Unveiling Invariant Optical Properties of Dielectric Meta-Atoms.

The phase-shift, transmittance, and polarization properties of meta-atoms are investigated, motivated by their use as building blocks of metasurfaces used in metalenses, holograms, and beam shaping. We studied dielectric nanorod meta-atoms of several geometries, which included cylinders, triangles, squares, hexagons, octagons, and truncated cones. By analyzing light propagation through these meta-atoms for three different wavelengths (632.8, 545, and 50 nm), we show that the phase-shift introduced is independent of their cross-section shape, contrary to the expected behavior. Additionally, we show that the polarization response is independent of the shape and that the transmittance is partially shape-independent. We identify a novel dependence of phase-shift on the effective cross-sectional area of meta-atoms. These meta-atom optical properties are independent of its shape if its geometry has a C3 or larger rotational symmetry. This optical invariance has significant implications for the topological optimization of flat optics.

The Role of cfDNA Biomarkers and Patient Data in the Early Prediction of Preeclampsia: Artificial Intelligence Model.

OBJECTIVE: Accurate individualized assessment of preeclampsia risk enables the identification of patients most likely to benefit from initiation of low-dose aspirin at 12-16 weeks' gestation when there is evidence for its effectiveness, as well as guiding appropriate pregnancy care pathways and surveillance. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of artificial neural network models for the prediction of preterm preeclampsia (<37 weeks' gestation) using patient characteristics available at the first antenatal visit and data from prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening. Secondary outcomes were prediction of early onset preeclampsia (<34 weeks' gestation) and term preeclampsia (≥37 weeks' gestation). METHODS: This secondary analysis of a prospective, multicenter, observational prenatal cfDNA screening study (SMART) included singleton pregnancies with known pregnancy outcomes. Thirteen patient characteristics that are routinely collected at the first prenatal visit and two characteristics of cfDNA, total cfDNA and fetal fraction (FF), were used to develop predictive models for early-onset (<34 weeks), preterm (<37 weeks), and term (≥37 weeks) preeclampsia. For the models, the 'reference' classifier was a shallow logistic regression (LR) model. We also explored several feedforward (non-linear) neural network (NN) architectures with one or more hidden layers and compared their performance with the LR model. We selected a simple NN model built with one hidden layer and made up of 15 units. RESULTS: Of 17,520 participants included in the final analysis, 72 (0.4%) developed early onset, 251 (1.4%) preterm, and 420 (2.4%) term preeclampsia. Median gestational age at cfDNA measurement was 12.6 weeks and 2,155 (12.3%) had their cfDNA measurement at 16 weeks' gestation or greater. Preeclampsia was associated with higher total cfDNA (median 362.3 versus 339.0 copies/ml cfDNA; p<0.001) and lower FF (median 7.5% versus 9.4%; p<0.001). The expected, cross-validated area under the curve (AUC) scores for early onset, preterm, and term preeclampsia were 0.782, 0.801, and 0.712, respectively for the LR model, and 0.797, 0.800, and 0.713, respectively for the NN model. At a screen-positive rate of 15%, sensitivity for preterm preeclampsia was 58.4% (95% CI 0.569, 0.599) for the LR model and 59.3% (95% CI 0.578, 0.608) for the NN model.The contribution of both total cfDNA and FF to the prediction of term and preterm preeclampsia was negligible. For early-onset preeclampsia, removal of the total cfDNA and FF features from the NN model was associated with a 6.9% decrease in sensitivity at a 15% screen positive rate, from 54.9% (95% CI 52.9-56.9) to 48.0% (95% CI 45.0-51.0). CONCLUSION: Routinely available patient characteristics and cfDNA markers can be used to predict preeclampsia with performance comparable to other patient characteristic models for the prediction of preterm preeclampsia. Both LR and NN models showed similar performance.

New-generation electron-propagator methods for vertical electron detachment energies of molecular anions: benchmarks and applications to model green-fluorescent-protein chromophores.

