Identifying Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitors with Drug Repurposing Approach: Implications in Vasodysfunctional Disorders.

Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) is a multidomain protein that plays a crucial role in regulating cellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), a key signaling molecule involved in various physiological processes. Dysregulation of PDE5 and cGMP signaling is associated with a range of vasodysfunctional disorders, necessitating the development of effective therapeutic interventions. This study adopts comprehensive approach, combining virtual screening and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to repurpose FDA-approved drugs as potential PDE5 inhibitors. The initial focus involves selecting compounds based on their binding affinity. Shortlisted compounds undergo a meticulous analysis for their drug profiling and biological significance, followed by the activity evaluation and interaction analysis. Notably, based on binding potential and drug profiling, two molecules, Dutasteride and Spironolactone, demonstrate strong potential as PDE5 inhibitors. Furthermore, all atom MD simulations were employed (500 ns) to explore dynamic behavior of Dutasteride and Spironolactone in complexes with PDE5. Principal components analysis (PCA) and free energy landscape (FEL) analyses are further leveraged to decipher that the binding of Dutasteride and Spironolactone stabilizes the structure of PDE5 with minimal conformational changes. In summary, Dutasteride and Spironolactone exhibit remarkable affinity for PDE5 and possess characteristics that suggest their potential as therapeutic agents for conditions associated with PDE5 dysfunction.

Low apoplastic Na+ and intracellular ionic homeostasis confer salinity tolerance upon Ca2SiO4 chemigation in Zea mays L. under salt stress.

Salinity is known to have a greater impact on shoot growth than root growth. Na+ buildup in plant tissue under salt stress has been proposed as one of the main issues that causes growth inhibition in crops via ionic imbalances, osmotic stress and pH disturbances. However, the evidence for apoplastic Na+ buildup and the role of silicon in Na+ accumulation at the subcellular level is still enigmatic. The current study focuses on the accumulation of Na+ in the apoplast and symplast of younger and older leaves of two maize varieties (Iqbal as salt-tolerant and Jalal as salt-sensitive) using hydroponic culture along with silicon supplementation under short-term salinity stress. Subcellular ion analysis indicated that silicon nutrition decreased Na+ concentration in both apoplastic washing fluid and symplastic fluid of maize under salt stress. The addition of silicon under NaCl treatment resulted in considerable improvement in fresh biomass, relative water content, chlorophyll content, and concentration of important subcellular ions (i.e., Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+). Knowledge of subcellular ion analysis is essential for solving the mechanisms underlying vital cellular functions e.g. in the current study, the soluble Na+ concentration in the apoplast of older leaves was found to be significantly greater (36.1 mM) in the salt-sensitive variety under NaCl treatment, which was 42.4% higher when compared to the Na+ concentration in the salt-tolerant variety under the same treatment which can influence permeability of cell membrane, signal transduction pathways and provides insights into how ion compartmentalization can contributes to salt tolerance. Calcium silicate enrichment can contribute to increased growth and improved ionic homeostasis by minimizing leaf electrolyte leakage, improving mechanical functions of cell wall and reducing water loss, and improved photosynthetic function. In current investigation, increased water content and intracellular ionic homeostasis along with reduced concentration of Na+ in the maize leaf apoplast suggest that calcium silicate can be used to ameliorate the adverse effects of salt stress and obtain yield using marginal saline lands.

Empirical Investigation of Work-Related Social Media Usage and Social-Related Social Media Usage on Employees' Work Performance.

The trend of using social media in the workplace is now becoming ubiquitous. Along witbenefits, social media also has negative consequences. Employees use social media for both work and social purposes. Therefore, using a quantitative approach, this study explores the impact of work-related social media usage and social-related social media usage on employees' work performance. This study also investigates the mediating effect of extra-role behaviors on social media usage (professional and personal purpose) and work performance relationships. We examined survey data of 241 employees working in different organizations with the help of the partial least square (PLS) 3.0 version. Convenience sampling has been used to reach respondents. The outcomes of this study demonstrate that both professional and personal-related social media usage have a positive and significant impact on employees' work performance. This study also highlighted that extra-role behavior positively and significantly mediates the relationship between social media usage (work and personal) and employees' work performance. This study provides practical insights to managers, such as that, instead of banning social media usage in companies, there must be some limits and regulations for using social media that would facilitate firms to increase employees' engagement and productivity.

