Design of dual peptide-conjugated hydrogels for proliferation and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells.

Completely synthetic cell cultivation materials for human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are important for the future clinical use of hPSC-derived cells. Currently, cell culture materials conjugated with extracellular matrix (ECM)-derived peptides are being prepared using only one specific integrin-targeting peptide. We designed dual peptide-conjugated hydrogels, for which each peptide was selected from different ECM sites: the laminin β4 chain and fibronectin or vitronectin, which can target α6β1 and α2β1 or αVβ5.

Multifunction integrated lithium niobate photonic chip for photon pairs generation and manipulation.

We report on a unique photonic quantum source chip highly integrating four-stage photonic elements in a lithium niobate (LN) waveguide circuit platform, where an aperiodically poled LN (APPLN) electro-optic (EO) polarization mode converter (PMC) is sandwiched between two identical type-0 PPLN spontaneous parametric down-converters (SPDCs), followed by an EO phase controller (PC). These core nonlinear optic and EO building blocks on the chip are systematically characterized stage by stage to show its high performance as an integrated quantum source. The APPLN EO PMC, optimally constructed by a genetic algorithm, is characterized to have a broad bandwidth (>13 nm), benefiting an efficient control of broadband type-0 SPDC photon pairs featuring a short correlation time.

Next-generation materials for RNA-lipid nanoparticles: lyophilization and targeted transfection.

RNA, including mRNA, siRNA and miRNA, is part of a new class of patient treatments that prevent and treat several diseases. As an alternative to DNA therapy using plasmid DNA, RNA functions in the cellular cytosol, avoiding the potential risks of insertion into patient genomes. RNA drugs, including mRNA vaccines, need carrier materials for delivery into the patient's body.

Simultaneous electro-optic spectral switching and Q switching in a dual-wavelength Nd:YVO laser based on an aperiodic optical superlattice lithium niobate.

We report the demonstration of an electro-optic (EO) switchable dual-wavelength (1064- and 1342-nm) Nd:YVO laser based on an aperiodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) chip whose domain structure is designed using aperiodic optical superlattice (AOS) technology. The APPLN works as a wavelength-dependent EO polarization-state controller in the polarization-dependent laser gain system to enable switching among multiple laser spectra simply by voltage control. When the APPLN device is driven by a voltage-pulse train modulating between a V (in which target laser lines obtain gain) and a V (in which laser lines are gain suppressed), the unique laser system can produce Q-switched laser pulses at dual wavelengths 1064 and 1342 nm, single wavelength 1064 nm, and single wavelength 1342 nm, as well as their non-phase-matched sum-frequency and second-harmonic generations at V= 0, 267, and 895 V, respectively.

The relationships between physical function, nutrition, cognitive function, depression, and sleep quality for facility-dwelling older adults with dynapenia.

Background: The growing population of older adults worldwide is associated with an extended life expectancy and an increasing proportion of older adults with dynapenia. Most research on dynapenia has involved only populations of older adults living in the community; little research has examined the effects of risk factors on sleep quality among older adults with dynapenia residing in assisted living facilities.

Aim: This study examined the relationships among physical function, nutrition, cognitive function, depression, and sleep quality among older adults with dynapenia residing in assisted living facilities.

Broadband tunable electro-optic switch/power divider as potential building blocks in integrated lithium niobate photonics.

We demonstrate an electro-optic (EO) switch or in general, an EO controllable power divider based on a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) polarization mode converter (PMC) and a five-waveguide adiabatic coupler integrated on a Ti:LN photonic circuit chip. In this integrated photonic circuit (IPC) device, the PPLN works as an EO controllable polarization rotator (and therefore a PMC), while the adiabatic coupler functions as a broadband polarization beam splitter (PBS). The 1-cm long PPLN EO PMC of the IPC device is characterized to have a half-wave (or switching) voltage of V∼20 V and a conversion bandwidth of ∼2.

Purification of Colon Carcinoma Cells from Primary Colon Tumor Using a Filtration Method via Porous Polymeric Filters.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) or cancer-initiating cells (CICs) are key factors for tumor generation and metastasis. We investigated a filtration method to enhance CSCs (CICs) from colon carcinoma HT-29 cells and primary colon carcinoma cells derived from patient colon tumors using poly(lactide--glycolic acid)/silk screen (PLGA/SK) filters. The colon carcinoma cell solutions were permeated via porous filters to obtain a permeation solution.

Ultra-compact, broadband adiabatic passage optical couplers in thin-film lithium niobate on insulator waveguides.

