Effectiveness of the lay health advisor program on oral function and quality of life in aboriginal older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Aboriginal older adults residing in remote areas have poor oral function due to inadequate access to healthcare services. Lay health advisor (LHA) strategies can fill capacity shortages of healthcare professionals in rural communities and increase population acceptance of health care or healthy behaviours. OBJECTIVE(S): To evaluate the effectiveness the LHA program on oral function and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among older adults in aboriginal community. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG; n = 122) and a control group (CG; n = 118). All participants performed oral exercises, and the EG received additional one-on-one 30-min lessons by an LHA over 4 weeks. Data were collected through face-to-face interview and oral examination. The generalized estimating equation model was used to analyse changes in outcomes over time. RESULTS: The EG exhibited significantly greater improvement in swallowing (ß = .63) at the 6-month follow-up and in masticatory performance (ß = .52) and pronunciation of the syllable/pa/ (ß = 2.65) at the 2-week follow-up than the CG did. The EG had a significantly lower plaque control record (ß = -.14) and plaque index (ß = -.30) at the 3-month follow-up than the CG did. Moreover, the OHRQoL was significantly increased at 6-months follow-up in the EG (p = .010). CONCLUSION: The LHA program had positive effects on chewing, swallowing and plaque control in aboriginal older adults. LHA group also experienced positive long-term effect on OHRQoL after intervention.

[Genome-wide identification of bZIP family genes and screening of candidate AarbZIPs involved in terpenoid biosynthesis in Artemisia argyi].

Artemisia argyi is an important medicinal and economic plant in China, with the effects of warming channels, dispersing cold, and relieving pain, inflammation, and allergy. The essential oil of this plant is rich in volatile terpenoids and widely used in moxi-bustion and healthcare products, with huge market potential. The bZIP transcription factors compose a large family in plants and are involved in the regulation of plant growth and development, stress response, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as terpenoids. However, little is known about the bZIPs and their roles in A. argyi. In this study, the bZIP transcription factors in the genome of A. argyi were systematically identified, and their physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationship, conserved motifs, and promoter-binding elements were analyzed. Candidate AarbZIP genes involved in terpenoid biosynthesis were screened out. The results showed that a total of 156 AarbZIP transcription factors were identified at the genomic level, with the lengths of 99-618 aa, the molecular weights of 11.7-67.8 kDa, and the theoretical isoelectric points of 4.56-10.16. According to the classification of bZIPs in Arabidopsis thaliana, the 156 AarbZIPs were classified into 12 subfamilies, and the members in the same subfamily had similar conserved motifs. The cis-acting elements of promoters showed that AarbZIP genes were possibly involved in light and hormonal pathways. Five AarbZIP genes that may be involved in the regulation of terpenoid biosynthesis were screened out by homologous alignment and phylogenetic analysis. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of the five AarbZIP genes varied significantly in different tissues of A. argyi. Specifically, AarbZIP29 and AarbZIP55 were highly expressed in the leaves and AarbZIP81, AarbZIP130, and AarbZIP150 in the flower buds. This study lays a foundation for the functional study of bZIP genes and their regulatory roles in the terpenoid biosynthesis in A. argyi.

Embryonic transcriptome and proteome analyses on hepatic lipid metabolism in chickens divergently selected for abdominal fat content.

BACKGROUND: In avian species, liver is the main site of de novo lipogenesis, and hepatic lipid metabolism relates closely to adipose fat deposition. Using our fat and lean chicken lines of striking differences in abdominal fat content, post-hatch lipid metabolism in both liver and adipose tissues has been studied extensively. However, whether molecular discrepancy for hepatic lipid metabolism exists in chicken embryos remains obscure. RESULTS: We performed transcriptome and proteome profiling on chicken livers at five embryonic stages (E7, E12, E14, E17 and E21) between the fat and lean chicken lines. At each stage, 521, 141, 882, 979 and 169 differentially expressed genes were found by the digital gene expression, respectively, which were significantly enriched in the metabolic, PPAR signaling and fatty acid metabolism pathways. Quantitative proteomics analysis found 20 differentially expressed proteins related to lipid metabolism, PPAR signaling, fat digestion and absorption, and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. Combined analysis showed that genes and proteins related to lipid transport (intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, nucleoside diphosphate kinase, and apolipoprotein A-I), lipid clearance (heat shock protein beta-1) and energy metabolism (NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] 1 beta subcomplex subunit 10 and succinate dehydrogenase flavoprotein subunit) were significantly differentially expressed between the two lines. CONCLUSIONS: For hepatic lipid metabolism at embryonic stages, molecular differences related to lipid transport, lipid clearance and energy metabolism exist between the fat and lean chicken lines, which might contribute to the striking differences of abdominal fat deposition at post-hatch stages.

