Dirac Bilayer Metasurfaces as an Inverse Gires-Tournois Etalon

Efficient transmissive pure-phase resonances are highly desirable for optical modulation and wavefront engineering. Here, we propose a novel principle to realize a pure-phase resonance in an extremely broad transmission band, as opposed to previous approaches restricted to operating in reflection mode or over a narrow spectral band. We show that a glide-symmetric bilayer metasurface mathematically mimicking a two-dimensional Dirac semimetal induces unidirectional guided-mode excitation and perfect leakage-radiation blazing at the transmission channel. These effects create a peculiar resonant-scattering configuration, similar to the classical reflective Gires-Tournois etalon, but in transmission, providing full 2pi phase modulation with constant transmittance near 100%. Most importantly, this effect persists over an extremely wide band, associated with topological effects. Hence, our proposed approach produces a spectrally and parametrically robust pure-phase resonance effect in transmission, which is highly beneficial for practical applications.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

The uncalibrated pulse contour cardiac output during off-pump coronary bypass surgery: performance in patients with a low cardiac output status and a reduced left ventricular function

BACKGROUND: We compared the continuous cardiac index measured by the FloTrac/Vigileo™ system (FCI) to that measured by a pulmonary artery catheter (CCI) with emphasis on the accuracy of the FCI in patients with a decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and a low cardiac output status during off-pump coronary bypass surgery (OPCAB). We also assessed the influence of several factors affecting the pulse contour, such as the mean arterial pressure (MAP), the systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) and the use of norepinephrine. METHODS: Fifty patients who were undergoing OPCAB (30 patients with a LVEF ≥ 40%, 20 patients with a LVEF < 40%) were enrolled. The FCI and CCI were measured and we performed a Bland-Altman analysis. Subgroup analyses were done according to the LVEF (< 40%), the CCI (≤ 2.4 L/min/m), the MAP (60-80 mmHg), the SVRI (1,600-2,600 dyne/s/cm(5)/m(2)) and the use of norepinephrine. RESULTS: The FCI was reliable at all the time points of measurement with an overall bias and limit of agreement of -0.07 and 0.67 L/min/m(2), respectively, resulting in a percentage error of 26.9%. The percentage errors in the patients with a decreased LVEF and in a low cardiac output status were 28.2% and 22.3%, respectively. However, the percentage error in the 91 data pairs outside the normal range of the SVRI was 40.2%. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiac output measured by the FloTrac/Vigileo™ system was reliable even in patients with a decreased LVEF and in a low cardiac output status during OPCAB. Acceptable agreement was also noted during the period of heart displacement and grafting of the obtuse marginalis branch.ope

Production of Transgenic Cloned Miniature Pigs with Membrane-bound Human Fas Ligand (FasL) by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Cell-mediated xenograft rejection, including NK cells and CD8+ CTL, is a major obstacle in successful pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Human CD8+ CTL and NK cells display high cytotoxicity for pig cells, mediated at least in part by the Fas/FasL pathway. To prevent cell-mediated xenocytotoxicity, a membrane-bound form of human FasL (mFasL) was generated as an inhibitor for CTL and NK cell cytotoxicity that could not be cleaved by metalloproteinase to produce putative soluble FasL. We produced two healthy transgenic pigs harboring the mFasL gene via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In a cytotoxicity assay using transgenic clonal cell lines and transgenic pig ear cells, the rate of CD8+ CTL-mediated cytotoxicity was significantly reduced in transgenic pig&#x27;s ear cells compared with that in normal minipig fetal fibroblasts. Our data indicate that grafts of transgenic pigs expressing membrane-bound human FasL control the cellular immune response to xenografts, creating a window of opportunity to facilitate xenograft survival

Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT3 (PIAS3) Is Down-Regulated in Eutopic Endometrium of Women with Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a major cause of chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Activation of STAT3 appears central to the inflammatory phenotype of eutopic endometrium in women with endometriosis. However, the molecular mechanism by which this occurs remains unknown. Our objective is to determine how STAT3 activity is regulated in endometriosis. Protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 (PIAS3) is a negative regulator of STAT3 activity. We examined the levels of PIAS3 in endometrium from women with and without endometriosis using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Levels of PIAS3 are significantly lower, in contrast with phosphorylation of STAT3, in women with endometriosis compared to women without endometriosis. Furthermore, induction of endometriosis in the baboon showed a significant reduction of PIAS3 expression during the progression of the disease. Interferon-γ (INFγ) reduces PIAS3 protein levels and increases phospho-STAT3 levels through CXCL10 in endometrial cells, Ishikawa, and 12Z cells. These results suggest that attenuation of PIAS3 causes aberrant activation of STAT3 in endometriosis, leading to inflammatory changes that may impair fertility or cause pain

Identification of a novel human Rad51 variant that promotes DNA strand exchange

Rad51 plays a key role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks through homologous recombination, which is the central process in the maintenance of genomic integrity. Five paralogs of the human Rad51 gene (hRad51) have been identified to date, including hRad51B, hRad51C, hRad51D, Xrcc2 and Xrcc3. In searches of additional hRad51 paralogs, we identified a novel hRad51 variant that lacked the sequence corresponding to exon 9 (hRad51-Δex9). The expected amino acid sequence of hRad51-Δex9 showed a frame-shift at codon 259, which resulted in a truncated C-terminus. RT-PCR analysis revealed that both hRad51 and hRad51-Δex9 were prominently expressed in the testis, but that there were subtle differences in tissue specificity. The hRad51-Δex9 protein was detected as a 31-kDa protein in the testis and localized at the nucleus. In addition, the hRad51-Δex9 protein showed a DNA-strand exchange activity comparable to that of hRad51. Taken together, these results indicate that hRad51-Δex9 promotes homologous pairing and DNA strand exchange in the nucleus, suggesting that alternative pathways in hRad51- or hRad51-Δex9-dependent manners exist for DNA recombination and repair

Dysfunction in Configural Face Processing in Patients With Schizophrenia

Background: Face recognition has important implications for patients with schizophrenia, who exhibit poor interpersonal and social skills. Previous reports have suggested that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in their ability to recognize faces, and because face recognition relies heavily on information about the configuration of faces, we hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would have specific problems in processing configural information. Methods: We measured the performance of 20 patients with schizophrenia and 20 normal subjects in a face-discrimination task, using upright and inverted pairs of face photographs that differed in featural or configural information. Results: The patients with schizophrenia showed disproportionately poorer performance in discriminating configural compared with featural face sets. Conclusion: The result suggests that the face-recognition deficit in schizophrenic patients is due to specific impairments in configural processing of faces