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Background/purpose Immediate placement in the esthetic zone has been a predictable treatment option. However, it requires the clinician to be experienced and knowledgeable about esthetic diagnosis, accurate 3-dimensional (3D) implant placement, and restoratively driven planning/placement. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate a novel workflow integrating dynamic navigation to immediate single-implant placement in the aesthetic zone. Materials and methods We included ten patients who required at least one implant in the esthetic area and were treated with post-extraction socket implant placement. Osteotomy and implant placement followed computer-assisted implant positioning and image-guided dynamic navigation. Treatment outcomes were implant success rates, surgical and prosthetic complications, marginal bone level (MBL), modified pink esthetic score, and white score. Results In the consecutive clinical cases, patients were satisfied with implant therapy's function and esthetic outcome in the esthetic zone. No other surgical or biological complications occurred, which accounts for the 100% cumulative success rate. The mean MBL was −0.76 ± 0.15 mm assessed using standardized intraoral digital periapical radiographs. Conclusion The novel application of a dynamic guided navigation system is a dependable clinical protocol to obtain optimal implant position/angulation and esthetics on immediate implant placement.

Fluorescence microscopy with optical sectioning capabilities is extensively utilized in biological research to obtain three-dimensional structural images of volumetric samples. Tunable lenses have been applied in microscopy for axial scanning to acquire multiplane images. However, images acquired by conventional tunable lenses suffer from spherical aberration and distortions. Here, we design, fabricate, and implement a dielectric Moiré metalens for fluorescence imaging. The Moiré metalens consists of two complementary phase metasurfaces, with variable focal length, ranging from ∼10 to ∼125 mm at 532 nm by tuning mutual angles. In addition, a telecentric configuration using the Moiré metalens is designed for high-contrast multiplane fluorescence imaging. The performance of our system is evaluated by optically sectioned images obtained from HiLo illumination of fluorescently labeled beads, as well as ex vivo mice intestine tissue samples. The compact design of the varifocal metalens may find important applications in fluorescence microscopy and endoscopy for clinical purposes.

Programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors have shown promising results for treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the clinical utility of such inhibitors in HCC patients with vascular tumor thrombosis remains unclear. This study investigated PD-1 inhibitor efficacy in advanced HCC with macrovascular invasion in a clinical setting. Among the 110 patients with unresectable HCC treated with PD-1 inhibitors, 34 patients with vascular metastases in the portal vein and inferior vena cava were retrospectively compared with 34 patients without tumor thrombi. The vascular response and its effect on survival were assessed. Predictors of survival were identified using multivariate analysis. Among patients achieving objective response, those with and without thrombi exhibited similar response to immunotherapy and comparable survival. Among the 34 patients with tumor thrombi, including 13 receiving PD-1 inhibitors alone and 21 receiving it in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the median overall survival was 8.9 months (95% confidence interval 3.2–12.6). The objective response rate of vascular metastasis was 52.9%, and vascular responders had a significantly longer survival than did non-responders (11.1 vs 3.9 months). Failure to obtain a vascular response correlated significantly with increased post-treatment Child–Pugh score or class. Multivariate analysis showed that vascular response was a significant positive factor for longer overall survival. Treatment-related grade 3/4 adverse events occurred in 3 (8.8%) of the patients with tumor thrombi. Immunotherapy with PD-1 inhibitors may be a feasible treatment option for HCC with tumor thrombi owing to the high response rate of tumor thrombi and favorable survival outcomes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00262-020-02845-9.

Background and study aims Early detection of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) rebleeding is not easy by observing clinical symptoms. We developed a novel UGI monitoring system and aimed to test its feasibility of continuous tracking of UGI bleeding. Patients and methods A prospective study was conducted on patients with moderate to high risk of rebleeding. The UGI monitoring system was installed to monitor their gastric contents. It would alarm if rebleeding was suspected and the physician could review the images to make a further decision. The patient’s comfort level was also evaluated. Results Sixteen patients were enrolled. Rebleeding occurred in one patient and was detected by this system more than 5 hours earlier than with clinical symptoms. The interobserver reliability for reviewing the images to define the blood clearance in the stomach was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.79–0.96). The comfort level assessed by patients was 1.90 ± 1.39 (on the scale of 0–5). Conclusions This pilot study demonstrated the potential of this UGI monitoring system for early detection of rebleeding.

