and the pulse-width modulation (PWM) mode for the short-pulsed laser were realizable using this DOLR. This study focused on the rising-edge time change on the laser driving current when the DOLR was operated under the high-frequency PWM mode, because the parasitic components on the GaN HEMT, laser diodes, printed circuit board, and power wires could influence the current’s dynamic behavior. Therefore, the equivalent circuit models of the laser diode and GaN HEMT were applied to establish a DOLR simulation circuit in order to observe the rising-edge time change on the laser driving current. A DOLR prototype was achieved, and so experimental waveform measurements could be implemented to verify the DOLR simulation and operation.

A laser headlight power supply unit (LHPSU) was implemented and developed to drive laser diodes. The LHPSU possessed with the current error amplifier, the buck–boost converter, and the buck–boost converter controller. In the high ambient air temperature, when the dynamic resistance of the laser diode was increased, the the buck–boost converter operated in the buck mode, and the current error amplifier adopted the proportional-integral control, the laser diode driving current caused a start-up current spike, this over-specified current spike damages to the laser diode configuration, and the optical output power would be decayed. Thus, a four-phase gain control method can be used to reduce the ignited current spike of the laser diode.

IntroductionTo date, there is no treatment with proven efficacy for cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis (CLV). Several reports have suggested that CLV responds favorably to corticosteroids, colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), azathioprine, and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). To the best of our knowledge, the oral small molecule Janus kinase inhibitor, tofacitinib, plays an important role in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Therefore, tofacitinib may be a prospective therapy in patients with CLV.Case PresentationA 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a 5-year history of symmetric skin lesions mainly affecting both lower extremities. The results for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), anti-extracted nuclear antigens (ENA) autoantibodies, anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) antibodies, and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were all negative. The definite diagnosis of CLV was determined by a skin biopsy. However, the patient exhibited a poor response to prednisone, HCQ, methotrexate, colchicine, azathioprine, and tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablets (TGTs) treatments. She was then treated with oral tofacitinib (5 mg twice daily) and oral prednisone (25 mg daily).OutcomesHer skin lesions gradually improved over a period of 4 weeks. Two months later, the skin ulcers completely resolved. No evidence of recurrence of skin ulcers was observed during a 6-month follow-up.ConclusionWe present the first case of a female patient receiving short-term tofacitinib therapy for refractory CLV. Tofacitinib may be a promising oral alternative for patients with CLV. However, its efficacy and safety require further appraisal through clinical trials.

BackgroundDysphonia influences the quality of life by interfering with communication. However, a laryngoscopic examination is expensive and not readily accessible in primary care units. Experienced laryngologists are required to achieve an accurate diagnosis.ObjectiveThis study sought to detect various vocal fold diseases through pathological voice recognition using artificial intelligence.MethodsWe collected 189 normal voice samples and 552 samples of individuals with voice disorders, including vocal atrophy (n=224), unilateral vocal paralysis (n=50), organic vocal fold lesions (n=248), and adductor spasmodic dysphonia (n=30). The 741 samples were divided into 2 sets: 593 samples as the training set and 148 samples as the testing set. A convolutional neural network approach was applied to train the model, and findings were compared with those of human specialists.ResultsThe convolutional neural network model achieved a sensitivity of 0.66, a specificity of 0.91, and an overall accuracy of 66.9% for distinguishing normal voice, vocal atrophy, unilateral vocal paralysis, organic vocal fold lesions, and adductor spasmodic dysphonia. Compared with the accuracy of human specialists, the overall accuracy rates were 60.1% and 56.1% for the 2 laryngologists and 51.4% and 43.2% for the 2 general ear, nose, and throat doctors.ConclusionsVoice alone could be used for common vocal fold disease recognition through a deep learning approach after training with our Mandarin pathological voice database. This approach involving artificial intelligence could be clinically useful for screening general vocal fold disease using the voice. The approach includes a quick survey and a general health examination. It can be applied during telemedicine in areas with primary care units lacking laryngoscopic abilities. It could support physicians when prescreening cases by allowing for invasive examinations to be performed only for cases involving problems with automatic recognition or listening and for professional analyses of other clinical examination results that reveal doubts about the presence of pathologies.

