We study tunable, nanoscale, femtosecond coherent radiation based on a coupled nanowire pair structure, which is transversely excited by a strong, linearly polarized laser pulse. The structure can function as a nanoscale undulator: the electrons moving through the nanogap are driven by a spatially periodic, transverse optical near field. We show that the near field can actively shape the electron wave function by inducing both a periodic oscillation and a quantum squeezing of its width. We then validate this theoretical framework by numerically solving the relativistically corrected time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The generated femtosecond pulse trains can be spectrally, temporally, and spatially controlled. This framework establishes the transverse optical near-field interaction as a novel mechanism for spatiotemporally shaping electron wave functions, thereby illuminating a path to a versatile platform for an on-chip femtosecond coherent light source and applications in free-electron quantum optics.
To evaluate visual acuity, refractive outcomes, central corneal thickness (CCT), and safety after femtosecond laser-assisted lamellar keratectomy (FLK) for granular corneal dystrophy (GCD). This retrospective study included patients with GCD who underwent FLK between January 2013 and December 2025. FLK was performed using a planned flap thickness of 120 μm and diameter of 7.5 mm, followed by intraoperative mitomycin C 0.02% for 1 minute. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refractive outcomes, and CCT were analyzed in patients with ≥30 days of follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models were used to account for intereye correlation. Twenty-eight eyes of 18 patients (mean age 51.5 years, 9 female, 9 male) met inclusion criteria. Ten patients underwent bilateral FLK (20 eyes). Mean BCVA improved from 0.37 logMAR preoperatively to 0.27 logMAR postoperatively (P = 3.89 × 10-4). Mean sphere changed from +0.30 ± 2.22 diopters to 0.62 ± 2.24 diopters (P = 0.21), and mean cylinder changed from -1.39 ± 0.90 diopters to -1.04 ± 0.86 diopters (P = 0.10). Mean CCT decreased from 517.5 to 438.4 μm (P = 8.77 × 10-6). No intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. FLK for GCD was associated with significant improvement in BCVA, nonsignificant and minimal refractive change, and a mean CCT reduction of 83.9 μm.
Functionalized microspheres made from various materials are widely used for multiple biotechnological purposes. Proteins and peptides are commonly used for microsphere functionalization to leverage their biological functions. However, the function of many proteins is modulated by plasma or organelle membranes; despite this, there is a scarcity of functionalized membrane-coated microspheres for applications that benefit from the presence of membranes. Here, we describe a simple and versatile method to functionalize microspheres of different sizes and materials with a synthetic membrane carrying integrated peptides designed for bioconjugation with other peptides and fully folded proteins. We have validated our method by producing membrane-coated microspheres functionalized with a fluorescent peptide and a DNA-binding protein. Using confocal fluorescence microscopy and optical traps, we demonstrate these functions and the possibility of measuring mechanical forces associated with protein-DNA binding. In addition, we have determined microsphere labeling efficiencies close to 100% by flow cytometry. Our results open the door to the fabrication of multifunctionalized membrane-coated microspheres for an ample range of purposes, and specifically, the study and leverage of protein function that requires or is enhanced by the presence of a lipid bilayer.
We propose a novel method for trace detection of multicomponent gases by combining optical mode multiplexing based on long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) with frequency multiplexing of quartz tuning forks (QTFs). By leveraging the advantages of LPFGs, including flexible mode selection and high mechanical robustness, a three-channel LPFG-based quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPFG-QEPAS) sensor was constructed for the first time to simultaneously detect H2O, CH4, and C2H2, with minimum detection limits (MDLs) of 4.85, 8.12, and 2.88 ppm, respectively. This work represents the first integration of optical fibers with a QEPAS system for multicomponent trace gas detection. Featuring no requirement for complex and precise spatial optical alignment and allowing flexible selection of target gas components, this method is expected to be highly valuable for multicomponent, multifunctional gas sensing applications.
