Multi-dimensional cylindrical vector beam (de)multiplexing through cascaded wavelength- and polarization-sensitive metasurfaces.

Cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) exhibit great potential for multiplexing communication, owing to their mode orthogonality and compatibility with conventional wavelength multiplexing techniques. However, the practical application of CVB multiplexing communication faces challenges due to the lack of effective spatial polarization manipulation technologies for (de)multiplexing multi-dimensional physical dimensions of CVBs. Herein, we introduce a wavelength- and polarization-sensitive cascaded phase modulation strategy that utilizes multiple coaxial metasurfaces for multi-dimensional modulation of CVBs. By leveraging the spin-dependent phase modulation mechanism, these metasurfaces enable the independent transformation of the two orthogonal polarization components of CVB modes. Combined with the wavelength sensitivity of Fresnel diffraction in progressive phase modulation, this approach establishes a high-dimensional mapping relationship among CVB modes, wavelengths, spatial positions, and Gaussian fundamental modes, thereby facilitating multi-dimensional (de)multiplexing involving CVB modes and wavelengths. As a proof of concept, we theoretically demonstrate a 9-channel multi-dimensional multiplexing system, successfully achieving joint (de)multiplexing of 3 CVB modes (1, 2, and 3) and 3 wavelengths (1550 nm, 1560 nm, and 1570 nm) with a diffraction efficiency exceeding 80%. Additionally, we show the transmission of 16-QAM signals across 9 channels with the bit-error-rates below 10-5. By combining the integrability of metasurfaces with the high-dimensional wavefront manipulation capabilities of multilevel modulation, our strategy can effectively address the diverse demands of different wavelengths and CVB modes in optical communication.

Cross-connection of multiplexed cylindrical vector beams using off-axis spin-decoupled metasurfaces.

Cylindrical vector beam (CVB) multiplexing communication demands effective mode cross-connection techniques to establish communication networks. While methods like polarized grating and coordinate transformation have been developed for (de)multiplexing CVB modes, challenges persist in the cross-connection of these multiplexed mode channels, including multi-mode conversion and inhomogeneous polarization control. Herein, we present an independent off-axis spin-orbit interaction strategy utilizing spin-decoupled metasurfaces. Cross-connection is achieved by encoding conjugated Dammann optical vortex grating phases onto the two orthogonal circularly polarized components of CVBs. Experimental results demonstrate the successful interconversion of four CVB modes (CVB+1 and CVB-2, CVB+2 and CVB-4) using a Si-based metasurface with a polarization conversion efficiency exceeding 85%. This facilitates the cross-connection of 200 Gbit/s quadrature phase-shift keying signals with bit-error-rates below 10-6. Offering advantages such as ultra-compact device size, flexible control of CVB modes, and multi-mode parallel processing, this approach shows promise in advancing the networking capabilities of CVB mode multiplexing communication networks.

Design, synthesis, and cell-based in vitro assay of deoxyinosine-mixed SATE-dCDN prodrugs that activate all common STING variants.

Developing therapeutic strategies to modulate the activity of all prevalent variants (wild-type, HAQ, R232H, AQ, and R293Q) of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is still of great interest to treating immune-related diseases. Herein, we synthesized six novel deoxyinosine-mixed deoxyribose cyclic dinucleotide prodrugs (SATE-dCDN) including a combination of hypoxanthine and other bases (A, U, C, T, and G) for a cell-based in vitro assay. The HPLC assay indicated that deoxyinosine-mixed SATE (S-acylthioalkyl ester)-dCDN prodrugs retained high serum stability. The IRF3-responsive luciferase assay in THP1-Lucia cells showed that the activity of the prodrugs with purine bases (SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIMP, SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdAMP, and SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdGMP) was higher than that of the prodrugs with pyrimidine bases (SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdUMP, SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdTMP, and SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdCMP), among which prodrug 14a (SATE-3',3'-c-di-dIdAMP) with hypoxanthine and adenine bases exhibited the highest activity with an EC50 value of 0.046 µM. The IRF3 responsive dual-luciferase reporter assay in HEK293T cells transfected with plasmids expressing different STING variants further showed that prodrug 14a could activate all five most common hSTING variants, including the refractory hSTINGR232H and hSTINGQ variants. Furthermore, prodrug 14a also induced the production of the highest levels of mRNA of IFN-ß, CXCL10, IL-6 and TNF-α through STING-dependent IRF and NF-κB signaling pathways in THP-1 cells. These results suggested that the combination of deoxyinosine with a SATE-dCDN prodrug could modulate the broad-spectrum activity of all common STING variants.

