DEVICE COMPRISING A RING OPTICAL RESONATOR

A device includes an optical resonator having four ports including a first port, a second port, a third port, and a fourth port. A first electronic circuit is configured to calculate a first information representative of a power difference between optical signals supplied by two of the four ports. A method of operating a device is also disclosed

Evaluation of Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations for 154 Mycoplasma synoviae isolates from Italy collected during 2012-2017.

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is a highly prevalent bacterial species in poultry causing disease and severe economic losses. Antibiotic treatment is one of the control strategies that can be applied to contain clinical outbreaks in MS-free flocks, especially because this bacterium can be transmitted in ovo. It becomes, then, very important for veterinarians to know the antibiotic susceptibility of the circulating strains in order to choose the most appropriate first-line antibiotic molecule as a proactive role in fighting antibiotic resistance. We evaluated the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, erythromycin, tylosin, tilmicosin, spiramycin, tiamulin, florfenicol and lincomycin for MS isolates collected between 2012 and 2017 in Italy. A total of 154 MS isolates from different poultry commercial categories (broiler, layer, and turkey sectors) was tested using commercial MIC plates. All MS isolates showed very high MIC values of erythromycin (MIC90 ≥8 μg/mL) and enrofloxacin (MIC90 ≥16 μg/mL). MIC values of doxycycline and oxytetracycline obtained were superimposable to each other with only a one-fold dilution difference. Discrepancies between MIC values of tylosin and tilmicosin were observed. Interestingly, seven isolates showed very high MIC values of lincomycin and tilmicosin, but not all of them showed very high MIC values of tylosin. Most of the MS isolates showed low MIC values of spiramycin, but seven strains showed a MIC ≥16 μg/mL. In the observation period, the frequency of the different MIC classes varied dependently on the tested antibiotic. Interestingly, tilmicosin MICs clearly showed a time-dependent progressive shift towards high-concentration classes, indicative of an on-going selection process among MS isolates. Until standardized breakpoints become available to facilitate data interpretation, it will be fundamental to continue studying MIC value fluctuations in the meantime in order to create a significant database that would facilitate veterinarians in selecting the proper drug for treating this impactful Mycoplasma

High Capacity Silicon Photonics Packaging

A large amount of progress has been made in the industrialization of Silicon Photonics fabricated in CMOS Fabs, enabling the adoption of 100G QSFP modules. Further progress has now increased the transmission capacity of Silicon Photonics devices. In this paper, we outline the package design and evaluation of high capacity Silicon Photonics devices with 100Gbits per Channel and CWDM capability from simulation of the package performance to the prototype packaging result

A Silicon Source of Frequency-bin Entangled Photons

We demonstrate an integrated source of frequency-entangled photon pairs on a silicon photonics chip. The emitter has a coincidence-to-accidental ratio exceeding 103. We prove entanglement by showing two-photon frequency interference with a visibility of 94.6% ± 1.1%. This result opens the possibility of on-chip integration of frequency-bin sources with modulators and the other active and passive devices available in the silicon photonics platform

Active Opto-Magnetic Biosensing with Silicon Microring Resonators

Integrated optical biosensors are gaining increasing attention for their exploitation in lab-on-chip platforms. The standard detection method is based on the measurement of the shift of some optical quantity induced by the immobilization of target molecules at the surface of an integrated optical element upon biomolecular recognition. However, this requires the acquisition of said quantity over the whole hybridization process, which can take hours, during which any external perturbation (e.g., temperature and mechanical instability) can seriously affect the measurement and contribute to a sizeable percentage of invalid tests. Here, we present a different assay concept, named Opto-Magnetic biosensing, allowing us to optically measure off-line (i.e., post hybridization) tiny variations of the effective refractive index seen by microring resonators upon immobilization of magnetic nanoparticles labelling target molecules. Bound magnetic nanoparticles are driven in oscillation by an external AC magnetic field and the corresponding modulation of the microring transfer function, due to the effective refractive index dependence on the position of the particles above the ring, is recorded using a lock-in technique. For a model system of DNA biomolecular recognition we reached a lowest detected concentration on the order of 10 pm, and data analysis shows an expected effective refractive index variation limit of detection of 7.5×10−9 RIU, in a measurement time of just a few seconds

PEG Interferon a-2b (PEG-Intron) in Essential Thrombocythemia: Phase II Study for Determination of the Minimum Effective, Safe and Tolerated Dose. Preliminary Data.

In Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) various subsets of patients are satisfactorily treated with Interferons (IFN) alpha (Blood 1996; 87 suppl 1, 581a). Since long-lasting treatment is usually required, the patient compliance is difficult to be maintained mainly because frequent subcutaneous injections are necessary. On the basis of the optimized pharmacokinetics of the new pegilated IFNs alpha weekly administered, a phase II study was designed to determine the minimum effective, safe and tolerated dose of PEG Interferon alpha-2b (PEG-Intron, Schering-Plough) in a cohort of ET patients. The major endpoint of this study, with a sample size of 86 cases, is to evaluate if at the end of the first year of treatment at least 45% of patients reaches the Hematological Response (HR = platelet count 60 yrs (n=12), platelet count > 1000 x 109/L (n=65), previous thrombosis (n=5), peripheral granulocyte precursors (n=7), moderate splenomegaly (n=18), mean platelet count 1112 x109/L, mean Hb level 13.4 g/dl, mean WBC count 9.2 x109/L. Preliminary data of the platelet decrease are shown in the table: week cases platelets Hematological (x109/L) Response** mean % cases % 0 77 1112 100 / / 4 64 831 77 4 6 13 30* 700 64 2 7 18 21 594 52 9 42 22 10 580 47 4 40 * at week 13, 28/30 patients increased PEG-Intron dose (50ug/week) ** platelet count < 500 x 109/LInterestingly, after week 18 the mean platelet count was half of the baseline value and 40% of the patients showed a platelet count < 500 x 109/L. Notably, no WHO grade III or IV toxicity was observed and only one patient decided to withdraw from the study at week 6 due to WHO grade I orticaria. These preliminary data suggest that PEG-Intron, also at low dose, is able in ET patients to significantly decrease the platelet count with a negligible toxicity

Imatinib and pegylated human recombinant interferon-α2b in early chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia

Since interferon-α and imatinib (IM; STI571, Glivec, Gleevec) are effective for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and their mechanisms of action are different, we designed an exploratory study investigating the effects of a standard IM dose (400 mg/d) and a variable pegylated interferon-α (PegIFN) dose (50 μg/wk, 100 μg/ wk, and 150 μg/wk). The criteria for dose adjustment were designed so as to ensure the delivery of the IM dose and to protect life quality. There were 76 patients with previously untreated Philadelphia (Ph) - positive CML enrolled in the study. There were 3 patients who discontinued IM and 45 patients who discontinued PegIFN. The severity of adverse events increased with increasing PegIFN dose. The IM dose could be administered to the patients who were assigned to receive 50 μg/wk or 100 μg/wk PegIFN but not to those who were assigned to receive 150 μg/wk. The median administered dose of PegIFN ranged between 32 μg/wk and 36 μg/wk. The cytogenetic response was 70% complete (Ph-neg 100%) and 83% major (Ph-neg > 65%). The BCR/ ABL transcript was reduced by at least 3 logs in 68% of complete cytogenetic responders. These data of toxicity, compliance, and efficacy may assist in the design and preparation of prospective studies. © 2004 by The American Society of Hematology

Peg Interferon alpha-2b (Peg Intron) in Essential Thrombocythemia

In Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) patients the optimised pharmacokinetics of the weekly administered pegilated Interferons a (IFN) may increase the compliance to a long-lasting IFN treatment. This phase II study has been designed to evaluate in ET patients efficacy, safety and tolerability of a treatment with Peg Interferon a- 2b (Peg Intron, Schering-Plough). The major objective was to measure the Hematological Response rate (HR = PLTs &lt; 500 x 109/L) after one year of treatment with Peg Intron. Since December 2000, in 16 Hematological Institutions of the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Mieloproliferative Croniche (GIMMC) the Peg Intron treatment has been started in 90 ET patients, 30 Males and 60 Females, median age 45 years (18-72), pretreated with alkylating agents (8%), Hydroxyurea (47%), IFN alpha (30%), Anagrelide (7%) and antiaggregating drugs (93%). At baseline the patients showed: age over 60 (17%), previous thrombosis (7%), platelet count &gt; 1000 x 109/L (81%), peripheral granulocyte precursors (9%), splenomegaly (22%), mean platelet count 1112 x 109/L, mean Hb level 13.4 g/dl, mean WBC count 9.2 x109/L. The median treatment duration was 45 weeks. The initial very low dose of 25 mg/week was scheduled to be increased to 50, 75 and 100 mg/week if the HR was not reached at weeks 13, 26 and 39 respectively . At weeks 13, 26, 39 and 52 the mean platelet count was decreased to 59%, 48%, 44% and 43% of the baseline respectively, the Hematological Response was obtained in 17%, 50%, 72% and 67% of cases as Intention to treat (ITT), while in the patients really receiving Peg Intron the response was reached in 15/88 pts (17%), 45/84 pts (54%), 57/72 pts (79%) and 43/56 pts (77%) respectively. The increase of Peg Intron dose has been performed at weeks 13, 26 and 39 in 83%, 46% and 29% of patients respectively. Dose reduction and transitory interruption of Peg Intron was registered in 7 (8%) and 10 (11%) pts respectively. A drug withdrawal occurred in 8 patients (1 blastic transformation, 2 patient refusal, 2 neurotoxicity, 1 protocol violation, 1 hypertransaminasemia, 1 thyroid cancer ). The toxicity of Peg Intron was WHO grade III (1 case of leukopenia and 1 case of hypertransaminasemia), WHO grade II (mainly represented by leukopenia (9%) and flu-like syndrome (5%)), WHO grade I (mainly as injection syte inflammmation (44%), flu-like syndrome (31%), leukopenia (28%), hypertransaminasemia (14%) and anemia (9%)). Eight patients showed significant alteration of the laboratory thyroid parameters, in 3 cases requiring Peg Intron dose reduction. These preliminary data show that Peg Intron at low dose (median 50 mg/week) is able to induce the Hematological Response in the majority of ET patients, with acceptable safety and toxicity