Reappraisal of Oncocytic Adenocarcinoma: Unveiling Its Connection to Oncocytic Variants of Salivary Duct Carcinoma and Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma Through ImmunoHisto-Molecular Perspectives.

Oncocytic adenocarcinoma (OC) of the salivary glands is a rare and controversial entity. It was recently reclassified as "salivary carcinoma NOS and emerging entities" in the 2022 WHO classification of head and neck tumors. The lack of specific molecular alterations and its potential affiliation with other salivary gland carcinomas, such as the oncocytic mucoepidermoid carcinomas (OMEC) or the oncocytic subtype of salivary duct carcinomas (OSDC) justified this reclassification.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosis and Management in 2021: A National Veterans Affairs Quality Improvement Project.

Background & Aims: The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic profoundly disrupted preventative health care services including cancer screening. As the largest provider of cirrhosis care in the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Gastroenterology and Hepatology Program aimed to assess factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) stage at diagnosis, treatment, and survival.

Methods: Veterans with a new diagnosis of HCC in 2021 were identified from electronic health records (N = 2306).

Watt-level deep-UV subnanosecond laser system based on Nd-doped fiber at 229 nm.

We report an efficient deep-UV master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser system at 229 nm that generates 350 ps pulses at 2 MHz repetition rate with an average power of 1.2 W. The use of a polarization-maintaining large mode area neodymium-doped fiber operating on the F→I transition allows high-power laser emission of up to 28 W near 915 nm in the sub-nanosecond regime with low spectral broadening.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver malignancy commonly encountered in the setting of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Survival in HCC is determined by the ABCs: (A) anatomic stage; (B) biologic grade; and (C) cirrhosis severity. Improvement of imaging techniques permits clinicians to accurately diagnose HCC without biopsy confirmation.

Mode-locked all-PM Nd-doped fiber laser near 910 nm.

We present a compact passively mode-locked fiber laser emitting near 910 nm with an all-polarization-maintaining fiber laser architecture. The ring-cavity laser configuration includes a core-pumped neodymium-doped fiber as a gain medium and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror as a passive mode-locking element. A bandpass filter is used to suppress parasitic emission near 1.

Liver-Unrelated Comorbid Conditions Do Not Affect Cognitive Performance or Hepatic Encephalopathy Progression in Cirrhosis.

Introduction: We aimed to determine the effect of comorbidities on covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) diagnosis and overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) development.

Methods: Cirrhotic outpatients underwent CHE testing and 2-year follow-up. Cox regression was performed for time to OHE.

Linearly-polarized pulsed Nd-doped fiber MOPA at 905 nm and frequency conversion to deep-UV at 226 nm.

We present the first frequency-quadrupled linearly-polarized Q-switched neodymium-doped fiber laser generating > 500 mW average power at 226 nm. For this purpose, an amplified Q-switched oscillator using novel large-mode-area (LMA) fibers and generating up to 24 W average power (15 kW peak power) at 905 nm was developed. Two nonlinear frequency conversion stages using a LBO crystal for SHG and a BBO crystal for FHG generate respectively up to 4.

Widely tunable in-band-pumped Tm:CaF laser.

This Letter presents the efficient laser operation of a : crystal in-band pumped at 1610 nm by an Er-Yb-codoped fiber laser system. A laser slope efficiency of 55% (versus incident pump power) was achieved in a continuous-wave regime, with a maximum output power of 1.25 W at ∼1.

Training of hepatology providers improves the screening and resultant interventions for alcohol use disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) screening is important but focused training with using AUDIT-10 with counselling/mental health (MH) referral may be needed. We aimed to compare the effect of training on AUD screening/intervention in hepatology clinics in pre vs post-training phases of a quality-improvement initiative. Pre-training encounters were evaluated for inquiry into AUD, AUDIT-10 and MH referrals.

Asteraceae Paradox: Chemical and Mechanical Protection of Pollen.

Excessive pollen harvesting by bees can compromise the reproductive success of plants. Plants have therefore evolved different morphological structures and floral cues to narrow the spectrum of pollen feeding visitors. Among "filtering" mechanisms, the chemical and mechanical protection of pollen might shape bee-flower interactions and restrict pollen exploitation to a specific suite of visitors such as observed in Asteraceae.

Liver Transplant Is Associated with Sustained Improvement in Tandem Gait and Risk of Falls.

Background: Cirrhosis is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL), cognitive dysfunction (CD), and lack of coordination leading to falls. Tandem gait (TG; heel-toe) can be used to assess coordination. The impact and relationship between CD, TG and falls pre-/post-liver transplant (LT) is unclear.