Integrated System Built for Small-Molecule Semiconductors via High-Throughput Approaches.

High-throughput synthesis of solution-processable structurally variable small-molecule semiconductors is both an opportunity and a challenge. A large number of diverse molecules provide a possibility for quick material discovery and machine learning based on experimental data. However, the diversity of the molecular structure leads to the complexity of molecular properties, such as solubility, polarity, and crystallinity, which poses great challenges to solution processing and purification. Here, we first report an integrated system for the high-throughput synthesis, purification, and characterization of molecules with a large variety. Based on the principle "Like dissolves like," we combine theoretical calculations and a robotic platform to accelerate the purification of those molecules. With this platform, a material library containing 125 molecules and their optical-electronic properties was built within a timeframe of weeks. More importantly, the high repeatability of recrystallization we design is a reliable approach to further upgrading and industrial production.

Discovering Reactant Supply Pathways at Electrode/PEM Reaction Interfaces Via a Tailored Interface-Visible Characterization Cell.

In situ and micro-scale visualization of electrochemical reactions and multiphase transports on the interface of porous transport electrode (PTE) materials and solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) has been one of the greatest challenges for electrochemical energy conversion devices, such as proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs), CO2 reduction electrolyzers, PEM fuel cells, etc. Here, an interface-visible characterization cell (IV-CC) is developed to in situ visualize micro-scaled and rapid electrochemical reactions and transports in PTE/SPE interfaces. Taking the PEMEC of a green hydrogen generator as a study case, the unanticipated local gas blockage, micro water droplets, and their evolution processes are successfully visualized on PTE/PEM interfaces in a practical PEMEC device, indicating the existence of unconventional reactant supply pathways in PEMs. Further comprehensive results reveal that PEM water supplies to reaction interfaces are significantly impacted with current densities. These results provide critical insights about the reaction interface optimization and mass transport enhancement in various electrochemical energy conversion devices.

Genomic and functional characterization of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae from hospital wastewater.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) attracted extensive attention. Information on CRKP from hospital wastewater (HWW) is limited. The aims of this study were to investigate the genomic characteristics and to evaluate the survivability characteristics of 11 CRKP from HWW in a Chinese teaching hospital in Fujian province. RESULTS: A total of 11 CRKP from HWW were recovered in this study. All CRKP from HWW were resistant to most antibiotics. Comparative genetic analysis demonstrated that all CRKP isolates were clustered into the three distinct phylogenetic clades and clade 2 and clade 3 were mixtures of samples collected from both HWW and clinical settings. Varieties of resistance genes, virulence genes and plasmid replicon types were detected in CRKP from HWW. In vitro transfer of blaKPC-2 was successful for 3 blaKPC-2-positive CRKP from HWW with high conjugation frequency. Our study demonstrated that the genetic environments of blaKPC-2 shared core structure with ISKpn27-blaKPC-2-ISKpn6. Group analysis showed that CRKP from HWW had a lower survivability in serum compared to clinical CRKP (p < 005); and CRKP from HWW had no significant difference in survivability in HWW compared to clinical CRKP (p > 005). CONCLUSIONS: We analyzed the genomic and survivability characteristics of CRKP from HWW in a Chinese teaching hospital. These genomes represent a significant addition of genomic data from the genus and could serve as a valuable resource for future genomic studies about CRKP from HWW.

