Comparison of wavefront sensing and ablation imprinting for FEL focus diagnostics at FLASH2.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photon beam characterization techniques, Hartmann wavefront sensing and single shot ablation imprinting, were compared along the caustic of a tightly focused free-electron laser (FEL) beam at beamline FL24 of FLASH2, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg at DESY. The transverse coherence of the EUV FEL was determined by a Young's double pinhole experiment and used in a back-propagation algorithm which includes partial coherence to calculate the beam intensity profiles along the caustic from the wavefront measurements. A very good agreement of the profile structure and size is observed for different wavelengths between the back-propagated profiles, an indirect technique, and ablation imprints. As a result, the Hartmann wavefront sensor including its software MrBeam is a very useful, single shot pulse resolved and fast tool for non-invasive determination of focal spot size and shape and also for beam profiles along the caustic.

Liraglutide Protects Against Diastolic Dysfunction and Improves Ventricular Protein Translation.

PURPOSE: Diastolic dysfunction is an increasingly common cardiac pathology linked to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Previous studies have implicated glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists as potential therapies for improving diastolic dysfunction. In this study, we investigate the physiologic and metabolic changes in a mouse model of angiotensin II (AngII)-mediated diastolic dysfunction with and without the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide (Lira). METHODS: Mice were divided into sham, AngII, or AngII+Lira therapy for 4 weeks. Mice were monitored for cardiac function, weight change, and blood pressure at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment. After 4 weeks of treatment, tissue was collected for histology, protein analysis, targeted metabolomics, and protein synthesis assays. RESULTS: AngII treatment causes diastolic dysfunction when compared to sham mice. Lira partially prevents this dysfunction. The improvement in function in Lira mice is associated with dramatic changes in amino acid accumulation in the heart. Lira mice also have improved markers of protein translation by Western blot and increased protein synthesis by puromycin assay, suggesting that increased protein turnover protects against fibrotic remodeling and diastolic dysfunction seen in the AngII cohort. Lira mice also lost lean muscle mass compared to the AngII cohort, raising concerns about peripheral muscle scavenging as a source of the increased amino acids in the heart. CONCLUSIONS: Lira therapy protects against AngII-mediated diastolic dysfunction, at least in part by promoting amino acid uptake and protein turnover in the heart. Liraglutide therapy is associated with loss of mean muscle mass, and long-term studies are warranted to investigate sarcopenia and frailty with liraglutide therapy in the setting of diastolic disease.

An automated, high-throughput methodology optimized for quantitative cell-free mitochondrial and nuclear DNA isolation from plasma.

Progress in the study of circulating, cell-free nuclear DNA (ccf-nDNA) in cancer detection has led to the development of noninvasive clinical diagnostic tests and has accelerated the evaluation of ccf-nDNA abundance as a disease biomarker. Likewise, circulating, cell-free mitochondrial DNA (ccf-mtDNA) is under similar investigation. However, optimal ccf-mtDNA isolation parameters have not been established, and inconsistent protocols for ccf-nDNA collection, storage, and analysis have hindered its clinical utility. Until now, no studies have established a method for high-throughput isolation that considers both ccf-nDNA and ccf-mtDNA. We initially optimized human plasma digestion and extraction conditions for maximal recovery of these DNAs using a magnetic bead-based isolation method. However, when we incorporated this method onto a high-throughput platform, initial experiments found that DNA isolated from identical human plasma samples displayed plate edge effects resulting in low ccf-mtDNA reproducibility, whereas ccf-nDNA was less affected. Therefore, we developed a detailed protocol optimized for both ccf-mtDNA and ccf-nDNA recovery that uses a magnetic bead-based isolation process on an automated 96-well platform. Overall, we calculate an improved efficiency of recovery of ∼95-fold for ccf-mtDNA and 20-fold for ccf-nDNA when compared with the initial procedure. Digestion conditions, liquid-handling characteristics, and magnetic particle processor programming all contributed to increased recovery without detectable positional effects. To our knowledge, this is the first high-throughput approach optimized for ccf-mtDNA and ccf-nDNA recovery and serves as an important starting point for clinical studies.

Flexible ptychography platform to expand the potential of imaging at free electron lasers.

