Souna

Image processing and edge detection are at the core of several newly emerging technologies, such as augmented reality, autonomous driving and more generally object recognition. Image processing is typically performed digitally using integrated electronic circuits and algorithms, implying fundamental size and speed limitations, as well as significant power needs. On the other hand, it can also be performed in a low-power analog fashion using Fourier optics, requiring however bulky optical components. Here, we introduce dielectric metasurfaces that perform optical image edge detection in the analog domain using a subwavelength geometry that can be readily integrated with detectors...

Twelve new Schiff base derivatives have been prepared by the condensation reaction of different amino substituted compounds (aniline, pyridin-2-amine, o -toluidine, 2-nitrobenzenamine, 4-aminophenol, and 3-aminopropanol) and substituted aldehydes such as nicotinaldehyde, o , m , p -nitrobenzaldehyde, and picolinaldehyde in ethanol using acetic acid as a catalyst. The envisaged structures of the all the synthesized ligands have been confirmed on the basis of their spectral analysis FT-IR, mass spectroscopy, 1 H- and 13 C-NMR...

Mechanical motion can break the symmetry in which sound travels in a medium, but significant nonreciprocity is typically achieved only for large motion speeds. We combine moving media with zero-index acoustic propagation, yielding extreme nonreciprocity and induced bianisotropy for modest applied speeds. The metamaterial is formed by an array of waveguides loaded by Helmholtz resonators, and it exhibits opposite signs of the refractive index sustained by asymmetric Willis coupling for propagation in opposite directions...

Isolators, devices with unidirectional wave transmission, are integral components in computing networks, enabling a one-way division of a large system into independent subunits. Isolators are created by breaking the inversion symmetry between a source and a receiver, known as reciprocity. In acoustics, a steady flow of the background medium in which sound travels can break reciprocity, but significant isolation is typically achieved only for large, often impractical speeds. This article proposes acoustic isolator designs enabled by duct flow that do not require large flow velocities...

We report on the design and operation of a novel class of nonreciprocal acoustic filters operating in the Radio Frequency (RF) range. These devices use the spectral characteristics of commercial acoustic filters placed in angular momentum biased networks to achieve large nonreciprocity, low insertion loss and a wideband operation. Thanks to the high rejection exhibited by acoustic filters, these novel devices can achieve an unprecedented suppression of undesired intermodulation products, thus approaching the spectral purity attained by conventional linear-time-invariant (LTI) filtering components...

Optical analog signal processing has been gaining significant attention as a way to overcome the speed and energy limitations of digital techniques. Metasurfaces offer a promising avenue towards this goal due to their efficient manipulation of optical signals over deeply subwavelength volumes. To date, metasurfaces have been proposed to transform signals in the spatial domain, e.g., for beam steering, focusing, or holography, for which angular-dependent responses, or nonlocality, are unwanted features that must be avoided or mitigated...

Lasers and light emitters do not typically radiate fields with orbital angular momentum (OAM). Here we show that a suitable scheme of spatiotemporal modulation of a microring cavity laser can impart a synthetic angular momentum, resulting in beams with well-defined OAM. The phenomenon relies on a traveling wave modulation of the refractive index of the microring, which breaks the degeneracy of oppositely oriented whispering gallery modes. In parallel, a static structural grating on the periphery of the microring enables efficient vertical radiation...

Myositis ossificans circumscripta (MOC) is a rare benign condition characterized by heterotopic ossification occurring in the soft tissues. We report the case of a 15-year old patient complaining of mixed hip pain. No trauma has been reported during the interview. The joint had inflammation appearance and a non-mobilizing swelling adhered to the deeper structure with parietal projection over the groin fold. Radiographs of the hip showed a thickening of the soft tissues of the hip and some periarticular calcifications with unclear appearance...

Willis coupling in acoustic materials defines the cross-coupling between strain and velocity, analogous to bianisotropic phenomena in electromagnetics. While these phenomena have been garnering significant attention in recent years, to date their effects have been considered mostly perturbative. Here, we derive general bounds on the Willis response of acoustic scatterers, show that these bounds can be reached in suitably designed scatterers, and outline a systematic venue for the realistic implementation of maximally bianisotropic acoustic inclusions...

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus remains a major cause of diarrhea among children under 5 years of age. The efficacy of RotaSIIL, a pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, was shown in an event-driven trial in Niger. We describe the two-year safety follow-up of this trial. METHODS: Follow-up of safety outcomes began upon administration of the first dose of RotaSIIL or placebo. Adverse events were followed until 28 days after the third dose, and serious adverse events were followed until 2 years of age...