COVID-19 caused an unprecedented public health crisis and was declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, by the World Health Organization. The Taiwanese government’s early deployment mitigated the effect of the pandemic, yet the breakout in May 2021 brought a new challenge. This study focuses on examining Taiwanese newspaper articles regarding the government response before and after the soft lockdown, collecting 125,570 articles reported by three major news channels from 31 December 2019, to 30 June 2021, and splitting them into four stages. Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling and sentiment analysis were used to depict the overall picture of Taiwan’s pandemic. While the news media focused on the impact and shock of the pandemic in the initial stage, prevention measures were more present in the last stage. Then, to focus on the government response indicators, we retrieved 31,089 related news from 125,570 news articles and categorized them into ten indicators, finding the news centered on the fundamental measures that were taken early and that were transformed into advanced measures in the latest and hardest period of the pandemic. Furthermore, this paper examines the temporal distribution of the news related to each indicator with the support of a sentiment analysis of the news’ titles and content, indicating the preparation of Taiwanese society to confront the pandemic.

Introduction: The tumor microenvironments of different organs often differ and thus may affect the immunotherapy response. Objective: This study elucidated that the efficacy of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors varies across different metastatic sites among individuals with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed treatment outcomes in advanced HCC patients receiving PD-1 inhibitors with or without a combination of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Both the overall response rate (ORR) and organ-specific response rate (OSRR) were assessed using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1 criteria. A survival analysis and its predictors were determined using a multivariate analysis. Results: We analyzed 42 advanced HCC patients (median age: 58.0 years; 78.6% males). Thirty (71.4%) patients were sorafenib-experienced and 27 (64.3%) were administered a combination of TKIs. The ORR was 14.3% and the disease control rate was 33.3%. The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 12.0 and 2.9 months, respectively. The OSRRs were 14.7, 23.8, 28.6, and 50.0% for the liver, lungs, lymph nodes, and vascular response, respectively. The multivariate analysis indicated that the vascular response was significantly associated with PFS. ECOG performance status was a significant independent predictor of OS. Conclusions: PD-1 inhibitors improved OS and PFS in advanced HCC patients. Their efficacies varied among the metastatic locations regardless of the combination of TKIs; in particular, a higher response in vascular metastases was correlated with a longer PFS. PD-1 inhibitors may deliver a synergistic benefit in patients undergoing traditional therapy and progression in other organs in vascular responders.

Tomography is an informative imaging modality that is usually implemented by mechanical scanning, owing to the limited depth-of-field (DOF) in conventional systems. However, recent imaging systems are working towards more compact and stable architectures; therefore, developing nonmotion tomography is highly desirable. Here, we propose a metalens-based spectral imaging system with an aplanatic GaN metalens (NA = 0.78), in which large chromatic dispersion is used to access spectral focus tuning and optical zooming in the visible spectrum. After the function of wavelength-switched tomography was confirmed on cascaded samples, this aplanatic metalens is utilized to image microscopic frog egg cells and shows excellent tomographic images with distinct DOF features of the cell membrane and nucleus. Our approach makes good use of the large diffractive dispersion of the metalens and develops a new imaging technique that advances recent informative optical devices., Bioimaging: metalenses make 3D analysis effortless An ultrathin “metalens” that uses semiconductor nanostructures to focus light can help microscopes resolve detailed images of live cells without complex mechanical components. In conventional tomographic imaging, a scanning instrument passes over the sample and takes multiple cross-sectional images, which are then reconstructed into a 3D picture. Tao Li from Nanjing University in China and colleagues have now simplified this technique by fabricating lenses patterned with concentric rings of gallium nitride nanopillars. The lens made of nanopillars has wavelength-dependent properties that enable focusing on different regions of a target simply by sweeping through the visible light spectrum. Experiments with frog egg cells demonstrated this approach could zoom in and obtain detailed, high quality images of the inner membrane and nucleus without harming the sample or moving the metalens.

Background/purpose: Immediate implant placement has been considered to be a successful treatment procedure. The bone plate perforation (BPP) may be one of severe complication and potentially life-threatening situation. The aim of this virtual study is to evaluate the influences of angled implant insertion on BPP during immediate implant installation in the posterior mandible. Materials and methods: Cone beam computed tomography images of 488 posterior teeth from 61 patients were selected. Virtual immediate implant placement (VIIP) was performed at each posterior tooth following the appropriate axis with the prosthetic-driven planning and different deviation angles of 3-, 6-, or 9-degree. BPP was then examined from cross-sectional images obtained. Furthermore, the relation of lingual bony morphology and BPP were also determined. Results: The incidence of buccal and lingual BPP increased as the deviation angle increased in posterior mandible area. Incidence of lingual BPP was significantly influenced by angular deviation and type of lingual bony morphology after adjusting for age, gender, tooth type, and right/left side. An increase in incidence odds of over 6-fold (OR = 6.583) was noted for placements angled by 9° compared with placements made without angulation, and an increase in incidence odds of over 3-fold (OR = 3.622) was noted for teeth with the undercut-type lingual morphology compared with the other types. Conclusion: The present Results indicate that accurate selection of the implant insertion angle and full awareness of the bony anatomy at the implant recipient site are essential to prevent BPP in the posterior mandible. Keywords: Complication, Dental implant, Mandible, Anatomy, Cone beam computed tomography

