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Abstract Light manipulation and control are essential in various contemporary technologies, and as these technologies evolve, the demand for miniaturized optical components increases. Planar-lens technologies, such as metasurfaces and diffractive optical elements, have gained attention in recent years for their potential to dramatically reduce the thickness of traditional refractive optical systems. However, their fabrication, particularly for visible wavelengths, involves complex and costly processes, such as high-resolution lithography and dry-etching, which has limited their availability. In this study, we present a simplified method for fabricating visible Fresnel zone plate (FZP) planar lenses, a type of diffractive optical element, using an i-line stepper and a special photoresist (color resist) that only necessitates coating, exposure, and development, eliminating the need for etching or other post-processing steps. We fabricated visible FZP lens patterns using conventional photolithography equipment on 8-inch silica glass wafers, and demonstrated focusing of 550 nm light to a diameter of 1.1 μm with a focusing efficiency of 7.2%. Numerical simulations showed excellent agreement with experimental results, confirming the high precision and designability of our method. Our lenses were also able to image objects with features down to 1.1 μm, showcasing their potential for practical applications in imaging. Our method is a cost-effective, simple, and scalable solution for mass production of planar lenses and other optical components operating in the visible region. It enables the development of advanced, miniaturized optical systems to meet modern technology demand, making it a valuable contribution to optical component manufacturing.

Introduction:Garcinia atroviridis has been used for traditional medicines, healthy foods and tea. The chemical compositions and biological activities of fruit, stem bark and root have been widely studied. However, the phytochemical components and the biological activities in Garcinia atroviridis leaves (GAL) are limited. This research aims to study the phytochemical components and the stress resistance effects of GAL in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans).Methods: To investigate the chemical components and antioxidant activities of GAL extract, the ethanol extract was characterized by liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF MS) analysis and C. elegans was used to evaluate the effects of GAL extracts on longevity and stress resistance.Results and discussion: The results revealed that the ethanol extract of GAL possesses free radical scavenging activities. Furthermore, GAL extract increased the lifespan of C. elegans by 6.02%, 15.26%, and 12.75% at concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 μg/mL, respectively. GAL extract exhibited improved stress resistance under conditions of heat and hydrogen peroxide-induced stress. The survival rates of GAL extract-treated worms were significantly higher than those of untreated worms, and GAL extract reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Additionally, GAL extract treatment upregulated the expression of stress resistance-associated genes, including gst-4, sod-3, skn-1, and hsp16.2. GAL extract supplementation alleviated stress and enhanced longevity by inducing stress-related genes in C. elegans. The observed effects of GAL extracts may be attributed to the stimulation of oxidant enzymes mediated through DAF-16/FOXO and SKN-1/NRF2, as well as the enhancement of thermal defense in C. elegans. Collectively, this study provides the first evidence of the antioxidant activities of GAL and elucidates the underlying mechanisms of stress resistance.

Serum concentration of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a way to estimate the ovarian reserve in many species including domestic cats. It could therefore become an important indicator to manage breeding of wild cat species in captivity. This study focused on 1) validating the AMH Gen II ELISA test, and 2) exploring the relationship between serum AMH with age and estrus stages in fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) and leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis). Blood samples were collected from 11 female fishing cats (5.7 ± 3.2 years old) and 8 female leopard cats (8.1 ± 1.8 years old) subjected to routine annual health check in zoo facilities. The stage of the estrus cycle was estimated from animal history, abdominal sonography and vaginal cytology. Serum AMH was measured by AMH Gen II ELISA. Intra-assay CV and inter-assay CV were 4.11 % and 5.52 %, respectively. Validation of the AMH Gen II ELISA by the linearity of sample dilution in fishing cats and leopard cats was confirmed. In fishing cats, r2 equalled 0.998 and percentage recovery was 83–101 %. In leopard cats, r2 equalled 0.999 and percentage recovery was 96–104 %. Serum AMH concentration ranged from 0.17 to 30.53 ng/mL (averaged 14.88 ± 10.03 ng/mL) in fishing cats and 1.25 to 13.52 ng/mL (averaged 6.25 ± 4.69 ng/mL) in leopard cats. There was no significant relationship between serum AMH concentration and age in both fishing cats (r = − 0.556, P = 0.075) and leopard cats (r = 0.010, P = 0.982). Likewise, there was no difference in AMH concentrations between estrus stage and other stages in both fishing cats (P = 0.069) and leopard cats (P = 0.599). In conclusion, because the limited sample size and the lack of precise information on the estrus phase, the AMH Gen II ELISA shows promising potential for detecting concentrations that may be correlated with age, estrus cycle, and ovarian reserve in future studies.

Endometrium, a highly dynamic tissue, is known for its remarkable ability to regenerate, differentiate, and degenerate in a non-conception cycle and transform into a specialized tissue to nurture and protect the embryo in a conception cycle. This plasticity of the endometrium endows the uterus to execute its major function, i.e., embryo implantation. However, this boon becomes a bane, when endometrium- or endometrium-like cells adhere, grow, and invade extrauterine sites, leading to endometriosis. Endometrial deposits at the extrauterine site lead to severe pelvic pain, painful menstruation, and infertility in endometriosis. Although benign, endometriotic lesions share several traits with cancerous cells, excessive proliferation, adhesion, invasion, and angiogenesis make endometriotic lesions analogous to cancer cells in certain aspects. There exists evidence to support that, akin to the cancer cell, endometriotic lesions harbor somatic mutations. These lesions are known to experience higher proliferative stress, oxidative stress, and inflammation, which may contribute to somatic mutations. However, it would be of more interest to establish whether in the eutopic endometriosis also, the mutational burden is higher or whether the DNA Damage Response (DDR) is compromised in the eutopic endometrium, in endometriosis. Such investigations may provide more insights into the pathobiology of endometriosis and may also unravel cellular events associated with the origin of the disease. This review compiles inferences from the studies conducted to assess DNA damage and DDR in endometriosis.

Background and Aim: As the number of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) continues to decline, maintaining healthy populations under human care is vital. Male fertility assessment is essential for understanding the reproductive status, which can help to uncover underlying problems and improve the rate of pregnancy success. The objectives of this study in Asian elephants were as follows: (1) To investigate the semen characteristics; (2) to compare the relative seminal vesicle size and semen characteristics; (3) to compare the semen characteristics between good-motile (>60% progressive motility) and poor-motile (60% progressive motility) and poor-motile (

The role of sMAdCAM, an important gut immune migratory marker, remains unexplored in COVID-19 pathogenesis considering recent studies positing the gut as a sanctuary site for SARS-CoV-2 persistence. Thus, assimilating profiles of systemic inflammatory mediators with sMAdCAM levels may provide insights into the progression of COVID-19 disease. Also, the role of these markers in governing virus specific immunity following infection remains largely unexplored. A cohort (n = 84) of SARS-C0V-2 infected individuals included a group of in-patients (n = 60) at various stages of disease progression together with convalescent individuals (n = 24) recruited between April and June 2020 from Mumbai, India. Follow-up of 35 in-patients at day 7 post diagnosis was carried out. Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines along with soluble MAdCAM (sMAdCAM) levels in plasma were measured. Also, anti-viral humoral response as measured by rapid antibody test (IgG, IgM), Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (IgG), and antibodies binding to SARS-CoV-2 proteins were measured by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) from plasma. IL-6 and sMAdCAM levels among in-patients inversely correlated with one another. When expressed as a novel integrated marker—sMIL index (sMAdCAM/IL-6 ratio)—these levels were incrementally and significantly higher in various disease states with convalescents exhibiting the highest values. Importantly, sMAdCAM levels as well as sMIL index (fold change) correlated with peak association response units of receptor binding domain and fold change in binding to spike respectively as measured by SPR. Our results highlight key systemic and gut homing parameters that need to be monitored and investigated further to optimally guide therapeutic and prophylactic interventions for COVID-19.

