Near infrared luminescence properties and mechanism of high bismuth-doped SiO2-Al2O3-La2O3 glass.

This research investigated the wideband near-infrared spectroscopy characteristics of 60SiO2-25Al2O3-10La2O3 glass doped with high levels of bismuth up to 5 mol%. The near-infrared radiation range was explored under excitation wavelengths of 488 nm, 532 nm, 808 nm, and 980 nm, resulting in near-infrared radiation spanning from 1000 nm to 1800nm with Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) values of 313.0 nm, 336.3 nm, 296.2 nm, and 262.9 nm, respectively. Notably, the sample exhibited a lifetime of 1.473 ms when pumped at 808 nm, corresponding to a stimulated cross-section of σe=3.35 × 10-21 cm2. Through an in-depth investigation of the luminescence properties, the underlying physical mechanism behind the near-infrared luminescence was revealed. The emissions observed at approximately 1150 nm and 1300 nm were attributed to the aluminum-related bismuth active center (BAC-Al) and the silicon-related bismuth active center (BAC-Si), respectively. Furthermore, it is postulated that the emission at the 1150 nm band originates from the 3P1, 3P2 →3P0 transition of Bi+ and the 2D3/2 → 4S3/2 transition of Bi°, while the emission at the 1300 nm band may be linked to mixed valence states of Bi3+. This work will find potential applications in broadband near-infrared optical devices.

Advances in flavor peptides with sodium-reducing ability: A review.

Condiments (such as sodium chloride and glutamate sodium) cause consumers to ingest too much sodium and may lead to a variety of diseases, thus decreasing their quality of life. Recently, a salt reduction strategy using flavor peptides has been established. However, the development of this strategy has not been well adopted by the food industry. There is an acute need to screen for peptides with salty and umami taste, and to understand their taste characteristic and taste mechanism. This review provides a thorough analysis of the literature on flavor peptides with sodium-reducing ability, involving their preparation, taste characteristic, taste mechanism and applications in the food industry. Flavor peptides come from a wide range of sources and can be sourced abundantly from natural foods. Flavor peptides with salty and umami tastes are mainly composed of umami amino acids. Differences in amino acid sequences, spatial structures and food matrices will cause different tastes in flavor peptides, mostly attributed to the interaction between peptides and taste receptors. In addition to being used in condiments, flavor peptides have also anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant abilities, offering the potential to be used as functional ingredients, thus making their future in the food industry extremely promising.

The influence of media use degree on public depressive symptoms: mediating role of big five personality.

BACKGROUND: Mixed results have been found regarding the relationship between media use degree and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between media use degree, big five personality and depressive symptoms with a mediation model. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study. With 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) and self-designed media usage scale, 11,031 participants aged 12 and above in 120 cities in China were collected. Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed on the data. The Process plug-in was used to construct the mediation model and explore the relationship among media use degree, big five personality and depressive symptoms. The nonparametric percentile Bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effect of personality traits. RESULTS: The degree of media use was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = 0.20, P < 0.001), and big five personality played a mediating role between the degree of media use and depressive symptoms. Among five traits, extroversion (r=-0.12, P < 0.001), conscientiousness (r=-0.23, P < 0.001), openness (r=-0.03, P < 0.01) and agreeableness (r=-0.22, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with depressive symptoms, and neuroticism (r = 0.25, P < 0.001) were positively correlated with depressive symptoms. In addition, extraversion (-0.004, -0.001), conscientiousness (-0.015, -0.008), agreeableness (-0.008, -0.001) and neuroticism (-0.015, -0.007) in big five personality played a mediating role between media use and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: The degree of media use positively predicted depressive symptoms, and excessive media use may bring risks to mental health. People with high neuroticism, low agreeableness, low conscientiousness and low extroversion are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms.

