4D Printing of Plasmon-Encoded Tunable Polydimethylsiloxane Lenses for On-Field Microscopy of Microbes

Here the 4D printing of a magnifying polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) lens encoded with a tunable plasmonic rejection filter is reported. The lens is formed by moldless printing of PDMS pre-polymer on a nanostructured porous silicon (PSi) templating layer. A nanometer-thick plasmonic filter is integrated on the lens surface by in situ synthesis of Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) with programmed density. The filter can be designed to reject light at the plasmonic resonance wavelength of the NPs with an optical density tunable from 0 to 3 and retreive light at longer wavelengths with a pass-to-stop band ratio tunable from 0 to 60 dB. Swelling of PDMS in hexane and ether is used to change the NP density on the lens surface and modulate, in turn, the transmittance properties of the NP-decorated lens over 3 orders of magnitude. The plasmon-encoded lens is coupled to a commercial smartphone demonstrating: shaping of the emission spectrum of a white light-emitting diode to tune the color from yellow to purple; real-time bright-field and fluorescence microscopy of living microbes in water, namely, the auto-fluorescent green alga Chlorogonium sp. and the ciliated protozoan Euplotes daidaleos

Genome-wide analysis of differential transcriptional and epigenetic variability across human immune cell types

Abstract Background A healthy immune system requires immune cells that adapt rapidly to environmental challenges. This phenotypic plasticity can be mediated by transcriptional and epigenetic variability. Results We apply a novel analytical approach to measure and compare transcriptional and epigenetic variability genome-wide across CD14+CD16− monocytes, CD66b+CD16+ neutrophils, and CD4+CD45RA+ naïve T cells from the same 125 healthy individuals. We discover substantially increased variability in neutrophils compared to monocytes and T cells. In neutrophils, genes with hypervariable expression are found to be implicated in key immune pathways and are associated with cellular properties and environmental exposure. We also observe increased sex-specific gene expression differences in neutrophils. Neutrophil-specific DNA methylation hypervariable sites are enriched at dynamic chromatin regions and active enhancers. Conclusions Our data highlight the importance of transcriptional and epigenetic variability for the key role of neutrophils as the first responders to inflammatory stimuli. We provide a resource to enable further functional studies into the plasticity of immune cells, which can be accessed from: http://blueprint-dev.bioinfo.cnio.es/WP10/hypervariability

Implementation of a new bi-directional solar modelling method for complex façades within the ESP-r building simulation program and its application

This paper provides an overview of a new method for modelling the total solar energy transmittance. It is implemented in the ESP-r building simulation program to model complex façades such as double glazed façades with external, internal or integrated shading devices. This new model has been validated and tested for several cases. The new model required changes to the solar control simulation algorithm and the user interface, so a new “Advanced optics menu” was also introduced into ESP-r. The paper presents the interface development and application of the new technique to different simulation configurations (especially different complex façades with shading devices) in a standard office building

Different impact of sex on baseline characteristics and major periprocedural outcomes of transcatheter and surgical aortic valve interventions: results of the multicenter Italian OBSERVANT Registry

Background: Despite the widespread use of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), the role of sex on outcome after TAVI or surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) has been poorly investigated. We investigated the impact of sex on outcome after TAVI or AVR. Methods: There were 2108 patients undergoing TAVI or AVR who were enrolled in the Italian Observational Multicenter Registry (OBSERVANT). Thirty-day mortality, major periprocedural morbidity, and transprosthetic gradients were stratified by sex according to interventions. Results: Female AVR patients showed a worse risk profile compared with male AVR patients, given the higher mean age, prevalence of frailty score of 2 or higher, New York Heart Association class of 3 or higher, lower body weight, and preoperative hemoglobin level (P ≤.02). Similarly, female TAVI patients had a different risk profile than male TAVI patients, given a higher age and a lower body weight and preoperative hemoglobin level (P ≤.005), but with a similar New York Heart Association class, frailty score, EuroSCORE (P = NS), a better left ventricular ejection fraction and a lower prevalence of left ventricular ejection fraction less than 30%, porcelain aorta, renal dysfunction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arteriopathy, and previous cardiovascular surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention (P ≤.01). Women showed a smaller aortic annulus than men in both populations (P <.001). Female sex was an independent predictor in the AVR population for risk-Adjusted 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.34; P =.043) and transfusions (OR, 1.47; P =.003), but not for risk-Adjusted acute myocardial infarction, stroke, vascular complications, permanent atrioventricular block (P = NS). Female sex was an independent predictor in the TAVI population for risk-Adjusted major vascular complications (OR, 2.92; P =.018) and transfusions (OR, 1.93; P =.003), but proved protective against moderate to severe postprocedural aortic insufficiency (P =.018). Conclusions: Female sex is a risk factor for mortality after aortic valve replacement, for major vascular complications after TAVI, and for transfusions after both approaches. Copyright © 2014 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon high flux x-ray detectors for synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy

: Objective. Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is an alternative emerging radiotherapy treatment modality which has demonstrated effective radioresistant tumour control while sparing surrounding healthy tissue in preclinical trials. This apparent selectivity is achieved through MRT combining ultra-high dose rates with micron-scale spatial fractionation of the delivered x-ray treatment field. Quality assurance dosimetry for MRT must therefore overcome a significant challenge, as detectors require both a high dynamic range and a high spatial resolution to perform accurately.Approach. In this work, a series of radiation hard a-Si:H diodes, with different thicknesses and carrier selective contact configurations, have been characterised for x-ray dosimetry and real-time beam monitoring applications in extremely high flux beamlines utilised for MRT at the Australian Synchrotron.Results. These devices displayed superior radiation hardness under constant high dose-rate irradiations on the order of 6000 Gy s-1, with a variation in response of 10% over a delivered dose range of approximately 600 kGy. Dose linearity of each detector to x-rays with a peak energy of 117 keV is reported, with sensitivities ranging from (2.74 ± 0.02) nC/Gy to (4.96 ± 0.02) nC/Gy. For detectors with 0.8μm thick active a-Si:H layer, their operation in an edge-on orientation allows for the reconstruction of micron-size beam profiles (microbeams). The microbeams, with a nominal full-width-half-max of 50μm and a peak-to-peak separation of 400μm, were reconstructed with extreme accuracy. The full-width-half-max was observed as 55 ± 1μm. Evaluation of the peak-to-valley dose ratio and dose-rate dependence of the devices, as well as an x-ray induced charge (XBIC) map of a single pixel is also reported.Significance. These devices based on novel a-Si:H technology possess a unique combination of accurate dosimetric performance and radiation resistance, making them an ideal candidate for x-ray dosimetry in high dose-rate environments such as FLASH and MRT

First observation and branching fraction measurement of the Λb0→Ds−p {\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}_s^{-}p decay

International audienceThe first observation of the ${\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}_s^{-}p$ decay is presented using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 6 fb$^{−1}$. Using the ${\Lambda}_b^0\to {\Lambda}_c^{+}{\pi}^{-}$ decay as the normalisation mode, the branching fraction of the ${\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}_s^{-}p$ decay is measured to be $\mathcal{B}\left({\Lambda}_b^0\to {D}_s^{-}p\right)=\left(12.6\pm 0.5\pm 0.3\pm 1.2\right)\times {10}^{-6}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third due to uncertainties in the branching fractions of the ${\Lambda}_b^0\to {\Lambda}_c^{+}{\pi}^{-}$, ${D}_s^{-}\to {K}^{-}{K}^{+}{\pi}^{-}$ and ${\Lambda}_c^{+}\to p{K}^{-}{\pi}^{+}$ decays.[graphic not available: see fulltext

Search for D∗(2007)0→μ+μ−D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^- in B−→π−μ+μ−B^-\to\pi^-\mu^+\mu^- decays

International audienceThe very rare $D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-$ decay is searched for by analysing $B^-\to\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decays. The analysis uses a sample of beauty mesons produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$. The signal signature corresponds to simultaneous peaks in the $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ invariant masses. No evidence for an excess of events over background is observed and an upper limit is set on the branching fraction of the decay at ${\cal B}(D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-) < 2.6\times 10^{-8}$ at $90\%$ confidence level. This is the first limit on the branching fraction of $D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-$ decays and the most stringent limit on $D^{*}(2007)^0$ decays to leptonic final states. The analysis is the first search for a rare charm-meson decay exploiting production via beauty decays

Search for CPCP violation in the phase space of D0→π−π+π0D^0 \to \pi^-\pi^+\pi^0 decays with the energy test

International audienceA search for $CP$ violation in $D^0 \to \pi^-\pi^+\pi^0$ decays is reported, using $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb experiment from 2015 to 2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6$fb^{-1}$. An unbinned model-independent approach provides sensitivity to local $CP$ violation within the two-dimensional phase space of the decay. The method is validated using the Cabibbo-favoured channel \D^0 \to \K^-\pi^+\pi^0 and background regions of the signal mode. The results are consistent with $CP$ symmetry in this decay