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Objective To investigate the potential of prophylactic closure of mucosal defects to prevent adverse events following endoscopic resection of superficial layers of the gastrointestinal (GI) wall.Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.Data sources We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library for studies eligible for inclusion in our meta-analysis from inception to February 2022.Data extraction and synthesis We compared the effects of closure versus non-closure of mucosal defects with respect to adverse events including delayed bleeding, delayed perforation and postpolypectomy coagulation syndrome (PPCS). We used a random-effects model for all analyses. Subgroup analyses were performed based on gastrointestinal sites, surgical procedures and study designs.Results In total, this study includes 11 383 patients from 28 studies. For delayed bleeding, closure group was associated with a lower incidence (Risk Ratio [RR]: 0.40, 95% Confidence interval [CI]: 0.30 to 0.53, p

Objective Obtaining sufficient decompression and solid fusion and avoiding approach‐related injuries simultaneously are still challenging for the treatment of hard disc herniation in thoracolumbar junction. A combined full‐endoscopic decompression and interbody fusion via a transforaminal approach was used to achieve this goal. The purpose of this study was to introduce the technical notes and clinical outcomes of this novel technique. Methods Twenty segments of hard disc herniations in the thoracolumbar junction of 14 patients treated with full‐endoscopic interbody fusion via the transforaminal approach between January 2018 and September 2021 were analyzed. The patients were an average age of 43.3 years. Full‐endoscopic interbody fusion and discectomy via the transforaminal approach were performed under local anesthesia, followed by percutaneous pedicle screw system fixation under general anesthesia. Imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and X‐ray, was carried out. MRI was performed on the second day and 3 months postoperatively. CT was performed on the second day, 6 months, and 1 year (as needed) postoperatively. Back and radicular pain, neurological function, and thoracic spine function were scored using a visual analog scale, the Nurick scale, and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) scale, and the Oswestry disability index at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Results All the operations were successfully completed, and no intraoperative conversion of the surgical methods occurred. Postoperative thoracolumbar junction MRI and CT examinations of all the patients revealed a sufficiently decompressed spinal cord or cauda equina, without any residual compression. At the 1‐year follow‐up, all the surgical segments were fused. Back and radicular pain was relieved in all the patients, and neurological function was restored. The average recovery rate of the mJOA was 72.5%, including seven excellent, five good, and two fair cases. Although dural tears occurred in two cases during the operation, no cerebrospinal fluid leakage or pseudomeningocele occurred during follow‐up. No other surgical complications were noted. Conclusions A combined full‐endoscopic decompression and interbody fusion via a transforaminal approach can achieve complete spinal canal decompression and solid interbody fusion with fewer approach‐related injuries. It is a safe and effective minimally invasive spine surgery for treating hard disc herniation in the thoracolumbar junction.

Highlights Systematic summary of ligand engineering in Sn-based perovskite solar cells at the molecular level (oxidation-suppression), crystal structural level (bulk-defect passivation and crystal orientation optimization), and film level (film stability). The classification and composition of ligand engineering in the review are the same as the actual preparation process, which will help researchers to understand the role of ligands in combination with the actual experiment process. Description of ligands focuses on the function of each functional group; the relevant conclusion can be universal.

By controlling the 800 nm fs laser energy and applying an isopropyl alcohol environment, controlled sub-diffraction limited lithography with a characteristic structure of approximately 30 nm was achieved on the surface of diamond films, and diamond gratings with a period of 200 nm were fabricated. The fabrication of single grooves with a feature size of 30 nm demonstrates the potential for patterning periodic or nonperiodic structures, and the fabrication of 200 nm periodic grating structures demonstrates the ability of the technique to withstand laser proximity effects. This enhances the technology of diamond film nanofabrication and broadens its potential applications in areas such as optoelectronics and biology.

Liquid metal (LM) is widely used in flexible electronic devices due to its excellent metallic conductivity and ductility. However, the fabrication of LM flexible strain sensors with high sensitivity and linearity is still a huge challenge, since the resistance of LM does not change much with strain. Here, a highly sensitive and linear fully flexible strain sensor with a resistive sensing function is proposed. The sensor comprises an Fe-doped liquid metal (Fe-LM) electrode for enhanced performance. The design and manufacturing of flexible strain sensors are based on the technology of controlling surface wettability by femtosecond laser micro/nano-processing. A supermetalphobic microstructure is constructed on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate to achieve the selection adhesion of Fe-LM on the PDMS substrate. The Fe-LM-based flexible strain sensor has high sensitivity and linearity, a gauge factor (GF) up to 1.18 in the strain range of 0–100%, excellent linearity with an R2 of 0.9978, a fast response time of 358 ms, and an excellent durability of more than 2400 load cycles. Additionally, the successful monitoring of human body signals demonstrates the potential of our developed flexible strain sensor in wearable monitoring applications.

