Focusing on the tetra-partite synapse in Parkinson’s disease research using human patient-derived neurons

Parkinson’s disease(PD)was first described as a neurological disease by Dr.James Parkinson in 1817 as a“shaking palsy”.Since that time,much more is known about the pathophysiology of PD yet the disease is still uncurable.The hallmark of the disease is often considered Lewy body neural inclusions in the substantia nigra pars compacta and other brain areas,although not all patients have these inclusions.The patients exhibit massive neuronal cell loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta,which is associated with the motor symptoms of tremor,bradykinesia,rigidity,and postural instability.PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease with a prevalence of around 1%of individuals over the age of 60.

Stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with phase-controlled light focusing and aberration correction for rapid and label-free, volumetric deep tissue imaging

We report a novel stimulated Raman scattering(SRS)microscopy technique featuring phase-controlled light focusing and aberration corrections for rapid,deep tissue 3D chemical imaging with subcellular resolution.To accomplish phasecontrolled SRS(PC-SRS),we utilize a single spatial light modulator to electronically tune the axial positioning of both the shortened-length Bessel pump and the focused Gaussian Stokes beams,enabling z-scanning-free optical sectioning in the sample.By incorporating Zernike polynomials into the phase patterns,we simultaneously correct the system aberrations at two separate wavelengths(~240 nm difference),achieving a~3-fold enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio over the uncorrected imaging system.PC-SRS provides>2-fold improvement in imaging depth in various samples(e.g.,polystyrene bead phantoms,porcine brain tissue)as well as achieves SRS 3D imaging speed of~13 Hz per volume for real-time monitoring of Brownian motion of polymer beads in water,superior to conventional point-scanning SRS 3D imaging.We further utilize PC-SRS to observe the metabolic activities of the entire tumor liver in living zebrafish in cellsilent region,unraveling the upregulated metabolism in liver tumor compared to normal liver.This work shows that PCSRS provides unprecedented insights into morpho-chemistry,metabolic and dynamic functioning of live cells and tissue in real-time at the subcellular level.

Journal of Dermatologic Science and Cosmetic Technology: Focusing on skin health and beauty

We are pleased to announce that the Journal of Dermatologic Science and Cosmetic Technology,organized by the Guangdong Cosmetics Association,China and produced by KeAi(founded by China Science Publishing&Media Ltd.and Elsevier),will be officially released online on the ScienceDirect platform.This journal will serve as a high-level,international,and interdisciplinary academic exchange platform in the fields of dermatologic science and cosmetic technology.Its aim is to publish relevant research findings in dermatologic science and innovative cosmetic technologies,provide a comprehensive understanding of future trends in the cosmetics industry,and promote international exchange and cooperation between dermatologic science and the cosmetics industry.

DETONATION INITIATION INDUCED BY FLAME IMPLOSION AND SHOCK WAVE FOCUSING

Computational simulations on structurally different detonation generator are carried out to study the phenomena,the mechanism and the gas dynamics characteristics of flame implosion and shock wave focusing.Two-dimensional axisymmetric and unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved and detailed chemical reaction kinetics of hydrogen/air mixture is used.The simulation results show that the laminar flame generated by low energy spark in the jet flame burner is accelerated under the narrow channel,the jet flame impinging on the axis strengthens shock wave and the shock wave enhances flame acceleration.Under the function of multiple shock waves and flame,a number of hot spots appear between the wave and the surface.The spots enlarge rapidly,thus forming an over-drive detonation with high pressure,and then declining to stable detonation.Through calculation and analysis,the length of detonation initiation and stable detonation are obtained,thus providing the useful information for further experimental investigations.

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF TOROIDAL SHOCK WAVES FOCUSING USING DISCONTINUOUS GALERKIN FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

A numerical simulation of the toroidal shock wave focusing in a co-axial cylindrical shock tube is inves- tigated by using discontinuous Galerkin （DG） finite element method to solve the axisymmetric Euler equations. For validating the numerical method, the shock-tube problem with exact solution is computed, and the computed results agree well with the exact cases. Then, several cases with higher incident Mach numbers varying from 2.0 to 5.0 are simulated. Simulation results show that complicated flow-field structures of toroidal shock wave diffraction, reflection, and focusing in a co-axial cylindrical shock tube can be obtained at different incident Mach numbers and the numerical solutions appear steep gradients near the focusing point, which illustrates the DG method has higher accuracy and better resolution near the discontinuous point. Moreover, the focusing peak pres- sure with different grid scales is compared.

Physical Investigation of Directional Wave Focusing and Breaking Waves in Wave Basin

An experimental scheme for the generation of directional focusing waves in a wave basin is established in this paper. The effects of the directional range, frequency width and center frequency on the wave focusing are studied. The distribution of maximum amplitude and the evolution of time series and spectra during wave packet propagation and the variation of water surface parameters are extensively investigated. The results reveal that the characteristics of focusing waves are significantly influenced by wave directionality and that the breaking criteria for directional waves are distinctly different from those for unidirectional waves.

Efficient Focusing Models for Generation of Freak Waves

Four focusing models for generation of freak waves are presented. An extreme wave focusing model is presented on the basis of the enhanced High-Order Spectral （HOS） method and the importance of the nonlinear wave-wave interaction is evaluated by comparison of the calculated results with experimental and theoretical data. Based on the modification of the Longuet-Higgins model, four wave models for generation of freak waves （a. extreme wave model ＋ random wave model; b. extreme wave model ＋ regular wave model; e. phase interval modulation wave focusing model; d. number modulation wave focusing model with the same phase） are proposed. By use of different energy distribution techniques in the four models, freak wave events are obtained with different Hmax/Hs in finite space and time.

A method of laser focusing control in microlaser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

This paper presents a method for the automatic adjustment of the laser defocusing amount in micro-laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. A microscopic optical imaging system consisting of a CCD camera and a 20× objective lens was adopted to realize the method. The real-time auto-focusing of the system was achieved by detecting the effective pixels of the light spot generated by the laser pointer. The focusing accuracy of the method could achieve 3 μm. The element concentrations of Mn and Ni in low-alloy steels were analyzed at a crater diameter of about 35 μm using the presented method. After using the presented method, the determination coefficients of Mn and Ni both exceeded 0.997, with the root-mean-square errors being 0.0133 and 0.0395, respectively. Scanning analysis was performed on the inclined plane and the curved surface by means of focusing control and non-focusing control. Ten characteristic spectral lines of Fe were selected as the analysis lines. With the focusing control, the average relative standard deviations obtained on the inclined plane and curved surface were both less than 5%, and much less than the values without focusing control, 14.6% and 40.39%.

Numerical Study of Two-Dimensional Focusing Waves

Two-dimensional focusing waves are generated and investigated by numerical method. The numerical model is developed by introducing the wave maker boundary on the high-order spectral （HOS） method proposed by Dommermuth and Yue in 1987 and verified by theoretical and experimental data. Some cases of focusing waves considering different parameters such as assumed focusing amplitudes, frequency bandwidth, central frequency and frequency spectrum are generated. Characteristics of the focusing wave including surface elevations, the maximum crest, shift of focusing points and frequency spectra are discussed. The results show that the focusing wave characteristics are strongly affected by focusing amplitudes, frequency bandwidth, central frequency and frequency spectrum.

Numerical simulation of flow focusing pattern and morphological changes in two-phase flow inside nozzle

The flow focusing nozzle is a new type of nozzle that performs effective atomization of the discrete phase by means of high-speed motion of the continuous phase.The flow pattern and its morphological changes have a significant effect on the atomization, but the influence of different parameters on the morphological change of the flow pattern remains unclear.The flow focusing pattern and morphological changes in the two-phase flow inside the nozzle were simulated numerically, based on the volume of fluid method.The results demonstrate that the ratio of the nozzle-to-capillary distance and capillary diameter, the gas–liquid velocity ratio, and capillary diameter have significant effects on the flow pattern.When the ratio of the nozzle-to-capillary distance H and capillary diameter D increases, or the capillary diameter D increases, the flow pattern tends to transform into a laminar form; however, when the gas–liquid velocity ratio V increases, the flow pattern tends to transform into a turbulence form.Furthermore, we define the cone-shaped expansion rate, cone-shaped focusing rate,and cone angle in order to study the morphological changes in the cone shape inside the nozzle.The results indicate that the morphological change of the cone shape and flow pattern transformation is interrelated.When the cone shape tends to be unstable, the flow pattern changes towards flow blurring, whereas, a stable cone indicates that the flow tends to exhibit a droplet pattern.

Polycapillary X-ray lens for the secondary focusing Beijing synchrotron radiation source

According to intensity distribution of the synchrotron radiation source focused by a toroidal mirror at the Beijing synchrotron radiation biological macromolecule station, theoretical modeling of the Beijing synchrotron radiation source is developed for capillary optics. Using this theoretical modeling, the influences of the configuration curve of the polycapillary X-ray lens on transmission efficiency and working distance are analyzed. The experimental results of the transmission efficiency and working distance at the biological macromolecule station are in good agreement with the theoretical results.

Small-Scale Self-Focusing of Intense Laser Beams In the Presence of Vector Effect

We extend Bespalov-Talanov (B-T) theory on small-scale self-focusing (SSSF) to include vector effect of a very narrow intense laser beam with application of the vector self-focusing model. The gain spectrum for perturbations is obtained by using the standard linear instability analysis. It is shown that the influence on SSSF of vector effect is closely related to the beam width. For a very narrow beam, the role played by vector effect becomes significant, it reduces the fastest growing frequency and the maximum growth rate, and shortens the frequency range for perturbation growing, and thus deviates the gain spectrum from that of B-T theory.

Femtosecond electron pulse compression by using the time focusing technique in ultrafast electron diffraction

We present a new model of an electron gun for generating subrelativistic femtosecond （fs） electron pulses. The basic idea is to utilize a dc acceleration stage combined with a time focusing region, the time focusing electrode generates an electron energy chirp for bunching at the target. Without considering the space charge effects, simulations of the electron gun were carried out under the conditions of different dc voltages and various slopes of the voltage added on the time focusing electrode. Tracing and simulating large numbers of photoelectrons through Monte-Carlo and finite difference methods, the electron pulses with 1 ps can be compressed to 55 fs, which will allow significant advances in the field of ultrafast diagnosis.

Experimental Study on 2-D Focusing Wave Run-up on A Vertical Cylinder

In this paper,the focused wave groups with different parameters and their actions on a vertical cylinder are experimentally studied. The harmonic wave characteristics of the focusing waves are analyzed by the addition and subtraction of the crest and trough focusing waves. The analyzed results show that higher order harmonics can be generated because of the interaction of component waves. Nonlinearity increases with the inputted wave amplitude and the frequency width increment. Further, the wave run-up around the vertical circular cylinder is experimentally studied. It increases with the wave steepness and the relative cylinder diameter increase. However, the variations of wave run-up around the circular cylinder are different. The researches provide a reference for further numerical studies.

Stochastic focusing search:a novel optimization algorithm for real-parameter optimization

A novel optimization algorithm called stochastic focusing search （SFS） for the real-parameter optimization is proposed. The new algorithm is a swarm intelligence algorithm, which is based on simulating the act of human randomized searching, and the human searching behaviors. The algorithm＇s performance is studied using a challenging set of typically complex functions with comparison of differential evolution （DE） and three modified particle swarm optimization （PSO） algorithms, and the simulation results show that SFS is competitive to solve most parts of the benchmark problems and will become a promising candidate of search algorithms especially when the existing algorithms have some difficulties in solving certain problems.

Ultrasonic focusing and scanning with multiple waves

This paper presents a new focusing and scanning method which focuses multiple waves on a target. The key of the method is to control excitation pulses for each element of the transducer array. The excitation pulse on each array element is obtained by time reversing the signal received by the same element, which is generated by an imaginary source at the target. The excitation pulses from all array elements are transmitted and arrive at the target simultaneously, and focusing is achieved. The performance of the two methods is compared in numerical examples, and it is demonstrated that the proposed method achieves a satisfactory focusing and a good signal-to-noise ratio no matter where the target location is.

Tight focusing of axially symmetric polarized vortex beams

Tight focusing of axially symmetric polarized vortex beams is studied numerically based on vector diffraction theory. The mathematical expressions for the focused fields are derived. Simulation results show that the focused fields and phase distributions at focus are largely influenced by both the polarization order and topological charge of the incident beams. Moreover, focal spots with flat-topped or tightly-focused patterns can be flexibly achieved by carefully choosing the polar- ization order and the topological charge, which confirms the potential of such beams in wide applications, such as optical tweezers, laser printing, lithography, and material processing.

Ultrasonic beam focusing characteristics of shear-vertical waves for contact-type linear phased array in solid

We investigate the beam focusing technology of shear-vertical(SV) waves for a contact-type linear phased array to overcome the shortcomings of conventional wedge transducer arrays. The numerical simulation reveals the transient excitation and propagation characteristics of SV waves. It is found that the element size plays an important role in determining the transient radiation directivity of SV waves. The transient beam focusing characteristics of SV waves for various array parameters are deeply studied. It is particularly interesting to see that smaller element width will provide the focused beam of SV waves with higher quality, while larger element width may result in erratic fluctuation of focusing energy around the focal point. There exists a specific range of inter-element spacing for optimum focusing performance. Moreover, good beam focusing performance of SV waves can be achieved only at high steering angles.

Focusing phenomenon and near-trapped modes of SH waves

In this study, the null-field boundary integral equation method （BIEM） and the image method are used to solve the SH wave scattering problem containing semi-circular canyons and circular tunnels. To fully utilize the analytical property of Circular geometry, the polar coordinates are used to expand the closed-form fundamental solution to the degenerate kernel, and the Fourier series is also introduced to represent the boundary density. By collocating boundary points to match boundary condition on the boundary, a linear algebraic system is constructed. The unknown coefficients in the algebraic system can be easily determined. In this way, a semi-analytical approach is developed. Following the experience of near-trapped modes in water wave problems of the full plane, the focusing phenomenon and near-trapped modes for the SH wave problem of the half-plane are solved, since the two problems obey the same mathematical model. In this study, it is found that the SH wave problem containing two semi-circular canyons and a circular tunnel has the near-trapped mode and the focusing phenomenon for a special incident angle and wavenumber. In this situation, the amplification factor for the amplitude of displacement is over 300.

An efficient focusing model for generation of freak waves

Based on the Longuet-Higgins wave model theory, the previews studies have shown that freak waves can be generated in finite space and time successfully. However, as to generating high nonlinear freak waves, the simulation results will be unrealistic. Therefore, a modified phase modulation method for simulating high nonlinear freak waves was developed. The surface elevations of some wave components at certain time and place are positive by modulating the corresponding random initial phases, then the total surface elevation at the focused point is enhanced and furthermore a freak wave event is generated. The new method can not only make the freak wave occur at certain time and place, but also make the simulated wave surface time series satisfy statistical properties of the realistic sea state and keep identical with the target wave spectrum. This numerical approach is of good precision and high efficiency by the comparisons of the simulated freak waves and the recorded freak waves.