Inelastic two-wave mixing induced high-efficiency transfer of optical vortices.

A scheme for high-efficiency transfer of optical vortices is proposed by an inelastic two-wave mixing (ITWM) process in an inverted-Y four-level atomic medium, which is originally prepared in a coherent superposition of two ground states. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) information in the incident vortex probe field can be transferred to the generated signal field through the ITWM process. Choosing reasonable experimentally realizable parameters, we find that the presence of the off-resonance control field can greatly improve the conversion efficiency of optical vortices, rather than in the absence of a control field. This is caused by the broken of the destructive interference between two one-photon excitation pathways. Furthermore, we also extend our model to an inelastic multi-wave mixing process and demonstrate that the transfer efficiency between multiple optical vortices strongly depends on the superposition of the ground states. Finally, we explore the composite vortex beam generated by collinear superposition of the incident vortex probe and signal fields. It is obvious that the intensity and phase profiles of the composite vortex can be effectively controlled via adjusting the intensity of the control field. Potential applications of our scheme may exist in OAM-based optical communications and optical information processing.

Potential Gradient-Driven Dual-Functional Electrochromic and Electrochemical Device Based on a Shared Electrode Design.

The integration of electrochromic devices and energy storage systems in wearable electronics is highly desirable yet challenging, because self-powered electrochromic devices often require an open system design for continuous replenishment of the strong oxidants to enable the coloring/bleaching processes. A self-powered electrochromic device has been developed with a close configuration by integrating a Zn/MnO2 ionic battery into the Prussian blue (PB)-based electrochromic system. Zn and MnO2 electrodes, as dual shared electrodes, the former one can reduce the PB electrode to the Prussian white (PW) electrode and serves as the anode in the battery; the latter electrode can oxidize the PW electrode to its initial state and acts as the cathode in the battery. The bleaching/coloring processes are driven by the gradient potential between Zn/PB and PW/MnO2 electrodes. The as-prepared Zn||PB||MnO2 system demonstrates superior electrochromic performance, including excellent optical contrast (80.6%), fast self-bleaching/coloring speed (2.0/3.2 s for bleaching/coloring), and long-term self-powered electrochromic cycles. An air-working Zn||PB||MnO2 device is also developed with a 70.3% optical contrast, fast switching speed (2.2/4.8 s for bleaching/coloring), and over 80 self-bleaching/coloring cycles. Furthermore, the closed nature enables the fabrication of various flexible electrochromic devices, exhibiting great potentials for the next-generation wearable electrochromic devices.

Development and Validation of the Interprofessional Collaboration Practice Competency Scale (IPCPCS) for Clinical Nurses.

Interprofessional collaborative practice is a core competency and is the key to strengthening health practice systems in order to deliver safe and high-quality nursing practice. However, there is no Interprofessional Collaboration Practice Competency Scale (IPCPCS) for clinical nurses in Taiwan. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to develop an IPCPCS and to verify its reliability and validity. This was a psychometric study with a cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling to recruit nurses from the seven hospitals of a medical foundation. A self-designed structured IPCPCS was rolled out via a Google survey. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, principal-axis factoring (PAF) with Promax rotation, Pearson correlation, reliability analysis, and one-way ANOVA. PAF analysis found that three factors could explain 77.76% of cumulative variance. These were collaborative leadership and interprofessional conflict resolution, interprofessional communication and team functioning, and role clarification and client-centered care. The internal consistency of the three factors (Cronbach's α) was between 0.970 to 0.978, and the Pearson correlation coefficients were between 0.814 to 0.883. Significant differences were presented in the IPCPCS score by age, education level, total years of work experience, position on the nursing clinical ladder, and participation in interprofessional education. In conclusion, the three factors used in the IPCPCS have good reliability and construct validity. This scale can be used as an evaluation tool of in-service interprofessional education courses for clinical nurses.

Animal Use Strategies in the Longshan Mountain Region of Northern China during the First Millennium BC: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Yucun.