Liquid crystal display (LCD) is widely used in various display applications such as cellular phones, PC monitors, televisions (TVs), multimedia products, among others. An LCD backlight module usually includes backlight sources, a light-diffusion plate, a reflector, a brightness-enhancement film (BEF) and a light-guide plate (LGP). Conventionally, cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) are required to provide sufficient backlighting for LCD panels [1-5]. Growing concerns about environmental issues will inhibit the use of CCFLs that contain poisonous mercury. Owing to improvement in long operative life, wider operation temperature range, and the simplicity of driver circuit work with low and safe voltages, light emitting diode (LED) has gradually substituted the CCFL as backlight [6-9]. This chapter will introduce some LED backlight driving techniques for LCD panels. Some dimming control methods will also be introduced and compared for regulating the LED current and brightness of the LED backlight system. The principal goal of this chapter is to ensure that readers become familiar with LED backlight driving techniques for LCD panels. We begin this chapter with a look at three LCD backlight structures: edge-light type, bottom-light type and hollow type. Figure 1(a) shows the bottom-light structure. Because of its high-luminance feature, the bottom-light structure is commonly used for PC monitors and TVs. With regard to the luminance uniformity on an LCD panel, a light-mixed zone is necessary between the diffusion plate and the light sources. This zone causes undesirable thickness for large-sized TV applications. Figure 1(b) shows the hollow type structure in which an LGP is used to reduce the thickness of the light-mixed zone. The good qualities of this type pertain to its compact shape, high luminance and good thermal dissipation. Figure 1(c) shows the edge-light structure commonly used in a small-scale LCD panel. This type is of compact shape and low power consumption, so it is suitable for notebook PCs and personal digital assistant (PDA) products. There are two types of LEDs for backlight sources, the white-light LEDs and RGB LEDs. The white-light LED is composed of a blue LED coated with yellow phosphor. Simple driving feature make it as a popular choice for new generation of LCD backlight sources in portable display products. Its color filter divides the emitted white light into RGB sub-pixels to present color pictures. Thicknesses of O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w .in te ch w eb .o rg

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this hospital clinic based study was to evaluate the potential risk factors associated with the prevalence of MetS in RA population. METHODS From January 2015 to October 2018, 717 patients with RA and 717 healthy controls who were treated or performed physical examination in Tianjin First Central Hospital were enrolled in this study. The basic disease diagnoses were recorded. A questionnaire was performed on all participants to assess the demographic details of the RA cohort. Moreover, laboratory indicators related to glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with RA were also detected. The potential risk factors for MetS were also analyzed. RESULTS The prevalence of MetS were 31.2% and 34.2% in case and control groups, respectively (P = .22). There were lower levels of HDL-C, obesity, TG, LDL-C and TC in case group than control group (all P

In this paper, a laser headlight power converter (LHPC) was developed to drive the InGaN-based blue beam laser diode (BBLD). The LHPC was composed of the four–switch step-up step-down converter (FSSUSDC), the FSSUSDC controller, and the current error compensator (CEC). When the BBLD dynamic resistance was increased under the high ambient air temperature, the FSSUSDC operated in the step-down mode, and the CEC employed the proportional-integral control, the BBLD driving current exhibited an ignition current spike, which could destroy the semiconductor material of the BBLD, resulting in optical output power decay. Therefore, a new four-gradation gain (FGG) control method was proposed to mitigate the ignition current spike of the BBLD. This paper presented the BBLD temperature characteristic, an analysis of the LHPC ignition current, a CEC compensation design, and an analysis and design of the FGG control.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of artificial neural networks (ANN) in predicting intra-abdominal infection in moderately severe (MASP) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) compared with that of a logistic regression model (LRM). METHODS Patients suffering from MSAP or SAP from July 2014 to June 2017 in three affiliated hospitals of the Army Medical University in Chongqing, China, were enrolled in this study. A univariate analysis was used to determine the different parameters between patients with and without intra-abdominal infection. Subsequently, these parameters were used to build LRM and ANN. RESULTS Altogether 263 patients with MSAP or SAP were enrolled in this retrospective study. A total of 16 parameters that differed between patients with and without intra-abdominal infection were used to construct both models. The sensitivity of ANN and LRM was 80.99% (95% confidence interval [CI] 72.63-87.33) and 70.25% (95% CI 61.15-78.04), respectively (P > 0.05), whereas the specificity was 89.44% (95% CI 82.89-93.77) and 77.46% (95% CI 69.54-83.87), respectively (P