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore two types of Net-generation practitioners – writers and makers born in the 1980s – and how they describe their professions and their information practices. Design/methodology/approach The authors distinguished the information practices of Net-generation writers and makers from those of their older counterparts and then examined the contextual factors associated with the shared meanings in each community of practice, by interviewing a total of 14 participants, 7 writers and 7 makers, and qualitatively analyzed the resulting data. Findings First, the professional boundaries perceived by Net-generation practitioners are more blurred than those of their older counterparts. Second, they rely on life experience, online platforms and print for their sources of information and inspiration. Third, Facebooking and the use of filter bubbles are among the most popular information practices. Fourth, diversity, uniqueness, multimodal, participatory and self-media are keywords in their content creation and information produced. Fifth, connectivity (connecting people and resources) and collective intelligence (emphasizing how expertise is collected and distributed) are key themes associated with these digital natives. Sixth, the authors also identified and compared differences between these two groups. Research limitations/implications The study limitations include the small sample size of each practitioner group and the fact that the methods are dependent on the participants’ abilities to describe their information practices. Originality/value This study is among the first to focus on the characteristics of digital natives and their information practices. It provides a tentative framework for further exploration and contributes to our initial understanding of this topic.

Background The Forrest classification is widely applied to guide endoscopic hemostasis for peptic ulcer bleeding. Accordingly, practice guidelines suggest medical treatment only for ulcer with a Forrest IIc lesion because it has low rebleeding risk even without endoscopic therapy, ranging from 0 to 13%. However, the risk ranges widely and it is unclear who is at risk of rebleeding with such a lesion. This study assessed whether the Rockall score, which evaluates patients holistically, could indicate the risk of recurrent bleeding among patients with a Forrest IIc lesion at the second-look endoscopy. Methods Patients who had peptic ulcer bleeding with Ia-IIb lesions received endoscopic hemostasis at the primary endoscopy, and they were enrolled if their Ia-IIb lesions had been fading to IIc at the second-look endoscopy after 48- to 72-h intravenous proton pump inhibitor (PPI) infusion. Primary outcomes were rebleeding during the 4th–14th day and 4th–28th day after the first bleeding episode. Results The prospective cohort study enrolled 140 patients, who were divided into a Rockall scores ≥ 6 group or a Rockall scores

The optical sectioning images of volumetric biological sample was obtained by varifocal metalens with Moire effect in fluorescence microscopy system in conjunction with telecentricity and HiLo image processing method. The varifocal metalens is capable of changing the focal depth ranging from 10 mm to 125 mm by tuning the relative angle between its paired metasurfaces. The standard resolution target and fluorescent mircrosphere are imaged and analyzed; its lateral resolution and optical sectioning capability are 2.46 μm and 7.5 μm, respectively. Our study offers a demonstration, a solid foundation, for developing more compact optical microscopy systems based on metasurface optics.

The optical tweezer is one of the important techniques for contactless manipulation in biological research to control the motion of tiny objects. For three-dimensional (3D) optical manipulation, shaped light beams have been widely used. Typically, spatial light modulators are used for shaping light fields. However, they suffer from bulky size, narrow operational bandwidth, and limitations of incident polarization states. Here, a cubic-phase dielectric metasurface, composed of GaN circular nanopillars, is designed and fabricated to generate a polarization-independent vertically accelerated two-dimensional (2D) Airy beam in the visible region. The distinctive propagation characteristics of a vertically accelerated 2D Airy beam, including non-diffraction, self-acceleration, and self-healing, are experimentally demonstrated. An optical manipulation system equipped with a cubic-phase metasurface is designed to perform 3D manipulation of microscale particles. Due to the high-intensity gradients and the reciprocal propagation trajectory of Airy beams, particles can be laterally shifted and guided along the axial direction. In addition, the performance of optical trapping is quantitatively evaluated by experimentally measured trapping stiffness. Our metasurface has great potential to shape light for compact systems in the field of physics and biological applications.

Optical meta-devices using meta-surfaces which composed of artificial nanostructures are able to manipulate the electromagnetic phase and amplitude at will. The great advantages of meta-devices are their new properties, lighter weight, small size, high efficiency, better performance, broadband operation, lower energy consumption, and CMOS compatibility for mass production. Given the demand for photonics, many optical meta-devices for the application and control of incident light are being quickly developed for beam deflection and reflection, polarization control and analysis, holography, second-harmonic generation, laser, tunability, imaging, absorption, focusing of light, multiplex color routing and light-field sensing. The design, fabrication and application of the novel optical meta-devices are reported in this talk.