Efficacy improvement in polymer LEDs via silver-nanoparticle doping in the emissive layer.

The coupling of surface plasmons and excitons in the emissive layer (EML) can improve the performance of polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) with a decahedron structure are prepared by the chemical reduction and photochemical methods and doped directly into the EML after the phase-transfer process. The surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag-NPs, which makes full use of quenched excitons and increases the efficiency of excitons in the EML in a PLED, enhances the current efficacy by a factor of 75 relative to that of the undoped reference device (from 0.22 to 16.64 cd/A). These results demonstrate that Ag-NPs can assist in simple and low-cost fabrication of high-performance polymer optoelectronic devices.

Plasmonic Archimedean spiral modes on concentric metal ring gratings.

Plasmonic Archimedean spiral modes on concentric silver (Ag) ring gratings are investigated by FDTD simulations and theoretical analyses. These modes are generated by placing the ring grating under an Ag nanorod to extract the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of spiral surface plasmon (SSP) modes on the nanorod and transform it into the orbital motion of SP on the grating. The formation of Archimedean spiral patterns is ascribed to two factors: both the r- and θ-directional wavevectors are conserved for SSP on nanorod coupling into SP on ring grating and both the r- and θ-directional velocities of SP keep unchanged when it propagates on the ring grating. The number of strands of Archimedean spiral pattern is determined by the topological charge of SSP mode. The plasmonic Archimedean spiral modes have potential applications in the fields of data storage, dielectric microparticle manipulation, biosensing and directional switching.

Actively controlled super-resolution using graphene-based structure.

A super-resolution (with λ/50 resolution ability at mid-infrared region) device that consists of a monolayer graphene sandwiched between two dielectric materials with two alternate chemical potentials in graphene (which can be obtained by alternately applying two biased voltages to graphene) is proposed and analyzed. When the subwavelength resolution is achieved, the graphene-based device can be viewed as an effective optical medium with alternate arrangement of positive and negative refractive indices. And the isofrequency dispersion curves of the effective optical medium have the hyperbolic form. Furthermore, the super-resolution at different desired frequencies can be reached by merely changing the chemical potentials of graphene. The proposed devices have potential applications in multi-functional material, real-time subwavelength imaging, and high-density optoelectronic components for using the abnormal diffraction feature.

Breaking optical diffraction limitation using optical Hybrid-Super-Hyperlens with radially polarized light.

We propose and analyze an innovative device called "Hybrid-Super-Hyperlens". This lens is made of two hyperbolic metamaterials with different signs in their dielectric tensor and different isofrequency dispersion curves. The ability of the proposed lens to break the optical diffraction limit is demonstrated using numerical simulations (with the resolution power of about λ/6). Both a pair of nano-slits and a nano-ring can be imaged and resolved by the proposed lens using the radially polarized light source. Such a lens has great potential applications in photolithography and real-time nanoscale imaging.

Multi-level surface enhanced Raman scattering using AgOx thin film.

Ag nanostructures with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities have been fabricated by applying laser-direct writing (LDW) technique on silver oxide (AgOx) thin films. By controlling the laser powers, multi-level Raman imaging of organic molecules adsorbed on the nanostructures has been observed. This phenomenon is further investigated by atomic-force microscopy and electromagnetic calculation. The SERS-active nanostructure is also fabricated on transparent and flexible substrate to demonstrate our promising strategy for the development of novel and low-cost sensing chip.

Gain-assisted hybrid-superlens hyperlens for nano imaging.