Surgery with adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment vs surgery alone for resectable pancreatic cancer: A network meta-analysis

Using cascaded intensity and phase modulators to achieve frequency combs is a common technique. However, this technique has not yet been employed to achieve optical frequency combs (OFCs) at the nanoscale. A theoretical model based on temporal coupled mode theory is developed to simulate an all-optical photonic crystal modulator. The concepts used to generate an OFC based on electro-optic modulators are then extended to the nanophotonic domain. It is theoretically proven that an OFC can be generated via all optical modulation of nanophotonic devices.

The integration of one more gain media in droplet microlasers with morphology-dependent modes, which can be employed in optofluidic systems as multi-wavelength lasing sources, is highly attractive and demands new cavity design and fabrication approaches. Here, cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) droplets with an integrative triple-emulsion cavity are fabricated via glass-capillary-based microfluidic technologies and dual-gain lasing with variable modes, flexibly configured by the combination and incorporation of gain dyes and CLCs into both the core and shell. The distributed feedback (DFB) mode, formed by the feedback from the self-assembled helix periodic structure of CLCs, the whispering gallery (WG) mode, and the hybrid, is selectively excited by controlling the spatial coupling between the pump beam and the droplet with gain. With the merits of dual-gain and controllable lasing, a prototype dual-wavelength-ratiometric thermometer with self-calibration capability is expected to be developed. Furthermore, the anisotropic CLC core is substituted with an isotropic fluid and the gain from the CLC shell is additionally removed, DFB lasings in both shell and core are absent, and only Bragg-shell reflection-based hybrid modes are excited for lasing. The CLC droplet microlasers with an integrative cavity are expected to provide a new route to future lab-on-chip (LOC) applications.

A γ-In2Se3/Si heterostructure phototransistor with a broadened photoresponse has been developed, presenting a responsivity, specific detectivity and response speed of 10.24 A W−1, 8.63 × 1012 Jones and 0.76/0.85 ms (rise time/fall time) at 450 nm, respectively. The high responsivity could be attributed to the depressed dark current of the γ-In2Se3 nanofilm and the high gain arising from the gating effect of the phototransistor. Further analysis reveals that the relatively high responsivity and fast response speed facilitate the application of the device in real-time and accurate health monitoring, such as heart rate detection.

The electricity demand has increased due to the rapid development of the digital economy. The mechanisms of demand-side management are thus proposed to reduce the consumption while electricity companies forecast the appearance of excessive peak load which may incur the instability of electrical grids. However, DSM solutions are generally devised as the way of compulsively controlling home appliances but the interruption is not a pleasurable mechanism. To address this issue, we figure out an advertising strategy based on the residential electricity data acquired from smart meters. By recommending preference-related coupons to residents, we can induce residents to go outside to use the coupon while helping the peak load reduction with pleasure, leading to the win-win result between users and electricity companies. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, called DMAR, which combines the directed inference and the mediated inference to infer residents’ preferences based on their electricity usage. Through experimental studies on the real data of smart meters from the power company, we demonstrate that our method can outperform other baselines in the preference inference task. Meanwhile, we also build a line bot system to implement our advertisement service for the real-world residents. Both offline and online experiments show the practicability of the proposed DMAR framework.

