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To assess serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3), fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), and C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein-3 (CTRP3) levels in nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and their relationship with coronary artery calcification (CAC). One hundred and twenty-eight patients diagnosed with CKD were selected and all underwent cardiac computed tomography. CAC was assessed using the Agatston score, and coronary artery calcification score (CACs) >10 was identified as CAC. The differences in serum 25(OH)D3, FGF23, and CTRP3 levels between the CAC and non-CAC groups were analyzed. Their correlation with CACs was assessed by Spearman's analysis, and logistic regression analysis was used to find risk factors for CAC. Compared to the non-CAC group, the CAC group was older (64.21 ± 9.68 years), with a higher percentage of hypertension (93.10%) and diabetes (63.80%) and higher levels of serum CTRP3 [1079.20 (644.4–1567.2) ng/mL]. However, there was no significant difference in serum 25(OH)D3 and FGF23 between these two groups. The high level CTRP3 group had a higher prevalence of CAC (61.5%). Logistic regression results showed that age, diabetes, decreased 25(OH)D3 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.95, p =.030) and high levels of CTRP3 (OR = 3.19, p =.022) were risk factors for CAC in nondialysis CKD patients. Serum CTRP3 levels progressively increased with the progression of kidney disease, while 25(OH)D3 levels progressively decreased. Decreased 25(OH)D3 and high levels of CTRP3 are associated with CAC in patients with nondialysis CKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vineomycin A1 (1) and B2 (2) were isolated from the culture broth of marine actinomycete Streptomyces sp. A6H. Five hydrolysis products were obtained by rational hydrolysis and methanolysis of the fermentation extract. Their structures were characterised as aquayamycin (3), vineomycinone B2 (4), 9-C-D-olivosyltetrangulol (5), 7-O-methylgaltamycinone (6) and vineomycinone B2 methyl ester (7). In addition to these compounds, two ester derivatives, vineolactone A (8) and vineomycinone B2 benzyl ester (9) of compound 4 were generated semisynthetically. Compound 6 is a new analogue of galtamycinone, while compounds 8 and 9 are new members of vineomycins. Cytotoxic activities and antimicrobial activities were determined for all compounds. The results indicate that only compound 1 showed significant activities with IC50 value of 0.34 μM against H1975 and MIC value of 4 μg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed study of pulse shaping properties in crossed-beam volume gratings is performed. Analytical expressions for the profiles of the transmitted and diffracted beams are obtained based on the modified coupled wave theory. The spatial and spectrum evolutions and the diffraction efficiency of the diffracted pulsed beams are discussed. It is shown that the profiles of diffraction pulses and the total diffraction efficiency are greatly affected by the grating size, recording angle, and refractive-index modulation. The studies indicate that the shaping properties for different geometry parameters of the crossed-beam volume gratings are different. However, this difference can be used for many special pulse shaping applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films are usually used as transparent conductors. For practical applications, however, the relatively high refractive index of AZO can lead to high optical reflection. In this work, we modified the optical properties of AZO thin films by adding different amounts of SiO2into the AZO thin films to prepare the AZO-SiO2composite thin films. The AZO-SiO2films were deposited on quartz substrates using a co-sputtering deposition method. It was shown that the refractive index of the AZO-SiO2thin films consistently decreased with the amount of SiO2contained in the films. In the meantime, the resistivity of the AZO-SiO2thin films was found to increase with the SiO2content in the films. The effects of the deposition conditions on the optical and electrical properties of the AZO-SiO2thin films were systematically investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The diffraction properties of volume holographic gratings are studied when the gratings are illuminated by an ultrashort pulsed beam with different polarization states. The developed coupled wave theory of Kogelnik is used. Considering the dispersion effect of the grating media, solutions for the diffracted and transmitted intensities, diffraction efficiencies and the bandwidths of the gratings are given in transmission volume holographic gratings and reflection volume holographic gratings. The bandwidths of the gratings are reduced by the dispersion effect of the grating media. They also have different influences on the diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with different polarization states. For different values of the ratio of the spectral bandwidth of the input pulse to that of the grating, the changes of the spectral and temporal distributions of the diffracted intensities, as well as the diffraction efficiencies of the gratings are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fingerprint authentication is a preferable biometric technique for securing images. Optical scanning cryptography (OSC) is a hybrid optical/digital method to encrypt and decrypt an image using optical scanning technique. In this paper, we propose a new strategy to combine OSC with fingerprints to enhance security. We have verified the effectiveness of the proposed idea in simulations. Subsequently practical implementation of the idea has also been performed with optical heterodyning to confirm the results from simulations. We have also discussed the added security and flexibility of implementation when optical heterodyning is employed in cryptography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]