We propose an innovative active imaging device named gain-assisted hybrid-superlens hyperlens and examine its resolving power theoretically. This semi-cylindrical device consists of a core of semi-cylindrical super-lens and a half cylindrical outer shell of hyperlens. Both the superlens and hyperlens parts of the device are appropriately designed multi-layered metal-dielectric structures having indefinite eigenvalues of dielectric tensors. The dielectric layers of the hyperlens are doped with Coumarin, which play the role of gain medium. The gain medium is analyzed thoroughly using a generic four-level system model, and the permittivity of the gain medium is extracted from this analysis for simulating the imaging characteristics of the device. According to our simulation at wavelength of 365 nm, an excellent resolution power much better than the diffraction limit value can be achieved.

[Association of single nucleotide polymorphism of RB1 gene with body weight traits in chicken].

The Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content (NEAUHLF) were used in the current study to investigate the effects of Retinoblastoma1 (RB1) gene on chicken body weight (BW). The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the individuals were detected by MALDI-TOF-MS and PCR-RFLP methods and the genotypes of 27 SNPs were obtained. Haplotypes were constructed by liding window approach. Association analysis between single SNPs and haplotypes and body weight were conducted, respectively. Based on the results of single SNPs and haplotype association analyses. Four SNPs with significant effects on body weight at 1 week of age (BW1) and 2 SNPs with significant effects on BW1 and BW3 were determined. These results suggested that RB1 is an important candidate gene that affects chicken early growth and development.

Temperature tunability of surface plasmon enhanced Smith-Purcell terahertz radiation for semiconductor-based grating.

In this work, the terahertz (THz) Smith-Purcell radiations (SPRs) for the relativistic electron bunch passing over an indium antimonide (InSb)-based substrate with a subwavelength grating under various temperatures of substrate are investigated by FDTD simulations and theoretical analyses. The explored SPR is locked and enhanced at a certain emission wavelength with the emission angle still following the wavelength-angle relation of the traditional SPR. This wavelength agrees with the (vacuum) wavelength of surface plasmons (SPs) at the air-InSb interface excited by the electron bunch. The enhancement of SPR at this wavelength is attributed to the energy from electron concentrated in the excited SPs and then transformed into radiation via the SPR mechanism. When the temperature of InSb increases, the emission wavelength of the enhanced SPR decreases along with the emission angles increasing gradually. This work demonstrates that the emission wavelength and angle of the enhanced SPR from the InSb grating can be manipulated by the temperature of InSb. The temperature tunability of SP-enhanced SPR has potential applications in the fields of optical beam steering and metamaterial light source.

Generation of convergent light beams by using surface plasmon locked Smith-Purcell radiation.

An electron bunch passing through a periodic metal grating can emit Smith-Purcell radiation (SPR). Recently, it has been found that SPR can be locked and enhanced at some emission wavelength and angle by excitation of surface plasmon (SP) on the metal substrate. In this work, the generation of a convergent light beam via using the SP-locked SPR is proposed and investigated by computer simulations. The proposed structure is composed of an insulator-metal-insulator (IMI) substrate with chirped gratings on the substrate. The chirped gratings are designed such that a convergent beam containing a single wavelength is formed directly above the gratings when an electron bunch passes beneath the substrate. The wavelength of the convergent beam changes with the refractive index of dielectric layer of the IMI structure, which is determined by the frequency of SP on the IMI substrate excited by the electron bunch. Moreover, reversing the direction of electron bunch will make the emitted light from the proposed structure to switch from a convergent beam to a divergent beam. Finally, the formation of a convergent beam containing red, green and blue lights just above the chirped gratings is also demonstrated. This work offers potential applications in the fields of optical imaging, optical beam steering, holography, microdisplay, cryptography and light source.

Author Correction: Generation of convergent light beams by using surface plasmon locked Smith-Purcell radiation.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Tunable tapered waveguide for efficient compression of light to graphene surface plasmons.

Dielectric-graphene-dielectric (DGD) structure has been widely used to construct optical devices at infrared region with features of small footprint and low-energy dissipation. The optical properties of graphene can be manipulated by changing its chemical potential by applying a biased voltage onto graphene. However, the excitation efficiency of surface wave on graphene by end-fire method is very low because of large wavevector mismatch between infrared light and surface wave. In this paper, a dielectric-semiconductor-dielectric (DSD) tapered waveguide with magnetic tunability for efficient excitation of surface waves on DGD at infrared region is proposed and analyzed. Efficient excitation of surface waves on DGD with various chemical potentials in graphene layer and incident frequencies can be attained by merely changing the external magnetic field applied onto the DSD tapered waveguide. The electromagnetic simulations verify the design of the proposed structure. More importantly, the constituent materials used in the proposed structure are available in nature. This work opens the door toward various applications in the field of using surface waves.