Full-duplex cylindrical vector beam multiplexing communication using spin-dependent phase modulation metasurfaces.

Cylindrical vector beam (CVB) has recently gained attention as a promising carrier for signal multiplexing owing to its mode orthogonality. However, the full-duplex multiplexing communication has not been previously explored for the lack of effective technologies to parallelly couple and separate CVB modes. Herein, we present a full-duplex solution for CVB multiplexing communication that utilizes spin-dependent phase modulation metasurfaces. By independently phase-modulating the two spin eigenstates of CVBs with the metasurface via spin-dependent orbital interactions, and loading two binary Dammann vortex gratings, we enabled an independent and reciprocal wave vector manipulation of CVBs for full-duplex (de)multiplexing operation. To demonstrate this concept, we constructed a 16-channel (including 4 CVB modes and 4 wavelengths) full-duplex CVB multiplexing communication system and achieved the bidirectional transmission of 800 Gbit/s quadrature-phase shift-keying (QPSK) signals over a 5 km few-mode fiber. Our results demonstrate the successful multiplexing and demultiplexing of 2 radial CVB modes and 2 azimuthal CVB modes in full-duplex communication with the bit-error-rates approaching 1.87 × 10-5.

Dithioethanol (DTE)-Conjugated Deoxyribose Cyclic Dinucleotide Prodrugs (DTE-dCDNs) as STING Agonist.

To improve the chemical regulation on the activity of cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs), we here designed a reduction-responsive dithioethanol (DTE)-based dCDN prodrug 9 (DTE-dCDN). Prodrug 9 improved the cell permeability with the intracellular levels peaking in 2 h in THP-1 cells. Under the reductive substance such as GSH or DTT, prodrug 9 could be quickly decomposed in 30 min to release the parent dCDN. In THP1-Lucia cells, prodrug 9 also retained a high bioactivity with the EC50 of 0.96 µM, which was 51-, 43-, and 3-fold more than the 2',3'-cGAMP (EC50 = 48.6 µM), the parent compound 3',3'-c-di-dAMP (EC50 = 41.3 µM), and ADU-S100 (EC50 = 2.9 µM). The high bioactivity of prodrug 9 was validated to be highly correlated with the activation of the STING signaling pathway. Furthermore, prodrug 9 could also improve the transcriptional expression levels of IFN-ß, CXCL10, IL-6, and TNF-α in THP-1 cells. These results will be helpful to the development of chemically controllable CDN prodrugs with a high cellular permeability and potency.

Urban flooding resilience evaluation with coupled rainfall and flooding models: a small area in Kunming City, China as an example.

Climate change and increasing urbanization have contributed greatly to urban flooding, making it a global problem. The resilient city approach provides new ideas for urban flood prevention research, and currently, enhancing urban flood resilience is an effective means for alleviating urban flooding pressure. This study proposes a method to quantify the resilience value of urban flooding based on the `4R' theory of resilience, by coupling the urban rainfall and flooding model to simulate urban flooding, and the simulation results are used for calculating index weights and assessing the spatial distribution of urban flood resilience in the study area. The results indicate that (1) the high level of flood resilience in the study area is positively correlated with the points prone to waterlogging; the more an area is prone to waterlogging, the lower the flood resilience value. (2) The flood resilience index in most areas shows a significant local spatial clustering effect, the number of areas with nonsignificant local spatial clustering accounting for 46% of the total. The urban flood resilience assessment system constructed in this study provides a reference for assessing the urban flood resilience of other cities, thus facilitating the decision-making process of urban planning and disaster mitigation.

Nanovaccines Mediated Subcutis-to-Intestine Cascade for Improved Protection against Intestinal Infections.