Spectral–polarization imaging technology plays a crucial role in remote sensing detection, enhancing target identification and tracking capabilities by capturing both spectral and polarization information reflected from object surfaces. However, the acquisition of multi-dimensional data often leads to extensive datasets that necessitate comprehensive analysis, thereby impeding the convenience and efficiency of remote sensing detection. To address this challenge, we propose a fusion algorithm based on spectral–polarization characteristics, incorporating principal component analysis (PCA) and energy weighting. This algorithm effectively consolidates multi-dimensional features within the scene into a single image, enhancing object details and enriching edge features. The robustness and universality of our proposed algorithm are demonstrated through experimentally obtained datasets and verified with publicly available datasets. Additionally, to meet the requirements of remote sensing tracking, we meticulously designed a pseudo-color mapping scheme consistent with human vision. This scheme maps polarization degree to color saturation, polarization angle to hue, and the fused image to intensity, resulting in a visual display aligned with human visual perception. We also discuss the application of this technique in processing data generated by the Channel-modulated static birefringent Fourier transform imaging spectropolarimeter (CSBFTIS). Experimental results demonstrate a significant enhancement in the information entropy and average gradient of the fused image compared to the optimal image before fusion, achieving maximum increases of 88% and 94%, respectively. This provides a solid foundation for target recognition and tracking in airborne remote sensing detection.

Lead halide perovskites (LHPs) have excellent semiconductor properties. They have been used in many applications such as solar cells. Recently, the hot carrier dynamics in this type of material have received much attention as they are useful for enhancing the performance of optoelectrical devices fabricated from it. Here, we study the ultrafast hot carrier dynamics of a single CsPbBr3 microplate using femtosecond Kerr-gated wide-field fluorescence spectroscopy. The transient photoluminescence spectra have been measured under a variety of excitation fluences. The temporal evolution of bandgap renormalization and the competition between hot carrier cooling and the recovery of the renormalized bandgap are clearly revealed.

Abstract The surface of camera‐based medical devices is easily smeared by blood and fog during the surgical procedure, causing visual field loss and bringing great distress to both doctors and patients. In this article, a slippery liquid‐infused porous surface (SLIPS) on a quartz window surface that can repel various liquids, especially blood droplets is reported. A femtosecond laser pulse train was used to create periodic microhole structures on the silica surface. The subsequent low surface energy treatment and lubricant infusion led to the successful preparation of a slippery surface. Such blood‐repellent windows exhibited high transparency, great antifogging, and antibacterial properties. In addition, the slippery ability of the as‐prepared surface exhibited outstanding stability since the surface could withstand harsh treatments/environments, such as repeated pipette scratches and immersion in different pH solutions. The as‐prepared millimeter‐sized quartz samples with SLIPS were attached to the endoscope lens as a protective coating and could maintain high visibility after repeated immersion in blood. We believe that the coating developed in this study will provide inspiration for the design of next‐generation endoscopes or other camera‐guided devices that will resist fouling, keep clear vision, and reduce operation time, thus offering great potential applications in lesion diagnosis and therapy.

Liquid metal-based electronic devices are attracting increasing attention owing to their excellent flexibility and high conductivity. However, a simple way to realize liquid metal electronics on a microscale without photolithography is still challenging. Herein, the wettability and adhesion of liquid metal are controlled by combining the stirring method, femtosecond laser microfabrication, and sacrificial layer assistant. The adhesive force of liquid metal is dramatically enhanced by adjusting its oxidation. The wetting area is limited to a micro-pattern by a femtosecond laser and sacrificial layer. On this basis, a high-resolution liquid metal printing method is proposed. The printing resolution can be controlled even less than 50 μm. The resultant liquid metal pattern is applied to electronic skin, which shows uniformity, flexibility, and stability. It is anticipated that this liquid metal printing method will hold great promise in the fields of flexible electronics.

We have theoretically investigated the spatial-temporal dynamics of extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) through a two-slit plasmonic antenna under femtosecond laser dual-beam irradiation. The dynamic interference of the crossed femtosecond laser dual-beam with the transiently excited surface plasmon polariton waves are proposed to characterize the particular spatial-temporal evolutions of EOT. It is revealed that the dynamic EOT can be flexibly switched with tunable symmetry through the respective slit of a two-slit plasmonic antenna by manipulating the phase correlation of the crossed femtosecond laser dual-beam. This is explained as tunable interference dynamics by phase control of surface plasmon polariton waves, allowing the dynamic modulation of EOT at optimized oblique incidences of dual-beams. Furthermore, we have obtained the unobserved traits of symmetry-broken transient spectra of EOT from the respective up- and down-slit of the antenna under crossed femtosecond laser dual-beam irradiation. This study can provide fundamental insights into the ultrafast dynamics of EOT in two-slit plasmonic antennas, which can be helpful to advance a wide range of applications, such as ultrafast plasmonic switch, ultrahigh resolution imaging, the transient amplification of non-linear effects, etc.