Conductive oxides with chemically distinct local environments are attractive for bifunctional water splitting because hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) impose different requirements on adsorption and charge transfer. Here, a descriptor-informed Fe/V co-doping strategy is proposed to regulate MoO2 for photo-assisted electrocatalysis. Density functional theory (DFT) screening based on incorporation thermodynamics, local M-O bond mismatch, and near-Fermi-level electronic states identifies V as the most favorable dopant for lattice incorporation and Fe as the dopant that minimizes local bond-length mismatch while strongly perturbing the electronic structure. Guided by this complementarity, Mo0.9Fe0.05V0.05O2 was synthesized and compared with pristine MoO2 and single-doped controls. The co-doped catalyst preserves the MoO2 framework and delivers the best overall performance, requiring 166 and 243 mV for HER and 253 and 281 mV for OER to reach 10 and 50 mA cm-2 under illumination. Electrochemical measurements reveal improved charge-transfer behavior and enhanced light-induced current response. Optical characterization and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations indicate that the hollow architecture promotes optical-field localization, while DFT reaction energetics suggest site-dependent catalytic preferences, with V-associated sites favoring hydrogen adsorption and Fe-associated sites facilitating OER intermediate conversion. This study demonstrates that pairing dopants according to lattice compatibility and electronic perturbation is an effective route to activate MoO2 for photo-assisted bifunctional water splitting.
To report a single-center experience of subretinal voretigene neparvovec-rzyl (VN) gene therapy for Arabian Gulf patients with autosomal recessive RPE65-related inherited retinal dystrophy. Retrospective case series. Nine patients (6 families; 3 males) with RPE65-related retinal dystrophy who underwent VN gene therapy (pars plana vitrectomy and subretinal injection) at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi between 2020-2024. Pre and post operative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), ophthalmic examination, full-field stimulus threshold (FST), and multimodal retinal imaging (photography, optical coherence tomography, short-wave autofluorescence). BCVA, clinical findings, FST, multimodal imaging. Eight patients were Emirati and one was Bahraini. All were treated bilaterally. Age at first eye treatment ranged from 11 to 56 years (mean 24.2) and second eye treatment was 7-11 days later. No intraoperative surgical complications occurred. Follow up after treatment ranged from 13 to 71 months (mean 38.8 months). Postoperative systemic steroid withdrawal-related effects and transient intraocular pressure elevation were observed in one patient each. Two patients developed lens opacities that were not visually significant. All eyes of all patients developed postoperative CRA. At last follow-up, BCVA improved in five patients (55.6%), remained stable in two (22.2%), and reduced in two (22.2%) who had progressive central CRA. FST improved in all but the two oldest at treatment (41 and 56 years old), who showed some decline. VN treatment improved scotopic vision (FST) in all patients treated before 40 years old and often improved BCVA. Postoperative CRA was universal; ethnicity and sunny climate may have been contributing factors. The possibility of postoperative BCVA loss related to central CRA is an important preoperative counseling point, particularly when preoperative BCVA is functionally useful.
Anthelmintic resistance has prompted the search for alternative control strategies, such as the use of plant-derived compounds and biological control with nematophagous fungi. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro anthelmintic effect of linalool and its association with the fungus Arthrobotrys cladodes on gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep. The larvicidal activity of linalool, alone and in combination with A. cladodes conidia, was assessed using the Larval Motility Inhibition Test (LMIT) on infective larvae (L3). Ten (10) experimental groups were designed, each with eight replicates, comprising treatments with linalool and A. cladodes conidia, alone and in combination, as well as ivermectin (positive control) and distilled water (negative control). Larval motility was evaluated under optical microscopy after 1, 7, and 14 days of exposure. A significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the number of L3 larvae was observed in the groups treated with linalool combined with A. cladodes (G7-G10) compared to the negative control group (G1), starting at 24 h and reaching 100% reduction after 14 days. The groups treated only with A. cladodes conidia (G3 and G4) showed less effective reductions compared to the combined treatments. The larvicidal activity of the groups treated solely with linalool (G5 and G6) did not differ statistically (p > 0.05) from those treated with the fungus and linalool. It is concluded that the combination of linalool and A. cladodes conidia exhibits anthelmintic activity against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep, demonstrating a synergistic interaction between the nematophagous fungus and the monoterpene.
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the literature-pooled association between statins and dry eye disease (DED). Statins, a common treatment modality for dyslipidemia, have been proposed as a potential contributor to DED via their activity in meibomian gland epithelial cells. However, single studies show mixed evidence, and there remains an unmet clinical need to clarify whether statin exposure is associated with DED. This review was reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (PRISMA) 2020 statement and was registered a priori on PROSPERO (CRD420251238004). Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and the reference lists of relevant reviews were searched from inception to November 2025 for studies reporting the association between statin use and DED. Random-effects meta-analysis using inverse-variance weighting was conducted to pool effect estimates as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Study risk of bias was appraised using the ROBINS-E tool and the certainty of the evidence was reported using the GRADE framework. Six observational studies were included in the meta-analysis (n = 560,821; 356,012/559,141 [63.7%] statin users). The pooled analysis revealed a significant positive association between statins and DED (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.13, p < 0.001), with an absolute risk difference of 10.2 more DED cases per 1,000 (95% CI 5.5 more to 15.2 more). This result was derived from very low certainty evidence given limitations in study design and serious inconsistency. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses for risk of bias (p = 0.123), method of outcome ascertainment (p = 0.737), type of effect estimate (p = 0.496), and leave-one-out analyses showed no evidence of effect modification and demonstrated consistent direction of association across studies. Statin use was associated with a small but statistically significant increase in DED, limited by very low certainty evidence. Physicians should monitor for and educate patients on ocular surface symptoms in patients using statins with pre-existing DED risk factors. Future studies should use standardized DED diagnostic criteria to investigate the impact of statin dose, type, and duration to better characterize this potential association.
PURPOSE: To assess the reliability of standard automated perimetry in a real-life cohort of glaucoma patients and suspects wearing face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a large German eye hospital. METHODS: Data of 160 eyes of 83 glaucoma patients and suspects who received at least one visual field examination and optical coherence tomography for glaucoma monitoring in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were included. Mean visual field defect and the rates of false-positive and false-negative responses between tests without (2019) and tests with a face mask (2020) were compared. Mean retinal nerve fibre layer thickness and the minimum rim width of Bruch's membrane opening served as a control for glaucoma progression. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference between visual fields without a face mask, and examinations with a face mask could be detected for mean defect (p = 0.075), rate of false-positives (p = 0.7) and rate of false-negatives (p = 0.16). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that protective face mask wear does not impair the quality and reliability of standard automated perimetry in a real-life cohort of glaucoma patients and glaucoma suspects. ZIEL: Untersuchung des Effekts des Tragens von Gesichtsmasken auf die Zuverlässigkeit der statischen Perimetrie in einer Real-Life-Kohorte von Glaukompatient*innen und Glaukomverdachtsfällen in einer großen deutschen Augenklinik. Es wurden Daten von 160 Augen von 83 Glaukompatient*innen und Verdachtsfällen einbezogen, bei denen in den Jahren 2018, 2019 und 2020 mindestens eine Gesichtsfelduntersuchung und eine OCT-Untersuchung zur Glaukomüberwachung durchgeführt worden war. Verglichen wurden der mittlere Gesichtsfelddefekt sowie die Raten falsch-positiver und falsch-negativer Antworten zwischen Untersuchungen ohne Maske (2019) und mit Gesichtsmaske (2020). Die mittlere retinale Nervenfaserschichtdicke (RNFL) und die minimale Randsaumbreite der Bruch-Membran-Öffnung (BMO-MRW) dienten als Kontrolle für die Glaukomprogression. Es konnte kein statistisch signifikanter Unterschied zwischen Gesichtsfelduntersuchungen ohne Maske und Untersuchungen mit Maske hinsichtlich des mittleren Defekts (p = 0,075), der Rate falsch positiver (p = 0,7) oder der Rate falsch negativer Ergebnisse (p = 0,16) festgestellt werden. Unsere Daten legen nahe, dass das Tragen einer schützenden Gesichtsmaske die Qualität und Zuverlässigkeit der statischen Perimetrie in einem Kollektiv von Glaukompatient*innen und Glaukomverdachtsfällen nicht beeinträchtigt.
