Fano earned recognition as PFF's top returning offensive lineman after a dominant sophomore campaign from the 6-foot-6 Utah native Despite the Utes' struggles on offense Fano took a major step forward in his progression in the run game and as a pass protector Fano took home All-America honors from PFF and the Associated Press in 2024 becoming the first Utah player to earn a spot on the PFF All-America list after also being named to its Midseason All-America team He also landed on the All-Big 12 first team Fano led all FBS tackles with a 93.0 grade according to PFF while his 79.5 pass-blocking grade was top-30 among Power Four tackles 9 overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in this month's draft — posted a higher score in PFF's wins above average metric than Fano did last season Fano could hear his name called quite early in the 2026 NFL Draft next spring Fano is currently the third-best tackle prospect on the board behind Alabama's Kadyn Proctor (No 6 overall) and Miami's Francis Mauigoa (No Fano has played 25 games in a Utes uniform 2 player in the state of Utah's class of 2023 COLE FORSMANCole Forsman has been a contributor with On SI for the past three years, covering college athletics. He holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Offensive lineman Spencer Fano speaks with reporters at Rice Eccles Stadium after the team was given pickup trucks by the Crimson Collective name image and likeness organization in Salt Lake City consider this more of a watch list for promising prospects in next year’s class one that should feature a stark upgrade in quarterback talent — five passers are included in the mock below (and a few others could push for the first round) Thirteen of the prospects in my way-too-early 2025 mock draft a year ago ultimately were drafted in the first round last weekend (eight more were selected on Day 2; six returned to school) Before anyone gets upset about the projected order I set it by flipping the current Super Bowl odds son of Cooper Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning walks on the field before an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams in New Orleans The Saints haven’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since Archie Manning in 1971, so it would certainly be poetic if his grandson breaks that streak. At this point, scouts believe there is a good chance Manning returns to school for his fourth year in 2026. But first, he needs to turn the hype into on-field production as a first-year starter in 2025 With his dual-threat skills, Sellers was one of the most entertaining college quarterbacks to watch last season It is probably too early to be talking about him this early in the draft but that will change if he takes another step in his development as a passer (Ryan Sun | AP) Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano celebrates after the team's win against Southern California in an NCAA college football game The Evan Neal experiment was a failure in New York which is why the Giants might be looking at offensive tackle early in next year’s draft Fano has first-round feet and was equally effective in pass protection and as a run blocker last season Parker is one of those players you can’t help but notice when you are studying other players His quickness off the ball and ability to affect the quarterback are frequent themes on his tape Penn State quarterback Drew Allar passes the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern Had Allar declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, he might have been the No. 2 pick (to his hometown Cleveland Browns). But he returned to school to further his development he will be in the top-five conversation next April It was impossible to ignore Faulk — and his ability to disrupt the quarterback and stuff the run — when studying the Auburn-Cal tape from last season will be in the conversation to be the first defensive lineman drafted next year It has been almost a decade since the last top-10 safety selection (Jamal Adams in 2017) He played like the best safety in the country during his freshman and sophomore seasons and there is no reason to think he won’t continue as a junior Proctor appeared dominant early last season before his play diminished late especially in the bowl game against Michigan the talent is there for him to become a top-10 pick Barber shows off his range on pulls and climbs and he is able to torque defenders off balance once he latches He could interest a team such as the Browns who have long-term question marks at left and right tackle The Oregon defensive line was a joy to watch this past season — 75 percent of its starters were drafted this past weekend (Derrick Harmon but he might have the highest ceiling of the group After playing his freshman season at Oregon State McCoy enjoyed a breakout sophomore season after transferring to the Volunteers (13 passes defended and four interceptions) His ball instincts consistently stood out when I studied Tennessee’s defense last season Hill has a well-rounded skill set to make an impact as a blitzer The Longhorns had five defensive players drafted in the 2025 class but their defense will be in good shape with Hill The 2027 draft class should include an epic group of wide receivers but the 2026 class of pass catchers is a tad underwhelming at this point in the process the Buckeyes have another first-round receiver in the pipeline though — Tate could be Ohio State’s sixth first-round receiver in the last five years Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love (12) gets past Tennessee State's Bryce Phillips (0) as Rocco Spindler (50) blocks during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday Love is the only running back in this way-too-early mock but he might be the class’ most exciting skill player he will be in the Heisman discussion and cement his status as a first-round player It wouldn’t be a proper first-round mock without at least one Georgia defender Allen was one of the best run defenders in the SEC last season and put several impressive coverage reps on tape The Steelers might still be looking for a long-term option at quarterback a year from now Had Nussmeier bypassed his senior year at LSU teams believe he could have been the second quarterback drafted in this past class Bain burst onto the scene as a true freshman two years ago for the Hurricanes and should again be among the ACC’s top defensive players in 2025 Despite totaling just 332 receiving yards over his first two seasons in Eugene Sadiq is poised for a breakout season in 2025 with Terrance Ferguson now in the NFL 245-pound Idaho native is an athletic pass catcher for his size Although his impact appeared to tail off last season Overton put dominant stretches together on his 2024 tape (see South Carolina) He has impressive movement skills for 285 pounds and should lead the Tide in pressures this season The Clemson defensive coaches would line up the 315-pound Woods at defensive end last season to get the best four linemen on the field — and Woods didn’t look out of place He will move inside to defensive tackle in 2025 and is on a first-round trajectory Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright (0) is tackled by South Carolina linebacker Bam Martin-Scott (22) and defensive back Jalon Kilgore (24) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday After earning Freshman All-SEC honors in 2023 Kilgore tied for the SEC lead in interceptions (five) with Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba in 2024 Another productive season will punch his ticket for next April’s early rounds Ebenhack | AP) Florida defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp (94) works against Utah offensive lineman Keaton Bills (51) during the second half of an NCAA college football game While studying the Florida defense late last season I routinely came across Sapp standing out on the Ole Miss and Florida State tapes he should be the leader of the Gators’ defense in 2025 Boise State has consistently produced NFL talent but it’s never had first-round picks in back-to-back years who helped open run lanes for 2025 top-six pick Ashton Jeanty Jaire Alexander might not be in Green Bay much longer but Terrell — the younger brother of Falcons cornerback A.J He’s undersized but an easy mover with natural cover instincts Weeks was a tackling machine for the Tigers last season and looked like a future early-round pick He suffered a dislocated ankle in LSU’s bowl game but he’ll hopefully return to his 2024 form early this upcoming season who was drafted this past weekend by the Jets Francis Mauigoa was a big-time recruit for the Hurricanes and has started all 26 games at right tackle over the last two years he will put himself in the conversation to be a potential first-rounder California quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) scrambles before throwing for a touchdown against Oregon State during the second quarter of an NCAA football game in Berkeley (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP) The fifth quarterback drafted in this mock Mendoza was a pleasant surprise when watching the Cal offense this past season He transferred to Indiana in the offseason and it will be interesting to track his progress under Curt Cignetti But he consistently flashed on tape as a subpackage rusher (see the Maryland game) and his traits haven’t gone unnoticed by NFL scouts (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah State Aggies quarterback Jacob Conover (15) is pressured by Utah Utes defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa (57) as Utah State hosts the University of Utah during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday Tanuvasa missed a good chunk of last season His strength and physicality was evident when he was on the field He should be one of the Big 12’s best defensive prospects this season A potential top-50 pick had he declared for the 2025 draft Ramsey is a rangy athlete with a good feel for coverage He gives scouts a reason to focus on the Trojans’ defense in 2025 Stewart teases high-level receiving talent (see the Boise State and Ohio State tapes from last season) but needs to string together better consistency to be taken this early who was drafted in the second round over the weekend locked down right tackle for Boston College while Bowry handled left tackle duties but his efficiency patterns in pass pro drew scouts’ eyes This article originally appeared in The Athletic. For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support 801-237-2900 or email subscribe@sltrib.com sltrib.com © 1996-2025 The Salt Lake Tribune Two soldiers from a loose collection of groups take on Ethiopia’s military in one of its most populous and powerful regions Livestock traders display their wares at a busy market town of Sangi poses for a photo in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia Fano militia members patrol Sangi livestock market CORRECTS THE NAME OF THE REGION - Andarg Challe The conflict in Amhara has simmered largely out of sight with access limited by authorities and insecurity and others on the ground give a sense of its impact Many among the rebels want to see them in power again But they also claim the Amhara are under attack citing ethnic-based violence in parts of Ethiopia where they are a minority The extent of the Amhara fighting has been difficult to measure since the Fano emerged during anti-government protests in 2016 Asres said he coordinated peaceful demonstrations to protest the killing of Amharas He was arrested twice and fled in 2022 after a third warrant was issued he and fellow fighters live in fear of drone strikes by Ethiopian forces “We have fought thousands of battles,” he told The Associated Press from Amhara’s Gojjam area which has seen some of the heaviest battles He claimed that the Fano control over 80% of Amhara a mountainous region of over 22 million people Amhara’s deputy head of security said the government had “freed” 2,225 of Amhara’s 4,174 subdistricts It was not clear how many more were under Fano control with the Fano launching an offensive across Amhara The military has claimed it “crushed” the offensive and killed 300 Fano fighters Amhara’s large population has long created pressure to expand and the ethnic group has claimed the western part of Tigray The Fano and Amhara regional forces seized it during the Tigray conflict but they were left out of peace negotiations They were angered to learn that western Tigray’s fate might be left up to a referendum After several months of small-scale skirmishes when Fano groups launched a coordinated offensive and briefly seized control of several towns They retreated to the countryside and have waged a hit-and-run guerrilla campaign since then setting up checkpoints on key roads and often entering major urban areas one week you’re ruled by the other,” said a mother of three in the southern town of Debre Markos referring to the rebels and Ethiopia’s military She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals The monitoring group ACLED recorded 270 battles between Fano and government forces between Oct as well as over a dozen attacks targeting health facilities and doctors in Amhara since last April Residents and observers say some local officials have fled their posts for fear of assassination The regional education office says over 3,600 schools across Amhara are closed depriving 4.5 million children of schooling The government said 2.3 million people needed food aid in 2024 “You can’t travel from one city to another safely Rights groups have accused Ethiopia’s military of abuses including extrajudicial killings drone strikes against civilians and enforced disappearances of alleged Fano sympathizers Human Rights Watch last year said it had documented attacks by Ethiopian soldiers and allied militias in at least 13 Amhara towns since August 2023 The bloodiest known episode was in February 2024 in Merawi 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Amhara’s regional capital when Ethiopian troops went door-to-door rounding up and executing civilians following a Fano attack according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International The state-appointed human rights commission said at least 45 civilians were killed “The Ethiopian authorities have taken no meaningful steps to hold perpetrators accountable,” said Haimanot Bejiga A government spokesperson denied the allegations at the time saying “not only would civilians never be targeted even surrendering combatants would not be killed.” soldiers rounded up and killed civilians in the town of Brakat after clashing with local forces speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation One described seeing soldiers killing four women “They ordered them to kneel down and they shot them from behind,” he said The government has restricted access to Brakat and has not commented The government did not respond to AP questions It has accused the Fano of “terrorizing the people” But it has also formed regional peace councils and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last year said his government had been in talks for “a while” with Fano groups Abiy has said the rebel’s diffuse structure and lack of a coherent leadership has made negotiating difficult The Fano continues to draw recruits from disillusioned Amhara youth and from soldiers deserting the military who believes that joining the rebellion is the only way to protect the Amhara and bring political change to Ethiopia The military “serves the interests of the ruling party,” not the people Posted: 30/04/2025 | Category: Fortnightly updates 28% decrease compared to the last two weeks 17 incidents of violence targeting civilians 37% decrease compared to the last two weeks At least 280 reported fatalities due to political violence 9% decrease compared to the last two weeks ACLED is a living dataset and figures are subject to change as new information becomes available Several days after the commander was killed members of the OLA/OLF-Shane began targeting the families of former group members accusing them of helping the government carry out the operation OLA/OLF-Shane fighters forcibly removed a former member from his home along with five of his family members — four men and a 12-year-old boy — and killed them in Dhiba forest in Garba Gudina kebele of Haro Limu woreda The former OLA/OLF-Shane member was among the militants who had accepted the Abiy government’s repeated calls for militants to surrender and return to their families the militants returned and abducted five more civilians including the wife and two children of the same former militant A similar attack was conducted in the neighboring Surge kebele where members of the OLA/OLF-Shane attacked and killed eight family members of another former member on 8 April and there was no Fano militia movement during the strike The head of the Enarj Enawga woreda administration claimed that the drone strike was aimed at Fano militias such strikes have been recorded in the Oromia and Amhara regions Find our user guides and documentation for EPO’s data collection on the Methodology page Visit our FAQ page Access ACLED data on political violence and protest events in Ethiopia About  –  Subscribe  –  FAQs  –  Methodology  –  Contact  Africa Intelligence brings you exclusive coverage of the major political economic and diplomatic issues at stake on the African continent identifying power players on the rise and low-frequency signals on the 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a new edition of our publication or an alert is published CBS Sports: Some names in college football — like Arch Manning DJ Lagway and Julian Sayin — already feel destined for the spotlight And rest assured: quarterbacks will get plenty of attention in the months ahead The 2025 season is rich with breakout potential across the board From freak athletes on defense to skill players ready to take over game plans this fall offers a chance for emerging stars to reshape the national conversation (no arm talent required) $MMT = window.$MMT || {}; $MMT.cmd = $MMT.cmd || [];$MMT.cmd.push(function(){ $MMT.display.slots.push(["826909f7-8749-4b07-9308-a997562edd99"]); }) Calling our shot on 10 players who could become nationally recognized superstars in 2025 Looking for more SuperWest team news? Find it at our Team News Feed Writes about football and basketball as a Senior Writer and hosts "The Nick Bartlett S.. Aidin Ebrahimi covers the NBA for SuperWest Sports Spencer McLaughlin contributes videos to SuperWest Sports and is the host of "Locke.. Miller covers College Basketball and College Football as well as Formu.. Writes about track and field and Oregon football as a columnist for Super.. writes about various topics for SuperWest sports Individually, Fano is gaining national recognition, particularly from CBS Sports, where he is ranked as the 21st best player in the country Fano’s high expectations for the Utah offensive line are understandable with Utah returning all five starters from last season “I definitely think we have the best offensive line in the country and that doesn’t just mean like our one-on-one responsibilities,” Fano said “We make a lot of calls on the field and we control a whole lot that the offense does.” When asked about the biggest improvement Fano has seen in this year’s line “You might’ve seen last year sometimes we get hurt and there might be a little drop-off but this year we got like nine (or) 10 guys that can all go,” Fano said there’s no kind of drop-off that’ll be there.” Fano didn’t play in Saturday’s 22 Forever Game but spring ball gave Dampier the chance to get familiar with his new offensive line and the first impressions have been strong “I feel like every day he just makes better and better decisions,” Fano said of Dampier “He’s built a lot of trust with the O line and with all the receivers and he’s just making a lot of really good decisions It’s so much fun being out there with him.” The 2025 season will be Fano’s third year as a starter for the Utes and he’s being looked to more as a leader this season “I feel I’ve grown most in my leadership role,” Fano said “I think I’m definitely improving in all aspects of the game but I haven’t been in as much of a leadership role as I have been this spring.” Metrics details A variety of scientific fields like proteomics and spintronics have created a new demand for on-chip devices capable of sensing parameters localized within a few tens of micrometers Nano and microelectromechanical systems (NEMS/MEMS) are extensively employed for monitoring parameters that exert uniform forces over hundreds of micrometers or more they can show significantly degraded sensing performance when targeting more localized parameters we present a MEMS device that leverages the destructive interference of two topological radiofrequency (RF) counter-propagating wave modes along a piezoelectric Aluminum Scandium Nitride (AlScN) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) interface The reported MEMS device opens up opportunities for further purposes including achieving more stable frequency sources for communication and timing applications e We report a piezoelectric MEMS prototype using Aluminum Scandium Nitride as a piezoelectric material Silicon Oxide to form the periodic corrugations of C1 and \({{\rm{C}}}{1}^{{\prime} }\) and Aluminum strips to form the electrical ports f The experimental electrical transmission of this MEMS device expressed in terms of the S21 scattering parameter shows the existence of two interface states that lie within a complete bandgap as well as a record-high Q for MEMS devices using AlScN films as piezoelectric layers State-3 exhibits a Q substantially higher than States-1,2 a Chain 1 (blue) models the propagation of antisymmetric A0 waves while chain 2 (red) models the propagation of symmetric S0 waves no coupling occurs and band crossing is observed c The introduction of elastic connections couples the two modes opening a complete bandgap (d) where distinct Zak phases guarantee the existence of non-trivial topological states e The introduction of an interface between the initial chain here demonstrated from a supercell dispersion analysis (f) The color map of the dispersion curves shows the relative polarization of the waves with blue points corresponding to vertical (out-of-plane) polarization while red refers to horizontal (in-plane) polarization In Eq. (1) Eκn identifies a time-independent eigenvalue relative to the wavevector κ for a specific propagating nth mode \(\left\vert {{{\boldsymbol{\psi }}}}_{{{\boldsymbol{\kappa }}}{{\boldsymbol{n}}}}\right\rangle\) denotes the solution to the wave-equation for the nth mode and wavevector κ The modal characteristics of the interference state have been investigated both numerically and experimentally for the MEMS device built in this work Measured displacement magnitude for the midsection of the reported MEMS device when operating at f1 (a) The measurements were performed through a high-frequency vibrometer corresponding FEM simulated cross-sectional displacement modeshapes are reported above each one of these measured plots d The fabricated MEMS device was electrically tested by probing its input and output ports through two RF GSG probes and by using a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) We report the FEM calculated frequency distribution of the device transmission (S21 together with a trend of the normalized quality factor term associated to anchor losses (in red) vs a zoomed-in picture of the measured S21 around f3 is also reported together with the analytical fitting line we have generated to quantify the MEMS device’s Q at f3 e A comparison of the Q achieved by the reported MEMS device (see the red star) with those previously reported by state-of-the-art AlScN devices f The same pool of devices has been also used to analyze the Q attained by our reported device vs d) with the corresponding values for each previously reported resonator listed in e the MEMS device reported in this work not only shows a superior quality factor but also demonstrates the capability of overruling the current strict correlation of Q with the effective size of the resonant cavity in AlScN MEMS devices which can be manufactured with conventional semiconductor processes The fabrication process of the reported MEMS device starts with the deposition of an AlN/Pt/AlScN stack which is implemented by reactive co-sputtering in the same multi-target chamber we etch the AlN/Pt/AlScN stack to form “release windows" This step is key as it gives direct access to silicon which is required to be able to etch the silicon under the device through a XeF2 isotropic etching step (ensuring its suspension) Wet-etching of AlScN is then processed to create vias allowing to electrically ground the bottom Pt layer Then we sputter and pattern a 2 μm-thick SiO2 layer via Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to form the surface corrugations which have the longest dimension along the out-of-plane direction (i.e. Etching of the SiO2 layer to form the corrugations is implemented through a reactive-ion etching (RIE) step The Al strips are attained by sputtering and patterning a 150 nm-thick aluminum (Al) layer we deposit a 300 nm-thick gold (Au) layer through evaporation to cover the vias A process flow chart is provided in the supplementary material together with the definition of the experimental setup The numerical and experimental data supporting our findings are available, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, on the Zenodo repository as MATLAB figure (.fig) files, accessible at the following https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13850960 Optomechanical detection of vibration modes of a single bacterium Nano-mechanical single-cell sensing of cell-matrix contacts Nanomechanical sensors for single microbial cell growth monitoring Microtechnologies and nanotechnologies for single-cell analysis In situ single cell mechanics characterization of yeast cells using nanoneedles inside environmental SEM Single cell detection with micromechanical oscillators Single-protein nanomechanical mass spectrometry in real time A perception-based nanosensor platform to detect cancer biomarkers Highly sensitive protein sensor based on thermally-reduced graphene oxide field-effect transistor Nanowire nanosensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of biological and chemical species A molecular-imprint nanosensor for ultrasensitive detection of proteins Ultimate limits to inertial mass sensing based upon nanoelectromechanical systems A nanomechanical mass sensor with yoctogram resolution Nanomechanical mass sensing and stiffness spectrometry based on two-dimensional vibrations of resonant nanowires Integrated nano-opto-electro-mechanical sensor for spectrometry and nanometrology Towards single-molecule nanomechanical mass spectrometry Real-time measurement of protein-protein interactions at single-molecule resolution using a biological nanopore Quantum acoustics with superconducting qubits Spin current generation using a surface acoustic wave generated via spin-rotation coupling Robust quantum state transfer via topological edge states in superconducting qubit chains Self-biased 215mhz magnetoelectric NEMS resonator for ultra-sensitive DC magnetic field detection Highly sensitive low field Lorentz-force MEMS magnetometer Ultra-compact dual-band smart NEMS magnetoelectric antennas for simultaneous wireless energy harvesting and magnetic field sensing Programmable synchronization enhanced MEMS resonant accelerometer Exceptional-point-based accelerometers with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio Measurement of the earth tides with a MEMS gravimeter A vibrating beam MEMS accelerometer for gravity and seismic measurements Resonant pressure sensor based on piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric thick films A laterally driven micromachined resonant pressure sensor Ultra-sensitive NEMS-based cantilevers for sensing scanned probe and very high-frequency applications Nanomechanical gas sensing with nonlinear resonant cantilevers Thermally stable piezoelectric sensors for quantitative pressure sensing based on linear piezoelectric zinc oxide thin films A single-side micromachined MPa-scale high-temperature pressure sensor Construction and functionality of a ceramic resonant pressure sensor for operation at elevated temperatures High figure-of-merit NEMS thermal detectors based on 50-nm thick AlN nano-plate resonators Internal resonance in coupled oscillators - Part I: A double amplification mass sensing scheme without Duffing nonlinearity Frequency comb in 1:3 internal resonance of coupled micromechanical resonators Combined internal resonances at crossover of slacked micromachined resonators Anomalous amplitude-frequency dependence in a micromechanical resonator under synchronization Fast frequency relocking for synchronization enhanced resonant accelerometer Amplitude stabilization in a synchronized nonlinear nanomechanical oscillator Nonlinearity-mediated digitization and amplification in electromechanical phonon-cavity systems Nonlinear couplings and energy transfers in micro- and nano-mechanical resonators: intermodal coupling Coherent phonon manipulation in coupled mechanical resonators Toward high-resolution inertial sensors employing parametric modulation in coupled micromechanical resonators Ultrasensitive mass sensing using mode localization in coupled microcantilevers A review on coupled MEMS resonators for sensing applications utilizing mode localization A sensitivity tunable accelerometer based on series-parallel electromechanically coupled resonators using mode localization A decouple-decomposition noise analysis model for closed-loop mode-localized tilt sensors Tunable topological Fano resonances in graphene-based nanomechanical lattices Nanoscale imaging of super-high-frequency microelectromechanical resonators with femtometer sensitivity Thermoelastic damping in micro-and nanomechanical systems Nanoscale electromechanics to measure thermal conductivity Anchor losses in aln contour mode resonators From microwave acoustic filters to millimeter-wave operation and new applications Anchor loss reduction in aln lamb wave resonators using phononic crystal strip tethers In 2014 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (FCS) Extending the linearity of alscn contour-mode resonators through acoustic metamaterials-based reflectors Wave motion and dispersion phenomena: Veering Ultra-sensitive nems-based cantilevers for sensing Download references acknowledge the financial support of the European Union H2020 Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Proactive Metamaterial Enabled Vibration Energy Harvesting (MetaVEH) project under Grant Agreement No 952039 in supporting the research activity and the prototype realization were funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant No Amit Lal and Rohan Sanghvi from Cornell University for access to the Laser Doppler Vibrometer and measurements Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and developed analytical and numerical models; X.Z and R.V.C developed the theory and the physical interpretation; X.Z. contributed to the design of experiments; All the authors contributed in writing the paper The authors declare no competing interests Nature Communications thanks Araceli Hernandez Granados and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53925-8 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science After feeling like there was “unfinished business” since leaving his Fano Guitars brand Dennis Fano is embarking on a new chapter… Fano Guitars and Novo Guitars are merging together under a new company called Psonic Design Lab Dennis Fano will take on the role of Chairman and Head Of Product Design which grew into one of the biggest boutique electric guitar brands on the market He sold the company in 2009 to the Premier Builders Guild but stayed on at the brand until he left to found Novo in 2014 A statement on the merger shared to social media reads have announced a merger under a new British-based parent company Since their respective launches in 1996 and 2015 the brands have become globally recognised for their high-quality musical instruments Dennis Fano will take on a new role as Chairman of Psonic Design Lab and Head of Product Design ‘Over the past nine years since leaving Fano Guitars I have felt that there was unfinished business I was hoping to have the opportunity to reclaim my name someday I’m excited to announce that the day is here “‘Psonic Design Lab is bringing together the brands of Fano and Novo in a really exciting way Fano has been in the very capable hands of Graham Dowling in my absence and he has done an incredible job of maintaining my high standards I have an amazing team of people around me Everyone is committed to making the highest quality instruments and continuing to raise the bar.’” A post shared by Novo Guitars (@novoguitars) who has owned Fano Guitars for the last eight years will continue as the Director of the Fano brand Manufacturing will now move to Nashville from its current home in Arizona in an expanded production facility alongside Novo Psonic Design Lab’s management will be led by Neil Reed British media executive (and former co-owner of Fano) and Novo’s Travis Tingley will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer A joint sales force will be led by Fano’s Chad Hines for the US and Novo’s Steve Gray for international sales The management team will be supported by Lamar McKay Find out more over on the Psonic Design Lab website. Both brands will also be at The NAMM Show this January – you can find them at booth 4327. The world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar. You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. 