Connexins (Cxs) are involved in the brain metastasis of lung cancer cells. Thus, it is necessary to determine whether gap junction-forming Cxs are involved in the communication between lung cancer cells and the host cells, such as endothelial cells, forming the brain–blood-barrier, and cells in the central nervous system. Data from multiple studies support that Cxs function as tumor suppressors during lung cancer occurrence. However, recent evidence suggests that during metastasis to the brain, cancer cells establish communication with the host. This review discusses junctional or non-junctional hemichannel studies in lung cancer development and brain metastasis, highlighting important unanswered questions and controversies.

In this study, a laser headlight electrical system was developed and implemented to measure and compare the electro-optic characteristics of the blue-beam laser diodes (BBLDs). To observe different temperatures (from negative to positive temperatures) that cause optical output power (OOP) and electrical power variations of the BBLDs, BBLDs were placed in an ambient temperature testing chamber, and the electro-optic characteristics of the BBLDs were measured to estimate the electro-optic conversion efficiencies. The different OOPs and electro-optic conversion efficiencies at different temperatures can be obtained when OOP adjustment was performed by average current and low-frequency pulse-duty cycle modulation technologies. Moreover, this study developed a human&ndash, machine interface using the LabVIEW software, therefore, the laser headlight electrical system can be controlled and monitored by a computer with the controller area network (CAN) bus communication. Finally, the prototype of the laser headlight electrical system was achieved, and three BBLDs were driven, furthermore, the white light of the headlight can be produced by mixing blue laser beams with a yellow fluorescence ceramic wafer.

In this paper, a novel method to generate optical frequency combs (OFCs) using nanoscale structures is explored. The growing demand for on-chip photonic processing dictates the need for multi-wavelength light sources, such as OFCs, that can be densely integrated with low processing power. Photonic crystal structues provide a viable method to generate all-optical modulation with sub-femto joule switching power and high density integration potential. This method of all-optical modulation is utilised here to generate an OFC from photonic crystal nanocavities and waveguides. Very- at-topped optical frequency combs with a small intensity variation can be generated based on theoretical predictions via detailed analysis of coupled mode theory for photonic crystal nanocavities and waveguides.

Motivated by social, economic and health factors, food product manufacturers are increasingly attracted towards the incorporation of potato into snack foods. However, the lack of gluten degrades the mechanical properties of potato dough, posing a challenge in ensuring optimal manufacturing processes. An important process of industrial dough production is the sheeting or rolling process. This study developed a computational design tool to ensure smooth sheeting processes for potato doughs. A visco-hyperelastic constitutive model was calibrated using uniaxial compression data, providing the required material parameters for the rolling simulation. The model output was validated through tests on a laboratory small-scale instrumented rolling rig, where the roller speed and roll gap were varied to determine the effect on the rolling force and sheet exit thickness. A good agreement between the experimental and numerical results for the roll force and sheet exit thickness was found for smaller reduction ratios. At larger reductions, the numerical rolling force and exit thickness values were higher than the experimental values, and this was attributed to the dough being damaged while being fed through small roll gaps. A critical tensile strain-based failure criterion was proven to be accurate in predicting conditions for sheet tearing. The combination of the newly developed numerical model and tensile strain failure criterion can serve as a simple and powerful design tool for predicting the roll forces, the rolled sheet height as well as the process conditions which may lead to damage in the potato dough. As a result, interruptions in the continuous sheeting process associated with sheet damage or tearing may be avoided. Since the present study focuses on rolling parameters in a laboratory scale setup, future work will provide greater insight in scaling up the results to industrial rolling processes.

OBJECTIVES Few studies have reported the association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and immunoglobulins. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between serum immunoglobulin levels and NAFLD in a Chinese adult population. METHODS We performed a cross-sectional study including 11 261 Chinese adults. NAFLD was diagnosed based on the Chinese Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of fatty liver diseases and an alcohol intake of