A cross-sectional study: family communication, anxiety, and depression in adolescents: the mediating role of family violence and problematic internet use.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between family communication, family violence, problematic internet use, anxiety, and depression and validate their potential mediating role. METHODS: The study population consisted of Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, and a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2022. Structural equation models were constructed using AMOS 25.0 software to examine the factors that influence adolescent anxiety and depression and the mediating effects of problematic internet use and family violence. RESULTS: The results indicate that family communication was significantly and negatively related to family violence (ß = -.494, p < 0.001), problematic internet use (ß = -.056, p < .05), depression (ß = -.076, p < .01), and anxiety (ß = -.071, p < .05). And the finds also indicate that family violence mediated the relationships between family communication and depression (ß = -.143, CI: -.198 -.080), and between family communication and anxiety (ß = -.141; CI: -.198 -.074). Chain indirect effects between family communication and depression (ß = -.051; CI: -.081 -.030) or anxiety (ß = -.046; CI: -.080 -.043) via family violence and then through problematic internet use were also found in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, positive family communication is crucial in reducing anxiety and depression in adolescents. Moreover, problematic internet use and family violence mediate the effects of positive family communication on anxiety and depression. Therefore, improving family communication and promoting interventions aimed at reducing family violence and problematic internet use can help reduce anxiety and depression in adolescents, thus promoting their healthy development.

The effects and safety of omega-3 fatty for acute lung injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) with omega-3 fatty, yet the results remained inconsistent. Therefore, we attempted this meta-analysis to analyze the role of omega-3 fatty in the treatment of ALI patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed databases from inception date to October 31, 2019, for RCTs that compared the treatment of ALI with or without omega-3 fatty. Two authors independently screened the studies and extracted data from the published articles. Summary mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for each outcome by fixed- or random-effects model. RESULTS: Six RCTs with a total of 277 patients were identified, of whom 142 patients with omega-3 fatty acid treatment and 135 patients without omega-3 fatty treatment. Omega-3 fatty treatments significantly improve the PaO2 (MD = 13.82, 95% CI 8.55-19.09), PaO2/FiO2 (MD = 33.47, 95% CI 24.22-42.72), total protein (MD = 2.02, 95% CI 0.43-3.62) in ALI patients, and omega-3 fatty acid treatments reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation (MD = - 1.72, 95% CI - 2.84 to - 0.60) and intensive care unit stay (MD = - 1.29, 95% CI - 2.14 to - 0.43) in ALI patients. CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 fatty can effectively improve the respiratory function and promote the recovery of ALI patients. Future studies focused on the long-term efficacy and safety of omega-3 fatty use for ALI are needed.

Two-dimension and high-resolution demultiplexing of coaxial multiple orbital angular momentum beams.

A high-resolution demultiplexing method is proposed for the separation of coaxial multiple orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams which are created by a self-designed computer-generated hologram (CGH) encoded with logarithmic spiral phases. The logarithmic spiral phase, consisting of both azimuthal and radial phase, enables the two-dimensional demultiplexing of the OAM beams. The simulation and experiment results show that, with our method, the coaxial multiple OAM beams can be effectively separated in the specified plane. The overlap between the adjacent channel is greatly reduced by the high-resolution demultiplexing method, which is based on an optical geometrical transform and a coherent copy technique. The proposed method has great potential in increasing the number of spatial channels available for OAM multiplexing transmission system.

Adaptive moment estimation for polynomial nonlinear equalizer in PAM8-based optical interconnects.

Adaptive moment estimation (Adam) is a popular optimization method to estimate large-scale parameters in neural networks. This paper proposes the first use of Adam algorithm to fast and stably converge large-scale tap coefficients of polynomial nonlinear equalizer (PNLE) for 129-Gbit/s PAM8-based optical interconnects. PNLE is one of simplified Volterra nonlinear equalizer for making a trade-off between complexity and performance. Different from serial least-mean square (LMS) adaptive algorithm, Adam algorithm is a parallel processing algorithm, which can obtain globally optimal tap coefficients without being trapped in locally optimal tap coefficients. Timing error is one of the main obstacles to the PAM systems with high baud rate and high modulation order. Owing to parallel processing and global optimization, Adam algorithm has much better performance on resisting the timing error, which can achieve faster, more-stable and lower-MSE convergence compared to LMS adaptive algorithm. In conclusion, Adam algorithm shows great potential for converging the tap coefficients of PNLE in PAM8-based optical interconnects.

DD-OFDM transmission over few-mode fiber based on direct vector mode multiplexing.