A CNN based coronavirus disease prediction system for chest X-rays.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) proliferated globally in early 2020, causing existential dread in the whole world. Radiography is crucial in the clinical staging and diagnosis of COVID-19 and offers high potential to improve healthcare plans for tackling the pandemic. However high variations in infection characteristics and low contrast between normal and infected regions pose great challenges in preparing radiological reports. To address these challenges, this study presents CODISC-CNN (CNN based Coronavirus DIsease Prediction System for Chest X-rays) that can automatically extract the features from chest X-ray images for the disease prediction. However, to get the infected region of X-ray, edges of the images are detected by applying image preprocessing. Furthermore, to attenuate the shortage of labeled datasets data augmentation has been adapted. Extensive experiments have been performed to classify X-ray images into two classes (Normal and COVID), three classes (Normal, COVID, and Virus Bacteria), and four classes (Normal, COVID, and Virus Bacteria, and Virus Pneumonia) with the accuracy of 97%, 89%, and 84% respectively. The proposed CNN-based model outperforms many cutting-edge classification models and boosts state-of-the-art performance.

Multi-functional sensor based on photonic crystal fiber using plasmonic material and magnetic fluid.

A unique highly sensitive photonic crystal fiber, to the best of our knowledge, is investigated based on plasmonic material and magnetic fluid (MF) for the simultaneous measurement of temperature and magnetic field sensor. The designed sensor is explored by tracing the different parameters such as birefringence, coupling length, power spectrum, and the peak wavelength of the transmission intensity. The magnetic field and temperature computation are attained simultaneously by examining the linear fitting curve and the movement of transmission peaks. The obtained sensitivity for temperature is 7.1 nm/°C with an exposure range of 25°C to 100°C. In contrast, the magnetic field sensitivity is 12 nm/Oe with a detection range of 160-200 Oe. In addition, the resolutions are -1.245∘ C and 5.53 Oe for temperature and magnetic field, respectively. Our inspected sensor is used to detect extremely low and high values of magnetic fields. The investigated structure is presented with simplification, compactness, easy implementation, and high sensitivity, which is expected to be a good foundation for the advancement of optical sensing devices in the future applications of industries, security, small grids, and environmental systems.

Characterization of External Mucosal Microbiomes of Nile Tilapia and Grey Mullet Co-cultured in Semi-Intensive Pond Systems.

The external mucosal surfaces of the fish harbor complex microbial communities, which may play pivotal roles in the physiological, metabolic, and immunological status of the host. Currently, little is known about the composition and role of these communities, whether they are species and/or tissue specific and whether they reflect their surrounding environment. Co-culture of fish, a common practice in semi-intensive aquaculture, where different fish species cohabit in the same contained environment, is an easily accessible and informative model toward understanding such interactions. This study provides the first in-depth characterization of gill and skin microbiomes in co-cultured Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and grey mullet (Mugil capito) in semi-intensive pond systems in Egypt using 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing. Results showed that the microbiome composition of the external surfaces of both species and pond water was dominated by the following bacterial phyla: Proteobacteria, Fusobacteriota, Firmicutes, Planctomycetota, Verrucomicrobiota, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteriota. However, water microbial communities had the highest abundance and richness and significantly diverged from the external microbiome of both species; thus, the external autochthonous communities are not a passive reflection of their allochthonous communities. The autochthonous bacterial communities of the skin were distinct from those of the gill in both species, indicating that the external microbiome is likely organ specific. However, gill autochthonous communities were clearly species specific, whereas skin communities showed higher commonalities between both species. Core microbiome analysis identified the presence of shared core taxa between both species and pond water in addition to organ-specific taxa within and between the core community of each species. These core taxa included possibly beneficial genera such as Uncultured Pirellulaceae, Exiguobacterium, and Cetobacterium and opportunistic potential pathogens such as Aeromonas, Plesiomonas, and Vibrio. This study provides the first in-depth mapping of bacterial communities in this semi-intensive system that in turn provides a foundation for further studies toward enhancing the health and welfare of these cultured fish and ensuring sustainability.

