Electromagnetic functional surfaces capable of multimode electromagnetic (EM) reconfiguration and reliable operation under extreme thermal environments are highly desirable for advanced aerospace and defense systems. However, simultaneously achieving flexible functional switching, ultra-wideband stealth capability, and thermal robustness remains challenging. Here, a metasurface-aerogel-composite reconfigurable electromagnetic functional surface (REFS) is proposed. The proposed architecture consists of three key components: an absorption-transmission resistive metasurface (AT-RMS) for low-frequency wideband absorption, a transmission-scattering diffusive metasurface (TS-DMS) for high-frequency wideband diffuse scattering, and an aerogel composite layer for thermal protection and impedance optimization. Through the synergistic integration of these functional components, coordinated absorption loss and scattering manipulation are achieved, enabling ultra-wideband radar cross-section (RCS) reduction outside the operating band while maintaining low-loss in-band transmission performance. Furthermore, PIN diode-based reconfigurable elements enable dynamic in-band switching among transmission (T), reflection (R), and absorption (A) states, while the polarization-independent biasing strategy further extends the reconfigurability to nine distinct operating modes. The employed aerogel composite not only provides effective thermal protection with an ultralow thermal conductivity of 0.0176 W/(m · K) but also improves impedance matching through its low permittivity, thereby enhancing the overall EM performance. A 10 × 10 array prototype is fabricated and experimentally characterized to verify the multifunctional and thermally robust performance of the proposed REFS. The fabricated prototype achieves stable T/R/A reconfigurable operation within 5.74-6.23 GHz, a 7-dB ultra-wideband RCS reduction from 2.18 to 17.86 GHz in the transmission state, and maintains stable EM performance after exposure to 600 K for 1 h. These results demonstrate a promising strategy for integrating thermal protection, multimode EM reconfigurability, and ultra-wideband stealth capability into advanced aerospace electromagnetic skins and multifunctional stealth radome systems.

The reliable characterization of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) and nano-enabled advanced materials (NAMs) requires validated analytical methods for measuring key properties such as size, size distribution, morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemistry. Establishing such methods and verifying instrument performance and measurement competence requires (certified) reference materials (CRMs/RMs), representative test materials (RTMs), reference data (RD), and interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs). Although several nanoscale size standards exist, no RMs/RTMs with well-defined surface chemistry are available, despite the critical role of surface functional groups (FGs), ligands, and coatings in NM functionality and safety. Here, we report the development and characterization of two surface-modified nanoscale candidate RTMs, SiO2-50-NH2 and SiO2-80-NH2, comprising nonporous silica nanoparticles with total amino FG amounts of 205.7 ± 4.8 and 103.2 ± 3.0 nmol mg⁻1, respectively. Material selection, bottling, homogeneity, and stability were assessed using a previously established multi-method characterization strategy. Analytical techniques included dynamic light scattering (DLS), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), zeta potential measurements, electron microscopy (EM), an automated optical Fluram assay, and quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) for determining derivatizable and total amino FGs. The results highlight the importance of combining complementary analytical methods rather than relying on a single technique. Additionally, a set of aminated silica NMs with varying amino FG densities were used to calibrate X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), enabling amino FG quantification and method correlation. This characterization concept represents a first step towards establishing RMs/RTMs for NM surface chemistry measurements and ILCs assessing suitable analytical methods and their performance.

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) functions in viral RNA binding, genome packaging and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) assembly. Crystal structures were determined of the N-terminal domain (NTD) from crystals grown at pH 8.0 to a resolution of 1.94 Å and of the C-terminal domain (CTD) from crystals grown at pH 5.0 and 8.5 to resolutions of 1.59 and 1.30 Å, respectively. The NTD adopts the canonical coronavirus NTD fold and contains a positively charged cleft corresponding to a previously proposed RNA-binding region. Comparison of the apo NTD structure determined in this study with a previously reported RNA-bound NTD structure revealed local differences in the side-chain conformations of RNA-contacting residues, including Thr49, Arg88, Arg92, Arg107, Tyr109 and Tyr111, whereas the overall domain fold remained essentially unchanged. These observations suggest that RNA binding may be accommodated by local side-chain rearrangements within a pre-existing positively charged cleft rather than by a large-scale conformational change. The CTD forms a domain-swapped dimer mediated by β-hairpins, with a positively charged groove extending across the dimer interface. Superposition of the two CTD structures yielded a root-mean-square deviation (r.m.s.d.) of 0.129 Å, and 11 intersubunit hydrogen bonds were observed at the dimer interface in each structure, indicating that the dimer architecture is conserved under the crystallization conditions examined. Together, these structures provide a framework for further investigation of NTD-RNA recognition, the possible role of the CTD positively charged groove in nucleic acid interactions and N-protein assembly.

