Relationship between the status of phospholipase A2 receptor and prognosis of idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

Aim: Serum levels of phospholipase A2 receptor antibody (PLA2R; SAb) and glomerular deposits of PLA2R antigen (GAg) have been detected in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). However, the correlation between these immunologic factors and their associations with the status and prognosis of IMN remain uncertain.

Methods: Fifty-one patients with biopsy-proven IMN diagnosed between March of 2015 and December of 2016 were enrolled in this study.

Traditional Chinese Medicine in Neuroprotection after Brain Insults with Special Reference to Radioprotection.

With rapidly increased construction of nuclear power plants worldwide to reduce energy shortage and subsequent environment contamination, routine use of radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis equipment in the clinical medicine, the research on the health effect of radiation exposure has become a very important area to explore. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may be an ideal candidate therapy as it usually produces fewer side effects even with long-term administration. In this paper, we reviewed current therapeutic approaches to prevent radiation-induced brain neuropathological and functional changes.

Dual-band unidirectional forward scattering with all-dielectric hollow nanodisk in the visible.

High-index dielectric nanoantennas have become an emerging branch of optical nanoantennas, essentially due to their low loss. These types of nanoantennas can achieve both forward and backward unidirectional scattering, enabled by electric dipole and magnetic dipole interaction. Here, we show that the scattering directionality can be further enhanced if higher-order moments are properly balanced and reach the generalized Kerker condition at two different wavelengths in an all-dielectric hollow nanodisk.

Complex band structure of one-dimensional polariton crystal.

The exceptional point (EP), at which the relevant eigenvalues and eigenstates are simultaneously identical, typically exists in non-Hermitian systems with parity-time (PT) symmetric complex potentials, and gives rise to many intriguing behaviors in various physical realms. In this work, we explore the complex band structure of one-dimensional "polariton crystals" that can be constructed in waveguide-resonator coupled systems, with PT-symmetric potential. Analysis based on the transfer matrix and the coupled mode theory shows that the complex band structure is intimately determined by the interaction between the Bragg resonance and the polariton one, the gain/loss coefficients, in addition to the coupling strength.