We propose a Light-sheet fluorescent microscopy (LSFM) system with a flat metalens, which is used to replace the bulky illuminating components. The metalens is a diffractive optics elements (DOEs) composed of various gallium nitride (GaN) nanopillar for light-sheet generation, and it can be readily integrated in existing LSFM systems. In contrast to the traditional LSFM system, the metalens-based system is more compact and flexible, and its sectioning capability is comparable to the conventional illumination arm in LSFMs. The live fluorescent-labeled transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are exploited to verify the performance of this system. The intensity profile of oocytes in C. elegans with cellular resolution level was obtained.

We design and fabricate a 60 × 60 GaN based achromatic meta-lens array to capture multidimensional optical information of the scene. The working wavelength is from 400 nm to 660 nm which covers the entire visible light range. The highest efficiency of single metalens can be up to 74% at a wavelength of 420 nm, while the average efficiency is approximately 39% over the whole working bandwidth. The light field images and the depth information of objects can be determined by reorganizing the patches of sub-images and calculating the disparity of neighboring sub-images, respectively. The depth information can be used to optimize the patch sizes to render the all-in-focus image without artifacts. Our work provides several advantages associated with light field imaging: elimination of chromatic aberration, polarization selectivity and compatibility of the semiconductor process.

A light-field camera captures both the intensity and the direction of incoming light1–5. This enables a user to refocus pictures and afterwards reconstruct information on the depth of field. Research on light-field imaging can be divided into two components: acquisition and rendering. Microlens arrays have been used for acquisition, but obtaining broadband achromatic images with no spherical aberration remains challenging. Here, we describe a metalens array made of gallium nitride (GaN) nanoantennas6 that can be used to capture light-field information and demonstrate a full-colour light-field camera devoid of chromatic aberration. The metalens array contains an array of 60 × 60 metalenses with diameters of 21.65 μm. The camera has a diffraction-limited resolution of 1.95 μm under white light illumination. The depth of every object in the scene can be reconstructed slice by slice from a series of rendered images with different depths of focus. Full-colour, achromatic light-field cameras could find applications in a variety of fields such as robotic vision, self-driving vehicles and virtual and augmented reality. A metalens array of GaN nanoantennas is used to make a full-colour achromatic light-field camera.

Statement of problem Restoring the edentulous maxilla with an implant-retained overdenture (IRO) can present a challenge because of increased implant divergence and the added wear of the implant abutments and attachments. However, knowledge pertaining to the degree of implant divergence and its effects on the wear pattern of the implant attachments is lacking. Purpose The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the change in the retention and wear characteristics of unsplinted abutments and attachments when used to retain a maxillary 4-implant palateless complete removable overdenture with different implant angulations. Material and methods Three groups of specimens of 0-, 15-, and 30-degree implant angulations were evaluated, each with 7 specimens. The retention of specimens was recorded after aging cycles equivalent to 1, 2.5, and 6 years of use. The surface of the attachments was examined with light and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results Increasing the interimplant divergence improved the initial retention. After 1 year of use, retention of the 15- and 30-degree groups was significantly higher than that of the 0-degree group (P .05). After 2.5 and 6 years of use, no significant difference in retention was noted between groups (P>.05). Under light and SEM examination, the wear of the abutments and attachments was related to the interimplant divergence. Conclusions The initial retention of single attachments increased significantly as the implant divergence increased. The retention of the 15- and 30-degree groups was significantly higher than that of the 0-degree group after 1 year of use. No significant difference in retention was found after 2.5 and 6 years, regardless of implant angulation.

We report electrostatically conjugated core- silica (SiO2) shell upconversion nanoparticle (UCNPs@SiO2), and gold nanorod (AuNR) nanocomposite (NC) combined with graphene to demonstrate > 200-fold UC fluorescence enhancement. Plasmonic AuNR and graphene, resulted in enhanced fluorescence in UCNP with a maximum for the SiO2 shell thickness of 7 nm supported by finite difference time domain simulation of electric field distribution. In addition to the conventionally reported spectroscopic evidence, the plasmon aided UC fluorescence enhancement was demonstrated by direct confocal fluorescence imaging also, which was corroborated by a ~40% decrease in fluorescence lifetime. Finally, we have fabricated a NC/graphene hybrid photodetector (PD) that showed broadband (455–980 nm) photoresponse, with photoresponsivity of ~5000 AW−1, and response times of 80–200 ms under 980 nm illumination. The multiphoton infrared (IR, ~980 nm) absorbing UCNPs also show interesting high energy (blue (B), green (G), and red (R)) photoresponse which is now conclusively attributed to one-photon absorption in the UCNPs. We report, probably for the first time, the performance of the hybrid PD under monochromatic and polychromatic illumination of B, G, R, B + G, B + R, G + R, and B + G + R, among others. The photocurrent under polychromatic conditions is dominated by the strongest monochromatic response, and does not scale with net power of the illumination. The loss in photocurrent is attributed to saturation in absorption, and photothermal heating. The fast response of the PD device has been demonstrated while detecting high frequency modulated AC remote controller signals, and attributed to the fast charge sweeping by the AuNRs.