The interaction between free electrons and optical modes underlies a variety of quantum and nanoscale light-matter phenomena, yet the associated momentum exchange with the sample largely remained overlooked. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the momentum transfer from free electrons to planar samples during optical mode excitation using momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The momentum transfer to the sample modifies the apparent dispersion relation which is significant when the planar sample is tilted. Under specific conditions, the sample receives momentum opposite to the electron beam direction.
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that enables in vivo assessment of white matter microstructure and is highly sensitive to tissue alterations associated with disease. Although substantial evidence links diffusion-derived metrics to underlying white matter tissue properties, the presence of complex within-voxel axonal configurations complicates their biological interpretation. Several methods have been proposed to assess diffusion properties of individual crossing axonal populations, but their validation and clinical applicability remain limited. Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, is characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells and axonal damage in the optic nerve, leading to degeneration along the entire visual pathway. This degeneration includes secondary effects on fiber crossings within the optic chiasm, which are challenging to characterize with conventional diffusion methods. Here, we evaluated whether advanced diffusion metrics can detect microstructural alterations in these complex white matter configurations and whether these measures correlate with clinical markers of glaucoma severity. In this study, we evaluated 31 patients with asymmetric glaucoma and 31 healthy controls using advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging methods, including Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Constrained Spherical Deconvolution, multi-tensor fit via Multi-Resolution Discrete Search method, and Fixel-Based Analysis. We found significant differences of diffusion metrics in white matter tracts of the visual system, including the optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tracts, and optic radiations. Moreover, diffusion metrics correlated with clinical ophthalmological parameters such as cup-to-disc ratio, visual field mean deviation, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. These findings support the use of advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging models as sensitive tools for detecting Wallerian degeneration and resolving complex white matter architecture in the human visual pathway, and demonstrate their utility to study other fiber-crossing regions throughout the brain.
High-resolution two-photon imaging of the adult mouse cerebral cortex is severely limited by light scattering from the skull, which attenuates signals and restricts imaging depth in vivo. Although skull-clearing methods have been developed to provide optical access to the cortex through the intact skull, their practical performance is constrained by limited clearing time and suboptimal clearing cocktails. Here, we present a detailed protocol for implementing a head-mounted optically transparent skull (HOTS) window. In this approach, a head-mounted cap was used to maintain clearing solutions over the skull, thereby avoiding prolonged anesthesia or physical restraint and enabling extended skull clearing (several hours) in awake, freely behaving mice. Additionally, a two-step clearing procedure was performed using reagents (HOTS-S1: 10% wt/v EDTA, 15% wt/v D-mannose, 10% wt/v sulfolane, 0.5% wt/v Tween 20; HOTS-S2: 70% wt/v D-mannose, 5% wt/v sulfolane, 0.5% wt/v Tween 20) optimized through systematic chemical screening. We provide a step-by-step protocol that includes skull exposure and stabilization, creation and mounting of the head-mounted cap, delivery and refreshment of clearing reagents, and subsequent imaging preparation. In 6-week-old mice (~20 g), the HOTS protocol routinely produces a highly transparent skull that supports two-photon imaging of cortical structures to depths of up to ~800 µm below the pia, approaching the performance of open-skull windows. The HOTS window enables structural imaging in Thy1-GFP-M mice and functional calcium imaging in Thy1-GCaMP6s mice. We believe that, as a convenient and minimally invasive approach, the HOTS window will significantly facilitate deep transcranial imaging and optogenetic, photopharmacological, and other light-based manipulations in vivo.