Cellular immunotherapies have shown great promise in the treatment of various diseases. Chimeric engulfment receptor (CER)-engineered T cells were developed to utilize the extracellular T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing 4 (TIM-4) domain and intracellular engulfment signaling domains to target and enhance phagocytosis and T-cell cytotoxic function. These processes are activated through TIM-4 binding with phosphatidylserine (PS), a pro-phagocytic "eat me" signal. HIV infection has been shown to induce extracellular PS exposure shortly after infection, and engineered CER T cells have been shown to kill CD4[+] T cells infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in vitro. In this study, we infused two rhesus macaques (RMs) with CER-1236 T cells (the iteration of CER T cells currently moving forward in human clinical trials for cancer) and evaluated safety, the tissue distribution of the CER-1236 T cells, and antiviral activity against SIV (SIVmac239). Prior to infusions, RMs underwent SIV infection, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and ART cessation. The infusions were well tolerated. Neither of the macaques exhibited clinical evidence of illness nor changes in vital signs, serum chemistry, hematology, or other evaluated physiological parameters beyond what is typically observed with SIV infection. Post-infusion proliferation of CER T cells in PBMC was limited and seen with cells manufactured by the Prodigy system. Histologic and flow cytometry evaluation from post-infusion tissue biopsies and necropsy revealed tissue detection of CER T cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid with intermittent detection of infused cells in lymphoid tissue in concert with the limited expansion of T cells in PBMC. No laboratory or clinical evidence of hepatic, splenic, bone marrow, or CNS alterations was noted, and no evidence of in vivo suppression of SIVmac239 was observed as a result of the infusions. The CER-1236 T cell infusions were not associated with any discernable histopathological toxicity. This safety profile of CER-1236 T cells in nonhuman primates portends well for its potential for clinical development, especially for tumors with high expression of the tissue damage receptor PS. Optimization of in vivo functionality will be required for CER T cells to be effective against HIV infection.

We propose a novel method for detecting ranibizumab molecules by immunohistochemistry in an animal model. Four brown Norway rats weighing 200-300g each (Envigo RMS, Indianapolis, IN), were intravitreally injected with 3μl ranibizumab. Eyes were processed with different reagent combinations. One eye was intravitreally injected with aflibercept as a positive control to demonstrate the function of antibodies; two eyes were intravitreally injected with ranibizumab; and one eye was not injected with an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agent as a negative control. Immunofluorescence signal intensity was measured under three antigen retrieval methods (pH 4.0, 6.0, 9.0) at one antibody concentration. Marker expression was high in the different combinations examined under all conditions, particularly pH 6.0, for all antibodies tested: mouse monoclonal anti-alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), goat polyclonal anti-human immunoglobulin G (IgG)-Fab, goat polyclonal anti-IgG (Fab specific), and rabbit polyclonal anti-human IgG (H/L). The validity of the methodology was verified against a control group. Parallel ligations were seen between anti-Fab antibodies and anti-IgG antibodies against αSMA. The change in sequence of incubation prevented the cross reactivity. The combination of two different antibodies may strengthen results of ranibizumab detection in brown Norway rats following intravitreal injection. Anti-Fab and anti-IgG (H/L) antibodies yielded a high immunofluorescent signal for ranibizumab identification. This method, including the sequence incubation change, made it possible to accurately identify ranibizumab molecules alone by using the specific anti-Fab together with anti-IgG antibodies. This technique may enhance further research involving the demonstration of ranibizumab in an animal model.

We present an oscillator-driven femtosecond transient microspectroscopy system based on supercontinuum generation in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The system operates at 80 MHz without pulse amplification, enabling high-sensitivity measurements with an RMS noise level below 10-4 at 500-800 nm spectral range while using low pulse energies suitable for microspectroscopy. Optimization of the PCF length (50 mm) suppresses dispersion-induced chirp, achieving a nearly uniform system response over 450-900 nm, which allows time constants below 100 fs to be resolved by deconvolution. The high-repetition-rate operation allows rapid spectral acquisition and efficient noise reduction. The developed system provides single-μm scale spatial resolution and supports both reflection and transmission configurations. The ultrafast carrier dynamics in multilayer and monolayer MoS2 are successfully resolved, including spatially dependent relaxation within a single monolayer flake. These results demonstrate a versatile platform for probing local ultrafast dynamics in low-dimensional materials.

