Role of artificial-intelligence-assisted automated cardiac biometrics in prenatal screening for coarctation of aorta.

OBJECTIVE: Although remarkable strides have been made in fetal medicine and the prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease, around 60% of newborns with isolated coarctation of the aorta (CoA) are not identified prior to birth. The prenatal detection of CoA has been shown to have a notable impact on survival rates of affected infants. To this end, implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in fetal ultrasound may represent a groundbreaking advance. We aimed to investigate whether the use of automated cardiac biometric measurements with AI during the 18-22-week anomaly scan would enhance the identification of fetuses that are at risk of developing CoA. METHODS: We developed an AI model capable of identifying standard cardiac planes and conducting automated cardiac biometric measurements. Our data consisted of pregnancy ultrasound image and outcome data spanning from 2008 to 2018 and collected from four distinct regions in Denmark. Cases with a postnatal diagnosis of CoA were paired with healthy controls in a ratio of 1:100 and matched for gestational age within 2 days. Cardiac biometrics obtained from the four-chamber and three-vessel views were included in a logistic regression-based prediction model. To assess its predictive capabilities, we assessed sensitivity and specificity on receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC) curves. RESULTS: At the 18-22-week scan, the right ventricle (RV) area and length, left ventricle (LV) diameter and the ratios of RV/LV areas and main pulmonary artery/ascending aorta diameters showed significant differences, with Z-scores above 0.7, when comparing subjects with a postnatal diagnosis of CoA (n = 73) and healthy controls (n = 7300). Using logistic regression and backward feature selection, our prediction model had an area under the ROC curve of 0.96 and a specificity of 88.9% at a sensitivity of 90.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of AI technology with automated cardiac biometric measurements obtained during the 18-22-week anomaly scan has the potential to enhance substantially the performance of screening for fetal CoA and subsequently the detection rate of CoA. Future research should clarify how AI technology can be used to aid in the screening and detection of congenital heart anomalies to improve neonatal outcomes. © 2024 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Noise in Brillouin based information storage.

We theoretically and numerically study the efficiency of Brillouin-based opto-acoustic data storage in a photonic waveguide in the presence of thermal noise and laser phase noise. We compare the physics of the noise processes and how they affect different storage techniques, examining both amplitude and phase storage schemes. We investigate the effects of storage time and pulse properties on the quality of the retrieved signal and find that phase storage is less sensitive to thermal noise than amplitude storage.

Noise and pulse dynamics in backward stimulated Brillouin scattering.

We theoretically and numerically study the effects of thermal noise on pulses in backwards stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Using a combination of stochastic calculus and numerical methods, we derive a theoretical model that can be used to quantitatively predict noise measurements. We study how the optical pulse configuration, including the input powers of the pump and Stokes fields, pulse durations and interaction time, affects the noise in the output Stokes field. We investigate the effects on the noise of the optical loss and waveguide length, and we find that the signal-to-noise ratio can be significantly improved, or reduced, for specific combinations of waveguide properties and pulse parameters.

Picosecond acoustic dynamics in stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Recent experiments demonstrating storage of optical pulses in acoustic phonons via stimulated Brillouin scattering raise questions about the spectral and temporal capacities of such protocols and the limitations of the theoretical frameworks routinely used to describe them. We consider the dynamics of photon-phonon scattering induced by optical pulses with temporal widths comparable to the period of acoustic oscillations. We revisit the widely adopted classical formalism of coupled modes and demonstrate its breakdown. We use a simple extension to the formulation and find potentially measurable consequences in the dynamics of Brillouin experiments involving ultrashort pulses.

Elastic Purcell Effect.

In this work, we introduce an elastic analog of the Purcell effect and show theoretically that spherical nanoparticles can serve as tunable and robust antennas for modifying the emission from localized elastic sources. This effect can be qualitatively described by introducing elastic counterparts of the familiar electromagnetic parameters: local density of elastic states, elastic Purcell factor, and effective volume of elastic modes. To illustrate our framework, we consider the example of a submicron gold sphere as a generic elastic GHz antenna and find that shear and mixed modes of low orders in such systems offer considerable elastic Purcell factors. This formalism opens pathways towards extended control over dissipation of vibrations in various optomechanical systems and contributes to closing the gap between classical and quantum-mechanical treatments of phonons localized in elastic nanoresonators.

Linking classical and molecular optomechanics descriptions of SERS.

The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of molecular species in plasmonic cavities can be described as an optomechanical process where plasmons constitute an optical cavity of reduced effective mode volume which effectively couples to the vibrations of the molecules. An optomechanical Hamiltonian can address the full quantum dynamics of the system, including the phonon population build-up, the vibrational pumping regime, and the Stokes-anti-Stokes correlations of the photons emitted. Here we describe in detail two different levels of approximation to the methodological solution of the optomechanical Hamiltonian of a generic SERS configuration, and compare the results of each model in light of recent experiments. Furthermore, a phenomenological semi-classical approach based on a rate equation of the phonon population is demonstrated to be formally equivalent to that obtained from the full quantum optomechanical approach. The evolution of the Raman signal with laser intensity (thermal, vibrational pumping and instability regimes) is accurately addressed when this phenomenological semi-classical approach is properly extended to account for the anti-Stokes process. The formal equivalence between semi-classical and molecular optomechanics descriptions allows us to describe the vibrational pumping regime of SERS through the classical cross sections which characterize a nanosystem, thus setting a roadmap to describing molecular optomechanical effects in a variety of experimental situations.

Anisotropic Nanoantenna-Based Magnetoplasmonic Crystals for Highly Enhanced and Tunable Magneto-Optical Activity.

We present a novel concept of a magnetically tunable plasmonic crystal based on the excitation of Fano lattice surface modes in periodic arrays of magnetic and optically anisotropic nanoantennas. We show how coherent diffractive far-field coupling between elliptical nickel nanoantennas is governed by the two in-plane, orthogonal and spectrally detuned plasmonic responses of the individual building block, one directly induced by the incident radiation and the other induced by the application of an external magnetic field. The consequent excitation of magnetic field-induced Fano lattice surface modes leads to highly tunable and amplified magneto-optical effects as compared to a continuous film or metasurfaces made of disordered noninteracting magnetoplasmonic anisotropic nanoantennas. The concepts presented here can be exploited to design novel magnetoplasmonic sensors based on coupled localized plasmonic resonances, and nanoscale metamaterials for precise control and magnetically driven tunability of light polarization states.

New Famennian colonial coral (Rugosa) from the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland): an example of local evolution after Frasnian-Famennian extinction.

Colonial rugose corals are extremely rare in the fossil record after the Late Devonian (Frasnian-Famennian) extinction event. Here, we report a new genus and species, Famastraea catenata, from the late Famennian of the western part of the Holy Cross Mountains (Kowala) in Poland. Although this taxon is colonial, it displays many morphological characters very close to the typically late Famennian solitary species Palaeosmilia aquisgranensis (Frech, 1885), described earlier from the same locality. Hence, we postulate that F. catenata is derived from P. aquisgranensis. In contrast to other Famennian colonial rugose corals, the new taxon represents an example of local evolution within the group of so-called 'Strunian' corals. Consequently, we postulate that the new taxon represents a new colonial rugose fauna, which, however, did not survive the subsequent Late Devonian crisis (i.e. Hangenberg event). F. catenata most probably inhabited deeper water settings, possibly near the boundary between the euphotic and dysphotic zones, as inferred from many other benthic taxa described from this locality.

Antenna resonances in low aspect ratio semiconductor nanowires.

We present numerical simulations of low aspect ratio gallium phosphide nanowires under plane wave illumination, which reveal the interplay between transverse and longitudinal antenna-like resonances. A comparison to the limiting case of the semiconducting sphere shows a gradual, continuous transition of resonant electric and magnetic spherical Mie modes into Fabry-Pérot cavity modes with mixed electric and magnetic characteristics. As the length of the nanowires further increases, these finite-wire modes converge towards the leaky-mode resonances of an infinite cylindrical wire. Furthermore, we report a large and selective enhancement or suppression of electric and magnetic field in structures comprising two semiconducting nanowires. For an interparticle separation of 20 nm, we observe up to 300-fold enhancement in the electric field intensity and an almost complete quenching of the magnetic field in specific mode configurations. Angle-dependent extinction spectra highlight the importance of symmetry and phase matching in the excitation of cavity modes and show the limited validity of the infinite wire approximation for describing the response of finite length nanowires toward glancing angles.