The first millennium BC saw the expansion of the Western Zhou dynasty in its northwestern frontier, alongside the rise and development of the Qin State in the Longshan Mountain region of northern China. Exploring the subsistence practices of these communities is crucial to gaining a better understanding of the social, cultural, and political landscape in this region at the time. While much of the research to date has focused on the Qin people, the subsistence practices of the Zhou people remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed animal remains from Yucun, a large settlement site associated with the Zhou people, located to the east of the Longshan Mountain. These animal remains were recovered in the excavation seasons of 2018-2020. Our results show that pigs, dogs, cattle, caprines, and horses, which were the major domestic animals at Yucun, accounted for over 90.8% of the animal remains examined in terms of the number of identified specimens (NISP) and 72.8% in terms of the minimum number of individuals (MNI), with cattle and caprines playing dominant roles. In terms of the taxonomic composition and the mortality profiles of pigs, caprines, and cattle, Yucun shared similarities with Maojiaping and Xishan, two contemporaneous Qin cultural sites located to the west of the Longshan Mountain, and differ from other farming societies in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River valley. Considering the cultural attributes and topographic conditions of these various sites, these findings imply that environmental conditions may have played a more significant role than cultural factors in shaping the animal-related subsistence practices in northern China during the first millennium BC.

Valorization strategies for hazardous proteinaceous waste from rendering production - Recent advances in specified risk materials (SRMs) conversion.

Strict bans on specific risk materials (SRMs) are in place to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). SRMs are characterized as tissues in cattle where misfolded proteins, the potential source of BSE infection, are concentrated. As a result of these bans, SRMs must be strictly isolated and disposed of, resulting in great costs for rendering companies. The increasing yield and the landfill of SRMs also exacerbated the burden on the environment. To cope with the emergence of SRMs, novel disposal methods and feasible value-added conversion routes are needed. The focus of this review is on the valorization progress achieved in the conversion of peptides derived from SRMs via an alternative disposal method, thermal hydrolysis. Promising value-added conversion of SRM-derived peptides into tackifiers, wood adhesives, flocculants, and bioplastics, is introduced. The potential conjugation strategies that can be adapted to SRM-derived peptides for desired properties are also critically reviewed. The purpose of this review is to discover a technical platform through which other hazardous proteinaceous waste, SRMs, can be treated as a high-demand feedstock for the production of renewable materials.

Probing interaction forces associated with calcite scaling in aqueous solutions by atomic force microscopy.

The prevention of calcite aggregation and scaling remains a challenging problem in aqueous based systems and environmental science. Decades of research studies have proposed microscopic mechanisms of aggregation control, but experiments at the nanoscale and molecular level are rarely conducted. Here we show that the nanoscale topographic features of calcite during its aggregation depend significantly on the intermolecular and surface forces involved in this process. By measuring the forces between a calcite or silica particle and a calcite surface in aqueous solutions using atomic force microscopy, we found that higher solution pH and inhibitor concentration and lower salinity resulted in a system of stronger repulsion and weaker adhesion, which is favorable for reducing the possibility of calcite aggregation and surface deposition. Conflicting roles of Mg2+ in calcite aggregation prevention, being positive in acidic pH and negative in alkaline pH, were also observed. The nanoscale structural changes of calcite, visualized by atomic force microscopy or scanning electron microscopy, indicated a size dependence of aggregated and deposited calcite crystals on the calcite-calcite and calcite-silica interactions, respectively. The generalized framework of the calcite aggregation mechanism achieved in this work can be extended to other types of systems and provides a basis for investigating the anti-aggregation strategy of calcite from industrial and environmental perspectives.

Highly stretchable, elastic, antimicrobial conductive hydrogels with environment-adaptive adhesive property for health monitoring.

HYPOTHESIS: Development of soft conductive materials has enabled the promising future of wearable electronics for motion sensing. However, conventional soft conductive materials typically lack robust adhesive and on-demand removable properties for a target substrate. Therefore, it is believed that the integration of superior mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, and tunable adhesive properties into hydrogels would support and improve their reliable sensing performance. EXPERIMENTS: A hydrogel ionic conductor composed of cationic micelles crosslinked in the polyacrylamide (PAM) network was designed and fabricated. The viscoelastic, mechanical, adhesion, electrical, and antimicrobial properties of the hydrogel were systematically characterized. FINDINGS: The developed ionic conductor possesses a range of desirable properties including mechanical performances such as excellent stretchability (>1100%), toughness, elasticity (recovery from 1000% strain), conductivity (2.72 S·m-1), and antimicrobial property, owing to the multiple non-covalent supramolecular interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic, and π-π/cation-π interactions) present in the cross-linked network. Meanwhile, the developed hydrogel is incorporated with different stimuli-responsive polymers and exhibits a tunable adhesive property (triggerable attachment and on-demand removable capabilities) in adapt to the surrounding environmental conditions (i.e., pH, temperature). With all these significant features, the resulting hydrogel ionic conductor serves as a proof-of-concept motion-sensing system with excellent sensitivity and enhanced reliability for the detection of a wide range of motions.

Optical nonreciprocity and nonreciprocal photonic devices with directional four-wave mixing effect.