2025Men's Golfvs NCAA RegionalsLoad MoreRecent ResultsCompleted Event: Softball at No Defensive end Logan Fano (0) is back for his third season with the Utah football program.Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah AthleticsQ&A With Utah Football’s Logan Fano3/25/2025 11:00 AM | Football Week 1 in the books??#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/kyFyR8AC6t A post shared by Logan Fano (@loganfano) UTAH UTES 2:45 PM | Updated: 3:10 pm Utah football right tackle Spencer Fano vs SUU BY STEVE BARTLE SALT LAKE CITY –Utah’s best offensive lineman is coming off of a fantastic 2024 campaign from an individual perspective The gifted tackle announced his return to the program in December and is set to lead the team in 2025 RUN IT BACK 🧍🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/Rax7VPxWZr — Spencer Fano (@FanoSpencer) December 4, 2024 who just concluded his sophomore season with the Utes Even after earning freshman All-American honors His efforts this past season are hard to recognize given Utah’s offensive struggles Pro Football Focus named him in their Top 101 players of the 2024 season who started all 12 games in 2024 at right tackle was a first-team All-Big 12 selection after another standout performance on the line Fano is Utah’s first offensive lineman to earn a spot on the PFF All-America list after also being named to their Midseason All-America team “Fano was the Power Four’s highest-graded offenisve lineman as just a true sophomore earning a 93.0 mark that also led all tackles in the nation His 93.6 run-blocking grade was over three points higher than any other FBS tackle and he surrendedered only one sack on 406 pass-blocking snaps.” – Pro Football Focus his 93.6 run-blocking grade was higher than any other offensive tackle in college football His pass protection of 79.4 was also near the top of the list Fano did not allow a single sack since the first week of the season Fano has played in 25 career games with 24 starts (13 at RT His PFF All-America honor in 2024 is the second of his career also earning CFN Freshman All-America first-team in 2023 PFF’s Best 101 Players from the 2024 Season: Offensive Lineman💪 FULL 101 Rankings: https://t.co/OHmbooAf3y pic.twitter.com/fb9cQFOyrl — PFF College (@PFF_College) February 10, 2025 There were many other Big 12 players included in PFF’s Top 101 there were 12 Big 12 players included on the list including two in the top five and seven in the top 30 Download the new & improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. You can stream live radio, video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams. Follow @BartleKSLsports like Spencer Fano suggested earlier this spring the 6-foot-6 junior will certainly play a significant role in that sentiment coming to fruition took a major step forward in his progression despite the Utes' struggles on offense in 2024 After bursting onto the scene as a freshman native asserted himself as one of the most dominant tackles in the sport last season taking home All-America honors from Pro Football Focus and the Associated Press in addition to landing on the All-Big 12 first team As such, Fano will head into the 2025 season as the top returning offensive lineman in the country, according to PFF. Fano's prowess in the run game combined with his ability to protect the passer put him ahead of some of the other top tackles and guards who project to get picked early in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft Fano was PFF's "easy choice" as the No 1 returning offensive lineman based on his 93.0 grade that led all FBS tackles last season His 93.6 run-blocking grade was also the best in the country by over three points who was selected by the New Orleans Saints with the No posted a higher score in PFF's wins above average metric than Fano did in 2024 Fano's pass-block grade of 79.5 was among the top 30 at the Power Four level as well Though his arm length suggests he could transition to guard at the pro level that hasn't prevented him from earning a reputation as one of the most talented offensive lineman prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft PFF's updated big board for next year's draft has Fano as the third-best offensive lineman prospect in the class behind only Alabama's Kadyn Proctor and Miami's Francis Mauigoa Fano and the other four starters from Utah's offensive line are set to provide stability and continuity for their new quarterback to lean on as he and new offensive coordinator Josh Beck implement their system from New Mexico "I definitely think we have the best offensive line in the country, and that doesn't just mean our own one-on-one responsibilities," Fano said and we control a whole lot that the offense does I think we're the best O-line in the country and I think that helps a lot with our relationship with Dev." 28 nationally with 20.7 points allowed per game and 30th in yards allowed While the strength of the defense is expected to be the linebackers and secondary there are some holes to fill on the line due to transfers and graduation The losses along the line were significant Left tackle Junior Tafuna signed as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans and end Connor O’Toole signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks Starting tackle Keanu Tanuvasa transferred to BYU while backup tackle Simote Pepa moved on to Washington The key returnee is senior right end Logan Fano who played in all 12 games and started nine Tackle Aliki Vimahi played in just four games in 2024 and seems ready to step into a much bigger role Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Jacob Conover (15) is sacked by Utah Utes defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi (95) / Rob Gray-Imagn ImagesTackle Dallas Vakalahi of West Valley played in nine games last year He led true freshmen on the team with 16 tackles Others in the mix for playing time are ends Paul Fitzgerald a redshirt sophomore from Alpine; as well as tackle Jonah Lea’ea Redshirt junior end Lance Holtzclaw transferred after three seasons with Washington BERNIE WILSON Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho. Metrics details Piezoelectric resonance sensors are essential to many diverse applications associated with chemical and biological sensing they rely on continuously detecting the resonant frequency shift of piezoelectric resonators due to analytes accreting on their surfaces in vacuum Resolving the small analyte changes requires the resonators with a high quality factor we propose theoretically and demonstrate experimentally a scheme using a physics concept to enhance the quality factor rather than optimizing the structure and material of the resonator itself though these are important The Fano resonance arises due to the interference between a discrete mode and a continuum of modes leading to the asymmetric and steep dispersion the as-fabricated piezoelectric sensors are put into the Fano resonance by connecting an external shunt capacitor to them one-port surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators on LiNbO3 substrate incorporating a composite of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and graphene oxide (GO) for humidity sensing We enhance the quality factor by up to a factor of about 8 from 929 for the as-fabricated sensor to 7682 for that with the external shunt capacitor Our results pave the way for the practical development of piezoelectric resonance sensors with high quality factor we propose another method to enhance the quality factor of the as-fabricated piezoelectric resonance sensors by utilizing Fano resonances The proposed method can be easily realized by only connecting an external shunt capacitor to the piezoelectric resonance sensor here we explore the consequence of as-fabricated piezoelectric resonance sensors for enhancing the quality factor using the Fano resonances The asymmetry of the Fano resonance can be characterized by30 where g is the linewidth and \({f}_{s}\) is the series resonance frequency a The equivalent circuit representation of the piezoelectric resonator and an external shunt capacitor is connected to the resonator b Schematic diagram and partial SEM image of the fabricated SAW resonator for humidity sensing c The measured admittance (Y11) as a function of frequency for different shunt capacitances d The measured scattering parameter (S11) as a function of frequency for different shunt capacitances d) corresponds to the as-fabricated resonator where \(\omega =2\pi f\) is the angular frequency. As seen from the circuit in Fig. 1a it approximately yields two fundamental resonance frequencies at the maximum and minimum of the admittance amplitude if the static capacitance was made large enough (the extreme case: \({C}_{0}\to \infty\)) the system would approximately approach a short circuit giving rise to a significant decrease in amplitude and the Fano resonance could not clearly be observed either In order to make the piezoelectric resonant sensor exhibit the Farno resonance we connect an external capacitor Cp in parallel to the static capacitor C0 Cp is adjusted in such a way that the piezoelectric resonant sensor is put into the Fano resonance The scattering parameter \({S}_{11}\) reads where \({Y}_{0}=1/{Z}_{0}\) and\(\,{Z}_{0}\) is the characteristic impedance of the signal source (usually \({Z}_{0}=50\) Ω) Taking \(\partial \left|{S}_{11}\right|/\partial f=0\) it yields the frequency (fmin) at which \({S}_{11}\) gets the minimum \({\left|{S}_{11}\right|}_{\min }\) (See supplementary) where \(\Delta {f}_{3{dB}}={f}_{2}-{f}_{1}\) is the frequency bandwidth, and \({f}_{1}\) and \({f}_{2}\) are the frequencies corresponding to a response value of \(\left|{S}_{11}\right|/{\left|{S}_{11}\right|}_{\min }=\sqrt{2}\). The scattering parameter \({S}_{11}\) is measured in different external shunt capacitance \({C}_{p}\), and Q is then estimated by Eq. (8) Extracted parameters of circuit elements for the as-fabricated resonator are used for simulations The results of the ADS simulation are generally in good agreement with the corresponding results obtained experimentally c The measured scattering parameter (S11) as a function of frequency at different humidity levels for Cp = 0 and Cp = 39 pF d The measured resonant frequency shift as a function of relative humidity for Cp = 0 and Cp = 39 pF b) corresponds to the as-fabricated resonator Adsorption: the humidity level increases from 30% RH to 90% RH Desorption: the humidity level decreases from 90% RH to 30% RH indicating that our sensor performs well in terms of the quality factor we have demonstrated experimentally that the quality factor of as-fabricated piezoelectric sensors can greatly be increased by putting them into Fano resonances via using an external shunt capacitance The quality factor enhancement has been validated on the SAW resonator for humidity sensing as long as piezoelectric resonant devices can be represented by the BVD model their quality factor could be adjusted by the shunt capacitance be applied in other types of piezoelectric resonant sensors such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBAR) an external shunt capacitor connected to the piezoelectric resonance sensor would bring parasitic effects such as parasitic resistance or inductance the external shunt capacitance could also be integrated on-chip with the resonators Our work opens up an avenue to resolving the small analyte changes for chemical and biological sensors a one-port SAW resonator incorporating humidity sensing films has been designed and fabricated on a 128° Y-X LiNbO3 substrate with a thickness of 400 μm A 200 nm gold (Au)/ 15 nm chromium (Cr) layer was used to form the interdigital transducer (IDT) in the central area with Bragg mirrors placed on both sides The distributed reflectors consist of 200 reflecting Au stripes each with a finger width of 10 μm and a period of 20 μm The period of the IDT is determined by the following equation54 where \({\lambda }_{0}\) is the wavelength of the SAW resonator; \({\upsilon }_{s}\) is the velocity of surface acoustic waves; and \({f}_{0}\) is the fundamental resonant frequency When the finger width is set to an integer multiple of the half-wavelength of the SAW resonator the acoustic waves are superimposed in phase resulting in a resonant frequency of approximately 96 MHz \({L}_{m}\) and \({R}_{m}\) can be extracted by where Q is the quality factor of the unloaded SAW resonator A test system is shown (See Supplementary Fig. S7) The SAW sensor was placed inside a sealed container which was connected to a humidity generator (Zonho-tech STA-EMG) The humidity generator adjusted humidity levels by varying the ratio of injected water and nitrogen and a split temperature and humidity transmitter (Race M&C-Tech HTDT2-IESX102) were used for calibration A vector network analyzer VNA (Copper Mountain PLANAR TR1300/1) was utilized to characterize the output of the sensor the test frequency was swept from 94.6 to 96.1 MHz with 1600 sample points Both adsorption and desorption processes for humidity sensing were measured The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request Verwendung von Schwingquartzen zur Wägung dünner Schichten und zur Mikrowägung Direct piezoelectric coupling to surface elastic waves Surface acoustic-wave probe for chemical-analysis Frequency-shifts of piezoelectric quartz crystals immersed in organic liquids Frequency of a quartz microbalance in contact with liquid In situ interfacial mass detection with piezoelectric transducers Application of piezoelectric quartz crystals to the analysis of trace metals in solution: A review A Perspective on recent advances in piezoelectric chemical sensors for environmental monitoring and foodstuffs analysis Advances in sensing mechanisms and micro/nanostructured sensing layers for surface acoustic wave-based gas sensors Advances in the surface acoustic wave sensors for industrial applications: Potentials immunosensors and DNA sensors and their applications An overview of high frequency acoustic sensors-QCMs SAWs and FBARs-chemical and biochemical applications Lateral field excited quartz crystal microbalances for biosensing applications Practical use of quartz crystal microbalance monitoring in cartilage tissue engineering Recent advances of surface acoustic wave-based sensors for noninvasive cell analysis Piezoelectric biosensors: shedding light on principles and applications Chiral discrimination using piezoelectric and optical gas sensors The quartz crystal microbalance as a novel means to study cell-substrate interactions in situ Studying soft interfaces with shear waves: Principles and applications of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) Quartz crystal microbalance in soft and biological interfaces Dissipation analysis methods and Q-enhancement strategies in piezoelectric MEMS laterally vibrating resonators: A review Optimization of SAW devices with LGS/Pt structure for sensing temperature A high Q value ScAlN/AlN-based SAW resonator for load sensing Surface acoustic wave bound state in the continuum for 1200 ◦C high temperature sensing Effects of configuration interaction on intensities and phase shifts Fano resonance in whispering gallery mode microcavities and its sensing applications Demonstration of double EIT using coupled harmonic oscillators and RLC circuits Analysis of asymmetric resonance response of thermally excited silicon micro-cantilevers for mass-sensitive nanoparticle detection Surface acoustic wave relative humidity sensor based on GO/TiO2 sensitive film The oxide film coated surface acoustic wave resonators for the measurement of relative humidity On the performance evaluation of commercial SAW resonators by means of a direct and reliable equivalent-circuit extraction Review-Electronic circuit systems for piezoelectric resonance sensors Estimation of Q-factors and resonant frequencies Vibration and noise control using shunted piezoelectric transducers: A review Phase-controlled oscillation in a capacitive nonlinear ring resonator with on-chip feedthrough de-embedding IEEE 33rd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Replicating spectral baseline for unambiguous frequency locking in resonant sensors Microbalance humidity sensors based on electrospun graphene oxide composites A novel capacitive-type humidity sensor using CMOS fabrication technology Recent advances in humidity sensors for human body related humidity detection Film bulk acoustic-wave resonator (FBAR) based humidity sensor High-performance FBAR humidity sensor based on the PI film as the multifunctional layer Mass loading characteristics of one-port saw resonator with sensing film attached reflector electrodes Piezoresistive microcantilevers for humidity sensing Advancements in trace and low humidity sensors technologies using nanomaterials: A review Surface wave grating reflectors and resonators Microwave Theory and Techniques (Newport Beach Relations for analysis and design of surface-wave resonators Download references This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education conceived the idea and planned the research Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-024-00847-6 Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah AthleticsQ&A with Utah Football's Logan Fano10/23/2024 10:00 AM | Football Sophomore defensive end talks football and UFC A post shared by Utah Football (@utahfootball) and now they’ve been brought under one leadership structure for the first time which will see them fall under the leadership of a new parent company the revered luthier says he had “unfinished business” with the brand that carries his name so they’ve been brought together under his leadership as part of a comprehensive restructure the manufacturing of Fano Guitars will now move to Novo’s expanded production facility in Nashville British media executive Neil Reed will oversee Psonic Design Lab as CEO and Novo’s Travis Tingley has been named COO Additional support for the management team comes from Lamar McKay the ex-Deputy CEO of BP Plc (British Petroleum) the two brands will unite their respective sales teams with Fano Guitars’ Chad Hines looking after US deals and Novo Guitars’ Steve Gray handling international sales Both brands launched new models last month and the merger will allow them to “continue to innovate and develop” future instruments Fano recently brought forth the Alt de Facto RB12 12-string while Novo’s latest offerings have included the 32” Ivorus Bass and the six-string and 30” scale Vulture B6 Dennis Fano has been bestowed with two titles; he’s now the chairman of Psonic Design Lab and Head of Product Design I have felt there was unfinished business,” Fano says “While I’ve been focused on Novo Guitars “Psonic Design Lab is bringing together the brands of Fano and Novo in a really exciting way Everyone is committed to making the highest quality instruments and continuing to raise the bar.” Fano’s eponymous brand has been in the “capable hands” of Graham Dowling “Being part of this new chapter is incredibly exciting,” Dowling asserts “This is the right next step to take the brand to the next level and deliver on what we have always hoped we could achieve “I have long admired Dennis’ work The unification of our brands and the opportunity to work alongside Dennis is a great privilege We at Fano Guitars are excited to be on this new journey.” A post shared by Novo Guitars (@novoguitars) Reed adds: “Psonic Design Lab will continue to support the creative culture of the brands of Fano and Novo whilst allowing us to look at opportunities previously unavailable as independent businesses We look forward to releasing further announcements in the very near future.” There is no hint as to what the newly merged firms have up their now-collective sleeves but they are both set to be present at NAMM In the meantime, see Psonic Design Lab for more in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original churning that low string through a variety of tunings He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot you will then be prompted to enter your display name it has the substance to match its good looks": Squier Limited Edition Paranormal Offset Telecaster SJ review Fender Japan assembles all-star group of elite Masterbuilders for its most ambitious builds yet – the Deck O’ Cards Stratocasters “There's something really magical about it”: Bon Jovi's Phil X on why he prefers single-pickup guitars – and his one-of-a-kind neck pickup 'mods' Metrics details In a multi-level quantum system Fano coherences stand for the formation of quantum coherences due to the interaction with the continuum of modes characterizing an incoherent process In this paper we propose a V-type three-level quantum system on which we certify the presence of genuinely quantum traits underlying the generation of Fano coherences We do this by determining work conditions that allows for the loss of positivity of the Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability distribution of the stochastic energy changes within the discrete system We also show the existence of nonequilibrium regimes where the generation of Fano coherences leads to a non-negligible excess energy given by the amount of energy that is left over with respect to the energy of the system at the beginning of the transformation Excess energy is attained provided the initial state of the discrete system is in a superposition of the energy eigenbasis We conclude the paper by studying the thermodynamic efficiency of the whole process thereby reducing radiative recombination phenomena the photo-conversion devices (photocell) is modeled with a V-type three-level system driven by incoherent light source wherein the excited states represent conduction band states decaying into a common valence band state quantum coherence between the excited states of the model would theoretically lead to an increase in extractable current from the device this enhancement would boost the output power and conversion efficiency This framework indeed aims to replicate a more realistic system akin to those achievable in atomic platforms we maintain the same formalism for modelling the dynamics namely a quantum Markovian master equation in the Schrödinger picture Particular interest will be devoted to energetic aspects behind the generation of Fano coherences in the V-type three-level system by looking for the parameters’ values that minimizes (with sign) the average difference of the internal energy variation inside the quantum system in-between the initial and the current times in which the thermodynamic transformation is applied notice that if a system subjected to a thermodynamic transformation exhibits on average a negative difference of the internal energy variation then the resulting excess energy could be exploited as extractable work provided a load or a storage system is appropriately designed we will identify the range of parameters values that allow for excess energy entailed by negativity We conclude the paper by discussing the thermodynamic efficiency of such a process The energy level configuration for the V-type three-level system under consideration consists of two nearly degenerate excited levels denoted as \(|a\rangle\) and \(|b\rangle\) with a frequency splitting of \(\mathrm \Delta\) Both \(|a\rangle\) and \(|b\rangle\) can decay to the ground level at rates \(\gamma _a\) and \(\gamma _b\) being sometimes the derivation of the model lacking or not fully explained we report below a comprehensive derivation that has also pedagogical function For the derivation of the master equation describing the quantum system dynamics which begins by settling the differential equation for \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t)\) in the interaction representation where the Hamiltonian of the whole system is solely determined by the interaction term we set in the Rotating Wave Aproximation (RWA) under which the interaction Hamiltonian has the following form: g_\mathbf{{k},\lambda }^b\) [rad/s] are the coupling terms between the k-th mode of the reservoir (with wave vector \(\textbf{k}\) polarization \(\lambda\) and angular frequency \(\nu _k\)) and transitions \(|a\rangle \leftrightarrow |c\rangle ,|b\rangle \leftrightarrow |c\rangle\) where the spatial dependence of the field is ignored The time evolution of the whole system is governed by the following Liouville-von Neumann differential equation for \({\hat{\rho }}(t)\) in the integro-differential form: the three-level system and the reservoir are weakly coupled implying that the influence of the system on the reservoir is negligible assuming that the initial state of the total system is the separable state \({\hat{\rho }}(0) = {\hat{\rho }}_S(0) \otimes {\hat{\rho }}_R(0)\) the state \({\hat{\rho }}(t)\) at any given time t can be approximated by the tensor product \({\hat{\rho }}(t) \approx {\hat{\rho }}_S(t) \otimes {\hat{\rho }}_R(0)\) This assumption is known as the Born or weak coupling approximation The Born approximation simplifies the application of the partial trace over the reservoir degrees of freedom which returns the reduced dynamics of the system S we assume that the correlations between the quantum system and the reservoir decay rapidly in comparison with the rate of change of the system’s state leads to a memoryless or Markovian process which implies that the memory effects of the reservoir are negligible and the system’s future evolution depends only on its current state and not on its past history The latter assumes all the frequency modes \(\nu _k\) of the radiation field are closely spaced within a spherical volume We also consider that the frequency modes are approximately slowly-varying within a range comprising \(\omega _{ac} meaning that the incoherent radiation has a flat spectrum around the band \([\omega _{ac} \omega _{bc}]\) whose length is relatively small compared to the bandwidth of the incoherent light source In Eq. (4) When the matrix elements \(\varvec{\mu }_{ac} the magnitude of the quantum interference is maximized when the transition dipole moments are either parallel (\(p=1\)) or anti-parallel (\(p=-1\)) As the last step of the derivation, we set Eq. (4) in the Schrödinger picture and we decompose \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t)\) in its elements \(\langle k|{\hat{\rho }}_S(t)|j\rangle \equiv \rho _{kj}(t)\) with \(k,j=a,b,c\) obtaining the following set of differential equations for each \(\rho _{kj}(t)\): since they enter the expression of the quasiprobabilities associated to the stochastic energy changes within the quantum system the quantum system tends towards a nonequilibrium steady states with vanishing coherences \(\rho _{ab} apart the peculiar case with \(|p|=1\) and a superposition of energy eigenstates as initial state the quantum coherence \(\rho _{ab}\) exponentially decays on a fast time scale tend to zero following a damped oscillatory trend the real and imaginary parts of \(\rho _{ac} These behaviours are thus dependent on both the initial state The solution to the differential equations contained in (7), (8) can be achieved by solving two distinct systems of linear equations We numerically solve the homogeneous differential equations (9) via exponentiation These solutions exhibit different behaviors depending on the value of the ratio \(\mathrm{\Delta }/{\bar{\gamma }}\) (between the energy splitting \(\mathrm{\Delta }\) among the excited states and the average decay rate \({\bar{\gamma }}\)) as well as on the average photon number \({\bar{n}}\) and on the alignment parameter p It is noteworthy that only in the overdamped regime quasi-stationary Fano coherences can be established thus resulting in a prolonged coherence lifetime Under the weak pumping condition (\({\bar{n}}<1\)) with \(p \le |1|\) achieving the overdamped regime is possible when \(\mathrm{\Delta }/{\bar{\gamma }}\ll 1\) under the strong pumping condition (\({\bar{n}}>1\)) the requirement \(\mathrm{\Delta }/{\bar{\gamma }}\ll 1\) can be relaxed which means a value of \(\mathrm{\Delta }\) much larger than \({\bar{\gamma }}\) without compromising the quasi-stationarity of coherences This rationale will guide our selection of \(\mathrm{\Delta }/{\bar{\gamma }}\ll 1\) in the analyses below we have introduced a quantum Markovian master equation that generates Fano quantum coherences we recall that they can arise by illuminating a quantum system with an incoherent source provided the system has a discrete number of levels and some of these levels are near degenerate It is not possible to have Fano coherences in a two-level system (a qubit) but it becomes possible in a three-level system admitting two near degenerate energy levels as we are going to show below with a detailed analysis we can describe the two-time statistics of the energy outcomes originated from evaluating the Hamiltonian of the quantum system in two distinct times Let us thus formalize the physical context we will work in We will consider a three-level system with time-independent Hamiltonian \({\hat{H}}_S = \sum _{k=1}^{3}E_{k}{\hat{\Pi }}_{k}\) with \(E_k\) denoting the energies of the system (eigenvalue of \({\hat{H}}_S\)) and \({\hat{\Pi }}_k \equiv |E_k\rangle \!\langle E_k|\) the corresponding projectors (\(|E_k\rangle\) are the eigenstates of \({\hat{H}}_S\)) The three-level system is initialized in the initial density operator \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) and then is subjected to the open quantum map \(\Phi [\cdot ]\) that returns the density operator of the system at time t \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t) = \Phi [{\hat{\rho }}_S(0)]\) It is also responsible for the generation of Fano coherences under specific conditions; in this regard the KDQ describing the statistics of the energy changes corresponding to the internal energy variation within the system in the interval \([t_1,t_2]\) is defined as and has recently found several applications in quantum thermodynamics It is worth providing some properties of KDQ44 in the case-study we are here analyzing: The sum of KDQ is equal to 1: \(\sum _{\ell ,j}q_{\ell ,j}=1\) cancels the off-diagonal terms of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) with respect to the eigenbasis of \({\hat{H}}_S\) due to the initial projective measurement at time \(t_1\) The KDQ are linear in the initial density operator \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\). This means that, given any admissible decomposition of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) [say \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0) = {\hat{\rho }}_S^{(1)}(0) + {\hat{\rho }}_S^{(2)}(0)\)], (16) splits in two terms one linearly dependent on \({\hat{\rho }}_S^{(1)}(0)\) and the other on \({\hat{\rho }}_S^{(2)}(0)\) j}^{(n)} = {\rm Tr}[ {\hat{\Pi }}_{j }\,\Phi [{\hat{\Pi }}_{\ell}{\hat{\rho }}_S^{(n)}(0)]]\) A choice that is commonly adopted is to take \({\hat{\rho }}_S^{(1)}(0)\) as the matrix that solely contains the diagonal terms of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) and \({\hat{\rho }}_S^{(2)}(0)\) as the matrix comprising only the off-diagonal terms Under the commutative condition \([{\hat{\rho }}_S(0),{\hat{H}}_S] = 0\) the KDQ are equal to the joint probabilities that is equal to 1 when all the quasiprobabilities are positive real numbers there is also a subset of parameters’ values such that solely the quantum coherence in the initial state of the system (leading to negativity) is responsible for an amount of excess energy Notice that in the context of quantum systems subjected to a work protocol negative values of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E(t)\rangle\) are denoted as extractable work Let us now show an example (with some plots) of these quantum behaviours involving the generation of Fano coherences we take the following parameters’ setting: V-type three-level system: Spontaneous decay rates (from \(|a\rangle ,|b\rangle\) to \(|c\rangle\)) \(\gamma _a = \gamma _b \equiv \gamma \approx 3 \cdot 10^{7}\) [rad/s]; energies \(E_3 = \hbar \omega _a\) \(E_1 = \hbar \omega _c\) with \(E_1 \le E_2 \le E_3\); \(\omega _a = D + \mathrm{\Delta }/2\) \(\omega _b = D - \mathrm{\Delta }/2\) and \(\omega _c=0\) with \(D \approx 10^{8}\) [rad/s] (optical transition) and \(\mathrm \Delta\) a fraction (10%) of the spontaneous decay rate’s value \(\mathrm{\Delta } = 10\% \gamma = 0.1 \gamma\) the units of measurement of the plotted quantities are re-scaled such that \(\hbar =1\) or even noisy laser with quite larger emission bandwidth): Average photons number \({\bar{n}} = 3\); alignment parameter (between the dipole moments of the transitions \(|a\rangle \leftrightarrow |c\rangle ,|b\rangle \leftrightarrow |c\rangle\)) \(p=\cos \Theta =-1,-0.75,-0.5,-0.25\) The bare Hamiltonian \({\hat{H}}_S\) of the V-type three-level system is proportional to the spin-1 operator This means that the energy projectors \({\hat{\Pi }}_k\) resulting from its spectral decomposition are given by the outer product of the computational basis \(|c\rangle \equiv (0,0,1)^T\) \(|b\rangle \equiv (0,1,0)^T\) and \(|a\rangle \equiv (1,0,0)^T\) Initial quantum state of the three-level system: \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)=|\psi _0\rangle \!