We report the first demonstration of broadband adiabatic directional couplers in thin-film lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides. A three LN-waveguide configuration with each waveguide having a ridge cross section of less than 1 square micron, built atop a layer of SiO based on a 500-µm-thick Si substrate, has been designed and constructed to optically emulate a three-state stimulated Raman adiabatic passage system, with which a unique counterintuitive adiabatic light transfer phenomenon in a high coupling efficiency of >97% (corresponding to a >15 dB splitting ratio) spanning telecom S, C, and L bands for both TE and TM polarization modes has been observed for a 2-mm long coupler length. An even broader operating bandwidth of >800 nm of the device can be found from the simulation fitting of the experimental data.

Identifying Hybrid DDoS Attacks in Deterministic Machine-to-Machine Networks on a Per-Deterministic-Flow Basis.

The Deterministic Network (DetNet) is becoming a major feature for 5G and 6G networks to cope with the issue that conventional IT infrastructure cannot efficiently handle latency-sensitive data. The DetNet applies flow virtualization to satisfy time-critical flow requirements, but inevitably, DetNet flows and conventional flows interact/interfere with each other when sharing the same physical resources. This subsequently raises the hybrid DDoS security issue that high malicious traffic not only attacks the DetNet centralized controller itself but also attacks the links that DetNet flows pass through.

A Spatiotemporal-Oriented Deep Ensemble Learning Model to Defend Link Flooding Attacks in IoT Network.

(1) Background: Link flooding attacks (LFA) are a spatiotemporal attack pattern of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) that arranges bots to send low-speed traffic to backbone links and paralyze servers in the target area. (2) Problem: The traditional methods to defend against LFA are heuristic and cannot reflect the changing characteristics of LFA over time; the AI-based methods only detect the presence of LFA without considering the spatiotemporal series attack pattern and defense suggestion. (3) Methods: This study designs a deep ensemble learning model (Stacking-based integrated Convolutional neural network-Long short term memory model, SCL) to defend against LFA: (a) combining continuous network status as an input to represent "continuous/combination attacking action" and to help CNN operation to extract features of spatiotemporal attack pattern; (b) applying LSTM to periodically review the current evolved LFA patterns and drop the obsolete ones to ensure decision accuracy and confidence; (c) stacking System Detector and LFA Mitigator module instead of only one module to couple with LFA detection and mediation at the same time.

The Relations Among Physical Indicators, Cognitive Status, Community Participation, and Depression of the Frail Male Elderly in Taiwan.

This study explored the basic attributes, physiological indices, cognitive states, and community participation of older male outpatients with frailty for predicting depression. Questionnaires were collected using purposive sampling from a medical clinic in a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. One hundred and ninety frail men enrolled as participants.

Electro-optically spectrum switchable, multiwavelength optical parametric oscillators based on aperiodically poled lithium niobate.

We report the first fast switchable multiwavelength optical parametric oscillator based on aperiodic optical superlattice technology. The constructed aperiodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) integrates the functionalities of two quasi-phase-matching devices on a chip to work simultaneously as an electro-optic (EO) switchable notch-like filter and a multiline optical parametric downconverter. When such an APPLN is built in a 1064-nm-pumped optical resonator system, we achieve the oscillation of dual signals at 1540 and 1550 nm, for a single signal at 1540 nm, and a single signal at 1550 nm in the system when the 3-cm-long APPLN is driven by 0 V, 354 V, and 805 V, respectively.

A Mobility Aware Binary Tree Algorithm to Resolve RFID Jam and Bottleneck Problems in a Next Generation Specimen Management System.

Hospitals are continuously working to reduce delayed analysis and specimen errors during transfers from testing stations to clinical laboratories. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, which provide automated specimen labeling and tracking, have been proposed as a solution to specimen management that reduces human resource costs and analytic delays. Conventional RFID solutions, however, confront the problem of traffic jams and bottlenecks on the conveyor belts that connect testing stations with clinical laboratories.

Social-Aware Peer Discovery for Energy Harvesting-Based Device-to-Device Communications.

In Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, the first step is to find all of the neighboring peers in the network by performing a peer discovery process. Most previous studies use the social behaviors of the users to adjust the sending rates of the peer discovery messages (i.e.

Broadband on-chip polarization mode splitters in lithium niobate integrated adiabatic couplers.

