An Innovative Platform Merging Elemental Analysis and Ftir Imaging for Breast Tissue Analysis

Histopathology and immunohistology remain the gold standard for breast cancer diagnostic. Yet, these approaches do not usually provide a sufficiently detailed characterization of the pathology. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate for the first time that elemental analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy microscopic examination of breast tissue sections can be merged into one dataset to provide a single set of markers based on both organic molecules and inorganic trace elements. For illustrating the method, 6 mammary tissue sections were used. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy images reported a fingerprint of the organic molecules present in the tissue section and laser ablation elemental analysis (LA-ICP-MS) images brought inorganic element profiles. The 6 tissue sections provided 31 106 and 150,000 spectra for FTIR and LA-ICP-MS spectra respectively. The results bring the proof of concept that breast tissue can be analyzed simultaneously by FTIR spectroscopy and laser ablation elemental analysis (LA-ICP-MS) to provide in both case reasonably high resolution images. We show how to bring the images obtained by the two methods to a same spatial resolution and how to use image registration to analyze the data originating from both techniques as one block of data. We finally demonstrates the elemental analysis is orthogonal to all FTIR markers as no significant correlation is found between FTIR and LA-ICP-MS data. Combining FTIR and LA-ICP-MS imaging becomes possible, providing two orthogonal methods which can bring an unprecedented diversity of information on the tissue. This opens a new avenue of tissue section analyses providing unprecedented diagnostic potential. - 2019, The Author(s).This study was made possible by a NPRP Award [7–1267–3–328] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). E.G. is Research Director with the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Investigation of the effect of PD-L1 blockade on triple negative breast cancer cells using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Interactions between programmed death-1 (PD-1) with its ligand PD-L1 on tumor cells can antagonize T cell responses. Inhibiting these interactions using immune checkpoint inhibitors has shown promise in cancer immunotherapy. MDA-MB-231 is a triple negative breast cancer cell line that expresses PD-L1. In this study, we investigated the biochemical changes in MDA-MB-231 cells following treatment with atezolizumab, a specific PD-L1 blocker. Our readouts were Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and flow cytometric analyses. Chemometrical analysis, such as principal component analysis (PCA), was applied to delineate the spectral differences. We were able to identify the chemical alterations in both protein and lipid structure of the treated cells. We found that there was a shift from random coil and ?-helical structure to ?-sheet conformation of PD-L1 on tumor cells due to atezolizumab treatment, which could hinder binding with its receptors on immune cells, ensuring sustained T cell activation for potent immune responses. This work provides novel information about the effects of atezolizumab at molecular and cellular levels. FTIR bio-spectroscopy, in combination with chemometric analyses, may expedite research and offer new approaches for cancer immunology. - 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Diabetes Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), P.O. Box 34110 Doha, Qatar Cancer Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), P.O. Box 34110 Doha, Qatar Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Qatar University (QU), P.O. Box 2713 Doha, Qatar Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), P.O. Box 34110 Doha, Qatar Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), P.O. Box 34110 Doha, Qatar Correspondence: [email protected] (M.H.M.A.); [email protected] (E.E.

Preliminary Study of CST in Malaysia based on Field Optical Efficiency

Solar is one of the many sources of renewable energy, and Concentrating Solar Tower (CST) is one of the most potential technologies in extracting solar energy. Thermal efficiency of CST is high and suitable to be implemented in a tropical climate country such as Malaysia which is located between at 10 to 70 North latitude and 1000 to 1200 east longitude. Further, Malaysia's direct normal irradiation (DNI) in tropical climate is almost constant throughout a year with the irradiation around 1500 to 2000 kWh/m2. Therefore the aim of this paper is to mathematically calculate the CST field layout in Malaysia in term of thermal efficiency based on cosine efficiency, atmosphere efficiency and mirror efficiency. The preliminary result from this paper shows Malaysia is a suitable location to develop CST with average of atmospheric transmittance efficiency and cosine efficiency of 94% and 63% respectively and the overall optical field efficiency is 52%. In addition, the atmospheric transmittance and cosine efficiency has high value but the efficiency gradually decreases whenever the distance increases. Nevertheless further investigation in term of solar irradiation and raining pattern in Malaysia is needed