\langle \psi _0|\) with and \(\alpha _c=\sqrt{0.4}\); note that \(\alpha _a^2 + \alpha _b^2 + \alpha _c^2 = 1\) to ensure probability conservation the initial density operator of the three-level system (thus at the beginning of the thermodynamic transformation under scrutiny) contains quantum coherence along the eigenbasis of \({\hat{H}}_S\) Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobabilities (dashed black lines) quantifying the energy change statistics of the V-type three-level system subjected to incoherent light source as a function of the dimensionless time \(t\gamma /(2\pi )\) The quasiprobabilities refer to the (energy) transitions between the levels \(|a\rangle ,|b\rangle ,|c\rangle\) of the system the imaginary parts of all the quasiprobabilities are equal to zero we use the parameter setting at points (i)-(iv) with \(p=-1\) and we distinguish between the contributions \(q_{r,s}^{\textrm{diag}}\) and \(q_{r,s}^{\textrm{coh}}\) depending respectively on \(\chi _S\) (solid red lines) and \(\textrm{diag}({\hat{\rho }}_S(0))\) (dash-dotted blue lines) where \(\textrm{diag}({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)),\chi _S\) linearly decompose the initial density operator \({\hat{\rho }}_S\) where \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)=|\psi _0\rangle \!\langle \psi _0|\) is linearly decomposed in two matrices \(\textrm{diag}({\hat{\rho }}_S(0))\) and \(\chi _S\) containing the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) respectively We denote the two contributions of the KDQ It is worth noting the sign of p is not relevant for the solution \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t)\) of the quantum system dynamics but it matters for the sign of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle\) and thus for the nature of the thermodynamics process we are investigating using the ranges of parameters at point (i)-(iv) (a) Real part of \(q_{a,b}^{\textrm{coh}}\) [panel (a)] and the non-positivity functional \(\aleph\) [panel (b)] the ranges of parameters at point (i)–(iv) are considered We complete this analysis by showing in Fig. 4 that: The real part of \(q_{a,b}^{\textrm{coh}}\) (plotted as a function of time) monotonically grows by increasing the value of the alignment parameter p that effectively represents a control knob to enhance the negativity of the corresponding KDQ [panel (a)] The non-positivity functional \(\aleph\) of the KDQ distribution of energy changes is \(>0\) in a transient time interval at least in the parameters setting at points (i)-(iv) As a final remark, notice that initializing a V-system in a superposition of all the three energy eigenstates (as in Eq. (23)) is not a necessary condition for observing a quasiprobability distribution with negative values (\(\aleph \ne 0\)) since the main factor appears to be the presence of coherence between the excited states we have introduced a case study in which \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{diag}}\) dependent on the diagonal elements of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) In this section our focus shifts to optimizing some key parameters of the model including the initial quantum state of the three-level system in order to maximize the value of \(-\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{coh}}\) arising from the off-diagonal elements of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(0)\) such an optimization also leads to an enhancement of negativity Achieving the condition \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{diag}}=0\) relies solely on specific values of \({\bar{n}}\) and \(\rho _{cc}(0) = |\alpha _c|^2\), under the assumption that the initial state of the system is given by Eq. (23) The analytical formula returning the values of \({\bar{n}},\rho _{cc}(0)\) such that \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{diag}}=0\) is unknown Choosing \({\bar{n}}\) above (below) the value allowing for \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{diag}}=0\) leads to \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{diag}}\) being nonzero and either positive (negative) These considerations are valid for any values of p but in what follows we specifically select \(p=-0.5\) Once the condition \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle =\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{coh}}\) is established the optimization of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _{\textrm{coh}}\) is determined by the initial state \(|\psi _0\rangle = \alpha _a \ where we are considering a more general state featuring also the relative phases \(\phi _a,\phi _c\) in addition to \(\phi _b\) Setting the values \({\bar{n}}=3\) and \(\rho _{cc}(0)=0.4\) we take the populations \(\rho _{aa}=|\alpha _a|^2=\rho _{bb}=|\alpha _b|^2=0.3\) and we vary the relative phases \(\phi _a,\,\phi _b,\,\phi _c\) of \(|\psi _0\rangle\) within the range \([0,2\pi ]\) setting one of the relative phases to zero does not impact the maximum attainable value for \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle\) by using \(\phi _a=0\) or \(\phi _b=0\) and \(\phi _c=0\) we identify two distinct scenarios that now we are going to analyze in detail \({\varvec{\phi }_a=0}\) or \({\varvec{\phi }_b=0}\): Largest values of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta } E \rangle _{\textrm{coh}}\) including its sign as a function of the relative phases \(\phi _b,\phi _c\) [panel (a)] In both panels the value of p has been set to \(-0.5\) whereby the mirroring symmetry line is given by the condition \(\phi _a=\phi _b\) Maximum value of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta } E \rangle _{\textrm{coh}}\) as a function of \(\rho _{aa}(0)\) initial population of the excited state \(|a\rangle\) The ground state is fixed at \(\rho _{cc}(0) = 0.4\) and the relative phases are \(\phi _a=\phi _c=0\) while \(\rho _{bb}(0) = 1-\rho _{cc}(0)-\rho _{aa}(0)\) The alignment parameter p is set to \(p=-0.5\) Different values of \(\phi _b\) are taken into account varying \(\phi _b\) from 0 to \(\pi\) enables a transition from the condition of maximum absorbed energy (\(\phi _b=0\)) to maximum energy in excess (\(\phi _b=\pi\)) passing through a regime where \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle _\mathrm{coh}=\langle \mathrm{\Delta } E \rangle _{\textrm{diag}}=\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle =0\) (\(\phi _b=\pi /2\)) the optimal initial state configuration is achieved by setting the populations \(\rho _{aa}(0),\rho _{bb}(0) \ne 0\) and \(\rho _{aa}(0)=\rho _{bb}(0)\) while the value of \(\rho _{cc}(0)\) is dictated by the \({\bar{n}}\) that allows for \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle =\langle \mathrm{\Delta } E \rangle _\mathrm{coh}\) regarding the relative phases \(\phi _a,\phi _b,\phi _c\) entering the initial wave-function \(|\psi _0\rangle\) setting all the three to zero means maximum absorbed energy whereas choosing \(\phi _b=\pi\) (with \(\phi _a=\phi _c=0\)) entails the maximum amount of excess energy The assessment of the thermodynamic efficiency is crucial in any energy conversion process to gauge the performance in transforming a form of energy (the input energy \({\mathcal {E}}_{\textrm{in}}\)) in another (energy in excess \({\mathcal {E}}_{\textrm{exc}}\)) for practical uses The efficiency is generally defined as follows: In our case study, as introduced in section “Quantumness certification” the excess energy is given by the quantity \(-\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E(t)\rangle >0\) where only the contribution from the off-diagonal elements of \({\hat{\rho }}_S\) accounts which originates from the incoherent field is \({\mathcal {E}}_{\textrm{in}} = {\bar{n}}\hbar \omega _{ac}\) that corresponds to the average energy of the photons impinging on the system Eq. (26) reveals that the time dependence of the efficiency follows the one of \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle\) depicted in Fig. 2 the efficiency reaches its peak when \(\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle\) is maximized with sign which occurs at a specific instant t that we denote as \({\widetilde{t}}\) both \(\eta\) and \(-\langle \mathrm{\Delta }E\rangle\) attain a maximum quasi-stationary value We conclude by noting that we have not inserted among the costs in the calculation of the efficiency the energy for preparing the initial state of the three-level system This is because we are implicitly assuming to work in a condition where the preparation of a superposition of Hamiltonian eigenstates as the initial state is given for granted this assumptions shall to be properly calibrated when dealing with the experimental realization of a process for Fano coherence generation In this paper we discuss the energetics behind the generation of Fano-like quantum coherence by using a prototypical V-type three-level system (finite dimensional quantum system) in interaction with an incoherent radiation field The latter is assumed as consisting of a continuum of modes If the excited levels of the three-level system are taken close enough then Fano coherences develop for a transient time interval They become stationary in the limiting case the excited states are degenerate the following question arises: “To what extent the process generating Fano coherence can be considered genuinely quantum?” The answer to this question would constitute a first attempt to certify the quantumness of a process while inducing quantum effects in a nonequilibrium regime we here determine the Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability distribution of the (time-dependent) energy changes in the three-level system under scrutiny while the incoherent radiation field is active If the real part of some quasiprobability is negative then one can witness the onset of a genuine quantum effect linked to quantum interference profiles Necessary condition for that is the non-commutativity of the initial state of the quantum system with the Hamiltonian \({\hat{H}}_S\) at the beginning of the dynamical transformation (recall that in the process generating Fano coherence we observe that initializing the three-level system in a superposition of the Hamiltonian eigenstates there exist a range of parameters in which negative quasiprobabilities arise but still with zero imaginary parts Initializing in the ground state of \({\hat{H}}_S\) does not lead to the same result it is important to note that further studies on the interplay between the generation of Fano coherences and the presence of quantum coherences in the initial state are needed These studies would help indeed to understand how different types of coherences affect the quantum dynamics of the open system and contribute to the loss of positivity in the KDQ distribution characterizing energy change fluctuations As mentioned in section “Model” we employ the Born approximation and we apply the partial trace over the reservoir degrees of freedom in order to obtain the reduced state for the quantum system: we assume that the modes of the reservoir are distributed among a mixture of uncorrelated thermal equilibrium states at temperature T the expectation value and the correlation function of the reservoir’s operators computed with respect to the mixture of local thermal states for each mode involving both the levels \(|a\rangle\) and \(|b\rangle\) At this point we apply the Weisskopf-Wigner approximation that assumes the all the frequency modes of the radiation field are closely spaced within a spherical volume Also the fact that the radiation field is contained in a sphere is an approximation that helps to simplify the mathematical treatment of the model it just leads to a small approximation error since the modes of the radiation fields are uncorrelated to each other given that the (light) source is incoherent The Weisskopf-Wigner approximation is formally provided by the replacement In this way, Eqs. (39)–(40) simplify as with \({\bar{n}} = [\exp (\hbar \omega _{ac}/k_BT)-1]^{-1}\) Following the methodology used in the Appendix of Ref.21 we define the polarization vector \({\varvec{\epsilon }}_{\varvec{k},\lambda }\) in spherical coordinates given that the wave vector \(\varvec{k}=|\varvec{k}|[\sin \theta \cos \phi ,\sin \theta \sin \phi ,\cos \theta ]\) Since the polarization vector must be orthogonal to the wave vector two possible instances \({\varvec{\epsilon }}_{\varvec{k},\lambda =1}\) \({\varvec{\epsilon }}_{\varvec{k},\lambda =2}\) of the polarization vector for \(\lambda =1,2\) are given by the following expressions: we compute the scalar products \(\left( \varvec{\mu }_{rc}\cdot \varvec{\epsilon }_{\varvec{k},\lambda =1}\right)\) and \(\left( \varvec{\mu }_{rc}\cdot \varvec{\epsilon }_{\varvec{k},\lambda =2}\right)\) for arbitrary electric dipole moments \(\varvec{\mu }_{ac}\) and \(\varvec{\mu }_{bc}\) and we evaluate the integrals over the spherical polar angles \(\theta\),\(\phi\) the equation of motion for \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t)\) in the Schrödinger picture is derived by adding the Hamiltonian \({\hat{H}}_S\) of the three-level system in the coherent part of the differential equation of \({\hat{\rho }}_S(t)\) it entails to solve the differential equation upon following the same steps already performed in the interaction picture The data and materials used in this research are available from corresponding authors upon a request Quantum Optics (Cambridge University Press Nonabsorbing atomic coherences by coherent two-photon transitions in a three-level optical pumping Relaxation processes in coherent-population trapping Nonlinear optical processes using electromagnetically induced transparency Quantum Statistical Theories of Spontaneous Emissions and Their Relation to other Approaches Coherence with incoherent light: A new type of quantum beat for a single atom Quantum beats and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy Effects of spontaneous emission interference on population inversions of a V-type atom Quantum-mechanical interference effects in the spontaneous-emission spectrum of a driven atom Spontaneous emission from a three-level atom Ultranarrow spectral lines via quantum interference Steady-state quantum interference in resonance fluorescence Quenching of spontaneous emission through interference of incoherent pump processes Inducing quantum coherence via decays and incoherent pumping with application to population trapping Partial secular Bloch-Redfield master equation for incoherent excitation of multilevel quantum systems Long-lived quantum coherences in a V-type system strongly driven by a thermal environment Secular versus nonsecular Redfield dynamics and Fano coherences in incoherent excitation: An experimental proposal Steady-state Fano coherences in a V-type system driven by polarized incoherent light Coherence induced by incoherent pumping field and decay process in three-level \({\Lambda }\)-type atomic system Long-lived quantum coherent dynamics of a \({\Lambda }\) system driven by a thermal environment Quantum heat engine power can be increased by noise-induced coherence Enhancing photovoltaic power by Fano-induced coherence Observation of vacuum-induced collective quantum beats Quantum dynamics of incoherently driven V-type systems: Analytic solutions beyond the secular approximation Coherent dynamics of V-type systems driven by time-dependent incoherent radiation The Theory of Open Quantum Systems (Oxford University Press The proper form of the generator in the weak coupling limit A short introduction to the Lindblad Master equation Accurate Lindblad-form master equation for weakly damped quantum systems across all regimes Bloch-Redfield equations for modeling light-harvesting complexes Bath-induced coherence and the secular approximation Quantum interferences and the question of thermodynamic equilibrium The scaling and squaring method for the matrix exponential revisited Projective measurements can probe nonclassical work extraction and time correlations Gherardini S., & De Chiara G. Quasiprobabilities in quantum thermodynamics and many-body systems: A tutorial. arXiv:2403.17138 (2024) Hernández-Gómez S. et al. Interferometry of quantum correlation functions to access quasiprobability distribution of work. arXiv:2405.21041 (2024) Quasiprobability behind the out-of-time-ordered correlator Negative quasiprobabilities enhance phase estimation in quantum-optics experiment Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability approach to the statistics of incompatible observables and enhanced work extraction in quadratic fermionic models Quantifying quantum coherence via Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability Quantum circuits for measuring weak values Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability distributions Leggett-Garg inequalities and no-signaling in time: A quasiprobability approach Quasiprobability distribution for heat fluctuations in the quantum regime Exploring quasiprobability approaches to quantum work in the presence of initial coherence: Advantages of the Margenau-Hill distribution Colloquium: Quantum fluctuation relations: Foundations and applications No-Go theorem for the characterization of work fluctuations in coherent quantum systems Negativity and contextuality are equivalent notions of nonclassicality Anomalous weak values are proofs of contextuality Anomalous weak values and contextuality: Robustness Out-of-time-ordered-correlator quasiprobabilities robustly witness scrambling Conditions tighter than noncommutation needed for nonclassicality Download references We wish to acknowledge financial support from the project PRIN 2022 Quantum Reservoir Computing (QuReCo) and the PNRR MUR project PE0000023-NQSTI financed by the European Union–Next Generation EU Istituto Nazionale di Ottica del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-INO) Francesco Saverio Cataliotti & Stefano Gherardini European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy Ludovica Donati & Francesco Saverio Cataliotti conceived and supervised the whole project; L.D performed the theoretical calculation and numerical simulations with input from F.S.C Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67037-2 Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Caleb Lomu (71) and Spencer Fano (55) flash the U during the Utes' road win over Utah State.Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah AthleticsFano and Lomu Tabbed Midseason All-Americans10/18/2024 3:32 PM | Football 2024: AUSSOM Challenges; Fano Counteroffensive; DRC Attacks FDLR; Mali’s Northern Challenges; Togo Border Pressure Editor's Note: The Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute publishes these updates with support from the Institute for the Study of War The Africa File provides regular analysis and assessments of major developments regarding state and nonstate actors’ activities in Africa that undermine regional stability and threaten US personnel and interests FARDC and allied militias launched an offensive operation on September 26 against a predominantly Rwandan Hutu rebel group in eastern DRC France-based investigative outlet Africa Intelligence reported that the Congolese army’s (FARDC) offensive aims to capture Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) Commander Pacifique Ntawunguka and will last six months.[1] Fighting since the beginning of the offensive has centered on the Lushagala refugee camp near the provincial capital of Goma French media reports that 85 percent of the nearly 80,000 refugees at the camp have fled to safety.[2] The FDLR is a predominantly ethnic Hutu armed group based in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with ties to the former officers and soldiers in the Rwandan Armed Forces who are widely condemned for their role in the 1994 Tutsi genocide.[3] The rebel group is an irredentist movement that claims its military activity aims to “drive inter-Rwandan dialogue,” but most international observers believe it aims to topple the Rwandan government.[4] The FDLR uses guerrilla tactics to attack state forces and vulnerable villages in remote areas rather than direct combat with larger forces.[5] The group is concentrated in the lower territories of North Kivu near the Rwandan border known as “Petit Nord,” and the UN estimates it has 1,000 to 1,500 fighters.[6] The DRC may have launched the offensive against the FDLR to advance ongoing peace talks aiming to halt the conflict in the eastern DRC between the DRC Angola has been mediating peace talks known as the Luanda Process between the DRC and Rwanda since July 2022.[7] The talks resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the DRC and Rwanda that went into effect on August 4.[8] However fighting between FARDC and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels resumed on August 25 with each side blaming the other for failing to abide by the agreement.[9] FARDC action against the FDLR has been a major component of peace talks Political and intelligence officials from the DRC and Rwanda have since met secretly and under the Luanda Process framework multiple times to solidify an agreement for FARDC to target the FDLR and for Rwandan troops to withdraw from the eastern DRC.[10] Angolan and Rwandan officials finalized the plan on September 14 and stipulated that FARDC would attack the FDLR and that the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) would withdraw from the DRC five days later.[11] The Congolese foreign minister refused to sign the final agreement arguing both aspects of the agreement should be implemented simultaneously.[12] The foreign minister also accused Rwanda of derailing the peace process by offering “no guarantees or concrete details” about the RDF’s withdrawal and claimed Kigali conditioned the RDF’s disengagement on FARDC’s offensive against the FDLR.[13] Both sides have agreed to attend the next slate of ministerial meetings in Luanda on October 12.[14] An anti-FDLR offensive has been a key Rwandan demand in peace talks because Rwanda’s Tutsi-dominated government views the FDLR as a threat due to the DRC’s use of the FDLR as an anti-Rwandan proxy The DRC has financed and supplied the FDLR since 2006 as a proxy to counter Rwanda and Rwandan-backed rebels operating in eastern DRC.[15] The UN and United States have sanctioned the FLDR since 2003 and 2006 and long called on the DRC to cease collaboration with the group due to human rights abuses and illegal taxation networks.[16] Kigali has accused the Congolese government of using the FDLR as a proxy to destabilize or even overthrow the Rwandan government.[17] Rwanda has also alleged that the United Nations intervention force and Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops have collaborated with the FDLR representing a direct threat to Rwanda and an obstruction to peace in the eastern DRC.[18] FDLR and M23 Areas of Operation in Eastern DRC Source: Liam Karr; Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project The Rwanda-backed and predominantly Rwandaphone M23 rebellion has made significant gains against the FARDC in the eastern DRC since Rwanda began backing the group to counter the FDLR in 2021 which is an incentive for Kinshasa to advance peace talks.[19] M23 is an armed rebellion that was established in 2012 following the failed integration of predominantly Tutsi fighters into FARDC.[20] The failed integration effort is one of many grievances among the Tutsi and other minority Rwandaphone communities that feel marginalized and violently discriminated against in the eastern DRC.[21] when negotiations between M23 and the DRC government collapsed The rebels claimed that a sudden offensive by FARDC and worsening insecurity in the eastern DRC necessitated the use of armed force to defend themselves and their communities.[22] M23 further alleged that Kinshasa failed to meet the group’s long-standing political demands including the repatriation of its members exiled abroad and the safe return of Congolese Tutsi refugees from neighboring countries.[23] M23 leaders have also demanded that the Congolese government repress FDLR militants that threaten Tutsi populations in the east.[24] Kigali began supporting the M23 insurgency in 2021 after a brief honeymoon period with newly elected Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi ended Congolese and Rwandan forces conducted joint operations against the FDLR after Tshisekedi became president in 2019 this cooperation ended in mid-2021 when Rwanda perceived the strengthening economic and security partnership between the DRC and Uganda as a threat to its economic and security interests.[25] Uganda deployed troops in the eastern DRC in 2022 to combat IS Central Africa Province locally known as the Allied Democratic Forces which has its historical roots in Uganda and carried out suicide bombings in Kampala in 2021 Rwanda viewed the deployment and growing ties as infringing on its sphere of influence Kinshasa has failed to substantially degrade the M23 insurgency The estimated 3,000 M23 insurgents have rapidly consolidated control over sizable swaths of territory in North Kivu since 2021 gradually pushing southward toward the provincial capital Goma.[30] Petit Nord has been the region most affected by violence as M23 rebels routinely clash with FARDC and allied militia groups for control over strategic military positions and key supply and trade routes near Goma.[31] The UN and other international experts tripled the territory under its control in 2022 and then further expanded operations and has since grown its territorial control by at least another 70 percent since a six-month ceasefire broke down in October 2023.[32] This growth includes significant gains around Goma in 2024 that have involved heavy fighting around refugee camps used by FARDC and allied armed groups as de facto military bases.[33] The Congolese government has sought to gain local and international allies to boost its military capacity and increase diplomatic pressure on Rwanda to halt the M23 advance Kinshasa has co-opted FDLR militants and partnered with dozens of loosely organized militia groups claiming to total of 40,000 fighters known as the “Wazalendo,” who have launched attacks against M23.[34] Kinshasa has also invited foreign troops to repel M23 including the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) and SADC troops The ENDF launched a counteroffensive against ethno-nationalist insurgents known as Fano in Ethiopia’s northwestern Amhara region.[38] The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the regional Amhara government said on October 1 that they will “intensify” operations against leaders of Fano militias and individuals who provide Fano with logistic support and information.[39] The ENDF launched the counteroffensive to degrade Fano militarily and target support networks that could help Fano reconstitute itself in the future The ENDF is using the counteroffensive to push Fano to peace talks The ENDF spokesperson said that “for peace to prevail they [Fano] need to be met with force.”[40] Fano has waged a mostly low-level insurgency in northern Ethiopia’s Amhara region since August 2023.[41] Fano launched an offensive in July 2024 that included expanding control over several key roadways and attacking Ethiopia’s second-largest city in September.[42] The ENDF has doubled operations against Fano in the region between mid-September and early October shortly after Fano attacked Ethiopia’s second-biggest city on September 16.[43] The ENDF conducted five operations against Fano between September 20 and September 26 compared with 13 operations between September 27 and October 3.[44] The ENDF has also used nonmilitary means to cut off potential support for Fano and disrupt Fano’s communications The ENDF initiated a major arrest campaign targeting suspected Fano fighters as well as civilians and government officials suspected of supporting or collaborating with Fano Amnesty International reported that the Ethiopian military and police forces have arbitrarily arrested hundreds of people across the Amhara region since September 28.[45] An Ethiopian journalist also reported internet outages in some parts of the Amhara region.[46] ENDF Campaign Against Fano in the Amhara Region   Source: Kathryn Tyson; Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project Fano has maintained attacks against the Ethiopian military in the region and likely seeks to establish control over key lines of communication to degrade the federal government’s access to Amhara region Fano attacks have remained at consistent levels since the ENDF launched its campaign on October 1 Fano conducted 16 attacks targeting the ENDF from September 20 to 26 compared with 21 attacks from September 27 to October 3.[47] Pro-Fano media has also reported that Fano has continued temporarily seizing control of towns in the Amhara region.[48] Fano has also looted weapons and ammunition from ENDF bases and ENDF-controlled towns to resupply itself for further attacks.[49] Fano continues to target the ENDF on key east–west highways in Amhara and the A3 and B31 highways the two major north–south highways between the Amhara region and Addis Ababa.[50] Fano announced on October 3 the closure of all major highways in Amhara for nonemergency purposes following the ENDF campaign.[51] Fano Attacks Targeting the ENDF in the Amhara Region   Negotiations between Fano and the Ethiopian government are not progressing and both sides are unlikely to reach an agreement in the coming months Fano’s primary objective—advancing Amhara ethno-nationalist interests through armed resistance—is at odds with the ENDF which seeks to disarm and dismantle Fano.[52] There are several obstacles to ending the fighting The federal government created a 15-member peace council in June 2024 to facilitate negotiations that have not made significant progress.[53] Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said talks were taking place in August 2024 but a Fano spokesperson denied participating in such talks.[54] Fano lacks a centralized command structure and does not have formal leadership to negotiate with the federal government.[55] Internal disputes within Fano have also hindered attempts to negotiate with the government.[56] The ENDF also launched a similar campaign in 2023 Ethiopian forces arrested suspected Fano fighters and supporters in 2023 before the group reconstituted and began high levels of attacks on the ENDF The ENDF said on October 1 that Fano’s “urban cells are relocating to rural areas” which will help the group establish “escape routes,” presumably referring to areas to which Fano can retreat.[57] The ENDF also said that Fano has “intensified propaganda.” Pro-Fano media have reported some defections from regional governments to Fano but CTP-ISW cannot verify these reports.[58] CTP previously warned that a heavy-handed and military-focused counterinsurgency strategy would likely exacerbate the grievances driving the insurgency in the long term.[59] Partners for the new AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia disagree on Egypt’s role as a troop-contributing country and funding for the mission as the November 15 deadline to submit the mission plans to the UN Security Council approaches The African Union (AU) Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is supposed to succeed the outgoing AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) on January 1 when the ATMIS mandate expires at the end of 2024 Some partner countries disagree with Egypt’s inclusion in the new mission due to Egypt’s role in the Ethiopia-Somalia dispute and Egypt’s lack of involvement in prior missions Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi confirmed in August that Egypt planned to contribute troops to the revamped AU mission in Somalia that is scheduled to begin in 2025.