Parenteral vaccines typically can prime systemic humoral immune response, but with limited effects on cellular and mucosal immunity. Here, a subcutis-to-intestine cascade for navigating nanovaccines to address this limitation is proposed. This five-step cascade includes lymph nodes targeting, uptaken by dendritic cells (DCs), cross-presentation of antigens, increasing CCR9 expression on DCs, and driving CD103+ DCs to mesenteric lymph nodes, in short, the LUCID cascade. Specifically, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are encapsulated with antigen and adjuvant toll-like receptor 9 agonist cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotides, and further coated by a lipid bilayer containing all-trans retinoic acid. The fabricated nanovaccines efficiently process the LUCID cascade to dramatically augment cellular and mucosal immune responses. Importantly, after being vaccinated with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium antigen-loaded nanovaccine, the mice generate protective immunity against challenge of S. Typhimurium. These findings reveal the efficacy of nanovaccines mediated subcutis-to-intestine cascade in simultaneously activating cellular and mucosal immune responses against mucosal infections.

Tuning Catalyst Activation and Utilization Via Controlled Electrode Patterning for Low-Loading and High-Efficiency Water Electrolyzers.

An anode electrode concept of thin catalyst-coated liquid/gas diffusion layers (CCLGDLs), by integrating Ir catalysts with Ti thin tunable LGDLs with facile electroplating in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs), is proposed. The CCLGDL design with only 0.08 mgIr cm-2 can achieve comparative cell performances to the conventional commercial electrode design, saving ≈97% Ir catalyst and augmenting a catalyst utilization to ≈24 times. CCLGDLs with regulated patterns enable insight into how pattern morphology impacts reaction kinetics and catalyst utilization in PEMECs. A specially designed two-sided transparent reaction-visible cell assists the in situ visualization of the PEM/electrode reaction interface for the first time. Oxygen gas is observed accumulating at the reaction interface, limiting the active area and increasing the cell impedances. It is demonstrated that mass transport in PEMECs can be modified by tuning CCLGDL patterns, thus improving the catalyst activation and utilization. The CCLGDL concept promises a future electrode design strategy with a simplified fabrication process and enhanced catalyst utilization. Furthermore, the CCLGDL concept also shows great potential in being a powerful tool for in situ reaction interface research in PEMECs and other energy conversion devices with solid polymer electrolytes.

Adding/dropping polarization multiplexed cylindrical vector beams with local polarization-matched plasmonic metasurface.

Here we propose a polarization-dependent gradient phase modulation strategy and fabricate a local polarization-matched metasurface to add/drop polarization multiplexed cylindrical vector beams (CVBs). The two orthogonal linear polarization states in CVB multiplexing will represent as radial- and azimuthal-polarized CVBs, which means that we must introduce independent wave vectors to them for adding/dropping the polarization channels. By designing the rotation angle and geometric sizes of a meta-atom, a local polarization-matched propagation phase plasmonic metasurface is constructed, and the polarization-dependent gradient phases were loaded to perform this operation. As a proof of concept, the polarization multiplexed CVBs, carrying 150-Gbit/s quadrature phase shift keying signals, are successfully added and dropped, and the bit error rates approach 1 × 10-6. In addition to representing a route for adding/dropping polarization multiplexed CVBs, other functional phase modulation of arbitrary orthogonal linear polarization bases is expected, which might find potential applications in polarization encryption imaging, spatial polarization shaping, etc.

Power Tower Inspection Simultaneous Localization and Mapping: A Monocular Semantic Positioning Approach for UAV Transmission Tower Inspection.