The fiber vector eigenmode based mode division multiplexing (VMDM) transmission over few-mode fiber (FMF) with the 1st-order cylinder vector beams (CVBs) has been demonstrated. The performances of generated CVB using q-plate (QP) have been characterized before and after transmission over the FMF respectively based on the high-order Poincaré sphere model and polarization grating (PG). The measured minimum mode isolations between the two CVBs (TM01 and TE01 modes) of the used 4-mode FMF are about 16.8 dB after transmitting over 5 m and 12.5 dB over 100 m respectively. Then the dual-vector-mode-multiplexed transmissions over FMF of 96 Gb/s with length of 5m and 48 Gb/s of 100 m have been realized in combination with the modulation of direct-detection (DD) orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) without using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) digital signal processing (DSP). The experimental results indicate that the CVB-based technology could find the potential in large-capacity short-reach optical interconnects.

Measuring high-order optical orbital angular momentum with a hyperbolic gradually changing period pure-phase grating.

We present a method to measure the high-order orbital angular momentum (OAM) state of a light beam with a static hyperbolic gradually changing period pure-phase grating (HGCP-PPG). From the number and orientation of the fringes of the Hermite-Gaussian-like diffraction intensity pattern, the OAM state of the incident Laguerre-Gaussian beam can be measured. Experimental detection of the OAM state up to ±100-order has been achieved. This method is highly efficient and robust because the HGCP-PPG is adaptive to high-order OAM beam and tolerant of the misalignment of the incident OAM beam.

High-Temperature Sensor Based on Fabry-Perot Interferometer in Microfiber Tip.

A miniaturized tip Fabry-Perot interferometer (tip-FPI) is proposed for high-temperature sensing. It is simply fabricated for the first time by splicing a short length of microfiber (MF) to the cleaved end of a standard single mode fiber (SMF) with precise control of the relative cross section position. Such a MF acts as a Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity and serves as a tip sensor. A change in temperature modifies the length and refractive index of the FP cavity, and then a corresponding change in the reflected interference spectrum can be observed. High temperatures of up to 1000 °C are measured in the experiments, and a high sensitivity of 13.6 pm/°C is achieved. This compact sensor, with tip diameter and length both of tens of microns, is suitable for localized detection, especially in harsh environments.

Ultrasensitive Mach-Zehnder Interferometric Temperature Sensor Based on Liquid-Filled D-Shaped Fiber Cavity.

A liquid-filled D-shaped fiber (DF) cavity serving as an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated for temperature sensing with ultrahigh sensitivity. The miniature MZI is constructed by splicing a segment of DF between two single-mode fibers (SMFs) to form a microcavity (MC) for filling and replacement of various refractive index (RI) liquids. By adjusting the effective RI difference between the DF and MC (the two interference arms), experimental and calculated results indicate that the interference spectra show different degrees of temperature dependence. As the effective RI of the liquid-filled MC approaches that of the DF, temperature sensitivity up to −84.72 nm/°C with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9953 has been experimentally achieved for a device with the MC length of 456 μm, filled with liquid RI of 1.482. Apart from ultrahigh sensitivity, the proposed MCMZI device possesses additional advantages of its miniature size and simple configuration; these features make it promising and competitive in various temperature sensing applications, such as consumer electronics, biological treatments, and medical diagnosis.

All-fiber second-order optical vortex generation based on strong modulated long-period grating in a four-mode fiber.

We propose an effective all-fiber method to generate a high-order optical vortex (OV) via twisting a strong modulated long-period fiber grating (LPFG) written in a four-mode fiber (4MF). With a special design and optimization of the procedures of CO2-laser irradiation, an LPFG with strong period deformation is achieved in the 4MF. Based on this LPFG, we can directly convert the linear polarization (LP) fiber fundamental mode (LP01) to the high-order LP core mode (LP21) with efficiency of 99.7% and then transform the LP21 mode into a high-order OV mode (±2 order). This is the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that ±2-order OV modes have been experimentally generated with just one fiber grating in an all-fiber-system.

Near-infrared absorbing compounds based on π-extended tetrathiafulvalene open-cage fullerenes.

Tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) is attached to open-cage fullerenes through a quinoxaline junction. The resulting linear π-conjugation system shows intense absorption in the near-infrared region. A unique o-diaminobenzene-induced furan ring formation process from a conjugated 1,4-dione moiety was observed on the rim of a 18-membered orifice.