Udfordring eller mulighed for økologien

During one intensive week in October 2005, the authors were gathered to discuss the impact that globalisation has on the Organic Food Systems and the opportunities that globalisation opens up for developing these systems. The meeting took place as a Ph.D. course under the auspices of the Research School of Organic Farming and Food Systems (SOAR; www.soar.dk). All participants research within Organic Agriculture and Food Production in one way or another

The expression of modality in Modern Standard Arabic

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX199684 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

The application of nitrogen fertilization and foliar spraying with calcium and boron affects growth aspects, chemical composition, productivity and fruit quality of strawberry plants

Strawberries are rich in antioxidants and plant components to enhance cardiac health and regulate blood sugar. This experiment investigates the effects of N fertilization and foliar spraying with calcium (Ca) and boron (B) on growth, chemical composition of plant foliage, fruit yield, and quality of strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa Duch. cv. Fortuna). This experiment includes 12 treatments from the combination between four N fertilizers treatments (combinations of mineral and organic fertilizers) and three foliar spraying treatments with Ca+B at 2 and 4 mL/L in addition to the control treatment (spraying with tap water). Results show that the treatment where 50% of the recommended dose of N (50% RDN) was applied with mineral fertilizer + 100% organic N was the most effective one since it induced the highest values of plant height, number of crowns per plant, number of leaves per plant, fresh and dry weight per plant, especially when combined with the foliar application of Ca+B at the highest tested rate (4 mL/L). The highest values of N, P, K, Ca, B, and total carbohydrate contents were also scored for the combination of 50% RDN + 100% organic N and the foliar spraying with Ca+B at 4 mL/L in both growing seasons. In addition, the highest values of fruit yield per plant and per hectare, exportable fruit yield/ha, fruit firmness, fruit TSS, Vitamin C, total sugars, and anthocyanin, as well as the lowest values of total acidity were recorded for the combined treatment of 50% RDN + 100% organic and Ca+B at the highest rate (4 mL/L). The highest recorded value of length, diameter, and weight of fruit were scored by fertilizing strawberry plants with the recommended dose of mineral N (100% RDN) and spraying with Ca+B at the highest rate in both growing seasons. In conclusion, it could be suggested that fertilization of strawberry plants with half the recommended dose with mineral N fertilizer + 100% organic fertilizer and foliar spraying with Ca+B at 4 mL/L increases plant growth and improve yield parameters and fruit quality of the strawberry plants. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Investigation on combustion parameters of palm biodiesel operating with a diesel engine

Biodiesel is a renewable and decomposable fuel which is derived from edible and non-edible oils. It has different properties compared to conventional diesel but can be used directly in diesel engines. Different fuel properties characterise different combustion-phasing parameters such as cyclic variations of Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) and maximum pressure (Pmax). In this study, cyclic variations of combustion parameters such as IMEP and Pmax were investigated using a multi-cylinder diesel engine operating with conventional diesel and palm biodiesel. The experiments were conducted using different engine loads; 20, 40, and 60% at a constant engine speed of 2500 rpm. The coefficient of variation (COV) and standard deviation of parameters were used to evaluate the cyclic variations of the combustion phasing parameters for the test fuels at specific engine test conditions. It was observed that palm biodiesel has lower COV IMEP compared to conventional diesel but is higher in COV Pmax at higher engine loads respectively. In addition, palm biodiesel tends to have a higher recurrence for the frequency distribution for maximum pressure. It can be concluded from the study that the fuel properties of palm biodiesel have influenced most of the combustion parameters

Tunable Q-switched erbium doped fiber laser with graphene oxide paper based saturable absorber

