Integrated metasurfaces for re-envisioning a near-future disruptive optical platform.

Metasurfaces have been continuously garnering attention in both scientific and industrial fields, owing to their unprecedented wavefront manipulation capabilities using arranged subwavelength artificial structures. To date, research has mainly focused on the full control of electromagnetic characteristics, including polarization, phase, amplitude, and even frequencies. Consequently, versatile possibilities of electromagnetic wave control have been achieved, yielding practical optical components such as metalenses, beam-steerers, metaholograms, and sensors.

Scalable manufacturing of high-index atomic layer-polymer hybrid metasurfaces for metaphotonics in the visible.

Metalenses are attractive alternatives to conventional bulky refractive lenses owing to their superior light-modulating performance and sub-micrometre-scale thicknesses; however, limitations in existing fabrication techniques, including high cost, low throughput and small patterning area, have hindered their mass production. Here we demonstrate low-cost and high-throughput mass production of large-aperture visible metalenses using deep-ultraviolet argon fluoride immersion lithography and wafer-scale nanoimprint lithography. Once a 12″ master stamp is imprinted, hundreds of centimetre-scale metalenses can be fabricated using a thinly coated high-index film to enhance light confinement, resulting in a substantial increase in conversion efficiency.

A Simple Derivation of Diffusion Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Equations.

Since its introduction in the 1970s, Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) has become a standard biophysical and physical chemistry tool to investigate not only a diffusion but also a broad range of biochemical processes including binding kinetics and anomalous diffusion. Since the derivation of FCS equations for many biochemical processes shares many common steps with the diffusion FCS equation, it is important to understand the mathematical theory behind the ​diffusion FCS equation. However, because the derivation of FCS equations requires advanced Fourier Transform and inverse Fourier Transform theory, which most biologists and biochemists are not familiar with, it is often treated as a black box in practice.

The seeded growth of graphene.

In this paper, we demonstrate the seeded growth of graphene under a plasma chemical vapor deposition condition. First, we fabricate graphene nanopowders (~5 nm) by ball-milling commercial multi-wall carbon nanotubes. The graphene nanoparticles were subsequently subject to a direct current plasma generated in a 100 Torr 10%CH4 - 90%H2 gas mixture.

Structure of single-wall carbon nanotubes: a graphene helix.

Evidence is presented in this paper that certain single-wall carbon nanotubes are not seamless tubes, but rather adopt a graphene helix resulting from the spiral growth of a nano-graphene ribbon. The residual traces of the helices are confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The analysis also shows that the tubular graphene material may exhibit a unique armchair structure and the chirality is not a necessary condition for the growth of carbon nanotubes.

Immunogenicity and safety of an inactivated trivalent split influenza virus vaccine in young children with recurrent wheezing.

Influenza virus vaccination is recommended for children, but so far, active vaccination has not been achieved because most parents lack knowledge of vaccine safety and many doctors are reluctant to administer vaccine due to concerns that steroids might alter immunogenicity. The aim of this study was to compare the immunogenicity and safety of inactivated trivalent split influenza virus vaccine between children with recurrent wheezing and healthy children of the same age group. Sixty-eight healthy children and 62 children with recurrent wheezing took part in this study.

Enhancement of differentiation efficiency of hESCs into vascular lineage cells in hypoxia via a paracrine mechanism.

Hypoxia is one way of inducing differentiation due to the activation of the key regulatory factor, Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α). However, the action of HIF-1α on the differentiation of hESCs was unclear until now. To investigate the effect of hypoxia on the differentiation of hESCs, we compared the differentiation efficacy into vascular lineage cells under normoxic and hypoxic conditions.

Enhancement of wound healing by secretory factors of endothelial precursor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells.

Background Aims: Stem cells have been shown to have a therapeutic effect in several ischemic animal models, including hindlimb ischemia and chronic wound. We examined the wound-healing effect of secretory factors released by human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived endothelial precursor cells (EPC) in cutaneous excisional wound models.

Methods: hESC-EPC were sorted by CD133/KDR, and endothelial characteristics were confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Matrigel assay and ac-LDL uptake.

The increase in hepatic uncoupling by fenofibrate contributes to a decrease in adipose tissue in obese rats.

Fenofibrate is a drug that has been suggested to inhibit weight gain by increasing the catabolism of fatty acid in the hepatic mitochondria. We hypothesized that fenofibrate induces an increase in energy expenditure in the hepatic mitochondria, which results in the reduction of adipose tissue. In this study we measured hepatic uncoupling protein (UCP)-2, -3, core temperatures and abdominal fat composition with MRI in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats.