Solid immersion lens at the aplanatic condition for enhancing the spectral bandwidth of a waveguide grating coupler

We report a technique to substantially boost the spectral bandwidth of a conventional waveguide grating coupler by using a solid immersion cylindrical lens at the aplanatic condition to create a highly anamorphic beam and reach a much larger numerical aperture, thus enhancing the spectral bandwidth of a free-space propagating optical beam coupled into a single-mode planar integrated optical waveguide (IOW). Our experimental results show that the broadband IOW spectrometer thus created almost doubles (94% enhancement) the coupled spectral bandwidth of a conventional configuration. To exemplify the benefits made possible by the developed approach, we applied the technique to the broadband spectroscopic characterization of a protein submonolayer; our experimental data confirm the enhanced spectral bandwidth (around 380–nm) and illustrate the potentials of the developed technology. Besides the enhanced bandwidth, the broadband coupler of the single-mode IOW spectrometer described here is more robust and user-friendly than those previously reported in the literature and is expected to have an important impact on spectroscopic studies of surface-adsorbed molecular layers and surface phenomena

Brown howler monkey: alouatta guariba Humboldt, 1812

Alouatta guariba is endemic to the Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil and northeast Argentina. In the south, its distribution is limited by the Camaquã river basin (Printes et al. 2001) and to the north by the Paraguaçu river in the state of Bahia (Gregorin 2006; Neves et al. 2018). The western boundary is marked by the limits of the Atlantic Forest. It occurs in the Brazilian states of Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (Mendes et al. 2008, Bicca-Marques et al. 2018). In Argentina the species is limited to the province of Misiones (Agostini et al. 2017).Fil: Buss, Gerson. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação dos Primatas; BrasilFil: Oklander, Luciana Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Bicca Marques, Júlio César. Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Parana. Escola de Ciencias Da Vida.; BrasilFil: Hirano, Zelinda B.. Universidade Regional de Blumenau; BrasilFil: Chaves, Oscar M.. Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Parana. Escola de Ciencias Da Vida.; BrasilFil: Mendes, Sergio L.. Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica; BrasilFil: Neves, Leonardo G.. Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz; BrasilFil: Melo, Fabiano R.. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; BrasilFil: Rylands, Anthony B.. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Jerusalinsky, Leandro. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação dos Primatas Brasileiros; Brasi

A Fluorinated BODIPY-Based Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework for In Vivo Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (NanoMOFdeli), ERC-2016-COG 726380, and the EPSRC (EP/S009000/1). This work was supported by the FCT PhD Scholarship (2020.06638.BD, Diana P. Sousa) and the European Research Council Starting Grant ERC-StG-2019-848325 (2019–2024, João Conde, João Conniot, and Bárbara Mendes). The Talos F200X G2 TEM was supported through an EPSRC Underpinning Multi-User Equipment Grant (EP/P030467/1). The authors thank the staff of PROXIMA-2A (Soleil Synchrotron, France) for assistance and acknowledge the beamtime under the in-house research proposal 99220022 and standard proposal 20220874. They also thank Dr. Karin Mueller and Dr. Filomena Gallo from the Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, for assistance in performing TEM imaging on the stained cells. The authors thank Histopathology Unit at Gulbenkian Science Institute for quantitative pathology evaluation and Histological Facility at Nova Medical School for technical assistance in sample preparation. TOC and a,b were created with BioRender.com. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical SocietyPhotodynamic therapy (PDT), an emergent noninvasive cancer treatment, is largely dependent on the presence of efficient photosensitizers (PSs) and a sufficient oxygen supply. However, the therapeutic efficacy of PSs is greatly compromised by poor solubility, aggregation tendency, and oxygen depletion within solid tumors during PDT in hypoxic microenvironments. Despite the potential of PS-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), addressing hypoxia remains challenging. Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) chromophores, with excellent photostability, have exhibited great potential in PDT and bioimaging. However, their practical application suffers from limited chemical stability under harsh MOF synthesis conditions. Herein, we report the synthesis of the first example of a Zr-based MOF, namely, 69-L2, exclusively constructed from the BODIPY-derived ligands via a single-crystal to single-crystal post-synthetic exchange, where a direct solvothermal method is not applicable. To increase the PDT performance in hypoxia, we modify 69-L2 with fluorinated phosphate-functionalized methoxy poly(ethylene glycol). The resulting 69-L2@F is an oxygen carrier, enabling tumor oxygenation and simultaneously acting as a PS for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation under LED irradiation. We demonstrate that 69-L2@F has an enhanced PDT effect in triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells under both normoxia and hypoxia. Following positive results, we evaluated the in vivo activity of 69-L2@F with a hydrogel, enabling local therapy in a triple-negative breast cancer mice model and achieving exceptional antitumor efficacy in only 2 days. We envision BODIPY-based Zr-MOFs to provide a solution for hypoxia relief and maximize efficacy during in vivo PDT, offering new insights into the design of promising MOF-based PSs for hypoxic tumors.publishersversionpublishe

Methods and approaches for blind test predictions of out-of-plane behavior of masonry walls: a numerical comparative study

Earthquakes cause severe damage to masonry structures due to inertial forces acting in the normal direction to the plane of the walls. The out-of-plane behavior of masonry walls is complex and depends on several parameters, such as material and geometric properties of walls, connections between structural elements, the characteristics of the input motions, among others. Different analytical methods and advanced numerical modeling are usually used for evaluating the out-of-plane behavior of masonry structures. Furthermore, different types of structural analysis can be adopted for this complex behavior, such as limit analysis, pushover, or nonlinear dynamic analysis.Aiming to evaluate the capabilities of different approaches to similar problems, blind predictions were made using different approaches. For this purpose, two idealized structures were tested on a shaking table and several experts on masonry structures were invited to present blind predictions on the response of the structures, aiming at evaluating the available tools for the out-of-plane assessment of masonry structures. This article presents the results of the blind test predictions and the comparison with the experimental results, namely in terms of formed collapsed mechanisms and control outputs (PGA or maximum displacements), taking into account the selected tools to perform the analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pump and probe spectroscopy of A Cr+3-doped glass

