Sacubitril/Valsartan for Blood Pressure Lowering in Non-Dialysis-Dependent Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3-5 Patients With Hypertension: A Multicenter Clinical Study.

To assess the effectiveness and safety of Sacubitril/Valsartan in reducing blood pressure in individuals with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) Stage 3-5 complicated by hypertension. This study was a multicenter retrospective analysis conducted from March 1, 2022 to March 31, 2024, involving adult patients with NDD-CKD Stage 3-5 and hypertension, who received Sacubitril/Valsartan either as a monotherapy or in addition to current antihypertensive treatments that were insufficient. The main outcomes measured were blood pressure control, changes in blood pressure and laboratory parameters within 8 weeks post-treatment initiation, and incidence of adverse events.

Clinical relevance of glomerular IgM deposition in patients with lupus nephritis.

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical relevance of IgM deposition in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) in a large cohort.

Results: 217 patients with renal biopsy-proven active LN were enrolled. The associations between glomerular IgM deposition and clinicopathological parameters were further analyzed.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a sensitive marker of osteoporosis in haemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional observational study.

Introduction: Osteoporosis is one of the important bone abnormalities in chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) and still lacks a sensitive biomarker to diagnose. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) can stimulate bone loss in patients with diabetes and increase in CKD patients. In this study, we investigated whether FGF21 could serve as a biomarker to predict osteoporosis in a haemodialysis cohort.

CD62P and P10 as predictive markers for assessing the efficacy of hemodialysis in treating end-stage renal disease.

Background: CD62P is a platelet α-granule membrane protein, and P10 is a platelet membrane glycoprotein thrombospondin. To better understand the effects of hemodialysis (HD), we have conducted this study to investigate CD62P and P10 in assessing the efficacy of HD in treating patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods: The case group consisted of 111 patients suffering ESRD treated with regular HD and the control group enrolled 117 healthy subjects.

Double-pulse 2-μm integrated path differential absorption lidar airborne validation for atmospheric carbon dioxide measurement.

Field experiments were conducted to test and evaluate the initial atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) measurement capability of airborne, high-energy, double-pulsed, 2-μm integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar. This IPDA was designed, integrated, and operated at the NASA Langley Research Center on-board the NASA B-200 aircraft. The IPDA was tuned to the CO strong absorption line at 2050.

Self-calibration and laser energy monitor validations for a double-pulsed 2-μm CO integrated path differential absorption lidar application.

Double-pulsed 2-μm integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar is well suited for atmospheric CO remote sensing. The IPDA lidar technique relies on wavelength differentiation between strong and weak absorbing features of the gas normalized to the transmitted energy. In the double-pulse case, each shot of the transmitter produces two successive laser pulses separated by a short interval.

Evaluation of an airborne triple-pulsed 2 μm IPDA lidar for simultaneous and independent atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide measurements.

Water vapor and carbon dioxide are the most dominant greenhouse gases directly contributing to the Earth's radiation budget and global warming. A performance evaluation of an airborne triple-pulsed integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar system for simultaneous and independent monitoring of atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide column amounts is presented. This system leverages a state-of-the-art Ho:Tm:YLF triple-pulse laser transmitter operating at 2.

Single-frequency gain-switched Ho-doped fiber laser.

We demonstrate a single-frequency gain-switched Ho-doped fiber laser based on heavily doped silicate glass fiber fabricated in-house. A Q-switched Tm-doped fiber laser at 1.95 μm was used to gain-switch the Ho-doped fiber laser via in-band pumping.

Fully conductively cooled, diode-pumped Ho:Tm:LuLiF4 laser oscillator/amplifier.

A fully conductively cooled and diode-pumped linear Ho:Tm:LuLiF laser oscillator can generate more than 1 J normal mode pulses at a 10 Hz pulse repetition rate where heat pipes are used for cooling pump diodes and laser crystal. As an amplifier, it can amplify the 80 mJ/180 ns pulses into 400 mJ pulses before the appearance of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The ASE threshold is about 5.

220 μJ monolithic single-frequency Q-switched fiber laser at 2 μm by using highly Tm-doped germanate fibers.

We report a unique all fiber-based single-frequency Q-switched laser in a monolithic master oscillator power amplifier configuration at ~1920 nm by using highly Tm-doped germanate fibers for the first time. The actively Q-switched fiber laser seed was achieved by using a piezo to press the fiber in the fiber Bragg grating cavity and modulate the fiber birefringence, enabling Q-switching with pulse width and repetition rate tunability. A single-mode polarization maintaining large core 25 μm highly Tm-doped germanate fiber was used in the power amplifier stage.

Microinflammation is involved in the dysfunction of arteriovenous fistula in patients with maintenance hemodialysis.

Background: Vascular access (VA) dysfunction is a major clinical complication in the hemodialysis population and has a direct effect on dialysis outcome. This study was conducted to explore the role of microinflammation in the VA dysfunction in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Methods: Forty-seven patients (male 35 and female 12) receiving maintenance hemodialysis were included for this study.

Side-line tunable laser transmitter for differential absorption lidar measurements of CO2: design and application to atmospheric measurements.

A 2 microm wavelength, 90 mJ, 5 Hz pulsed Ho laser is described with wavelength control to precisely tune and lock the wavelength at a desired offset up to 2.9 GHz from the center of a CO(2) absorption line. Once detuned from the line center the laser wavelength is actively locked to keep the wavelength within 1.

Efficient operation of diode-pumped single-frequency thulium-doped fiber lasers near 2 micro m.

Efficient operation of diode-pumped single-frequency fiber lasers at wavelengths from 1740 to 2017 nm has been demonstrated by using a very short piece of newly developed single-mode active fiber, i.e., heavily thulium-doped germanate glass fiber.

1 J/pulse Q-switched 2 microm solid-state laser.

Q-switched output of 1.1 J/pulse at a 2.053 microm wavelength has been achieved in a diode-pumped Ho: Tm: LuLF laser with a side-pumped rod configuration in a master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) architecture.

Coherent differential absorption lidar measurements of CO2.

A differential absorption lidar has been built to measure CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The transmitter is a pulsed single-frequency Ho:Tm:YLF laser at a 2.05-microm wavelength.

600-mJ, double-pulse 2-microm laser.

An efficient double-pulse Ho:Tm:YLF 2-microm laser with total Q-switched output energy of 600 mJ has been demonstrated. A double-pulse pair is obtained per pump pulse. By operation of the laser in a double-pulse format, the residual energy stored among the Tm ions is transferred to the Ho atoms that were de-excited by the extraction of the first Q-switched pulse.

Precise wavelength control of a single-frequency pulsed Ho:Tm:YLF laser.

We demonstrate wavelength control of a single-frequency diode-pumped Ho:Tm:YLF laser by referencing its wavelength to an absorption line of carbon dioxide. We accomplish this wavelength control by injection seeding with a cw Ho:Tm:YLF laser that can be tuned over or stabilized to carbon dioxide or water vapor lines. We show that the pulsed laser can be scanned precisely over an absorption line of carbon dioxide by scanning the injection seed laser wavelength.