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a compact microresonator-feedback single-frequency fiber laser at 1.06 μm, and further initiating different-type nonlinear lasing based on stimulated Brilliouin scattering, stimulated Raman scattering, and four-wave mixing (FWM). A silica microsphere with an ultrahigh Q-factor is employed in our experiment as a narrow bandwidth cavity mirror around 1.06 μm, and a generator of nonlinear optical effects subsequently. With the help of mode selection both from the silica microsphere and a fiber Bragg grating, single-frequency lasing with a linewidth as narrow as 281 kHz is obtained at 1.06 μm by employing 974-nm laser diode pumped Ytterbium-doped fiber as a gain medium. By optimizing the polarization states, controlling the coupling position between the fiber taper and microsphere as well as the pump power, three-order cascaded Brilliouin Stokes lasings at 1.06 μm, and cascaded Raman lasing at 1.12, 1.18 and 1.23 μm are realized, respectively. An FWM-based optical frequency comb (OFC) with a bandwidth ∼31 nm is further realized with center wavelength of ∼1.06 μm. Interestingly, a 1.18-μm-centered OFC with ∼37-nm bandwidth is also generated assisted by the second-order Raman-gain.

Anaerobic digestion is a highly promising and environmental-friendly technology for processing organic waste and organic wastewater. It is quite difficult to research and simulate the anaerobic digestion process by traditional dynamic methodologies because of its high complexity and dynamic nature. System Dynamic or System Thinking was highly appropriate for modeling the complex system due to its advantages that combines structure and non-structure. The aim of the work was to develop an anaerobic digestion system model (ADSM) by the System Thinking methodology and to estimate a general and reduced set of parameters by the self-adjusting procedures of the System Dynamic. Furthermore, this research aimed to implement ADSM to simulate the performance of a lab-scale process for anaerobic digestion experiments on homemade wastewater with glucose and to simulate the performance of a full-scale anaerobic digester for wastewater from cornstarch industrial wastewater. The results of simulating the performance of the anaerobic digestion by ADSM fit with the experimental data better than the results of the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) developed by IWA task group for mathematical modeling of anaerobic digestion process in 2002. This finding indicates that ADSM offers a reliable reference point for future anaerobic digestion simulations.

In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of polarization conversion in a plasmonic metasurface structure, in which each unit cell consists of a metal bar and four metal split-ring resonators (SRRs). Such effect is attributed to the fact that the dark plasmon mode of SRRs (bar), which radiates cross-polarized component, is induced by the bright plasmon mode of bar (SRRs) due to the electromagnetic near-field coupling between bar and SRRs. We find that there are two ways to achieve a large cross-polarized component in our proposed metasurface structure. The first way is realized when the dark plasmon mode of bar (SRRs) is in resonance, while at this time the bright plasmon mode of SRRs (bar) is not at resonant state. The second way is realized when the bright plasmon mode of SRRs (bar) is resonantly excited, while the dark plasmon mode of bar (SRRs) is at nonresonant state. It is also found that the linearly polarized light can be rotated by 56.5 0 after propagation through the metasurface structure. Furthermore, our proposed metasurface structure exhibits an asymmetric transmission for circularly polarized light. Our findings take a further step in developing integrated metasurface-based photonics devices for polarization manipulation and modulation.

In this paper, we propose a method to construct geometric-phase-based spin Hall metalens, which consists of identical metal nanoholes with spatially variant orientations. It is demonstrated that the metalens can realize simultaneous focusing for different spin states in the broad spectral range of 550–900 nm due to the extremely similar hyperbolic phase profiles at different optimized values of wavelength and focal length. The transverse and longitudinal positions of spin-dependent focal spots can be arbitrarily manipulated by adjusting the orientation angles of metal nanoholes. The intensities of the spin-dependent focal spots can be effectively controlled by the proportion of the phase profile associated with right- or left-hand circularly polarized component. In addition, our designed metalens enables the focusing beyond the optical diffraction limit across the above wavelength coverage as the phase profile only contains right or left-hand circularly polarized component. It is expected that our simple and novel metalens would be applied in polarimetric imaging, optical sensing, and photon spin splitting.