A scheme for magnetic-free optical nonreciprocity in an ensemble of four-level cold atoms is proposed by exploiting the directional four-wave mixing effect. Using experimentally achievable parameters, the nonreciprocal optical responses of the system can be observed and the conversion on nonreciprocal transmission and nonreciprocal phase shift can be implemented. These nonreciprocal phenomena originate from the directional phase matching, which breaks the time-reversal symmetry and dynamic reciprocity of the cold atomic system. Moreover, by embedding the cold atoms into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and choosing proper parameters, a two-port optical isolator with an isolation ratio of 79.70 dB and an insertion loss of 0.35 dB and a four-port optical circulator with a fidelity of 0.9985 and a photon survival probability of 0.9278 can be realized, which shows the high performance of isolation and circulation. The proposal may enable a new class of optically controllable cavity-free nonreciprocal devices in optical signal processing at the low light level.

High-efficiency and durable removal of water-in-heavy oil emulsions enabled by delignified and carboxylated basswood with zwitterionic nanohydrogel coatings.

HYPOTHESIS: It is hypothesized that grafting zwitterionic nanohydrogel (ZNG) helps to achieve anti-asphaltene properties on cellulosic substrates, thus overcoming the fouling issue of natural cellulosic materials for treating oily emulsions. It is also hypothesized that ZNG coatings enhance the water-binding affinity of the substrates, resulting in an outstanding water-removal performance on asphaltene-stabilized emulsions with long-term stability. EXPERIMENTS: A cellulosic substrate was derived from nature basswood via a sequence of delignification and carboxylation processes. The ZNG-DBS composite was then developed by esterification to covalently graft ZNGs on the inner channels of the substrate. The water-binding affinity, wettability, water-removal performance for treating water in asphaltene-stabilized emulsions were evaluated via characterizing the filtration/absorption, and anti-fouling mechanism of the ZNG-DBS. FINDINGS: ZNG coatings enhance the hydration capability of the basswood substrate, allowing it to absorb water emulsion droplets protected by asphaltenes in the oil medium without being contaminated. Moreover, superior and stable removal capabilities were achieved by using this unique material to treat asphaltenes-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with the water residue content of <1.0 and ∼0.065 wt% via cyclic filtration and absorption tests, respectively. Our results demonstrate the successful conversion of widely accessible wood resources to functional materials with great potential in the practical treatment of oily wastewater.

Coherent control of spatial and angular Goos-Hänchen shifts with spontaneously generated coherence and incoherent pumping.

We propose an efficient scheme to manipulate the Goos-Hänchen (GH) shift of a reflected beam from a metal-clad waveguide, where a coherent atomic medium with a Λ-type configuration is employed as the substrate. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we identify the conditions under which spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) allows us to enhance the spatial and angular GH shifts of the reflected beam. With the help of SGC, the relative phases of the probe and control fields can alter the absorption gain and refractive index of the atomic medium, thereby manipulating the magnitudes, signs, and positions of the spatial and angular shifts. Furthermore, the spatial and angular GH shifts can be coherently controlled via adjusting the incoherent pumping rate and the intensity of the control field. Our proposal provides an avenue for the manipulation of spatial and angular GH shifts and potential applications in optical switching and optical steering.

Developing a theory to help guide End-Stage Renal Disease Patients to adapt to Peritoneal Dialysis: A grounded theory study.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a theory to help guide patients with end-stage renal disease to adapt to peritoneal dialysis. BACKGROUND: Taiwan ranks first worldwide in end-stage renal disease incidence and dialysis prevalence. Many patients cannot accept long-term dialysis treatment and thus face several physical and psychological suffering. No theory has yet been developed to help guide patients with end-stage renal disease to adapt to peritoneal dialysis. DESIGN: A grounded theory approach was used in this study. METHODS: A theoretical sampling was performed after interviewing 25 patients who had adapted to peritoneal dialysis at a medical centre in Taiwan from January 2018 to September 2018; data saturation was achieved. Data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding and while using the constant comparison technique. COREQ reporting guidelines were utilised. RESULTS: A substantive theory was developed to help guide patients with end-stage renal disease to adapt to peritoneal dialysis. The core category that emerged from the data collected was 'Confronting peritoneal dialysis to live and co-exist with peritoneal dialysis'. Other key categories linked to and embraced in this core category were as follows: positive self-regulation, regulation of daily life and the process of adaptation to dialysis method. CONCLUSION: The results could help healthcare professionals to better understand the process of end-stage renal disease patients' adaptation to peritoneal dialysis, thereby facilitating patients' adaptation to dialysis in their daily life, enhancing their quality of life and improving the quality of medical care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals could use this theory as reference when providing care for peritoneal dialysis patients to assist them in adapting to life with peritoneal dialysis as soon as possible through positive self-regulation, daily life adjustments and the process of adapting to the dialysis method.

