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Vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to multiple conditions including bone disease, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Observational studies indicate lower healthcare costs and healthcare utilization with sufficient vitamin D levels. The secondary aims of our previously published pragmatic clinical trial of vitamin D3 supplementation were comparisons of healthcare costs and healthcare utilization. Comparisons were made between the vitamin D3 at 5000 IU supplementation group and a non-supplemented control group. Costs of care between the groups differed but were not statistically significant. Vitamin D3 supplementation reduced healthcare utilization in four major categories: hospitalizations for any reason (rate difference: −0.19 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.21 to −0.17 per 1000 person-days, p < 0.0001); ICU admissions for any reason (rate difference: −0.06 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.08 to −0.04 per 1000 person-days, p < 0.0001); emergency room visits for any reason (rate difference: −0.26 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.46 to −0.05 per 1000 person-days, p = 0.0131; and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 (rate difference: −8.47 × 10−3 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.02 to −1.05 × 10−3 per 1000 person-days, p = 0.0253). Appropriately powered studies of longer duration are recommended for replication of these utilization findings and analysis of cost differences.

Abstract Introduction: Designing and conducting clinical trials is challenging for some institutions and researchers due to associated time and personnel requirements. We conducted recruitment, screening, informed consent, study product distribution, and data collection remotely. Our objective is to describe how to conduct a randomized clinical trial using remote and automated methods. Methods: A randomized clinical trial in healthcare workers is used as a model. A random group of workers were invited to participate in the study through email. Following an automated process, interested individuals scheduled consent/screening interviews. Enrollees received study product by mail and surveys via email. Adherence to study product and safety were monitored with survey data review and via real-time safety alerts to study staff. Results: A staff of 10 remotely screened 406 subjects and enrolled 299 over a 3-month period. Adherence to study product was 87%, and survey data completeness was 98.5% over 9 months. Participants and study staff scored the System Usability Scale 93.8% and 90%, respectively. The automated and remote methods allowed the study maintenance period to be managed by a small study team of two members, while safety monitoring was conducted by three to four team members. Conception of the trial to study completion was 21 months. Conclusions: The remote and automated methods produced efficient subject recruitment with excellent study product adherence and data completeness. These methods can improve efficiency without sacrificing safety or quality. We share our XML file for researchers to use as a template for learning purposes or designing their own clinical trials.

Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of acute respiratory infections in populations at risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of preventing viral infections in healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to assess the hypothesis that vitamin D3 supplementation at 5000 IU daily reduces influenza-like illness (ILI), including COVID-19, in healthcare workers. We conducted a prospective, controlled trial at a tertiary university hospital. A random group of healthcare workers was invited to receive 5000 IU daily vitamin D3 supplementation for nine months, while other random healthcare system workers served as controls. All healthcare workers were required to self-monitor and report to employee health for COVID-19 testing when experiencing symptoms of ILI. COVID-19 test results were retrieved. Incidence rates were compared between the vitamin D and control groups. Workers in the intervention group were included in the analysis if they completed at least 2 months of supplementation to ensure adequate vitamin D levels. The primary analysis compared the incidence rate of all ILI, while secondary analyses examined incidence rates of COVID-19 ILI and non-COVID-19 ILI. Between October 2020 and November 2021, 255 healthcare workers (age 47 ± 12 years, 199 women) completed at least two months of vitamin D3 supplementation. The control group consisted of 2827 workers. Vitamin D3 5000 IU supplementation was associated with a lower risk of ILI (incidence rate difference: −1.7 × 10−4/person-day, 95%-CI: −3.0 × 10−4 to −3.3 × 10−5/person-day, p = 0.015) and a lower incidence rate for non-COVID-19 ILI (incidence rate difference: −1.3 × 10−4/person-day, 95%-CI −2.5 × 10−4 to −7.1 × 10−6/person-day, p = 0.038). COVID-19 ILI incidence was not statistically different (incidence rate difference: −4.2 × 10−5/person-day, 95%-CI: −10.0 × 10−5 to 1.5 × 10−5/person-day, p = 0.152). Daily supplementation with 5000 IU vitamin D3 reduces influenza-like illness in healthcare workers.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an evolutionarily conserved energy sensor. Activation of AMPK leads to a number of metabolic benefits, including improved mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle and lowering of serum glucose levels in type-2 diabetes models. However, direct activation of AMPK leads to cardiac enlargement, and an alternative strategy that activates AMPK without affecting the heart is needed. Inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), which is poorly expressed in the human heart, activates AMPK in other tissues. In a screen to identify novel PDE4 inhibitors, we discovered compound CBU91, which is 5-10 fold more potent than rolipram, the best characterized PDE4 inhibitor. CBU91, like rolipram, is able to activate AMPK and Sirt1 and increase mitochondrial function in myotubes. These findings suggest that activation of AMPK in myotubes is a general property of PDE4 inhibition and that PDE4 inhibition may activate AMPK in metabolically relevant tissues without affecting the heart.

