Screening and Constructing of Novel Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme Inhibiting Peptides from Walnut Protein Isolate and Their Mechanisms of Action: A Merged In Silico and In Vitro Study.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibiting peptides were isolated from walnut protein isolate (WPI) using ultrasound-assisted extraction. This study aimed to assess the impact of ultrasonic pretreatment on the physicochemical properties of WPI. The optimal extraction conditions for WPI were determined as a 15-min ultrasonic treatment at 400 W. Subsequently, the hydrolysate exhibiting the highest in vitro ACE-inhibiting activity underwent further processing and separation steps, including ultrafiltration, ion exchange chromatography, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, ADMET screening, and molecular docking. As a result of this comprehensive process, two previously unidentified ACE-inhibiting peptides, namely Tyr-Ile-Gln (YIQ) and Ile-Tyr-Gln (IYQ), were identified. In addition, a novel peptide, Ile-Lys-Gln (IKQ), was synthesized, demonstrating superior ACE-inhibiting activity and temperature stability. In silico analysis estimated an in vivo utilization rate of 21.7% for IKQ. These peptides were observed to inhibit ACE through an anti-competitive mechanism, with molecular docking simulations suggesting an interaction mechanism involving hydrogen bonding. Notably, both IYQ and IKQ peptides exhibited no discernible toxicity to HUVECs cells and promoted nitric oxide (NO) generation. These findings underscore the potential of ultrasonicated WPI in the separation of ACE-inhibiting peptides and their utility in the development of novel ACE inhibitors for functional food applications.

Asymmetric vortex beam emission from a metasurface-integrated microring with broken conjugate symmetry.

Vortex beams that carry orbital angular moment (OAM) have recently attracted a great amount of research interest, and metasurfaces and planar microcavities have emerged as two prominent, but mostly separated, methods for Si chip-based vortex beam emission. In this work, we demonstrate in numerical simulation for the first time the hybridization of these two existing methods in a Si chip-based passive emitter (i.e., a light coupler). A unique feature of this device is its broken conjugate symmetry, which originates from introducing a metasurface phase gradient along a microring. The broken conjugate symmetry creates a new phenomenon that we refer to as asymmetric vortex beam emission. It allows two opposite input directions to generate two independent sets of OAM values, a capability that has never been reported before in Si chip-based passive emitters. In addition, we have also developed here a new analytical method to extract the OAM spectrum from a vector vortex beam. This analytical method will prove to be useful for vector vortex beam analysis, as mode purity analysis has rarely been reported in literature due to the complexity of the full-vector nature of such beams. This study provides new approaches for both the design and the analysis of integrated vortex beam emission, which could be utilized in many applications such as free-space optical communications and microfluidic particle manipulation.

Multiaxial super-geometric mode laser.

Structured light was usually studied by two-dimensional (2D) transverse eigenmodes. Recently, the three-dimensional (3D) geometric modes as coherent superposed states of eigenmodes opened new topological indices to shape light, that optical vortices can be coupled on multiaxial geometric rays, but only limited to azimuthal vortex charge. Here, we propose a new structured light family, multiaxial super-geometric modes, enabling full radial and azimuthal indices coupled to multiaxial rays, and they can be directly generated from a laser cavity. Exploiting combined intra- and extra-cavity astigmatic mode conversions, we experimentally verify the versatile tunability of complex orbital angular momentum and SU(2) geometry beyond the limit of prior multiaxial geometric modes, opening new dimensions to revolutionize applications such as optical trapping, manufacturing, and communications.

Deep-learning-assisted communication capacity enhancement by non-orthogonal state recognition of structured light.