Solid high-harmonic generation (sHHG) is a compact method for producing deep-ultraviolet and vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) radiation at wavelengths near or below 200 nm. Generally, sHHG relies on ultrashort laser pulses (10-50 fs) at modest repetition rates (kHz) for sub-10 W average power. Here, we demonstrate VUV generation driven by a 50 W, turnkey, MHz-repetition-rate Yb-fiber laser with a pulse duration of ∼0.5 ps. We investigate the optimum material based on the detected 5th harmonic (H5 = 206 nm) flux with a 1.25 MHz driver, and find the following order: α-SiO2 > MgO > α-Al2O3 > ZnO > CaF2. However, at an average power of 50 W, MgO performs best, yielding an H5 photon flux of ∼10[10] photons/s. The most stable high-power operation was at 20 W, with an H5 and H7 flux of 7.1 × 10[9] and 5.2 × 10[8] photons/s, and RMS fluctuations of 0.80% and 1.14%, respectively.

Large-aperture optical surfaces are difficult to measure at full aperture because of the limited aperture of interferometers. Although subaperture stitching can reconstruct the full-aperture surface, its accuracy is often degraded by subaperture positioning errors. To address this issue, we propose TRR-FPC (full phase calibration), a subaperture stitching method based on the trust region reflective (TRR) algorithm. A six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) rigid-body transformation model is established to characterize the relative poses among subapertures, and an objective function based on overlap-region residuals is optimized to estimate and compensate for pose errors. By jointly optimizing all subapertures in a unified coordinate system, TRR-FPC reduces error accumulation during stitching. Numerical simulations and optical flat stitching experiments were conducted to evaluate the proposed method. Experimental results show that, compared with least-squares (LSQ) and iterative closest point (ICP) methods, TRR-FPC reduces the peak-to-valley (PV) and root-mean-square (RMS) values of the difference phase by 13-20%, while better preserving low-order Zernike structure. These results indicate that TRR-FPC effectively suppresses pose-induced stitching errors and improves full-aperture reconstruction accuracy.

Indoor airflow is a major source of uncertainty in interferometric testing of large optics, yet quantitative criteria for identifying conditions that support repeatable measurements remain limited. We simultaneously measured the INTENSE-based effective Fried parameter (r0) and interferometric root-mean-square wavefront error (RMS WFE) of a 1 m-class mirror under four airflow conditions involving forced airflow, local mixing, and no fan operation. For each condition, the primary analysis used ten 1-min measurements, with five additional 1-min measurements used for reproducibility assessment. Session-mean effective r0 alone did not consistently indicate repeatability: the condition with the largest mean effective r0 differed between sessions, whereas the combined forced-airflow and local-mixing condition exhibited the smallest observed repeat-measurement fluctuations in both effective r0 and RMS WFE. Normalized effective-r0 fluctuation was used as a scale-adjusted descriptor for intersession comparison, whereas absolute fluctuation showed a stronger exploratory association with RMS WFE fluctuation. Analyses of low-order Zernike modes and temporal power spectral density provided complementary modal and spectral information. Within the present facility and sampled time scales, these results suggest that the fluctuation of effective r0 may complement its mean value and the corresponding RMS WFE statistics when evaluating measurement repeatability.

The grazing-incidence operating mode of large-aperture X-ray mirrors imposes bidirectional anisotropic requirements on surface figure accuracy: extremely stringent in the meridional direction, while relatively relaxed in the sagittal direction. The strict meridional accuracy requirement necessitates the use of small-beam deterministic figuring processes, making machining efficiency a critical bottleneck to be overcome. To address this issue, this paper proposes a spatially decoupled figuring strategy based on a bidirectionally anisotropic elliptical diaphragm. By exploiting the disparity in accuracy requirements between the meridional and sagittal directions, a non-axisymmetric ion-beam removal function is designed. First, a multi-objective collaborative optimization model is established, and the diaphragm dimensions are optimized using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) with an elitist strategy. An optimal structural parameter of 4 mm (meridional) × 7 mm (sagittal) is determined. The geometric decoupling characteristics and stability of the bidirectionally anisotropic removal function are then verified through multiphysics-field simulations and fixed-point calibration experiments. Finally, figuring simulations and experimental validation are conducted on a Φ100 mm monocrystalline silicon substrate. Compared with the conventional high-precision scheme using a Φ4 mm circular diaphragm, the proposed strategy increases the volumetric removal rate to 304%, reduces the machining time to 32.3%, while achieving a meridional slope error converged to 0.28 µrad and a surface figure height RMS error converged to 1.850 nm. The figuring capability is comparable to that of the high-precision scheme. This work not only theoretically elucidates the formation mechanism of bidirectionally anisotropic removal functions, but also provides an engineering-feasible technological pathway for the fabrication of large-aperture, high-precision X-ray mirrors.