Ultrafast laser inscribed waveguide lasers in Tm:CALGO with depressed-index cladding.

Depressed-index buried and surface channel waveguides (type III) are produced in a bulk 3.5 at.% Tm:CALGO crystal by femtosecond direct-laser-writing at kHz repetition rate.

Use of Telehealth Expedites Evaluation and Listing of Patients Referred for Liver Transplantation.

Background & Aims: Liver transplantation is the only treatment that increases survival times of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Patients who live farther away from a transplant center are disadvantaged. Health care delivery via telehealth is an effective way to manage patients with decompensated cirrhosis remotely.

Posttraumatic stress disorder is associated with altered gut microbiota that modulates cognitive performance in veterans with cirrhosis.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with cirrhosis in veterans, and therapeutic results are suboptimal. An altered gut-liver-brain axis exists in cirrhosis due to hepatic encephalopathy (HE), but the added impact of PTSD is unclear. The aim of this study was to define linkages between gut microbiota and cognition in cirrhosis with/without PTSD.

All-optical isotropic scalar He magnetometer based on atomic alignment.

We propose a helium scalar magnetometer based on a triple resonance setup, showing no dead angles, and which can be implemented in an all-optical way. This triple-resonance scheme involves optical pumping with amplitude-modulated light, complemented by a modulated light-shift. Both light beams propagate parallel so that a single optical access to the atomic cell is needed.

In-band pumping of Tm:LiYF channel waveguide: a power scaling strategy for ∼2 μm waveguide lasers.

We report on a novel power scaling strategy for thulium waveguide (WG) lasers relying on in-band pumping by high-brightness Raman fiber lasers (RFLs) and the use of liquid-phase-epitaxy-grown fluoride crystalline thin films for better thermal management. Thulium channel WGs are produced by microstructuring the Tm:LiYF/LiYF epitaxies via diamond-saw dicing. They are pumped by a RFL based on an erbium master oscillator power amplifier and a GeO-doped silica fiber and emit polarized output at 1679 nm.

Telehealth-Based Evaluation Identifies Patients Who Are Not Candidates for Liver Transplantation.

The burden of chronic liver disease has increased exponentially, driving more patients toward orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) evaluation. Because of limited access to transplant centers, patients often travel long distances to be evaluated for OLT. Liver transplantation in the VA system is offered at 6 Veterans Affairs transplant centers (VATCs) across the United States, including Richmond.

7.5 W blue light generation at 452 nm by internal frequency doubling of a continuous-wave Nd-doped fiber laser.

We present the first frequency-doubled neodymium-doped fiber laser generating multi-watt CW power near 450 nm. A bow-tie resonator incorporating a LBO nonlinear crystal is integrated within a Nd-doped fiber laser emitting near 900 nm. This scheme achieves an IR to blue conversion efficiency close to 55% without any active control of the internal resonant cavity.

Alterations in gut microbial function following liver transplant.

Liver transplantation (LT) improves daily function and ameliorates gut microbial composition. However, the effect of LT on microbial functionality, which can be related to overall patient benefit, is unclear and could affect the post-LT course. The aims were to determine the effect of LT on gut microbial functionality focusing on endotoxemia, bile acid (BA), ammonia metabolism, and lipidomics.

Brain Integrity Changes Underlying Cognitive and Functional Recovery Postliver Transplant Continue to Evolve Over 1 Year.

Background: There is evidence of brain recovery on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) early postliver transplant (LT), but the longer-term impact is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the change in brain MRI parameters, cognition, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between 6 and 12 months post-LT.

Methods: Listed cirrhotics underwent cognitive, HRQOL and brain MRI pre-LT, 6 months (post-LT1), and 1-year (post-LT2) post-LT.

Overt hepatic encephalopathy impairs learning on the EncephalApp stroop which is reversible after liver transplantation.

After an initial exposure, patients can develop test-taking/learning strategies called the "test sophistication effect." Patients with cirrhosis with prior overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) could have persistent learning impairments. The aim was to define learning/test sophistication on EncephalApp (downloadable application) in OHE patients compared with patients without prior overt hepatic encephalopathy (no-OHE) patients and controls cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Transverse mode selection in a Nd-doped fiber amplifier at 910 nm.

Selective amplifications of LP fundamental mode and higher order modes LP and LP are demonstrated in a double-pass Nd-doped LMA fiber amplifier operating at 910 nm. A multimode core fiber Bragg grating is employed to select a single guided mode by simply adjusting the wavelength of the seed signal. Although the M parameter of the output beam from the amplifier was ~2.