Photoacoustic microscopy enables multilayered histological imaging of human breast cancer without staining

In 2016, an estimated ~250,000 new cases of invasive and non-invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in US women. About 60–75% of these cases were treated with breast conserving surgery (BCS) as the initial therapy. To reduce the local recurrence rate, the goal of BCS is to excise the tumor with a rim of normal surrounding tissue, so that no cancer cells remain at the cut margin, while preserving as much normal breast tissue as possible. Therefore, patients with remaining cancer cells at the cut margin commonly require a second surgical procedure to obtain clear margins. Different approaches have been used to decrease the positive margin rate to avoid re-excision. However, these techniques are variously ineffective in reducing the re-operative rate, difficult to master by surgeons, or time-consuming for large specimens. Thus, 20-60% of patients undergoing BCS still require second surgeries due to positive surgical margins. The ideal tool for margin assessment would provide the same information as histological analysis, without the need for processing specimens. To achieve this goal, we have developed and refined label-free photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for breast specimens. Exploiting the intrinsic optical contrast of tissue, ultraviolet (UV) laser illumination can highlight cell nuclei, thus providing the same contrast as hematoxylin labeling used in conventional histology and measuring features related to the histological landscape without the need for labels. We demonstrate that our UV-PAM system can provide label-free, high-resolution, and histology-like imaging of fixed, unprocessed breast tissue

Association between ambient temperature, particulate air pollution and emergency room visits for conjunctivitis

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have confirmed the association of ambient temperature and air pollution with a higher risk of morbidities, yet few have addressed their effect on the ocular system. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between temperature, air pollution, and emergency room visits for conjunctivitis. METHODS: In this case-crossover study, the records of all emergency room visits to Soroka University Medical Center (SUMC) from 2009 to 2014 were reviewed for patients with conjunctivitis. Daily exposure to fine and coarse particulate matter and temperature were determined by a hybrid model involving satellite sensors. Mean relative humidity was obtained from the Ministry of Environmental Protection meteorological monitoring station located in Beer-Sheva. RESULTS: Six hundred one patients were diagnosed with conjunctivitis in the SUMC emergency room. We discovered a positive association between temperature increments and incidence of conjunctivitis. The strongest effect was found during summer and autumn, with an immediate (lag0) incidence increase of 8.1% for each 1 degrees C increase in temperature (OR = 1.088, 95%CI: 1.046-1.132) between 24 and 28 degrees C in the summer and 7.2% for each 1 degrees C increase in temperature (OR = 1.072, 95%CI: 1.036-1.108) between 13 and 23 degrees C in the autumn. There was no statistically significant association between fine and coarse particulate matter and conjunctivitis incidence. CONCLUSION: Temperature increases during summer and autumn are significantly associated with an increased risk of conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is not associated with non-anthropogenic air pollution. These findings may help community clinics and hospital emergency rooms better predict conjunctivitis cases and will hopefully lead to improved prevention efforts that will lower the financial burden on both the individual and the public

The data facility of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS)

AVIRIS operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory include a significant data task. The AVIRIS data facility is responsible for data archiving, data calibration, quality monitoring and distribution. Since 1987, the data facility has archived over one terabyte of AVIRIS data and distributed these data to science investigators as requested. In this paper we describe recent improvements in the AVIRIS data facility

NIK Stabilization in Osteoclasts Results in Osteoporosis and Enhanced Inflammatory Osteolysis