In light of pending capacity crunch in information era, orbital-angular-momenta-carrying vortex beams are gaining traction thanks to enlarged transmission capability. However, high-order beams are confronted with fundamental limits of nontrivial divergence or distortion, which consequently intensifies research on new optical states like low-order fractional vortex beams. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an alternative mean to increase the capacity by simultaneously utilizing multiple non-orthogonal states of structured light, challenging a prevailing view of using orthogonal states as information carriers. Specifically, six categories of beams are jointly recognized with accuracy of >99% by harnessing an adapted deep neural network, thus providing the targeted wide bandwidth. We then manifest the efficiency by sending/receiving a grayscale image in 256-ary mode encoding and shift keying schemes, respectively. Moreover, the well-trained model is able to realize high fidelity recognition (accuracy >0.8) onto structured beams under unknown turbulence and restricted receiver aperture size. To gain insights of the framework, we further interpret the network by revealing the contributions of intensity signals from different positions. This work holds potential in intelligence-assisted large-capacity and secure communications, meeting ever growing demand of daily information bandwidth.

Multipartite classically entangled scalar beams.

Classically entangled light is used to refer to a class of structured beams with space-polarization, polarization-time, and space-time non-separable states akin to entangled states, which enable novel quantum-analog methods and applications in structured light. Here, we argue that classical entanglement is also available for pure scalar beams with multiple non-separable spatial degrees of freedom (DoFs). We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a class of scalar ray-wave structured light with multiple controllable local DoFs to emulate multipartite entangled states, including the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. Our work unveils a rich parameter space for high-dimensional and multi-DoF control of structured light to extend applications in classical-quantum regimes.

Astigmatic hybrid SU(2) vector vortex beams: towards versatile structures in longitudinally variant polarized optics.

Structured light with more controllable degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) is an exciting topic with versatile applications. In contrast to conventional vector vortex beams (VVBs) with two DoFs of orbital angular momentum (OAM) and polarization, a hybrid ray-wave structure was recently proposed [Optica 7(7), 820-831 (2020)], which simultaneously manifests multiple DoFs such as ray trajectory, coherent state phase, trajectory combination, besides OAM and polarization. Here we further generalize this exotic structure as the astigmatic hybrid VVB by hatching a new DoF of astigmatic degree. Importantly, the transverse topology varies with propagation, e.g. a linearly distributed hybrid trajectory pattern can topologically evolve to a circularly polygonal star shape, where the number of singularity changes from zero to multiple in a single beam. The propagation-dependent evolution can be easily controlled by the astigmatic degree, including as a vector vortex state such that different astigmatic trajectories have different polarizations. We experimentally generate such beams from a simple laser with a special astigmatic conversion by combined spherical and cylindrical lenses, and the results agree well with our theoretical simulation. With our new structured light, the propagation-multiplexing multi-DoF patterns can be controlled in a single beam, which can largely extend related applications such as high-dimensional large-capacity optical communication, laser machining, and particle trapping.

Topological bimeronic beams.

This Letter proposes a family of structured light, called bimeronic beams, that characterize topological structures of bimeron (the quasiparticle homeomorphic to skyrmion). The polarization Stokes vectors of bimeronic beams emulate bimeron structures, which are reconfigurable to form various topological textures by tuning mode parameters. The bimeronic beams unveil a mechanism to transform diverse topological states of light, similar to the skyrmionic transformations among Néel, Bloch, and anti-skyrmion types. Moreover, bimeronic transformations are more generalized to include skyrmionic transformations as special cases.

Electrochemical Oxidative Difunctionalization of Alkenes to Access α-Oxygenated Ketones.

Dioxygenation of alkenes was developed by the combination of electrochemical synthesis and aerobic oxidation, leading to easy accessibility of α-oxygenated ketones in an eco-friendly fashion. Using air as the oxygen source and the absence of transition metals were the critical features of this protocol. A wide range of alkenes and N-hydroxyimides were found to be compatible and provided α-oxygenated ketones in moderate to high yields.

Digitally tailoring arbitrary structured light of generalized ray-wave duality.