Ab initio electron-propagator calculations continue to be useful companions to experimental investigations of electronic structure in molecular anions. A new generation of electron-propagator methods recently has surpassed its antecedents' predictive accuracy and computational efficiency. Interpretive clarity has been conserved, for no adjustable parameters have been introduced in the preparation of molecular orbitals or in the formulation of approximate self-energies. These methods have employed the diagonal self-energy approximation wherein each Dyson orbital equals a canonical Hartree-Fock orbital times the square root of a probability factor. Numerical tests indicate that explicitly renormalized, diagonal self-energies are needed when Dyson orbitals have large valence nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine components. They also demonstrate that even greater accuracy can be realized with generalizations that do not employ the diagonal self-energy approximation in the canonical Hartree-Fock basis. Whereas the diagonal methods have fifth-power arithmetic scaling factors, the non-diagonal generalizations introduce only non-iterative sixth-power contractions. Composite models conserve the accuracy of the most demanding combinations of self-energy approximations and flexible basis sets with drastically reduced computational effort. Composite-model results on anions that resemble the chromophore of the green fluorescent protein illustrate the interpretive capabilities of explicitly renormalized self-energies. Accurate predictions on the lowest vertical electron detachment energy of each anion confirm experimental data and the utility of the diagonal self-energy approximation.

Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction Predicts Microglial Activation After Traumatic Brain Injury in Juvenile Rats.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which may exacerbate neuroinflammation post-injury. Few translational studies have examined BBB dysfunction and subsequent neuroinflammation post-TBI in juveniles. We hypothesized that BBB dysfunction positively predicts microglial activation and that vulnerability to BBB dysfunction and associated neuroinflammation are dependent on age at injury. Post-natal day (PND)17 and PND35 rats (n = 56) received midline fluid percussion injury or sham surgery, and immunoglobulin-G (IgG) stain was quantified as a marker of extravasated blood in the brain and BBB dysfunction. We investigated BBB dysfunction and the microglial response in the hippocampus, hypothalamus, and motor cortex relative to age at injury and days post-injury (DPI; 1, 7, and 25). We measured the morphologies of ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1-labeled microglia using cell body area and perimeter, microglial branch number and length, end-points/microglial cell, and number of microglia. Data were analyzed using generalized hierarchical models. In PND17 rats, TBI increased levels of IgG compared to shams. Independent of age at injury, IgG in TBI rats was higher at 1 and 7 DPI, but resolved by 25 DPI. TBI activated microglia (more cells and fewer end-points) in PND35 rats compared to respective shams. Independent of age at injury, TBI induced morphological changes indicative of microglial activation, which resolved by 25 DPI. TBI rats had fewer cells and end-points per cell at 1 and 7 DPI than 25 DPI. Independent of TBI, PND17 rats had larger, more activated microglia than PND35 rats; PND17 TBI rats had larger cell body areas and perimeters than PND35 TBI rats. Importantly, we found support in both ages that IgG quantification predicted microglial activation after TBI. The number of microglia increased with increasing IgG, whereas branch length decreased with increasing IgG, which together indicate microglial activation. Our results suggest that stabilization of the BBB after pediatric TBI may be an important therapeutic strategy to limit neuroinflammation and promote recovery.

New-Generation Electron-Propagator Methods for Molecular Electron-Binding Energies.

A new generation of electron-propagator methods for the calculation of electron binding energies has surpassed its antecedents with respect to accuracy, efficiency, and interpretability. No adjustable parameters are introduced in these fully ab initio procedures. Numerical tests versus several databases of valence, vertical electron binding energies of closed-shell molecules and atoms have been performed. Easily interpreted self-energy approximations with cubic arithmetic scaling produce mean absolute errors (MAEs) of 0.2 and 0.3 eV for electron detachments and attachments, respectively. The most accurate explicitly renormalized methods with fifth-power arithmetic scaling yield MAEs below 0.1 eV for detachments and attachments. Approximate renormalization leads to more efficient fifth-power alternatives for electron detachments that achieve similar accuracy with fewer bottleneck operations. Composite protocols generate excellent predictions versus highly accurate basis-extrapolated standards and experiments. The validity of the diagonal self-energy approximation and the accuracy of the approximate renormalizations are confirmed. The success of these perturbative methods based on canonical Hartree-Fock orbitals rests on a Hermitized, intermediately normalized superoperator metric. The results of all of the new-generation calculations may be analyzed in terms of final-state orbital relaxation and differential correlation effects.

TET enzymes and 5hmC epigenetic mark: new key players in carcinogenesis and progression in gynecological cancers.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism involving the transfer of a methyl group onto the C5 position of the cytosine to form 5-methylcytosine (5mC). In general, DNA methylation in cancer is associated with the repression of the expression of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) and the demethylation with the overexpression of oncogenes. DNA methylation was considered a stable modification for a long time, but in 2009, it was reported that DNA methylation is a dynamic modification. The Ten-Eleven-Translocations (TET) enzymes include TET1, TET2, and TET3 and participate in DNA demethylation through the oxidation of 5mC to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). The 5hmC oxidates to 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcitosine (5caC), which are replaced by unmodified cytosines via Thymine-DNA Glycosylase (TDG). Several studies have shown that the expression of TET proteins and 5hmC levels are deregulated in gynecological cancers, such as cervical (CC), endometrial (EC), and ovarian (OC) cancers. In addition, the molecular mechanisms involved in this deregulation have been reported, as well as their potential role as biomarkers in these types of cancers. This review shows the state-of-art TET enzymes and the 5hmC epigenetic mark in CC, EC, and OC.

Accumulation of polyethylene microplastics in river biofilms and effect on the uptake, biotransformation and toxicity of the antimicrobial triclosan.

The interaction of multiple stressors in freshwater ecosystems may lead to adverse effects on aquatic communities and their ecological functions. Microplastics (MPs) are a class of contaminants of emerging concern that can exert both direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects. A growing number of studies have investigated MPs-attached microbial communities, but the interaction between MPs and substrate-associated biofilm (i.e., on natural river substrates, such as stones and sediments) remains poorly studied. In this work, the combined effects of polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) with a particle size of 10-45 µm (2 mg/L) and the antimicrobial triclosan (TCS) (20 µg/L) were investigated on river biofilms through a short-term exposure experiment (72 h). To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first time that the combined effects of MPs and chemical contaminants in substrate-associated river biofilms were assessed. Different response parameters were evaluated, including (i) exposure assessment and ii) contaminants effects at different levels: bacterial community composition, antibiotic resistance, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), photosynthetic efficiency (Yeff), and leucine aminopeptidase activity (LAPA). Triclosan was accumulated in river biofilms (1189-1513 ng/g dw) alongside its biotransformation product methyl-triclosan (20-29 ng/g dw). Also, PE-MPs were detected on biofilms (168-292 MP/cm2), but they had no significant influence on the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of TCS. A moderate shift in bacterial community composition was driven by TCS, regardless of PE-MPs co-exposure (e.g., increased relative abundance of Sphingomonadaceae family). Additionally, Yeff and EPS content were significantly disrupted in TCS-exposed biofilms. Therefore, the most remarkable effects on river biofilms were related to the antimicrobial TCS, whereas single PE-MPs exposure did not alter any of the evaluated parameters. These results demonstrate that biofilms might act as environmental sink of MPs. Although no interaction between PE-MPs and TCS was observed, the possible indirect impact of other MPs-adsorbed contaminants on biofilms should be further assessed.

Diffuse traumatic brain injury substantially alters plasma growth hormone in the juvenile rat.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can damage the hypothalamus and cause improper activation of the growth hormone (GH) axis, leading to growth hormone deficiency (GHD). GHD is one of the most prevalent endocrinopathies following TBI in adults; however, the extent to which GHD affects juveniles remains understudied. We used postnatal day 17 rats (n = 83), which model the late infantile/toddler period, and assessed body weights, GH levels, and number of hypothalamic somatostatin neurons at acute (1, 7 days post injury (DPI)) and chronic (18, 25, 43 DPI) time points. We hypothesized that diffuse TBI would alter circulating GH levels because of damage to the hypothalamus, specifically somatostatin neurons. Data were analyzed with generalized linear and mixed effects models with fixed effects interactions between the injury and time. Despite similar growth rates over time with age, TBI rats weighed less than shams at 18 DPI (postnatal day 35; P = 0.03, standardized effect size [d] = 1.24), which is around the onset of puberty. Compared to shams, GH levels were lower in the TBI group during the acute period (P = 0.196; d = 12.3) but higher in the TBI group during the chronic period (P = 0.10; d = 52.1). Although not statistically significant, TBI-induced differences in GH had large standardized effect sizes, indicating biological significance. The mean number of hypothalamic somatostatin neurons (an inhibitor of GH) positively predicted GH levels in the hypothalamus but did not predict GH levels in the somatosensory cortex. Understanding TBI-induced alterations in the GH axis may identify therapeutic targets to improve the quality of life of pediatric survivors of TBI.

New-Generation Electron-Propagator Methods for Calculations of Electron Affinities and Ionization Energies: Tests on Organic Photovoltaic Molecules.