Realizing autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection is of great significance for power line maintenance. This paper introduces a scheme of using the structure of a tower to realize visual geographical positioning of UAV for tower inspection and presents a monocular semantic simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) framework termed PTI-SLAM (power tower inspection SLAM) to cope with the challenge of a tower inspection scene. The proposed scheme utilizes prior knowledge of tower component geolocation and regards geographical positioning as the estimation of transformation between SLAM and the geographic coordinates. To accomplish the robust positioning and semi-dense semantic mapping with limited computing power, PTI-SLAM combines the feature-based SLAM method with a fusion-based direct method and conveys a loosely coupled architecture of a semantic task and a SLAM task. The fusion-based direct method is specially designed to overcome the fragility of the direct method against adverse conditions concerning the inspection scene. Experiment results show that PTI-SLAM inherits the robustness advantage of the feature-based method and the semi-dense mapping ability of the direct method and achieves decimeter-level real-time positioning in the airborne system. The experiment concerning geographical positioning indicates more competitive accuracy compared to the previous visual approach and artificial UAV operating, demonstrating the potential of PTI-SLAM.

Cylindrical vector beam sorter with spin-dependent spiral transformation.

Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a cylindrical vector beam (CVB) sorter based on a spin-dependent spiral transformation. By exploiting the spin-orbital interaction of the geometric phase, a pair of conjugated spiral transformations are applied to modulate the two orthogonal circularly polarized components of the CVB, which are converted into the same linear phase gradient from opposite azimuthal phase gradients. Since the orthogonal spin components of CVBs with different polarization orders carry different phase gradients, under the convergence of a convex lens, the coaxially transmitted CVBs can be sorted with spatially separated positions, and the increased phase gradient provided by the spiral transformation yields the high resolution. We show that five CVB modes from -2 to +2 are successfully sorted with a separation efficiency of 3.65. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate a two-channel CVB multiplexing communication with a bit error rate approaching 10-6. In addition to providing an avenue for CVB demultiplexing, our results show potential applications in mode filtering and mode routing in all-optical interconnection.

Effect of 2 Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines on Symptomatic COVID-19 Infection in Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Although effective vaccines against COVID-19 have been developed, additional vaccines are still needed. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse events of 2 inactivated COVID-19 vaccines. Design, Setting, and Participants: Prespecified interim analysis of an ongoing randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain among adults 18 years and older without known history of COVID-19. Study enrollment began on July 16, 2020. Data sets used for the interim analysis of efficacy and adverse events were locked on December 20, 2020, and December 31, 2020, respectively. Interventions: Participants were randomized to receive 1 of 2 inactivated vaccines developed from SARS-CoV-2 WIV04 (5 µg/dose; n = 13 459) and HB02 (4 µg/dose; n = 13 465) strains or an aluminum hydroxide (alum)-only control (n = 13 458); they received 2 intramuscular injections 21 days apart. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was efficacy against laboratory-confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 14 days following a second vaccine dose among participants who had no virologic evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection at randomization. The secondary outcome was efficacy against severe COVID-19. Incidence of adverse events and reactions was collected among participants who received at least 1 dose. Results: Among 40 382 participants randomized to receive at least 1 dose of the 2 vaccines or alum-only control (mean age, 36.1 years; 32 261 [84.4%] men), 38 206 (94.6%) who received 2 doses, contributed at least 1 follow-up measure after day 14 following the second dose, and had negative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test results at enrollment were included in the primary efficacy analysis. During a median (range) follow-up duration of 77 (1-121) days, symptomatic COVID-19 was identified in 26 participants in the WIV04 group (12.1 [95% CI, 8.3-17.8] per 1000 person-years), 21 in the HB02 group (9.8 [95% CI, 6.4-15.0] per 1000 person-years), and 95 in the alum-only group (44.7 [95% CI, 36.6-54.6] per 1000 person-years), resulting in a vaccine efficacy, compared with alum-only, of 72.8% (95% CI, 58.1%-82.4%) for WIV04 and 78.1% (95% CI, 64.8%-86.3%) for HB02 (P < .001 for both). Two severe cases of COVID-19 occurred in the alum-only group and none occurred in the vaccine groups. Adverse reactions 7 days after each injection occurred in 41.7% to 46.5% of participants in the 3 groups; serious adverse events were rare and similar in the 3 groups (WIV04: 64 [0.5%]; HB02: 59 [0.4%]; alum-only: 78 [0.6%]). Conclusions and Relevance: In this prespecified interim analysis of a randomized clinical trial, treatment of adults with either of 2 inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines significantly reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19, and serious adverse events were rare. Data collection for final analysis is pending. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04510207; Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000034780.

Effect of an Inactivated Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2 on Safety and Immunogenicity Outcomes: Interim Analysis of 2 Randomized Clinical Trials.

Importance: A vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is urgently needed. Objective: To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational inactivated whole-virus COVID-19 vaccine in China. Interventions: In the phase 1 trial, 96 participants were assigned to 1 of the 3 dose groups (2.5, 5, and 10 µg/dose) and an aluminum hydroxide (alum) adjuvant-only group (n = 24 in each group), and received 3 intramuscular injections at days 0, 28, and 56. In the phase 2 trial, 224 adults were randomized to 5 µg/dose in 2 schedule groups (injections on days 0 and 14 [n = 84] vs alum only [n = 28], and days 0 and 21 [n = 84] vs alum only [n = 28]). Design, Setting, and Participants: Interim analysis of ongoing randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 1 and 2 clinical trials to assess an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. The trials were conducted in Henan Province, China, among 96 (phase 1) and 224 (phase 2) healthy adults aged between 18 and 59 years. Study enrollment began on April 12, 2020. The interim analysis was conducted on June 16, 2020, and updated on July 27, 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary safety outcome was the combined adverse reactions 7 days after each injection, and the primary immunogenicity outcome was neutralizing antibody response 14 days after the whole-course vaccination, which was measured by a 50% plaque reduction neutralization test against live severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Results: Among 320 patients who were randomized (mean age, 42.8 years; 200 women [62.5%]), all completed the trial up to 28 days after the whole-course vaccination. The 7-day adverse reactions occurred in 3 (12.5%), 5 (20.8%), 4 (16.7%), and 6 (25.0%) patients in the alum only, low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose groups, respectively, in the phase 1 trial; and in 5 (6.0%) and 4 (14.3%) patients who received injections on days 0 and 14 for vaccine and alum only, and 16 (19.0%) and 5 (17.9%) patients who received injections on days 0 and 21 for vaccine and alum only, respectively, in the phase 2 trial. The most common adverse reaction was injection site pain, followed by fever, which were mild and self-limiting; no serious adverse reactions were noted. The geometric mean titers of neutralizing antibodies in the low-, medium-, and high-dose groups at day 14 after 3 injections were 316 (95% CI, 218-457), 206 (95% CI, 123-343), and 297 (95% CI, 208-424), respectively, in the phase 1 trial, and were 121 (95% CI, 95-154) and 247 (95% CI, 176-345) at day 14 after 2 injections in participants receiving vaccine on days 0 and 14 and on days 0 and 21, respectively, in the phase 2 trial. There were no detectable antibody responses in all alum-only groups. Conclusions and Relevance: In this interim report of the phase 1 and phase 2 trials of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, patients had a low rate of adverse reactions and demonstrated immunogenicity; the study is ongoing. Efficacy and longer-term adverse event assessment will require phase 3 trials. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Identifier: ChiCTR2000031809.

Spatial-Temporal Characteristic Analysis of Ethnic Toponyms Based on Spatial Information Entropy at the Rural Level in Northeast China.

As a symbol language, toponyms have inherited the unique local historical culture in the long process of historical development. As the birthplace of Manchu, there are many toponyms originated from multi-ethnic groups (e.g., Manchu, Mongol, Korean, Hui, and Xibe) in Northeast China which possess unique cultural connotations. This study aimed to (1) establish a spatial-temporal database of toponyms in Northeast China using a multi-source data set, and identify their ethnic types and origin times; and (2) explore the geographical distribution characteristics of ethnic toponyms and the evolution of rural settlements by comparing the spatial analysis and spatial information entropy methods. The results found that toponyms reflect not only the spatial distribution characteristics of the density and direction of ethnic groups, but also the migration law of rural settlements. Results also confirm that toponyms contain unique cultural connotations and provide a theoretical basis for the protection and promotion of the cultural connotations of toponyms. This research provides an entropic perspective and method for exploring the spatial-temporal evolutionary characteristics of ethnic groups and toponym mapping.

