Coupled two aluminum nanorod antennas for near-field enhancement

Aluminum （Al） plasmonic nanoantennas pos- sess many tunabilities in the ultraviolet （UV） region and have a variety of new applications, such as in sensitive UV photodetection and UV photolithography. Using discrete dipole approximation （DDA）, the resonant optical proper- ties and enhanced local field distribution of coupled Al nanorod antennas were investigated. The effects of gap distance on the extinction spectra were analyzed to obtain the surface plasmon modes of these nanostructures across the visible and in the UV spectral range, which can be attributed to the coupling of the surface plasmon modes from each Al nanorod. In addition, the enhanced local field factors plotted as a function of gap distance were simulated under transverse and longitudinal polarizations to achieve maximum near-field enhancement for the optical antennas. When the gap distance was decreased to 5 nm, the maximum value of the enhanced factor was 18.04 at the transverse mode peak of 424 nm. This could be explained by the combination of the interaction between the charges distributed at the opposite ends of two Al nanorods and the interaction between the charges distributed at the lateral sides of each Al nanorod. Results showed that the coupled Al nanorod antennas with enhanced local field show promise for UV plasmonics.

Association of Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Gonadotropin Administration during Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation

Objective:This study is to investigate the effect of different single-nucleotide polymorphisms of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor(FSHR)gene on gonadotropin(Gn)administration dosage during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation(COH)protocol of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.Methods:This retrospective study included 184 Chinese infertile women in Center for Reproduction and Genetics of Suzhou Municipal Hospital from June 2012 to 2014.All of the enrolled patients were homogeneous in some basal characteristics,and they all met the eligibility criteria.Blood tests were conducted on day 3 of menstrual cycle or the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration for hormonal profile analysis and DNA extraction.DNA sequencing was performed for polymorphism analysis.The participants were classified into threonine(Thr)/Thr,Thr/alanine(Ala),and Ala/Ala groups according to genotype at position 307,and asparagine/asparagine(Asn/Asn),Asn/serine(Ser),and Ser/Ser groups according to genotype at position 680.Logistic regression and correlation analyses were performed to identify the effect of these two polymorphisms on Gn consumption.Results:The frequency of Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser distribution was consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium(P>0.05).No significant difference was found in age,basal hormone levels for different genotype groups.Logistic regression analysis results revealed that patients with Ser680Ser genotype have a higher risk of requiring a high dose of Gn compared with patients with Asn680Asn genotype,while polymorphism of Thr307 Ala has no such effect.Conclusion:This study suggested that FSHR genotype Asn680Ser would be helpful in determining the dosage of Gn in COH;patients with Ser680Ser genotype may require higher dose of Gn.