Electro-optic properties of liquid crystal cells with nanowall electrodes.

This work fabricates a nanowall electrode for achieving advanced liquid crystal (LC) devices and improving LC displays. The nanowall electrode consists of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) sheets stacked with nanowalls, and the nanowalls have a height and thickness of 4 µm and 500 nm, respectively. The high aspect ratio (8.

Development of non-contact foreign body imaging base on photoacoustic signal intensity measurement.

Background: It is challenging to visually identify tiny and concealed foreign objects within the body due to their small size and subcutaneous location while they can cause infections.

Methods: A non-contact photoacoustic system based on Rosencwaig-Gersho photoacoustic theory and dual modulator method is developed for detecting foreign objects in meat.

Result: The experiments conducted validate the successful development of this measurement technique with 10 μm spatial resolution and its corresponding mathematical model, demonstrating an 11% Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) in comparison to the experimental results.

Formation of monodomain polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals using surface acoustic waves.

This work uses surface acoustic waves (SAWs) that are generated by a piezoelectric substrate containing an interdigital transducer (IDT) to which a low voltage of 2 mV was applied at a frequency of 1 kHz to fabricate a polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) layer. The PS-BPLC layer has a more uniform optical microscope (OM) image at a voltage of 2 mV than at zero voltage, and its reflective spectrum exhibits a smaller full width at half maximum (FWHM) at the former than at the latter. The uniform OM image and small FWHM reveal that the lattices in the PS-BPLC layer have monodomain structure.

Characteristics of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with TiO Stripes.

A TiO strip array with a thickness of 90 nm was fabricated by photolithography and physical vapor deposition. This work utilized the chemical and physical methods to fabricate the TiO strip array. A porous semiconductor layer made of TiO nanoparticles was coated on the TiO strip array.

Polarization-Dependent Gratings Based on Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Cells with In-Plane Switching Electrodes.

A diffraction grating of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) with polarization-selective characteristics is investigated. Electrically controllable gratings are produced using In-Plane Switching (IPS) electrodes. Indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with a stripe pattern are used to generate a horizontal electric field parallel to the substrate on a single glass substrate.

Electrically controllable terahertz metamaterials with large tunabilities and low operating electric fields using electrowetting-on-dielectric cells.

A simple method that is compatible with all geometrical structures of terahertz (THz) metamaterials for increasing their frequency tunabilities and decreasing their operating electric fields is proposed. This method uses the displacement of glycerol droplets with various volumes to tune the resonance frequency of a THz metamaterial in an electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) cell. The experimental results reveal that the THz metamaterial has a large frequency tunability of 28% at an operating electric field that is smaller than 0.

Organic Solvent Sensors Using Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Films with a Pillar Pattern.

An organic solvent sensor of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) film is fabricated by a combination of tri-functional monomers and LCs. When the patterned PDLC film comes into contact with the organic solvent, the organic solvent will penetrate into the film to induce the orientation of the liquid crystals, which will change from an ordered to a disordered state, which causes the PDLC film to scatter incident light. The experiment used acetone and ethanol as the organic solvents of interest.

Large shift of resonance wavelengths of silver nanoslit arrays using electrowetting-on-dielectric cells.

A simple design for shifting the resonance wavelength of silver nanoslits using an electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) cell is proposed. The EWOD cell comprises a polycarbonate (PC) substrate with Teflon-coated silver nanoslits and a glass substrate with Teflon-coated electrodes. A glycerol droplet is placed between the two substrates, and out of the path of a probe beam at zero electric field.

Continuously tunable intensity modulators with large switching contrasts using liquid crystal elastomer films that are deposited with terahertz metamaterials.

A liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) film is successfully deposited with a terahertz metamaterial using thermal evaporation via a programmed electronic shutter and high-efficiency cooling system. The transmittance of the metamaterial at its resonance frequency is monotonically increased from 0.0036 to 1.

Polymer LEDs with improved efficacy via periodic nanostructure-based aluminum.

