Metabolic effects and cardiovascular disease risks of antiviral treatments in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Different antiviral treatments for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) have been known to have different metabolic effects. This study aimed to reveal whether tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-induced dyslipidemia and its associated outcomes are significant. This study utilized 15-year historical cohort including patients with CHB in Korea and consisted of two parts: the single-antiviral and switch-antiviral cohorts. In the single-antiviral cohort, patients were divided into four groups (entecavir [ETV]-only, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [TDF]-only, TAF-only, and non-antiviral). Propensity score matching (PSM) and linear regression model were sequentially applied to compare metabolic profiles and estimated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risks longitudinally. In the switch-antiviral cohort, pairwise analyses were conducted in patients who switched NAs to TAF or from TAF. In the single-antiviral cohort, body weight and statin use showed significant differences between groups before PSM, but well-balanced after PSM. Changes in total cholesterol were significantly different between groups (-2.57 mg/dL/year in the TDF-only group and +2.88 mg/dL/year in the TAF-only group; p = 0.002 and p = 0.02, respectively). In the TDF-only group, HDL cholesterol decreased as well (-0.55 mg/dL/year; p < 0.001). The TAF-only group had the greatest increase in ASCVD risk, followed by the TDF-only group and the non-antiviral group. In the switch-antiviral cohort, patients who switched from TDF to TAF had a higher total cholesterol after switching (+9.4 mg/dL/year) than before switching (-1.0 mg/dL/year; p = 0.047). Sensitivity analysis on data with an observation period set to a maximum of 3 years for NA treatment showed consistent results on total cholesterol (-2.96 mg/dL/year in the TDF-only group and +3.09 mg/dL/year in the TAF-only group; p = 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). Another sensitivity analysis conducted on statin-treated patients revealed no significant change in cholesterol and ASCVD risk. TAF was associated with increased total cholesterol, whereas TDF was associated with decreased total and HDL cholesterol. Both TAF and TDF were associated with increased ASCVD risks, and statin use might mitigate these risks.

Time-asymmetric loop around an exceptional point over the full optical communications band.

Topological operations around exceptional points1-8-time-varying system configurations associated with non-Hermitian singularities-have been proposed as a robust approach to achieving far-reaching open-system dynamics, as demonstrated in highly dissipative microwave transmission3 and cryogenic optomechanical oscillator4 experiments. In stark contrast to conventional systems based on closed-system Hermitian dynamics, environmental interferences at exceptional points are dynamically engaged with their internal coupling properties to create rotational stimuli in fictitious-parameter domains, resulting in chiral systems that exhibit various anomalous physical phenomena9-16. To achieve new wave properties and concomitant device architectures to control them, realizations of such systems in application-abundant technological areas, including communications and signal processing systems, are the next step. However, it is currently unclear whether non-Hermitian interaction schemes can be configured in robust technological platforms for further device engineering. Here we experimentally demonstrate a robust silicon photonic structure with photonic modes that transmit through time-asymmetric loops around an exceptional point in the optical domain. The proposed structure consists of two coupled silicon-channel waveguides and a slab-waveguide leakage-radiation sink that precisely control the required non-Hermitian Hamiltonian experienced by the photonic modes. The fabricated devices generate time-asymmetric light transmission over an extremely broad spectral band covering the entire optical telecommunications window (wavelengths between 1.26 and 1.675 micrometres). Thus, we take a step towards broadband on-chip optical devices based on non-Hermitian topological dynamics by using a semiconductor platform with controllable optoelectronic properties, and towards several potential practical applications, such as on-chip optical isolators and non-reciprocal mode converters. Our results further suggest the technological relevance of non-Hermitian wave dynamics in various other branches of physics, such as acoustics, condensed-matter physics and quantum mechanics.

Synthetic Topological Nodal Phase in Bilayer Resonant Gratings.

The notion of synthetic dimensions in artificial photonic systems has received considerable attention as it provides novel methods for exploring hypothetical topological phenomena as well as potential device applications. Here, we present nanophotonic manifestation of a two-dimensional topological nodal phase in bilayer resonant grating structures. Using the mathematical analogy between a topological semimetal and vertically asymmetric photonic lattices, we show that the interlayer shift simulates an extra momentum dimension for creating a two-dimensional topological nodal phase. We present a theoretical model and rigorous numerical analyses showing the two nodal points that produce a complex gapless band structure and localized edge states in the topologically nontrivial region. Therefore, our results provide a practical scheme for producing high-dimensional topological effects in simple low-dimensional photonic structures.

Optical Energy-Difference Conservation in a Synthetic Anti-PT-Symmetric System.