The mechanism of pathogenesis associated with APOL1 polymorphisms and risk for non-diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not fully understood. Prior studies have minimized a causal role for the circulating APOL1 protein, thus efforts to understand kidney pathogenesis have focused on APOL1 expressed in renal cells. Of the kidney cells reported to express APOL1, the proximal tubule expression patterns are inconsistent in published reports, and whether APOL1 is synthesized by the proximal tubule or possibly APOL1 protein in the blood is filtered and reabsorbed by the proximal tubule remains unclear. Using both protein and mRNA in situ methods, the kidney expression pattern of APOL1 was examined in normal human and APOL1 bacterial artificial chromosome transgenic mice with and without proteinuria. APOL1 protein and mRNA was detected in podocytes and endothelial cells, but not in tubular epithelia. In the setting of proteinuria, plasma APOL1 protein did not appear to be filtered or reabsorbed by the proximal tubule. A side-by-side examination of commercial antibodies used in prior studies suggest the original reports of APOL1 in proximal tubules likely reflects antibody non-specificity. As such, APOL1 expression in podocytes and endothelia should remain the focus for mechanistic studies in the APOL1-mediated kidney diseases.

Abstract In response to various types of injury, melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) located in the bulge of hair follicles can regenerate mature melanocytes for hair and skin pigmentation. How McSCs respond to injury, however, remains largely unknown. Here we show that after epilation of mice, McSCs regenerate follicular and epidermal melanocytes, resulting in skin and hair hyperpigmentation. We further show that epilation leads to endogenous EDN3 upregulation in the dermal papilla, the secondary hair germ cells, and the epidermis. Genetic and pharmacological disruption of the EDN3 receptor EDNRB in vivo significantly blocks the effect of epilation on follicular and epidermal melanocyte regeneration as well as skin and hair hyperpigmentation. Taken together, these results indicate that epilation induces McSCs activation through EDN3/EDNRB signaling and in turn leads to skin and hair hyperpigmentation. The findings suggest that EDN/EDNRB signaling may serve as a potential therapeutic target to promote repigmentation in hypopigmentation disorders.

The deacetylase Sirt1, known to regulate many cellular functions, can be activated by energy deprivation, however the mechanism is unclear. Here, the authors show that ATP inhibits Sirt1 by binding to the C-terminal domain, and energy deprivation derepresses Sirt1 activity by lowering the ATP level.

The specific Sirt1 activator SRT1720 increases mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle, presumably by activating Sirt1. However, Sirt1 gain of function does not increase mitochondrial function, which raises a question about the central role of Sirt1 in SRT1720 action. Moreover, it is believed that the metabolic effects of SRT1720 occur independently of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an important metabolic regulator that increases mitochondrial function. Here, we show that SRT1720 activates AMPK in a Sirt1-independent manner and SRT1720 activates AMPK by inhibiting a cAMP degrading phosphodiesterase (PDE) in a competitive manner. Inhibiting the cAMP effector protein Epac prevents SRT1720 from activating AMPK or Sirt1 in myotubes. Moreover, SRT1720 does not increase mitochondrial function or improve glucose tolerance in AMPKα2 knockout mice. Interestingly, weight loss induced by SRT1720 is not sufficient to improve glucose tolerance. Therefore, contrary to current belief, the metabolic effects produced by SRT1720 require AMPK, which can be activated independently of Sirt1.