This cross-sectional study compares trends in insurance coverage and out-of-pocket medical spending from 2014 to 2024 among US adults aged 19 to 65 years with and without visual impairment.
This protocol describes a hydrostatic pressure-loading device that facilitates real-time microscopic observation of adherent cells during sustained hydrostatic pressure stimulation, and is compatible with 3.5 cm commercial cell culture dishes. The apparatus consists of an airtight culture chamber fabricated from an aluminum base, an optically transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) cover, gas inlet/outlet ports integrated into the cover, and a sealed observation window. By connecting to a regulated gas source, the device maintains a stable hydrostatic pressure (0-200 kPa, adjustable) while enabling continuous phase-contrast or fluorescence imaging. Using this pressure-loading device, pressure-induced dose-dependent effects on cell phenotype and behaviors, such as morphology, proliferation, and migration, can be recorded. Furthermore, fluorescent signals can also be recorded in real time. Here, pressure-triggered Ca2⁺ signaling heterogeneity and dynamics in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and cervical cancer HeLa cells were observed and quantified by inverted fluorescence microscopy using time-lapse imaging. This platform integrates mechanical loading with live‑cell imaging to overcome limitations of conventional endpoint systems, providing a universal tool for mechanobiological studies.
We demonstrate deterministic preparation of arbitrary two-component product states of fermionic ^{6}Li atoms in an 8×8 optical tweezer array, achieving motional ground-state fidelities above 98.5%. Leveraging the large differential magnetic moments for spin-resolution, with parallelized site- and number-resolved control, our approach addresses key challenges for low-entropy quantum state engineering. Combined with high-fidelity spin-, site-, and density-resolved readout within a single 20  μs exposure, and 3 s experimental cycles, these advances establish a fast, scalable, and programmable architecture for fermionic quantum simulation.
Optical skyrmions are topological textures of electromagnetic fields with promising applications in information processing, transport, and storage. Exquisitely tailoring the optical fields of diverse physical quantities has expanded the family of skyrmions, yet such skyrmions only exhibit a single-quantity texture in free space. Herein, dual skyrmionic textures concurrently portraying spin and Poynting vectors are unveiled in the tight focus of an annular second-order circularly polarized vortex beam. The focal electric and magnetic fields exhibit an elongated and identical spatial distribution but a phase difference of π/2, leading to dual skyrmionic textures with vector orientations that are either opposite or identical, depending on the handedness of the incident beam. Unlike conventional optical skyrmions that are exclusively regarded as quasiparticles distributed in a two-dimensional plane, a skyrmionic tube structure that extends over a longitudinal depth approaching 10λ while preserving its topology is demonstrated. Our Letter enhances the comprehensiveness of optical skyrmions and paves the way toward their practical applications by bolstering skyrmion-matter interactions.
Automated segmentation of breast lesions in ultrasound videos is critical for clinical applications but remains hindered by the reliance on expensive pixel-wise annotations. While scribble supervision offers a user-friendly alternative, its potential for ultrasound video segmentation remains underexplored. In this regard, we propose ScribSAM, a novel scribble-supervised framework built on the Medical Segment Anything Model (MedSAM) for robust ultrasound video segmentation. ScribSAM integrates two key innovations: a flow-guided scribble propagation module that leverages optical flow to efficiently propagate sparse scribble annotations across frames while preserving temporal consistency, and a bidirectional cross-attention module that fuses MedSAM's global ViT embeddings with 3D CNN local-temporal embeddings for enhanced spatiotemporal feature learning. Extensive experiments on the scribble-annotated variants of two ultrasound video datasets, BUV2022 and US-VOS, demonstrate ScribSAM's superiority. It surpasses state-of-the-art scribble-supervised methods by 5.53% (BUV2022) and 8.31% (US-VOS) in Dice score, outperforming some fully supervised methods and substantially narrowing the gap with the best fully supervised methods, while using only 4% of the annotated pixels. Code and dataset will be released at https://github.com/003-GH/ScribSAM.
