Water–Sulfuric Acid foam as a Possible Habitat for Hypothetical Microbial Community in the Cloud Layer of Venus

The data available at the moment suggest that ancient Venus was covered by extensive bodies of water which could harbor life. Later, however, the drastic overheating of the planet made the surface of Venus uninhabitable for Earth-type life forms. Nevertheless, hypothetical Venusian organisms could have gradually adapted to conditions within the cloud layer of Venus—the only niche containing liquid water where the Earth-type extremophiles could survive. Here we hypothesize that the unified internal volume of a microbial community habitat is represented by the heterophase liquid-gas foam structure of Venusian clouds. Such unity of internal space within foam water volume facilitates microbial cells movements and trophic interactions between microorganisms that creates favorable conditions for the effective development of a true microbial community. The stabilization of a foam heterophase structure can be provided by various surfactants including those synthesized by living cells and products released during cell lysis. Such a foam system could harbor a microbial community of different species of (poly)extremophilic microorganisms that are capable of photo-and chemosynthesis and may be closely integrated into aero-geochemical processes including the processes of high-temperature polymer synthesis on the planet’s surface. Different complex nanostructures transferred to the cloud layers by convection flows could further contribute to the stabilization of heterophase liquid-gas foam structure and participate in chemical and photochemical reactions, thus supporting ecosystem stability. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Гибридные аналоги ретиноидов как инструменты для исследований в области нанобиофотоники

This mini-review presents experimental data obtained by the authors in the context of a cycle of structural-functional research on bionanophotochrome bacteriorhodopsin carried out during the past 10 years. We reviewed the synthetic routes and structure-spectral parameters-properties relationship for a number of series of hybrid retinoid analogs and bacteriorhodopsin analogs based on them.В настоящем мини-обзоре представлены собственные экспериментальные данные, полученные авторами в рамках цикла структурно-функциональных исследований бионанофотохрома бактериородопсина в течение последних 10 лет. Рассмотрены методы получения, свойства и взаимосвязь структура-спектральные параметры в нескольких сериях гибридных аналогов ретиноидов и аналогов бактериородопсина на их основе

Hybrid retinoid analogs as instruments for the nanobiophotonic researches

This mini-review presents experimental data obtained by the authors in the context of a cycle of structural-functional research on bionanophotochrome bacteriorhodopsin carried out during the past 10 years. We reviewed the synthetic routes and structure-spectral parameters-properties relationship for a number of series of hybrid retinoid analogs and bacteriorhodopsin analogs based on them

Standards in dermatologic imaging

The current era of ubiquitous digital cameras, digital cameras integrated into smartphones, and virtually limitless data storage affords exciting new opportunities for medicine in general and specifically dermatology. Digital photography has the potential to dramatically enable and facilitate improvements in dermatology teaching, clinical documentation, and diagnosis. One of the barriers to the diffusion of digital imaging into dermatology practice is the lack of standards for digital photography. As noted in the article by Quigley et al,1 there are currently no standards for dermatologic photography designated by Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine. While some organizations, such as the American Teledermatology Association,2 have offered general guidelines, to our knowledge, no consistent actionable standards exist in medical publications. The absence of standards severely impedes the integration of dermatologic images across systems that support documentation, diagnosis, and clinical practice