Maintenance of healthy bone requires the balanced activities of osteoclasts (OCs), which resorb bone, and osteoblasts, which build bone. Disproportionate action of OCs is responsible for the bone loss associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. NF-κB inducing kinase (NIK) controls activation of the alternative NF-κB pathway, a critical pathway for OC differentiation. Under basal conditions, TRAF3-mediated NIK degradation prevents downstream signaling, and disruption of the NIK:TRAF3 interaction stabilizes NIK leading to constitutive activation of the alternative NF-κB pathway.Using transgenic mice with OC-lineage expression of NIK lacking its TRAF3 binding domain (NT3), we now find that alternative NF-κB activation enhances not only OC differentiation but also OC function. Activating NT3 with either lysozyme M Cre or cathepsinK Cre causes high turnover osteoporosis with increased activity of OCs and osteoblasts. In vitro, NT3-expressing precursors form OCs more quickly and at lower doses of RANKL. When cultured on bone, they exhibit larger actin rings and increased resorptive activity. OC-specific NT3 transgenic mice also have an exaggerated osteolytic response to the serum transfer model of arthritis.Constitutive activation of NIK drives enhanced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption, both in basal conditions and in response to inflammatory stimuli

From training to artisanal practice : rethinking choreographic relationships in modern dance

In the first part of the twentieth century early modern dancers created both a new art form and the forms of group social organisation that were its condition of possibility. This paper critically examines the balletic and disciplinary ‘training’ model of dancer formation and proposes that the assumption of training in dance can obscure other ways of understanding dance-making relationships and other values in early modern dance. An ‘artisanal’ mode of production and knowledge transmission based on a non-binary relationship between ‘master’ and apprentice and occurring in a quasi-domestic and personalised space of some intimacy is proposed as a more pertinent way to think the enabling conditions of modern dance creation

Nuclear factor κB-inducing kinase activation as a mechanism of pancreatic β cell failure in obesity

The nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway is a master regulator of inflammatory processes and is implicated in insulin resistance and pancreatic β cell dysfunction in the metabolic syndrome. Whereas canonical NF-κB signaling is well studied, there is little information on the divergent noncanonical NF-κB pathway in the context of pancreatic islet dysfunction. Here, we demonstrate that pharmacological activation of the noncanonical NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK) disrupts glucose homeostasis in zebrafish in vivo. We identify NIK as a critical negative regulator of β cell function, as pharmacological NIK activation results in impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in mouse and human islets. NIK levels are elevated in pancreatic islets isolated from diet-induced obese (DIO) mice, which exhibit increased processing of noncanonical NF-κB components p100 to p52, and accumulation of RelB. TNF and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL), two ligands associated with diabetes, induce NIK in islets. Mice with constitutive β cell-intrinsic NIK activation present impaired insulin secretion with DIO. NIK activation triggers the noncanonical NF-κB transcriptional network to induce genes identified in human type 2 diabetes genome-wide association studies linked to β cell failure. These studies reveal that NIK contributes a central mechanism for β cell failure in diet-induced obesity

Photoacoustic microscopy enables multilayered histological imaging of human breast cancer without staining

In 2016, an estimated ~250,000 new cases of invasive and non-invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in US women. About 60–75% of these cases were treated with breast conserving surgery (BCS) as the initial therapy. To reduce the local recurrence rate, the goal of BCS is to excise the tumor with a rim of normal surrounding tissue, so that no cancer cells remain at the cut margin, while preserving as much normal breast tissue as possible. Therefore, patients with remaining cancer cells at the cut margin commonly require a second surgical procedure to obtain clear margins. Different approaches have been used to decrease the positive margin rate to avoid re-excision. However, these techniques are variously ineffective in reducing the re-operative rate, difficult to master by surgeons, or time-consuming for large specimens. Thus, 20-60% of patients undergoing BCS still require second surgeries due to positive surgical margins. The ideal tool for margin assessment would provide the same information as histological analysis, without the need for processing specimens. To achieve this goal, we have developed and refined label-free photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for breast specimens. Exploiting the intrinsic optical contrast of tissue, ultraviolet (UV) laser illumination can highlight cell nuclei, thus providing the same contrast as hematoxylin labeling used in conventional histology and measuring features related to the histological landscape without the need for labels. We demonstrate that our UV-PAM system can provide label-free, high-resolution, and histology-like imaging of fixed, unprocessed breast tissue