Isotropically polarized speckle patterns.

The polarization of the light scattered by an optically dense and random solution of dielectric nanoparticles shows peculiar properties when the scatterers exhibit strong electric and magnetic polarizabilities. While the distribution of the scattering intensity in these systems shows the typical irregular speckle patterns, the helicity of the incident light can be fully conserved when the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the scatterers are equal. We show that the multiple scattering of helical beams by a random dispersion of "dual" dipolar nanospheres leads to a speckle pattern exhibiting a perfect isotropic constant polarization, a situation that could be useful in coherent control of light as well as in lasing in random media.

Clinical course of primary sclerosing cholangitis and concomitant ulcerative colitis - a preliminary report of retrospective study among patients from Southern Poland.

UNLABELLED: Both ulcerative colitis (UC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are chronic and progressive diseases of uncertain etiology, that may affect one patient. Approximately 70% of PSC cases are also diagnosed with UC, whereas in the group of UC the prevalence of PSC is about 2-5%. The aim of the study was to compare clinical courses of PSC and UC in patients diagnosed with both diseases to those with the confirmed diagnosis of either PSC or UC. Three groups were distinguished and evaluated: patients with PSC and UC (n = 17) and two control groups: patients with PSC (n = 4) and with UC (n = 13). Clinical data, symptoms, laboratory tests, results of the magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and colonoscopy were analyzed to compare clinical courses of these diseases between the groups. CONCLUSION: there is no correlation between clinical course of simultaneous PSC and UC. However, it may differ depending on co-occurrence of the other disease.

Evidence of photosymbiosis in Palaeozoic tabulate corals.

Coral reefs form the most diverse of all marine ecosystems on the Earth. Corals are among their main components and owe their bioconstructing abilities to a symbiosis with algae (Symbiodinium). The coral-algae symbiosis had been traced back to the Triassic (ca 240 Ma). Modern reef-building corals (Scleractinia) appeared after the Permian-Triassic crisis; in the Palaeozoic, some of the main reef constructors were extinct tabulate corals. The calcium carbonate secreted by extant photosymbiotic corals bears characteristic isotope (C and O) signatures. The analysis of tabulate corals belonging to four orders (Favositida, Heliolitida, Syringoporida and Auloporida) from Silurian to Permian strata of Europe and Africa shows these characteristic carbon and oxygen stable isotope signatures. The δ(18)O to δ(13)C ratios in recent photosymbiotic scleractinians are very similar to those of Palaeozoic tabulates, thus providing strong evidence of such symbioses as early as the Middle Silurian (ca 430 Ma). Corals in Palaeozoic reefs used the same cellular mechanisms for carbonate secretion as recent reefs, and thus contributed to reef formation.

Evaluation of P5CS and ProDH activity in Paulownia tomentosa (Steud.) as an indicator of oxidative changes induced by drought stress.

The aim of the study was to investigate changes in proline metabolism in seedlings of tree species during drought stress. One month old Paulownia tomentosa seedlings were exposed to moisture conditions at various levels (irrigation at 100, 75, 50 and 25% of field capacity), and then the material (leaves and roots) was collected three times at 10-day intervals. The activity of enzymes involved in proline metabolism was closely related to drought severity; however, proline content was not directly impacted. The activity of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), which catalyzes proline biosynthesis, increased in response to hydrogen peroxide accumulation, which was correlated with soil moisture. In contrast, the activity of proline dehydrogenase (ProDH), which catalyzes proline catabolism, decreased. Compared to proline, the activity of these enzymes may be a more reliable biochemical marker of stress-induced oxidative changes. The content of proline is dependent on numerous additional factors, i.e., its degradation is an important alternative energy source. Moreover, we noted tissue-specific differences in this species, in which roots appeared to be proline biosynthesis sites and leaves appeared to be proline catabolism sites. Further research is needed to examine a broader view of proline metabolism as a cycle regulated by multiple mechanisms and differences between species.

Bryozoan-cnidarian mutualism triggered a new strategy for greater resource exploitation as early as the Late Silurian.

Bryozoans were common benthic invertebrates in the Silurian seas. The large biodiversity among Silurian benthic organisms prompted diversified interactions, and as a result bryozoans hosted many other organisms as symbionts. Here we analyse the cystoporate bryozoan Fistulipora przhidolensis and unidentified trepostomes intergrown with auloporid tabulate corals and putative hydrozoans. The material comes from the uppermost Prídolí Series (Late Silurian) of the Sõrve Peninsula, Saaremaa, Estonia. Our analysis shows that the interaction was beneficial for both organisms-cnidarians benefited from feeding currents created by the host bryozoan, while the latter benefited from the protection from predators by cnidae, it can thus be classified as mutualism. Such associations are common in modern seas. The analysed organisms are typically encrusting when the symbiosis is absent, when intergrown they display erect, branching morphologies, raised over the substratum, thus exploiting a higher suspension-feeding tier. While similar associations were known from the Devonian, we demonstrate that this novel ecological strategy for greater resource exploitation started as early as the latest Silurian.

Functional consequences of Palaeozoic reef collapse.

Biogenic reefs have been hotspots of biodiversity and evolutionary novelty throughout the Phanerozoic. The largest reef systems in Earth's history occurred in the Devonian period, but collapsed during the Late Devonian Mass Extinction. However, the consequences for the functional diversity of Palaeozoic reefs have received little attention. Here, we examine changes in the functional diversity of tabulate coral assemblages over a 35 million year period from the middle Devonian to the Carboniferous, straddling the multiphase extinction event to identify the causes and ecological consequences of the extinction for tabulate corals. By examining five key morphological traits, we show a divergent response of taxonomic and functional diversity to the mass extinction: taxonomic richness peaked during the Givetian (~ 388-383 Ma) and coincided with peak reef building, but functional diversity was only moderate because many species had very similar trait combinations. The collapse of taxonomic diversity and reef building in the late Devonian had minimal impact on functional richness of coral assemblages. However, non-random shifts towards species with larger corallites and lower colony integration suggest a shift from photosymbiotic to asymbiotic taxa associated over the study period. Our results suggest that the collapse of the huge Devonian reef systems was correlated with a breakdown of photosymbiosis and extinction of photosymbiotic tabulate coral taxa. Despite the appearance of new tabulate coral species over the next 35 million years, the extinction of taxa with photosymbiotic traits had long-lasting consequences for reef building and, by extension, shallow marine ecosystems in the Palaeozoic.

First fossil record of parasitism in Devonian calcareous sponges (stromatoporoids).

INTRODUCTION: Palaeozoic calcareous sponges (stromatoporoids) are common bio-constructing fossils; they are sometimes found in association with helicoidal structures of unknown biological affinities. The interaction between the tube-forming organisms has usually been classified as commensalism. METHODS: About 260 stromatoporoid skeletons from the Middle Devonian (Givetian) of the Mont d'Haurs section near Givet (Champagne-Ardenne, France) were thin-sectioned and analysed under transmitted light. RESULTS: Approximately 10% of the examined stromatoporoids (mainly belonging to the genera Actinostroma, Stromatopora and Stromatoporella) contain tubes classified as Torquaysalpinx sp. The Torquaysalpinx organisms penetrated the skeletons of stromatoporoids in vivo (as evidenced by skeletal overgrowths); around the infesting organisms, growth bands are bent down. CONCLUSION: Diminished growth rates around the infesting organism demonstrate a negative influence on the host, similar to that seen in the modern demosponge-polychaete association of Verongia-Haplosyllis. This is demonstrated by changes in growth bands. As in the above-mentioned association, the endosymbiont might have been feeding directly upon the tissues of the host. The Torquaysalpinx organisms were gaining habitat and possibly also food resources - for them this interaction was clearly positive. This long-term association can therefore be classified as parasitism. This is the first evidence for parasitism in Palaeozoic sponges.