Cortical circuits exhibit variable yet bounded activity patterns, suggesting operation near-but not within-fully chaotic regimes. Here we develop a minimal three-variable rate model for primary visual cortex (V1) that reveals how biologically motivated feedback mechanisms can function as intrinsic chaos controllers. We adopt the simplest known chaotic Lotka-Volterra system as a phenomenological scaffold and introduce three biologically motivated modifications: excitatory-to-inhibitory (E→I) feedback coupling, homeostatic regulation of modulatory drive, and orientation-tuned sensory input. These modifications transform the excitatory (E), inhibitory (I), and modulatory (M) population dynamics from chaotic strange attractors into controlled limit cycles-a 93% reduction in dynamical variance. The model reproduces key V1 phenomena: orientation selectivity matching experimental distributions (OSI [Formula: see text]), stimulus-induced variability quenching, and realistic spiking irregularity when coupled to Hodgkin-Huxley neurons (CV[Formula: see text], within in vitro range). Parameter space analysis reveals that feedback mechanisms robustly stabilize activity across most of the tested chaotic regime. We further demonstrate that, within this minimal structure, the specific [Formula: see text] disinhibition nonlinearity enables chaos-bounded alternatives tested do not support chaotic dynamics. Our findings suggest that cortical circuits possess an intrinsic capacity for chaos that is actively suppressed by canonical feedback motifs, positioning the brain at the edge of instability where computational flexibility meets reliable signal processing.
Holographic imaging in microscopy enables label-free quantitative information of biological specimens and has found applications across a wide range of biomedical studies, from cell morphology to particle dynamics; yet its widespread adoption is often limited by the lack of accessible and standardized analysis software. We present HoloBio, an open-source, Python-based graphical user interface developed to address this issue. This software offers two primary operational modes: a Real-Time mode that enables live processing of holograms at video frame rates, and an Offline mode designed for post-processing previously recorded holograms. HoloBio is compatible with holograms recorded using both lens-based and lensless systems, supporting off-axis architectures in telecentric and non-telecentric configurations, as well as slightly off-axis and in-line optical setups. The software incorporates tools for cell tracking, phase profiling, thickness estimation, and morphological analysis, including cell counting and object area quantification. HoloBio is designed to be accessible for users without coding expertise, offering a reproducible, high-throughput environment tailored for researchers in biology, biophotonics, and biomedical imaging.
Multi-label fundus disease classification aims to assign multiple ocular disease labels to bilateral fundus images, enabling automated screening and clinical decision support. In contrast to most existing computer-aided systems that process each eye independently and rely on shallow feature fusion, we explicitly model binocular structure and adaptively combine information from both eyes to handle complex, real-world fundus scenes. To this end, we introduce DualCrossAttnNet, a multi-label fundus disease classification network specifically designed for binocular analysis. In particular, we obtain high-resolution bilateral representations using an EfficientNet-B2 backbone and a cross-attention module that jointly reasons about spatial and channel-wise interactions between the left and right eyes. We further employ a gated fusion mechanism to adaptively weight the contributions of each eye, and an SE attention module to recalibrate channel responses before global aggregation. Coupled with a fundus-oriented preprocessing pipeline and a GeM-based classifier, the proposed framework can accurately predict multiple co-occurring ocular diseases from complex clinical fundus images. On the public ODIR-2019 dataset, DualCrossAttnNet substantially improves multi-label classification performance, achieving 88.20% accuracy, 90.98% F1, and 98.49% AUC, with a composite score of 92.73%. These results surpass recent CNN, GNN, and Transformer-based baselines by up to 20.37 percentage points in composite score, demonstrating that DualCrossAttnNet is an effective and scalable solution for intelligent fundus disease diagnosis.