Probe beam modulation in Cr+3-doped glasses induced by a high intensity pump laser is reported. A non-degenerate pump and probe geometry is used. Laser induced clearing and darkening effects and non-linear switching were observed. The effective relaxation time for this system was measured

Etiopathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus: prognostic factors for the evolution of residual β cell function

Type 1A diabetes mellitus (T1ADM) is a progressive autoimmune disease mediated by T lymphocytes with destruction of beta cells. Up to now, we do not have precise methods to assess the beta cell mass, "in vivo" or "ex-vivo". The studies about its genetic susceptibility show strong association with class II antigens of the HLA system (particularly DQ). Others genetics associations are weaker and depend on the population studied. A combination of precipitating events may occur at the beginning of the disease. There is a silent loss of immune-mediated beta cells mass which velocity has an inverse relation with the age, but it is influenced by genetic and metabolic factors. We can predict the development of the disease primarily through the determination of four biochemically islet auto antibodies against antigens like insulin, GAD65, IA2 and Znt8. Beta cell destruction is chronically progressive but at clinical diagnosis of the disease a reserve of these cells still functioning. The goal of secondary disease prevention is halt the autoimmune attack on beta cells by redirecting or dampening the immune system. It is remains one of the foremost therapeutic goals in the T1ADM. Glycemic intensive control and immunotherapeutic agents may preserve beta-cell function in newly diagnosed patients with T1ADM. It may be assessed through C-peptide values, which are important for glycemic stability and for the prevention of chronic complications of this disease. This article will summarize the etiopathogenesis mechanisms of this disease and the factors can influence on residual C-peptide and the strategies to it preservation

Overactive bladder – 18 years – part I

ABSTRACT Traditionally, the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome has been based on the use of oral medications with the purpose of reestablishing the detrusor stability. The recent better understanding of the urothelial physiology fostered conceptual changes, and the oral anticholinergics – pillars of the overactive bladder pharmacotherapy – started to be not only recognized for their properties of inhibiting the detrusor contractile activity, but also their action on the bladder afference, and therefore, on the reduction of the symptoms that constitute the syndrome. Beta-adrenergic agonists, which were recently added to the list of drugs for the treatment of overactive bladder, still wait for a definitive positioning – as either a second-line therapy or an adjuvant to oral anticholinergics. Conservative treatment failure, whether due to unsatisfactory results or the presence of adverse side effects, define it as refractory overactive bladder. In this context, the intravesical injection of botulinum toxin type A emerged as an effective option for the existing gap between the primary measures and more complex procedures such as bladder augmentation. Sacral neuromodulation, described three decades ago, had its indication reinforced in this overactive bladder era. Likewise, the electric stimulation of the tibial nerve is now a minimally invasive alternative to treat those with refractory overactive bladder. The results of the systematic literature review on the oral pharmacological treatment and the treatment of refractory overactive bladder gave rise to this second part of the review article Overactive Bladder – 18 years, prepared during the 1st Latin-American Consultation on Overactive Bladder

Surveillance programs for detection and characterization of emergent pathogens and antimicrobial resistance: results from the Division of Infectious Diseases, UNIFESP

Several epidemiological changes have occurred in the pattern of nosocomial and community acquired infectious diseases during the past 25 years. Social and demographic changes possibly related to this phenomenon include a rapid population growth, the increase in urban migration and movement across international borders by tourists and immigrants, alterations in the habitats of animals and arthropods that transmit disease, as well as the raise of patients with impaired host defense abilities. Continuous surveillance programs of emergent pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are warranted for detecting in real time new pathogens, as well as to characterize molecular mechanisms of resistance. In order to become more effective, surveillance programs of emergent pathogens should be organized as a multicenter laboratory network connected to the main public and private infection control centers. Microbiological data should be integrated to guide therapy, adapting therapy to local ecology and resistance patterns. This paper presents an overview of data generated by the Division of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo, along with its participation in different surveillance programs of nosocomial and community acquired infectious diseases.Várias alterações epidemiológicas ocorreram no perfil das doenças infecciosas hospitalares e comunitárias nos últimos 25 anos. Mudanças sociais e demográficas possivelmente relacionadas com esse fenômeno incluem o rápido crescimento populacional, o aumento da migração urbana e deslocamento através de fronteiras internacionais por turistas e imigrantes, alterações nos habitats de animais e artrópodes que transmitem doença assim como o aumento no número de pacientes com deficiências nas respostas de defesa. Os programas contínuos de vigilância de patógenos emergentes e resistência antimicrobiana são necessários para a detecção em tempo real de novos patógenos assim como para caracterizar mecanismos moleculares de resistência. Para serem mais efetivos, os programasde vigilância dos patógenos emergentes devem ser organizados em uma rede de laboratórios multicêntricos ligados aos principais centros de controle de infecções, públicos e privados. Os dados microbiológicos devem ser integrados a guias terapêuticos adaptando práticas terapêuticas à ecologia local eaos padrões de resistência. O artigo apresenta uma revisão dos dados gerados pela Disciplina de Infectologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), contemplando sua participação nos diferentes programas de vigilância de doenças infecciosas hospitalares e adquiridas na comunidade.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Medicina Divisão de Doenças InfecciosasUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaUNIFESP, Depto. de Medicina Divisão de Doenças InfecciosasUNIFESP, Depto. de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaSciEL