The microbiome has been described as the last human “organ” and is currently the topic of great research interest worldwide. The application of culture-independent methods, like 16S ribosomal next-generation sequencing, has offered researchers the opportunity to identify bacterial populations that were impossible to detect previously using conventional culture methods. Further standardization of these new approaches to characterizing the microbiome is desirable. The present review discusses the mounting evidence suggesting that alterations in the microbiome and microbial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids in the gut, mouth, and ocular surface, may play a key role in the pathogenesis of ocular pathologies such as ocular surface disease, glaucoma, uveitis, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Clarifying the probable role of the microbiome in ocular diseases would not only offer valuable insights into pathogenesis but could also enable the development of novel therapeutic approaches. As yet, microbial-based therapeutic applications in ophthalmology are limited. Nevertheless, recently emerging strategies utilizing probiotics and prebiotics, or even fecal transplantation to regulate microbiome composition, offer promising research avenues for developing future innovative therapies for ocular diseases. Further studies employing standardized methodological protocols are needed to ensure the reproducibility of results and to eventually unlock the precise links between the microbiome and the eye.
Exploring the reaction mechanisms responsible for the production of neutron-rich nuclides, we undertook a systematic study of the momentum distributions of projectile-like fragments from peripheral collisions of 86Kr at 15 MeV/nucleon with 64Ni and 124Sn. For this purpose, our previous data collected with the momentum achromat recoil separator (MARS) at the Cyclotron Institute of Texas A&M were adopted. The momentum per nucleon (p/A) distributions of the ejectiles are characterized by a quasi-elastic peak just below the projectile velocity and a region at lower velocities corresponding to dissipative events. Two-body kinematics was employed to extract the total excitation energies of these regions. It was found that very neutron-rich isotopes can be probed in these reactions, especially with the heavier target via processes involving proton removal, neutron pickup, or a combination of these, up to a triple charge exchange process observed in the data. The experimental data were systematically compared with calculations employing the deep-inelastic transfer (DIT) model and the constrained molecular dynamics (CoMD) model followed by the GEMINI deexcitation code. The DIT model, phenomenologically treating the sequential exchange of nucleons, offered an overall qualitative description of the experimental momentum distributions, however underestimating the data in the quasielastic part of most of the channels. The CoMD model, based on a fully microscopic N-body approach, offered an overall better description of the majority of the data, whereas, in some cases, it led to overestimation of the quasielastic part of the momentum distributions. The detailed comparison of the model calculations with the experimental data provided valuable insight into the reaction mechanisms in this energy regime, suggesting, apart from independent nucleon exchange, the contribution of target inelastic excitation and direct reaction processes involving neutron and proton pair transfer, cluster transfer, and meson-mediated charge exchange. This work paves the way to a systematic investigation of the mechanisms of multinucleon transfer reactions involving medium-mass heavy ions below the Fermi energy and provides guidance for the production of exotic neutron-rich nuclei.
The sixth generation of wireless networks envisions intelligent and adaptive environments capable of meeting the demands of emerging applications such as immersive extended reality, advanced healthcare, and the metaverse. However, this vision requires overcoming critical challenges, including the limitations of conventional wireless technologies in mitigating path loss and dynamically adapting to diverse user needs. Among the proposed reconfigurable technologies, pinching antenna systems (PASs) offer a novel way to turn path loss into a programmable parameter by using dielectric waveguides to minimize propagation losses at high frequencies. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive analytical framework that derives closed-form expressions for the outage probability and average rate of PASs while incorporating both free-space path loss and waveguide attenuation under realistic conditions. In addition, we characterize the optimal placement of pinching antennas to maximize performance under waveguide losses. Numerical results show the significant impact of waveguide losses on system performance, especially for longer waveguides, emphasizing the importance of accurate loss modeling. Despite these challenges, PASs consistently outperform conventional systems in terms of reliability and data rate, underscoring their potential to enable high-performance programmable wireless environments.
Renewable energy expansion is essential for achieving climate goals but threatens biodiversity without proper spatial planning. This study assesses the impacts of renewables on threatened Orthoptera fauna and suggests mitigation solutions. Using geospatial analysis and habitat connectivity metrics, we quantified the impacts of wind power stations on three globally threatened and endemic Orthoptera species. Parnassiana tymphrestos, Parnassiana coracis and Oropodisma willemsei are projected to lose 9.1
Broadband photothermal materials with spectral selectivity and stability in harsh environments are crucial for high-temperature solar-thermal systems. Additionally, achieving broadband absorption without relying on metamaterials remains a challenge. Refractory titanium nitride (TiN) and oxynitride (TiON), with their high infrared (IR) reflectance and tunable optical/plasmonic properties, are promising candidates for such applications. However, their susceptibility to oxidation complicates synthesis. Here, a straightforward approach is demonstrated to synthesize and tune the optical/plasmonic properties of TiN/TiON thin films by simply controlling the oxygen pressure during room-temperature pulsed laser deposition. Specifically, it is shown that highly metallic Ti(O)N films, as well as TiON films exhibiting double-epsilon-near-zero (D-ENZ) behavior in the optical region, can be obtained. This tunability enabled the design and fabrication of a nitride-based multilayer with optimized solar-selective absorption. In particular, a highly metallic TiN film was employed as the bottom layer, while a TiON ultrathin film exhibiting D-ENZ behavior was used as the absorbing layer. The resulting device achieved 91% solar absorption, 80% mid-IR reflectance, and maintained broadband absorption at incident angles up to 70 degrees. These findings establish a lithography-free, thermally untreated route to broadband, spectrally selective absorbers, based on tunable Ti(O)N films, opening new opportunities for next-generation high-temperature energy harvesting applications.