Effects of Alcell Lignin Methylolation and Lignin Adding Stage on Lignin-Based Phenolic Adhesives.

To investigate the effects of lignin methylolation and lignin adding stage on the resulted lignin-based phenolic adhesives, Alcell lignin activated with NaOH (AL) or methylolation (ML) was integrated into the phenolic adhesives system by replacing phenol at various adhesive synthesis stages or directly co-polymerizing with phenolic adhesives. Lignin integration into phenolic adhesives greatly increased the viscosity of the resultant adhesives, regardless of lignin methylolation or adding stage. ML introduction at the second stage of adhesive synthesis led to much bigger viscosity than ML or AL introduction into phenolic adhesives at any other stages. Lignin methylolation and lignin adding stage did not affect the thermal stability of lignin based phenolic adhesives, even though lignin-based adhesives were less thermally stable than NPF. Typical three-stage degradation characteristics were also observed on all the lignin-based phenolic adhesives. Three-ply plywoods can be successfully laminated with lignin based adhesives, and it was interesting that after 3 h of cooking in boiling water, the plywoods specimens bonded with lignin-based phenolic adhesives displayed higher bonding strength than the corresponding dry strength obtained after direct conditioning at 20 °C and 65% RH. Compared with NPF, lignin introduction significantly reduced the bonding strength of lignin based phenolic adhesives when applied for plywood lamination. However, no significant variation of bonding strength was detected among the lignin based phenolic adhesives, regardless of lignin methylolation or adding stages.

High-precision three dimensional atom localization via multiphoton quantum destructive interference.

We propose an effective scheme for high-precision three dimensional(3D) atom localization via measuring the population of excited state in a four-level atomic system driven by a probe field and three orthogonal standing-wave fields. In this scheme, the position-dependent multiphoton quantum destructive interference leads to multiphoton excitation of the excited state and enhances the fluorescence emission. We show that adjusting the frequency detuning and phase shifts associated with the standing-wave fields can modify the multiphoton quantum destructive interference and lead to a redistribution of the atoms. The maximal probability of finding the atom at the certain position in one period of the standing-wave fields can be 100% and the highest spatial precision is about 0.02λ.

One- and two-dimensional electromagnetically induced gratings in an Er3+ - doped yttrium aluminum garnet crystal.

A coherently prepared Er3+-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystal with a four-level ionic configuration is exploited for realizing one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetically induced gratings (EIGs). Owing to the probe gain induced by the incoherent pump, the diffraction efficiency of the crystal grating, especially the first-order diffraction, can be significantly improved via increasing the incoherent pumping rate or decreasing the probe detuning. The enhancement of the grating diffraction efficiency originates from the interference between the gain and phase gratings. It is also demonstrated that the diffraction of the crystal grating can be dynamically controlled via tuning the intensity and detuning of the standing-wave driving field or the concentration of Er3+ ion. More importantly, the probe energy of the diffraction side lobes around the central principle maximum is comparable to that of the first-order diffraction field for small driving intensity or large driving detuning. Our scheme may provide a possibility for the active all-optical control of optical switching, routing and storage in fiber communication wavelengths.

Development and validation of a Chinese version of the Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Index.

OBJECTIVE: A Chinese version of the Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Index (SAQLI) for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) undergoing treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was developed and validated. No Chinese versions of the SAQLI have been previously validated. METHODS: A convenience sample of 78 patients with OSA who received CPAP therapy at a Taiwanese teaching hospital was enrolled. The SAQLI is organized into four domains: daily functioning, social interactions, emotional functioning, and symptoms. This study evaluated the equivalence (forward translation and back translation), validity, and reliability of a Chinese version of the SAQLI. RESULTS: The content validity index (CVI) values of the daily functioning, social interactions, emotional functioning, and symptom domains were .93, .93, .96, and 1.00, respectively. Construct validity of one factor was generated by exploratory factor analysis, and the factor explained the following: (A) daily functioning 54%, (B) social interactions 59%, (C) emotional functioning 64%, and (D) symptoms 75% of total explained variance. The Cronbach's α internal consistency values for the daily functioning, social interactions, emotional functioning, and symptom domains were 0.68, 0.94, 0.93, and 0.92, respectively. The repeatability of the SAQLI at 7 days and 30 days after the first administration showed reliability coefficients of .94 and .93 (p = 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the Chinese version of the SAQLI has good reliability and validity, as well as refined indicators for assessing the tool's accuracy. Clinicians may thus use the scale to examine the quality of life in Chinese-speaking patients with OSA undergoing CPAP therapy.