Chikungunya virus: Molecular epidemiology of nonstructural proteins in Pakistan.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is considered a public health problem due to its rapid spread and high morbidity. In 2016-2017 an outbreak of CHIKV was occurred in Pakistan but the data regarding the genomic diversity of CHIKV was not reported. Hence, the current study aimed to determine the genetic diversity of CHIKVs in Pakistan. A cross sectional study was carried out using sera of infected CHIKV patients (n = 1549) during the outbreak in Pakistan (2016-2018). Nucleotide sequencing of non-structural genes of CHIKV from eight isolates were performed followed by phylogenetic analysis using Bayesian method. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the Pakistani CHIKV strains belonged to Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL) of genotype ECSA and C1.3a clade. Furthermore, the Pakistani isolates showed several key mutations (nsP2-H130Y, nsP2-E145D, nsP4-S55N and nsP4- R85G) corresponding to mutations reported in 2016 Indian strains of CHIKV. The molecular analysis revealed high evolutionary potential of CHIKV strains as well as better understanding of enhanced virulence and pathogenesis of this outbreak. The study highlights the need to continue surveillance in order to understand viral diversity over time and to devise preventive measures to limit diseases transmission in the region.

The role of self-esteem, optimism, deliberative thinking and self-control in shaping the financial behavior and financial well-being of young adults.

The sustainable financial behavior and financial well-being have been a key concern among the developing societies; thereby encompassing the various psychological factors which play a role in influencing individual's positive financial behavior and financial well-being, this study is conducted. Research focusing on the psychological aspect of human financial behavior and well-being is scarce, focusing more on the cognitive side such as financial literacy and numeracy. The aim of this research study is to find the role played by the non-cognitive factors such as self-esteem, self-control, optimism and deliberative thinking, in forming the financial behavior and financial well-being of the young adults. A sample of 429 university students from public and private sector was collected via an online and field survey using purposive sampling technique. The survey contained measures for demographics, self-esteem, optimism, deliberative thinking, self-control, general financial behavior and financial well-being. SPSS and PLS-SEM tools were used for the exploration of the relationships among dependent and independent variables. The results of PLS path analysis demonstrate that among the non-cognitive factors, self-control and deliberative thinking show a significant association with both financial behavior, and financial security. Self-esteem plays no significant role in forming the financial behavior of the young adults when all the variables are taken together but it exhibits a significant association with financial well-being (financial security and financial anxiety). Optimism on the other hand exhibits no significant association with both financial behavior and financial well-being (financial security and financial anxiety). The results of this study complement the previous studies and also put forth new outcomes. This research is unique as it is the first of its kind conducted in a consumption-oriented economy like Pakistan. In addition to the previous studies which have often established the link of self-esteem with general well-being, this study goes further by analyzing the association between self-esteem and financial well-being and by the identification of the role played by non-cognitive factors like self-esteem, optimism, deliberative thinking and self-control together on the financial behavior and financial well-being of the individuals using PLS-SEM approach.

A performance evaluation study of nano-biochar as a potential slow-release nano-fertilizer from wheat straw residue for sustainable agriculture.

Agro-Wastes are identified as to manufacture potential valuable organic biochar fertilizer product economically while also managing the waste. Biochar (BC) produced from agriculture waste is helps to improve the soil because of its neutral pH, addition of organic carbon to the soil and lower salt index values. This study focused on the development of nano-biochar into a more enhanced biochar product where it was checked whether the biochar derived from wheat straw can absorb nutrients and then act as support matter for releasing micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients for the plants on slow liberation basis. Wheat biochar (WBC) and wheat nano-biochar (WBNC) were synthesized by pyrolysis at two different temperatures and nutrients were fused into the WBC via impregnation technique. Physical parameters such as Proximate, Ultimate analysis & other were also studied and inspected by standard control procedures. Studies were also carried out on water retention (WR), water absorbance (WA), swelling ratio (SR) and equilibrium water content (EWC) for all samples; data was collected and compared for the better sample. Slow-release studies performed portrayed the release pattern of nutrients for prolonged periods, which are very important for the plant growth, yield and productivity. Overall, the experimental results displayed that BNC produced at 350 °C showed promising features of (SI:0.05, SR: 3.67, WA:64%, EWC:78.6%, FC:53.05% and pH:7.22), is a good substance however the nano-biochar has improved results; environmental friendly & could be utilized as a potential fertilizer on slow release for sustainable and green agriculture application.

