Focusing and imaging with increased numerical apertures through multimode fibers with micro-fabricated optics

The use of individual multimode optical fibers in endoscopy applications has the potential to provide highly miniaturized and noninvasive probes for microscopy and optical micromanipulation. A few different strategies have been proposed recently, but they all suffer from intrinsically low resolution related to the low numerical aperture of multimode fibers. Here, we show that two-photon polymerization allows for direct fabrication of micro-optics components on the fiber end, resulting in an increase of the numerical aperture to a value that is close to 1. Coupling light into the fiber through a spatial light modulator, we were able to optically scan a submicrometer spot (300 nm FWHM) over an extended region, facing the opposite fiber end. Fluorescence imaging with improved resolution is also demonstrated.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of \u3cem\u3eMussaenda\u3c/em\u3e Species (Rubiaceae)

The genus Mussaenda is an important source of medicinal natural products, particularly iridoids, triterpenes and flavonoids. The purpose of this paper is to cover the more recent developments in the ethnobotany, pharmacology and phytochemistry of this genus. The species in which the largest number of compounds has been identified is Mussaenda pubescens. Pharmacological studies have also been made, however, of other species in this genus. These lesser known plants of the genus are described here according to their cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The information given here is intended to serve as a reference tool for practitioners in the fields of ethnopharmacology and natural products chemistry

Identification of Beryllium Hydride Isotopomer Lines in Sunspot Umbral Spectra

A high resolution spectrum of FTS sunspot umbra of NSO/Kitt Peak was used to conduct a search for the molecular absorption lines due to BeH, BeD and BeT isotopomers. Analysis led to estimates of identification of the molecular lines of bands A - X (0,0), (1,1) and (2,2) for BeH, A - X (0,0), (1,1), (2,2) and (3,3) for BeD and of A - X (0,0), (1,1) and (2,2) for BeT. Among the identified lines, those which are well resolved were selected for measurements to calculate equivalent widths. The values of effective rotational temperature T were estimated for bands A - X(1,1) and (2,2) of BeH, A - X(1,1) of BeD and A - X(2,2) of BeT to be 4228K, 4057K, 3941K and 3243K respectively

Molecular characterization of tospoviruses infecting Capsicum annuum L.

182-191Chilli (Capsicum annuum L) a prime vegetable cum spice crop is infected by tospoviruses, which has become a serious threat to it's cultivation worldwide. A survey was conducted for infection of tospoviruses on the basis of chlorotic and necrotic symptoms in chilli growing areas of Tamil Nadu. The symptomatic leaves were positive for tospovirus-specific antiserum tested through direct antigen coating - enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (DAC-ELISA), dot blot immunobinding assay (DIBA) and tissue blot immunobinding assay (TIBA). The samples with typical symptoms were successfully established for the chlorotic and necrotic lesions in assay host, cowpea and chilli upon artificial inoculation of tospoviruses. Further, an expected complementary DNA (cDNA) fragment sequence of about 840 bp and 1.2 kb were positively amplified using PCR correspond to coat protein (CP) gene of the respective viruses, which confirmed the presence of groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV), capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV) in chilli. However, there is a lack of standard method to understand the genetic information of tospoviruses infecting chilli which requires the reliable, sensitive and specific method. To address this issue, we have investigated an application based on CP gene of GBNV and CaCV to perform molecular profiling. The nucleotide sequences of GBNV and CaCV showed maximum identity between the isolates and amino acid sequences had more than 90% similarity. However, superimposed 3D prediction structures constructed using MODELLER software revealed the single variation at 259th position comprising of glutamine and valine respectively. The protein profiling of CP gene provides the basic knowledge on properties of CP proteins of two tospoviruses infecting chilli and their structural relationships

On the Effective Temperature of Sunspot Umbrae using Beryllium Hydride Isotopomer Lines

A search for fourteen bands of the visibleand infrared systems of the beryllium hydride isotopomers, in addition to the previously identified bands A - X(0, 0; 1, 1; 2, 2) for BeH, A - X(0, 0; 1, 1; 2, 2) for BeD and A - X(0, 0; 1, 1; 2, 2) for BeT molecules was conducted. The equivalent widths were measured for the well isolated identified lines of the strongest band and the effective temperatures were estimated for the systems for which the presence of hints is confirmed

Transcriptional and immunohistological assessment of immune infiltration in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is characterized by a complex tumor environment with a wide diversity of infiltrating stromal and immune cell types that impact the tumor response to conventional treatments. However, even in this poorly responsive tumor the extent of T cell infiltration as determined by quantitative immunohistology is a candidate prognostic factor for patient outcome. As such, even more comprehensive immunophenotyping of the tumor environment, such as immune cell type deconvolution via inference models based on gene expression profiling, holds significant promise. We hypothesized that RNA-Seq can provide a comprehensive alternative to quantitative immunohistology for immunophenotyping pancreatic cancer. We performed RNA-Seq on a prospective cohort of pancreatic tumor specimens and compared multiple approaches for gene expression-based immunophenotyping analysis compared to quantitative immunohistology. Our analyses demonstrated that while gene expression analyses provide additional information on the complexity of the tumor immune environment, they are limited in sensitivity by the low overall immune infiltrate in pancreatic cancer. As an alternative approach, we identified a set of genes that were enriched in highly T cell infiltrated pancreatic tumors, and demonstrate that these can identify patients with improved outcome in a reference population. These data demonstrate that the poor immune infiltrate in pancreatic cancer can present problems for analyses that use gene expression-based tools; however, there remains enormous potential in using these approaches to understand the relationships between diverse patterns of infiltrating cells and their impact on patient treatment outcomes

Helminth-induced arginase-1 exacerbates lung inflammation and disease severity in tuberculosis

Parasitic helminth worms, such as Schistosoma mansoni, are endemic in regions with a high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among the population. Human studies suggest that helminth coinfections contribute to increased TB susceptibility and increased rates of TB reactivation. Prevailing models suggest that T helper type 2 (Th2) responses induced by helminth infection impair Th1 immune responses and thereby limit Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) control. Using a pulmonary mouse model of Mtb infection, we demonstrated that S. mansoni coinfection or immunization with S. mansoni egg antigens can reversibly impair Mtb-specific T cell responses without affecting macrophage-mediated Mtb control. Instead, S. mansoni infection resulted in accumulation of high arginase-1–expressing macrophages in the lung, which formed type 2 granulomas and exacerbated inflammation in Mtb-infected mice. Treatment of coinfected animals with an antihelminthic improved Mtb-specific Th1 responses and reduced disease severity. In a genetically diverse mouse population infected with Mtb, enhanced arginase-1 activity was associated with increased lung inflammation. Moreover, in patients with pulmonary TB, lung damage correlated with increased serum activity of arginase-1, which was elevated in TB patients coinfected with helminths. Together, our data indicate that helminth coinfection induces arginase-1–expressing type 2 granulomas, thereby increasing inflammation and TB disease severity. These results also provide insight into the mechanisms by which helminth coinfections drive increased susceptibility, disease progression, and severity in TB