BACKGROUND Low-profiled visualized intraluminal support (LVIS) is suggested as a promising stent for complex intracranial aneurysms. However, the safety and efficacy of LVIS-assisted coiling of acutely ruptured wide-necked intracranial aneurysms have not been well reported. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and efficacy of LVIS-assisted coiling of acutely ruptured wide-necked intracranial aneurysms compared with contemporary coiling-only strategy via propensity score matching in a high-volume center. METHODS A retrospective review of patients with acutely ruptured intracranial aneurysms who underwent LVIS stent placement or coiling only from November 2013 to October 2017 was performed. Perioperative procedure-related complications and clinical and angiographic follow-up outcomes were compared. RESULTS All baseline characteristics were equivalent between the 2 groups except for neck size. The immediate angiographic results, procedure-related complications, procedure-related mortality, and clinical outcomes between the 2 groups demonstrated no significant differences (P = .087, P = .207, P = .685, and P = .865, respectively). The angiographic follow-up outcomes of the LVIS-assisted coiling group showed a significantly higher complete occlusion rate and lower recurrence rate compared with the coiling-only group (92.3% vs 59.9%, 4.8% vs 26.1%, P

In this study, we propose a black phosphorus (BP)/waveguide terahertz plasmonic sensing structure comprising vertically stacked crystal quartz, polymethylpentene (TPX), BP, crystal quartz, and TPX layers on a germanium prism. Sharp Fano-type resonance is induced by strong coupling between the surface plasmon polariton and planar waveguide modes, and it generates imaging sensitivity of up to 9.978 × 103 RIU−1 for gas detection, with better sensing performance than other terahertz plasmonic gas sensors. Due to the in-plane anisotropic plasmonic property of BP, the proposed sensing structure exhibits optically tunable detection sensitivity and the imaging sensitivity is highly dependent on the direction. In addition, we investigated the changes in the Fano resonance and surface plasmon resonance, as well as the figure of merit for the imaging sensitivity according to structural parameters such as the thicknesses of the crystal quartz and TPX layers. Our results suggest that the proposed structure may have potential applications in gas detection in the terahertz band.

Vertebro-Vertebral arteriovenous fistula (VV-AVF) associated with neurofibromatosis Type I (NF-1) is rare. We presented two female NF-1 patients with a diagnosis of VV-AVF treated with endovascular approach. The fistula was completely obliterated with balloon assisted embolization and covered stent separately and VA patency was preserved in both cases. Reviewing the literature with a focus on endovascular treatment, endovascular occlusion of VV-AVF in NF-1 patients is safe and effective. To preserve the parent VA patency and obliterate the fistula simultaneously is challenging generally, but feasible in some cases.

A commercially available high-power GaN-based blue laser diode has been operated in a simple Littrow-type external cavity (EC). Two kinds of EC configurations with the grating lines perpendicular (A configuration) and parallel (B configuration) to the p-n junction are evaluated. Good performance has been demonstrated for the EC laser with B configuration due to the better mode selection effect induced by the narrow feedback wavelength range from the grating. Under an injection current of 1100 mA, the spectral linewidth is narrowed significantly down to ∼0.1 nm from ∼1 nm (the free-running width), with a good wavelength-locking behavior and a higher than 35 dB-amplified spontaneous emission suppression ratio. Moreover, a tuning bandwidth of 3.6 nm from 443.9 nm to 447.5 nm is realized with output power of 1.24 W and EC coupling efficiency of 80% at the central wavelength. The grating-coupled blue EC laser with narrow spectral linewidth, flexible wavelength tunability, and high output power shows potential applications in atom cooling and trapping, high-resolution spectroscopy, second harmonic generation, and high-capacity holographic data storage.

High Q microsphere optical cavity is usually fabricated from a single mode fiber. Here, we propose a new method to fabricate sphere-like cavity by melting the tip of rotating quartz-rod with a CO2 laser. The cavities with diameter from 200 µm to 700 µm and resonant Q factors above 108 are obtained. Due to the rich resonances of the sphere-like cavity, up to 15-order cascaded stimulated Brillouin lasings(SBL) near 1.55 µm are observed in a cavity with a diameter of ~760 µm by simply tuning the pump wavelength to a finely-selected resonance. We wish the ultra-high Q cavities with rich resonances and bulk rod mount can have practical applications in nonlinear optics and microwave photonics as an optical component.