This paper presents a modified Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) model based on the Cauchy–Lorentz distribution that accurately characterizes the reflected energy distribution of typical materials, such as metals and coatings in hemispherical space. The proposed model overcomes the problem of large errors in classical models when detecting angles far away from the specular reflection angle by dividing the reflected light into specular reflection, directional diffuse reflection, and ideal diffuse reflection components. The newly added directional diffuse reflection component is represented by the Cauchy–Lorentz distribution, and its parameters are directly obtained from experimental measurement curves without distribution fitting. Surface morphology and model parameters are determined through measurements, and the comparison between simulation and actual measurement results shows that the modified BRDF model is in excellent agreement with the measured data. The proposed model not only achieves higher accuracy and universality, but it also represents a significant advancement in the field of BRDF modeling research. Its contributions have profound implications for advancing the state of the art in BRDF modeling, as well as having a broader impact on computer graphics and computer vision domains.

In this study, we employed the fs time-resolved shadowgraphy method to investigate the impact of the first pump pulse (DP1) on the transient temporal and spatial evolution of electron plasma induced by femtosecond (fs) laser double pulses (DPs) in fused silica. It was observed that the DP1-induced phase transition acted as a waveguide, confining the propagation of the second pump pulse (DP2) light inside the material and resulting in a decrease in the diameter of the DP2-induced electron plasma region. Moreover, the DP2-induced maximum peak electron density was higher than that induced by a single pulse (SP) at the same pulse energy, which may be explained by the DP1-induced highly absorbing semi-metallic state of warm dense glass in fused silica. Importantly, as the energy of DP1 increased, the mean diameter of the DP2-induced electron plasma region further decreased, and the maximum peak electron density increased. Compared with SPs, DPs more easily produced damage in fused silica. In addition, the mean diameter of the DP2-induced electron plasma region and the maximum peak electron density remained almost unchanged when the pulses’ time separation (ts) was changed from 1 to 50 ps, mainly due to the long relaxation time of the phase transition caused by DP1.

Abstract The separation of oil/water mixtures, polymer/water mixtures, or bubble/water mixtures has broad applications. In this paper, we aim at extending the well‐developed wettability‐based oil/water separation strategy to separate the mixtures of liquid polymers and water and separate bubbles from water. The micro/nanostructures are simply produced on a stainless steel mesh by femtosecond laser treatment to endow the mesh with superhydrophilicity in the air and superoleophobicity, superpolymphobicity, and superaerophobicity in water. The underwater superoleophobicity, superpolymphobicity, and superaerophobicity enable the structured mesh to have the ability of oil/water separation, polymer/water separation, and bubble/water separation. Water can pass through the mesh due to the superhydrophilicity of the laser‐structured mesh. Whereas, the oils, the liquid polymers, and the bubbles in water are intercepted by the structured mesh because such a water‐wetted mesh has strong repellence to oils (underwater superoleophobicity), liquid polymers (underwater superpolymphobicity), and bubbles (underwater superaerophobicity). As a result, the oil, the liquid polymer, and the bubble are successfully separated from water by using the as‐prepared superwetting mesh. We believe that the diversified wettability‐based separation processes will have wide potential applications in environmental protection, energy utilization, industrial manufacture, agricultural production, and so on.

Abstract Polymers are the most common materials in our daily lives. Reducing the adhesion between liquid polymers (LPs) and the solid substrate has great significance in manipulating and using polymers. However, the wetting behavior of an LP on a solid surface has rarely been studied compared to the extensively studied water, oils, and bubbles. Recently, the concept of underwater superpolymphobicity that a solid surface has great repellence to LPs in water was proposed. In this review, we summarize the recent advance of underwater superpolymphobicity, mainly focusing on its concept, achievement, and potential applications. Underwater superpolymphobic microstructures can be prepared on various hydrophilic substrates by the formation of proper hierarchical microstructures. The underwater superpolymphobicity can be used to reduce the adhesion of polymers on a material surface, design the shape of polymers, and separate LPs from water. We believe that the underwater superpolymphobicity may soon be in the polymers‐related applications, for example, polymer production, packing, casting industry, polymer shaping, and 3D printing.