Epidemiology of Chikungunya virus isolates 2016-2018 in Pakistan.

The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus, which has infected millions of people in Africa, Asia, Americas, and Europe since it remerged in India and Indian Ocean regions in 2005-2006. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity and evolutionary changes in CHIKV from 2016 to 2018 in Pakistan. Blood specimens were collected and processed following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Trioplex Protocol. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of complete coding sequence of representative isolates from the CHIKV outbreak was carried out during December 2016 to July 2018, a total of 1549 samples were received, out of which 50% (n = 774) were found positive for CHIKV RNA. Mean age of chikungunya positive patients was 31.8 ± 15.7 years and most affected were between 21 and 40 years of age. The Pakistan CHIKV strains clustered with the Indian Ocean sublineage of East/Central/South African with cocirculation of some variants In the structural proteins region, two noteworthy changes (A226V and D284E) were observed in the membrane fusion glycoprotein E1. Key substitutions in the neutralizing epitopes site and a few changes indicative of adaptive to other insect cells were also detected in Pakistani strains. This study provides the emerging trend of CHIKV in the country for early identification of potential variants of high virulence and preventive measures for vector borne disease especially in the endemic areas.

Removal of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid from water by MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework: kinetics, isotherms and statistical models.

Effective removal of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), an emerging agrochemical contaminant in water with carcinogenic and mutagenic health effects has been reported using hydrothermally synthesized MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework (MOF). The properties of the MOF were ascertained using powdered X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and surface area and porosimetry (SAP). The BET surface area and pore volume of the MOF were 1439 m2 g-1 and 0.77 cm3 g-1, respectively. Artificial neural network (ANN) model was significantly employed for the accurate prediction of the experimental adsorption capacity (qe ) values with minimal error. A rapid removal of the pollutant (99%) was recorded within short time (approx. 25 min), and the reusability of the MOF (20 mg) was achieved up to six cycles with over 90% removal efficiency. The kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics of the process were described by the pseudo-second-order, Freundlich and endothermic adsorption, respectively. The adsorption process is spontaneous based on the negative Gibbs free energy values. The significant correlation between the experimental findings and simulation results suggests the great potential of MIL-101(Cr) for the remediation of MCPA from water matrices.

A Critical Review on Metal-Organic Frameworks and Their Composites as Advanced Materials for Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Emerging Organic Pollutants from Wastewater.

Water-borne emerging pollutants are among the greatest concern of our modern society. Many of these pollutants are categorized as endocrine disruptors due to their environmental toxicities. They are harmful to humans, aquatic animals, and plants, to the larger extent, destroying the ecosystem. Thus, effective environmental remediations of these pollutants became necessary. Among the various remediation techniques, adsorption and photocatalytic degradation have been single out as the most promising. This review is devoted to the compilations and analysis of the role of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their composites as potential materials for such applications. Emerging organic pollutants, like dyes, herbicides, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and perfluorinated alkyl substances, have been extensively studied. Important parameters that affect these processes, such as surface area, bandgap, percentage removal, equilibrium time, adsorption capacity, and recyclability, are documented. Finally, we paint the current scenario and challenges that need to be addressed for MOFs and their composites to be exploited for commercial applications.

Laboratory based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan

COVID-19 cases are alarmingly increasing in Pakistan since May 2020. Laboratory based surveillance system has been in place since the start of the pandemic. The genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 strains isolated locally has been conducted based on partial ORF1b. The sequences were classified to show the phylogenetic correlation and showed 100% homology with those detected in neighboring countries India and China. The rapid increase in cases has led to development of robust strategies to enhance the laboratory testing capacity. We are currently meeting the country requirement to diagnose the virus in the community. Nonetheless, factors like recent ease in lockdown measures has led to massive rise in number of cases in few weeks time.

Adsorption of dicamba and MCPA onto MIL-53(Al) metal-organic framework: response surface methodology and artificial neural network model studies.

