Spectral unmixing of multiply stained fluorescence samples T

The widespread use of fluorescence microscopy along with the vast library of available fluorescent stains and staining methods has been extremely beneficial to researchers in many fields, ranging from material sciences to plant biology. In clinical diagnostics, the ability to combine different markers in a given sample allows the simultaneous detection of the expression of several different molecules, which in turn provides a powerful diagnostic tool for pathologists, allowing a better classification of the sample at hand. The correct detection and separation of multiple stains in a sample is achieved not only by the biochemical and optical properties of the markers, but also by the use of appropriate hardware and software tools. In this chapter, we will review and compare these tools along with their advantages and limitations

Ellipsometry noise spectrum, suspension transfer function measurement and closed-loop control of the suspension system in the Q & A experiment

The Q & A experiment, aiming at the detection of vacuum birefringence predicted by quantum electrodynamics, consists mainly of a suspended 3.5 m Fabry-Perot cavity, a rotating permanent dipole magnet and an ellipsometer. The 2.3 T magnet can rotate up to 10 rev/s, introducing an ellipticity signal at twice the rotation frequency. The X-pendulum gives a good isolation ratio for seismic noise above its main resonant frequency 0.3 Hz. At present, the ellipsometry noise decreases with frequency, from 1*10^{-5} rad Hz^{-1/2} at 5 Hz, 2*10^{-6} rad Hz^{-1/2} at 20 Hz to 5*10^{-7} rad Hz^{-1/2} at 40 Hz. The shape of the noise spectrum indicates possible improvement can be made by further reducing the movement between the cavity mirrors. From the preliminary result of yaw motion alignment control, it can be seen that some peaks due to yaw motion of the cavity mirror was suppressed. In this paper, we first give a schematic view of the Q & A experiment, and then present the measurement of transfer function of the compound X-pendulum-double pendulum suspension. A closed-loop control was carried out to verify the validity of the measured transfer functions. The ellipsometry noise spectra with and without yaw alignment control and the newest improvement is presented.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, presented in 6th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, June 2005, Okinawa Japan and submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Some modifications are made according to the referee's comments: mainly to explain the relation between the displacement of cavity mirror and the ellipticity noise spectru

Suspension of the fiber mode-cleaner launcher and measurement of the high extinction-ratio (10^{-9}) ellipsometer for the Q & A experiment

The Q & A experiment, first proposed and started in 1994, provides a feasible way of exploring the quantum vacuum through the detection of vacuum birefringence effect generated by QED loop diagram and the detection of the polarization rotation effect generated by photon-interacting (pseudo-)scalar particles. Three main parts of the experiment are: (1) Optics System (including associated Electronic System) based on a suspended 3.5-m high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity, (2) Ellipsometer using ultra-high extinction-ratio polarizer and analyzer, and (3) Magnetic Field Modulation System for generating the birefringence and the polarization rotation effect. In 2002, the Q & A experiment achieved the Phase I sensitivity goal. During Phase II, we set (i) to improve the control system of the cavity mirrors for suppressing the relative motion noise, (ii) to enhance the birefringence signal by setting-up a 60-cm long 2.3 T transverse permanent magnet rotatable to 10 rev/s, (iii) to reduce geometrical noise by inserting a polarization-maintaining optical fiber (PM fiber) as a mode cleaner, and (iv) to use ultra-high extinction-ratio (10^{-9}) polarizer and analyzer for ellipsometry. Here we report on (iii) & (iv); specifically, we present the properties of the PM-fiber mode-cleaner, the transfer function of its suspension system, and the result of our measurement of high extinction-ratio polarizer and analyzer.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, presented in the 6th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, Okinawa, Japan, June 2005, and accepted by "Journal of Physics: Conference Series". Modifications from version 2 were made based on the referees' comments on figures. Ref. [31] were update

Lupus anticoagulant identifies two distinct groups of patients with different antibody patterns

Background: Whether antibodies directed to β2-Glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI) are responsible for LA activity is not well defined. However, in the absence of such antibodies the molecule responsible for LA phenomenon is unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was the biochemical identification of the target antigen epitope of aPL responsible of LA activity in the absence of aβ2GPI antibodies together with the biological and clinical characteristics of these patients in comparison with classical triple positive patients. Patients/methods: A comparison of patients with LA without (LA+/aβ2GPI−) and those with (LA+/aβ2GPI+) associated aβ2GPI antibodies was performed. Size exclusion chromatography and analytical chromatography were used to identify the molecule with LA activity in patients LA+/aβ2GPI-. Results and conclusions: Analytical size-exclusion chromatography revealed a peak of 996Kd with LA activity perfectly overlapping that of IgM anti phosphatidylserine/prothrombin (aPS/PT) antibodies. Similarly, all the 25 LA+/aβ2GPI− patients were positive for aPS/PT antibodies. LA+/aβ2GPI− compared to 33 LA+/aβ2GPI+ patients turned out to be significantly older, with a lower rate of previous thromboembolic events and a weaker LA activity. Search for aPS/PT and aβ2GPI antibodies in patients with LA is useful to identify two subgroups of LA at different risk of thromboembolic event

Human amniotic membrane for myocutaneous dehiscence after a radical surgical treatment of vulvar cancer: A case report

Background: The application of the amniotic membrane could have a favourable effect on tissue repair and regeneration. We report the first case of implant of an amniotic membrane in a patient affected by myo-cutaneous dehiscence, after a radical surgical treatment for vulvar cancer. Methods: We describe a case of a 74-years-old patient affected by vulvar cancer. After radiotherapy, the patient underwent to an anterior pelvic exenteration with uretero-ileo-cutaneostomy by Wallace, bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy, omental biopsies, omental flap, bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy, resection of ulcerated left inguinal lesion, reconstruction with left gracilis muscle flap and locoregional V-Y advancement flap. The patient developed a myo-cutaneous dehiscence. Two months after the surgery, following an accurate curettage of the wound and negative pressure therapy, a patch of human amniotic membrane was implanted. Results: The surgical procedure was easy, feasible and did not require long operating room times. No intraoperative or postoperative complications occurred. The results obtained were encouraging with a marked improvement in the surgical wound. Conclusion: the use of amniotic membranes was safely and easily performed to promote the healing of complicated surgical wounds

Recent experimental results in sub- and near-barrier heavy ion fusion reactions

Recent advances obtained in the field of near and sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion reactions are reviewed. Emphasis is given to the results obtained in the last decade, and focus will be mainly on the experimental work performed concerning the influence of transfer channels on fusion cross sections and the hindrance phenomenon far below the barrier. Indeed, early data of sub-barrier fusion taught us that cross sections may strongly depend on the low-energy collective modes of the colliding nuclei, and, possibly, on couplings to transfer channels. The coupled-channels (CC) model has been quite successful in the interpretation of the experimental evidences. Fusion barrier distributions often yield the fingerprint of the relevant coupled channels. Recent results obtained by using radioactive beams are reported. At deep sub-barrier energies, the slope of the excitation function in a semi-logarithmic plot keeps increasing in many cases and standard CC calculations over-predict the cross sections. This was named a hindrance phenomenon, and its physical origin is still a matter of debate. Recent theoretical developments suggest that this effect, at least partially, may be a consequence of the Pauli exclusion principle. The hindrance may have far-reaching consequences in astrophysics where fusion of light systems determines stellar evolution during the carbon and oxygen burning stages, and yields important information for exotic reactions that take place in the inner crust of accreting neutron stars.Comment: 40 pages, 63 figures, review paper accepted for EPJ

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson