Theoretical and experimental studies for high-repetition-rate disordered crystal lasers with harmonic self-mode locking

A harmonically self-mode-locked Nd:Sr3Y2/(BO3)4 disordered crystal laser with subpicosecond pulse duration is demonstrated. We exploit the damped harmonic oscillator model to numerically verify that the mode spacing of the laser cavity can be modified to be the harmonics of the free spectral range of the Fabry-Perot cavity when the optical length of the laser cavity is close to a commensurate ratio of the optical length of the Fabry-Perot cavity. In experiment, the Fabry-Perot cavity can be formed by the pump facet of the disordered crystal and the front mirror. A 110 GHz single-pulse harmonically mode-locked pulse train with pulse duration of 857 fs is experimentally achieved under optical lengths of 27.19 and 4.08 mm for the laser cavity and Fabry-Perot cavity respectively, corresponding to a fractional number of 20/3. A maximum output power of 162 mW is obtained at an incident pump power of 3.1 W.

Apparent diffusion coefficient in differentiation between malignant and benign breast masses: does size matter?

AIM

To determine whether lesion size affects the diagnostic performance of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the evaluation of breast masses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Consecutive breast lesions detected at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from June 2010 to July 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Differences in the ADCs of benign and malignant mass lesions were compared. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed to evaluate diagnostic performance of ADC regarding lesion size (≤ 1 cm or >1 cm) and their T2W signal intensities.

RESULTS

Seventy-four malignant lesions (77.9%) and 21 (22.1%) benign lesions were included. Twenty-two of the 95 (23.2%) masses measured ≤ 1 cm (mean 0.73 ± 0.4; range 0.51-0.8 cm) and 73/95 (76.9%) masses measured >1 cm (mean 2.11 ± 0.1; range 1.1-3.3 cm). The mean ADC was significantly lower for malignant than for benign lesions (mean for malignant lesion, 0.89 ± 0.29 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s; mean for benign lesions, 1.27 ± 0.42 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s; p<0.01). The optimal ADC cut-off for differentiating benign and malignant lesion was 1.088 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s with a sensitivity of 85.9% and specificity of 77% for lesions >1 cm. The sensitivity and specificity were lowered to 60% and 50%, respectively, for lesions of size ≤ 1. Maximal sensitivity and specificity were reached when the ADC value was used to evaluate T2-dark lesions.

CONCLUSION

Diffusion-weighted MRI is useful for characterizing masses that are hypointense on T2-weighted images. Lower sensitivity and specificity were found for breast lesions ≤ 1 cm.

Aetiological bases of 46,XY disorders of sex development in the Hong Kong Chinese population

OBJECTIVE

Disorders of sex development are due to congenital defects in chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex development. The objective of this study was to determine the aetiology of this group of disorders in the Hong Kong Chinese population.

SETTING

Five public hospitals in Hong Kong.

PATIENTS

Patients with 46,XY disorders of sex development under the care of paediatric endocrinologists between July 2009 and June 2011.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Measurement of serum gonadotropins, adrenal and testicular hormones, and urinary steroid profiling. Mutational analysis of genes involved in sexual differentiation by direct DNA sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification.

RESULTS

Overall, 64 patients were recruited for the study. Their age at presentation ranged from birth to 17 years. The majority presented with ambiguous external genitalia including micropenis and severe hypospadias. A few presented with delayed puberty and primary amenorrhea. Baseline and post-human chorionic gonadotropin-stimulated testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels were not discriminatory in patients with or without AR gene mutations. Of the patients, 22 had a confirmed genetic disease, with 11 having 5α-reductase 2 deficiency, seven with androgen insensitivity syndrome, one each with cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme deficiency, Frasier syndrome, NR5A1-related sex reversal, and persistent Müllerian duct syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that 5α-reductase 2 deficiency and androgen insensitivity syndrome are possibly the two most common causes of 46,XY disorders of sex development in the Hong Kong Chinese population. Since hormonal findings can be unreliable, mutational analysis of the SRD5A2 and AR genes should be considered the first-line tests for these patients.