Metalens-array–based quantum source Spontaneous down-conversion is an exotic optical process in a nonlinear crystal in which a high-energy photon splits into two lower-energy photons that are quantum mechanically entangled. These entangled pairs are valuable commodities for quantum information processing and quantum communications. Because the experimental setup is usually performed with bulk optical components, there is a need to decrease the size scale for application. Li et al. combined an array of specialized metalenses with a nonlinear crystal and show that the scale of the process can be shrunk substantially. The approach should prove useful for developing miniaturized integrated quantum optical technologies. Science , this issue p. 1487

H. pylori with triple-drug resistance (TR) to clarithromycin, metronidazole, and levofloxacin limits the success of rescue therapy. We aimed to identify the optimal breakpoints of antibiotic minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) to predict the success of rescue therapy for TR H. pylori infection. We consecutively enrolled 430 patients with at least one course of failed H. pylori eradications to receive an H. pylori culture for antibiotic MIC test. Seventy-three (17%) had TR H. pylori infection (MIC of clarithromycin > 0.5, levofloxacin > 1, and metronidazole > 8 mg/L, respectively). Sixty-nine cases with TR H. pylori infection received rescue therapy with either ATBP (amoxicillin, tetracycline, bismuth, and PPI) or MTBP (metronidazole, tetracycline, bismuth and PPI) for 7–14 days. Fourteen patients with positive 13C-urea breath test after the first rescue therapy were retreated with a crossover second rescue therapy. The MTBP regimen had higher eradication success than the ATBP regimen as the first rescue therapy for TR H. pylori (intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis, 70.3 vs. 46.9%, p = 0.048; per protocol (PP) analysis, 78.8% vs. 51.7%, p = 0.025). For MTBP regimen, tetracycline MIC ≤ 0.094 mg/L (p

This study explores the overall picture of how people perceive the importance level and urgency level regarding issues associated with automated vehicles, by sorting out ten issues, developing a questionnaire with 66 measurement items, and investigating how Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts and Computer Science (CS)/Electrical Engineering (EE) majors assessed these issues. The findings suggest that AI experts in Taiwan believed that the top five issues for preparing a society for autonomous vehicles (AVs) should include (1) data privacy and cybersecurity, (2) regulation considerations, (3) infrastructure, (4) governance, and (5) public acceptance. On the other hand, for their student counterparts, the results (1) demonstrate a somewhat different order from the third to the fifth place, (2) show an attention-focused profile on the issue of cybersecurity and data privacy, and (3) indicate that gender and a few wider-impact variables (technology innovation, infrastructure) are significant predictors for the assessment on the importance level of AVs, while some wider-impact variables (technology innovation, governance, economic benefits, infrastructure), which are positively associated, as well as concerns variables (cybersecurity and data privacy, regulations), which are negatively associated, could be predictors for the urgency level of AVs. Suggestions for future research and policymakers are provided.

Background H. pylori CagL-Y58/E59 increase gastric cancer risk by stronger binding with integrin to faciliate type IV secretory system (T4SS). H. pylori can secrete high temperature requirement A (HtrA) to mediate E-Cadherin cleavage for gastric epithelial junction disruption, so H. pylori CagL can adhere to integrin located on basolateral side of epithelium. The study test whether H. pylori HtrA amino acid polymorphisms can increase gastric cancer risk synergistically with CagL-Y58/E59. Methods One-hundred and sixty-four H. pylori-positive patients, including 71 with non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD), 63 with peptic ulcers (PU), and 30 with gastric cancers (GC), were enrolled to receive upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to obtain gastric biopsies for H. pylori culture and histology by the updated Sydney system. Each isolate was screened for htrA & cagL genotype by polymerase chain reaction and HtrA & CagL-Y58/E59 amino acid sequence polymorphisms by sequencing. Results The prevalence rates of htrA & cagL gene were both 100%. The HtrA amino acid sequence polymorphisms were not different between NUD and PU. The H. pylori isolates of GC had higher rates of HtrA residue 171 as leucine than those of NUD (73.3% vs. 50.7%, P = 0.036, OR[95%CI] = 2.7[1.1–6.8]). The risk of the H. pylori-infected subjects to get gastric cancer was increased up to 15.4-fold, if the infected isolates had presence of both HtrA-L171 and CagL-Y58/E59 (P