Structured lights, particularly those with tunable and controllable geometries, are highly topical due to a myriad of their applications from imaging to communications. Ray-wave duality (RWD) is an exotic physical effect in structured light that the behavior of light can be described by both the geometric ray-like trajectory and a coherent wave-packet, thus providing versatile degrees of freedom (DoFs) to tailor more general structures. However, the generation of RWD geometric modes requires a solid-state laser cavity with strict mechanical control to fulfill the ray oscillation condition, which limits the flexiblility of applications. Here we overcome this confinement to generate on-demand RWD geometric modes by digital holographic method in free space without a cavity. We put forward a theory of generalized ray-wave duality, describing all previous geometric modes as well as new classes of RWD geometric modes that cannot be generated from laser cavities, which are verified by our free-of-cavity creation method. Our work not only breaks the conventional cavity limit on RWD but also enriches the family of geometric modes. More importantly, it offers a new way of digitally tailoring RWD geometric modes on-demand, replacing the prior mechanical control, and opening up new possibilities for applications of ray-wave structured light.

Chip-integrated metasurface for versatile and multi-wavelength control of light couplings with independent phase and arbitrary polarization.

While metasurfaces are now widely considered in free-space optics, their potential for coupling and tailoring guided waves is not fully explored. Here we transfer the Jones matrix method to target versatile on-chip coupling using metasurface-patterned photonic waveguides around the telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 µm, which can accommodate both propagation and Pancharatnam-Berry phase metasurfaces for guided waves. One can either encode two arbitrary and independent phase profiles to any pair of orthogonal polarizations or deploy complete control over both the phase and polarization of coupled modes. A set of design scenarios synergizing silicon nanoantennas and low-loss silicon-nitride waveguides are proposed, including directional couplers with mode-selectivity and polarization splitters with directionality ranging from 10 to 20 dB. Furthermore, our optimization method can be further extended to cover multiple working wavelengths. Exemplary on-chip color routers are also numerically demonstrated. This chip-integrated metasurface platform further translates the concept of a metasurface into photonic integrated circuits, serving as a positive paradigm for versatile and complete control over waveguide optical signals and motivating chip-scale applications such as polarization/wavelength demultiplexers, optical switches, and multifunctional mode converters.

Hybrid topological evolution of multi-singularity vortex beams: generalized nature for helical-Ince-Gaussian and Hermite-Laguerre-Gaussian modes.

A generalized family of scalar structured Gaussian modes including helical-Ince-Gaussian (HIG) and Hermite-Laguerre-Gaussian (HLG) beams is presented with physical insight upon the hybrid topological evolution nature of multi-singularity vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum. Considering the physical origins of intrinsic coordinates aberration and the Gouy phase shift, a closed-form expression is derived to characterize the general modes in astigmatic optical systems. Moreover, a graphical representation, singularities hybrid evolution nature (SHEN) sphere, is proposed to visualize the topological evolution of the multi-singularity beams, accommodating HLG, HIG, and other typical subfamilies as characteristic curves on the sphere surface. The salient properties of SHEN sphere for describing the precise singularities splitting phenomena, exotic structured light fields, and Gouy phase shift are illustrated with adequate experimental verifications.

Truncated triangular diffraction lattices and orbital-angular-momentum detection of vortex SU(2) geometric modes.

We report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a truncated diffraction with a triangular aperture of the SU(2) geometric modes and propose a method to detect the complicated orbital angular momentum (OAM) of an SU(2) wave-packet. As a special vortex beam, a nonplanar SU(2) mode carrying special intensity and OAM distributions brings exotic patterns in a truncated diffraction lattice. A meshy structure is unveiled therein by adjusting the illuminated aperture in the vicinity of the partial OAM regions, which can be elaborately used to evaluate the partial topological charge and OAM of an SU(2) wave-packet by counting the dark holes in the mesh. Moreover, through controlling the size and position of the aperture at the center region, the truncated triangular lattice can be close to the classical spot-array lattice for measuring the center OAM. These effects being fully validated by theoretical simulations greatly extend the versatility of topological structures detecting special beams.

Quadrant-separable multi-singularity vortices manipulation by coherent superposed mode with spatial-energy mismatch.