Effects of a juvenile hormone analogue pyriproxyfen on monogynous and polygynous colonies of the Pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

To evaluate the effects of the juvenile hormone analogue pyriproxyfen on colonies of the Pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis (L.), peanut oil containing different concentrations (0.3, 0.6, or 0.9%) of pyriproxyfen was fed to monogynous (1 queen, 500 workers, and 0.1 g of brood) and polygynous (8 queens, 50 workers, and 0.1 g of brood) laboratory colonies of M. pharaonis. Due to its delayed activity, pyriproxyfen at all concentrations resulted in colony elimination. Significant reductions in brood volume were recorded at weeks 3 - 6, and complete brood mortality was observed at week 8 in all treated colonies. Brood mortality was attributed to the disruption of brood development and cessation of egg production by queens. All polygynous colonies exhibited significant reduction in the number of queens present at week 10 compared to week 1. Number of workers was significantly lower in all treated colonies compared to control colonies at week 8 due to old-age attrition of the workers without replacement. At least 98.67 ± 1.33% of workers were dead at week 10 in all treated colonies. Thus, treatment with slow acting pyriproxyfen at concentrations of 0.3 - 0.9% is an effective strategy for eliminating Pharaoh ant colonies.

Intracavity continuous-wave multiple stimulated-Raman-scattering emissions in a KTP crystal pumped by a Nd:YVO(4) laser

Intracavity continuous-wave (CW) multiple stimulated-Raman-scattering emissions have been successfully demonstrated in a KTP crystal pumped by a Nd:YVO(4) 1064-nm laser for the first time. Three different output couplers (OCs) with high-reflection (HR) coating in the range of 1-1.1, 1-1.13, and 1-1.15 μm are employed in the experiment to generate lasing wavelengths at 1095 (the first-Stokes emission of the 266 cm(-1) Raman shift), 1095 + 1128 (the first- and second-Stokes emission of the 266 cm(-1) Raman shift), and 1095 + 1128 + 1149 nm (the first two Stokes emissions of the 266 cm(-1) Raman shift and the first-Stokes emission of the 694 cm(-1) Raman shift), separately. This Raman laser paves a way to produce more-closely spaced set of CW emission in the green-yellow region.

Factors influencing sexually transmitted infections among adolescents in South Korea

BACKGROUND

No data exist regarding the sexually transmitted infection (STI) rate in adolescents aged 12-15 in South Korea. Only a Korean few studies have attempted to investigate the factors influencing sexually transmitted infections among adolescents.

AIM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-reported sexually transmitted infection contraction rate and analyse individual and family factors that influence this rate among middle school students aged 12-15 in South Korea.

METHODS

Using statistics from the 8th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, secondary data analysis was conducted. The study sample consisted of 714 individuals who had reported initiating sexual intercourse.

RESULTS

The rate of self-reported sexually transmitted contraction was 13.5%. The following factors predicted STI contraction: second year of middle school, excellent academic achievement, habitual or purposeful drug use, first intercourse before middle school, intercourse after drinking alcohol, weekly allowance, and living without family predicted sexually transmitted infection contraction.

LIMITATIONS

The parental data were collected by the self-reported surveys in a cross-sectional manner and questions of STI contraction and intercourse after drinking may have confused the subjects.

CONCLUSION

We need to utilize these predictors in providing adolescents with sexual health interventions and establishing adolescent sexual health policies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICIES

Increased sex education and employment of a school nurse in each middle school are needed. High-risk students need to be monitored given the predictors of sexually transmitted infection contraction, and the school health personnel need to inform female students and their parents the importance of seeing a gynaecologist for regular check-ups.

Cryogenically monolithic self-Raman lasers: observation of single-longitudinal-mode operation

A cryogenically monolithic Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser is experimentally explored and theoretically analyzed. The variation of the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) threshold on the temperature is found to be nonlinear because the reduction of thermal lensing enlarges the cavity mode size. In spite of the nonlinear variation of the SRS threshold on the temperature, the overall SRS output power can be efficiently increased from 0.78 to 1.36 W for temperature decreasing from 285 to 80 K at an absorbed power of 17.2 W. More interestingly, the single-longitudinal-mode operation is experimentally achieved when temperature is lower than 125 K.

Establishment of a prediction model for the miRNA-based heading date characteristics of rice in the booting stage

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world. In Taiwan, due to the warm climate, there are two harvests annually. However, the yield and quality of rice can vary between each crop season in any given year. Previous reports have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in many developmental and physiological processes in plants. In this study, the heading date characteristics of 167 rice cultivars from the second crop season were recorded, and 27 rice cultivars were selected for preliminary microarray analysis. A total of 14 miRNAs from different heading date characteristics in 21 cultivars were selected based on significant differences in their expression profiles. Using a correlation analysis between the heading date and selected miRNA expression obtained from real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, we developed a heading date prediction model. The model includes nine miRNA genes with corresponding R2 values of 0.8. To confirm the model, a real-time PCR analysis was performed on an additional 27 rice cultivars and we found the model predicted the heading date with accuracy. Therefore, the developed prediction may be useful in further studies aimed at confirming the reliability of the use of miRNA in molecular breeding and to increase the selection efficiency of rice cultivars and breeding.

24-W cryogenically cooled Nd:YAG monolithic 946-nm laser with a slope efficiency >70

A high-power efficient monolithic Nd:YAG 946-nm laser is demonstrated at the cryogenic temperature. By exploring the absorption and the fluorescence spectra of the Nd:YAG crystal, it reveals the fact that the absorption bandwidth at 808 nm is narrowing and the fluorescence intensity at 1061 nm is significant enhanced when the temperature is decreased. The temperature dependence of the lasing threshold at 946 nm is found to display a minimum value near a temperature of 170 K. At an incident pump power of 34.5 W, the local heating leads the optimum temperature to be approximately 120 K and the maximum output power can reach 24.4 W with the conversion efficiency of 71% as well as the slope efficiency up to 75%.

Sexual genetic and simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis for molecular marker development on the all hermaphrodite papaya

The papaya (Carica papaya L.) is one of the most important economic tropical fruits in the world, and the hermaphrodite is the preferred type in field cultures. We analyzed the sexual ratio of offspring from the cultivar 'Taiwan Seed Station No. 7' (T7) by a self-cross and its cross with Taichung Sunrise (TS). Female progeny from the T7 self-crossing were not observed. This finding may be caused by a lethal gene that is linked to females. In this study, we selected 192 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) to analyze the polymorphism between T7 and TS. A total of 37 SSRs were identified for T7 and TS. In addition, 14 SSRs served as the molecular makers for identification of T7, TS and their hybrid offsprings. Thus, the results show that the genetic similarity between T7 and TS is rather high. This suggests that T7 may be a mutant of TS. Phylogenetic analysis from the SSR polymorphisms of the above parent strains and 15 F1 offspring revealed the genetic distance of the F1 offspring located between T7 and TS. The results of this study may provide an opportunity for elucidating the genetic characteristics of all hermaphrodites via identification of molecular makers.

A novel mutation in pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a in a Chinese woman and her son with hypocalcaemia

Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a rare genetic disorder characterised by end-organ resistance to parathyroid hormone due to a defect of the guanine nucleotide-binding protein alpha that simulates activity of the polypeptide 1 (GNAS) gene. Patients with type 1a pseudohypoparathyroidism display different features of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy as well as multi-hormone resistance. We describe a Chinese woman and her son, who presented with different symptoms of pseudohypoparathyroidism and clinically manifested different degree of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy. Genetic study detected a mutation [NM_000516.4(GNAS):c682C>T (p.Arg228Cys)] in the GNAS gene.