The efficient fabrication of nanochannels on hard and brittle materials is a difficult task in the field of micro and nano processing. We have realized nanochannel arrays on silica with characteristic scales varying from 50–230 nm using a single femtosecond Bessel beam pulse of 515 nm. By characterizing the surface openings, we found that the characteristic scales of the nanopore openings are inextricably linked to the surface energy deposition effect. We achieved not only three asymmetric channel profiles by adjusting the laser-sample interaction region, but also high aspect ratio nanochannels with characteristic scales about 50 nm and aspect ratios over 100. These results on hard and brittle materials provide a broader platform and application scenarios for smart particle rectifiers, DNA molecular sequencing, biosensors, and nanofluidic devices, which are also more suitable for future practical applications due to their low cost, good durability, and high productivity.

This paper presents a novel approach for clustering spectral polarization data acquired from space debris using a fuzzy C-means (FCM) algorithm model based on hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC). The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified using the Kosko subset measure formula. By extracting characteristic parameters representing spectral polarization from laboratory test data of space debris samples, a characteristic matrix for clustering is determined. The clustering algorithm’s parameters are determined through a random selection of points in the external field. The resulting algorithm is applied to pixel-level clustering processing of spectral polarization images, with the clustering results rendered in color. The experimental results on field spectral polarization images demonstrate a classification accuracy of 96.92% for six types of samples, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed approach for space debris detection and identification. The innovation of this study lies in the combination of HAC and FCM algorithms, using the former for preliminary clustering, and providing a more stable initial state for the latter, thereby improving the effectiveness, adaptability, accuracy, and robustness of the algorithm. Overall, this work provides a promising foundation for space debris classification and other related applications.

Abstract Background Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a promising treatment option for potential resectable gastric cancer, but patients’ responses vary. We aimed to develop and validate a radiomics score (rad_score) to predict treatment response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to investigate its efficacy in survival stratification. Methods A total of 106 patients with neoadjuvant chemotherapy before gastrectomy were included (training cohort: n = 74; validation cohort: n = 32). Radiomics features were extracted from the pre-treatment portal venous-phase CT. After feature reduction, a rad_score was established by Randomised Tree algorithm. A rad_clinical_score was constructed by integrating the rad_score with clinical variables, so was a clinical score by clinical variables only. The three scores were validated regarding their discrimination and clinical usefulness. The patients were stratified into two groups according to the score thresholds (updated with post-operative clinical variables), and their survivals were compared. Results In the validation cohort, the rad_score demonstrated a good predicting performance in treatment response to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (AUC [95% CI] =0.82 [0.67, 0.98]), which was better than the clinical score (based on pre-operative clinical variables) without significant difference (0.62 [0.42, 0.83], P = 0.09). The rad_clinical_score could not further improve the performance of the rad_score (0.70 [0.51, 0.88], P = 0.16). Based on the thresholds of these scores, the high-score groups all achieved better survivals than the low-score groups in the whole cohort (all P

Wettability is one of a solid surface’s fundamental physical and chemical properties, which involves a wide range of applications. Femtosecond laser microfabrication has many advantages compared to traditional laser processing. This technology has been successfully applied to control the wettability of material surfaces. This review systematically summarizes the recent progress of femtosecond laser microfabrication in the preparation of various superwetting surfaces. Inspired by nature, the superwettabilities such as superhydrophilicity, superhydrophobicity, superamphiphobicity, underwater superoleophobicity, underwater superaerophobicity, underwater superaerophilicity, slippery liquid-infused porous surface, underwater superpolymphobicity, and supermetalphobicity are obtained on different substrates by the combination of the femtosecond laser-induced micro/nanostructures and appropriate chemical composition. From the perspective of biomimetic preparation, we mainly focus the methods for constructing various kinds of superwetting surfaces by femtosecond laser and the relationship between different laser-induced superwettabilities. The special wettability of solid materials makes the femtosecond laser-functionalized surfaces have many practical applications. Finally, the significant challenges and prospects of this field (femtosecond laser-induced superwettability) are discussed.

The preparation of the wavelength-scale micropores on metallic surfaces is limited by the high opacity of metal. At present, most micropores reported in the literature are more than 20 µm in diameter, which is not only large in size, but renders them inefficient for processing so that it is difficult to meet the needs of some special fields, such as aerospace, biotechnology, and so on. In this paper, the rapid laser fabrications of the wavelength-scale micropores on various metallic surfaces are achieved through femtosecond MHz burst Bessel beam ablation. Taking advantage of the long-depth focal field of the Bessel beam, high-density micropores with a diameter of 1.3 µm and a depth of 10.5 µm are prepared on metal by MHz burst accumulation; in addition, the rapid fabrication of 2000 micropores can be achieved in 1 s. The guidelines and experimental results illustrate that the formations of the wavelength-scale porous structures are the result of the co-action of the laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) effect and Bessel beam interference. Porous metal can be used to store lubricant and form a lubricating layer on the metallic surface, thus endowing the metal resistance to various liquids’ adhesion. The microporous formation process on metal provides a new physical insight for the rapid preparation of wavelength-scale metallic micropores, and promotes the application of porous metal in the fields of catalysis, gas adsorption, structural templates, and bio-transportation fields.