We demonstrate a tunable wavelength Q-switched erbium doped fiber laser (EDFL) using a graphene oxide (GO) saturable absorber (SA). The GO solution was prepared using the simplified Hummer’s method, which is then thinly spread into a petri-disk to make a paper-like material. The GO paper is sandwiched between two FC/PC fiber connectors and incorporated into a ring EDFL’s cavity for Q-switching operation. The wavelength tunable operation of the Q-switched laser was obtained with a band-pass filter. The stable Q-switched pulse with a tunable range from 1536 nm to 1563 nm was achieved, covering a wavelength range over ~28 nm. The Q-switched EDFL produced maximum pulse energy of 151 nJ at pump power of 80 mW

Phosphorus and biofertilizer application effects on growth parameters, yield and chemical constituents of broccoli

Broccoli is a popular vegetable throughout the world and contains important nutritional features. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect the fertilization with different phosphorus sources (i.e., soil application of rock phosphate (RP) at 428 kg ha−1, calcium superphosphate (CSP) at 670 kg ha−1, phosphoric acid (PA) at 126 L ha−1 and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) at 334 kg ha−1 ) combined with biofertilizers (i.e., inoculation with phosphorin or mycorrhiza) on plant growth aspects, antioxidants enzyme activity, chemical constituents, yield and quality of broccoli leaves and heads (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck). The experiment was performed according to the randomized complete block design with three replications (n = 3), for two growing seasons (2018–2019) at the experimental farm of Benha University, Egypt. The obtained results showed that the highest values of plant height, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of leaves/plant, head weight and diameter, and the highest yield of heads ha−1 were recorded in plants that received MAP fertilizer and were inoculated with mycorrhiza. On the other hand, the highest value of head length, total carbohydrate and total soluble solids (TSS) content were observed in plants fertilized with PA and inoculated with mycorrhiza. The highest leaf nitrogen % and head ascorbic acid content, as well as the lowest head total phenol content were recorded in plants supplemented with MAP fertilizer and inoculated with mycorrhiza. Moreover, broccoli plants fertilized with PA and inoculated with mycorrhiza showed promising results in terms of phosphorus, potassium and total carbohydrate content, antioxidant activity and dehydrogenase activity. In conclusion, phosphorus may affect plant growth, yield and chemical parameters in broccoli plants depending on the fertilizer source, while inoculation with mycorrhiza may also have a beneficial impact on these parameters. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Fourier-transform infrared imaging spectroscopy and laser ablation -ICPMS new vistas for biochemical analyses of ischemic stroke in rat brain

Objective: Stroke is the main cause of adult disability in the world, leaving more than half of the patients dependent on daily assistance. Understanding the post-stroke biochemical and molecular changes are critical for patient survival and stroke management. The aim of this work was to investigate the photo-thrombotic ischemic stroke in male rats with particular focus on biochemical and elemental changes in the primary stroke lesion in the somatosensory cortex and surrounding areas, including the corpus callosum. Materials and Methods: FT-IR imaging spectroscopy and LA-ICPMS techniques examined stroke brain samples, which were compared with standard immunohistochemistry studies. Results: The FTIR results revealed that in the lesioned gray matter the relative distribution of lipid, lipid acyl and protein contents decreased significantly. Also at this locus, there was a significant increase in aggregated protein as detected by high-levels A?1-42. Areas close to the stroke focus experienced decrease in the lipid and lipid acyl contents associated with an increase in lipid ester, olefin, and methyl bio-contents with a novel finding of A?1-42 in the PL-GM and L-WM. Elemental analyses realized major changes in the different brain structures that may underscore functionality. Conclusion: In conclusion, FTIR bio-spectroscopy is a non-destructive, rapid, and a refined technique to characterize oxidative stress markers associated with lipid degradation and protein denaturation not characterized by routine approaches. This technique may expedite research into stroke and offer new approaches for neurodegenerative disorders. The results suggest that a good therapeutic strategy should include a mechanism that provides protective effect from brain swelling (edema) and neurotoxicity by scavenging the lipid peroxidation end products.Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Technische Universitat Wien, Qatar University, Monash University, Qatar Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Qatar National Research Fund, Qatar Foundatio