[63] International and regional outlets have reported that 5,000 Egyptian troops will deploy to Somalia as part of the mission which would be nearly half of the planned 11,146 military force.[64] The Somali Federal Government (SFG) and Egypt have increased military cooperation to counter Ethiopia throughout 2024 after the SFG aims to counter Ethiopia’s memorandum of understanding for a naval base with the de facto independent breakaway Somaliland region in northern Somalia that Ethiopia signed in January 2024.[65] The SFG has repeatedly called the deal a violation of Somali sovereignty Egypt has attempted to strengthen ties with Somalia for years to court Somali support to counter Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project.[66] Egypt has repeatedly labeled the GERD an existential threat that will degrade—or enable Ethiopia to control—its Nile water supply which is vital for Egypt’s economy and general population.[67] The SFG and Egypt have signed several agreements since August that aim to enable Somalia to expel and replace the 8,000–10,000 Ethiopian troops fighting al Shabaab in Somalia with Egyptian forces and threaten Ethiopia by allowing Egypt to pose a military threat on Ethiopia’s border.[68] Regional troop-contributing countries (TCCs) have criticized Egypt’s potential inclusion in the mission Some international and regional partners warned that Egypt’s inclusion would give Egypt a victory in its rivalry with Ethiopia and undermine the main objective of the mission to counter al Shabaab.[69] Uganda’s foreign minister also argued that Egypt’s inclusion in the mission would disrupt the mission’s structure given that the current TCCs have been working together for a decade.[70] The foreign minister alluded to both criticisms when saying “why does Egypt want to join now where have they been all this time” in comments to a Kenyan-based news site.[71] However the AU already provisionally accepted Egypt’s offer in August.[72] Somalia Seeks External Support to Counter Ethiopia-Somaliland Port Deal Egypt replacing Ethiopia in the AU mission would exacerbate the growing tensions among Egypt and between the Somali Federal Government and local administrations Ethiopia believes the change would undermine its security against al Shabaab CTP previously assessed that Ethiopian forces will almost certainly try to remain in Somalia to maintain a buffer zone against al Shabaab and prevent an al Shabaab offensive into Ethiopia Ethiopia has also repeatedly warned that Egypt’s growing military presence in Somalia poses a national security threat and warned Egypt and the international community against including Egypt as part of the new AU mission.[74] Reports have varied as to where the Egyptian contingent of the mission will deploy.[75] One option is Egypt deploying to the Ethiopian forces’ area of operations in a direct swap given Ethiopia is primarily responsible for nearly all sectors in Somalia that border Ethiopia meaning Egyptian troops would take control of these areas Several Somali federal member states that host Ethiopian troops have also rejected the proposed swap.[76] Multiple leaders and politicians in Somalia’s Jubbaland and South West states have spoken out against the SFG’s plans to expel Ethiopian troops.[77] The SFG has already begun retaliating against local politicians speaking out in favor of Ethiopia marginalizing these communities and increasing the risk of an internal conflict.[78] Many of the Somali forces that operate in these states alongside Ethiopian soldiers respond to their clan and regional leaders such as the Somali National Army or the SFG.[79] Disagreements between the federal government and these local factions have historically led to clashes between local and national forces often the local factions receiving external backing from Ethiopia or Kenya.[80] Egypt taking a large role in the mission would also likely disrupt the mission structure and initially degrade its effectiveness as Egyptian troops and potentially other TCCs acclimate to a new operating environment and a rearranged AU mission structure The alternative to Egypt assuming control of Ethiopia’s sectors in the current mission is Egypt deploying to a different part of Somalia and reassigning one of those countries to cover Ethiopia’s former areas This change eliminates the relationships and understanding that the national contingents of the TCCs have developed with local leaders and civilians in their areas of operations The impact would be especially salient given the complex and unique nature of Somalia’s clan politics International partners have also still not agreed on the mission’s funding mechanisms The US State Department released a statement along with Qatar and the UK that emphasized the urgent need to finalize funding options for the new mission.[81] Western partners aired concerns about continuing to fund a new mission due to worries about long-term financing and sustainability leading the AU and EU to push for member-contribution funding.[82] The AU had previously said that it planned to fund the mission through UN-assessed contributions instead of relying on specific donors.[83] UN-assessed contributions are pools of money shared among the member states based on their gross domestic product that the UN General Assembly determines is needed to finance an approved expense.[84] JNIM launched three simultaneous attacks against Malian and Russian bases across northern Mali including its first SVBIED attack in northern Mali since September 2023 The main Jama’at Nusrat al Islam (JNIM) attack targeted the military base in Ber beginning with three suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIEDs) followed by additional militants JNIM simultaneously targeted the airstrips at military bases in Timbuktu and Gao with rockets These secondary attacks aimed to prevent air aid from reaching the main attack at Ber and none of the rockets hit their targets in Gao and Timbuktu.[85] Malian forces also killed a JNIM field commander during the fighting The attack was the first SVBIED attack in northern Mali since September 2023.[86] JNIM said the attack was retaliation for Malian and Russian atrocities against civilians framing itself as a protector to gain popular support The JNIM emir for the Timbuktu region called the attack “a legitimate and natural response to the massacres and crimes perpetrated by this junta and its allies” in the statement claiming the attack.[87] JNIM framed its September 17 attacks in the Malian capital The group noted in its claims that it inflicted losses on the “Wagner mercenaries” at the air base and avenged “the hundreds of massacres and slaughters perpetrated by this junta and its Russian allies against our Muslim people.”[88] JNIM launched the attack as security forces are preoccupied with threats in other areas of northern Mali A significant number of Malian and Russian forces have been operating in far northern Mali’s Kidal region since the end of September Two Malian and Russian convoys consisting of more than 70 vehicles and at least 500 Malian and pro-government Tuareg militia fighters deployed from Gao on August 30 and arrived in the northernmost regional capital on September 12.[89] The convoy then departed from Kidal city on September 29 and traveled eastward to Tin Essako before traveling north toward the town of Tinzaouten along the Algerian border.[90] CTP assessed that militants with likely ties to both al Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate and the Tuareg separatist rebel coalition participated in an ambush on July 26 near Tinzaouten that repelled the previous Malian-Russian offensive in this area and killed at least 84 Russian and 47 Malian soldiers.[91] However the convoy retreated back to Kidal on October 8 after claiming to retrieve the bodies of Malian soldiers that died in the July ambush.[92] Tuareg rebels have also begun attacking Malian and Russian bases across the Timbuktu region using drones to drop improvised explosive devices Tuareg rebels first debuted the tactic in the July ambush at Tinzaouten.[93] The rebels have carried out five more “drone drop” attacks on security force bases in Timbuktu since the beginning of September.[94] The rebels have targeted bases at Goundam and Lere twice each CTP previously noted that the new tactic enables the group to conduct indirect fire to harass or fix security force units given they lacked mortar capabilities.[95] JNIM conducted its second-deadliest attack in Togo The group attacked a construction site near Fanworgou village in northern Togo near the Burkinabe border The attack killed at least nine soldiers and 10 civilians.[96] Most of the civilians were either caught in the crossfire or construction employees JNIM’s deadliest attack in Togo killed 31 civilians in northern Togo in February 2023.[97] The attack is likely part of an effort to degrade Togolese border security and strengthen its cross-border rear support zones enabling them to carry out more regular and more severe attacks in Togo.[101] A lack of cross-border cooperation has contributed to JNIM’s strengthening cross-border activity Burkinabe and Togolese cross-border military cooperation has largely stopped since Burkina Faso’s 2022 coup strengthening JNIM’s havens along the border.[102] Togo has expressed interest in resuming cooperation with Burkina Faso to address the growing insecurity.[103] The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project recorded two Burkinabe cross-border operations into Togo in June for the first time since the 2022 Burkinabe coup but Burkinabe forces have not sustained these operations Togo sporadically carries out clusters of drone strikes on Burkinabe territory Salafi-Jihadi Areas of Operation in the Littorals JNIM will likely increase the rate and severity of its attacks in Benin and Togo in the coming months as the area enters the dry season JNIM has also used its support zones in Burkina Faso to strengthen its cross-border activity in Benin The group carried out its deadliest attack against Beninese security forces in July 2024 when it killed 12 rangers near the Mekrou River The rainy season in northern Benin and northern Togo generally runs from May through October.[104] Seasonal rains often degrade access to and from JNIM’s support zones in the park networks along the borders of Benin and Togo.[105] JNIM significantly increased its rate of attacks in Benin during the most recent dry season compared with less than four attacks per month during the 2024 rainy season.[106] Stronger rear support zones in northern Togo and other littoral states creates the risk that JNIM uses these support zones to expand farther south in the future Insurgents can use these havens to project force deeper into the littoral states capitalize on local grievances as they arise and gradually increase their sway over local communities Increased local traction would presumably increase the likelihood that local JNIM militants pursue local objectives in the littoral states as opposed to using the area as a rear support zone JNIM also used these support zones to increase to escalate their activity against Benin and Togo in response to heightened counterinsurgency activity in 2022 highlighting their ability to give priority to activity in the littoral states as it sees fit.[107] Local media reported that JNIM killed at least two Turkish soldiers in the attack in northern Togo Turkey’s efforts intersect with US efforts to bolster border security in Benin and Togo The United States has leveraged programs like the Global Fragility Act (GFA) to offer military aid that aims to enable nonmilitary projects to increase community resilience and target the root grievances that JNIM capitalizes on to recruit.[114] Benin and Togo are two of five coastal West African countries that receive support from the GFA.[115] The US Departments of State and Defense and the US Agency for International Development implement targeted development and security assistance to recipient countries through the GFA.[116] US Africa Command Commander Gen Michael Langley and the US ambassador to Togo led a delegation meeting with the Togolese president and other leaders in August 2023 as part of these efforts.[117] The United States is more militarily engaged in Benin where it is refurbishing an air base and helping medevac and advise Beninese forces.[118] [1] 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https://africacenter.org/security-sector-profiles/togo [112] https://www.africaintelligence.com/west-africa/2024/07/17/lome-turns-to-turkish-instructors-and-paramount-for-military-support,110269163-eve; https://x.com/Africa_In_EN/status/1813469860220883031; https://x.com/Africa_In_FR/status/1813469766595547610 [113] https://lalternative dot info/2024/10/04/togo-attaque-djihadiste-a-fanworgou-des-soldats-turcs-parmi-les-victimes [116] https://www.state.gov/the-u-s-strategy-to-prevent-conflict-and-promote-stability-10-year-strategic-plan-for-coastal-west-africa [117] https://www.africom.mil/pressrelease/35244/usafricom-leaders-visit-cote-divoire-togo [118] https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/u-s-moves-aircraft-commandos-into-west-africa-in-fight-against-islamist-militants-0b15c41b; https://www.voanews.com/a/general-who-oversaw-us-military-withdrawal-from-niger-explains-us-movements-partnerships-in-west-africa/7791629.html Metrics details Higher sensitivity with specific recognition of a sensor could ease the burden of sample purification or labelling procedure for specific testing and detection and there appear two methods including surface enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) promising better sensitivity and specificity researchers employ Fano resonance to further boost the detection limit of SEIRA by coupling between two absorption bands from molecules and metamaterials the current metamaterial absorbers are almost narrow band and require a specific design we would like to design a broadband oblique-wire-bundle (OWB) metamaterial absorber (MA) which could interact with multiple functional groups’ absorption from a sample thus easing the burden of custom-made resonators our designed OWB MA developed four Fano resonance responses with three PMMAs’ functional groups and one function group from carbon dioxide The counterpart planar MA also performed SEIRA yet without occurrence of Fano resonance as a comparison We believe this proposed OWB MA could facilitate the development of rapid detection in the field of food safety and chemical detection these methods are insufficient due to their drawbacks such as still limited detection frequency ranges we would like to design an oblique-wire-bundle (OWB) metamaterial absorber accomplished by oblique deposition for its broad absorption band and strong hot spot with larger hot spot areas; with the proposed OWB MA one might detect a sample composed of a mixture of different kinds of chemicals with a higher sensitivity and a higher signal to noise ratio and without a custom-made sensor The OWB metamaterial absorber possessed a broad absorption band from 100 to 180 THz under x-polarization and an even wider bandwidth 111 THz (69 to 180 THz) under y-polarization incidence the planar metamaterial revealed an absorption peak of 0.72 with a bandwidth of 15.6 THz under the x-polarization and an absorption peak of 0.6 with a bandwidth of 15.65 THz under the y-polarization It is worth pointing out that the small peak/dip shown at the frequency of 70.5 THz in the spectra of the OWB and planar metamaterial absorbers could be attributed to the stretching vibration mode of C = O from CO2 it is an absorption peak in the spectrum of the OWB metamaterial absorber but a dip for the planar absorber which might stem from the CO2 concentration variation for the background and device measurement due to larger hot spot areas and stronger field enhancement the OWB metamaterial absorber enhanced the vibration mode from CO2 thus resulting in stronger absorption compared to the planar metamaterial absorber Schemes of (a) an oblique wire bundle (OWB) and (b) planar metamaterial absorbers Measured and simulated absorption spectra of (c f) planar metamaterial absorbers under the x- and y-polarization incidences without PMMA Insets show SEM images of the fabricated absorbers It is worth pointing out that there appeared small peaks in the measured results at 70.5 THz for the spectra of the OWB metamaterial absorber which could be attributed to the vibrational stretching mode of C = O These peaks indicated the stronger field enhancement and larger hot spot areas thus facilitating occurrence of Fano resonance from the OWB metamaterial absorber than the planar one d) might stem from the fluctuation of CO2 concentration for the measurement of the background and the absorber Measured and simulated absorption spectra of the (a d) planar metamaterial absorbers under the x- and y-polarizations with PMMA The OWB metamaterial absorber could couple to all the four molecular vibration modes and developed Fano resonance while the planar metamaterial absorber could only couple to the vibrational mode of CO2 with a superposition behavior for all the other three modes from PMMA to elucidate the interaction between the metamaterial absorbers and chemicals we conducted simulation of the OWB and planar metamaterial absorbers with PMMA and CO2 as well A 460-nm-thick analyte was applied onto the absorber with a dielectric constant predicted by Lorentz model listed below Absolute field |E| distributions of (a d) planar metamaterial absorbers under x- and y-polarizations at 126.25 and 140.75 THz The OWB metamaterial absorber revealed larger local maximum |E| compared to the ones of planar metamaterial absorber OWB metamaterial absorber showed much more hot spot area compared to the planar metamaterial absorber (not shown here) the global maximum |E| for the OWB and planar metamaterial absorbers are 6.63 × 108/2.16 × 109 and 4.89 × 108/4.43 × 108 V/m under x- and y-incidences evidencing that the OWB metamaterial absorber indeed provided stronger hot spots with a larger area facilitating coupling with molecular absorption and occurrence of Fano resonance Simulated absorption spectra of the (a) OWB and (b) planar metamaterial absorbers under the x- and y-polarizations with 100-nm-thick PMMA The OWB metamaterial absorber could couple to all the four molecular vibration modes while the planar metamaterial absorber only showed the superposition of absorption magnitude even for the O = C = O stretching vibrational mode of CO2 Simulated absorption spectra of the (a) OWB and (b) planar metamaterial absorbers under the x- and y-polarizations with PMMA for the reduced resonance strength of 0.0001 The OWB metamaterial absorber could couple to all the four molecular vibration modes with the asymmetric line shapes while the planar metamaterial absorber only showed the superposition of absorption magnitude Schemes of DR with the different resonance strengths for three different functional groups under the (a) x-polarization and (b) y-polarization incidences The data points could be fitted by exponential decay with R-squares above 0.96 we have proposed an oblique-wire-bundle metamaterial absorber with broad absorption bandwidths of 299 and 317 THz under the x- and y-polarization incidences which covered almost all the infrared absorption spectra of different chemicals Such proposed OWB metamaterial absorber alongside with the planar metamaterial absorber are tested with PMMA and CO2 for the coupling with the vibrational modes of the different analytes The OWB metamaterial absorber revealed strong interaction with the analytes even with smaller thicknesses or weaker resonance strengths; in contrast the planar metamaterial absorber could not interact with the chemicals well and showed superposition of absorption for almost all the cases We believed that this proposed OWB metamaterial absorber could help the development of rapid detection in the field of food safety and chemical detection The data sets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request To fabricate the oblique-wire-bundle metamaterial absorber and its comparison we deposited 4-nm-thick titanium and 150-nm-thick aluminum on a silicon substrate spin coat photo resist of PMMA A5 with an initial rotation speed of 1000 rpm for 10 s and a final rotation speed of 4000 rpm for 60 s the sample was hard baked under 180 °C for 3 min the electron beam exposure was carried out the sample was immersed into a solution of MIBK and IPA in a ratio of 1 to 3 for 50 s 120-nm-thick magnesium fluoride was deposited onto the sample to fabricate the oblique-wire-bundle metamaterial absorber the as-fabricated sample was put into acetone for the lift-off process to remove residual photoresist; e-gun deposition was then conducted for 4-nm-thick titanium and for the growth of aluminum wire bundles on an 86-degree tilted stage to fabricate the planar metamaterial absorber 4-nm-thick titanium and 50-nm-thick aluminum were consequently deposited onto the sample the as-fabricated sample was put into acetone for the lift-off process to remove residual photoresist Boron Nitride nanoresonators for phonon-enhanced molecular vibrational spectroscopy at the strong coupling limit High-Q Plasmonic Fano Resonance for Multiband Surface‐enhanced infrared absorption of Molecular Vibrational sensing PVC Detection through a hybrid SEIRA substrate and refractive Index Sensor based on Metamaterial Perfect absorbers highly-stable surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate by Si Nanowire Arrays Decorated with au nanoparticles and au backplate Plasmonic nanoshell arrays combine surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopies on a single substrate Three-dimensional SERS sensor based on the sandwiched G@AgNPs@G/PDMS film Graphene Coated Dielectric Hierarchical Nanostructures for highly sensitive Broadband Infrared sensing Synthesized complex-frequency excitation for ultrasensitive molecular sensing A graphene-metal hybrid biosensor for SEIRA spectroscopy applications Ultrasensitive Plasmon-enhanced Infrared Spectroelectrochemistry Reduced graphene oxide nanosheets decorated with core-shell of Fe3O4-Au nanoparticles for rapid SERS detection and hyperthermia treatment of bacteria Detection of neonicotinoids in agricultural products using magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers-surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy Fabrication of in situ magnetic capturing and Raman enhancing nanoplatelets for detection of bacteria and biomolecules Ultrasensitive and Selective Gas Sensor based on a Channel Plasmonic structure with an enormous hot Spot Region Nanostructured Black Silicon as a stable and surface-sensitive platform for time-resolved in situ Electrochemical Infrared absorption spectroscopy Engineering Near-Infrared Plasmonic Spiky Gold nanostructures for highly efficient surface‐enhanced Raman Spectroscopy‐guided Cancer Hyperthermia Therapy Surface Plasmon Polaritons on Silver Gratings for Optimal SERS Response Substrate matters: surface-polariton enhanced Infrared Nanospectroscopy of Molecular vibrations All-dielectric metasurfaces with high Q-factor Fano resonances enabling multi-scenario sensing Ultrasensitive detection and characterization of molecules with infrared plasmonic metamaterials & Electrically reconfigurable phase change material-based Metamaterial Absorber for Broadband Molecular Fingerprint Retrieval Design and optimization of broadband metamaterial absorber based on manganese for visible applications Achieving broad absorption band and high incident angles by stochastically-distributed oblique-flat-sheet metamaterial perfect absorbers Creating hot spots within air for better sensitivity through design of oblique-wire-bundle metamaterial perfect absorbers Periodically structured glancing Angle Deposition Thin films Download references The authors acknowledge the financial support from National Science and Technology Council (NSTC 113-2221-E-131-019) and from the Center for Plasma and Thin Film and Thin Film Technologies and Ming Chi University of Technology Hsueh-Shun Lee and Yu-Ping Kuang contributed equally Department of Materials Science and Engineering Center for Plasma and Thin Film and Thin Film Technologies All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78633-7 Utah Football's Spencer Fano Named PFF All-American12/9/2024 11:31 AM | Football 2024: Fano Offensive in Ethiopia’s Amhara; Egypt Arms Somalia; Rebel Drones in Mali; Burkina Thwarts Another Coup Editor's Note: The Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute publishes these updates with support from the Institute for the Study of War Fano has launched an offensive in northern Ethiopia’s Amhara region since July that has involved the militants’ briefly seizing several key areas including parts of Ethiopia’s second-largest city in September most of which are small and operate autonomously.[1] These forces are highly effective despite their small size because they are well trained as many members—including leadership—are former members of regional or federal armed forces and have extensive local support.[2] Fano Launches Offensive Across the Amhara Region Note: Attacks are only Fano attacks against ENDF Prior average is the monthly average from September 2023 to June 2024 Fano factions have significantly increased their rate of attack on the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) across Amhara region since the beginning of July The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) recorded that Fano carried out 68 attacks against the ENDF in Amhara region in each of July and August and ACLED and CTP data show Fano is on pace to reach around this same number in September.[3] This rate is nearly triple Fano’s monthly average of roughly 25 attacks between September 2023 and June 2024.[4] Fano Escalates Attacks Across the Amhara Region Note: Attacks are only Fano attacks against ENDF in Amhara Region “CAR” is Central African Republic and “DRC” is Democratic Republic of the Congo Fano has also claimed to briefly capture significantly more villages or rural districts ACLED recorded 15 Fano-claimed captures in July and another four in September.[5] CTP has recorded a further 19 claimed captures in September from Amhara-affiliated media sources although it cannot confirm these claims.[6] These figures are exponentially larger than the monthly average of two to three villages from September 2023 to June 2024.[7] Fano also claimed to hold local elections to set up local administrations in seized areas creating mechanisms to maintain its influence even though government forces often reenter most areas when Fano withdraws after the brief seizures.[8] Fano Briefly Seizes Areas Across the Amhara Region Note: “CAR” is Central African Republic and “DRC” is Democratic Republic of the Congo on September 16.[9] Militants briefly controlled the southern part of the city before withdrawing to defense positions within 10 kilometers of the town.[10] It was Fano’s first significant assault on Gondar since it briefly seized the city during its first major offensive in August 2023.[11] The Fano insurgency initially began in April 2023 after more than a year of deteriorating Fano ties with the federal government over grievances with the federal government’s protection of Amharas and Fano interests in various violent conflicts across Ethiopia including land disputes and defending Amhara minorities facing violence in parts of Ethiopia outside Amhara region.[15] Fano militants initially fought alongside the federal government during the Tigray war from 2020 to 2022.[16] Fano supported the federal government largely due to their shared enemy in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).[17] Fano had been part of the political coalition that ousted the previous TPLF-led federal administration The conflict was also a chance for Fano to assert its control over disputed areas of Tigray region that are de jure part of Tigray region but contain ethnic Amhara who want to be part of Amhara region.[18] The partnership between Fano and the government fractured in 2022 as the Tigray war ended and tensions between the two surfaced.[19] The federal government views Fano as a threat because it is an unincorporated force outside government control.[20] Fano also had several issues with the Pretoria peace agreement that ended the Tigray war in November 2022 Fano was concerned that the federal government planned to force it to return control of the disputed areas it had captured during the civil war.[21] The government has since proposed a referendum in the disputed areas in line with the language of the Pretoria peace deal but most Amharas oppose the idea.[22] Amharas also believe the peace deal fails to achieve accountability and justice for TPLF abuses against Amhara civilians during the war.[23] Amharas viewed the deal as a betrayal due to the popular perception that the federal government failed to protect Amhara when the TPLF invaded in 2021 and 2022 leaving Fano as the only line of defense.[24] leading clashes to decline in May and June 2023.[29] and launched an offensive against several key cities in Amhara region in July and August 2023.[30] The federal government estimates that at least 50 percent of the disbanded special forces joined Fano which was key to Fano’s strengthening.[31] Fano fighters attacked and briefly captured key cities and Lalibela.[32] Federal forces retook the towns but the offensive undermined the federal government’s legitimacy by demonstrating that the group could inflict serious costs on federal forces and significantly disrupt civilian life.[33] Amhara regional council established a new government including a new president and security sector heads to try and address grievances in August 2023 but Fano and Amhara nationalists have continued to have little faith in the government and accused it of being dominated by Oromos.[34] The recent Fano offensive likely aims to establish control over key lines of communication to degrade the federal government’s access to northern Amhara and disputed territories in Tigray region The offensive began in July with operationally distinct Fano militias in Gondar and Gojjam provinces (known as zones in Ethiopia) increasing the rate of attacks along key roads.[35] ACLED recorded that Fano carried out ten attacks on the A3 road which links the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to Amhara regional capital Bahir Dar.[36] Militants carried out seven attacks along the B30 highway between the Gondar suburbs and the disputed regions in Tigray.[37] This included three temporary seizures of villages along the B30.[38] Fano militants in Gojjam province escalated their efforts to degrade the lines of communication between Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar in August ACLED recorded another 13 Fano attacks against ENDF forces along the A3.[39] Militants also expanded attacks to the neighboring B31 road the other major road linking Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar carrying out 12 attacks along the B31.[40] Fano units in Gondar increased attacks on the B30 in September after a lull in August and launched an offensive to gain control over the C34 road Fano carried out another eight attacks along the B30 this time claiming to briefly seize four villages including two villages it previously claimed to capture in July.[41] Fano militants carried out ten attacks along the C34 and overran ENDF forces at Metema at the beginning of September which Sudanese media reported led ENDF forces to withdraw and surrender to Sudanese forces across the border.[42] Controlling the crossing allows Fano to regulate and tax goods and people moving across the border from Sudan into Amhara region.[43] Fano militias have regularly attacked and encircled Gondar city and Woldia town since July likely to isolate government forces and establish control over smaller villages and rural areas along nearby roads Fano’s voluntary withdrawal to encircle Gondar city and encirclement of Woldia highlights an attempt to isolate government forces in these larger population centers rather than establish lasting territorial control.[44] Fano has rarely controlled major urban centers since the insurgency began and this pattern repeated itself in Fano’s latest Gondar city attack Gondar and Woldia are key nodes in Amhara’s road system with at least three major roads running through or near both towns which all run north–south and link Addis Ababa which runs north–south from Addis Ababa to southern Tigray via Amhara which connects eastern and Western Amhara and the A2 and A3 highways Fano seized villages and district seats in more rural areas along the respective roads with government forces preoccupied with the threat to the major population centers.