The excellent performance of InP/ZnSe/ZnS core/shell/shell quantum dots (CSS-QDs) in light-emitting diodes benefits from the introduction of a ZnSe midshell. Understanding the changes of ultrafast carrier dynamics caused by the ZnSe midshell is important for their optoelectronic applications. Herein, we have compared the ultrafast carrier dynamics in CSS-QDs and InP/ZnS core/shell QDs (CS-QDs) using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The results show that the ZnSe midshell intensifies the electron delocalization and prolongs the in-band relaxation time of electrons from 238 fs to 350 fs, and that of holes from hundreds of femtoseconds to 1.6 ps. We also found that the trapping time caused by deep defects increased from 25.6 ps to 76 ps, and there were significantly reduced defect emissions in CSS-QDs. Moreover, the ZnSe midshell leads to a significantly increased density of higher-energy hole states above the valence band-edge, which may reduce the probability of Auger recombination caused by the positive trion. This work enhances our understanding of the excellent performance of the CSS-QDs applied to light-emitting diodes, and is likely to be helpful for the further optimization and design of optoelectronic devices based on the CSS-QDs.

In recent years, the demand for optical components such as microlenses has been increasing, and various methods have been developed. However, fabrication of submillimeter microlenses with tunable numerical aperture (NA) on hard and brittle materials remains a great challenge using the current methods. In this work, we fabricated a variable NA microlens array with submillimeter size on a silica substrate, using a femtosecond laser-based linear scanning-assisted wet etching method. At the same time, the influence of various processing parameters on the microlens morphology and NA was studied. The NA of the microlenses could be flexibly adjusted in the range of 0.2 to 0.45 by changing the scanning distance of the laser and assisted wet etching. In addition, the imaging and focusing performance tests demonstrated the good optical performance and controllability of the fabricated microlenses. Finally, the optical performance simulation of the prepared microlens array was carried out. The result was consistent with the actual situation, indicating the potential of the submillimeter-scale microlens array prepared by this method for applications in imaging and detection.

Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs) have become an effective method to provide materials with sliding performance and, thus, achieve liquid repellency, through the process of infusing lubricants into the microstructure of the surface. However, the construction of microstructures on high-strength metals is still a significant challenge. Herein, we used a femtosecond laser with a temporally shaped Bessel beam to process NiTi alloy, and created uniform porous structures with a microhole diameter of around 4 µm, in order to store and lock lubricant. In addition, as the lubricant is an important factor that can influence the sliding properties, five different lubricants were selected to prepare the SLIPSs, and were further compared in terms of their sliding behavior. The temperature cycle test and the hydraulic pressure test were implemented to characterize the durability of the samples, and different liquids were used to investigate the possible failure under complex fluid conditions. In general, the prepared SLIPSs exhibited superior liquid repellency. We believe that, in combination with a femtosecond laser, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces are promising for applications in a wide range of areas.

We theoretically investigated the plasmon trapping stability of a molecular-scale Au sphere via designing Au nanotip antenna hybridized with a graphene sheet embedded Silica substrate. A hybrid plasmonic trapping model is self-consistently built, which considers the surface plasmon excitation in the graphene-hybridized tip-substrate system for supporting the scattering and gradient optical forces on the optical diffraction-limit broken nanoscale. It is revealed that the plasmon trapping properties, including plasmon optical force and potential well, can be unprecedentedly adjusted by applying a graphene sheet at proper Fermi energy with respect to the designed tip-substrate geometry. This shows that the plasmon potential well of 218 kBT at room temperature can be determinately achieved for trapping of a 10 nm Au sphere by optimizing the surface medium film layer of the designed graphene-hybridized Silica substrate. This is explained as the crucial role of graphene hybridization participating in plasmon enhancement for generating the highly localized electric field, in return augmenting the trapping force acting on the trapped sphere with a deepened potential well. This study can be helpful for designing the plasmon trapping of very small particles with new routes for molecular-scale applications for molecular-imaging, nano-sensing, and high-sensitive single-molecule spectroscopy, etc.