Anti-parity-time (APT) symmetry is associated with various effects beyond the fundamental limitations implied in the standard Hermitian-Hamiltonian dynamics. Here, we create an optical APT-symmetric system in a synthetic frequency domain using a conventional fiber without intrinsic gain or loss and experimentally reveal photonic APT-symmetric effects, including energy-difference conservation and synchronized power oscillation, which have not yet been confirmed experimentally in the optical domain. The optical fiber-based APT-symmetric system has a long interaction length because of its negligible loss, and the APT-symmetric Hamiltonian is precisely tunable with optical pumping density and phase mismatch. On this basis, we observe the phase transition at exceptional points, energy-difference conservation, and synchronized power oscillation. Our results provide a robust theoretical and experimental framework connecting the emerging non-Hermitian physics with technologically important nonlinear fiber-optic interactions.

CMOS-compatible Si metasurface at visible wavelengths prepared by low-temperature green laser annealing.

A low-temperature laser crystallization is newly devised for producing polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films of low-loss, low surface roughness enough for nanoscale patterning, applicable to practical Si metasurface elements on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronic architectures in visible lights. The method is based on dielectric encapsulation of an amorphous Si film and subsequent laser-induced local crystallization. Such poly-Si thin film yields order-of-magnitude smaller surface roughness and grain size than those obtained with the conventional laser annealing processes. The mechanism of the formation of small and uniform crystalline grains during solidification is studied to ensure the smooth surfaces enough for nanoscale patterning. By obtaining root mean square of surface roughness <2.49 nm and extinction coefficient <4.8 × 10-2 at 550 nm, visible metasurface color-filter elements are experimentally demonstrated with the resonant transmission-peak efficiency approaching ∼85%. This low-loss poly-Si metasurface is favorably compatible with embedded CMOS electronic architectures in contrast to the conventional thermal annealing processes that often cause failure of electrical device functionalities due to delamination and material-property degradation problems. The proposed fabrication in this study provides a practical method for further development of various Si metasurfaces in the visible domain and their integration with CMOS electronic devices as well.

Elastomer thin-film pressure sensor based on embedded photonic tunnel-junction arrays.

We propose an elastomer thin-film pressure sensor enabled by pressure-sensitive optical signals through vertical photonic tunnel-junction couplers. We provide the operation principle, design, fabrication, and test results from a 50 µm thick polydimethylsiloxane sheet accommodating embedded vertical photonic tunnel-junction couplers. The result with a 5 mm long device shows a differential optical power change that is ∼140% of the incident power under moderate external pressure of ∼40 kPa, thereby clearly demonstrating a robust pressure-sensing capability realized in a highly flexible, lightweight, transferrable, optically transparent, and bio-compatible thin-film material. Therefore, the proposed approach potentially enables versatile pressure and touch sensors for many applications in practice.

Robust snapshot interferometric spectropolarimetry.

This Letter describes a Stokes vector measurement method based on a snapshot interferometric common-path spectropolarimeter. The proposed scheme, which employs an interferometric polarization-modulation module, can extract the spectral polarimetric parameters Ψ(k) and Δ(k) of a transmissive anisotropic object by which an accurate Stokes vector can be calculated in the spectral domain. It is inherently strongly robust to the object 3D pose variation, since it is designed distinctly so that the measured object can be placed outside of the interferometric module. Experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility of the proposed system. The proposed snapshot scheme enables us to extract the spectral Stokes vector of a transmissive anisotropic object within tens of msec with high accuracy.

Ultra-sparse dielectric nanowire grids as wideband reflectors and polarizers.

Engaging both theory and experiment, we investigate resonant photonic lattices in which the duty cycle tends to zero. Corresponding dielectric nanowire grids are mostly empty space if operated as membranes in vacuum or air. These grids are shown to be effective wideband reflectors with impressive polarizing properties. We provide computed results predicting nearly complete reflection and attendant polarization extinction in multiple spectral regions. Experimental results with Si nanowire arrays with 10% duty cycle show ~200-nm-wide band of high reflection for one polarization state and free transmission for the orthogonal state. These results agree quantitatively with theoretical predictions. It is fundamentally extremely significant that the wideband spectral expressions presented can be generated in these minimal systems.

Concurrent spatial and spectral filtering by resonant nanogratings.

Optical devices incorporating resonant periodic layers constitute an emerging technological area. Recent advances include spectral filters, broadband mirrors, and polarizers. Here, we demonstrate concurrent spatial and spectral filtering as a new outstanding attribute of this device class. This functionality is enabled by a unique, near-complete, reflection state that is discrete in both angular and spectral domains and realized with carefully-crafted nanogratings operating in the non-subwavelength regime. We study the pathway and inter-modal interference effects inducing this intriguing reflection state. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we obtain angular and spectral bandwidths of ~4 mrad and ~1 nm, respectively. This filter concept can be used for focus-free spectral and spatial filtering in compact holographic and interferometric optical instruments.