Stomata are the main gateways for water and air transport between leaves and the environment. Inward-rectifying potassium channels regulate photo-induced stomatal opening. Rice contains three inward rectifying shaker-like potassium channel proteins, OsKAT1, OsKAT2, and OsKAT3. Among these, only OsKAT2 is specifically expressed in guard cells. Here, we investigated the functions of OsKAT2 in stomatal regulation using three dominant negative mutant proteins, OsKAT2(T235R), OsKAT2(T285A) and OsKAT2(T285D), which are altered in amino acids in the channel pore and at a phosphorylation site. Yeast complementation and patch clamp assays showed that all three mutant proteins lost channel activity. However, among plants overexpressing these mutant proteins, only plants overexpressing OsKAT2(T235R) showed significantly less water loss than the control. Moreover, overexpression of this mutant protein led to delayed photo-induced stomatal opening and increased drought tolerance. Our results indicate that OsKAT2 is an inward- rectifying shaker-like potassium channel that mainly functions in stomatal opening. Interestingly, overexpression of OsKAT2(T235R) did not cause serious defects in growth or yield in rice, suggesting that OsKAT2 is a potential target for engineering plants with improved drought tolerance without yield penalty.

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT1) is a potential therapeutic target for treatment of obesity and related metabolic diseases. However, the degree of DGAT1 inhibition required for metabolic benefits is unclear. Here we show that partial DGAT1 deficiency in mice suppressed postprandial triglyceridemia, led to elevations in glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY) only following meals with very high lipid content, and did not protect from diet-induced obesity. Maximal DGAT1 inhibition led to enhanced GLP-1 and PYY secretion following meals with physiologically relevant lipid content. Finally, combination of DGAT1 inhibition with dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibition led to further enhancements in active GLP-1 in mice and dogs. The current study suggests that targeting DGAT1 to enhance postprandial gut hormone secretion requires maximal inhibition, and suggests combination with DPP-4i as a potential strategy to develop DGAT1 inhibitors for treatment of metabolic diseases.

AMP protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in food intake and energy metabolism, which are synchronized to the light-dark cycle. In vitro, AMPK affects the circadian rhythm by regulating at least two clock components, CKIα and CRY1, via direct phosphorylation. However, it is not known whether the catalytic activity of AMPK actually regulates circadian rhythm in vivo.THE CATALYTIC SUBUNIT OF AMPK HAS TWO ISOFORMS: α1 and α2. We investigate the circadian rhythm of behavior, physiology and gene expression in AMPKα1-/- and AMPKα2-/- mice. We found that both α1-/- and α2-/- mice are able to maintain a circadian rhythm of activity in dark-dark (DD) cycle, but α1-/- mice have a shorter circadian period whereas α2-/- mice showed a tendency toward a slightly longer circadian period. Furthermore, the circadian rhythm of body temperature was dampened in α1-/- mice, but not in α2-/- mice. The circadian pattern of core clock gene expression was severely disrupted in fat in α1-/- mice, but it was severely disrupted in the heart and skeletal muscle of α2-/- mice. Interestingly, other genes that showed circadian pattern of expression were dysreguated in both α1-/- and α2-/- mice. The circadian rhythm of nicotinamide phosphoryl-transferase (NAMPT) activity, which converts nicotinamide (NAM) to NAD+, is an important regulator of the circadian clock. We found that the NAMPT rhythm was absent in AMPK-deficient tissues and cells.This study demonstrates that the catalytic activity of AMPK regulates circadian rhythm of behavior, energy metabolism and gene expression in isoform- and tissue-specific manners.