Background: H. pylori infection with triple-drug resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole, and levofloxacin (TR) limits the success of rescue therapy. This study identified the optimal breakpoints of antibiotic minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) to predict the success of rescue therapy for TR H. pylori infection. Methods: We consecutively enrolled 430 patients with at least one-course of failed H. pylori eradications to receive an H. pylori culture for antibiotic MIC test. Seventy-three (17%) had TR H. pylori infection (MIC of clarithromycin > 0.5, levofloxacin > 1, and metronidazole > 8 mg/L, respectively). Sixty-nine cases with TR H. pylori infection received rescue therapy with either ATBP (amoxicillin, tetracycline, bismuth, and PPI) or MTBP (metronidazole, tetracycline, bismuth and PPI) for 7-14 days. Fourteen patients with a positive 13C-urea breath test after the 1st rescue therapy were retreated with a cross-over 2nd rescue therapy. Findings: The MTBP regimen had higher eradication success than the ATBP regimen for the 1st rescue therapy of TRH. pylori (intent-to-treat [ITT] analysis: 70.3 vs. 46.9%, p=0.048; per protocol [PP] analysis: 78.8% vs. 51.7%, p=0.025). For the MTBP regimen, tetracycline MIC ≤ 0.094 mg/L (p

Metalenses have great ability in light focusing and can be tailored to exhibit varied functionalities for ultrathin optical applications. Here, we demonstrate a GaN metalens array which can be regarded as a light shaping generator for the structured light generation. The metalens array consists of 60 x 60 metalenses which can project a 42 cm x 42 cm light spots area at the distance of 1.5 M. The distance can be estimated by identifying the deformation of light spot distribution. The advantages of this metadevice is light weight, small, ultrathin, durable and easy to compact with other devices. Our design provides a new avenue for the structured light applications such as distance sensing and 3D environmental construction.

Manipulation of Smith-Purcell radiation (SPR) by electron-bunch excitation of localized surface plasmon (LSP) of gold (Au) disc arrays on Au substrate is investigated by FDTD simulation. When the wavelength of LSP mode is within the SPR emission band, SPR is locked and enhanced at the LSP wavelength. The emission angle of LSP-locked SPR still follows the wavelength-angle relation of traditional SPR. Furthermore, both the emission wavelength and angle increase as the radius and height of Au disc increase.

Here we demonstrated a GaN metalens array to project a light spots array which can be a light shape generator in the structure light applications. The advantages of this metadevice is light weight, small, ultrathin, durable and easy to compact with other device. The light spot size is a function with the distance of detector. A metalens array which arranged by the single metalens diameter is 20 μm projected a light spots array whose diameter of single light spot is 2.22 um in average at the distance is 150 cm far away and. Our design provides a new avenue for the structure light application such as distance sensing and 3D environmental construction.

Metasurfaces composed of artificial structures have attracted a huge number of interests due to their ability on controlling the electromagnetic phase and amplitude at subwavelength scale. Beside those promising characteristics, people now intend to discover the field of meta-devices, where we can attain optical functionalities through changing the features of metasurfaces in demand. In this talk, several metasurface based components for photonic applications will be performed and discussed, including versatile polarization control, pixel-scale metalens, and achromatic meta-devices.

Metalens significantly suffers from chromatic aberration issue, which limits its applications on color images. Here we demonstrate the first broadband achromatic metalens in visible wavelength based on the concept of integrated-resonant unit elements (IRUEs).

Metalenses consist of an array of optical nanoantennas on a surface capable of manipulating the properties of an incoming light wavefront. Various flat optical components, such as polarizers, optical imaging encoders, tunable phase modulators and a retroreflector, have been demonstrated using a metalens design. An open issue, especially problematic for colour imaging and display applications, is the correction of chromatic aberration, an intrinsic effect originating from the specific resonance and limited working bandwidth of each nanoantenna. As a result, no metalens has demonstrated full-colour imaging in the visible wavelength. Here, we show a design and fabrication that consists of GaN-based integrated-resonant unit elements to achieve an achromatic metalens operating in the entire visible region in transmission mode. The focal length of our metalenses remains unchanged as the incident wavelength is varied from 400 to 660 nm, demonstrating complete elimination of chromatic aberration at about 49% bandwidth of the central working wavelength. The average efficiency of a metalens with a numerical aperture of 0.106 is about 40% over the whole visible spectrum. We also show some examples of full-colour imaging based on this design. Integrating the Pancharatnam–Berry phase with integrated resonant nanoantennas in a metalens design produces an achromatic device capable of full-colour imaging in the visible range in transmission mode.