We propose a new method of phase-singularities manipulation in optical vortices carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), namely, quadrant-separable multi-singularity manipulation (QSMSM). In QSMSM, the positions of partial vortices in a quadrant region can be manipulated, while the singularities in other regions remain unchanged. The basic model of the multi-singularity OAM beam is obtained by the principle of coherent superposition of two Hermite-Gaussian modes with spatial mismatch. The actual multi-singularity beams are generated by external modulation with a spatial light modulator. The distribution of vortices trajectory can be controlled by the energy mismatch degree and the spatial mismatch degree. The vortices in a quadrant region can be independently manipulated by partially controlling the energy mismatch degree. The technology of partially tuning singularities in QSMSM improves the flexibility of vortices control and has great potential in applications of optical tweezers and optical modulators.

Wavelength-tunable Hermite-Gaussian modes and an orbital-angular-momentum-tunable vortex beam in a dual-off-axis pumped Yb:CALGO laser.

A dual-off-axis pumping scheme is presented to generate wavelength-tunable high-order Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes in Yb:CaGdAlO4 lasers. The mode and wavelength can be actively controlled by the off-axis displacements and pump power. The purities of the output HG modes are quantified by intensity distributions and the measured M2 values. The highest order reaches m=15 for stable HGm,0 mode, and wavelength-tunable width is about 10 nm. Moreover, through externally converting the HGm,0 modes, the vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) with a large OAM-tunable range from ±1ℏ to ±15ℏ are produced. This work is effective for largely scaling the spectral and OAM tunable ranges of optical vortex beams.

Periodic-trajectory-controlled, coherent-state-phase-switched, and wavelength-tunable SU(2) geometric modes in a frequency-degenerate resonator.

We report a method to realize the periodic trajectory controlling, coherent-state phase switching, and wavelength tuning of SU(2) geometric modes (GMs) in a frequency-degenerate resonator (FDR). FDR is a resonator in which the ratio of transverse and longitude modes frequency spacing is a simple rational number, which would lead to a laser wave-packet in a SU(2) coherent state related to a periodic ray trajectory. We demonstrate that the periodic trajectory can be switched with coherent-state phase changing from 0 to π (or π to 0) by simply controlling the position of gain medium in the same FDR. For the period-of-four state, the geometries are switched between "W" and "M" shapes. For the period-of-three state, those are switched between "IV" and "VI" shapes. Moreover, because a special crystal Yb:CALGO with extremely broad emission band is used as the gain medium, our SU(2) GMs have the wavelength-tunable property in contrast to the conventional single-frequency GMs. The center wavelength can be tuned with the range of about 10 nm by adjusting the pump power. These effects can further enrich the various applications of structured light manipulation.

Quasi-single-crystal-fiber acousto-optic Q-switched tandem dual Nd:YVO4 thin rods laser.

An 888 nm pumped quasi-single-crystal-fiber (quasi-SCF) acousto-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser is experimentally demonstrated for the first time, where two closely jointed crystals with different side surface styles serve as a long thin medium to improve the pump absorption and alleviate thermal load. In continuous-wave operation, the highest output power can reach 38.7 W with corresponding optical-optical efficiency of 0.492. In Q-switched operation, the optical-optical efficiency increases from 0.347 to 0.476 and pulse duration varies from 15 ns to 32.8 ns when pulse repetition frequency increases from 30 kHz to 100 kHz. The measured beam quality factors M2 are 1.018 and 1.030, respectively. The quasi-SCF scheme enjoys the advantage of sufficient pump absorption and reduced amplified spontaneous emission, which is promising for further applications in high-power lasers.

Nondiffracting supertoroidal pulses and optical "Kármán vortex streets".

Supertoroidal light pulses, as space-time nonseparable electromagnetic waves, exhibit unique topological properties including skyrmionic configurations, fractal-like singularities, and energy backflow in free space, which however do not survive upon propagation. Here, we introduce the non-diffracting supertoroidal pulses (NDSTPs) with propagation-robust skyrmionic and vortex field configurations that persists over arbitrary propagation distances. Intriguingly, the field structure of NDSTPs has a similarity with the von Kármán vortex street, a pattern of swirling vortices in fluid and gas dynamics with staggered singularities that can stably propagate forward. NDSTPs will be of interest as directed channels for information and energy transfer applications.