[45] These claims include numerous seizures on the B22 The Ethiopian government is likely unable to defeat the insurgency militarily and the latest offensive threatens to further erode the local trust and legitimacy of the federal government The Ethiopian government has taken a military-centric approach to the insurgency by declaring a state of emergency which establishes a command post from which a specially appointed federal representative reports directly to the prime minister.[47] The representative exercises broad powers including the ability to detain suspects and search property without a court order and ban public gatherings.[48] The latest offensive highlights that these efforts have not degraded the insurgency.[49] Fano also claimed to set up local administrations in captured areas during the September 2024 offensive creating mechanisms to maintain its influence even if government forces reenter these areas.[50] The growing insurgency and violence against civilians threaten to further undermine popular support for the government in Amhara.[51] The general insecurity has contributed to the proliferation of criminal behavior such as kidnapping for ransom and civilian targeting.[52] This has led to protests against the federal government over the degradation of security.[53] Recent protests in Gondar city in September turned violent after security forces fired on protestors killing at least 25 people and further feeding the popular grievances that are propelling the Fano insurgency.[54] Fano’s decentralized structure makes it hard for the movement to leverage its strength into political power Fano lacks a leader or unified platform for negotiations with the government and the various factions that compose Fano have different strategic aims Fano militias are also disunited and have varying goals due to their political and birthplace differences.[55] Fano factions’ goals range greatly including some segments that want to overthrow Abiy’s government.[56] Fano has tried to organize to help facilitate peace talks but internal fissures and a lack of trust in the federal government have hampered the discussions and prevented it from articulating a clear plan or positioning itself as a viable alternative to the federal government.[57] Fano commanders have personally stated that they are not ready to negotiate with the government before unifying themselves.[58] The federal government created a 15-member peace council in June to facilitate negotiations that has not made significant progress but the head of the council said on September 25 that some leaders had shown an interest in discussions.[59] A strengthened Fano insurgency increases the risk of ethnic conflict with neighboring regions in Ethiopia Fano’s effort to degrade government control of the lines of communication connecting Addis Ababa to the disputed areas of Tigray region during its recent offensive may be setting conditions to prevent political or military efforts to remove the territories from Amhara control which would increase ethnic conflict between Amharas and Tigrayans Tigrayan militia forces mobilized in February 2024 to retake the disputed areas under the de facto control of the Amhara administration leading to several clashes with Fano.[60] The Tigray administration has also demanded that all non-Tigrayan forces withdraw from the disputed areas before a potential referendum while the current Amhara administrations have rejected referenda outright.[61] The Tigrayan administration claimed in May that it reached an agreement with the federal government to return the thousands of displaced Tigrayans to the disputed areas and create new local administrations.[62] Fano commanders called the announcement a provocation and accused the Tigrayan administration of “beating a war drum,” threatening to respond to any “invasion.”[63] Ethno-Nationalist Militias Area of Operations in Northern Ethiopia Heavy-handed counterinsurgency measures could also further increase political tensions and violence between various segments of the Amhara and Oromo communities Tension between the Amhara and Oromo regions has significantly grown since Abiy took office in 2018 on the back of a coordinated alliance between Amhara and Oromo opposition Anti-Amhara pogroms in Oromia region and insurgent attacks against Amhara civilians by the insurgent Oromo Liberation Army have stoked anti-Oromo resentment in the Amhara community.[64] Fano has also forcibly territory in the Oromo region which has led to several battles with regional security forces and attacks on Oromo civilians that have increased anti-Amhara resentment among the Oromo community.[65] The growing grievances have led to a split within the Amhara and Oromo factions of the ruling government as elites in the regional governments regularly contest each other’s narratives reflecting the popular polarization to maintain the legitimacy of the factions.[66] Abiy leading a destructive counterinsurgency campaign would further inflame popular grievances that Abiy’s government is anti-Amhara and increase the potential of deadly ethnically motivated violence or fighting between Amhara militias and federal forces with Oromo militia support.[67] A stronger Fano insurgency or greater ethnic violence in Ethiopia would affect transnational issues involving Eritrea and Sudan that could further destabilize Ethiopia or other areas in the Horn of Africa Greater insecurity in Ethiopia risks exacerbating refugee crises and ethnic violence in war-torn Sudan Ethiopian officials have privately noted their concern that Fano could use its presence along the Sudanese border to establish ties with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).[68] Officials aired these concerns around the time Abiy met with the opposing Sudanese Armed Forces head in Sudan in early July 2024 shortly after the RSF established a presence near the Ethiopian border with an offensive in June 2024.[69] RSF Eastern Sudan Offensive Nears Ethiopian Border Note: The denoted population centers are not exhaustive depictions of settlements or troop concentrations Source: Liam Karr; Sudan War Monitor; Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project Fano and the RSF have mutual enemies inside Ethiopia and Sudan The RSF is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) which Fano has fought several times since 2020 after the SAF evicted thousands of mostly Amhara fighters when it took control of the disputed al Fashaga border zone during the Tigray war.[70] The RSF has also made unsupported claims that Tigray militants are fighting alongside the SAF in Sudan creating another mutual enemy with Fano.[71] CTP previously assessed that Fano and RSF coordination or cooperation would lead to an increase in illicit weapons flows and ethnic violence against Tigrayan refugees in Sudan and possibly Ethiopia.[72] High tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia could also lead Eritrea to support a strengthened Fano as a proxy Eritrea already has ties with Fano dating back to the Tigray war when it trained Fano militants to degrade the TPLF in the disputed areas of western Tigray that border Eritrea.[73] Fano’s efforts to keep the disputed areas under Amhara control with its recent threats and offensive on the roads linking Addis to western Tigray would keep lines of communication between Fano and Eritrea open in the event of a conflict Continued Amhara administrative control of these disputed areas would hinder government efforts to uproot Fano from the area and cut its access to the C35 road Eritrea had fought alongside the federal government against the TPLF but tensions between the two former partners have grown substantially since the end of the Tigray war viewed the Pretoria agreement negatively because it left the TPLF intact despite Eritrea’s desire to destroy the group.[74] Eritrea kept forces in Ethiopia for months after the 2022 peace deal due to concerns that the TPLF still constituted a national security threat which was amplified by the increased alignment between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government following the peace deal.[75] Abiy also made inflammatory claims in 2023 that Ethiopia has a right to sea access and that it could secure these rights through deals with Eritrea to the Eritrean ports of Assab or Massawa.[76] Abiy said that regaining Red Sea access which it lost when Eritrea became independent in 1993 was an existential issue and “natural right” that Ethiopia would fight for if it could not secure it through peaceful means.[77] The two sides began mobilizing troops along their border in November 2023 Greater internal conflict will also constrain Ethiopia’s ability to respond to Somalia and its ally Egypt who are in a standoff with Ethiopia over Ethiopia’s decision to pursue Red Sea access through a deal with the de facto independent breakaway Somaliland region which it has repeatedly labeled as an existential threat that will degrade—or enable Ethiopia to control—its Nile water supply.[81] Ethiopia has labeled Egypt’s growing military presence in Somalia and Somalia’s threats to support ethno-nationalist movements—like Fano—as security threats and threatened to retaliate.[82] Egyptian media said Egypt deployed 1,000 soldiers to Mogadishu between August 27 and 29 while international media has reported on two arms shipments including ammunition and other weaponry since August.[83] Somalia also intends to replace Ethiopian forces fighting al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab with Egyptian forces threatening to erode the buffer zone Ethiopia has created in Somalia to protect itself against al Shabaab attacks.[84] The Somali foreign minister said in mid-September that the SFG would consider establishing contact with rebels in Ethiopia if it followed through on its port agreement CTP has assessed that currently dormant Somali insurgents in eastern Ethiopia would be the most practical option due to its proximity to Somalia rather than Fano.[85] Ethiopia could redeploy some troops from its front with Somalia if the Fano insurgency significantly escalates although CTP continues to assess that it is unlikely to withdraw from Somalia entirely despite the SFG’s plans to replace Ethiopian forces fighting al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab with Egyptian forces.[86] Bloomberg reported in 2020 that Ethiopia redeployed up to 3,000 soldiers from Somalia to Tigray during the Tigray war.[87] However it never withdrew from the African Union peacekeeping mission entirely This drawdown may have contributed to al Shabaab making some initial breakthroughs during its first major offensive into Ethiopia in 2022 although the ENDF and state paramilitary police helped repel the attack.[88] The al Shabaab offensive highlighted Ethiopia’s need to maintain a buffer zone in Somalia to protect against such attacks Ethiopia maintains more than 3,000 troops in Somalia as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and 5,000–7,000 additional Ethiopian soldiers are in the country on a bilateral basis across the regions of central and southern Somalia that border Ethiopia.[89] Local outlets have reported that Ethiopia began building up its military forces in Somali region in August and has seized several airports in regions of Somalia bordering Ethiopia in response to Egypt’s military buildup in Somalia.[90] Egypt sent its second major shipment of arms to Somalia which will likely further escalate tensions with Ethiopia and increase the risk of a direct or proxy conflict An Egyptian warship arrived in Mogadishu on September 22 carrying heavy weaponry that included antiaircraft guns and artillery.[91] Egypt sent its first shipment of arms and ammunition to Somalia in late August.[92] Ethiopia said it was “deeply alarmed” by the shipment and Egypt and Ethiopia have traded threats The UK-based outlet al Araby al Jadid reported on September 24 that Ethiopia sent a backchannel message to Egypt via Djibouti that “any Egyptian military forces that harm Addis Ababa's interests in Somalia will not be immune from dealing with them.”[93] Egypt reportedly responded that “it is ready to escalate and respond forcefully to any attempt to harm the Egyptian presence in Somalia or Somali interests in implementation of the military protocol signed with Mogadishu.”[94] Egypt and Somalia are intentionally framing their military cooperation to threaten Ethiopia while hedging that their cooperation will also help combat al Shabaab Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the shipment aimed to support Somalia to “combat terrorism and preserve its sovereignty unity and territorial integrity.”[95] The latter objective refers to Somalia’s efforts to counter Ethiopia’s port deal with Somaliland CTP has previously noted that many of the arms Egypt has sent could be used against al Shabaab.[96] However the arrival of heavy weaponry such as anti-tank and antiaircraft artillery is more clearly meant for use against Ethiopia as al Shabaab lacks the capabilities to warrant such weaponry Egyptian media also reported in early September that Egypt and Somalia were planning a military exercise which CTP previously assessed as almost certainly anti-Ethiopian rather than anti-al Shabaab.[97] CTP previously assessed that the rising tensions could lead to a direct war or proxy conflict that pits Ethiopia against Egypt and Somalia You can read the full assessment of the dispute and forecasts in the latest Africa File Special Edition: “External Meddling for the Red Sea Exacerbates Conflicts in the Horn of Africa”: https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/africa-file-special-edition-external-meddling-for-the-red-sea-exacerbates-conflicts-in-the-horn-of-africa#Somalia The influx of weapons to Somalia also risks unintentionally arming al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab Somaliland officials both warned that the weapons could fall into the hands of al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab.[98] Al Shabaab has previously looted SFG weapons and stockpiles when it overruns Somali National Army (SNA) bases or acquired weapons on the black market due to corruption within the SFG and SNA.[99] Somalia recently lifted a partial arms embargo to Somalia at the end of 2023 that had been in place in various forms for several decades due to these fears.[100] Tuareg separatist rebels have begun using drones to drop explosives on security forces for the first time The Tuareg rebel coalition Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (Cadre stratégique pour la défense du peuple de l'Azawad or CSP-DPA) has used drones to drop explosives on security forces at least three times since August They first debuted the tactic in their deadly ambush on Malian and Russian forces at Tinzaouten which killed up to 84 Russian and 47 Malian soldiers.[101] The rebels then claimed an attack that involved a drone dropping mortars on a Malian army base in the Timbuktu region on September 11.[102] Local sources linked the CSP to a similar attack that targeted the Malian army base in Timbuktu city during Malian Independence Day celebrations on September 22 and another army base in the Timbuktu region on September 26.[103] The new tactic enables the group to conduct indirect fire to harass or fix security force units ACLED has only recorded one mortar attack from the CSP and its constituent groups since they resumed fighting the Malian government in August 2023.[104] This attack also could have been al Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al Islam (JNIM) The drone explosive tactics will help address this mortar gap The tactic presumably contributed to the severity of the Tinzaouten ambush by helping halt and sandwich the convoy The rebels are also still learning to use this new technology the CSP missed its target and dropped the payload outside of the Malian army camp during the September 11 attack.[105] The CSP’s contacts in JNIM could have supported the group to develop this capability ACLED first recorded JNIM using this same drone tactic in September 2023 in an attack on a militia base in central Mali ACLED has since recorded seven similarly styled attacks in central Mali and Burkina Faso The CSP has significant historical ties to JNIM dating back to the 1990s they have made informal ceasefire agreements in their shared support areas maintained significant areas of operation and membership overlap and operationally coordinated against the Islamic State Sahel Province.[106] These ties and dueling claims led CTP and international media outlets to assess that militants from both groups participated in the Tinzaouten ambush where the CSP claimed to first debut this tactic.[107] the JNIM subgroup using these tactics in central Mali and Burkina Faso is different from the JNIM subgroup in northern Mali The Macina Liberation Front (MLF) is the JNIM subgroup based in central Mali The MLF and Ansar al Din are heavily connected The MLF’s founder was a disciple of JNIM emir and Ansar al Din founder Iyad ag Ghali many of its longtime members fought under Ansar al Din in the 2012 rebellion and the group initially described itself as Ansar al Din’s “Fulani branch” in 2016 referring to its recruitment among the Fulani ethnic group.[108] Ansar al Din has not conducted any drone attacks similar to the CSP or MLF attacks despite these ties A Ukrainian official also claimed that Ukraine supported the CSP The spokesperson of Ukraine’s military intelligence branch said after the Tinzaouten that “the [non-jihadist] rebels received the necessary information and not just information” to enable the successful attack.[109] The Ukrainian government has since denied these claims.[110] Ukraine has used drones to drop explosives like mortars and grenades on invading Russian forces.[111] The Burkinabe junta claimed to thwart another coup which it is using to rally populist support after several large-scale insurgency massacres of civilians Burkinabe Security Minister Mahamadou Sana made a statement on state media on September 24 that the junta had thwarted a broad conspiracy to overthrow the junta.[112] Sana said the conspiracy involved previous junta leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and dissidents based in neighboring countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.[113] Sana said the plan involved a group of 150 militants that were to attack the presidential palace in Ouagadougou and two other groups to attack key drone installations and border posts to preoccupy security forces.[114] The junta also framed a recent JNIM attack on August 2024 that killed hundreds of civilians as part of the plot and said that the attack aimed to destabilize the country to facilitate the coup.[115] CTP has assessed in recent months that the Burkinabe junta faced a high coup risk due to several major Salafi-jihadi attacks The most recent attack killed at least 100 villagers in northern Burkina Faso on August 24 with most sources citing death tolls of between 200 and 400 civilians.[116] JNIM militants killed nearly 200 Burkinabe soldiers and civilians during an ambush on a military convoy on August 9.[117] The junta had already survived a potential coup in June which followed what had been the JNIM’s deadliest-ever attack on Burkinabe forces.[118] The junta also claimed to thwart a coup attempt in September 2023 several weeks after another major attack.[119] Large-scale insurgent attacks contributed to 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[113] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-faso-junta-speaks-coup-plot-after-criticism-over-jihadi-massacre-2024-09-24; https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/cwyeqg2wpzxo [114] https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/cwyeqg2wpzxo; https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/burkina-faso-le-gouvernement-militaire-declare-avoir-dejoue-plusieurs-tentatives-de-destabilisation-20240924 [115] https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/cwyeqg2wpzxo; https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-faso-junta-speaks-coup-plot-after-criticism-over-jihadi-massacre-2024-09-24 [117] https://x.com/Media_Express1/status/1822619917507526727; https://x.com/WamapsENG/status/1822998519998804320; SITE Intelligence Group “JNIM Claims Deadly Ambush on Burkinabe Troops in Est Region Leaving Over 140 Casualties,” August 13 available by subscription at www.siteintelgroup.com; https://x.com/Wamaps_news/status/1822997196117090595; https://x.com/fabsenbln/status/1822920968198881303; https://x.com/SimNasr/status/1823424263795200215 [119] https://apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-soldiers-killed-attacks-b788c87aa365352426d5f3875ac7b356; https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-faso-junta-says-it-thwarted-coup-attempt-tuesday-2023-09-27; https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1484931/politique/au-burkina-faso-la-grogne-monte-dans-les-casernes Metrics details This article reports an Ultra wideband nano scale metamaterial absorber with ultrathin and flexible feature for visible spectrum applications The absorber investigated for dispersion and Fano resonance characteristics to achieve metamaterial properties as well as independent of asymmetry of structure Maximum visible spectrum wave interaction with the cascaded split nano square meta atom also ensured to achieve the absorption at highest percentage in numerical evaluation The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method incorporated with CST microwave studio computational tool used for the entire analysis on average 86.66% absorption achieved for 560 THz bandwidth peak absorption for the unit cell was 99.88% and the array shows 99.79% Dispersion gap optimized based on mode 4 to incorporate all photons for phase and group velocity inside the nano metamaterial absorber the Fano resonance wave to identify the high-quality factor at visible spectrum on nanostructure meta atom and direct-indirect visible wave trapped in the structure The dispersion gap optimization and Fano resonance make the proposed cascaded split nano square meta atom a significant candidate for visible spectrum applications like solar energy harvesting Numerous scholars have made noteworthy contributions to the field focusing on the potential of combining metamaterial characteristics with solar cells to improve efficiency and decrease the cost per unit cell certain factors still need to be considered to fully harness these benefits nanoscale metamaterial are mostly studied for symmetrical or asymmetrical shape resonating structure These resonance natures work based on the lumped component’s characteristics or mutual contribution of resonating conducting paths solar spectrum or energy harvesting focused metamaterials are mostly analysed on wave propagation interactions energy conversion ratio or polarization impact are generally assessed in reported articles to understand the potentiality in visible spectrum application scope Apart from considering these general factors asymmetric or symmetric-shaped resonator’s discrete continuum state resonance usually get ignored due to negative indexed features mostly remaining unavailable and this manuscript considered these factors meticulously to develop Fano resonance along the resonating structure we present a novel design for optimising the dispersion behaviour of a fractal Fano resonated metamaterial absorber (MA) in the visible frequency region of the solar spectrum Our proposed design involves a cascaded split nano square structure which incorporates the unique characteristics of Single Negative (SNG) metamaterials we aim to achieve adaptability to the solar spectrum and enhance the performance of the MA The structure is designed and analysed using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) approach This involves discretizing the unit cell in both time and space following Maxwell’s central difference approximation A tetrahedral mesh is utilised to model the unit cell for wave propagation along with the application of typical boundary conditions This structure is made of a metallic-optical-thin film layer where the metallic layer has a cascaded split square in both horizontal and vertical directions with (N-1) row symmetry The broadband absorption mechanism was numerically investigated with dispersion behaviour and Fano resonance characteristic based high factor the nanostructure has the potential for visible spectrum applications like energy harvesting or biochemical sensing but they also note a lower level of absorption improvements in their geometric design and fabrication methods are necessary to address these challenges The proposed metamaterial has a cascaded nano split square where the first row is comprised of five (5) split squares of 88 nm and consecutive rows have four (4) the horizontal and vertical axis have compact square shapes to create a centre capacitive gap which enhances the chances of incident visible light trapping more robustly a 90 nm nano square wall works on multiple modes of dispersion to get metamaterial properties which represents a metamaterial absorber cascaded outlook temperature/corrosion conductive substance with an optical range of 90 nanometres and nearly complete resistance to reactions with acids All three of these properties—permittivity and wave propagation—are influenced by the (N-1) row symmetry nano square split symmetrically Proposed Cascaded split nano square structure (a) Geometrical shape with parametric values (b) Thickness of substrate and backplane (c) 2 × 2 array nanostructure (d) Boundary condition of simulation set up E-field and H-field distribution at different resonance frequency (THz) as well as on the borders of the cascaded structure The proposed metamaterial absorber form shows great promise for numerical analysis in terms of vector electromagnetic wave propagation and its potential for enhancing solar cell efficiency Cascaded split nano square meta atom Characterization (a) S-parameters response (b) Relative permittivity (εr) performance (c) Relative permeability (µr) performance (d) Refractive index (ηr) performance (e) Absorption (%) vs Reflection (%) performance (f) Absorption (%) for Unit cell nano structure and 2 × 2 array (e f) illustrates the numerically extracted absorption performance both for cascaded split square nanostructure and 2 × 2 array Average absorption performance was 86.66% in the entire spectrum whereas peak absorption for the unit cell was 99.88% and the array shows 99.79% Power distribution and loss behavior of conductive layer (Gold and Graphene) Electromagnetic wave propagation through metamaterial follows the Maxwell’s equations but nonlinear dispersion during propagation come out with modification of wave equation as follows: (a) 4th order Dispersion behavior (b) Phase velocity and group velocity based on the proposed meta-atom structure Fano resonance schematic model for direct and indirect visible For a periodic structure, stated for Fano resonant36 the transmission and reflection model for direct and indirect visible waves as shown in Figure X can be expressed as- A general ohmic loss for the proposed design is 377Ω which incurs a radiative loss and reduces the total time frame for Feno resonance occurrence these ohmic losses are incorporated as a part of fabrication limitation this loss also follows the energy conservation feature as like conventional metamaterials reflection and transmission coefficient works any resonator structure resonating behaviour needs to be calculated for decay rate from the total stored energy from the visible spectrum wave propagated through the unit cell Fano resonance impact on Q factor by breaking the conducting layer thickness variation the proposed cascaded split nano square shape gives above 80% absorption by maintaining operating regions with a wide band this MA is a potential structure absorption rating for an application like solar energy harvesting system efficiency enhancement Ultra Wideband cascaded split nano square shaped MTMA for visible spectrum based on ultrathin and flexible nanostructure is numerically demonstrated This absorber exhibits an absorptivity of higher than 86.66% in a wide frequency range of approximately 440 THz-1000 THz in the visible spectrum of sunlight The proposed structure has (N-1) horizontal and vertical symmetry based on nano split square with wide capacitive split to perform as a dispersion gap optimized Fano resonant metamaterial absorber The thin triple layer and cascaded shape unit cell make this structure a more suitable form for manufacturing with the usual micro and nanotechnology Fano resonance asymmetry analysis primarily shows high-quality factors that this MTMA has strong potential to get higher wave absorption for solar energy harvesting The corresponding author oversees the data set Metamaterial-plasmonic absorber structure for high efficiency amorphous silicon solar cells Highly efficient selective metamaterial absorber for high-temperature solar thermal energy harvesting Leaves based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and TENG tree for wind energy harvesting Design of polarization and incident angle insensitive dual-band metamaterial absorber based on isotropic resonators Experimental formulation of photonic crystal properties for hierarchically self-assembled POSS–bottlebrush block copolymers Polarization angle independent perfect metamaterial absorbers for solar cell applications in the microwave Broadband polarization-independent perfect absorber using a phase-change metamaterial at visible frequencies theoretical investigation of broadband and wide-angle terahertz metamaterial absorber Ultrabroadband terahertz absorption by uniaxial anisotropic nanowire metamaterials BIRDS-1 CubeSat constellation using compact UHF patch antenna Perfect metamaterial absorber with high fractional bandwidth for solar energy harvesting A compact ultrawideband antenna based on hexagonal split-ring resonator for pH sensor application A compact meander line elliptic split ring resonator based metamaterial for electromagnetic shielding Broadband polarization-independent resonant light absorption using ultrathin plasmonic super absorbers Polarization-independent dual-band infrared perfect absorber based on a metal-dielectric-metal elliptical nanodisk array Reconfigurable paper-based metamaterial antenna: Structural transition from 2D to 3D ultra-broadband SiOC-based triply periodic minimal surface meta-structures for electromagnetic absorption Vat photopolymerization 3D printing gyroid meta-structural SiOC ceramics achieving full absorption of X-band electromagnetic wave Ferroelectric tungsten bronze-based ceramics with high-energy storage performance via weakly coupled relaxor design and grain boundary optimization Eu) dielectric ceramics for microwave/millimeter-wave communication Carbon nanofibers embedded with Fe–Co alloy nanoparticles via electrospinning as lightweight high-performance electromagnetic wave absorbers Scattering microwave signal analysis from triangular loop element of different transparent conductive thin films at Ku-band A polarization independent quasi-TEM metamaterial absorber for X and Ku band sensing applications Light absorption enhancement in tri-layered composite metasurface absorber for solar cell applications Nonlinearity in the dark: Broadband terahertz generation with extremely high efficiency DNG metamaterial reflector using SOCT shaped resonator for microwave applications Flexible multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polyvinylidene fluoride membranous composites with weakly negative permittivity and low frequency dispersion Model-based Optimization of Fishnet Metamaterial Lenses under Oblique Incidence in 2022 14th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC) Temporal coupled-mode theory for Fano resonance in light scattering by a single obstacle Temporal coupled-mode theory for the Fano resonance in optical resonators Some theoretical considerations on anomalous diffraction gratings Fano-resonant metamaterials and their applications Generation of high-power terahertz radiation by nonlinear photon-assisted tunneling transport in plasmonic metamaterials Self-assembled spectrum selective plasmonic absorbers with tunable bandwidth for solar energy conversion broadband and wide-angle hot-electron transduction using metal-semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials Download references This research was funded by Kuwait University Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment The authors have the following contribution regarding the article,“Conceptualization Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82254-5 Spencer Fano Named To 2024 Walter Camp All-America Second-Team12/12/2024 9:00 PM | Football Posted: 16/04/2025 | Category: Battles 40% decrease compared to the last two weeks 24 incidents of violence targeting civilians 140% increase compared to the last two weeks At least 259 reported fatalities due to political violence 1% increase compared to the last two weeks Two weeks after the four Fano militias — Amhara Fano in Gondar, Shewa, Gojam, and Wello — announced the start of a coordinated operation called Andinet (Amharic for “unity”) to target security force bases in the Amhara region the number of battles between the militias and government forces has decreased by over 66% This decrease comes after the beginning of operation Andinet drove an increase in battle events — is susceptible to internal conflicts as the militias seek to define their identity and assert their claim as the legitimate leaders of the Fano movement alongside the lack of common ideology and unification under one leadership that is affecting the group’s capacity to sustain such operations as well as the peace talks with the government Tadese previously served as the deputy president of the interim administration and was the head of the TDF the tensions between the Debretsion faction and the federal government remain high due to disputes over the interpretation and implementation of the Pretoria agreement From 29 March to 11 April, ACLED records 12 armed clashes between the ENDF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) — referred to by the government as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)-Shane —  in the Oromia region Seven of these armed clashes were reported in the West Shewa zone the armed clashes between the two concentrated in Meta Robi and Abuna Ginde Beret woredas the highest number of political violence involving OLA/OLF-Shane was recorded in March 2025 compared to the political violence trends in the region before December 2024 BorkenaToronto – The Fano movement is described by many as a lucky movement seen from the trajectory of unprecedented and massive grassroot support in the Amhara region and beyond It appears that mounting civilian casualties outside of combat areas in the region – as seen from Enarj Enawuga drone strike last week where more than 120 civilians were killed – is seen a deliberate action on the part of the government tend to see it as an effort to put a wedge between Fano forces and people in the region so that that latter would rethink support and/or end it that is not happening at this point – based on multiple of reports from local sources the Fano forces have been under increasing criticism for failure to form a single united and disciplined force focused on toppling Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government – whom the fano forces see as an existential threat to ethnic Amhara The core reason for the failure is a notable power struggle – particularly between Zemene Kassie and Eskinder Nega groups While there are views among some Fano leaders that a protracted war would weaken the government People in the region are said to be already exhausted Economic activity is essentially non-existent Over four million students are out of school And the humanitarian crisis is worsening in the region a politician once led the now defunct Ginbot 7-Arbegnoch Ginbar is among those who think that the struggle should not be taking years and years “Fano failed to come up with a strategy to make the struggle short,” he said in a way rejecting the presumed merit of an extended armed struggle He sees elements that are causing problems in the Fano movement and also potential Prosperity Party infiltration.Take a listen to his latest interview with Ethiopian Media services below and share your thoughts in the comments section Video : embedded from Ethiopian Media Service YouTube channelCover photo : screenshot from the video Subscribe to support https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/ Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkenaLike borkena on Facebook Add your Business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory Toronto Business Listing Ethiopian News Video Join the conversation. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter ) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Ethiopia Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission 4:32 PM | Updated: 4:33 pm SALT LAKE CITY – At the midway point of the season two Utah offensive linemen have garnered midseason All-American honors Sophomore right tackle Spencer Fano was named to PFF’s Midseason All-America team while redshirt freshman left tackle Caleb Lomu was selected by The Athletic as a Midseason Freshman All-American — Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 18, 2024 After playing and earning Freshman All-American honors himself at left tackle last season That has allowed him to blossom in the position he grew up playing He’s earned a 93.3 run-blocking grade leading all other offensive tackles by nearly six points PFF also has credited him with a nation-leading six big-time blocks Thanks in large part to his pass-blocking efficiency at 97.4 and his pass-blocking grade of 70.3 which is fourth among first and second-year tackles Lomu also earned the fourth-best run-blocking grade among the same qualifiers with a 72.7 grade RELATED: Utah Debuts New Look Ute Proud Uniform For TCU Game together with the rest of the offensive line They have done a good job in the run game and have held their own in pass protection Micah Bernard has racked up 676 yards on the ground including four games eclipsing the 100-yard mark Bernard is currently top 15 in the country in rushing yards and seems to be gaining more traction as the season wears on “When you’re good on the edges, which is the most demanding offensive line spot where you’re out on an island, you have a chance to really be good and both him and Caleb Lomu are doing an excellent job out there,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said at his Monday press conference “They’re both only second year in the program and you’re right Spencer is playing at an elite level,” he continued “He’s just getting better and better I don’t want to diminish what they’re doing but it’s very demanding out there and they’re holding down the fort The Utes’ offensive line has played well to this point of the season That effort has been spearheaded by these two gifted tackles They and the rest of the line will be vital to Utah’s success the rest of the season RELATED: Kyle Whittingham- Isaac Wilson to start Television: ESPN Streaming: Fubo, YouTube TV  Metrics details The telecommunication wavelengths are crucial for developing a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) The absorption fingerprints of many gases lie within these spectral ranges offering the potential to create a miniaturized gas sensor for PIC This work presents novel double Fano resonances within the telecommunication band based on silicon metasurfaces for selective gas sensing applications Our proposed design comprises periodically coupled nanodisk and nanobar resonators mounted on a quartz substrate Fano resonances can be engineered across the range from λ = 1.52 μm to λ = 1.7 μm by adjusting various geometrical parameters A double detection sensor of carbon monoxide (CO) at λ = 1.566 μm and nitrous oxide (N2O) at λ = 1.674 μm is developed The sensor exhibits exceptional refractometric sensitivity to CO of 1,735 nm/RIU with an outstanding FOM of 11,570 at the first Fano resonance (FR1) the sensor shows a sensitivity to N2O of 194 nm/RIU accompanied by an FOM of 510 at the second Fano resonance (FR2) The structure reveals absorption losses of 6.3% for CO at the FR1 The sensor is less selective at FR2 and limited to spectral shifts induced by each gas type Our proposed design holds significant promise for the development of a highly sensitive double-sensing refractometric photonic integrated gas sensor Despite the advantages of high sensitivity and cost-effectiveness these methods suffer from low chemical specificity The dispersion of the complex refractive index is a unique feature of each substance that can be extracted from the shift of resonance and energy losses For sensing applications, several spectral features should be considered29: First: The sharpness of the resonance wavelength is expressed by the quality factor (Q-factor) The Q-factor expresses how long the field is confined and interacts more with the analyte The high Q-factor reduces the spectral noise and hence where \({\lambda }_{res}\) is the resonance wavelength and (FWHM) is the full width at half maximum which is the spectral shift (\(\Delta \lambda\)) introduced by a change of the refractive index of the surrounding medium \((\Delta n)\) where F and \({n}_{r}\) represent the fraction of optical energy of the resonant mode in the analyte and the analyte real part of the refractive index Third: LOD represents the minimum detectable change in the refractive index and is calculated as follows30: where \(S^{{\prime }}\) is the normalized sensitivity to the resonant wavelength Fourth: The figures of merits (FOM) associated with the total Q-factor The FOM is defined as the ratio between the sensitivity and FWHM of the Fano resonance It can be expressed in terms of Q-factor and sensitivity to elaborate the tradeoffs between the sensitivity and Q-factor as follows: where \({Q}_{tot}\) represents the total Q-factor of the sensor after exposure to the analyte where \({Q}_{s}\) and \({Q}_{a}\) are the Q-factors of the sensor and the analyte the \({Q}_{tot}\) is defined by \({Q}_{a}\) \({Q}_{a}\) is expressed by the following relation: we can derive the upper limit of the FOM as: Fifth: The absorption losses (L) after the exposure to the analyte where \({FWHM}_{a}\) and \({FWHM}_{0}\) are the full width at half maximum for the analyte and free space the metasurface Q-factor is affected by the array size as the array perturbation at the edge breaks the coherence leading to strong scattering in free space and broadening the spectrum a metasurface consisting of a periodic lattice of rectangular bar and ring resonator demonstrates a sensitivity of 289 nm/RIU and an increased Q-factor as the array size increases reaching saturation (Q-factor = 489) for an array size of 90,000 unit cells and less side wall roughness put metasurfaces at the forefront platforms for various photonics applications however with less sensitivity than their plasmonic counterparts Fabrication is started with the deposition of a 220 nm thick silicon layer on a quartz substrate using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) the structure is defined using electron beam lithography (EBL) A 10 nm thick chromium (Cr) layer was deposited on top of a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resist layer to serve as a charge dissipation layer a JEOL 9300FS 100kV EBL tool was used to define the metasurface pattern on the resist A fluorine-based inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactive ion etching (RIE) recipe utilizing C4F8 and Ar gas flows was employed to etch the Si layer transferring the designed pattern onto the underlying substrate The (LVOF) is composed of two face-to-face Bragg mirrors; a flat mirror and a tapered mirror The (LVOF) acts as an array of Fabry-Pero cavities allowing multiple reflections and hence we find a strong potential for integration of our design with the (LVOF) allowing a miniaturized device with on-chip scale level Our reported design demonstrates superior performance for gas sensing applications compared to the previous studies presented in Table 1 Schematic and normalized reflection spectra of the nanobars and the coupled resonators with the dimensions of; r = 205 nm b) Schematics of periodic nanobars and nanodisks (c) The normalized reflection spectrum of both the nanobars (black curve) and the nanodisks (red curve) and their corresponding 2D electric field profiles: (i) the nanobars (the dashed line: Bessel beam-like mode plane) (d) Schematic of the coupled nanobars and nanodisks (e) The normalized reflection spectrum of the coupled resonators showing the generated double Fano resonances (f) Diagram showing the near-field dipole coupling mechanism The generated electric field (red curve) near the nanobar excites the magnetic field inside the nanodisk which induces a circulating electric field on the nanodisk edge where \({x}_{1}\) and \({x}_{2}\) are the amplitudes of the collective modes of resonator 1 (bright mode) and resonator 2 (dark mode) \({\omega }_{0}\) is the central resonance frequency of the bright mode resonator \({\gamma }_{1}\) and \({\gamma }_{2}\) are the damping rates of the two resonators expressing the radiative and the nonradiative damping \(\kappa\) and \(\delta\) are the coupling coefficients between the resonators and the detuning of resonance frequency of oscillators 1 and 2 \(g\) is the dipole coupling strength of the bright mode with the incident electric field \({E}_{0}\) The interaction between the bright resonance with the narrower dark resonance which coexists at a certain spectral range leads to high-quality factor Fano spectral line Damping rates and the coupling coefficient are crucial precursors for the Fano resonance phenomenon the nonradiative damping rates are suppressed due to utilizing an all-dielectric material the radiative damping is minimized due to the collective oscillation of the array unit cells decreasing the coupling coefficient \(\kappa\) than the larger damping rate which is dependent on the geometrical parameters is necessary to enhance field localization and consequently increase the Q-factor The interplay between damping rates and coupling coefficient plays a pivotal role in shaping Fano resonances and their corresponding Q-factors in metamaterials the dark mode of the nanodisk can be excited by the azimuthal incidence of the near field Bessel beam generating so-called pseudo modes the modes that have no real optical oscillations Axially symmetric Bessel beam offers the advantage of exciting specific polarization only i.e eliminating the potential of mode suppression caused by interference i)- excites the magnetic dark mode within the nanodisk inducing a displaced perpendicular electric field circulating the nanodisk A detailed investigation of this coupling mechanism and its role in both Fano resonances (FR1 and FR2) will be presented in the following subsections The different H-and E-field profiles at FR1; (a) the 2D cross-section of the H-field profile at the peak (λ = 1.548 μm) c) The vector H-field profiles reveal the field direction at the peak (out-of-plane (d) the line H-field profile along the horizontal axial symmetry (the gray dashed line in Fig.a) (e) the 2D cross-section of the E-field profile g) The vector E-field profiles illustrate field circulation around the nanodisk with opposite directions for the peak and the dip wavelengths (h) the line E-field profile along the horizontal axial symmetry plane (the gray dashed line in Fig.e) Effect of the radius parameter (r) on; (a) the normalized reflection spectrum (b) the resonance wavelengths at FR1 and FR2 (c) the spectral separation between FR1 and FR2 we will explore how the geometrical parameter variations affect the design’s optical properties providing the ability to optimize the design at will revealing a maximum value of 7,674 for r = 200 nm at FR1 and 7,960 for r = 210 nm at FR2 Aiming to operate within the telecommunication wavelength (λ = 1.55 μm) we select the structure with a radius of (r = 205 nm) that exhibits an operating wavelength of (λ = 1.548 μm) and Q-factor of 5,160 at FR1 for further investigations Effect of the (G) parameter on; (a) the normalized reflection characteristics (b) the resonance wavelengths of FR1 and FR2 along the range of (G = 130–200 nm) (c) the spectral separation (dλ) between FR1 and FR2 (the open circle denotes the disappearing Fano resonance) Effect of nanobar parameter width (w) on; (a) The normalized reflection spectra (c) The spectral separation between FR1 and FR2 For the symmetrical gap distances on both sides of both resonators the induced magnetic field in the dark mode is 180° out of phase of the bright mode resonator the fields destructively interfere and k (coupling coefficient) goes to zero resulting in diminishing of the Fano resonance Increasing one of the gap distances leads to constructive and destructive interference between the dark and bright modes Optimizing the gap distance is aiming at minimizing k and consequently high confinement of the field and hence exhibit a significant impact on the Q-factor and modulation depth Many gas molecules possess unique absorption fingerprints within the telecommunication wavelength range we excite the specific Fano resonance at a wavelength precisely matching the gas’s spectral fingerprint This optimal alignment induces a remarkable spectral shift accompanied by significant losses due to absorption highlighting the gas molecules’ unique spectral signatures where \(p\) is the Cauchy principal value of integral, \(n\left({\uplambda }_{1}\right)\) is the known refractive index of the gas at wavelength (\({\uplambda }_{1}\)) and \(\text{k}(\uplambda )\) extinction coefficient that is calculated from the absorption coefficient \({\upalpha }(\uplambda )\) as follows: The normalized reflection spectra of the gas sensor with a vacuum (n = 1) as a reference towards CO and N2O at; (a) FR1 and (b) FR2. Summary of sensitivity performance of different platforms including:RR (purple markers) and the present metasurface sensor (the blue outlined red triangle) Furthermore, the structure demonstrates a significant high Q-factor (\(>{10}^{4}\)) at FR1, which decreases by 6.3% due to the absorption of CO, while it remains with no change upon exposure to N2O, in agreement with Eq. (5) This decrease in Q-factor serves as a selectivity parameter of CO the sensitivity of FR1 to CO (1.4 times sensitivity towards the N2O) along with the slight decrease in Q-factor lead to a FOM ratio (FOMCO/ FOMN2O = 1.311) where FOMCO is of (10,844) and FOMN2O is of (8,266) as \(\frac{1}{{Q}_{tot}}\) at FR2 is controlled by the high value of the first term of \(\left(\frac{1}{{Q}_{d}}\right)\) which results in negligible effect of the minor change in the second term \(\left(\frac{1}{{Q}_{a}}\right)\) where FOMN2O is of (510) and FOMCO is of (420) The sensor’s sensitivity performance at FR2 is lower than its performance at FR1 but it is still good enough to be useful for many applications Noteworthy, the upper limit of FOM for CO and N2O at their absorption fingerprints can be calculated by Eq. (7) resulting in \(1.4518\times {10}^{6}\) and \(1973\times {10}^{6}\) This comparison highlights the superiority of our design performance which shows a significant enhancement of FOM (11,570) and LOD ( \(8.6\times {10}^{-5}\)) at FR1 the high Q-factor of FR1 offers promises for high selective sensors at the operating telecommunication wavelengths a sensor at FR2 can serve as a good selective gas sensor based on the sensitivity to the minor change of the real part of the refractive index our design provides flexibility in engineering Fano resonances through structure optimization of different geometrical parameters This study reports the development of a selective gas sensor based on double Fano resonance operating at telecommunication wavelengths for PIC The sensor design employs an all-dielectric silicon metasurface consisting of coupled nanodisk and nanobar resonators Each Fano resonance can be engineered independently by adjusting the geometrical parameters the gap between the nanodisk and the nanobar Leveraging Fano resonance at the absorption band of the sensing material holds promise for selective gas sensing applications We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by developing a sensor design capable of sensing both CO and N2O gases at wavelengths of 1.566 µm and 1.674 µm The sensor exhibits remarkable sensitivities of 1,750 nm/RIU for CO and 194 nm/RIU for N2O accompanied by exceptional FOM of 11,570 and 510 are identified revealing values of 6.3% for CO at FR1 The low Q-factor of FR2 limits the selectivity to the spectral shift while the absorption losses are 2.6% for N2O and CO These distinct absorption losses accompanied by the spectral shift highlight the proposed design’s potential as a highly sensitive and selective gas sensor the sensor’s compatibility with CMOS technology and its low-cost fabrication process make it an attractive candidate for practical applications Finite difference time domain (lumerical software) has been used for simulating the optical response of the proposed structures to incident plane waves Matlab software has been used for calculating Krammers Kronig’s relation The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request Silicon microring refractometric sensor for atmospheric CO2 gas monitoring Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) ring resonator-based integrated optical hydrogen sensor Gases in food production and monitoring: Recent advances in target chemiresistive gas sensors Breath analysis: A promising tool for disease diagnosis—the role of sensors Recreational nitrous oxide use: Prevalence and risks Hazardous gases sensors based on conducting polymer composites: Review Selective and sensitive chemiresistive sensors based on polyaniline/graphene oxide nanocomposite: A cost-effective approach Relationships between ozone and carbon monoxide at surface sites in the North Atlantic region Knockdown of long non-coding RNA LCPAT1 inhibits autophagy in lung cancer A portable quantum cascade laser spectrometer for atmospheric measurements of carbon monoxide Selective detection of carbon monoxide on P-block doped monolayers of MoTe2 Ultrahigh sensitive and selective room-temperature carbon monoxide gas sensor based on polypyrrole/titanium dioxide nanocomposite G.) 307–326 (Springer Science+Business Media On-chip optical gas sensors based on group-IV materials On-chip complex refractive index detection at multiple wavelengths for selective sensing The World’s leading publisher of Open Access books Built by scientists Breakthrough in silicon photonics technology in telecommunications Silicon photonic integrated circuits and its application in data center Vol Optical CO sensitivity of Au-CuO composite film by use of the plasmon absorption change Development and characterization of Au-YSZ surface plasmon resonance based sensing materials: High temperature detection of CO Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 234 Intelligent Technologies and Engineering Systems Design of a surface plasmon resonance CO sensor Review: recent progress in metal-less metasurfaces and metamaterials The Fano resonance in plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials Ultra-sensitive gas sensor based fano resonance modes in periodic and fibonacci quasi-periodic Pt/PtS2 structures An overview of the theory and applications of metasurfaces: The two-dimensional equivalents of metamaterials All-dielectric metasurface fluorescence biosensors for high-sensitivity antibody/antigen detection Hyperbolic dispersion metasurfaces for molecular biosensing Analysis and design of refractive index biosensors based on single silicon nanobeam cavity Silicon photonic resonator sensors and devices All-dielectric metasurface analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency Metasurface generated polarization insensitive Fano resonance for high-performance refractive index sensing Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterials for ultrasensitive spectroscopy and identification of molecular monolayers Evolution of high-order Tamm plasmon modes with a metal-PhC cavity Silicon-based mid infrared on-chip gas sensor using Fano resonance of coupled plasmonic microcavities Tailoring directional scattering through magnetic and electric resonances in subwavelength silicon nanodisks Fano resonances in all-dielectric oligomers Narrow-spectrum enhanced multiparameter gas sensor based on Fano resonance in an asymmetric MDM waveguide Hydrogen gas sensing using aluminum doped ZnO metasurfaces All-dielectric refractive index sensor based on Fano resonance with high sensitivity in the mid-infrared region High quality factor fano-resonant all-dielectric metamaterials (2014) Ultrasensitive biosensor using a Fano resonant asymmetric all-dielectric metasurface Salama, N. A., Obayya, S. S. A., Alexeree, S. M. I. & Swillam, M. A. Ultra-sensitive gas sensor using Fano resonance in hybrid nano-bar/nano-elliptic dielectric metasurface. 47 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2670170 Nonlinear Fano-resonant dielectric metasurfaces High-Performance Nanophotonic Simulation Software—Lumerical. https://www.lumerical.com/ Refractiveindex.info database of optical constants Manifestation of extremely high-Q pseudo-modes in scattering of a Bessel light beam by a sphere Two-dimensional Quasi-Bessel Beam Synthesis and Frequency-scanning Leaky-wave Launchers A broadband bessel beam launcher using metamaterial lens Spatial Fano resonance of a dielectric microsphere impinged on by a Bessel beam Integrated spectroscopic modeling of atomic and molecular gases The HITRAN2016 molecular spectroscopic database Kramers-Kronig Relations in Optical Materials Research (Springer-Verlag Polymer ring resonator with a partially tapered waveguide for biomedical sensing: Computational study Annular one-dimensional photonic crystals for salinity sensing Electrochemical deposition of metals onto silicon Sensitivity and quality factor improvement of photonic crystal sensors by geometrical optimization of waveguides and micro-ring resonators combination Refractive index sensing with an air-slot photonic crystal nanocavity Download references Open access funding provided by The Science Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences has performed the theoretical modelling and numerical simulations has contributed to the technical discussion regarding the gas sensing application has contributed to the technical discussion regarding metasurfaces physical concepts and related design issues presented in the paper All the authors have revised and edited the manuscript Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74288-6 Gojjam Fano leaders announce over 90 percent of the work is completed Fano forces in Gondar and Wollo announced a major merger the Fano forces across the Amhara region seem to be taking the task of forming a single structure to the next level There are reports that they will announce a single organization soon The story emerged a week after Fano forces launched “Operation Unity.” It was a coordinated military operation across the region from which the Fano force claimed to have achieved significant military gains The defense force published a “breaking news” coverage the next day claiming that it had reversed the Fano offensive—which was said to have been undertaken during nighttime—but it linked the operation to Brigadier General Migbe Haile a staunch Debretsion ledTPLF military commander the latter denied involvement in the planning or execution of Fano’s “Operation Unity” offensive How close is the formation of a single Amhara organization spoke to Ethiopian Media Service on Thursday “It is an activity to form a single Amhara organization The remaining 10 percent will be completed in the days to come.” He also confirmed that the project is a single Amhara organization African Intelligence reported a major merger of Fano forces in Gondar—Amhara Fano Unity in Gondar and Amhara Fano Gondar Command the merger appears to extend far beyond the forces in Gondar Borkena reported in January about the Wollo and Gondar Fano forces’ merger the Fano merger will be the first major ethnic Amhara organization after the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) What makes it different is that it is an armed political organization this time The stated objective of the Fano movement is the reversal of “existential threats” against the ethnic Amhara Ethnic Amhara have been suffering what appears to be an orchestrated massacre in the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia especially after Abiy Ahmed took power in 2018 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration launched a mechanized military operation in the Amhara region in August 2023 with a stated plan disarm Fano and to finish the operation in a few weeks The war between Fano and government forces is still underway announced readiness to negotiate with Fano in any European country signaling that the defense force’s claim of a devastating hit against Fano forces does not reflect the reality on the ground The Amhara region has also inaugurated tens of thousands of militia forces this week It remains to be seen if they will make a difference in terms of defeating Fano forces there are reports of fighting between Fano forces and government forces across the region Details of casualties on both sides remain unspecified Subscribe  : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/  Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkenaLike borkena on Facebook Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory  Business Listing Toronto  Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter)  @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly.  Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission the Amhara forces are ighting against a single and weak oromo dominated army Tigray defence force (TDF) fought had against 3 united forces (government TDF also pushed deep into Ethiopia within weeks but stopped short of capturing Finfine and deposing Abiy Ahmed In the next conflict with the TDF Abiy Ahmed will not have any chance of surviving because the Trump administration will remain indifference The regional power Tigray has battle tested fighters and generals of world class and Abiy Ahmed is aware of this fact The king let TDF soldiers to come all the way to the middle of Ethiopia knowing they will be trapped He trapped them and only a few returned homes my guy i understand you still listening Embor tegalay X2 music and it is hard for you to swallow a clear defeat BIG TIME you should have never ruled Ethiopia thanks to the west and you got Ethiopia for 30 years and you did your best to destroy her She survived and kicking some a*s right now TPLF is bunch of losers who hate facts and reality…..most of all they hate their own society…. earning another All-America honor on Monday The Associated Press named Fano to its Second Team marking his fourth career All-America recognition and his third accolade of the 2024 season This prestigious honor places Fano among an elite group of Utah offensive linemen as he becomes the fifth Ute ever recognized by the AP and the first since 2010.Fano’s 2024 season has been nothing short of dominant The sophomore right tackle started all 12 games anchoring the line with consistency and power His impact has been evident both in pass protection and run-blocking Fano’s 91.8 run-blocking grade leads all offensive tackles in college football showcasing his ability to open critical rushing lanes his 80.3 pass-blocking grade ranks among the best as he did not allow a single sack after the opening week of the season This stellar performance earned him First-Team All-Big 12 honors from both coaches and the Associated Press.Fano’s resume highlights an impressive young career He has already played in 25 games with 24 starts split between right tackle (13 starts) and left tackle (11 starts) His achievements include being named a PFF First-Team All-American and a Walter Camp Second-Team All-American in 2024 alongside earning a spot on the CFN Freshman All-America First Team in 2023 Utah's Spencer Fano lands unique NIL ahead of Holy WarA versatile and physical lineman Fano also showcased his athleticism in unique ways notably rumbling into the end zone for a two-point conversion against Colorado.Before his time at Utah Fano was a standout at Timpview High School 12 offensive tackle nationally by 247Sports and the No His high school accolades included Daily Herald All-Valley First Team and Deseret News 5A First Team honors while he contributed to an offense that produced over 5,000 yards and 76 touchdowns.As a true sophomore Fano continues to cement his reputation as one of the most reliable and talented linemen in college football with many more accolades likely on the horizon Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application of Fox River Grove passed away early Wednesday morning 1929 to Salvatore and Francesca (nee Spadafora) Cali Mary grew up and raised her family in Chicago  She loved walking to the food markets and Walgreens and simply having what she needed just a walk away   She enjoyed over 17 years of bowling with her daughter Sunday afternoons were for Bears football games and the only thing that could beat a Bears game was her own grandkids sports  She always needed to have her pasta and vegetables she lived for her family and cherished her role as wife mother and grandmother and daughter as she took care of her own mom while she was sick.  