Novel nontoxic mitochondrial probe for confocal fluorescence microscopy.

We propose a 2,5-Bis[1-(4-N-methylpyridinium)ethen-2-yl)]-N-methylpyrrole ditriflate (PEPEP) as a novel nontoxic, nonpotentiometric mitochondrial probe for confocal fluorescence microscopy. PEPEP is a representative chromophore of a large family of heterocyclic fluorescent dyes that show fluorescence emission in aqueous media and great DNA affinity. We check its cytotoxicity and intracellular localization in mammalian and yeast cell cultures. We demonstrate that PEPEP is a very efficient dye for fluorescence confocal microscopy and a valuable alternative to the most frequently used mitochondrial stains. © 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

A Preliminary Study

Bioelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy (BIS) allows assessing the composition of body districts noninvasively and quickly, potentially providing important physiological/clinical information. However, neither portable commercial instruments nor more advanced wearable prototypes simultaneously satisfy the demanding needs of unobtrusively tracking body fluid shifts in different segments simultaneously, over a broad frequency range, for long periods and with high measurements rate. These needs are often required to evaluate exercise tests in sports or rehabilitation medicine, or to assess gravitational stresses in aerospace medicine. Therefore, the aim of this work is to present a new wearable prototype for monitoring multi-segment and multi- frequency BIS unobtrusively over long periods. Our prototype guarantees low weight, small size and low power consumption. An analog board with current- injecting and voltage-sensing electrodes across three body segments interfaces a digital board that generates square-wave current stimuli and computes impedance at 10 frequencies from 1 to 796 kHz. To evaluate the information derivable from our device, we monitored the BIS of three body segments in a volunteer before, during and after physical exercise and postural shift. We show that it can describe the dynamics of exercise-induced changes and the effect of a sit-to-stand maneuver in active and inactive muscular districts separately and simultaneously

Clinical pharmacokinetics of tramadol and main metabolites in horses undergoing orchiectomy.

Tramadol is a synthetic codeine analogue used as an analgesic in human and veterinary medicine. It is not approved for use in horses, but could represent a valid tool for pain treatment in this species.The serum pharmacokinetic profile and urinary excretion of tramadol and its metabolites (O-desmethyltramadol [M1], N-desmethyltramadol [M2] and N,O-desmethyltramadol [M5]) was investigated in a multidrug anaesthetic and analgesic approach for orchiectomy in horses. The evaluation of the degree of cardiovascular stability, the intraoperative effect and postoperative analgesia obtained by the visual analogue scale are also reported. Animal and methods: Tramadol (4 mg/kg BW) was administered intravenously to eight male yearlings as a bolus over 60 seconds, 5 min after intubation and 15 min prior to surgery. Drug quantification was performed in serum and urine for tramadol, M1, M2 and M5 by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection.Mean tramadol concentration was 14.87 ± 11.14 μg/mL at 0.08 h, and 0.05 ± 0.06 μg/mL at 10 h. Serum concentrations of M1 and M2 metabolites were quite limited. For M1 and M2, median maximum concentration (Cmax) and time to achieve maximum concentration (Tmax) were 0.05 μg/mL and 0.75 h, and 0.08 μg/mL and 2 h, respectively; M5 was never detected. In urine, tramadol was the most recovered compound, followed by M1, M2 and M5.Showing no adverse events and based on the kinetic behaviour, pre-operative tramadol IV at a dose of 4 mg/kg BW might be useful and safe as analgesic in horses undergoing surgery

Recent Advances in Time-resolved Nir Spectroscopy for Nondestructive Assessment of Fruit Quality

Non-destructive monitoring of food internal attributes by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is typically performed by the continuous wave (CW) technique, where steady state light sources (e.g. lamp or LED with constant intensity in time) and photodetectors (e.g. photodiode or charge coupled device camera) are used to measure light attenuation. Indeed light scattering can largely affect light attenuation resulting in the need of calibration for each new batch of samples. To tackle this effect time-resolved NIRS (TRS) has been proposed to improve the classical CW approach to NIRS. The main feature of TRS is its ability to retrieve information on photon path-length in a diffusive medium (generally much larger than the geometrical distance between source and detector). The use of TRS in combination with proper physical models for photon migration allows for the complete optical characterisation with the simultaneous non-destructive measurement of the optical properties (absorption and scattering) of a diffusive medium. This can be of special interest for most fruits and vegetables as well as for other foods (e.g. meat, fish, and cheese), because information derived by TRS refers to the internal properties of the medium, and is not so much affected by surface features as is the case for CW spectroscopy. In the past TRS measurements were possible only with complex laboratory instrumentation consisting of picosecond pulsed lasers, water cooled photomultiplier tubes, and electronic chain for timecorrelated single photon counting. In this work we present the recent advances in TRS technology (laser, detectors and acquisition electronics) that allow the design of portable instrumentation for use in the preharvest (i.e. in the field) and post-harvest

