Polarization evolution on higher and hybrid-order Poincaré spheres with coaxial polarization holograms.

Based on the tensor polarization holography theory, we propose a simple and convenient method in the recording material, phenanthrenequinone-doped polymethylmethacrylate, to generate beams on higher and hybrid-order Poincaré spheres, and realize their polarization evolution on the spheres by combining the recorded phase with the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. By simultaneously adjusting the polarization azimuth angle and relative phase of the recorded waves, independent phase-shifts can be imparted onto two orthogonal circular polarization states in reconstruction process of polarization holography. The beams on basic Poincaré sphere are transformed into that on arbitrary higher or hybrid-order Poincaré spheres. We get the Poincaré spheres' type and polarization distribution of the reconstructed wave by interferometry and polarizer, and the results match well with the theoretical predictions.

A nanozyme multifunctional platform based on iron doped carbon dots derived from Tibetan Ganoderma lucidum waste for glucose sensing, anti-counterfeiting applications, and anticancer cell effect.

Implementing the concept of turning waste into treasure, the conversion of biomass waste into high-value carbon materials, especially carbon dots (CDs), has pointed out a new direction for disease diagnosis, tumor treatment, and other aspects. In this work, we have reported the GL-CDs(Fe) via a simple synthesis route exploiting Ganoderma lucidum waste as the precursor. Thanks to their excellent optical property and peroxidase mimetic activity, a novel GL-CDs(Fe)-based ratio fluorescence/colorimetric/smartphone triple mode sensing platform is cleverly fabricated for glucose determination with the LOD of 0.28, 0.37, and 0.52 µΜ separately. Especially, this triple mode biosensor is successfully utilized for glucose detection in serum samples with the relative error of less than ±8 % compared with clinical reports. Surprisingly, the GL-CDs(Fe) also presents immense application prospects in high-level anti-counterfeiting aspects due to their excellent luminescent properties, high water-solubility, and easy availability. Furthermore, GL-CDs(Fe) can catalyze excessive H2O2 inside tumor cells to produce massive hydroxyl radicals (·OH) which break down the redox levels of cancer cells and thereby eliminate tumor cells. Thus, this integrated "Three-in-One" multifunctional platform based on GL-CDs(Fe) unveils enormous research and application prospects for bio-sensing, anti-counterfeiting, cancer treatment.

Scalar vortex beams produced by Pancharatnam-Berry phase optical elements that utilize polarization holography.

We discuss the appearance of the Pancharatnam-Berry phase in polarization holography, and confirm the possibility of generating scalar vortex beams by using the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The polarization holograms used to generate scalar vortex beams are produced in phenanthrenequinone-doped polymethylmethacrylate (PQ/PMMA), where each radial direction consists of an equivalent half-wave plate hologram with gradually changing directions. The spin angular momentum carried by a circular polarization reading wave is converted into orbital angular momentum in a reconstruction process, resulting in the formation of scalar vortex beams with positive and negative topological charges controlled by the reading polarization.

Recent Research Progress of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Dominated Analysis Strategies in Early Diagnosis of Diseases.

Timely and powerful diagnostic means can achieve better therapeutic effects, reduce disease torment, and improve survival rate. As a powerful non-invasive spectroscopy technology, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) have testified to be a great potential candidate for extensive early clinical disease diagnosis. In recent years, the introduction of SERS label, combined with other analysis modes or artificial intelligence, and the emergence of miniaturized devices have made SERS technology more advantageous in early diagnosis of diseases. This review focuses on the research progress of SERS dominated analytical strategies in the field of early disease diagnosis in the past five years. The main content includes the application of label-free SERS detection; the construction of label SERS methodologies for various disease markers; SERS dominated multimode early disease diagnosis strategies; integration of SERS and artificial intelligence; portable Raman equipment and SERS imaging; and opportunities and trends for SERS diagnostic technology in the future.

Construction of fluorescence and colorimetric tandem dual-mode sensor by modulating fluorescence and oxidase-like activity via valence switching of cerium-based coordination polymer nanoparticles for sarcosine detection.

A fluorescence and colorimetric tandem dual-mode sensor was established by modulating fluorescence and oxidase-like activity via valence switching of cerium-based coordination polymer nanoparticles (Ce-CPNs) for the detection of sarcosine (Sar) which is considered as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). In the present research, sarcosine oxidase (SOX) specifically catalyzes the oxidation of Sar to yield H2O2 which can rapidly oxidize Ce(III)-CPNs to generate Ce(IV)-CPNs in appropriate alkaline solution. The generated Ce(IV)-CPNs create a markedly weakened fluorescent signal at 350 nm, while they can induce oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate blue TMBox through emerging good oxidase-like activity. The sensing platform can realize accurate, stable, and high-throughput detection of Sar because of the tandem dual signal output mechanism. More attractively, the chromogenic hydrogel sensing device using smartphone photographing has achieved perfect results for the on-site sensing of Sar in urine specimens without large experimental equipments, demonstrating its considerable clinical application potential in the early diagnosis of PCa.

A dual-mode ratiometric fluorescence and smartphone-assisted colorimetric sensing platform based on bifunctional Fe,Co-CQD for glucose analysis at physiological pH.

Diabetes is a common and fatal chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, and thus monitoring blood glucose level is essential for early screening and timely control of disease. Herein, we have prepared the bifunctional iron and cobalt co-doped carbon quantum dot (Fe,Co-CQD) with good optical properties and peroxidase-mimetic catalytic activity toward specific substrate o-phenylenediamine (OPD) under alkaline condition. Glucose oxidase (GOx) specifically catalyzes the oxidation of glucose into H2O2, and Fe,Co-CQD subsequently triggers a reaction between H2O2 and OPD to form yellow product DAP with a distinct UV absorption peak at 420 nm. Simultaneously, the generated DAP also appears a well-defined fluorescence signal at 555 nm, which can suppress the intrinsic fluorescence peak of Fe,Co-CQD (439 nm) owing to the inner filter effect (IFE). Based on this principle, a dual-mode ratiometric fluorescence and colorimetric sensing platform has been constructed for glucose analysis at physiological pH, which reveals the advantages of excellent accuracy, high throughput, simple operation, and low cost. More importantly, a smartphone-assisted colorimetric sensing system based on a portable visual detection kit and a 3D printing smartphone-based device has been constructed, which enables on-site detection of glucose in complex serum samples without laboratory instruments, indicating its potential practical application prospect.

Simple method for generating special beams using polarization holography.

Vector vortex beams are a kind of special beam that simultaneously carry spin and orbital angular momentum. The generation of vector vortex beams usually requires a complex and expensive optical system, which becomes a bottleneck hindering its further application. Thus, a compact, low-cost and efficient special beam generation system is demanded. In this paper, a method that can produce vector vortex beams distributed anywhere in the equator of hybrid-order Poincaré Spheres based on polarization holography is proposed. Via changing some parameters of the device, this method can also produce the scalar vortex beams distributed at any position of the basic Poincaré Sphere and the vector beams distributed at the equator of the higher-order Poincaré Spheres. The work shows that polarization holography has the potential ability to regulate the spin and orbital angular momentum simultaneously, opening a new window for future research and applications of angular momentum space orientation.

Christensenella regulated by Huang-Qi-Ling-Hua-San is a key factor by which to improve type 2 diabetes.