Perfectly asymmetric Raman-Nath diffraction in disordered atomic gratings.

We investigate the effects of geometrical and structural disorders on perfectly asymmetric diffraction (PAD) in Raman-Nath regime. The two types of disorders are realized by introducing random fluctuations in the position and width of one-dimensional (1D) driven atomic lattices. Raman-Nath diffraction is modified differently with respect to the geometrical and structural disorders. It is shown that the PAD is observed with a certain strength range of geometrical disorder, exceeding which it can be destroyed, while the PAD is rather robust against structural disorder. The different behaviors originate from the disorder-induced random variations of the spatial phase shifts of the standing-wave (SW) coupling field and atomic lattices with Gaussian profile. Furthermore, we find that, in the presence of geometrical disorder, the PAD is more susceptible to correlated disorder than to uncorrelated disorder. Our scheme may be useful for understanding the effects of disorder on the diffraction of light and matter waves in disordered potentials..

Lop-sided Raman-Nath diffraction in PT-antisymmetric atomic lattices.

Two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices of driven cold atoms can provide a useful platform to construct 2D electromagnetically induced grating (EIG) with parity-time (PT) antisymmetry. This atomic grating is achieved by the spatial modulations of the atomic density and frequency detunings in the four-level double-Λ atomic system. Gain-assisted PT antisymmetry allows us to realize lop-sided Raman-Nath diffraction with high diffraction efficiency at the exception point. It is shown that the nontrivial phenomenon originates from non-Hermitian degeneracy of PT antisymmetry. Our scheme may provide the possibility for active all-optical control and conversion of the spatial beam in optics.

Quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum in cavity optomechanics.

We propose an efficient scheme to generate quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum in an optomechanical system. This is achieved by exploiting a well-established optomechanical circumstance, where a second-order nonlinearity is embedded into the optomechanical cavity driven by a strong control field and a weak probe pulse. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we demonstrate that the second-order nonlinearity intensity and the frequency detuning of a control field allow us to modify the amplitude of higher-order sidebands and improve the amount of squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum. Furthermore, in the presence of a strong second-order nonlinearity, an optimizing quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum can be achieved, which provides a practical opportunity to design the squeezed frequency combs and other precision measurements.

Tunable two-phonon higher-order sideband amplification in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system.

We propose an efficient scheme for the controllable amplification of two-phonon higher-order sidebands in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system. In this scheme, a strong control field and a weak probe pulse are injected into the cavity, and the membrane located at the middle position of the cavity is driven resonantly by a weak coherent mechanical pump. Beyond the conventional linearized approximation, we derive analytical expressions for the output transmission of probe pulse and the amplitude of second-order sideband by adding the nonlinear coefficients into the Heisenberg-Langevin formalism. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we identify the conditions under which the mechanical pump and the frequency detuning of control field allow us to modify the transmission of probe pulse and improve the amplitude of two-phonon higher-order sideband generation beyond what is achievable in absence of the mechanical pump. Furthermore, we also find that the higher-order sideband generation depends sensitively on the phase of mechanical pump when the control field becomes strong. The present proposal offers a practical opportunity to design chip-scale optical communications and optical frequency combs.

The effects of integrated nursing education on quality of life and health-related outcomes among obstructive sleep apnea patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

PURPOSE: This study sought to examine the effects of a nursing education program on quality of life and sleep disturbance among obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. METHODS: This study was a randomized controlled trial with an intervention group consisting of a nursing education program. The intervention group received the instruction of the CPAP nursing education program, and the control group received routine care. Data was collected for both groups before the intervention (pre-test), on the 7th day measurement after the intervention, and on the 30th day measurement after the intervention. RESULTS: The results showed, first, that the intervention group reported a significantly reduced level of disturbance from wearing CPAP compared with that of the control group after the intervention (ß = -1.83, p = .040). Second, the Calgary sleep apnea quality of life index (SAQLI) total scores significantly improved after the intervention (ß = 1.669, p = 0.014). Also, symptoms of the SAQLI sub-items were improved and significantly different (ß = 5.69, p = 0.007) after the intervention in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of the study, the disturbance from wearing CPAP, the total score of the SAQLI and the symptoms of the SAQLI were significantly improved after the nursing education intervention. Therefore, an adequate nursing education program is recommended for the initial period of CPAP use among OSA patients.