214 research outputs found
Microfluidics-based approaches to the isolation of African trypanosomes
African trypanosomes are responsible for significant levels of disease in both humans and animals. The protozoan parasites are free-living flagellates, usually transmitted by arthropod vectors, including the tsetse fly. In the mammalian host they live in the bloodstream and, in the case of human-infectious species, later invade the central nervous system. Diagnosis of the disease requires the positive identification of parasites in the bloodstream. This can be particularly challenging where parasite numbers are low, as is often the case in peripheral blood. Enriching parasites from body fluids is an important part of the diagnostic pathway. As more is learned about the physicochemical properties of trypanosomes, this information can be exploited through use of different microfluidic-based approaches to isolate the parasites from blood or other fluids. Here, we discuss recent advances in the use of microfluidics to separate trypanosomes from blood and to isolate single trypanosomes for analyses including drug screening
Synovial sarcomas usually metastasize after >5 years: a multicenter retrospective analysis with minimum follow-up of 10 years for survivors
In SS, metastases develop late with high mortality. Patients with SS should be followed for >10 year
Citomegalia e malformações do sistema nervoso central: relato de dois casos associados à agenesia do corpo caloso e encefalopatia cística
Die Synthese der ?-d-Glukoside des Vanillins�uredi�thylamids und des Vanillins�urepiperidids
Polymer Pipes for Distributing Mixtures of Hydrogen and Natural Gas: Evolution of their Transport and Mechanical Properties after an Ageing under an Hydrogen Environment
International audienc
Matrix-masking to balance nonuniform illumination in microscopy
With a perfectly uniform illumination, the amount and concentration of fluorophores in any (biological) sample can be read directly from fluorescence micrographs. However, non-uniform illumination in optical micrographs is a common, yet avoidable artefact, often caused by the setup of the microscope, or by inherent properties caused by the nature of the sample. In this paper, we demonstrate simple matrix-based methods using the common computing environments MATLAB and Python to correct nonuniform illumination, using either a background image or extracting illumination information directly from the sample image, together with subsequent image processing. We compare the processes, algorithms, and results obtained from both MATLAB (commercially available) and Python (freeware). Additionally, we validate our method by evaluating commonly used alternative approaches, demonstrating that the best nonuniform illumination correction can be achieved when a separate background image is available
- …