Research on factors influencing Chinese parents' support for death education: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: This study aims to explore the factors influencing Chinese parents' attitudes toward death education. Given the current lack of such education in China, this research is particularly significant. Death education is vital for shaping the values of young people and alleviating mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal tendencies. By identifying these influencing factors, this study seeks to provide guidance for policymakers and educators in promoting the development and widespread adoption of death education. Methods: To do so, a national cross-sectional quota sample of 12,435 Chinese parents was used. Borrowing from social-ecological theory, the researchers carried out multiple stepwise regression analyses to examine the individual, family, and social-level factors that shape the supportive attitudes of Chinese parents toward death education. Results: The findings revealed that at the individual level, parent (ß = 0.04, p < 0.001), education level (ß = 0.07, p < 0.001), and religious belief (ß = -0.02, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of Chinese parents' support for death education. Meanwhile, at the family and social level, average monthly household income (ß = 0.07, p < 0.001), family health (ß = 0.03, p < 0.05), family communication (ß = 0.02, p < 0.05), social support (ß = 0.15, p < 0.001), neighborhood relations (ß = 0.11, p < 0.001), and social network size (ß = 0.05, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of Chinese parents' supportive attitudes toward death education. Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is suggested that the relevant development, planning, publicity, and public welfare groups and government departments should promote death education, provide more social support, and encourage neighborhood harmony. As higher education and average monthly household income were found to significantly impact the support, the government should improve access to higher education and actively work to increase residents' income to facilitate the development of death education.

The Impact of Problematic Internet Use on Adolescent Loneliness-Chain Mediation Effects of Social Support and Family Communication.

Purpose: To explore the relationship between adolescents' problematic Internet use and loneliness and the mediating roles of social support and family communication. Methods: A questionnaire survey of 2483 adolescents aged 12-17 years in 148 cities in China was conducted using the Problematic Internet Use Scale, the Collaborative Social Support Scale, the Family Communication Scale, and the Loneliness Scale. The data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 26.0 and validated by AMOS 28.0. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to test the effects of problematic Internet use on adolescents' loneliness and the mediating effects of perceptions of social support and family communication. Results: There was a significant positive effect of adolescents' problematic Internet use on loneliness (B-0.471, P<0.001), and the mediating effects of perceptual social support (0.003, 0.012) and family communication (0.008, 0.019) were found to play a chain effect between adolescents' problematic Internet use and loneliness, respectively. Use and feelings of loneliness played a chain mediating role (0.002, 0.006). Conclusion: This study identified the effects of adolescent problematic Internet use on loneliness and its mechanism of action, emphasized the importance of social support and family communication, and provided practical insights for improving family parenting styles and preventing and intervening in adolescent loneliness problems.

Noncontact optical device for measuring blood glucose in aqueous humor: a pilot clinical study investigating correlation with blood glucose levels.

Significance: Monitoring blood glucose levels is crucial for individuals with diabetes. Noninvasive methods for measuring serum glucose levels have been explored to aid in blood glucose control for diabetes management. Aim: We introduced a noncontact optical glucometer (NCGM) for measuring glucose levels in the aqueous humor of the human eye. We also investigated the correlation between glucose levels in the NCGM and the aqueous humor, blood samples, and self-monitoring blood glucose devices. Approach: The optical system used in this study measured both the near-infrared absorption and polarized rotatory distribution of glucose molecules in the human aqueous humor. This prospective study's outcomes were eye aqueous glucose level, preoperative blood glucose level, intraoperative blood glucose level, and NCGM reading of patients in a single center in Taiwan. Results: The NCGM's measurements showed a strong correlation with blood glucose levels (intra-class correlation [ICC]: 0.95 to 0.98) and aqueous humor glucose levels (ICC: 0.76), indicating its ability to noninvasively measure blood glucose levels in human subjects. Conclusions: This NCGM may offer a convenient, pain-free, and rapid tool for measuring blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. The device could represent a significant advancement in noncontact hybrid optical glucose measurement systems.