Eye movements in daily life occur in rapid succession and often without a predefined goal. Using a free viewing task, we examined how fixation duration prior to a saccade correlates to visual saliency and neuronal activity in the superior colliculus (SC) at the saccade goal. Rhesus monkeys (three male) watched videos of natural, dynamic, scenes while eye movements were tracked and, simultaneously, neurons were recorded in the superficial and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SCs and SCi, respectively), a midbrain structure closely associated with gaze, attention, and saliency coding. Saccades that were directed into the neuron's receptive field (RF) were extrapolated from the data. To interpret the complex visual input, saliency at the RF location was computed during the pre-saccadic fixation period using a computational saliency model. We analyzed if visual saliency and neural activity at the saccade goal predicted pre-saccadic fixation duration. We report three major findings: (1) Saliency at the saccade goal inversely correlated with fixation duration, with motion and edge information being the strongest predictors. (2) SC visual saliency responses in both SCs and SCi were inversely related to fixation duration. (3) SCs neurons, and not SCi neurons, showed higher activation for two consecutive short fixations, suggestive of concurrent saccade processing during free viewing. These results reveal a close correspondence between visual saliency, SC processing, and the timing of saccade initiation during free viewing and are discussed in relation to their implication for understanding saccade initiation during real-world gaze behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR‐CM) may be an underestimated cause of heart failure among geriatric patients and represent a unique phenotype and prognostic profile. Methods and results: This retrospective, observational, cohort study characterizes cardiac and extracardiac disorders at diagnosis and assesses prognosis among ATTR‐CM patients based on age (geriatric vs. non‐geriatric) and amyloidosis subtype (wild type, ATTRwt and hereditary, ATTRv). In total, 943 patients with ATTR‐CM were included, of which 306 had ATTRv and 637 had ATTRwt. Among these, 331 (35.1%) were non‐geriatric (<75 years), and 612 (64.9%) were geriatric (≥75 years). The population exhibited conduction abnormalities, atrial fibrillation and ischaemic heart disease that progressively deteriorated with age. Among ATTRwt patients, peripheral neuropathy, neurovegetative symptoms, and hearing loss were present across all age groups, but reports of carpal tunnel symptoms or surgery decreased with age. Conversely, among ATTRv patients, reports of extracardiac symptoms increased with age and Val122ILe mutation was highly prevalent among geriatric patients. The 3‐year survival was higher among non‐geriatric ATTR‐CM patients (76%) than geriatric patients (55%) and predictors of 3‐year mortality differed. Notably, predictors identified among geriatric patients were alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (HR = 1.004, 95% CI: [0.001–1.100)], troponin T hs (HR = 1.005, 95% CI: [1.001–1.120)] and tricuspid insufficiency (HR = 1.194, 95% CI: [1.02–1.230)]. Whereas, among non‐geriatric patients, NT‐proBNP (HR = 1.002, 95% CI: [1.02–1.04], global longitudinal strain (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: [0.922–0.989], and glomerular filtration rate (HR = 0.984, 95% CI: [0.968–1.00) were identified. We propose a 3‐stage prognostic staging system combining troponin T hs (≥44 ng/L) and ALP levels (≥119 UI/L). In the geriatric population, this model discriminated survival more precisely than the National Amyloidosis Centre staging, particularly for classifying between stage 1 (82%), stage 2 (50%) and stage 3 (32%) for ATTRv and ATTRwt. Conclusions: These diagnostic and prognostic indicators, along with ATTR subtype, highlight the distinct characteristics of this important, geriatric ATTR‐CM patient group. Recognizing these mortality markers can be valuable for geriatricians to improve the prognostic quality management of geriatric patients with ATTR‐CM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–CT (FDG-PET/CT) is useful for identifying infective endocarditis (IE) but also the detection of other concomitant septic foci. Previously, we found that FDG-PET/CT identified an osteoarthritic septic graft (OASG) in 19.1% of IE patients, frequently asymptomatic. These preliminary results encouraged us to extend our analyses to a larger population, including all patients initially explored for suspected IE, to assess the prevalence, characteristics, and OASG locations brought out by FDG-PET/CT and to identify predictive factors. Methods: From a single-center cohort of patients referred for a clinical and/or biological suspicion of IE, we included all patients who underwent FDG-PET/CT, mainly performed to confirm a prosthesis heart valve or a foreign cardiac device infection. We excluded those who did not meet the 2015 modified Duke Criteria and those for whom another infectious diagnosis was finally retained or for whom all bacterial samples were negative. Demographic, clinical, bacteriological, imaging, and therapeutic data were collected. FDG-PET/CT images were retrospectively analyzed by three blinded nuclear medicine specialists to identify OASGs. Results: We identified 72 distinct OASG locations by FDG-PET/CT in 48 of 174 patients (27.6%), mainly located in the spine (21 OASGs in 20 patients); 14 patients (8.0%) had several OASG locations. In total, 43.8% of OASG locations were asymptomatic. In multivariate analysis, the presence of OASGs was associated with musculoskeletal pain (p < 0.001) and tricuspid valve involvement (p = 0.002). Conclusions: FDG-PET/CT is useful for identifying OASGs in patients with suspected IE, especially those with tricuspid IE or musculoskeletal pain. The identification of OASGs could impact antibiotic therapy and would allow adapted orthopedic management to be proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Simultaneous positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) combines the high sensitivity of PET with the high specificity of MRI. Here, we aimed to evaluate whether a combined PET-MRI exam may give more information than conventional exams at the time of diagnosis in a series of patients presenting with a neuroendocrine tumor in the pancreas or within the gastrointestinal tract. We also investigated if the procedure could influence survival. In 71 patients, we performed a PETMRI at the baseline and in 50 patients the follow-up was based on PET-MRI performed every 6–12 months. The results show that the hybrid exam yielded new information at the baseline and during the follow-up, but had no impact on the survival. Introduction and aim: Simultaneous positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) combines the high sensitivity of PET with the high specificity of MRI and is a tool for the assessment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (G-NENs). However, it remains poorly evaluated with no clear recommendations in current guidelines. Thus, we evaluated the prognostic impact of PET-MRI in G-NEN patients. Methods: From June 2017 to December 2021, 71 G-NEN patients underwent whole-body PET-MRI for staging and/or follow-up purposes. A whole-body emission scan with 18F-6-fluoro-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (18FDOPA, n = 30), 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG, n = 21), or 68Ga-(DOTA(0)-Phe(1)-Tyr(3))-octreotide (68Ga-DOTATOC, n = 20) with the simultaneous acquisition of a T1-Dixon sequence and diffusion-weighed imaging (DWI), followed by a dedicated step of MRI sequences with a Gadolinium contrast was performed. The patients underwent PET-MRI every 6–12 months during the follow-up period until death. Over this period, 50 patients with two or more PET-MRI were evaluated. Results: The mean age was 61 [extremes, 31–92] years. At the baseline, PET-MRI provided new information in 12 cases (17%) as compared to conventional imaging: there were more metastases in eight, an undescribed location (myocardia) in two, and an unknown primary location in two cases. G grading at the baseline influenced overall survival. During the follow-up (7–381 months, mean 194), clinical and therapy managements were influenced by PET-MRI in three (6%) patients due to new metastases findings when neither overall, nor disease-free survivals in these two subgroups (n = 12 vs. n = 59), were different. Conclusion: Our study suggests that using PET/MRI with the appropriate radiotracer improves the diagnostic performance with no benefit on survival. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]