We report the most recent advances in optical meta-devices and their applications. The general principle and method of optical meta-devices are introduced. The development of the two most recent and state-of-the-art optical meta-devices, a broadband achromatic optical meta-lens in the visible range and a 60 × 60 achromatic meta-lens array, is shown. Full-color achromatic imaging in visible frequency (400 nm to 660 nm) is demonstrated with high efficiency (maximum 67%, average around 40%) by a GaN achromatic meta-lens. A nature-inspired 60 × 60 GaN achromatic meta-lens array with an individual meta-lens diameter of 21.65 μm, a focal length of 49 μm, and a numerical aperture of 0.2157 shows high-dimensional light-field image capture including the depth and velocity of the imaging objects. The total number of nano-antennas of the meta-lens array is more than 33 million which covers an area of 1.2 × 1.2 mm2. Results show the important advantages of optical meta-devices for flat optics are their small size, light weight, high efficiency, lower energy consumption, and mass producibility by semiconductor processes.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia (SPEM) is a preneoplastic gastric cancer lesion related to epigenetic microRNA (miRNA) expression. This study elucidated whether Helicobacter pylori-infected first-degree relatives of patients with gastric cancer (GCF) are susceptible to have SPEM and correlated with miR-21, 155, and 223 expressions. We also validated whether SPEM and these miRNAs can be regressed after H pylori eradication. METHODS We prospectively enrolled 148 GCF and 148 nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD) subjects without gastric cancer familial history as controls. Each case had received a panendoscopy to determine H pylori status and gastric histology, including SPEM. The cases with SPEM were followed after H pylori eradication to determine SPEM regression. The total RNA was extracted to analyze tissues miR-21, 155, and 223 before and after eradication. RESULTS GCF subjects had a higher prevalence of H pylori infection (73% vs 32%) and SPEM (42% vs 14%, P

Background & aims Gastric cancer has familial clustering in incidence, and the familial relatives of gastric cancer sufferers are prone to have spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia (SPEM), and intestinal metaplasia (IM) after H. pylori infection. This study tested whether serum pepsinogen I/II and trefoil factor family (TFF) proteins can predict SPEM or IM in the H. pylori-infected relatives of patients with gastric cancer. Methods We prospectively enrolled 119 H. pylori-infected relatives of gastric cancer patients of noncardiac gastric cancer patients, who then received panendoscopy to obtain gastric biopsy to define the presence of corpus gastritis index (CGI), SPEM, and IM. The advanced SPEM in histology was defined by TFF2 immunohistochemistry. Each patient also had checkups of serum TFF2, TFF3, and pepsinogen I/II by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The 119 H. pylori-infected relatives included 61 with SPEM, and 34 with IM. The presence of either IM or SPEM was not related to the serum TFF2, TFF3, and pepsinogen I/II levels (p > .05). Serum TFF2 levels were higher in relatives with CGI who also had advanced SPEM (p = .032). For relatives without CGI, the elevated serum TFF2 levels correlated with higher H. pylori density and more severe gastritis in antrum (p = .001). Conclusion The serum TFF2 level cannot predict SPEM or IM in H. pylori-infected relatives of patients with gastric cancer. For H. pylori-infected relatives with CGI, serum TFF2 levels may predict the advanced severity of SPEM. Elevated serum TFF2 levels may indicate severe H. pylori-related inflammation, at risk of development or progression of SPEM in relatives without CGI.

Background: Long-term exposure to bioincompatible peritoneal dialysis solutions is frequently complicated with peritoneal fibrosis and ultrafiltration failure. As cannabinoid receptor (CBR) ligands have been reported to be beneficial to ameliorate the process of liver fibrosis, we strove to investigate their therapeutic potential to prevent peritoneal fibrosis. Methods: We used the rat model of peritoneal fibrosis induced by intraperitoneal injection of methylglyoxal and in vitro mesothelial cell culture to test the effects of CBR ligands, including the type 1 CBR (CB1R) antagonist and the type 2 CBR (CB2R) agonist. Results: In the methylglyoxal model, both intraperitoneal CB1R antagonist (AM281) and CB2R agonist (AM1241) treatment significantly ameliorated peritoneal fibrosis. In addition, CB1R antagonist was able to alleviate TGF-β1-induced dedifferentiation of mesothelial cells and to maintain epithelial integrity in vitro. Conclusions: Intraperitoneal administration of CBR ligands (CB1R antagonist and CB2R agonist) offers a potential therapeutic strategy to reduce dialysis-induced peritoneal fibrosis and to prolong the peritoneal survival in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is with aggressive behaviors and poor prognosis because of the absence of a specific target for the tumor, such as in endocrine therapy and anti-HER2 therapy. Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, may exert potential efficacy in TNBC through its multiple cellular effects. Our previous study has shown that CIP2A, cancerous inhibitor of PP2A, mediates effects of bortezomib on phospho-Akt (P-Akt) and apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. (Oncogene, 2010). Here, we tested efficacy of bortezomib to TNBC and examined the drug mechanism. Methods: Triple negative breast cancer cell lines were used for in vitro studies. Apoptosis was examined by both flow cytometry and Western blot. Signal transduction pathways in cells were assessed by Western Blot. Gene silencing was done by small interference RNA (siRNA). In vivo efficacy of bortezomib was tested in nude mice with breast cancer xenografts. Results: Bortezomib induced apoptosis in association with down-regulation of CIP2A and P-Akt in a dose- and time-dependent manner in three TNBC cells lines (HCC-1937, MDA MB-468, MDA MB-231) but not in hormone positive MCF-7 cells. Over-expression of CIP2A in MDA MB-231 cells protected cells from bortezomib-induced apoptosis, and down-regulation of CIP2A by siRNA overcame the apoptotic resistance to bortezomib in MCF-7 cells. These data indicate that inhibiton of CIP2A determined the sensitivity of bortezomib to breast cancer cells. Importantly, bortezomib showed in vivo efficacy in HCC-1937 xenografted tumor. Conclusions: CIP2A mediates bortezomib-induced apoptosis in TNBC. Targeting CIP2A-PP2A-P-Akt signaling pathway is a novel approach for the treatment of TNBC. Supported by VGHTPE 100DHA0100591 and V99C1-059. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2622. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2622