Effect of respiratory muscle training in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent respiratory disorder characterized by progressive airflow limitation. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on key pulmonary function parameters, inspiratory muscle strength and quality of life in patients with stable COPD. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in the databases including PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov, from their inception to June 12, 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the impact of RMT on stable COPD were included for meta-analysis. Results: In total, 12 RCTs involving 453 participants were included in the meta-analysis. RMT demonstrated a significant increase in maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax, MD, 95% CI: 14.34, 8.17 to 20.51, P < 0.001) but not on maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax). No significant improvement was observed in 6-Min walk test (6MWT), dyspnea, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity ratio (FVC) and quality of life between RMT and control groups. However, subgroup analysis revealed a significant negative effect of RMT alone on FEV1/FVC (MD, 95% CI: 2.59, -5.11 to -0.06, P = 0.04). When RMT was combined with other interventions, improvements in FEV1/FVC and FEV1 were found, although not statistically significant. Conclusion: RMT can effectively improve maximal inspiratory pressure in stable COPD patients, but the effect is slight in improving lung function, dyspnea and quality of life. It is recommended to combine with other treatment strategies to comprehensively improve the prognosis of COPD patients.

Virtual Reality Telepresence: 360-Degree Video Streaming with Edge-Compute Assisted Static Foveated Compression.

Real-time communication with immersive 360° video can enable users to be telepresent within a remotely streamed environment. Increasingly, users are shifting to mobile devices and connecting to the Internet via mobile-cellular networks. As the ideal media for 360° videos, some VR headsets now also come with cellular capacity, giving them potential for mobile applications. However, streaming high-quality 360° live video poses challenges for network bandwidth, particularly on cellular connections. To reduce bandwidth requirements, videos can be compressed using viewport-adaptive streaming or foveated rendering techniques. Such approaches require very low latency in order to be effective, which has previously limited their applications on traditional cellular networks. In this work, we demonstrate an end-to-end virtual reality telepresence system that streams ∼6K 360° video over 5G millimeter-wave (mmW) radio. Our use of 5G technologies, in conjunction with mobile edge compute nodes, substantially reduces latency when compared with existing 4G networks, enabling high-efficiency foveated compression over modern cellular networks on par with WiFi. We performed a technical evaluation of our system's visual quality post-compression with peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and FOVVideoVDP. We also conducted a user study to evaluate users' sensitivity to compressed video. Our findings demonstrate that our system achieves visually indistinguishable video streams while using up to 80% less data when compared with un-foveated video. We demonstrate our video compression system in the context of an immersive, telepresent video calling application.

Anteromedial cannulated screw fixation for Hawkins II/III talus fractures in children: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of the anteromedial cannulated screw approach in the treatment of Hawkins II/III talus fractures in children. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 20 children with talar fractures admitted to Renmin Hospital from September 2018 to February 2022. The fracture healing and functional recovery of the affected limb were strictly followed up after the operation. There were 14 males and 6 females. The average age was 9 years (range 6-12 years). According to the Hawkins classification, there were 12 cases of talar neck fracture type II and 8 cases of type III. All patients were fixed with cannulated compression screws via an anteromedial approach. According to the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle and hindfoot function scoring system, limb function was evaluated before and after the operation. A visual analog scale was used to evaluate the degree of postoperative pain. RESULTS: All 20 children were followed up for 12 months to 30 months, with an average of 15 months. We found that there was no significant difference in the excellent and good rate (76.9%) and necrosis rate (30.8%) between male children and female children (71.4%) and necrosis rate (28.6%) (P > 0.05). The excellent and good rates (92.9%) of children younger than 9 years old at the time of injury were higher than those of children older than 9 years old (33.3%), and the incidence of avascular necrosis of the talus was lower. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The average prognosis score of children who underwent surgery within 5 days after injury was 89.2 ± 6.4, which was significantly higher than that of children who underwent surgery after 5 days (72.9 ± 13.1), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between patients who underwent surgery within 5 days after injury (15.4%) and those who underwent surgery after 5 days (51.7%) (P > 0.05). The excellent and good rates of talar neck fracture type II and talar neck fracture type III were 90.1% and 55.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The anteromedial approach combined with cannulated compression screws for the treatment of Hawkins II/III talus fractures in children not only has a clear surgical field, but the fracture can also be reduced and fixed under direct vision using this technique. It does not affect the stability of the ankle joint and is conducive to the recovery of ankle function. It can be used as a surgical scheme for the treatment of talar fractures in children.