Novel bigels based on walnut oil oleogel and chitosan hydrogel: Preparation, characterization, and application as food spread.

This study developed new biphasic gel systems containing a walnut oil-based oleogel and a chitosan hydrogel and evaluated the application on food spread. The effects of different oleogelators [γ-oryzanol/ß-sitosterol (γ-ORY/ß-SIT), candelilla wax/span 65 (CW/SA), and mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids] were explored. Rheological analysis showed that γ-ORY/ß-SIT-based bigel had the strongest gel strength, but XRD confirmed that ß' crystal form (d = 3.72 Å, 4.12 Å) was predominantly in the CW/SA-based bigel, which was more appropriate for application as spread. The characteristics of CW/SA-based bigel with different oleogel fractions (40-80 wt%) were investigated. The microscopic images indicated that the hydrogels were dispersed as small droplets in the oleogels after oleogel fraction reaching 60 %. The highest crystallinity was achieved when the oleogel fraction was 60 %, and its oil binding capacity was 96.49 %. Textural analysis showed that the CW/SA-based bigel (OG-60 %) had similar properties with commercial spread B, and can be used as a partial replacement for spread B. Replacing 75 % of the commercial spread B with the bigel was found to be optimal and displayed acceptable sensory features. This study developed a healthy bigel based on walnut oil and provided the in-depth information for bigels as an alternative to plastic fats.

Construction of CAR-T cells targeting TM4SF1 and its anti-tumor capacity in ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy with a 5-year survival rate of 49.1% on average. In clinical practice, cytoreduction and chemotherapy remain the conventional treatment for advanced OC. However, the overall prognosis remains poor, which urges oncologists to develop new treatments. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapy as a branch of immunotherapy had gained a success in treating hematological malignancies. TM4SF1, a potential biomarker in many tumors, was validated highly expressed in ovarian cancer. Here we constructed a 3rd generation CAR-T agent targeting TM4SF1 to treat ovarian cancer. CAR-T cells showed a specific cytotoxicity against TM4SF1 positive tumor cell lines in vitro and repressed SKOV3-derived tumor growth in vivo. This is the first time reporting a CAR-T therapy targeting TM4SF1 in ovarian cancer. Our results suggested that TM4SF1 could be a very promising target in curing OC and showed the possibility of TM4SF1-based immunotherapy.

In situ synthesis of g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction by a concentrated absorption process for efficient photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride.

The construction of heterojunctions between semiconductors is a preferred route to improve overall photocatalytic activity. In this work, a facile and feasible method was innovatively developed to one-step prepare g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunctions via an absorption-calcination process using nitrogen and titanium precursors directly. This method can effectively avoid interfacial defects and establish a tight interfacial connection between g-C3N4 and TiO2. The resultant g-C3N4/TiO2 composites exhibited prominent photodegradation efficiency for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) under visible light and simulated-sunlight irradiation. The optimal g-C3N4/TiO2 composite (urea content of 4 g) showed the highest photocatalytic efficiency, which can degrade 90.1% TC-HCl under simulated-sunlight irradiation within 30 min, achieving 3.9 and 2 times increases compared to pure g-C3N4 and TiO2, respectively. Besides, photodegradation pathways based on the role of active species ·O2- and ·OH were identified, indicating that a direct Z-scheme heterojunction was formed over the g-C3N4/TiO2 photocatalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the close-knit interface contact and the formation of Z-scheme heterojunction between g-C3N4 and TiO2, which can accelerate the photo-induced charge carrier separation, broaden the spectra absorption range, and retain a higher redox potential. This one-step synthesis method may provide a new strategy for the construction of Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts consisting of g-C3N4 and TiO2 for environmental remediation and solar energy utilization.