SIRT1, an NAD(+) (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide)-dependent deacetylase, protects cells from stress-induced apoptosis, and its orthologues delay aging in lower eukaryotes. SIRT1 increases survival in response to stress such as DNA damage by deacetylating a number of substrates including pro-apoptotic protein p53. The molecular mechanism by which DNA-damage activates SIRT1 is not known. By screening a kinase inhibitor library, we identified CK2 as a SIRT1 kinase. CK2 is a pleiotropic kinase with more than 300 substrates and well-known anti-apoptotic and pro-growth activities. We find that CK2 is recruited to SIRT1 after ionizing radiation (IR) and phosphorylates conserved residues Ser 154, 649, 651 and 683 in the N- and C-terminal domains of mouse SIRT1. Phosphorylation of SIRT1 increases its deacetylation rate but not if the four Ser residues are mutated. In addition, phosphorylation of SIRT1 increases its substrate-binding affinity. CK2-mediated phosphorylation increases the ability of SIRT1 to deacetylate p53 and protect cells from apoptosis after DNA damage. Based on these findings, we propose that CK2 protects against IR-induced apoptosis partly by phosphorylating and activating SIRT1. Thus, this work suggests that SIRT1 is a component of the expansive anti-apoptotic network controlled by CK2. Since expression of both CK2 and SIRT1 is upregulated with tumorigenesis and downregulated with senescence, the CK2-SIRT1 link sheds new light on how CK2 may regulate cancer development and aging.

Vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to multiple conditions including bone disease, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Observational studies indicate lower healthcare costs and healthcare utilization with sufficient vitamin D levels. The secondary aims of our previously published pragmatic clinical trial of vitamin D3 supplementation were comparisons of healthcare costs and healthcare utilization. Comparisons were made between the vitamin D3 at 5000 IU supplementation group and a non-supplemented control group. Costs of care between the groups differed but were not statistically significant. Vitamin D3 supplementation reduced healthcare utilization in four major categories: hospitalizations for any reason (rate difference: −0.19 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.21 to −0.17 per 1000 person-days, p < 0.0001); ICU admissions for any reason (rate difference: −0.06 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.08 to −0.04 per 1000 person-days, p < 0.0001); emergency room visits for any reason (rate difference: −0.26 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.46 to −0.05 per 1000 person-days, p = 0.0131; and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 (rate difference: −8.47 × 10−3 per 1000 person-days, 95%-CI: −0.02 to −1.05 × 10−3 per 1000 person-days, p = 0.0253). Appropriately powered studies of longer duration are recommended for replication of these utilization findings and analysis of cost differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Abnormal posture is known to affect the efficacy of exercise therapy for musculoskeletal diseases. However, no studies to date have examined the effect of exercise programs should take into account the posture of the upper body in patients with rotator cuff disease. This study aimed to assess how rotator cuff and corrective exercises impact shoulder function and muscle strength post-arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery, providing tailored rehabilitation programs for patients with forward posture. Methods Ninety male patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair participated in this study. The patients were randomly divided into three groups corrective exercise group (CEG, n = 29), rotator cuff exercise group (REG, n = 27), and control group (CG, n = 28). Each group was instructed to apply different exercise programs to correct posture and enhance rotator cuff strength. All patients were checked by the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Constant score and muscle strength, and range of motion preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 months and 1 year. Results ASES shoulder function scores showed significant difference between the three groups (p = 0.002, F = 7.03), indicating that the corrective exercise program was more beneficial than rotator cuff exercises (p = 0.009, F = 3.78). A significant intergroup difference in mean Constant score was also noted (p = 0.025, F = 3.86), while a statistically significant interaction between time and group was observed (p = 0.032, F = 2.96). Conclusions These results suggested that a corrective exercise program can improve shoulder muscle strength and function after rotator cuff repair in male patients with a forward shoulder posture.

Kimura’s disease (KD) is a rare, chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by angiolymphoid hyperplasia, peripheral eosinophilia, and elevated serum immunoglobulin E levels. It primarily affects young Asian males and typically involves the head and neck region, especially near the mandible and postauricular regions. Orbital involvement is unusual and extraocular muscle (EOM) involvement is exceedingly rare, with only a few cases reported in the literature. The present report describes a case of surgically confirmed KD in a 16-yearold male, involving the bilateral EOM, lacrimal gland, and left parotid gland.

Abstract Phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) facilitate the discovery of associations between a single genetic variant with multiple phenotypes. For variants which impact a specific protein, this can help identify additional therapeutic indications or on-target side effects of intervening on that protein. However, PheWAS is restricted by an inability to distinguish confounding due to linkage disequilibrium (LD) from true pleiotropy. Here we describe CoPheScan (Coloc adapted Phenome-wide Scan), a Bayesian approach that enables an intuitive and systematic exploration of causal associations while simultaneously addressing LD confounding. We demonstrate its performance through simulation, showing considerably better control of false positive rates than a conventional approach not accounting for LD. We used CoPheScan to perform PheWAS of protein-truncating variants and fine-mapped variants from disease and pQTL studies, in 2275 disease phenotypes from the UK Biobank. Our results identify the complexity of known pleiotropic genes such as APOE, and suggest a new causal role for TGM3 in skin cancer.

Purpose: Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is a common age-related chronic condition. Its pathogenesis involves androgen imbalance, inflammation, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This study aims to assess the protective effect of finasteride, a 5α-reductase inhibitor, against testosterone propionate (TP)-induced BPH in rats and explore its potential mechanism of action. Materials and Methods: TP-induced BPH rats received either saline or finasteride (1 mg/kg) orally once a day for 7 weeks. Prior to sacrificing the animals, blood samples were collected. After sacrifice, prostate and tissue around the prostate were dissected from seminal vesical for further analysis. Body weight, prostate weight, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), 5α-reductase type 2 (5-AR2), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were measured. In addition, HIF-1α, VEGF, MMP-2 expressions in prostate, oxidative stress, inflammation, and ER stress responses were analyzed to understand the mechanism of action of finasteride. Results: Finasteride administration inhibited prostate enlargement, DHT, 5-AR2, and PSA levels in BPH rats. Additionally, finasteride inhibited angiogenesis markers such as HIF-1α, VEGF, and MMP-2. Moreover, components of oxidative stress, inflammation, and ER stress responses were significantly regulated by finasteride treatment. Conclusions: This study suggests that finasteride prevents BPH-associated symptoms by regulating angiogenesis, reactive oxygen species, ER stress responses, and inflammation, another mechanism to explain the effect of the 5α-reductase against BPH.

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a rare immune-mediated complication of a viral infection commonly involving the bilateral thalamus and has been reported mainly in children. Here, we describe the MRI findings of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated ANE in two pediatric patients, including a 7-year-old girl with fever and mental change, and a 6-year-old girl with fever and generalized seizures. Brain MRI revealed symmetrical T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery high-signal intensity lesions in the bilateral thalamus with central hemorrhage. In one patient, the thalamic lesions showed a trilaminar pattern on the apparent diffusion coefficient map. This report emphasizes the importance of creating awareness regarding these findings in patients with COVID-19, particularly in children with severe neurological symptoms. Furthermore, it provides a literature review of several documented cases of COVID-19 presenting with bilateral thalamic hemorrhagic necrosis, suggesting a diagnosis of ANE.

Cyber threats increasingly target mission-critical systems in the military and private sectors. CMIA has emerged to mitigate such cyber threats and assure the resilience of critical missions. Existing approaches merely provide partial, manual analysis methods to support CMIA and lack the ability to provide optimal defense measures. In this paper, we propose a novel CMIA framework enabling a streamlined, automated CMIA procedure, based on the Bayesian Stackelburg game. Unlike conventional approaches, our framework provides the most probable cyber threat and the optimal defense, i.e., countermeasures against the cyber threat in a given mission environment, securing the resilience of mission-critical systems.

Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of acute respiratory infections in populations at risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of preventing viral infections in healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to assess the hypothesis that vitamin D3 supplementation at 5000 IU daily reduces influenza-like illness (ILI), including COVID-19, in healthcare workers. We conducted a prospective, controlled trial at a tertiary university hospital. A random group of healthcare workers was invited to receive 5000 IU daily vitamin D3 supplementation for nine months, while other random healthcare system workers served as controls. All healthcare workers were required to self-monitor and report to employee health for COVID-19 testing when experiencing symptoms of ILI. COVID-19 test results were retrieved. Incidence rates were compared between the vitamin D and control groups. Workers in the intervention group were included in the analysis if they completed at least 2 months of supplementation to ensure adequate vitamin D levels. The primary analysis compared the incidence rate of all ILI, while secondary analyses examined incidence rates of COVID-19 ILI and non-COVID-19 ILI. Between October 2020 and November 2021, 255 healthcare workers (age 47 ± 12 years, 199 women) completed at least two months of vitamin D3 supplementation. The control group consisted of 2827 workers. Vitamin D3 5000 IU supplementation was associated with a lower risk of ILI (incidence rate difference: −1.7 × 10−4/person-day, 95%-CI: −3.0 × 10−4 to −3.3 × 10−5/person-day, p = 0.015) and a lower incidence rate for non-COVID-19 ILI (incidence rate difference: −1.3 × 10−4/person-day, 95%-CI −2.5 × 10−4 to −7.1 × 10−6/person-day, p = 0.038). COVID-19 ILI incidence was not statistically different (incidence rate difference: −4.2 × 10−5/person-day, 95%-CI: −10.0 × 10−5 to 1.5 × 10−5/person-day, p = 0.152). Daily supplementation with 5000 IU vitamin D3 reduces influenza-like illness in healthcare workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional DNN inference accelerators are designed with a few (up to four) large systolic arrays. As such a scale-up architecture often suffers from low utilization, a scale-out architecture, in which a single accelerator has tens of pods and each pod has a small systolic array, has been proposed. While the scale-out architecture is promising, it still incurs increasing off-chip memory access as the pods are supposed to access the duplicate tiles of tensors. Prior work has proposed a shared buffer structure to address the problem, but those architectures suffer from performance degradation due to shared buffer access latency. We make an observation that all the pods access the same rows of input and weights within a short time window. With the observation, we propose a new inference accelerator architecture, called Vectored Systolic Arrays (SAVector). SAVector consists of a new two-level on-chip buffer architecture and a tensor tile scheduling technique. In the new buffer architecture, global buffers are shared by all the pods and they keep the rows shared by the pods. And each pod has a tiny dedicated buffer. SAVector monitors the memory access behavior and timely determines to prefetch the data and flush it. In our evaluation, SAVector exhibits a very similar off-chip memory access count to the scale-up architecture and achieves 52% energy-delay-product (EDP) reduction. Also, SAVector achieves 27% EDP reduction over prior work by mitigating performance degradation from global buffer access latency.

Total internal reflection (TIR) holographic microscopy uses a prism in TIR as a near-field imager to perform quantitative phase microscopy of cell--substrate interfaces. The presence of microscopic organisms, cell--substrate interfaces, adhesions, and tissue structures on the prism's TIR face causes relative index of refraction and frustrated TIR to modulate the object beam's evanescent wave phase front. We present quantitative phase images of test specimens such as Amoeba proteus and cells such as SKOV-3 and 3T3 fibroblasts. [c] 2009 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 090.0090, 090.1995, 170.0180, 170.1530, 180.4243, 260.6970.