There is a lot of evidence that oral hypoglycemic drugs work by affecting gut microbes, but the key strains responsible for this effect are not well known. Huang-Qi-Ling-Hua-San (HQLHS), composed of Astragalus Membranaceus, Ganoderma lucidum, Inonotus obliquus, and Momordica charantia L., is a specially designed Chinese medicine formula to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, a mouse model of T2D induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin was used to explore the mechanism of HQLHS in improving hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia through multiple rounds of animal experiments, such as HQLHS feeding, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), and live bacteria feeding, so as to explore the potential target intestinal flora in its hypoglycemic effect. Results show that such specific taxa as Bifidobacterium, Turicibacter, Alistipes, Romboutsia, and Christensenella were identified to be preferably enriched by HQLHS and then assumed to be the target microbes. Herein, FMT was used to test if the upregulated beneficial bacteria by HQLHS play a therapeutic role. The strain Christensenella minuta DSM 22607 and the strain Christensenella timonensis DSM 102800 were selected to test the beneficial effect of Christensenella taxa on T2D. Diabetic animals supplemented with these strains showed the improvement in blood glucose and lipid metabolism, the promotion of GLP-1 secretion, the increase in antioxidant capacity, the inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis, the suppression of intestinal glucose absorption, the enhancement of intestinal barrier, reduced LPS-induced inflammation, and the reduction of branched amino acids (BCAAs) content in the liver. Overall, these data demonstrate that Christensenella plays a beneficial role in T2D and is a target for the action of HQLHS therapy.

Circular polarization detector based on polarization holography.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the generation of a circular polarization detector based on planar polarization holography. The detector is designed by constructing the interference field according to the null reconstruction effect. We create multiplexed holograms, which feature the combination of two sets of hologram patterns and operate with opposite circular polarization beams. In a few seconds, the exposure operation allows the polarization multiplexed hologram element to be generated, with functionality equivalent to a chiral hologram. We have theoretically analyzed the feasibility of our scheme and experimentally demonstrated that the right- and left-handed circularly polarized beam can be distinguished directly depending on the different output signals. This work provides a time-saving and cost-effective alternative approach for generating a circular polarization detector and opens avenues for future applications in polarization detection.

Image-free classification of fast-moving objects using "learned" structured illumination and single-pixel detection.

Object classification generally relies on image acquisition and subsequent analysis. Real-time classification of fast-moving objects is a challenging task. Here we propose an approach for real-time classification of fast-moving objects without image acquisition. The key to the approach is to use structured illumination and single-pixel detection to acquire the object features directly. A convolutional neural network (CNN) is trained to learn the object features. The "learned" object features are then used as structured patterns for structured illumination. Object classification can be achieved by picking up the resulting light signals by a single-pixel detector and feeding the single-pixel measurements to the trained CNN. In our experiments, we show that accurate and real-time classification of fast-moving objects can be achieved. Potential applications of the proposed approach include rapid classification of flowing cells, assembly-line inspection, and aircraft classification in defense applications. Benefiting from the use of a single-pixel detector, the approach might be applicable for hidden moving object classification.

Mitotic-Spindle Organizing Protein MztA Mediates Septation Signaling by Suppressing the Regulatory Subunit of Protein Phosphatase 2A-ParA in Aspergillus nidulans.

The proper timing and positioning of cytokinesis/septation is crucial for hyphal growth and conidiation in Aspergillus nidulans. The septation initiation network (SIN) components are a conserved spindle pole body (SPB) localized signaling cascade and the terminal kinase complex SidB-MobA, which must localize on the SPB in this pathway to trigger septation/cytokinesis. The regulatory subunit of phosphatase PP2A-ParA has been identified to be a negative regulator capable of inactivating the SIN. However, little is known about how ParA regulates the SIN pathway and whether ParA regulates the septum formation process through affecting the SPB-localized SIN proteins. In this study, through RNA-Seq and genetic approaches, we identified a new positive septation regulator, a putative mitotic-spindle organizing protein and a yeast Mzt1 homolog MztA, which acts antagonistically toward PP2A-ParA to coordinately regulate the SPB-localized SIN proteins SidB-MobA during septation. These findings imply that regulators, phosphatase PP2A-ParA and MztA counteract the septation function probably through balancing the polymerization and depolymerization of microtubules at the SPB.