Background: Our previous work showed that bortezomib, a reverse-inhibitor of the 26S proteasome, exerts differential cytotoxic effects to acute leukemia cells through down-regulation of phosphor-Akt (AACR 2010 abstract 1575). Interestingly, some acute leukemia cells (MOLT-3 and K562) are resistant to bortezomib. One of the resistant mechanisms of bortezomib involves the abnormality in intrinsic apoptotic pathway members, the bcl-2 family. Of particular, it has been shown that bortezomib induces upregulation of Mcl-1 and that Mcl-1 accumulation may delay bortezomib-induced apoptosis. Obatoclax, a small molecule inhibitor of pro-survival BCL-2 members, including MCL-1, synergizes with bortezomib in mantle cell lymphoma (Blood 2007) and may overcome bortezomib resistance. Here, we designed a novel Mcl-1 inhibitor deriving from obatoclax, SC-2001, to overcome the resistance. Methods: MOLT-3 and K562 cell lines were used for in vitro studies. Apoptosis was examined by both flow cytometry and Western blot. Signal transduction pathways in cells were assessed by Western Blot. Gene silencing was done by small interference RNA (siRNA). Results: MOLT-3 and K562 were resistant to bortezomib up to 100nM. Upregulation of Mcl-1 expression after bortezomib treatment were evident in these cells. Interestingly, the addition of either obatoclax or SC-2001, restored the sensitivity of K562 and MOLT-3 cells to bortezomib. SC-2001, comparing to obatoclax, exerted better efficacy in sensitivity restoration of bortezomib in association with Mcl-1 downregulation in MOLT-3 cells. Moreover, down-regulation of Mcl-1 by siRNA overcame the apoptotic resistance to bortezomib in K562 cells. These data indicate that novel Mcl-1 inhibitors could restore bortezomib sensitivity in resistant acute leukemia cells. Conclusions: a novel Mcl-1 inhibitor SC-2001, is a promising agent to overcome bortezomib's resistance in acute leukemia, further elucidating the drug mechanism regulating Mcl-1 inhibition is needed. Supported by VGHTPE 99DHA0100332 and 100DHA0100591 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4515. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4515

Background: Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor (PI), has excellent clinical activity in patients with multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. Our previous study has shown that down-regulation of phospho-Akt (P-Akt) plays a key role in determining the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to bortezomib-induced apoptosis. (Cancer Res, 2008). Here, we further examined whether P-Akt is associated with the drug sensitivity of hematological malignant cells toward bortezomib. Methods: Several hematological malignant cell lines were used for in vitro studies. Apoptosis was examined by both flow cytometry and Western blot. Signal transduction pathways in cells were assessed by Western Blot. Gene silencing was done by small interference RNA (siRNA). Results: Bortezomib induced apoptosis in association with down-regulation of P-Akt in a dose- and time-dependent manner in sensitive cells (HL-60) but not in resistant K562 cells. Down-regulation of Akt1 by small interference RNA overcame the apoptotic resistance to bortezomib in K562 cells whereas a constitutively activated Akt1 protected HL-60 cells from bortezomib-induced apoptosis. Importantly, bortezomib showed the similar inhibition of the proteasome activity in both sensitive and resistant cells, suggesting that bortezomib-induced apoptotic effect may not depend on its proteasome inhibitory effect. Conclusions: Down-regulation of P-Akt plays an important role in bortezomib-induced apoptosis in hematological malignancies. Targeting on Akt signaling, either directly or through upstream regulation, provides an attractive approach to overcome bortezomib resistance in certain hematological malignancies. Supported by VGHTPE 99DHA0100332 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1575.