In an effort to identify potential biomarkers in lupus nephritis, urine from mice with spontaneous lupus nephritis was screened for the presence of VCAM-1, P-selectin, TNFR-1, and CXCL16, four molecules that had previously been shown to be elevated in experimental immune nephritis, particularly at the peak of disease. Interestingly, all four molecules were elevated ∼2- to 4-fold in the urine of several strains of mice with spontaneous lupus nephritis, including the MRL/lpr, NZM2410, and B6.Sle1.lpr strains, correlating well with proteinuria. VCAM-1, P-selectin, TNFR-1, and CXCL16 were enriched in the urine compared with the serum particularly in active disease, and were shown to be expressed within the diseased kidneys. Finally, all four molecules were also elevated in the urine of patients with lupus nephritis, correlating well with urine protein levels and systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index scores. In particular, urinary VCAM-1 and CXCL16 showed superior specificity and sensitivity in distinguishing subjects with active renal disease from the other systemic lupus erythematosus patients. These studies uncover VCAM-1, P-selectin, TNFR-1, and CXCL16 as a quartet of molecules that may have potential diagnostic significance in lupus nephritis. Longitudinal studies are warranted to establish the clinical use of these potential biomarkers.

The use of large-mode-area tapered holey fibers with collapsed air holes for refractive index sensing is demonstrated. The collapsing of the holes is achieved by tapering the fibers with a "slow-and-hot" method. This non adiabatic process makes the core mode to couple to multiple modes of the solid taper waist. Owing to the beating between the modes the transmission spectra of the tapered holey fibers exhibit several interference peaks. They shift remarkable to longer wavelengths as the external index increases. The multiple peaks, combined with a fitting algorithm, may allow high-accuracy refractometric measurements which can be used for diverse applications.

A new technological approach makes fabrication of relief computer-generated focusing elements for IR radiation by use of a dry photopolymer recording material possible. The formation of a relief structure by self-development takes place in the dark, subsequent to the holographic illumination, without wet processing. Consequently these diffractive elements exhibit low surface scattering. The formation of a surface wave of the monomer along the light-darkness boundary is observed for the first time to our knowledge and confirms the previously proposed thermodynamic model of the mechanism of the hologram formation in photopolymerizable layers. Dye-sensitized polymerization of acrylamide is found to produce nonlinearity of the relief recording. At least partial compensation of this nonlinearity is attained by the introduction of appropriate corrections into the computer-generated amplitude function. A diffraction efficiency of ~ 55% is obtained for CO(2) laser radiation (λ = 10.6 µm).

Because this issue journal is dedicated to Gelatin, here we present a few applications of gelatin in the field of optics. Optics is the science that studies the production, propagation, interaction and detection of light. Various materials sensitive to light (photosensitive) are used for detection of light, such as photomultipliers, CCDs, crystals, two dimensional (2D) materials and more. Among the 2D materials, the most popular for several centuries has been gelatin based photographic emulsion, which records spatial distributions of light. More recently (1970), films made of Gelatin with Dichromate (DCG) and dyes have been used. We describe some characteristics and applications of these two photosensitive materials. We also describe examples where gelatin is used as a Relative Humidity (RH) sensor and in the fabrication of optical elements based on gelatin. This article is intended for researchers outside the optics community.

A dry polymeric mixture rendered red sensitive with a dye has been used to record interference gratings and holograms. Diffraction efficiencies of ~10% can be attained with exposures of ~94 mJ/cm(2). If necessary the reading step can be done just after the exposure or after a fixing step performed with light from a mercury lamp.