Magnetically controlled planar hyperbolic metamaterials for subwavelength resolution.

Breaking diffraction limitation is one of the most important issues and still remains to be solved for the demand of high-density optoelectronic components, especially for the photolithography industry. Since the scattered signals of fine feature (i.e. the size is smaller than half of the illuminating wavelength λ) are evanescent, these signals cannot be captured by using conventional glass- or plastic-based optical lens. Hence the corresponding fine feature is lost. In this work, we propose and analyze a magnetically controlled InSb-dielectric multi-layered structure with ability of subwavelength resolution at THz region. This layered structure can resolve subwavelength structures at different frequencies merely changing the magnitude of external magnetic field. Furthermore, the resolving power for a fixed incident frequency can be increased by only increasing the magnitude of applied external magnetic field. By using transfer matrix method and effective medium approach, the mechanism of achieving super resolution is elucidated. The electromagnetic numerical simulation results also prove the rationality and feasibility of the proposed design. Because the proposed device can be dynamically reconfigured by simply changing the magnitude of external magnetic field, it would provide a practical route for multi-functional material, real-time super-resolution imaging, and photolithography.

Achieving planar plasmonic subwavelength resolution using alternately arranged insulator-metal and insulator-insulator-metal composite structures.

This work develops and analyzes a planar subwavelength device with the ability of one-dimensional resolution at visible frequencies that is based on alternately arranged insulator-metal (IM) and insulator-insulator-metal (IIM) composite structures. The mechanism for the proposed device to accomplish subwavelength resolution is elucidated by analyzing the dispersion relations of the IM-IIM composite structures. Electromagnetic simulations based on the finite element method (FEM) are performed to verify that the design of the device has subwavelength resolution. The ability of subwavelength resolution of the proposed device at various visible frequencies is achieved by slightly varying the constituent materials and geometric parameters. The proposed devices have potential applications in multi-functional material, real-time super-resolution imaging, and high-density photonic components.

Vertical split-ring resonator based anomalous beam steering with high extinction ratio.

Metasurfaces created artificially with metal nanostructures that are patterned on surfaces of different media have shown to possess "unusual" abilities to manipulate light. Limited by nanofabrication difficulties, so far most reported works have been based on 2D metal structures. We have recently developed an advanced e-beam process that allowed for the deposition of 3D nanostructures, namely vertical split-ring resonators (VSRRs), which opens up another degree of freedom in the metasurface design. Here we explore the functionality of beam steering with phase modulation by tuning only the vertical dimension of the VSRRs and show that anomalous steering reflection of a wide range of angles can be accomplished with high extinction ratio using the finite-difference-time-domain simulation. We also demonstrate that metasurfaces made of 3D VSRRs can be made with roughly half of the footprint compared to that of 2D nano-rods, enabling high density integration of metal nanostructures.

Plasmon inducing effects for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting: X-ray absorption approach to electronic structures.

Artificial photosynthesis using semiconductors has been investigated for more than three decades for the purpose of transferring solar energy into chemical fuels. Numerous studies have revealed that the introduction of plasmonic materials into photochemical reaction can substantially enhance the photo response to the solar splitting of water. Until recently, few systematic studies have provided clear evidence concerning how plasmon excitation and which factor dominates the solar splitting of water in photovoltaic devices. This work demonstrates the effects of plasmons upon an Au nanostructure-ZnO nanorods array as a photoanode. Several strategies have been successfully adopted to reveal the mutually independent contributions of various plasmonic effects under solar irradiation. These have clarified that the coupling of hot electrons that are formed by plasmons and the electromagnetic field can effectively increase the probability of a photochemical reaction in the splitting of water. These findings support a new approach to investigating localized plasmon-induced effects and charge separation in photoelectrochemical processes, and solar water splitting was used herein as platform to explore mechanisms of enhancement of surface plasmon resonance.