A new generation of ab initio electron-propagator self-energies recently superseded its antecedents' accuracy and computational efficiency in calculating vertical ionization energies (VIEs) of closed-shell molecules. (See J. Chem. Phys. 2021, 155, 204107, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2022, 18, 4927, J. Chem. Phys. 2023, 159, 124109.) No adjustable parameters were introduced in the generation of reference orbitals or in the construction of self-energies. The same approach has been extended in this work to vertical electron affinities (VEAs). Calculations were performed on 24 conjugated, organic photovoltaic molecules with diverse functional groups. These molecules are considerably larger than those studied in previous tests on VIEs. Several new-generation self-energies produce mean absolute errors (MAEs) below 0.1 eV versus ΔCCSD(T) (i.e., total energy differences from the coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples method) VIEs and VEAs obtained with identical basis sets. A composite model employs cubically and quintically scaling algorithms and power-law basis-set extrapolations based on augmented double-triple or triple-quadruple ζ data. Its MAEs are near 0.05 eV versus benchmark values, with 0.03 eV error bars for the lowest VIE and the highest VEA of each molecule. A more efficient and equally accurate composite model for calculating VIEs avoids full transformations of electron repulsion integrals to the molecular orbital basis. High probability factors support the diagonal self-energy approximation, wherein Dyson orbitals are proportional to canonical, Hartree-Fock orbitals.

Study of the influence of nanoscale porosity on the microbial electroactivity between expanded graphite electrodes and Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms.

Expanded graphite (EG) electrodes gather several advantages for their utilization in microbial electrochemical technologies (MET). Unfortunately, the low microbial electroactivity makes them non-practical for implementing them as electrodes. The objective of this work is to explore the enhancement of microbial electroactivity of expanded graphite (commercial PV15) through the generation of nanopores by CO2 treatment. The changes in properties were thoroughly analysed by TG, XRD, Raman, XPS, gas adsorption, SEM and AFM, as well as microbial electroactivity in the presence of Geobacter sulfurreducens. Nanopores remarkably enhance the microbially derived electrical current (60-fold increase). Given the inaccessibility of micron-sized bacteria to these nanopores, it is suggested that the electric charge exchanged by electroactive microorganisms might be greatly affected by the capability of the electrode to compensate these charges through ion adsorption. The increased microbial current density produced on activated PV15 opens the possibility of using such materials as promising electrodes in MET.

A new generation of non-diagonal, renormalized self-energies for calculation of electron removal energies.

A new generation of diagonal self-energies for the calculation of electron removal energies of molecules and molecular ions that has superseded its predecessors with respect to accuracy, efficiency, and interpretability is extended to include non-diagonal self-energies that permit Dyson orbitals to be expressed as linear combinations of canonical Hartree-Fock orbitals. In addition, an improved algorithm for renormalized methods eliminates the convergence difficulties encountered in the first studies of the new, diagonal self-energies. A dataset of outer-valence, vertical ionization energies with almost full-configuration-interaction quality serves as a standard of comparison in numerical tests. The new non-diagonal, renormalized methods are slightly more accurate than their diagonal counterparts, with mean absolute errors between 0.10 and 0.06 eV for outer-valence final states. This advantage is procured at the cost of an increase in the scaling of arithmetic bottlenecks that accompany the inclusion of non-diagonal self-energy terms. The new, non-diagonal, renormalized self-energies are also more accurate and efficient than their non-diagonal predecessors.

All dielectric reflective metalens based on multilayer meta-atoms.

While transmission-mode metalenses have been extensively studied, reflection-mode metalenses remain almost unexplored, presenting advantages in terms of improved efficiency and reduced complexity. In this Letter, we investigate a multilayer dielectric metalens operating in reflection mode at visible wavelengths without a metallic layer. Simulations and analysis demonstrate the performance of the metalens, with an 84% reflectivity the metalens proves its efficacy in reflection mode. At a numerical aperture of 0.15, the metalens achieves a 33% focusing efficiency, which is approximately twice that of similar reflective metalenses, facilitating efficient light manipulation and subwavelength resolution. Additionally, the metalens exhibits a well-defined focal spot with a full width at half maximum of 2.03 µm, approaching the diffraction limit.

Floating plastics as integrative samplers of organic contaminants of legacy and emerging concern from Western Mediterranean coastal areas.

This study investigates the role of floating plastics as integrative samplers of organic contaminants. To this end, plastics items were collected in two Western Mediterranean coastal areas: the Mar Menor lagoon, and the last transect of Ebro river. Floating plastics were identified and characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry. Then, organic contaminants were extracted from plastic items by ultrasonic extraction with methanol, and the concentrations of 168 regulated and emerging contaminants were analysed. These compounds were analysed by stir bar sorptive extraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), except for bisphenol analogues, which were analysed with a ultraperformance liquid chromatography pump coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS), and pharmaceutical compounds, determined by UPLC coupled to hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). All the contaminants groups considered were detected in the samples, being particularly relevant the contribution of plastic additives. The most frequently detected contaminants were UV-filters, PAHs, pharmaceuticals and synthetic musks. Apart from plasticizers, the individual contaminants octocrylene, homosalate, galaxolide, salycilic acid and ketoprofen were frequently detected in plastics items. The results pointed out to urban and touristic activities as the main sources of pollution in the coastal areas investigated. The utility of floating plastics as integrative samplers for the detection of organic contaminants in aquatic ecosystems has been demonstrated.

Factors associated with embryo mosaicism: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Evaluate which factors are involved in the increased rate of mosaicism in embryos. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. After an exhaustive search of the literature, a total of seven papers were included in the analysis. In addition, data collected from IVF cycles performed in our fertility clinic were also analysed. Day of biopsy, embryo quality, maternal and paternal age and seminal quality were the chosen factors to be studied. RESULTS: The results of the meta-analysis show that neither embryo quality nor seminal quality were related to mosaic embryo rate (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.94-1.28 and OR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.87-1.37, respectively). A positive association was observed for the variable "biopsy day" with embryos biopsied at day 6 or 7 having the highest rate of mosaicism (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01-1.11). In opposite to what happens with aneuploidy rate, which increases with maternal age, embryo mosaicism is higher in younger women (<34 years) rather than in older ones (≥34 years) (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.92-0.98). However, for the "paternal age" factor, no association with mosaicism was found (OR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.90-1.21). CONCLUSIONS: With the present study, we can conclude that the factors related to the presence of mosaicism in embryos are the embryo biopsy day and maternal age. The rest of the studied factors showed no significant relationship with mosaicism. These results are of great importance as knowing the possible causes leading to mosaicism helps to improve the clinical results of reproductive treatments.

Reproductive Carrier Screening Results With Maternal Health Implications During Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To identify conditions on a reproductive carrier screening panel with the potential for carrier manifestations during pregnancy and review the implications for obstetric care. METHODS: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of consecutive samples from female patients aged 18-55 years submitted to a commercial laboratory for a 274-gene carrier screening panel (January 2020 to September 2022). A literature review was performed to identify genes on the panel with potential for pregnancy complications in carriers. Carrier expression and published recommendations for clinical management were reviewed. RESULTS: We identified 12 genes with potential for carrier manifestations during pregnancy based on reports in the literature: nine with manifestations irrespective of the fetal genetic status ( ABCB11 , COL4A3 , COL4A4 , COL4A5 , DMD , F9 , F11 , GLA , and OTC ) and three ( CPT1A , CYP19A1 , and HADHA ) with manifestations only if the fetus is affected by the condition. Manifestations included cardiomyopathy, hemorrhage, gestational hypertensive disorders, cholestasis of pregnancy, acute fatty liver, hyperammonemic crisis, and maternal virilization. Published recommendations for carrier management were identified for 11 of the 12 genes. Of 91,637 tests performed during the study period, a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant was identified in 2,139 (2.3%), giving a carrier frequency for any of the 12 genes of 1 in 43 (95% CI 1/41-45) 1,826 (2.0%) of the study population were identified as carriers for one of the nine genes with the potential for carrier manifestations irrespective of an affected or unaffected fetus. CONCLUSION: Approximately 1 in 40 female patients were identified as carriers for a condition with potential for maternal manifestations in pregnancy, including some serious or even life-threatening complications. Obstetric care professionals should be aware of the possibility of pregnancy complications among carriers and the available recommendations for management. FUNDING SOURCE: This study was funded by Natera, Inc.

Green composites based on thermoplastic starch reinforced with micro- and nano-cellulose by melt blending - A review.

Starch is a biodegradable biopolymer, a sustainable material that can replace conventional petrochemical-based plastics. However, starch has some limitations, as it must be processed by heating and treated mechanically with a plasticizer to become thermoplastic starch (TPS). Different variables such as mixing speeds, amount, and kind of plasticizers play a vital role in preparing TPS by melting. Despite this, the properties of the TPS are not comparable with those of traditional plastics. To overcome this limitation, microcellulose or nanocellulose is added to TPS by melt mixing, including the extrusion and internal mixing process, which enables large-scale production. This review aims to compile several studies that evaluate the effect of plasticizers, as well as the relevance of incorporating different cellulosic fillers of different dimensions on the properties of TPS obtained by melt mixing. Potential applications of these materials in food packaging, biomedical applications, and other opportunities are also described.