The likelihood of achieving quantified road safety targets: a binary logistic regression model for possible factors

In past several decades, many countries have set quantified road safety targets to motivate transport authorities to develop systematic road safety strategies and measures and facilitate the achievement of continuous road safety improvement. Studies have been conducted to evaluate the association between the setting of quantified road safety targets and road fatality reduction, in both the short and long run, by comparing road fatalities before and after the implementation of a quantified road safety target. However, not much work has been done to evaluate whether the quantified road safety targets are actually achieved. In this study, we used a binary logistic regression model to examine the factors - including vehicle ownership, fatality rate, and national income, in addition to level of ambition and duration of target - that contribute to a target's success. We analyzed 55 quantified road safety targets set by 29 countries from 1981 to 2009, and the results indicate that targets that are in progress and with lower level of ambitions had a higher likelihood of eventually being achieved. Moreover, possible interaction effects on the association between level of ambition and the likelihood of success are also revealed.

A review of the use of Piper betel in oxidative stress disorders

Increase in prevalence of disease related oxidative stress disorders have been on the rise in the entire world since the past decades. Significant positive effects with few antioxidant properties in the modern drugs pave for the alternative medicines in managing the disease. Piper betel (P. betel), a herb, is known to possess high anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerosis, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-cancer and neuroprotective property. This review focused on the effect of P. betel on diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis and chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer. P. betel proved to show positive effects with specific outcomes towards these diseases. Moreover, the promising effect of P. betel in vitro studies was also highlighted in the present review. It is believed that the findings obtained in this review will draw the attention of the medical professionals and general public towards P. betel and it will open the door for further detailed research.

Adenosine protects Sprague Dawley rats from high-fat diet and repeated acute restraint stress-induced intestinal inflammation and altered expression of nutrient transporters

This study investigated the effect of repeated acute restraint stress and high-fat diet (HFD) on intestinal expression of nutrient transporters, concomitant to intestinal inflammation. The ability of adenosine to reverse any change was examined. Six-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into eight groups: control or non-stressed (C), rats exposed to restraint stress for 6 h per day for 14 days (S), control rats fed with HFD (CHF) and restraint-stressed rats fed with HFD (SHF); four additional groups received the same treatments and were also given 50 mg/l adenosine dissolved in drinking water. Fasting blood glucose, plasma insulin, adiponectin and corticosterone were measured. Intestinal expression of SLC5A1, SLC2A2, NPC1L1 and TNF-α was analysed. Histological evaluation was conducted to observe for morphological and anatomical changes in the intestinal tissues. Results showed that HFD feeding increased glucose and insulin levels, and repeated acute restraint stress raised the corticosterone level by 22%. Exposure to both stress and HFD caused a further increase in corticosterone to 41%, while decreasing plasma adiponectin level. Restraint stress altered intestinal expression of SLC5A1, SLC2A2 and NPC1L1. These changes were enhanced in SHF rats. Adenosine was found to alleviate HFD-induced increase in glucose and insulin levels, suppress elevation of corticosterone in S rats and improve the altered nutrient transporters expression profiles. It also prevented upregulation of TNF-α in the intestine of SHF rats. In summary, a combination of stress and HFD exaggerated stress- and HFD-induced pathophysiological changes in the intestine, and biochemical parameters related to obesity. Adenosine attenuated the elevation of corticosterone and altered expression of SLC5A1, NPC1L1 and TNF-α.

Analysis of sequence diversity through internal transcribed spacers and simple sequence repeats to identify Dendrobium species

The Orchidaceae is one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants. The Dendrobium genus has high economic potential as ornamental plants and for medicinal purposes. In addition, the species of this genus are able to produce large crops. However, many Dendrobium varieties are very similar in outward appearance, making it difficult to distinguish one species from another. This study demonstrated that the 12 Dendrobium species used in this study may be divided into 2 groups by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. Red and yellow flowers may also be used to separate these species into 2 main groups. In particular, the deciduous characteristic is associated with the ITS genetic diversity of the A group. Of 53 designed simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs, 7 pairs were polymorphic for polymerase chain reaction products that were amplified from a specific band. The results of this study demonstrate that these 7 SSR primer pairs may potentially be used to identify Dendrobium species and their progeny in future studies.