We use several holographic and interferographic methods for two- and three-dimensional imaging of fingerprints. Holographic phase microscopy is used to produce images of thin-film patterns left by latent fingerprints. Two or more holographic phase images with different wavelengths are combined for optical phase unwrapping of images of thicker patent prints or a plastic print. Digital interference holography uses scanned wavelengths to synthesize short-coherence interference tomographic images of a plastic print. We also demonstrate light-emitting-diode-based low-coherence interferography for imaging plastic as well as latent prints. These demonstrations point to significant contributions to biometry by the emerging technology of digital holography and interferography. [c] 2009 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 090.1995, 090.2880, 110.6880.

We propose what we believe to be a novel method for highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) angle measurement based on propagation vector analysis of digital holography. Three-dimensional rotations in space can be achieved by use of a CCD camera and a multifacet object, which reflects an incident wave into different directions. The propagation vectors of the reflected waves from the object can be extracted by analyzing the object spectrum of the recorded hologram. Any small rotation of the object will induce a change in the propagation vectors in space, which can then be used for 3D angle measurement. Experimental results are presented to verify the idea. OCIS codes: 120.0120, 090.1760.

We apply the techniques of digital holography to obtain microscopic three-dimensional images of biological cells. The optical system is capable of microscopic holography with diffraction-limited resolution by projecting a magnified image of a microscopic hologram plane onto a CCD plane. Two-wavelength phase-imaging digital holography is applied to produce unwrapped phase images of biological cells. The method of three-wavelength phase imaging is proposed to extend the axial range and reduce the effect of phase noise. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of digital holography in high-resolution biological microscopy. OCIS codes: 090.1760, 100.5070, 110.0180.

Mutations in the genes encoding endothelin receptor-B (Ednrb) and its ligand endothelin-3 (Edn3) affect the development of two neural crest-derived cell types, melanocytes and enteric neurons. EDNRB signaling is exclusively required between E10.5 and E12.5 during the migratory phase of melanoblast and enteric neuroblast development. To determine the fate of Ednrb-expressing cells during this critical period, we generated a strain of mice with the bacterial [beta]-galactosidase (lacZ) gene inserted downstream of the endogenous Ednrb promoter. The expression of the lacZ gene was detected in melanoblasts and precursors of the enteric neuron system (ENS), as well as other neural crest cells and nonneural crest-derived lineages. By comparing [Ednrb.sup.lacZ]/+ and [Ednrb.sup.lacZ]/[Ednrb.sup.lacZ] embryos, we determined that the Ednrb pathway is not required for the initial specification and dispersal of melanoblasts and ENS precursors from the neural crest progenitors. Rather, the EDNRB-mediated signaling is required for the terminal migration of melanoblasts and ENS precursors, and this pathway is not required for the survival of the migratory cells. Keywords: Endothelin receptor-B (Ednrb); Neural crest; Cell migration; Melanocytes; Enteric neurons

Objectives This study explored the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on psychosocial stress in prime working-age individuals in Korea, focusing on gender inequalities. We hypothesized that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health would differ by age and gender, with younger women potentially demonstrating heightened vulnerability relative to men. Methods The study involved data from the Korea Community Health Survey and included 319 592 adults aged 30 years to 49 years. We employed log-binomial regression analysis, controlling for variables including age, education, employment status, marital status, and the presence of children. The study period included 3 phases: the period prior to the COVID-19 outbreak (pre–COVID-19), the early pandemic, and the period following the introduction of vaccinations (post-vaccination). Results The findings indicated that women were at a heightened risk of psychosocial stress during the early pandemic (relative risk [RR], 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98 to 1.05) and post-vaccination period (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.10) compared to men. This pattern was prominent in urban women aged 30–34 years (pre–COVID-19: RR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.10; early pandemic: RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.25; post-vaccination period, RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.31). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted unequal impacts on psychosocial stress among prime working-age individuals in Korea, with women, particularly those in urban areas, experiencing a heightened risk. The findings highlight the importance of addressing gender-specific needs and implementing appropriate interventions to mitigate the psychosocial consequences of the pandemic.