Optical system prediction reliability is limited by sparse high-dimensional sampling, where uncovered regions cause unpredictable failures difficult to detect with existing methods. This paper proposes cavity detection and targeted supplementation using kernel density estimation to locate sparse regions and add samples. Experiments on a ten-dimensional misalignment space show successful coverage of about 80% of missing regions; the prediction mean error drops to 18.6% and the RMS to 31.6% of the corresponding values of the initial model. The method requires no physical priors and provides an independent sampling quality assessment tool.

To address the limited convergence accuracy in the computer-aided alignment of projection objectives caused by interferometric measurement noise, this study proposes a hierarchical denoising algorithm that integrates non-centered truncated singular value decomposition (SVD) with robust principal component analysis (RPCA). Dense noise is first reduced by applying truncated SVD directly to the repeated-measurement matrix acquired at each field, without row-wise centering or subsequent mean restoration. The field-wise estimates reconstructed from the retained singular components are then concatenated into a multi-field Zernike coefficient matrix, after which RPCA is used to separate the dominant low-rank aberration structure from sparse outliers. The refined matrix is finally embedded into the CAA workflow. The proposed method was numerically validated through Monte Carlo simulations on a DUV lithographic projection-objective design with NA = 1.2, which was used as a numerical proof-of-concept test case. At the nominal noise level, the mean field-averaged RMS wavefront error decreased from 0.020259 ± 0.001285λ without denoising to 0.020013 ± 0.001283λ after denoising, an absolute reduction of 0.000246λ. Relative to the noise-free mean of 0.019997λ, this reduction corresponds to suppression of approximately93.89% of the noise-induced degradation. Across noise levels from 1× to 3× the nominal level, the degradation-suppression ratio remained approximately 66.93%-93.89% for the investigated projection-objective model.

We present a theoretical and numerical analysis on how the aberration structure governs speckle decorrelation and, consequently, thin-diffuser wavefront sensor (TDWFS) performance. A field decomposition is developed that separates quadratic and higher-order wavefront contributions, distinguishing purely geometric speckle deformation from additional structural changes arising from higher-order diffraction effects. We show that wavefronts producing affine displacement fields are fully described by the quadratic field contribution and are therefore recoverable by image registration, whereas non-affine wavefronts additionally contain higher-order field components that introduce irreducible speckle decorrelation. Using a Sobolev space decomposition approach, we isolate the affine-removable components of the wavefront and show that irreducible speckle decorrelation is controlled by the Hessian of the non-affine component. We derive critical correlation- and deformation-based propagation distance metrics governed by the pupil radius, aberration amplitude, and the radial and azimuthal Zernike indices. We further analyze the Fisher information associated with individual Zernike modes and show that modes with low azimuthal order exhibit greater measurement sensitivity due to stronger speckle intensity variation. Numerical simulations are performed to confirm theoretical predictions and show that purely affine modes, such as defocus and astigmatism, remain robust across propagation distances beyond a sensitivity threshold, whereas non-affine modes exhibit degradation beyond a critical distance that strongly depends on their spatial curvature distribution. These results establish that wavefront curvature, rather than global metrics such as Zernike order or RMS amplitude, is the primary determinant of TDWFS reconstruction limits and provides a framework for predicting performance across aberration types.

Imaging detectors under intense light suffer from local saturation and reduced visibility. We propose a co-design methodology for active front-end interference suppression. This framework formulates the coupled physical constraints of beam separation, conjugate transfer, and non-rotationally symmetric aberration correction inherent to tilted modulation planes. By integrating digital micromirror device (DMD) spatial modulation with a two-stage off-axis freeform four-mirror architecture, we reveal the joint governing mechanisms of local masking, plane orientation, and aberration correction. Simulations over 0.35-1.0 µm yield a full-field MTF above 0.725 at 50 lp/mm and a maximum distortion of 2.29%. Independent validation of the second-order DMD-to-detector mapping yields residuals of 0.407 µm RMS and 0.763 µm maximum. An ideal 20×20µm OFF-state mask rejects 89.07% of selected interference energy, corresponding to 9.61 dB suppression and demonstrating system-level feasibility.