The Confinement Effect of Angstrom-Sized Pores in Asymmetrical Membrane Constructed by Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: Partially Dehydrated Ion Transport Performance.

The confinement effect in asymmetrical biological ion channels makes the state of molecules and ions differs from that in the external environment, and the mass transfer confined in the biological ion channels is in a single strand form. Herein, an asymmetrical membrane with angstrom-sized pores is constructed by growth of ZIF-90 membrane on the porous anodic aluminum oxide film. Due to the confinement effect of angstrom-sized pores of ZIF-90, ions transport through the pores of ZIF-90 suffer from multiple dehydration-hydration-dehydration process in the form of a single ionic chain. Molecular dynamics simulations imply that ions inside the pores of ZIF-90 are partially dehydrated. In alkaline condition, high rectification ratios of 237, 295, and 357 can be achieved in 10 × 10-3 m KCl, NaCl, and LiCl electrolyte, respectively. Besides, the strong electrostatic interaction between ions and the confined ZIF-90 pores makes the ions transport through the asymmetrical membrane suffer from an energy barrier, and the energy barrier is different with different ion species. This work helps to understand the ions transfer mechanism through angstrom-sized pores, which can provide guidance for the design of asymmetrical membrane and boost their applications.

Spatial phase and polarization retrieval of arbitrary circular symmetry singular light beams using orthogonal polarization separation.

Circular symmetry singular light beams (CS-SLBs) possessing spatially variant field distributions have drawn extensive attention because of their unique optical properties. However, the extraction of spatial phase and polarization distributions is always a significant but difficult issue in CS-SLB applications. Here, we propose and experimentally investigate an orthogonal polarization separation (OPS) method to retrieve the spatial phase and polarization distributions of arbitrary CS-SLBs. Theoretically, the CS-SLB, including the vortex beam (VB), cylindrical vector beam (CVB), and cylindrical vector vortex beam (CVVB), can be decomposed into two orthogonal circularly polarized sub-VBs. Therefore, once the spatial phase distributions and initial phase difference of the two components are obtained, the phase and polarization distributions of the CS-SLB can be retrieved, and its type can also be identified. Based on this analysis relationship, we first separated the CS-SLB into two circularly polarized sub-VBs and designed an astigmatic phase iterative algorithm to restore their spatial phase information. After retrieving the phases of the two components, we have experimentally obtained the spatial phase and polarization distributions of three typical CS-SLBs, including VBs, CVBs, and CVVBs. These results demonstrate that this method provides a feasible way to retrieve the variant field distributions of CS-SLBs and may have great application prospects in optical imaging, optical communication, etc.

[Correlation between Ameliorated Kawashima Itch Scale and Visual Analogue Scale].

Objective To preliminarily validate the clinical usability of the ameliorated Kawashima Itch Scale(Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale) among adult pruritic patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Methods Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale was developed on the basis of Kawashima Itch Scale. Patients were asked to record their pruritus condition according to Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale or visual analogue scale(VAS) during daytime and night for two weeks. The record at the second week was used for analyzing the correlation between Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale and VAS. Results Totally 134 patients were enrolled in this study,among whom 128 entered the final analysis. Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale was positively correlated with VAS(rs=0.832,95% CI=0.810-0.851,P<0.01 for daytime record;and rs=0.848,95% CI=0.828-0.865,P<0.01 for night record). Subgroup analysis also showed similar correlations between different age groups and among different gender groups. Conclusion Xie-Kawashima Itch Scale has good correlation with VAS in patients on hemodialysis,without being affected by age or gender. Thus,it can be a useful tool for the assessment of pruritus in clinical practice and research.