Ptychography, a scanning coherent diffraction imaging method, can produce a high-resolution reconstruction of a sample and, at the same time, of the illuminating beam. The emergence of vacuum ultraviolet and X-ray free electron lasers (FELs) has brought sources with unprecedented characteristics that enable X-ray ptychography with highly intense and ultra-fast short-wavelength pulses. However, the shot-to-shot pulse fluctuations typical for FEL pulses and particularly the partial spatial coherence of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) FELs lead to numerical complexities in the ptychographic algorithms and ultimately restrict the application of ptychography at FELs. We present a general adaptive forward model for ptychography based on automatic differentiation, which is able to perform reconstructions even under these conditions. We applied this model to the first ptychography experiment at FLASH, the Free electron LASer in Hamburg, and obtained a high-resolution reconstruction of the sample as well as the complex wavefronts of individual FLASH pulses together with their coherence properties. This is not possible with more common ptychography algorithms.

Evaluation of Calcium-Enhanced Media for Colistin Susceptibility Testing by Gradient Agar Diffusion and Broth Microdilution.

Despite the increasing reliance on polymyxin antibiotics (polymyxin B and colistin) for treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections, many clinical laboratories are unable to perform susceptibility testing due to the lack of accurate and reliable methods. Although gradient agar diffusion is commonly performed for other antimicrobials, its use for polymyxins is discouraged due to poor performance characteristics. Performing gradient agar diffusion with calcium enhancement of susceptibility testing media has been shown to improve the identification of polymyxin-resistant isolates with plasmid-mediated resistance (mcr-1). We therefore sought to evaluate the broad clinical applicability of this approach for colistin susceptibility testing by assessing a large and diverse collection of resistant and susceptible patient isolates collected from multiple U.S. medical centers. Among 217 isolates, the overall categorical and essential agreement for calcium-enhanced gradient agar diffusion were 73.7% and 65.5%, respectively, compared to the results for reference broth microdilution. Performance varied significantly by organism group, with agreement being highest for Enterobacterales and lowest for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Nevertheless, even for Enterobacterales, there was a high rate of very major errors (9.2%). Performance was similarly poor for calcium-enhanced broth microdilution. While calcium enhancement did allow for more accurate categorization of mcr-1-resistant isolates, there were unacceptably high rates of errors for both susceptible and non-mcr-1-resistant isolates, raising serious doubts about the suitability of these calcium-enhanced methods for routine colistin susceptibility testing in clinical laboratories.

High numerical aperture Hartmann wave front sensor for extreme ultraviolet spectral range.

We present a novel, to the best of our knowledge, Hartmann wave front sensor for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral range with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.15. The sensor has been calibrated using an EUV radiation source based on gas high harmonic generation. The calibration, together with simulation results, shows an accuracy beyond λ/39 root mean square (rms) at λ=32nm. The sensor is suitable for wave front measurement in the 10 nm to 45 nm spectral regime. This compact wave front sensor is high-vacuum compatible and designed for in situ operations, allowing wide applications for up-to-date EUV sources or high-NA EUV optics.

Wavefront Sensing for Evaluation of Extreme Ultraviolet Microscopy.

Wavefront analysis is a fast and reliable technique for the alignment and characterization of optics in the visible, but also in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray regions. However, the technique poses a number of challenges when used for optical systems with numerical apertures (NA) > 0.1. A high-numerical-aperture Hartmann wavefront sensor was employed at the free electron laser FLASH for the characterization of a Schwarzschild objective. These are widely used in EUV to achieve very small foci, particularly for photolithography. For this purpose, Schwarzschild objectives require highly precise alignment. The phase measurements acquired with the wavefront sensor were analyzed employing two different methods, namely, the classical calculation of centroid positions and Fourier demodulation. Results from both approaches agree in terms of wavefront maps with negligible degree of discrepancy.

Multicenter Evaluation of Colistin Broth Disk Elution and Colistin Agar Test: a Report from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