Joseph (Kathy) Fano and Deborah (John) Ferlito; her grandchildren Danielle Ferlito and Nicole (fiancé She was preceded in death by her husband of over 64 years from 3pm until a service at 6:30pm at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory Davenport Family Funeral Homes and Crematory – Barrington Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors I am incredibly excited to announce that me and @ChubbysOrem have joined our powers to create the FANO LOCO MOCO BURGER!!! The burger features a gorgeous patty topped by a perfectly crafted egg, grilled onions with gravy on the side, or otherwise known as The American dream!! pic.twitter.com/cbNxlq8HsZ 🍔🍔BURGER CHALLENGE🍔🍔Just in time for rivalry week. Come try burgers from @FanoSpencer and @TheIsaiahB available until January 1st. pic.twitter.com/BErCrnyCyt Utah great says it's time to cut off NIL to Cam Rising and move on Read all the latest product & music industry news here. “Over the past nine years since leaving Fano Guitars I have felt that there was unfinished business.” he said “While I’ve been focused on Novo Guitars Psonic Design Lab is bringing together the brands of Fano and Novo in a really exciting way Everyone is committed to making the highest quality instruments and continuing to raise the bar.” who has owned Fano Guitars for the last eight years will retain responsibilities as Director of Fano Guitars “Being part of this new chapter is incredibly exciting This is the right next step to give us the opportunity to take the brand to the next level and deliver on what we have always hoped we could achieve We at Fano Guitars are excited to be on this new journey.” Both brands will be displaying at booth 4327 at the 2025 NAMM Show between January 23rd and 25th. Keep reading at Novo Guitars and Fano Guitars here. Volume 14 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2020.569049 defined as the variance-to-mean ratio of spike counts in a time window is often used to measure the variability of neuronal spike trains careless use of the Fano factor can easily lead to distorted or even wrong results One of the problems is the unclear dependence of the Fano factor on the spiking rate which is often neglected or handled insufficiently In this paper we aim to explore this problem in more detail and to study the possible solution which is to evaluate the Fano factor in the operational time We use equilibrium renewal and Markov renewal processes as spike train models to describe the method in detail and we provide an illustration on experimental data the step from the observed times of spikes to the firing rate quantification requires a proper selection of the statistical procedure The data available from experiments are usually formed by repeated spike trains (repeated trials) recorded from a single neuron exposed to the identical conditions (reaction to a stimulus) It aims to reflect activity of a neural network of a statistically homogeneous population of neurons multiple trials are only an experimental counterpart of real-time multi-neuronal activity Experiments of multi-unit recordings are also available there is currently no technical tool to simultaneously record all spike trains coming to a target neuron whether data come from the repeated experimental trials or from a simultaneous multi-unit neuronal recording in both cases additional assumptions are often accepted that the data are independent and statistically identical replicas of the same random variable (which is also assumed in this paper) the common definition of the firing rate is the mean number of spikes per unit time window The “neural codes” based on rate-independent components are generally called temporal codes Probably the simplest one going beyond the mean number of spikes is the variability of that number Despite originally being unrelated to the time evolution and not at all admitting data with a non-Poissonian character due to the formal equivalence with index of dispersion the term Fano factor prevailed regardless of the difference in aims The term Fano factor will therefore be used throughout the paper For the Poisson distribution the variance-to-mean ratio is equal to one This fact has fascinated neuroscientists for many decades and the Fano factor has been evaluated and presented over a wide range of experimental conditions The number of references to papers in which it was evaluated would be practically endless Most of the theoretical models of neurons are oriented toward the calculation of interspike interval (ISI) distribution and directly assume a renewal character of the firing Many of these studies present coefficient of variation of the interspike intervals Considering that the squared coefficient of variation is equal to the Fano factor (over an infinite window) experimental studies and also countless numbers of the theoretical papers present the Fano factor as a property of the models investigated in them Our aim is to describe the dependence of the Fano factor on the intensity in more detail and to present and test a method on how to avoid them The main general solution is to use the Fano factor in the operational time The above-mentioned mean matching method can be suitable too it is usable only in specific situations and is thus not investigated here Fano factor might be considered to be an intensity independent measure of variability This figure (based on simulated data) illustrates that it is not correct; the changes of the intensity influence the (estimated) values of Fano factor significantly The intensity of the data was changed by scaling time in the original time series and Fano factor calculated in a fixed window of length w = 1 (only one The true value of Fano factor (for λ or w going to infinity) is 2 The relevant theory is summarized in the first part of the paper We introduce renewal processes and Markov renewal processes the influence of the firing rate on the Fano factor is described and illustrated and a rate-independent variant of the Fano factor is defined a method for comparison of variability of two or more data sets with different firing rates is proposed and evaluated The Fano factor deals with the number of events (spikes) within an observation time window and thus we have to specify the basic properties of such a counting process The equilibrium counting process N(w) describes the number of spikes in an interval (0 where time zero is “randomly positioned” with respect to the sequence of spikes The dynamics of the process is captured by its intensity function which reflects the rate for the occurrence of a new event for a short time window [w which means that all the statistical properties of N(w) are time invariant which due to the stationarity of the sequence of ISIs is constant formulas analogous to (2) relating higher moments of the counting process to the higher moments of ISIs do not exist The counting process N(w) is fully determined by the probabilities pn(w) = P(N(w) = n)) If N(w) has Poisson distribution with parameter λw For other commonly investigated point processes there is no analytical expression for pn(w) There is the basic duality relationship between the counting process where T0 is time of the first spike and Tn−1 is the (n − 1)th complete ISI The spiking process is called the equilibrium renewal process under the additional assumption that the ISIs are independent and identically distributed continuous and positive random variables with the probability density function (pdf) f(t) The variants usually employed for pdf f(t) will be summarized later The term “equilibrium” again specifies that the time zero is unrelated to the sequence of spikes a basic and very often used characteristics of T (ISIs) is the coefficient of variation the exponential pdf with fixed refractory period the value of CV is not changed if the time axis is scaled linearly (e.g. if the refractory period is also rescaled as in our example in section 4) we focus only on a variant with n = 2 and p1,2 = p2,1 (the probability of transition from the state one to the state two is the same as the probability of reverse transition) thus we have two random variables with pdfs f1(x) and f2(x) (with means μ1 and μ2 and coefficients of variation CV1 and CV2) and a transition matrix where 0 ≤ p ≤ 1 is the probability that the state will be changed which yields λ/2<μ1-1≤λ≤μ2-1 (for μ2 ≤ μ1) If the difference of μ1 and μ2 is large and p is small the process always changes the states (distributions of ISIs) and is called an alternating renewal process (ARP) when the ISIs have exponential distributions f1(x)=μ1-1exp{-x/μ1} and f2(x)=μ2-1exp{-x/μ2},μ1,μ2>0 let us mention a special and interesting case of equilibrium renewal processes situation for CV → 0 We obtain a sequence of equidistant points (times of spikes) with a random origin All the ISIs are thus constant with length 1/λ and the only source of variability is the time to the first spike This model is called the (equilibrium) pacemaker (PM) and it represents the limit case of renewal processes from the point of view of (low) variability Fano factor is a measure of variability of a counting process defined as thus, as the variance to mean ratio of the number of spikes in a time window of a length w. As mentioned, this quantity was originally called the index of dispersion for count (Cox and Lewis, 1966) Fano factor defined by (8) is a function of w the same term is often used to directly denote the limit For renewal processes, basic properties of Fano factor are (Cox, 1962) Equation (11) has such an effect that there are cases when CV2 is also called Fano factor (Shuai et al., 2002). The function F(w) cannot be expressed analytically for most of the probability distributions of T, however there are some formulas that can be solved numerically, e.g., Rajdl and Lansky (2014) where L and L-1 denote the Laplace transform and its inversion For CV → 0 (the equilibrium pacemaker process) where τ = ⌊λw⌋ The limit of formula (13) for w → ∞ is (as expected) zero For the Markov renewal processes, analytical calculation of F(w) is even more complicated. At least the limit of F(w) for w → ∞ can be derived in a closed form, using the results from Ball and Milne (2005) The limit for w → 0+ equals one and by decreasing p we can increase F arbitrarily an alternating Poisson process is always more variable than a simple Poisson process; from Equation (16) we can see 1 ≤ F < 2 with F = 1 only for μ1 = μ2 (standard Poisson process) Equations (7) and (15) yield that to obtain a MPP with given λ and F (for a fixed p) Estimates of the Fano factor, F(w), and the intensity λ are standardly calculated based on observed numbers of spikes N1(w), N2(w), …, Nn(w) in a time window (0, w], w > 0, where n is the number of repeated trials or number of simultaneously recorded neurons (see Figure 2A) Formula (20) is clearly an estimator of F(w) it is used to estimate also directly the limit F (A) Example of typical data used for estimation of the Fano factor Two sets of spike trains with intensity λ1 = 0.5 and λ2 = 2 are shown A window of the original length w = 3 has the operational time length w0 = 1.5 in the first set of spike trains and w0 = 6 in the second one For the purpose of the Fano factor comparison it is more convenient to use the same length of the window in operational time the common quantity to measure the quality of the estimator The bias and variance of the Fano factor estimator can be approximated as Formula (22) shows that the main part of bias of the estimator is unsurprisingly created by the difference F(w) − F a standard measure of error of an estimator is the mean absolute error which is a more natural and better interpretable error measure than MSE it is more difficult to analyze it theoretically The purpose of the Fano factor evaluation is to measure the variability without the effect of the intensity only the limit value F is generally intensity independent let us consider two identical equilibrium renewal processes N1(w) which differ only in the values of intensities λ1 > λ2 > 0 The values of the Fano factor for the processes N1(w) and N2(w) are thus generally not equal for all w > 0 a change of the intensity changes the value of F(w) even if all other characteristics are constant For an illustration of these facts we show the dependence of F(w) on the intensity λ for renewal processes with several very often used probability distributions of ISIs These distributions can be parameterized using λ and F their probability density functions are then The most basic distribution of ISIs is the exponential distribution yielding the sequences of spikes corresponding to a Poisson process as for this distribution F(w) = 1 for any w > 0 there is no dependence of Fano factor on the intensity Situation changes when we extend the model for a refractory period (RP) of a length r ≥ 0 Refractory period is a time period after each spike when the probability of occurrence of another spike is zero ISIs then correspond to a random variable T = r + T′ where T′ has exponential distribution If we want such a process to have intensity λ and Fano factor F To calculate the values of F(w) we numerically solved formula (12) and confirmed the results by Monte-Carlo method using (20) We also show the values of F(w) for MPPs with p = 1 (APP) and p = 0.1 (a bursting process) we calculate the means μ1 and μ2 using Equations (17) and (18) and the values of F(w) using Monte Carlo simulations Note that the results for these processes are shown only for F = 1.5 The limit case with zero Fano factor (the pacemaker model) is shown too this holds for any distribution with f(0) = 0 and F > 1 we can see that F(w) for gamma distribution with F = 1.5 converges to unit value for λ → 0 very slowly It is caused by the fact that probability of occurrence of two spikes in a very short window is in this case not negligible which results from the specific shape of the gamma distribution with F > 1 (the probability of occurrence of a spike near zero is relative large) Fano factor is zero in integer multiples of the length of the window w when we know exactly how many spikes will be observed in dependence on λ for renewal processes with gamma (full lines) inverse Gaussian (dashed lines) and exponential with RP (dashed-dotted line F = 0.5) distributions of ISIs and for Markov Poisson processes with p = 1 (APP dotted line) and for PM process (full line the blue lines with F = 0.5 and the green line with F = 0 The λ-axis is logarithmically scaled To avoid prior explicit time transformation where wo is the operational time (time expressed in multiplies of mean ISIs) but F(wo/λ) is calculated on the original time scale Characteristics Fo(wo) is then a variability measure fully independent from the intensity (for equilibrium renewal processes) and it is thus directly comparable even for different experiments For estimation of quantity (31) we need to also estimate the intensity which yields the estimator of operational Fano factor in form Measuring Fano factor in operational time is especially important if we want to compare its values estimated based on data from various experiments with various conditions there are also some issues complicating this method while estimating the operational Fano factor Estimation of the intensity is a simple task but it still brings some additional uncertainty (variance) to the value of estimator (32) we need to determine and use only the greatest common operational time w¯o available for all the data (experiments) Suppose that we have m > 0 experiments with observation windows wi and estimated intensities λ^i This implies that some data (spiking times) might not be used To clarify the severity of these problems and positives of the operational Fano factor while comparing values from different experiments we perform various evaluations based on Monte Carlo simulations In the following we suppose that we have measured the responses and we are interested in the change of variability in the responses we have two sets of n > 0 spike trains first set with intensity λ1 and Fano factor F1 and second with intensity λ2 and Fano factor F2 how reliable is the ratio r(F) = F2/F1 estimated using the standard estimator (20) and using the estimator of the operational Fano factor (32) Let us denote the estimated ratio for the standard Fano factor as r(F^) and for the operational Fano factor as r(F^o) We study this situation based on data generated using several models of spike trains with various parameters we use equilibrium renewal processes with gamma and inverse Gaussian distribution we fix λ1 equal to one and vary λ2 in the interval (0 For the length of the window in operational time we use values 1 5 and 10 and always generate n = 50 spike trains For F1 and F2 we use values 0.5 and 1.5 in all combinations thus we assume situations when Fano factor increases Every situation was repeated (generated) 2,000 times the observation window in the set of spike trains with the larger value of wλ^ is shortened It is thus possible not the use the window which starts at zero but to shift it within the original window a reasonable possibility could be shifting it to the middle or select its position randomly This decision depends mainly on where the most likely information is that we want to capture while using the equilibrium processes as the spike trains model the location of the window does not matter in the following examples we use zero as the beginning of the sampling window is to estimate Fano factor repeatedly while shifting the shortened window gradually in the original one and use average as the final estimate This method also removes the disadvantage of the operational Fano factor regarding omitting some time of spikes after shortening the window We evaluate performance of this method too we shift the window gradually so that all the spikes are used but as few as possible spikes are used twice We denote the corresponding estimator F^õ Contrary to these inconvenient properties of standard Fano factor the ratios of the operational Fano factor are always (near) one the dependence on the intensity is removed where the dependence of standard Fano factor on the intensity is very high Values of r(F^) and r(F^o) for two renewal processes with gamma (full lines) and inverse Gaussian (dashed lines) probability distributions of ISIs and for Markov Poisson processes with p = 1 (APP dashed-dotted line) and p = 0.1 (dotted line) Fifty spike trains (n = 50) were generated twice with equal values of F (F1 = F2 = 0.5 in upper panels and F1 = F2 = 1.5 in lower panels) and various values of λ2 (λ1 = 1) All the shown values were calculated (generated) 2,000 times and the medians are shown in the graphs The blue lines (with circles) correspond to the estimates of standard Fano factor the red lines (with squares) to the estimates of operational Fano factor When the real values of Fano factor remain constant (F1 = F2), operational Fano factor fully removes the potentially false change of estimated r(F), as expected. However, it does not immediately imply, that the operational Fano factor gives better information about r(F), e.g., the estimator can have larger variance (as explained earlier) and thus possibly also larger MSE or MAE. To explore this possibility we show, in Figure 5 by how much is MAE of the standard estimator larger than MAE of the estimator of the operational Fano factor [assuming one as the real value of r(F)] We also show the difference from the improved operational Fano factor r(F^õ) We can see that the operational Fano factor almost always decreases MAE the few opposite cases are likely just random events the estimator r(F^õ) further decreases MAE significantly and r(F^õ) for two renewal processes with gamma (full lines) and inverse Gaussian (MPP dashed lines) probability distributions of ISIs and for Markov Poisson processes with p = 1 (APP and r(F^õ) were estimated and differences MAE(r(F^))-MAE(r(F^o)) and MAE(r(F^))-MAE(r(F^õ)) for various intensities calculated All the differences were calculated (generated) 2,000 times and the averages are shown in the graphs The transformation to the operational time removes any bias of the Fano factor estimate caused by differences in intensities but there is another type of bias due to the limited usage of spikes which is enhanced when the window is short Values of r(F^) and r(F^o) for two renewal processes with gamma (full lines) and inverse Gaussian (dashed lines) probability distributions of ISIs Fifty spike trains (n = 50) were generated twice with various values of F (F1 = 0.5 F2 = 0.5 in lower panels) and various values of λ2 (λ1 = 1) All the shown values were calculated (generated) 2,000 times and the averages are shown in the graphs Times w and w¯o illustrate shortening of observation window (w) in the spike trains with larger intensity to obtain the greatest common operational time (window) w¯o (A,B) Example of spike trains from one neuron for the experiment 1 (A) and experiment 2 (B) (C) Comparison of changes of variability in two experiments measured by standard Fano factor for various length of the observation window w The values were estimated from experimental data spike trains from 74 neurons recorded under two experimental conditions Each point corresponds to one neuron and they are distinguished by color and shape according to values of estimated intensities λ^1 and λ^2 Value d is the mean absolute difference between r(F^) and r(F^o) This way we obtain (for every w and neuron) two estimates of standard Fano factor we measure the change of the estimates as ratios Note that median values of Fano factors and intensities estimated in the whole window (w = 5s) are m(F^1)=6.62,m(F^2)=4.05,m(λ^1)=3.48spikes/s which is given partially by bursting character and partially by some inhomogeneous behavior of the spike trains in time resulting from the nature of the experiments (mainly for the movie scenario) as we study the data mostly in short time intervals The relation of r(F^o) to r(F^) is shown in Figure 7C The value d is calculated as the mean absolute difference between r(F^) and r(F^o) We can see that the differences of the results obtained by these two methods can be relatively large there are even frequent cases when one method shows increase of variability and the other one a decrease [the largest difference is for r(F^)=1.88 and r(F^o)=0.78] for small w the differences are small (w = 0.002 and w = 0.005) but they increase with increasing w and later decrease again For w = 5 the difference d is practically the same as for w = 0.005 (although the distributions of the underlying data are different) for both small and large w the influence of intensity on Fano factor decreases and thus the application of the operational Fano factor in these situations does not change the results much We can also see that for λ^1<λ^2 it is more likely that r(Fo^)<r(F^) and vice versa it is caused by the fact that the spike trains are mostly highly variable (F > 1) The reason is that we are shortening the window in the second experiment and then the value of Fano factor mostly decreases nearer to one The aim of this paper is to stress that the Fano factor does not parallel the simple notion of CV of ISIs for the case of counts We show that even for simple and commonly used renewal models the dependence on λ must be accounted for (i.e. If the Fano factor is employed to measure the variability of spike trains (or other events occurring in time) the effect of the intensity has to be removed but it is almost always overlooked or (probably) not entirely understood We have explored and explained this issue in detail and showed that Fano factor needs to be used carefully we have theoretically explained the influence of intensity on the values of the Fano factor and illustrated it using several models of neural spike trains we described how to avoid potential problems - by estimating Fano factor in operational time and defined the intensity-independent approach (the operational Fano factor) we showed the benefits of the operational Fano factor while comparing the variability in two experiments with different intensities For the theoretical results and studies based on Monte-Carlo simulations we used renewal processes and their generalization (Markov renewal processes) as the spike train models to these three potentially critical points we assumed that scaling of time is equivalent to the scaling of intensity in other words that the ISI distribution belongs to the scale family the majority of frequently applied ISI distributions (Gamma and Inverse Gaussian) belong to this family A warning example when this condition is violated can be consideration of the absolute refractory period It would imply that the intensity and the observation window are not fully interchangeable and estimating both standard and operational Fano factors the results can be summarized in the following points • Values of Fano factor calculated in a finite window depend on the intensity even if other characteristics of the spike trains are fixed Intensity independent (for renewal processes) is only the limit value F the values F(w) are influenced by λ • the influence of the intensity is caused by the fact that changes of intensity are equivalent to changing the length of the observation window with fixed intensity Note that this holds under the definition of intensity λ = 1/E(T) and T from the scale family of distributions in a model with absolute refractory period the interchangeability of w and λ does not hold • to remove the influence of the intensity it is suitable to calculate Fano factor in time linearly transformed so that λ = 1 (operational time) and we show how to calculate an operational Fano factor • the influence of intensity has to be taken into account mainly while comparing results from two (or more) experiments any comparison of Fano factors could be misleading that a change of intensity causes a false change of estimated Fano factor even if F remains fixed • This problem can be (mostly) eliminated by using Fano factor calculated in the operational time when the values are compared for the greatest common operational time • If Fano factor is the same between different experiments the operational Fano factor removes otherwise false change in the observed values The bias of the differences of the estimated Fano factor is zero and MAE is (in studied cases) smaller than for the standard estimator • If the values of Fano factor change between the experiments The operational Fano factor ensures better behavior of the estimates from the point of view of the influence of the intensity it is still necessary to be careful about interpretation of the obtained values even for the operational Fano factor • When using operational Fano factor to compare various experiments This can be seen as a drawback of the method possible to use all the data so that we shift the shortened window and calculate the estimates of Fano factor multiple times and average them We show that this procedure further decreases MAE of the estimated differences of Fano factor Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Kamil Rajdl, a2FtaWwucmFqZGxAZ21haWwuY29t Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Metrics details Fog is a collection of micro drops of water suspended in the air formed as a result of cooling of moist air forming ice fog at air temperatures below − 10–15° C which entails the formation of a magnetic pulse Our theoretical calculations have predicted the time-dependent formation of Fano resonances in a freezing the outside in water droplet Time-varying unconventional Fano resonance with magnetic field enhancement yield new method to manipulate light–matter interactions in a freezing water droplet To the best of our knowledge this mechanism was not discussed previously it seems relevant to us to theoretically evaluate the effects of the magnetic response in a freezing drop of fog Schematic diagram of the initial stage of the outside in water droplet freezing Distribution of maximum relative intensity (E/E 0 ) 2 outside the sphere in the shadow side of the droplet (a) vs Insert show a zoom image of the resonance position The dashed line is the position of the minimum electric field intensity along Z-axis inside the droplet The maximum intensity inside the droplet during Fano resonance near the shadow pole vs Here ∆ (in nm) is the dimensional value of the thickness of the ice shell δ Normalized fields intensity distributions inside and near the shadow surface of the freezing droplet with the thickness of the ice shell: 160 nm (a e) for electric |E/E0|2 (left column) and magnetic |H/H0|2 (right column) fields the intensities at the focus of the photonic jet exceed the maximum intensities at hot spots inside the droplet the width of the Fano resonance line at half maximum is about 10 nm so the “lifetime” of the Fano resonance when a water drop of the considered size freezes from outside to inside is about 0.35 µs the “heterogeneous freezing” on the surface is a separate and complex problem we expect less efficient generation of electromagnetic field for nonspherical droplet a science that studies the response of living systems to the action of a magnetic field significant progress has been made in studying the response of animals The behavior of a hedgehog in the freezing fog represents a page unknown to science Our motivation for the current research is that despite the large number of publications in which Fano resonance in dielectric core-shell spheres was considered all of them were devoted to the stationary problem the absolute number of publications is devoted to dielectrics with a high refractive index (more than 2) we report the discovery of a Fano resonance in a dielectric core-shell sphere (water-ice) with a low refractive index (1.3) and with a low refractive index contrast between the shell (ice) and core (water) materials the nature of the Fano resonance is essentially non-stationary since the resonance occurs when a drop of water freezes from the outside in at a certain thickness of the ice shell Note also that the core-shell sphere is observed in nature during fog and precipitation These phenomena are new and have not been considered in the literature before and discovered the formation of new optical effects caused by high-order Fano resonance previously not considered in the literature This resonance leads to a significant increase in electric and magnetic fields at hot spots at the poles of the drop The formation of such a resonance allows us to better understand the nature of phenomena in freezing drops and opens up the new prospects in various practical areas The datasets analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request A report on the Wilson Cloud Chamber and its applications in physics Physicist and biotechnologist who invented the bubble chamber Ice fog: The Current State of Knowledge and Future Challenges58pp Optimization of the cold moderator for the new pulsed reactor NEPTUN High order Fano resonances and giant magnetic fields in dielectric microspheres High-order Fano Resonance in a Mesoscale Dielectric Sphere with a low refractive index The Black Cloud—a classic science fiction novel from the pen of an astronomer Microstructure and crystal order during freezing of supercooled water drops Freezing of spherical droplets in the environment of cold air Time domain self-bending photonic hook beam based on freezing water droplet Future Green Technology: a freezing Water Micro-droplet as an Optical switch based on a time-domain photonic hook Effect of asymmetric cooling of sessile droplets on orientation of the freezing tip Angular-momentum coupling of optical whispering-gallery modes to liquid droplet microresonators Fast dynamics of water droplets freezing from the outside in Fast simulation of light scattering and harmonic generation in axially symmetric structures in COMSOL Refractive index less than two: photonic nanojets yesterday Optical phenomena in dielectric spheres several light wavelengths in size: a review Photonic nanojets generated by rough surface micro-cylinders IEEE 28th Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE) 1393–1397 (Halifax Generation of giant magnetic fields in a hollow mesoscale sphere Freezing dynamics of supercooled micro-sized water droplets Experimental study of the internal flow in freezing water droplets on a cold surface Freezing characteristics of deposited water droplets on hydrophilic and hydrophobic cold surfaces Self-shaping of oil droplets via the formation of intermediate rotator phases upon cooling Mechanism of supercooled droplet freezing on surfaces Effect of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields on light-induced electric reactions in wheat Part II: Scheme for freezing raindrops and simulations by a cloud model with spectral bin microphysics On the optical measurement techniques for droplet icing experiments Optical super-resonances in mesoscale dielectric cenosphere: giant magnetic field generations Download references is thankful to the Natural Science Foundation of the Higher Education Institutions of Jiangsu Province (No.22KJB460016) The work was partially supported by the Tomsk Polytechnic University Development Program B.L is thankful to Foundation for the Advancement of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics “BASIS” (Project no 23-1-1-61-1) and Russian Science Foundation (Project no  The research is performed in the framework of the MSU Development Program National Research Tomsk Polytechnical University Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Faculty of Mechanical and Material Engineering All authors contributed equally to the paper writing and editing Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74425-1 WE BELIEVE IN REPENTANCE! COME BACK HOME NUSO 😭🙏🏽 https://t.co/e7SiNS2yoq Tanuvasa started six of the seven games he played including 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack His ability to disrupt opposing offenses extended beyond just tackles – with four pass breakups and two quarterback hurries he consistently proved to be a force along the defensive front Tanuvasa’s decision to enter the transfer portal highlights the shifting dynamics within college football players increasingly explore options to elevate their careers or secure better opportunities interest from elite programs like USC and Michigan suggests he could find himself playing on an even larger national stage BYU has also emerged as a potential landing spot adding another layer of intrigue to his recruitment Utah experiences transfer portal battleground with tampering and pay-for-play While Tanuvasa's next destination remains uncertain Fano's public appeal underscores the bond between teammates and the desire to maintain Utah’s defensive strength Whether Tanuvasa returns to Salt Lake City or pursues opportunities elsewhere As Logan Fano took the field during Utah’s season-opening victory over Florida last year A four-star prospect and one of the most heralded players from the state of Utah in the class of 2021 Logan Fano signed with BYU out of Timpview High going with Kalani Sitake and the Cougars over offers from Michigan But Logan never played a snap in royal blue After serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Logan returned to Provo and looked to potentially be in line for some serious playing time as a true freshman Logan tore his ACL — the second time suffering the injury in his career including high school — and had to watch the Cougars’ 2022 season from the sidelines a couple weeks after BYU defeated Stanford to finish the regular season with a 7-5 record Logan entered his name into the transfer portal There’s a lot of friends that I made over there that I still keep in touch with today,” Logan said “Things just didn’t work out with me over there And I feel like I fit better into the environment up here in Utah And so that’s why I made that choice to transfer.” a four-star offensive tackle and the top-ranked player from the state of Utah was making his final decision about where to attend school and further his football career it had been an all-out blitz for the younger Fano’s pledge Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh played cards with Spencer and his family while Oregon’s Dan Lanning flew in for a game of Monopoly Spencer put on the Utah hat at his commitment ceremony choosing the Utes over a final four that included Oregon becoming the standout piece in Kyle Whittingham’s 2023 recruiting class “I’m a very religious person and I prayed about it really hard I feel like there might’ve been other schools at the time that but at the end of the day when I prayed about it I felt like I got my answer was Utah,” Spencer said capping off a whirlwind week for the family making the two brothers teammates again for the first time since playing at Timpview High it was always (Spencer’s) and Logan’s goal to play college ball together And Utah provided the best opportunity for them to do that,” Bingham Fano said the pair ran out of the tunnel together as a sold-out Rice-Eccles Stadium crowd roared “There’s nothing like playing with your younger brother and you got your little brother running right next to you,” Logan said It’s something that I feel like all siblings in sports kind of dream of and it’s been a really big blessing to be able to live that out with my brother,” Spencer added and as Logan sprinted onto the Rice-Eccles Stadium turf for his first snaps in a college game Bingham’s mind drifted back to everything that had led up to this moment from Little League football to countless hours of training to trips to football camps to years of high school football “To see him finally realize his dream of playing college football and starting as a freshman was very emotional for me,” Bingham said. After the defense forced a punt on the Gators’ first drive Bingham thought he might be able to relax a little bit when the offense came onto the field I thought maybe I could just emotionally take a little timeout and break,” he said Spencer Fano jogged onto the field with Utah’s offense having secured the starting left tackle job — one of the most vital along the offensive line — becoming one of just two freshmen in Division I football to start the season at the position Spencer helped create a clean pocket for quarterback Bryson Barnes who threw a 70-yard pass to Money Parks to open the scoring in the 24-11 win “And so it was nonstop because from the offense was in I would say it’s one of the most proudest moments I’ve ever had as a father is to see both of my boys playing together for the same team,” Bingham said It’s a journey that began in American Samoa where two families formed an unbreakable bond Bingham Fano and Spencer Reid grew up together in American Samoa the Fanos and Reids all lived close to each other on one side of the island but just as Bingham was getting ready to attend high school his dad built a house on the opposite side “So in order for me and my brother to go to high school where we grew up and pretty much asked if we can stay with them through high school so that we can go to school me and my younger brother lived with Karene’s grandparents and his dad That relationship made such an impact on Bingham that later he named his son Spencer Reid — Karene’s dad — started attracting attention from college coaches — notably LaVell Edwards of BYU — and committed to the Cougars Some of his seven brothers also received college offers starting a long chain of Reids that played college football in Utah Spencer Reid starred at linebacker for the Cougars from 1994 to 1997 and went on to play two seasons in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts while end Gabriel Reid suited up for BYU from 1999 to 2002 playing three seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears while also having stints with the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans Both Spencer and Gabriel were teammates of Sitake’s — now BYU’s head coach — when he played in Provo Gabriel serves as the second counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Adney Reid (BYU) and Gordon Reid (Southern Utah) all played college football in Utah in the early 2000s it’s going to be crazy,” Karene Reid said of rivalry week in his family and so we got ‘em all converted now and so we should be full bleeding red,” he said It’s interesting you got family on that side there’s going to be a Reid wearing blue again will suit up for the Cougars after returning from his mission Spencer and Logan played other sports during their childhood but it became clear that both were destined for a future in football they both started playing football around the third I put them in these little leagues … and I noticed at a very early age that they had some potential and some abilities As the two set out on their path to play Division I football and achieve their ultimate goal of playing in the NFL their uncles played a critical role — providing inspiration both Spencer and Logan looked up to and were mentored by their uncles that made the NFL on both sides but they’re also related to Tenny Palepoi and Anton Palepoi played at Utah in 2012 and 2013 after transferring from Snow College and went on to play in 44 games for the San Diego Chargers Defensive end Anton Palepoi played college football at UNLV before being drafted in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks Anton appeared in 35 games in his pro career “It really helped them to see that it was tangible They looked up to their uncles and growing up “And so that really set them on the path to where they set a goal they wanted to do this since they started putting in the work to try to obviously accomplish what their uncles did And earning a college scholarship was the first step I did all I could as a dad to put them in touch with different trainers and position-specific specialists in hopes that they would gain an edge.” “It’s been gratifying as a parent to see my boys have uncles who have played at the highest level but also uncles who have really invested in them and teaching them While being around those relatives paid dividends for their football careers Logan and Spencer stayed at Gabriel Reid’s house he stayed at Anton Palepoi’s house for the first couple of semesters “I was able to grow up with a lot of really but the sports part just added onto it and they were able to teach me a lot of really great things which I’m really grateful for,” Spencer said The years of training and dedication to football are paying off for both Fano brothers Spencer arrived at Utah as one of the nation’s top offensive tackle prospects and was able to win the starting job his freshman season It was an up-and-down year for Spencer on the field in 2023 but those experiences were able to help him tremendously as he prepared for his sophomore season He spent the offseason working with trainers to help him take his game to the next level but also spent a lot of time in the film room And I’m seeing that he’s really taking the next level in his development and growth as a player by understanding the importance of film study and then also putting the extra work after practices,” Bingham said Moving from left tackle to his high school position of right tackle this season Spencer has been not only Utah’s most reliable offensive lineman as one of the top offensive tackles in the country Pro Football Focus thinks Fano is Utah’s best offensive player by a decent margin which is the most demanding offensive line spot is the edges And both him and Caleb Lomu are doing an excellent job out there,” Whittingham said after suffering a torn ACL for the third time in his career after sacking Oregon State’s Aidan Chiles in 2023 Logan Fano went through another rehab while preparing for the 2024 season You would think a kid who had gone through his third ACL tear would hang ‘em up and call it good He wasn’t going to miss out on that opportunity and so he took the rehab process really seriously.” Logan being available to play in every game this season has been a plus for a Utah defensive line that has seen its share of injuries this year He has played the fifth-most snaps on the defense While Karene Reid has played in only four games this season — missing a large chunk of the year with an injury suffered in Week 2 — he’s had a stabilizing effect on the linebacker group since coming back and has totaled 23 tackles and recovered a fumble and then I get pushed around by Spencer Fano at practice when I was always the older cousin it’s just amazing to have this experience to play with them and I count my blessings every day,” Karene Reid said Utah’s program has long fostered a family culture and the chance for them to play together is one each player — and their relatives — are cherishing my coaches have treated me like family,” Spencer Reid said and with his return to the Wasatch Mountains he now headlines an elite list of returning offensive tackles.  Fano spearheads the list of top returning offensive tackles as he boasted an insane 93.0 grade in 2024 making him the highest-graded tackle in all of college football last season.  A general view of the football helmet worn by the Utah Utes against the Southern Utah "He also finished as the second-most-valuable Power Four tackle according to PFF’s wins above average metric trailing only a projected top-15 pick in Kelvin Banks Jr." "Fano is no slouch as a pass protector either, earning a top-30 pass-blocking grade among Power Four tackles (79.5). While some length concerns could push him inside to guard in the NFL he’s still an elite athlete with dominant tape as just a true sophomore," he concluded.  Francis Mauigoa (Miami Hurricanes), Kadyn Proctor (Alabama Crimson Tide), Jordon Seaton (Colorado Buffaloes), and Aamil Wagner (Notre Dame Fighting Irish) make up the rest of the top five behind Fano.  Meanwhile, Gennings Dunker (Iowa Hawkeyes), Blake Miller (Clemson Tigers), Carter Smith (Indiana Hoosiers), Brian Parker II (Duke Blue Devils), and Riley Mahlman (Wisconsin Badgers) make up the second half of the list.  Fano will be blocking for a new quarterback and running back in 2025, and both will surely be grateful to have the highly-graded tackle on their side of the trenches, especially since his skillset will only grow further in what is most likely his final collegiate season.  Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah AthleticsAssociated Press Selects Spencer Fano as Second Team All-America12/16/2024 11:04 AM | Football Offensive lineman picks up third All-America nod of the 2024 season Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker has officially announced that he will return to the program in what may be one of the biggest and most important retainments of the offseason.  made massive strides in his development from year one to year two and solidified himself as one of the most promising pieces on the team.  In a post on his X account Fano shared four pictures from this past season and a simple caption stating his intent to return next season His brother, Utah defensive end Logan Fano also announced that he is indeed sticking with the program with a post on his X account back on November 26th captioned SIR #GOUTES" in which he also shared four pictures from the season including one standing right next to his brother.  A good sign of things to come for the program amid murmurings of locker room discontent as the season continued to play out the way it did but the team displayed their unity and their allegiance to the Utah way after the win against UCF and are ready to run it back in 2025 Home Internships & JobsTake ActionDonateMore SearchThe Civil War in Ethiopia That Never Really EndedThe New York TimesDec 5 202416 min readA rare look inside a region still reckoning with the toll of war crimes Alexis Okeowo spent almost two weeks in Ethiopia for this article Tigray and other areas with limited access to foreign journalists which is fighting against the central government Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesBefore war broke out in Ethiopia Mehari could take the bus home from her work as a doctor at a public hospital in Axum a town in the country’s northern region Tigray But then fighting between its ruling party and Ethiopia’s federal government shut down public transportation and Mehari was forced to walk 40 minutes between home and the hospital After federal troops took the town and imposed a 6 p.m Mehari would leave the hospital at the last possible moment staying as long as she could to care for her patients “I had to run from work to home almost every day,” she recalled She was afraid soldiers would find her alone after curfew “Maybe being killed could be the easiest thing that happens to you,” she said After they held regional parliamentary elections in 2020 then attacked an Ethiopian military camp in Tigray claiming it was a pre-emptive strike before the federal government’s planned invasion Abiy immediately sent more troops into Tigray he won the Nobel Peace Prize for normalizing long-hostile relations with Eritrea Now the Ethiopian government was able to enlist the help of Eritrean troops as well as thousands of fighters from the security forces of other Ethiopian states Radio stations were no longer banned from broadcasting hate speech directed at them Fighters and civilians alike were labeled “junta” by people in the federal government and Ethiopians of other ethnicities unwilling to participate in the hopeful and unified country of Abiy’s promises But while both sides have been accused of crimes State Department has described “ethnic cleansing” in Tigray Ethiopian and Eritrean troops destroyed fields crops and grain stores while the government imposed a communications blackout and blocked humanitarian aid Ninety percent of Tigray’s population faced famine according to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator in 2021 the Ethiopian government “basically wanted to starve the Tigrayans into submission or out of existence.” Displaced from their home in the border town of Ab’ala a Tigrayan woman and her family had to settle in the toilet area of a displaced persons camp near Mekelle Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesA study by Kiros Berhane found that more than 100,000 women in Tigray may have been raped by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers and their allies they told them that they came to destroy their wombs so that Tigrayan women will not give birth to Tigrayan children,” Yirgalem Gebretsadkan who heads the research center on gender-based violence for the Tigray government’s Commission of Inquiry on Tigray Genocide More than 80 percent of the women who reported being raped told the commission they had been gang-raped Eritrean soldiers who were H.I.V.-positive were ordered to rape H.I.V.-negative women Some 600,000 people have been killed in the conflict and millions more have been displaced from their homes Both sides agreed to stop fighting in 2022 the Tigray Defense Forces were required to surrender their arms and send 270,000 fighters to makeshift rehabilitation camps which were supposed to help reintegrate them into society But those forces have said they will not fully disarm until Eritrean forces withdraw Abiy has yet to ask them to leave parts of western Tigray that he does not trust Tigrayan leadership to keep the peace the federal government didn’t allow foreign journalists to enter Tigray the world seems mostly to have forgotten about what happened there together with an Ethiopian guide and translator visited Tigray to witness a crisis that never really ended And in the neighboring state of Amhara we saw a new and related war breaking out had eagerly joined the conflict to support Abiy but now they were unsatisfied with the peace deal As war raged in and around Axum — once part of a trading empire dating back to the first century A.D and a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its obelisks royal tombs and palace ruins — Mehari was reassigned to her hospital’s emergency room she no longer felt capable as she watched patients end up in septic shock And she found it hard to endure her own vulnerability The town was shelled indiscriminately by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces you’re going to be a victim of it,” Mehari told me There she joined the Tigray Defense Forces learned how to use a gun and went to work as a medic which had to carry the wounded on stretchers through active battlefields she watched as people she had grown up with died right in front of her “I just turned 26 when I joined,” she said Mehari didn’t think she would survive the war she still didn’t feel comfortable outside Tigray I have used first names or nicknames to protect the identities of others in this article.) Things have seemed to only get worse Worshipers celebrating Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas at a church in Lalibela Lalibela is famous for its ancient churches carved into red volcanic rock It has been the scene of recent fighting between the federal government and Fano militants Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesMekelle is a city of 500,000 people home to the sprawling Mekelle University as well as cafes a ramshackle place of tin-roof structures and flimsier tents of thick The people I met there had once worked as lawyers teachers and civil servants; they now begged for food just over Tigray’s border in the mostly Muslim state of Afar Ab’ala had been ethnically mixed: Almost 70 percent of its people were Tigrayan Christians; the rest were Muslim Afars several thousand Tigrayans in Ab’ala suddenly had to flee their homes when their Afar neighbors turned on them and killed hundreds of people The refugees told me that Afar residents went around town marking the houses that had Tigrayans living in them killing Tigrayans and looting their possessions “It was like hell — there were heavy artillery sounds there were mortar sounds,” an elderly man named Hailu told me “They killed my cousin with his two family members jumping over their dead bodies.” He said he had come to Mekelle with nothing cattle and mule carts — we don’t know their whereabouts.” A former resident of Ab’ala at a displaced persons camp for Tigrayans on the outskirts of Mekelle Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesA 55-year-old doctor named Hagos told me he was at home in Ab’ala with his wife and children when intruders came Christian Tigrayans and Muslim Afars lived side by side: “We farmed together and we were together at funerals and weddings.” Even the local police seemed to be helping as the group forced him outside ‘We are going to kill him,’ ” Hagos recalled Hagos and his wife and their six children ended up in a detention camp in Semera He said the guards beat them and gave them barely any food; a package of biscuits had to last for days “You don’t know whether you are alive or not,” he said after aid organizations pressured the Ethiopian government over the camp’s conditions Their relief at returning home to Ab’ala was short-lived “After we were there for four days,” Hagos said They started it again.” He and his family sought refuge in Mekelle unable to stop thinking about “the things they have done to us.” The people who did those things still moved around freely “Our killers come to Mekelle and go as they please.” The Commission of Inquiry on Tigray Genocide estimates that more than 500 Tigrayans were killed in Ab’ala as well as the surrounding area and Semera based on interviews with survivors and the number of bodies found an Afar shopkeeper and religious leader in Ab’ala said the Tigray Defense Forces looted his property Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesSurprisingly is vulnerable below the mountains that loom over it where Tigrayan snipers were once stationed Its main roads are lined with small businesses cafes with plastic stools and stalls and vendors who is 50 and has family at the refugee camp in Mekelle told me that he and his children expected to be killed during the violence in Ab’ala Kahsay and his wife were sent to the detention camp in Semera for nine months but he felt numb — his brother had been one of the victims of the violence in December 2021 Kahsay saw men who participated in the killings on the street: “No one can touch them a 23-year-old woman named Berkti was listening to us and crying she had been in Ab’ala during the killings then raped four of her female relatives; Berkti knew all three men They killed her uncle in front of her and stole her savings Berkti had also been sent to the camp in Semera She came back to Ab’ala after being unable to find a living elsewhere But she regularly saw around town the men who beat her and tried to rape her Afar residents told me they were not the perpetrators of such violence They claimed to be victims of the Tigrayans a 45-year-old civil servant who is ethnic Afar said that once the Tigrayan forces entered Ab’ala after the original massacre they burned one of his family houses and then looted his possessions “They slaughtered the Afar people,” Ali went on He  estimated that dozens were killed in revenge “They burned Afar houses and religious places.” He said that Tigrayan forces burned Afar homes Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesAli denied that townspeople had participated in the violence against Tigrayans and they had been motivated by grudges against the former Tigrayan-led national government A local religious leader and businessman named Mohammed also told me that the killers were not from Ab’ala Both men claimed that more Afars had been killed than Tigrayans “There is a lot of tension.” Mohammed added apparently wary of the power of the militias that Abiy used to help fight the war in Tigray began arresting thousands of people in Amhara it tried to force regional special police forces to disband and to be integrated into the national security forces Now the federal government is actively fighting a powerful militia in Amhara The Amhara region in Ethiopia remains engulfed in conflict Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesWhen we visited much of the recent fighting between the federal government and Fano had taken place outside the town of Lalibela Lalibela is famous for its huge ancient churches carved into red volcanic rock But the tens of thousands of international tourists who used to visit every year are mostly gone Fano refused to give up its arms following the peace deal between the Ethiopian government and the T.P.L.F An Ethiopian senior official accused them of trying to overthrow the government — and some Fano fighters told me they were trying to do just that Many of them felt betrayed by the Tigray peace agreement and by a government that had promised them that if they fought against the T.P.L.F. they would be given land to expand their territory and more influence in the nation’s leadership Fano militia members at a checkpoint in Bilbala The militia helped the federal government in the Tigrayan conflict but then refused to give up its arms becoming a threat to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York Times MagazineOur first day in Amhara The militia members who pulled us over greeted us warmly after they recognized our driver Uniformed fighters poured into the outdoor seating space They were communicating through walkie-talkies because the federal government had cut cell service some of them flagged down two approaching passenger buses Several people got off and started excitedly taking selfies with the militants asking them to hold up their guns and the Amhara state flag — evidence of the immense support for Fano in the area Most of the Fano fighters at the bar were young; this was their first experience of war joined me behind the bar in a small room with a single chair and a mattress on the ground who wore three delicate earrings in one ear thought she was 19 but wasn’t sure of her age Fenta said being a guerrilla fighter was the first time she had felt free in a long time “I was forced into marriage with someone I don’t like,” she told me Her uncle had arranged the ceremony several years earlier had agreed to it in order to be able to take care of her younger sisters with whom she shared some cattle and farm produce “I sold it all and gave the money to my aunt who is looking after my younger sisters,” she said “Then I immediately joined Fano.” She believed that the government was “working to pull apart and weaken Amhara.” She continued: “They made us fight with Tigray Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesLasta had finished her final year of high school but decided against taking the leaving exam But she was pessimistic about her chances of success “There is no peace in the country,” she explained The women believed their Amharan identity and their religion — they were Orthodox Christians who carried with them into battle pages from the Book of David in small lockets — were under threat Both of them held their guns as they talked but mostly the enemy soldiers are the ones dying a lot,” Lasta said referring to the federal government’s troops They don’t want to fight us.” During one battle and rolled down a hill: “I didn’t even feel the wound because I was furious.” The leader of their division estimated that more than a thousand government soldiers had surrendered to Fano had been a police officer and then business owner working in transport and construction before he joined Fano he was married and had two children in the fight; another lived in England “Ever since the current government took power there have been killings and massacres targeting the ethnic Amhara,” he said “And now its army is invading our province The army retaliates in places where we don’t have control.” He went on to tell me that “mothers are being raped Children were a victim of mortar and heavy artillery attacks I have never seen this kind of cruelty in my life.” Aderaw estimated that there were 15,000 to 20,000 Fano militants in the area “One thing I can tell you is that all the people of Amhara are Fanos,” he said “The people of Amhara are 100 percent with us.” (Outside experts note that the government still has supporters in the state.) He added that “the children are warriors and they are fully dedicated.” A 21-year-old fighter named Mekdes said her family supported her decision to join the militia Aderaw sent a comrade to fetch one of their prisoners a baby-faced government soldier named Leta “I heard they don’t kill you if you surrender.” Several Fano militants watched him carefully Leta said he was “tired and fed up” of serving in the military after a year and a half going without enough food and suffering in the intense heat He had sent money back to his family in Oromia and eventually hoped to make his way to Addis Ababa to find work The unrest persists — out of the world’s sight the deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch “Foreign governments and international organizations have sought to return to ‘business as usual’ with the Ethiopian government despite the absence of normality on the ground.” Much of Tigray is experiencing a hunger crisis according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network is obstructing outside efforts to uncover the extent of the human-rights abuses that occurred during the civil war A recent report from the New Lines Institute cited evidence that both sides in the conflict had committed war crimes; members of Ethiopia’s and Eritrea’s militaries and the Amhara Special Forces also appeared to have committed acts of genocide against Tigrayans Tigray’s leaders announced plans to return hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans to territories that Amhara fighters captured during the civil war Some Amhara leaders say those plans could lead to war between the two regions Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that more than 2,000 civilians had already died in Amhara this year amid the fighting between Fano and the Ethiopian military The conflict extends to other countries too Experts have found mounting evidence that the United Arab Emirates has been providing military support to Abiy as well as providing arms to the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group in Sudan where civil war has turned the country into a battlefield and the error of those who so uncritically welcomed him was not to see that Ethiopia is a very breakable vessel and that you need to balance all of these political economic and ethnic factors to keep it going,” Alex de Waal the executive director of the World Peace Foundation and an expert on the Horn of Africa “He thought he could promise everything to everybody.” Abiy won’t be delivering on any promises of accountability the people and militias of other involved states — deny guilt and claim to be victims and Abiy’s government has failed to take the lead in redressing injustices “What has happened remains fundamentally unaddressed by the Ethiopian government and certainly the Eritrean government,” Steven Ratner a member of the United Nations International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia “There’s still no process in place to deal with the victims whether that’s some kind of reparations or psychosocial support whether it’s apologies or acknowledgment or any accountability by the forces of what they did.” And while it may be unrealistic to expect an unrepentant government responsible for abuses to publicly hold itself to account Ethiopian leadership could take other crucial steps like demanding the Eritrean military fully withdraw from Tigray there’s still ongoing violations of human rights.” Fano militants near a checkpoint in Bilbala Credit: Malin Fezehai for The New York TimesIn September the White House announced that it would be extending sanctions against Ethiopia because of the ongoing “emergency,” an action that gives the U.S government the authority to impose punitive measures on individuals and entities from Ethiopia the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the regional government in Amhara I received a message on WhatsApp from an unknown British number It took a while before I realized I was messaging with Wagnew Aderaw’s son He had emigrated as a refugee and now attends school there with donations from people in the Amhara diaspora in Britain the Amhara community and Fano militants every few months Bereket had watched his father go from working in local law-enforcement “It’s the one thing that is haunting me every day,” he said