Temperature and gain tuning of plasmonic coherent perfect absorbers.

We experimentally demonstrate temperature-tuned and gain-assisted surface-plasmonic coherent perfect absorbers. In these devices, coherent perfect absorption (CPA) is supported by balancing the absorber's radiative and non-radiative decay rates under thermal tuning of free-electron collision frequency in the Ag layer and optical tuning of the amplification rate in the adjacent dielectric film with optical gain, respectively. The results show that these methods are experimentally feasible and applicable to various CPA configurations.

Parity-time-symmetry breaking in double-slab surface-plasmon-polariton waveguides.

We theoretically demonstrate spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking behavior of surface-plasmon polaritons (SPP) in coupled double-slab (DS) waveguides. By virtue of a flat-top field at critical wavelength, the imaginary index of a DS-SPP mode can be controlled via changing the core thickness, while the real index is kept constant. Therefore, a waveguide coupler that consists of a pair of DS-SPP waveguides with different core thicknesses can represent a passive PT-symmetric system, which always maintains symmetry under a real potential. This set-up also represents a good opportunity to investigate the underlying physics of PT-symmetry breaking in non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems.

Single-layer optical bandpass filter technology.

Resonant periodic surfaces and films enable new functionalities with wide applicability in practical optical systems. Their material sparsity, ease of fabrication, and minimal interface count provide environmental and thermal stability and robustness in applications. Here, we report an experimental bandpass filter fashioned in a single patterned silicon layer on a quartz substrate. Its performance corresponds to bandpass filters requiring 15 traditional Si/SiO(2) thin-film layers. The feasibility of sparse narrowband high-efficiency bandpass filters with extremely wide, flat, and low sidebands is thereby demonstrated. This class of devices is designed with rigorous solutions of Maxwell's equations while engaging the physical principles of resonant waveguide gratings. An experimental filter presented exhibits a transmittance of ∼72%, bandwidth of ∼0.5 nm, and low sidebands spanning ∼100 nm. The proposed technology is integration-friendly and opens doors for further development in various disciplines and spectral regions where thin-film solutions are traditionally applied.

Gain-assisted critical coupling for high-performance coherent perfect absorbers.

Balanced radiation and absorption rates of an optical resonator are necessary for coherent perfect light absorption in many active device applications. This balance is referred to as critical coupling condition. We propose a gain-assisted method for exact access to critical coupling conditions without altering any structure parameters. In a coherent absorber with additional internal gain media, critical coupling with arbitrarily high coherent signal extinction can be obtained by continuously tuning optical pumping density. Assuming a surface-plasmon resonance grating covered by a gain layer as a promising architecture, we numerically demonstrate gain-assisted continuous access to its critical coupling point with experimentally probable settings. In addition, the gain tuning further introduces switching of the coherent-absorber's functionality to a conventional lossless beam splitter.

Mode-coupling mechanisms of resonant transmission filters.

We study theoretically modal properties and parametric dependence of guided-mode resonance bandpass filters operating in the mid- and near-infrared spectral domains. We investigate three different device architectures consisting of single, double, and triple layers based on all-transparent dielectric and semiconductor thin films. The three device classes show high-performance bandpass filter profiles with broad, flat low-transmission sidebands accommodating sharp transmission peaks with their efficiencies approaching 100% with appropriate blending of multiple guided modes. We present three modal coupling configurations forming complex mixtures of two or three distinct leaky modes coupling at different evanescent diffraction orders. These modal compositions produce various widths of sidebands ranging from ~30 nm to ~2100 nm and transmission peak-linewidths ranging from ~1 pm to ~10 nm. Our modal analysis demonstrates key attributes of subwavelength periodic thin-film structures in multiple-modal blending to achieve desired transmission spectra. The design principle is applicable to various optical elements such as high-power optical filters, low-noise label-free biochemical sensor templates, and high-density display pixels.

Efficient band-pass color filters enabled by resonant modes and plasmons near the Rayleigh anomaly.

