No abstract

Inherited IL-12Rβ1 and TYK2 deficiencies impair both IL-12- and IL-23-dependent IFN-γ immunity and are rare monogenic causes of tuberculosis, each found in about 1/100,000 individuals. We show that homozygosity for the common TYK2 P1104A allele, which is found in about 1/600 Europeans and 1/2,500 other individuals, is much more frequent in patients with tuberculosis than in ethnicity-adjusted controls (p = 8.37×10−8, odds ratio = 89.31 [95%CI: 14.7–1,725]). We also show that the frequency of P1104A in Europeans has decreased significantly, from about 9% to 4.2%, over the last 4,000 years, consistent with purging of this variant by endemic tuberculosis. Moreover, we show that catalytically inactive P1104A impairs cellular responses to IL-23, but not to IFN-α, IL-10, or even IL-12, which, like IL-23, induces IFN-γ via activation of TYK2 and JAK2. Finally, we show that catalytically competent TYK2 is critical for IL-23 but not IL-12 responses, whereas catalytically competent JAK2 is redundant for both. Homozygosity for the P1104A missense variant of TYK2 selectively disrupts the induction of IFN-γ by IL-23 and is a common monogenic etiology of tuberculosis.

elements. Thus, realizing phase manipulation of EM waves at the nanoscale has become a key pursuit for the development of modern optics and nanophotonics.Metamaterials are 3D artificial nanostructures composed of periodic subwavelength unit cells that resonantly couple to the incident EM waves, exhibiting effective electric and magnetic responses not found in nature. [1][2][3] However, these promising potential applications are hindered in their applications due to the challenges of fabricating the required complex 3D nanostructures and the inherent metallic losses and strong dispersion of plasmonic elements at optical frequencies. Planar metamaterials, or so-called metasurfaces, can be fabricated using existing technologies, such as the lithography method and have attracted increasing attention due to their feasibility, low loss, and ease of fabrication. [4,5] The most prominent advantage of metasurfaces is that they can generate spatial phase discontinuities over the full 2π range with an optically thin interface; moreover, the resolution is less than one wavelength. Thus, wavefronts can be shaped with a distance of much less than the wavelength. With the increasing development of metasurfaces, the aforementioned limitations can be solved using various ultrathin optical devices, which have properties superior to their conventional counterparts. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Here, we concentrate on the new capabilities of metasurfaces in recent years in manipulating the phase and propagation behaviors of EM waves. In Section 2, we briefly introduce the underlying mechanisms of three types of phase discontinuities. In Section 3, we review the basic applications of phase modulation using metasurfaces. In Section 4, we review more complex and advanced information photonics that have emerged from metasurfaces. In the last section, we provide concluding remarks and an outlook on future development directions. Three Basic Types of Phase Discontinuities Generated by Metasurfaces Resonance PhaseThe pioneering approach to achieve phase discontinuities was to use the dispersion of various metallic nanoantennas, as shown in the left panel of Figure 1a. The optical energy is coupled to surface EM waves propagating back and forth along the antenna surface. Due to the localized surface plasmon resonance, these waves are accompanied by oscillating free electrons Relative to conventional phase-modulation optical elements, metasurfaces (i.e., 2D versions of metamaterials) have shown novel optical phenomena and promising functionalities with more compact platforms and more straightforward fabrication processes. With the ability to generate a spatial phase variation, optical wavefronts can be manipulated into arbitrary shapes at will, enabling new phenomena and integrated ultrathin optical devices to be explored. This review is focused on recent developments regarding phase manipulation of electromagnetic waves with metasurfaces. Starting from their underlying physics for realizing full 2π phase manipulation, an overview of the applica...

Our finding indicates that FoxM1 could be used as prognostic molecular marker and therapeutic target for PDA.

Hydrogenated silicon (Si : H) thin films were obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the structural evolution in phosphor-doped n-type amorphous hydrogenated silicon thin films, which were prepared under different substrate temperatures and gas pressures. Meanwhile, the effect of nitrogen doping on the structure of P-doped thin films was also investigated by Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, the transition from the amorphous state to the nanocrystalline state of undoped Si : H films deposited through low argon dilution was studied by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that Raman spectroscopy can sensitively detect the structural evolution in hydrogenated silicon thin films deposited under different conditions in a PECVD system.

Synthesis of a series of nitrogen-rich azo-bridged porphyrin conjugates and its application for excellent CO2 adsorption.

No abstract

Uniformly distributed gold nanorods in mesoporous silica were synthesized in situ by performing a seed-mediated growth process in the channels of SBA-15 which functions as a hard-template to confine the diameter of gold nanorods. By changing the amount of gold precursor, gold nanorods were prepared with a fixed diameter (6-7 nm) and tunable aspect ratios from 3 to 30. Transmission electron microscope and electron tomography were utilized to visualize the gold nanorods supported on one piece of SBA-15 segment and showed a fairly uniform 3-dimensional distribution of gold nanorods within the SBA-15 channels. The longitudinal plasmon resonances of the gold nanorods/SBA-15 composites analyzed by diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectra were found to be tunable depending on the length of gold nanorods. No significant decrease in surface area and/or pore size of the composite was found after growth, indicating the growth process did not disrupt the open mesoporous structure of SBA-15. The combination of the tunable size of the nanorods and their 3-dimensional distribution within the open supporting matrix makes the gold nanorods/SBA-15 composites interesting candidates to systematically study the influence of the aspect ratio of gold nanorods on their properties and potential applications, i.e., catalyst, optical polarizer, and ultrasensitive medical imaging technique.