Objective To identify theoretical and technical aspects regarding treatment, prevention of spread and protection of staff to inform the development of a comprehensive training curriculum on COVID-19 management.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Nine hospitals caring for patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.Participants 134 Chinese healthcare professionals (74 doctors and 60 nurses) who were deployed to Wuhan, China during the COVID-19 epidemic were included. A two-round Delphi process was initiated between March and May 2020. In the first round, the participants identified knowledge, technical and behavioural (ie, non-technical) skills that are needed to treat patients, prevent spread of the virus and protect healthcare workers. In round 2, the participants rated each item according to its importance to be included in a training curriculum on COVID-19. Consensus for inclusion in the final list was set at 80%.Primary outcome measures Knowledge, technical and behavioural (ie, non-technical) skills that could form the basis of a training curriculum for COVID-19 management.Results In the first round 1398 items were suggested by the doctors and reduced to 67 items after content analysis (treatment of patients: n=47; infection prevention and control: n=20). The nurses suggested 1193 items that were reduced to 70 items (treatment of patients: n=49; infection prevention and control: n=21). In round 2, the response rates were 82% in doctors and 93% in nurses. Fifty-eight items of knowledge, technical and behavioural skills were agreed on by the doctors to include in the final list. For the nurses, 58 items were agreed on.Conclusions This needs assessment process resulted in a comprehensive list of knowledge, technical and behavioural skills for COVID-19 management. Educators can use these to guide decisions regarding content of training curricula not only for COVID-19 management but also in preparation for future viral pandemic outbreaks.

Microlens arrays (MLAs) and MLA-based artificial compound eyes (ACEs) are the important miniaturized optical components in modern micro-optical systems. However, their optical performance will seriously decline once they are wetted by water droplets (such as fog, dew, and rain droplets) or are polluted by contaminations in a humid environment. In this mini-review, we summarize the research works related to the fabrication of superwetting MLAs and ACEs and show how to integrate superhydrophobic and superoleophobic microstructures with an MLA. The fabrication strategy can be split into two categories. One is the hybrid pattern composed of the MLA domain and the superwetting domain. Another is the direct formation of superwetting nanostructures on the surface of the microlenses. The superhydrophobicity or superoleophobicity endows the MLAs and ACEs with liquid repellence and self-cleaning function besides excellent optical performance. We believe that the superwetting MLAs and ACEs will have significant applications in various optical systems that are often used in the humid or liquid environment.

Superwetting surfaces have received increasing attention because of their rich practical applications. Although various superwettabilities are independently achieved, the relationship between those superwettabilities is still not well-clarified. In this mini-review, we show that superhydrophilicity, underwater superoleophilicity, underwater superaerophilicity, superhydrophobicity, underwater superoleophobicity, and underwater superaerophobicity can be obtained on a same structured surface by the combination of hierarchical surface microstructures and proper chemistry. The relationship and interconversion between the above-mentioned different superwettabilities are also well-discussed. We believe that the current discussion and clarification of the relationship and interconversion between different superwettabilities has important significance in the design, fabrication, and applications of various superwetting materials.

In this paper, a widely applicable method that has promise in endowing various metals with oil-water separation ability by femtosecond laser processing is reported. We take an iron sheet as an example to show how to use a femtosecond laser to prepare underwater superoleophobic microstructure on metal substrates and then achieve oil-water separation. An array of through microholes was previously prepared on the iron sheet by a mechanical drilling process. Then, rough nanostructures were created on the surface of the porous sheet by femtosecond laser ablation, resulting in excellent superoleophobicity in water. When the mixture of water and oil was poured onto the porous underwater superoleophobic metal sheet, only the water in the mixture could pass through the sheet while the oil was intercepted, thus the oil/water mixture was successfully separated with high efficiency. Such a novel preparation process and separation manner can extend to different metal substrates. We believe that a wide range of metals like iron sheet can be potentially endowed with oil-water separation ability by femtosecond laser processing because femtosecond laser can process almost all of the metals.

The achievement of high-efficiency oil/water separation has huge implications for protecting environment and reducing economic losses, but there is still a great challenge. Currently, most artificial oil/water separating materials are fabricated through complex preparation process, resulting in the very high cost of separation. In this paper, we present a simple and low-cost method to achieve oil/water separation by using the underwater superoleophobic materials that already exist in our life or nature. Taking filter paper and zeolite layer as examples, we show the inherent porous microstructures of these materials. Such porous microstructures endow filter paper and zeolite layer with strong ability to absorb water and the underwater superoleophobicity. Based on the porous feature and underwater superoleophobicity, the pre-wetted filter paper and zeolite layer can be used to effectively separate the mixture of water and oil, with great separation capacity. The existing materials (e.g., filter paper and zeolite layer) with both porous microstructure and underwater superoleophobicity in our life or nature are green and low-cost, and can be easily obtained. Such advantages allow those materials to potentially solve the pollution problems caused by the discharge of industrial oily wastewater and the oil-spill accidents.