Early development and coloniality in Oligophylloides from the Devonian of Morocco-Are Heterocorallia Palaeozoic octocorals?

Heterocorals represent an enigmatic group of Palaeozoic corals, known from relatively short time intervals in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. The major differences between Heterocorallia and other Palaeozoic corals are the lack of an external theca (epitheca), lack of calices and the presence of dichotomously dividing septa-like structures. Heterocoral skeleton was presumably externally covered by the soft tissue and each branch of their skeleton has, until now, been regarded as a corallite-a skeleton of a single polyp. We investigated upper Famennian Oligophylloides from Morocco, focussing on branching processes, wall structure, previously poorly known initial growth stages and the growing tip, described here for the first time. We demonstrate that Oligophylloides shows a unique colony development not known in any group of anthozoans possessing a septate-like architecture and suggest that the previously postulated homology between true septa in hexa- and rugose corals on one hand, and Oligophylloides on the other, must be rejected. Based on the skeleton structure and branching patterns, we postulate, contrary to former ideas, that the stem and branches of heterocorals represent the skeleton of a multi-polyp colonial coral, similar to many extant octocorals. We found numerous potential homologies with octocoral skeletons (notably the Keratoisidinae within the Isididae) and, as a result, we propose the inclusion of the order Heterocorallia within the subclass Octocorallia. This suggestion requires, however, further research on the other taxa of heterocorals. We also propose some changes to the morphological terminology for the Heterocorallia.

Fossil tabulate corals reveal outcrops of Paleozoic sandstones in the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province, Southeastern USA.

The geologic history of the Southeastern United States of America is missing nearly 350-million-years of rocks, sediments, and fossils. This gap defines the Fall Line nonconformity where Upper Ordovician consolidated rocks are directly overlain by Upper Cretaceous unconsolidated sediments of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province. Here we begin to fill in the missing geologic record by reporting the discovery of fossils of lower-to-middle Paleozoic tabulate corals (Syringophyllidae) in angular, quartz-rich, ferruginous sandstones that crop out in the Carolina Sandhills Physiographic Province that forms the updip margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province near the Fall Line. These fossils of extinct tabulate corals are the first evidence that Paleozoic (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) sandstones crop out amidst the mostly Mesozoic-to-Cenozoic deposits of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province of the United States of America. This discovery of Paleozoic fossils and strata in a region in which they were previously entirely unknown offers a more complete insight into the geologic history of the Southern Appalachian Mountains Region, Carolina Sandhills and updip margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province and extends the previously identified range of Syringophyllidae in North America.

Spectral Selectivity of Plasmonic Interactions between Individual Up-Converting Nanocrystals and Spherical Gold Nanoparticles.

We experimentally demonstrate strong spectral selectivity of plasmonic interaction that occurs between α-NaYF4:Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystals, which feature two emission bands, and spherical gold nanoparticles, with plasmon frequency resonant with one of the emission bands. Spatially-resolved luminescence intensity maps acquired for individual nanocrystals, together with microsecond luminescence lifetime images, show two qualitatively different effects that result from the coupling between plasmon excitations in metallic nanoparticles and emitting states of the nanocrystals. On the one hand, we observe nanocrystals, whose emission intensity is strongly enhanced for both resonant and non-resonant bands with respect to the plasmon resonance. Importantly, this increase is accompanied with shortening of luminescence decays times. In contrast, a significant number of nanocrystals exhibits almost complete quenching of the emission resonant with the plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles. Theoretical analysis indicates that such an effect can occur for emitters placed at distances of about 5 nm from gold nanoparticles. While under these conditions, both transitions experience significant increases of the radiative emission rates due to the Purcell effect, the non-radiative energy transfer between resonant bands results in strong quenching, which in that situation nullifies the enhancement.