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first broadband polarization mode splitter (PMS) based on the adiabatic light passage mechanism in the lithium niobate (LiNbO) waveguide platform. A broad bandwidth of ~140 nm spanning telecom S, C, and L bands at polarization-extinction ratios (PER) of >20 dB and >18 dB for the TE and TM polarization modes, respectively, is found in a five-waveguide adiabatic coupler scheme whose structure is optimized by an adiabaticity engineering process in titanium-diffused LiNbO waveguides. When the five-waveguide PMS is integrated with a three-waveguide "shortcut to adiabaticity" structure, we realize a broadband, high splitting-ratio (ηc) mode splitter for spatial separation of TE- (H-) polarized pump (700-850 nm for ηc>99%), TM- (V-) polarized signal (1510-1630 nm for ηc>97%), and TE- (H-) polarized idler (1480-1650 nm for ηc>97%) modes.

Heat stress upregulates G-T mismatch binding activities in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos preexposed and nonexposed to a sublethal level of cadmium (Cd).

G-T mispair frequently appears in eukaryotic DNA due to the spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine paired with guanine and is therefore an important target for DNA mismatch repair (MMR). Our earlier studies showed the downregulation of G-T binding activities in cadmium (Cd)-exposed (Danio rerio) embryos. Since elevation of water temperature was reported to increase Cd toxicity in zebrafish, this study explored whether heat stress affected zebrafish mismatch binding capacity in the absence or presence of Cd.

Quantum metasurface for multiphoton interference and state reconstruction.

Metasurfaces based on resonant nanophotonic structures have enabled innovative types of flat-optics devices that often outperform the capabilities of bulk components, yet these advances remain largely unexplored for quantum applications. We show that nonclassical multiphoton interferences can be achieved at the subwavelength scale in all-dielectric metasurfaces. We simultaneously image multiple projections of quantum states with a single metasurface, enabling a robust reconstruction of amplitude, phase, coherence, and entanglement of multiphoton polarization-encoded states.

Asymmetric adiabatic couplers for fully-integrated broadband quantum-polarization state preparation.

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is a widely used method to generate entangled photons, enabling a range of applications from secure communication to tests of quantum physics. Integrating SPDC on a chip provides interferometric stability, allows to reduce a physical footprint, and opens a pathway to true scalability. However, dealing with different photon polarizations and wavelengths on a chip presents a number of challenging problems.

Dispersion-corrected frequency-resolved optical gating.

The phase retrieval algorithm of a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) is generalized to handle traces seriously distorted by group delay dispersion and non-uniform phase-matching spectra arising from the nonlinear crystal. In our proof-of-concept experiments, 15 mm thick aperiodically poled lithium niobate was employed in FROG, and successfully reconstructed chirped signal pulses were actually stretched by >5 times inside the crystal. This method is particularly promising in the measurement of weak few-cycle pulses produced by supercontinuum generation in fibers.

Bilateral simultaneous sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: This study adopted an inner ear test battery and MR imaging in patients with bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) to investigate their causes, disease extent, and evaluate hearing outcome.

Patients And Methods: From 1995 to 2014, 16 patients with bilateral SSNHL received audiometry, caloric test and MR imaging. Vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) test was added to the test battery after 2000.

Supercontinuum generation in quadratic nonlinear waveguides without quasi-phase matching.

Supercontinuum generation (SCG) is most efficient when the solitons can be excited directly at the pump laser wavelength. Quadratic nonlinear waveguides may induce an effective negative Kerr nonlinearity, so temporal solitons can be directly generated in the normal (positive) dispersion regime overlapping with common ultrafast laser wavelengths. There is no need for waveguide dispersion engineering.

The k partition-distance problem.

Many applications of data partitioning (clustering) have been well studied in bioinformatics. Consider, for instance, a set N of organisms (elements) based on DNA marker data. A partition divides all elements in N into two or more disjoint clusters that cover all elements, where a cluster contains a non-empty subset of N.

Hyperfine aperiodic optical superlattice optimized by iterative domino algorithm for phase-matching engineering.

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated the iterative domino algorithm to optimize optical superlattice with >10(5) unit blocks to achieve arbitrary target phase-matching power spectrum. This scheme can achieve unprecedented overall conversion efficiency and spectral fidelity with extremely high computation efficiency.

Synthesis and photophysical properties of self-assembled metallogels of platinum(II) acetylide complexes with elaborate long-chain pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamides.

A series of platinum(II) acetylide complexes with elaborate long-chain pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamides was synthesized. These metal complexes are capable of immobilizing organic solvents to form luminescent metallogels through a combination of intermolecular hydrogen bonding, aromatic π-π, and van der Waals interactions. Fibrillar morphologies were identified by TEM for these metallogels.