Susceptibility testing of the polymyxins (colistin and polymyxin B) is challenging for clinical laboratories. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee evaluated two methods to enable accurate testing of these agents. These methods were a colistin broth disk elution (CBDE) and a colistin agar test (CAT), the latter of which was evaluated using two inoculum volumes, 1 µl (CAT-1) and 10 µl (CAT-10). The methods were evaluated using a collection of 270 isolates of Enterobacterales, 122 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, and 106 Acinetobacter spp. isolates. Overall, 94.4% of CBDE results were in essential agreement and 97.9% in categorical agreement (CA) with reference broth microdilution MICs. Nine very major errors (VME; 3.2%) and 3 major errors (ME; 0.9%) were observed. With the CBDE, 98.6% CA was observed for Enterobacterales (2.5% VME, 0% ME), 99.3% CA was observed for P. aeruginosa (0% VME, 0.7% ME), and 93.1% CA was observed for Acinetobacter spp. (5.6% VME, 3.3% ME). Overall, CA was 94.9% with 6.8% VME using CAT-1 and improved to 98.3% with 3.9% VME using CAT-10. No ME were observed using either CAT-1 or CAT-10. Using the CAT-1/CAT-10, the CA observed was 99.4%/99.7% for Enterobacterales (1%/0.5% VME), 98.7%/100% for P. aeruginosa (8.3%/0% VME), and 88.5%/92.3% for Acinetobacter spp. (21.4%/14.3% VME). Based on these data, the CLSI antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) subcommittee endorsed the CBDE and CAT-10 methods for colistin testing of Enterobacterales and P. aeruginosa.

Wavefront-propagation simulations supporting the design of a time-delay compensating monochromator beamline at FLASH2.

Wavefront-propagation simulations have been performed to complete the design of a monochromator beamline for FLASH2, the variable-gap undulator line at the soft X-ray free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH). Prior to propagation through the beamline optical elements, the parameters of the photon source were generated using the GENESIS code which includes the free-electron laser experimental data. Threshold tolerances for the misalignment of mirror angles are calculated and, since diffraction effects were included in the simulations, the minimum quality with respect to the slope errors required for the optics is determined.

Non-contact XUV metrology of Ru/B4C multilayer optics by means of Hartmann wavefront analysis.

Short-wavelength imaging, spectroscopy, and lithography scale down the characteristic length-scale to nanometers. This poses tight constraints on the optics finishing tolerances, which is often difficult to characterize. Indeed, even a tiny surface defect degrades the reflectivity and spatial projection of such optics. In this study, we demonstrate experimentally that a Hartmann wavefront sensor for extreme ultraviolet (XUV) wavelengths is an effective non-contact analytical method for inspecting the surface of multilayer optics. The experiment was carried out in a tabletop laboratory using a high-order harmonic generation as an XUV source. The wavefront sensor was used to measure the wavefront errors after the reflection of the XUV beam on a spherical Ru/B4C multilayer mirror, scanning a large surface of approximately 40 mm in diameter. The results showed that the technique detects the aberrations in the nanometer range.

Hyperuricemia and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the role of serum uric acid in cardiovascular events. We studied the prevalence of hyperuricemia and the association between uric acid level and various cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on a population of patients with hypertension who attended a hypertension clinic in a university hospital in Bogotá, Colombia. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to investigate the relationship between hyperuricemia and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: The study population included 444 patients. The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia was 28.8%. Male gender (OR 2.3), age (OR 1.03), BMI (OR 1.09), triglyceride level (OR 1.005) and low HDL (OR 0.96) were significantly associated with hyperuricemia. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of hyperuricemia is high in patients with hypertension. Serum uric acid is significantly associated with parameters of the metabolic syndrome. Hyperuricemia should be acknowledged and monitored as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Actinic damage of Y/Mo multilayer optics in a table-top plasma-driven x-ray laser.

A Y/Mo multilayer coating, optimized for top reflectivity at λ=12 nm, has been nano-inspected after long-term operation at the in-house soft x-ray laser. The surface and optical inspections were complemented by electron microscopy on cross sections, prepared with focused ion beam technology. A factor of 2.5 loss of reflectivity in the exposed area (ca. 30% relative loss every 100 shots), with concomitant nanoscale photodamage and particle fallout, was found. The x-ray-laser-induced damage extended as deep as 250 nm beneath the surface and as wide as the millimeter spot size.