Human beings are facing severe global environmental problems and sustainable development problems. Effective separation technology plays an essential role in solving these challenges. In the past decades, superwettability (e.g., superhydrophobicity and underwater superoleophobicity) has succeeded in achieving oil/water separation. The mixture of oil and water is just the tip of the iceberg of the mixtures that need to be separated, so the wettability-based separation strategy should be extended to treat other kinds of liquid/liquid or liquid/gas mixtures. This review aims at generalizing the approach of the well-developed oil/water separation to separate various multiphase mixtures based on the surface superwettability. Superhydrophobic and even superoleophobic surface microstructures have liquid-repellent properties, making different liquids keep away from them. Inspired by the process of oil/water separation, liquid polymers can be separated from water by using underwater superpolymphobic materials. Meanwhile, the underwater superaerophobic and superaerophilic porous materials are successfully used to collect or remove gas bubbles in a liquid, thus achieving liquid/gas separation. We believe that the diversified wettability-based separation methods can be potentially applied in industrial manufacture, energy use, environmental protection, agricultural production, and so on.

An optical Kerr gate (OKG) is an ultrafast optical switch based on the optical Kerr effect. The performance of a conventional OKG depends mainly on Kerr materials. Traditional Kerr materials do not demonstrate both large optical nonlinearity and an ultrafast response time. Therefore, the performance of a conventional OKG is limited by an inherent trade-off between high signal transmittance and fast switching time, which limits its application in many fields. We propose an improved femtosecond OKG with double gate pulses, based on the use of a birefringent crystal to realize an ultrashort switching time, even with a slow-response optical Kerr medium. We assessed the dependence of the double gate pulsed OKG (D-OKG)’s performance on the intensity ratio of the double gate pulses. A transmittance of 50% and a switching time of 142 fs were achieved. The D-OKG is convenient to construct, and its integrated performance is superior to that of a conventional OKG.

Abstract Background Our previous studies demonstrated that eyes absent homolog 4 (EYA4), a member of the eye development-related EYA family in Drosophila, is frequently methylated and silenced in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens and associated with shorter survival. The current work aimed to explore the mechanisms through which EYA4 functions as a tumor suppressor in HCC. Methods Stable EYA4-expressing plasmid (pEYA4) transfectants of the human HCC cell lines Huh-7 and PLC/PRF/5 (PLC) were established. Xenografts tumors were established via subcutaneous injection of the stable transfectants into BALB/c nude mice. Tissue samples were obtained from 75 pathologically diagnosed HCC patients. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were performed to determine the expression of EYA4 in cell lines, xenografts and clinical specimens. The cell proliferation, colony formation, invasiveness and tumor formation of stable transfectants were studied. A gene expression microarray was utilized to screen genes regulated by EYA4 expression. The effect of EYA4 on nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/RAS-related protein 1 (RAP1) signaling was demonstrated through the co-transfection of pEYA4 and Flag-tagged RAS-related protein 1A gene-expressing plasmid (Flag-RAP1A), functional studies, chromatin immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence staining and cellular ubiquitination assay. Results The restoration of EYA4 expression in HCC cell lines suppressed cell proliferation, inhibited clonogenic outgrowth, reduced cell invasion and restrained xenograft tumor growth, and Flag-RAP1A reversed the suppressive effects of pEYA4 in vitro. Activation of NF-κB with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) increased the binding of p65 to the RAP1A gene promoter and up-regulated RAP1 protein expression. The inhibition of NF-κB with BAY 11-7085 and p65 siRNA successfully blocked TNF-α-induced RAP1 up-regulation. EYA4 antagonized the TNF-α-induced phosphorylation and ubiquitination of inhibitor of NF-κBα (IκBα) as well as the nuclear translocation and transactivation of p65, resulting in repressed NF-κB activity and RAP1 expression. Blocking the serine/threonine phosphatase activity of EYA4 with calyculin A notably abrogated its suppressive effect on NF-κB activity. In addition, EYA4 expression was inversely correlated with IκBα/RAP1 activity in clinical HCC specimens. Conclusion Our findings provide a functional and mechanistic basis for identifying EYA4 as a bona fide tumor suppressor that disrupts aberrant activation of the NF-κB/RAP1 signaling pathway and thus orchestrates a physiological impediment to HCC growth and invasion.

Nano-structures have significant applications in many fields such as chip fabrications, nanorobotics, and solar cells. However, realizing nanoscale structures on hard and brittle materials is still challenging. In this paper, when processing the silica surface with a tightly focused Bessel beam, the smallest nanohole with ~20 nm diameter has been realized by precisely controlling the interior and superficial interaction of the silica material. An effective surface window assisted nano-drilling (SWAN) mechanism is proposed to explain the generation of such a deep subwavelength structure, which is supported by the simulation results of energy depositions.