By using optical phase modulators in a fiber-optical circuit, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate large control over the spectrum of an impinging signal, which may evolve analogously to discrete diffraction in spatial waveguide arrays. The modulation phase acts as a photonic gauge potential in the frequency dimension, realizing efficient control of the central frequency and bandwidth of frequency combs. We experimentally achieve a 50 GHz frequency shift and threefold bandwidth expansion of an impinging comb, as well as the frequency analogue of various refraction phenomena, including negative refraction and perfect focusing in the frequency domain, both for discrete and continuous incident spectra...

Recent research has explored the spatiotemporal modulation of permittivity to break Lorentz reciprocity in a manner compatible with integrated-circuit fabrication. However, permittivity modulation is inherently weak and accompanied by loss due to carrier injection, particularly at higher frequencies, resulting in large insertion loss, size, and/or narrow operation bandwidths. Here, we show that the presence of absorption in an integrated electronic circuit may be counter-intuitively used to our advantage to realize a new generation of magnet-free non-reciprocal components...

Graded metasurfaces exploit the local momentum imparted by an impedance gradient to mold the impinging wave front. This approach suffers from fundamental limits on the overall conversion efficiency, and it is challenged by fabrication limitations on the spatial resolution. Here, we introduce the concept of metagratings, formed by periodic arrays of carefully tailored bianisotropic inclusions and show that they enable wave front engineering with unitary efficiency and significantly lower fabrication demands...

Solvents for cleaning optics often come into contact with plastic and/or rubber during storage and transfer. To explore the effects that exposure to these materials can have on solvents, we used vibrational sum-frequency-generation spectroscopy to study a silica optic following cleaning with solvents that had come into contact with either low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, or rubber. Our studies show that even brief contact of acetone, methanol, or isopropanol with plastic or rubber can cause otherwise pure solvents to leave a persistent residue...

Asymmetric structures support different field distributions and electromagnetic responses when excited from different directions. Here we show that time-reversal symmetry imposes fundamental constraints on their overall response, beyond those dictated by reciprocity. For two-port devices, the asymmetry in field distribution for opposite excitations is shown to be fundamentally bounded by the reflection at the ports, and the fields are identical everywhere in space in the case of full transmission. In multiport and open scenarios, these bounds have implications on radiation and scattering at different ports and towards different directions...

Reciprocity is a general, fundamental principle governing various physical systems, which ensures that the transfer function-the transmission of a physical quantity, say light intensity-between any two points in space is identical, regardless of geometrical or material asymmetries. Breaking this transmission symmetry offers enhanced control over signal transport, isolation and source protection. So far, devices that break reciprocity (and therefore show non-reciprocity) have been mostly considered in dynamic systems involving electromagnetic, acoustic and mechanical wave propagation associated with fields varying in space and time...

Sensing an incoming signal is typically associated with absorbing a portion of its energy, inherently perturbing the measurement and creating reflections and shadows. Here, in contrast, we demonstrate a non-invasive, shadow-free, invisible sensor for airborne sound waves at audible frequencies, which fully absorbs the impinging signal, without at the same time perturbing its own measurement or creating a shadow. This unique sensing device is based on the unusual scattering properties of a parity-time (PT) symmetric metamaterial device formed by a pair of electro-acoustic resonators loaded with suitably tailored non-Foster electrical circuits, constituting the acoustic equivalent of a coherent perfect absorber coupled to a coherent laser...

We introduce a new mechanism to realize negative refraction and planar focusing using a pair of parity-time symmetric metasurfaces. In contrast to existing solutions that achieve these effects with negative-index metamaterials or phase conjugating surfaces, the proposed parity-time symmetric lens enables loss-free, all-angle negative refraction and planar focusing in free space, without relying on bulk metamaterials or nonlinear effects. This concept may represent a pivotal step towards loss-free negative refraction and highly efficient planar focusing by exploiting the largely uncharted scattering properties of parity-time symmetric systems...

Using Lorentz reciprocity and power conservation, we prove that the extinction cross section of an arbitrarily shaped scatterer is always the same when illuminated from opposite directions and with the same polarization. For lossless and passive objects, this finding implies identical scattering cross sections for opposite excitations, with relevant implications on cloaking designs and scattering suppression schemes. This scattering symmetry can be broken by introducing absorption into the system, providing a path toward large scattering asymmetries when combined with Fano interference...

OBJECTIVES: Enterobacter cloacae is a major nosocomial bacterium causing severe infections. A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted to collect baseline information on the molecular characteristics of β-lactamase producing Enterobacter cloacae in the west of Algeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report a series of 42 extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing non-repetitive Enterobacter cloacae strains, collected in 3 university hospital (Tlemcen, Oran, and Sidi Bel Abbes)...