X-ray Ptychographic Imaging and Spectroscopic Studies of Plasma-Treated Plastic Films.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a thermoplastic polyester with numerous applications in industry. However, it requires surface modification on an industrial scale for printing and coating processes and plasma treatment is one of the most commonly used techniques to increase the hydrophilicity of the PET films. Systematic improvement of the surface modification by adaption of the plasma process can be aided by a comprehensive understanding of the surface morphology and chemistry. However, imaging large surface areas (tens of microns) with a resolution that allows understanding the surface quality and modification is challenging. As a proof-of-principle, plasma-treated PET films were used to demonstrate the capabilities of X-ray ptychography, currently under development at the soft X-ray free-electron laser FLASH at DESY, for imaging macroscopic samples. In combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), this new technique was used to study the effects of different plasma treatment processes on PET plastic films. The studies on the surface morphology were complemented by investigations of the surface chemistry using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). While both imaging techniques consistently showed an increase in roughness and change in morphology of the PET films after plasma treatment, X-ray ptychography can provide additional information on the three-dimensional morphology of the surface. At the same time, the chemical analysis shows an increase in the oxygen content and polarity of the surface without significant damage to the polymer, which is important for printing and coating processes.

Single-shot ptychography at a soft X-ray free-electron laser.

In this work, single-shot ptychography was adapted to the XUV range and, as a proof of concept, performed at the free-electron laser FLASH at DESY to obtain a high-resolution reconstruction of a test sample. Ptychography is a coherent diffraction imaging technique capable of imaging extended samples with diffraction-limited resolution. However, its scanning nature makes ptychography time-consuming and also prevents its application for mapping of dynamical processes. Single-shot ptychography can be realized by collecting the diffraction patterns of multiple overlapping beams in one shot and, in recent years, several concepts based on two con-focal lenses were employed in the visible regime. Unfortunately, this approach cannot be extended straightforwardly to X-ray wavelengths due to the use of refractive optics. Here, a novel single-shot ptychography setup utilizes a combination of X-ray focusing optics with a two-dimensional beam-splitting diffraction grating. It facilitates single-shot imaging of extended samples at X-ray wavelengths.

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Pathogens Detected by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction in a Prospective Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men Taking Human Immunodeficiency Virus Preexposure Prophylaxis-New York City, 2019-2020.

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction testing for gastrointestinal pathogens was performed on a longitudinal cohort of 110 men who have sex with men taking human immunodeficiency virus preexposure prophylaxis. At least 1 pathogen was detected among 50 (45%) participants, with some participants testing positive for the same pathogen on multiple consecutive visits over a period of months.

Interhemispheric integration in psychopathic offenders.

The goal of the present study was to determine whether a reduced capacity for interhemispheric integration can explain the attention deficits seen in psychopathic individuals under conditions that place substantial demands on left-hemisphere-specific resources. The present study examined the performance of 54 incarcerated psychopathic and nonpsychopathic male offenders on a same-different global-local paradigm that permits manipulation of both the magnitude of processing demands and the demand for interhemispheric coordination. Prior studies with similar paradigms have demonstrated that the cerebral hemispheres can function more efficiently as relatively independent processors on simple tasks, whereas communication between the hemispheres improves performance when processing demands are heavy. Analyses indicated that psychopathic offenders are not deficient in interhemispheric integration but provided additional evidence consistent with the left hemisphere activation hypothesis of psychopathy.

Reliability and construct validity of the psychopathy checklist - revised for Latino, European American, and African American male inmates.

The utility of the psychopathy construct in predicting laboratory deficits, criminal behavior, response to intervention, and recidivism has been well documented in European American populations. However, less is known about the manifestation and correlates of psychopathy in Latino and African American populations. The present study examined the reliability and construct validity of the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 2003) in 83 Latino inmates compared with matched samples of African Americans and European Americans. Results provide preliminary evidence that the PCL-R provides a reliable and valid measure of psychopathy in Latinos, with generally similar patterns emerging across external correlates; however, some ethnic group differences were noted for relationships between psychopathy indicators and some external correlates.

Status of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) in Cuba.

Current understanding of Cuban ichneumonids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) is analysed. A new Subfamily (Tersilochinae) including 13 genera and two species are first reports for Cuba. In contrast with Braconidae, the sister group, the ichneumonids are poorly known because of the lack of local taxonomists and bacause nets, rather than interception, light and yellow pan traps have been used. Using Ophioninae as a reference, and comparing the percentage of ophionines in the fauna of Costa Rican ichneumonids, the ratio of species of Costa Rican to Cuban Ophioninae and the increase in the number of described Cuban ophionines, we suggest that actual Cuban biodiversity in this group may be between 400 and 600 species.