We design and fabricate efficient, narrow-band, transmission color filters whose operating principle resides in a narrow-band guided-mode resonance associated with a surface-plasmon resonance. The fundamental device consists of an aluminum grating over a 200-nm-thick aluminum oxide film on a glass substrate. Numerical simulations show a sharp resonance-derived spectral profile that is additionally shaped by a neighboring Rayleigh anomaly. Besides the Rayleigh effect, we show numerically that the narrow bandwidth is predominantly due to the low refractive-index contrast between the waveguide film and the substrate. Red, green, and blue filters are fabricated using ultraviolet holographic lithography followed by a lift-off process. The experimental spectral efficiency in transmission exceeds 80% with full-width-at-half-maximum linewidths near 20 nm. We provide color images of the zero-order transmitted spectra, and illustrate the pure colors associated with the modal resonance extracted as side-coupled output light.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein level is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in cirrhotic patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The production of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) may be affected by hepatic function, and the clinical importance of hs-CRP in patients with liver cirrhosis is still not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical implications of hs-CRP in cirrhotic patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). METHODS: We retrospectively investigated 336 consecutive patients treated for SBP from 2007 to 2012. The relationship between serum hs-CRP and the result of the treatment was assessed. RESULTS: A response to antibiotics was observed in 182 patients (54.2%), and 126 patients (37.5%) died of SBP. The initial hs-CRP (odds ratio=1.061, P=0.016), coexistent hepatocellular carcinoma, and Child-Pugh (CP) score were independent prognostic factors for high in-hospital mortality. Serum hs-CRP level was also an independent predictor of lower antibiotic response rate (odds ratio=0.916, P<0.001). However, hs-CRP was negatively correlated with the CP score (r=-0.199, P<0.001) and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (r=-0.182, P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that serum hs-CRP level is related to a lower response rate to antibiotics, a higher mortality rate in patients with SBP. The hs-CRP level was negatively correlated with the CP and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores, which suggests that the prognostic function of hs-CRP was not a surrogate for hepatic dysfunction.

Compact coherent perfect absorbers using topological guided-mode resonances.

We propose a topological coherent perfect absorber that enables almost ideal performance with remarkably compact device footprint and tight incident beams. The proposed structure is based on a topological junction of two guided-mode-resonance gratings. The structure provides robust systematic ways of remarkably tight lateral confinement of the absorbing resonance mode and near-perfect mode-match to arbitrary incident beams, which are unavailable with the conventional approaches. We demonstrate an exemplary amorphous Si thin-film structure that enables near-perfect absorptance modulation between 1.7 and 99% with device footprint width of 30-µm and 10-µm-wide incident Gaussian beams. Therefore, our proposed approach greatly improves practicality of guided-mode-resonance coherent perfect absorbers.

Fano resonance formula for lossy two-port systems.

We provide a modified Fano resonance formula applicable to dissipative two-port resonance systems. Based on a generic coupled-resonator model, the formula embodies loss-related correction terms and fundamental resonance parameters that can be determined by an analytic method or experimentally as opposed to finding phenomenological parameters by fitting to numerical results. The theory applies physically meaningful resonance parameters including resonance frequency, total decay rates, and partial radiation probabilities. For example, it shows that the classic Fano shape parameter q is given directly in terms of the phase difference between the resonant and non-resonant transmission pathways. Our new resonance formula quantitatively expresses the resonance spectra pertaining to modal nanophotonic and surface-plasmonic thin-film structures as verified by comparing with exact numerical models.

Measurement and modeling of a complete optical absorption and scattering by coherent surface plasmon-polariton excitation using a silver thin-film grating.

We demonstrate the plasmonic analogue of a coherent photonic effect known as coherent perfect absorption. A periodically nanopatterned metal film perfectly absorbs multiple coherent light beams coupling to a single surface plasmon mode. The perfect absorbing state can be switched to a nearly perfect scattering state by tuning the phase difference between the incident beams. We theoretically explain the plasmonic coherent perfect absorption by considering time-reversal symmetry of surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. We experimentally demonstrate coherent control of the plasmonic absorption in good agreement with a coupled-mode theory of dissipative resonances. Associated potential applications include absorption-based plasmonic switches, modulators, and light-electricity transducers.

Inverse-cavity structure for low-threshold miniature lasers.

Creating micro and nano lasers, high threshold gain is an inherent problem that have critically restricted their great technological potentials. Here, we propose an inverse-cavity laser structure where its threshold gain in the shortest-cavity regime is order-of-magnitude lower than the conventional cavity configurations. In the proposed structure, a resonant feedback mechanism efficiently transfers external optical gain to the cavity mode at a higher rate for a shorter cavity, hence resulting in the threshold gain reducing with decreasing cavity length in stark contrast to the conventional cavity structures. We provide a fundamental theory and rigorous numerical analyses confirming the feasibility of the proposed structure. Remarkably, the threshold gain reduces down by a factor ~ 10-3 for a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser structure and ~ 0.17 for a lattice-plasmonic nanocavity structure. Therefore, the proposed approach may produce extremely efficient miniature lasers desirable for variety of applications potentially beyond the present limitations.