An aluminium-based metal-organic framework ((MOF), MIL-53(Al)), was hydrothermally synthesized, characterized and applied for the remediation of the herbicides dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxy benzoic acid) and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) in aqueous medium. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to design, optimize and predict the non-linear relationships between the independent and dependent variables. The shared interaction of the effects of key response parameters on the adsorption capacity were assessed using the central composite design-RSM and ANN optimization models. The optimum adsorption capacities for dicamba and MCPA are 228.5 and 231.9 mg g-1, respectively. The RSM ANOVA results showed significant p-values, with coefficients of determination (R 2) = 0.988 and 0.987 and R 2 adjusted = 0.974 and 0.976 for dicamba and MCPA, respectively. The ANN prediction model gave R 2 = 0.999 and 0.999, R 2 adjusted = 0.997 and 0.995 and root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 0.001 and 0.004 for dicamba and MCPA, respectively. In each set of experimental conditions used for the study, the ANN gave better prediction than the RSM, with high accuracy and minimal error. The rapid removal (∼25 min), reusability (5 times) and good agreement between the experimental findings and simulation results suggest the great potential of MIL-53(Al) for the remediation of dicamba and MCPA from water matrices.

Single-Equipment with Multiple-Application for an Automated Robot-Car Control System.

The integration of greater functionalities into vehicles increases the complexity of car-controlling. Many research efforts are dedicated to designing car-controlling systems that allow users to instruct the car just to show it what it should do; however, for non-expert users, controlling the car with a remote or a switch is complicated. So, keeping this in mind, this paper presents an Arduino based car-controlling system that no longer requires manual control of the cars. Two main contributions are presented in this work. Firstly, we show that the car can be controlled with hand-gestures, according to the movement and position of the hand. The hand-gesture system works with an Arduino Nano, accelerometer, and radio-frequency (RF) transmitter. The accelerometer (attached with the hand-glove) senses the acceleration forces that are produced by the hand movement, and it will transfer the data to the Arduino Nano that is placed on hand glove. After receiving the data, Arduino Nano will convert it into different angle values in ranges of 0°â»450° and send the data to the RF receiver of the Arduino Uno, which is placed on the car through the RF transmitter. Secondly, the proposed car system is to be controlled by an android based mobile-application with different modes (e.g., touch buttons mode, voice recognition mode). The mobile-application system is the extension of the hand-gesture system with the addition of Bluetooth module. In this case, whenever the user presses any of the touch buttons in the application, and/or gives voice commands, the corresponding signal is sent to the Arduino Uno. After receiving the signal, Arduino will check this against its predefined instructions for moving forward, backward, left, right, and brake; then it will send the command to the motor module to move the car in the corresponding direction. In addition, an automatic obstacle detection system is introduced to improve the safety measurements to avoid any hazards with the help of sensors placed at the front of the car. The proposed systems are designed as a lab-scale prototype to experimentally validate the efficiency, accuracy, and affordability of the systems. The experimental results prove that the proposed work has all in one capability (hand-gesture, touch buttons and voice-recognition with mobile-application, obstacle detection), is very easy to use, and can be easily assembled in a simple hardware circuit. We remark that the proposed systems can be implemented under real conditions at large-scale in the future, which will be useful in automobiles and robotics applications.

Potentially toxic elements in saltmarsh sediments and common reed (Phragmites australis) of Burullus coastal lagoon at North Nile Delta, Egypt: A survey and risk assessment.

Burullus lagoon is the second largest lake in Egypt. However, there has never been a comprehensive survey which studied nineteen potentially toxic elements in sediments and plants and evaluated the associated potential risk. Thus, we aimed to study the total and potentially available content of As, Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl, V, and Zn in the sediments and common reed (Phragmites australis) at thirty two sites along the entire lagoon and connected drains. Contamination Factor (CF), Pollution Load Index (PLI), Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), and Enrichment Factor (EF) were calculated to assess the grade of contamination. Element accumulation factor (AF) and bio-concentration ratio (BCR) were also calculated. Aluminum showed the highest median (mg kg-1) total content (41,200), followed by Fe (30,300), Mn (704.7), V (82.0), Zn (75.5), Cr (51.2), Cu (47.8), Ni (44.3), As (31.9), Tl (24.6), Co (21.4), Se (20.3), Sb (17.6), Sn (15.6), Mo (11.3), and Hg (16.6 µg kg-1). Values of the EF, CF, and Igeo showed that the sediments were heavily contaminated with As, Sb, Se, Tl, Mo, Sn, Co, Ni, and Cu. The drained sediment had significantly higher values of total and potentially available element content than the lagoon sediments. Sediments of the middle and western area showed significantly higher contents of total and available elements than the eastern section. The BCR and AF values indicate that the studied plant is efficient in taking up high amounts of Zn, Fe, As, Sn, Tl, Ni, Mo, Mn; then Co, Cu, and V. The results exhibit a dramatic contamination at certain sites of the lagoon, and the studied PTEs have a predominant role in contamination-related ecological risk. Further investigations concerning redox-induced mobilization of PTEs in sediments, the risk of fish contamination and the potential health hazards are highly recommended.