Descriptive study of autopsies in the Atlantic and Magdalena departments / Estudio descriptivo de las autopsias en los departamentos Atlántico y Magdalena

Abstract The present study is aimed to determine some epidemiological aspects related to homicides committed by hired killers with firearms. We conducted a data collection survey of historical records from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. The sample (n = 310) is composed of homicide victims in 2007 in the departments of Atlántico and Magdalena. We found that 93.5 % of the victims were male. Most of the victims (38.7 %) were found in the age range between 21 and 30 years old. A high percentage (32.9 %) of the victims were unmar ried. The most common racial trait was the "mestizo" (94.2 %). A percentage of 48.4 % of the victims had a height between 161 and 170 cms. The days with higher incidence of killings were Mondays (19 %) and Fridays (18.4 %). The places where most of the murders happened were "in public" places with a percentage of 33.2 %. The most common number of bullet impacts was "2" with a 21.3 %. The most common body region impacted was on the head. Finally the paper presents the findings of the study.

Resumen El presente estudio se propuso determinar algunos aspectos epidemiológicos relacionados con los homicidos cometidos por sicarios con arma de fuego. Se realiza una colección de registros históri cos del Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses. La muestra (n=310) está compuesta por víctimas de homicidio del año 2007 en los departamentos Atlántico y Magdalena. Se encontró que el 93,5 % de las víctimas eran de sexo masculino. La mayoría de las víctimas (38,7 %) se en contraban en el rango de edad de 21 a 30 años. Un alto porcentaje (32,9 %) de las víctimas vivían en unión libre. El rasgo facial más común era el "mestizo" (94,2 %). El 48,4 % de las víctimas me dia entre 161 y 170 centímetros de estatura. Los días con mayor incidencia eran los lunes (19 %) y los viernes (18,4 %). Los lugares descritos como "públicos" fue donde ocurrieron la mayoría de los homicidios con un porcentaje del 33,2 %. "2" fue el número de impactos de bala más común con un 21,3 %. La región corporal que fue impactada con mayor frecuencia se trató del área de la cabeza. Finalmente, el artículo presenta los resultados del estudio.

Linfoma conjuntival tipo MALT bilateral en adolescente / Bilateral Conjunctival MALT Lymphoma in an Adolescent

Los linfomas tipo MALT primarios de conjuntiva son infrecuentes y es mucho menor la afectación conjuntival exclusiva, su bilateralidad es poco común, representan el 5% del total de los linfomas no Hodgkin extranodales; son linfomas B de bajo grado derivados de linfocitos de la zona marginal con alteraciones moleculares que han bloqueado su apoptosis. Se presentó un caso de linfoma tipo MALT primario de la conjuntiva tarsal inferior de ambos ojos, en un niño de 12 años de edad, que acudió por enrojecimiento y molestias en ambos ojos de un año de evolución. Al realizar el examen físico presentó discreta ptosis del ojo izquierdo de un milímetro, masa de color anaranjada-salmón en fondo saco conjuntival inferior en ambos ojos, no adherida a planos profundos. El rayo x de órbita y la tomografía axial de cráneo no arrojó alteraciones. Se realizó hematología completa, pruebas de coagulación, bioquímica elemental y toda la analítica fue normal. El estudio anatomopatológico reportó: infiltrado linfoide denso y extenso constituido por linfocitos pequeños, algunos de aspecto plasmocitoide, sin nucléolo y sin indentación, dichos datos sugieren proliferacion linfoide maligna. Se confirmó el diagnóstico de linfoma B de bajo grado de tipo MALT.

The primary MALT lymphomas of the conjunctiva are uncommon, the conjunctival affection is less frequent, and its bilaterality is uncommon, representing 5% of all extranodal non- Hodgkin lymphomas. Low-grade B lymphomas derived from marginal zone lymphocytes with molecular alterations are those that have blocked its apoptosis. A 12 -year- old patient with primary MALT type lymphoma of the lower tarsal conjunctiva of both eyes was presented in this paper. The patient was healthy and presented redness and discomfort in both eyes in a year of evolution. The physical examination showed discrete ptosis of the left eye of a millimeter. Mass of orange - salmon color in lower conjunctival sac of both eyes, not adhered to deep planes was observed. Orbital X-ray and cranial CT were unaltered. Complete hematology, coagulation tests, and all elemental analytical biochemistry were performed, the results were normal. The pathological study reported: dense and extensive infiltrate lymphoid, composed of small lymphocytes, some without nucleolus plasmacytoid appearance without indentation, these data suggested a malignant lymphoid proliferation. The diagnosis of low-grade B-cell lymphoma of MALT type was confirmed.