Asymmetric molecule strategy is considered an effective method to achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of polymer solar cells (PSCs). In this paper, nine oligomers are designed by combining three new electron-deficient units (unitA)—n1, n2, and n3—and three electron-donating units (unitD)—D, E, and F—with their π-conjugation area extended. The relationships between symmetric/asymmetric molecule structure and the performance of the oligomers are investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD–DFT) calculations. The results indicate that asymmetry molecule PEn2 has the minimum dihedral angle in the angle between two planes of unitD and unitA among all the molecules, which exhibited the advantages of asymmetric structures in molecular stacking. The relationship of the values of ionization potentials (IP) and electron affinities (EA) along with the unitD/unitA π-extend are revealed. The calculated reorganization energy results also demonstrate that the asymmetric molecules PDn2 and PEn2 could better charge the extraction of the PSCs than other molecules for their lower reorganization energy of 0.180 eV and 0.181 eV, respectively.

Infrared (IR) microlens arrays (MLA) have attracted increasing interest for use in infrared micro-optical devices and systems. However, the beam homogenization of IR laser light is relatively difficult to achieve because most materials absorb strongly in the IR wavelength band. In this paper, we present a new method for the application of double-sided quasi-periodic chalcogenide glass (ChG) MLAs to infrared laser homogenization systems. These are non-regular arrays of closely spaced MLAs. The double-sided MLAs were successfully prepared on the ChG surface using a single-pulse femtosecond laser-assisted chemical etching technique and a precision glass molding technique. More than two million close-packed microlenses on the ChG surface were successfully fabricated within 200 min. By taking advantage of ChG’s good optical performance and transmittance (60%) in the infrared wavelength band (1~11 μm), the homogenization of the IR beam was successfully achieved using the ChG quasi-periodic MLA.

Supercontinuum (SC) generation using multiple thin plates is demonstrated with a femtosecond laser pulse. We propose an improved technique to obtain larger spectrum broadening and higher spectral intensity by employing mixed multiple thin plates with different thicknesses and materials. Furthermore, the spectrum has good stability, which is superior to that of the spectrum induced by the traditional single filament in bulk material. Our approach offers a route towards simple and stable SC generation for potential applications.

Abstract Converging evidence from laboratory models pointed that the widely used antidiabetic drug metformin has direct effects on cancer cells. Thus far, relatively little attention has been addressed to the drug exposures used experimentally relative to those achievable clinically. Here, we demonstrated that metformin loaded on carbon nanotubes under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation led to the remarkably enhancement in response towards cancer cells. The dose of metformin has reduced to only 1/280 of typical doses in monotherapy (35: 10 000–30 000 µM) where the realization of metformin in conventional antidiabetic doses for cancer therapies becomes possible. The heat generated from carbon nanotubes upon NIR irradiation has mediated a strong and highly localized hyperthermia-like condition that facilitated the enhancement. Our work highlight the promise of using highly localized heating from carbon nanotubes to intensify the efficacy of metformin for potential cancer therapies.

A rapid and single-step method for the fabrication of a zinc selenide (ZnSe) concave microlens array through the high-speed line-scanning of a femtosecond laser pulse is presented. Approximately 1.1 million microlenses, with minimized volume and high transparency at wavelengths between approximately 0.76–20 μm were fabricated within 36 min. More importantly, the size of the microlenses can be controlled by adjusting the laser power. Their high-quality infrared optical performance was also demonstrated. This method holds great promise for the development of ZnSe-based micro-optical devices.

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. In this study, we tried to clarify the function of KLF5 in gastric cancer. Copy number variation (CNV) and the expression of KLF5 were interrogated in public datasets. The clinical significance of KLF5 amplification and gene expression in gastric cancer were evaluated. The function of KLF5 in cell proliferation was studied in gastric cancer cell lines and organoids. We found that KLF5 amplification mainly occurred in the chromosome instable tumors (CIN) and was significantly associated with TP53 mutation. In addition, higher KLF5 expression correlated with more locally invasive gastric cancer and higher T stage. Next, a KLF5 gene expression signature was curated. The genes in the signature were involved in cell development, cell cycle regulation, cell death, suggesting potential roles played by KLF5. Functional studies using siRNAs revealed that KLF5 was essential for the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Finally, using gastric organoid models, we revealed that the proliferation of organoids was significantly inhibited after the down regulation of KLF5. Our study revealed that KLF5 was amplified and over-expressed in gastric cancer, and it may play an oncogene-like role in gastric cancer by supporting cell proliferation.