An Automation System for Controlling Streetlights and Monitoring Objects Using Arduino.

We present an Arduino-based automation system to control the streetlights based on solar rays and object's detection. We aim to design various systems to achieve the desired operations, which no longer require time-consuming manual switching of the streetlights. The proposed work is accomplished by using an Arduino microcontroller, a light dependent resistor (LDR) and infrared-sensors while, two main contributions are presented in this work. Firstly, we show that the streetlights can be controlled based on the night and object's detection. In which the streetlights automatically turn to DIM state at night-time and turn to HIGH state on object's detection, while during day-time the streetlights will remain OFF. Secondly, the proposed automated system is further extended to skip the DIM condition at night time, and streetlights turn ON based on the objects' detection only. In addition, an automatic door system is introduced to improve the safety measurements, and most importantly, a counter is set that will count the number of objects passed through the road. The proposed systems are designed at lab-scale prototype to experimentally validate the efficiency, reliability, and low-cost of the systems. We remark that the proposed systems can be easily tested and implemented under real conditions at large-scale in the near future, that will be useful in the future applications for automation systems and smart homes.

A novel EM concentrator with open-concentrator region based on multi-folded transformation optics.

Conventional concentrators with inhomogeneous coating materials that fully enclose the destined region pose great challenges for fabrication. In this paper, we propose to design an EM concentrator with homogeneous materials. Distinguished from conventional ones, the elaborately designed EM concentrator features a concentrator region that is open to the outer-world, which is achieved with multi-folded transformation optics method by compressing and folding the coating materials to create window(s). Based on this concept, we also investigate open-rotator and open rotational-concentrator devices, which could simultaneously rotate and store the EM waves in the central destined region. Due to the open nature of our proposed designs, we believe they will find potential applications in remote controlling with impressive new functionalities.

Non-contact method to freely control the radiation patterns of antenna with multi-folded transformation optics.

In this paper, we propose to use multi-folded transformation optics method to design a non-contact illusion device that can distantly and freely manipulate the radiation behavior of antenna located at a certain distance and such manipulation is enabled by the use of mapped electromagnetic medium coated with the transformed medium. The proposed design aims to achieve the radiation pattern of our choice from the antenna that does not possess any electromagnetic medium. Based on this, the functionality of parabolic antenna is distantly achieved from the point source. We further extended our idea to array of antennas in which the proposed device distantly makes the linear array of antennas behave like a geometrically different array of antennas. Our work extends the concept of illusion optics for active scatterer that will be very helpful for future antenna design.

Non-contact radio frequency shielding and wave guiding by multi-folded transformation optics method.

Compared with conventional radio frequency (RF) shielding methods in which the conductive coating material encloses the circuits design and the leakage problem occurs due to the gap in such conductive material, non-contact RF shielding at a distance is very promising but still impossible to achieve so far. In this paper, a multi-folded transformation optics method is proposed to design a non-contact device for RF shielding. This "open-shielded" device can shield any object at a distance from the electromagnetic waves at the operating frequency, while the object is still physically open to the outer space. Based on this, an open-carpet cloak is proposed and the functionality of the open-carpet cloak is demonstrated. Furthermore, we investigate a scheme of non-contact wave guiding to remotely control the propagation of surface waves over any obstacles. The flexibilities of such multi-folded transformation optics method demonstrate the powerfulness of the method in the design of novel remote devices with impressive new functionalities.