Periodic aluminum-capped nanoslit arrays were produced on a polycarbonate plastic substrate by rapid hot embossing nanoimprint lithography and thermal evaporation, and they were used as a transparent window for blue-emitting polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). The external quantum efficiency of blue-emitting PLEDs was enhanced by the surface plasmon polaritons of the periodic aluminum-capped nanoslit arrays. A maximum current efficiency of 4.

K Channel Kv3.4 Is Essential for Axon Growth by Limiting the Influx of Ca into Growth Cones.

Membrane excitability in the axonal growth cones of embryonic neurons influences axon growth. Voltage-gated K (Kv) channels are key factors in controlling membrane excitability, but whether they regulate axon growth remains unclear. Here, we report that Kv3.

Effect of swelling of a photoresist on electromagnetic resonance of terahertz metamaterials.

This work uses isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to develop a photoresist. IPA dissolves the photoresist that is not exposed to UV light, and swells the photoresist that is exposed to UV light. The swelling of the photoresist distorts the split-ring resonators (SRRs).

A High Circulating Tumor Cell Count in Portal Vein Predicts Liver Metastasis From Periampullary or Pancreatic Cancer: A High Portal Venous CTC Count Predicts Liver Metastases.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) released from a periampullary or pancreatic cancer can be more frequently detected in the portal than the systemic circulation and potentially can be used to identify patients with liver micrometastases. Aims of this study is to determine if CTCs count in portal venous blood of patients with nonmetastatic periampullary or pancreatic adenocarcinoma can be used as a predictor for subsequent liver metastases. CTCs were quantified in portal and peripheral venous blood samples collected simultaneously during pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients with presumed periampullary or pancreatic adenocarcinoma without image-discernible metastasis.

Coexpression of auxiliary subunits KChIP and DPPL in potassium channel Kv4-positive nociceptors and pain-modulating spinal interneurons.

Subthreshold A-type K(+) currents (ISA s) have been recorded from the somata of nociceptors and spinal lamina II excitatory interneurons, which sense and modulate pain, respectively. Kv4 channels are responsible for the somatodendritic ISA s. Accumulative evidence suggests that neuronal Kv4 channels are ternary complexes including pore-forming Kv4 subunits and two types of auxiliary subunits: K(+) channel-interacting proteins (KChIPs) and dipeptidyl peptidase-like proteins (DPPLs).

Continuously tunable and fast-response terahertz metamaterials using in-plane-switching dual-frequency liquid crystal cells.

A metamaterial that is embedded in an in-plane-switching dual-frequency liquid crystal cell is used to develop an electrically controllable terahertz (THz) metamaterial. The resonance peak of the metamaterial can be redshifted and blueshifted as the frequency of an external voltage is switched, and the response times for the redshift and blueshift are 1.044 and 1.

Resonance enhancement of terahertz metamaterials by liquid crystals/indium tin oxide interfaces.

This work fabricates a terahertz (THz) metamaterial device, whose structure consists of split ring resonator array/ plastic substrate/ Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) film/ liquid crystals/ ITO film/ plastic substrate. Experiment results show that the resonance of the THz metamaterial device can be enhanced as voltage is applied to the liquid crystals. The enhancement will be more significant as higher voltage applied.

Coexpression of high-voltage-activated ion channels Kv3.4 and Cav1.2 in pioneer axons during pathfinding in the developing rat forebrain.

Precise axon pathfinding is crucial for establishment of the initial neuronal network during development. Pioneer axons navigate without the help of preexisting axons and pave the way for follower axons that project later. Voltage-gated ion channels make up the intrinsic electrical activity of pioneer axons and regulate axon pathfinding.

All-optical and polarization-independent spatial filter based on a vertically-aligned polymer-stabilized liquid crystal film with a photoconductive layer.

An all-optical and polarization-independent spatial filter was developed in a vertically-aligned (VA) polymer-stabilized liquid crystal (PSLC) film with a photoconductive (PC) layer. This spatial filter is based on the effect of light on the conductivity of PC layer: high (low)-intensity light makes the conductivity of the PC layer high (low), resulting in a low (high) threshold voltage of the PC-coated VA PSLC cell. Experimental results indicate that this spatial filter is a high-pass filter with low optical-power consumption (about 1.