Lingual juvenile xanthogranuloma in a woman: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis that usually occurs during infancy and early childhood. The presence of single or multiple raised cutaneous lesions characterize this self-healing disorder. Extracutaneous sites are rare.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a rare case of oral juvenile xanthogranuloma in a 49-year-old Caucasian woman. The histopathologic diagnosis of the lingual neoformation was histiocitary proliferation with the presence of giant cells, Touton type, compatible with juvenile xanthogranuloma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To establish an accurate diagnosis, microscopic evaluation and immunohistochemical staining are necessary. Dentists, dermatologists and general practitioners may be the first to recognize this rare condition during the inspection of the oral cavity.</p

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy: Review of orofacial adverse events and role of the oral healthcare provider

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a revolutionary class of antineoplastic therapy that restore anti-tumor immunity. Consequences of this enhanced immune response include a multitude of immune related adverse events (irAEs) that can affect any body system, including the mouth. Orofacial irAEs reproduce features of numerous immune-mediated conditions, including oral lichen planus, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and Sjögren syndrome, among others. The aim of this review is to summarize known orofacial irAEs and to familiarize oral healthcare providers with how to identify and manage these toxicities as part of the care team for patients treated with ICIs

The Large-Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE)

The LSPE is a balloon-borne mission aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales, and in particular to constrain the curl component of CMB polarization (B-modes) produced by tensor perturbations generated during cosmic inflation, in the very early universe. Its primary target is to improve the limit on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations amplitudes down to r = 0.03, at 99.7% confidence. A second target is to produce wide maps of foreground polarization generated in our Galaxy by synchrotron emission and interstellar dust emission. These will be important to map Galactic magnetic fields and to study the properties of ionized gas and of diffuse interstellar dust in our Galaxy. The mission is optimized for large angular scales, with coarse angular resolution (around 1.5 degrees FWHM), and wide sky coverage (25% of the sky). The payload will fly in a circumpolar long duration balloon mission during the polar night. Using the Earth as a giant solar shield, the instrument will spin in azimuth, observing a large fraction of the northern sky. The payload will host two instruments. An array of coherent polarimeters using cryogenic HEMT amplifiers will survey the sky at 43 and 90 GHz. An array of bolometric polarimeters, using large throughput multi-mode bolometers and rotating Half Wave Plates (HWP), will survey the same sky region in three bands at 95, 145 and 245 GHz. The wide frequency coverage will allow optimal control of the polarized foregrounds, with comparable angular resolution at all frequencies.Comment: In press. Copyright 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibite

Mono- and disubstituted-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octane derivatives as analgesics structurally related to epibatidine: synthesis, activity, and modeling.

A series of 3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octanes substituted either at the 3 position compounds 1) or at the 8 position (compounds 2) by a chlorinated heteroaryl ring were synthesized, as potential analogues of the potent natural analgesic epibatidine. When tested in the hot plate assay, the majority of the compounds showed significant effects, the most interesting being the 3-(6-chloro-3-pyridazinyl)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octane (la). At a subcutaneous dose of 1 mg/kg, 1a induced a significant increase in the pain threshold, its action lasting for about 45 min. 1a also demonstrated good protection at a dose of 5 mg/kg in the mouse abdominal constriction test, while at 20 mg/kg it completely prevented the constrictions in the animals. Administration of naloxone (1 mg/kg ip) did not antagonize its antinociception while mecamylamine (2 mg/kg ip) did, thus suggesting the involvement of the nicotinic system in its action. Binding studies confirmed high affinity for the \u3b1\u3b22 nAChR subtype (K(i) = 4.1\ub10.21 nM). nAChR functional activity studies on three different cell lines showed that 1a was devoid of any activity at the neuromuscular junction. Finally, due to the analogy in their pharmacological profile with that of epibatidine, compounds were compared from a structural and conformational point of view through theoretical calculations and high-field 1H NMR spectroscopy. Results indicate that all of them present one conformation similar to that of epibatidine

Analysis of charmonium production at fixed-target experiments in the NRQCD approach

We present an analysis of the existing data on charmonium hadro-production based on non-relativistic QCD (NRQCD) calculations at the next-to-leading order (NLO). All the data on J/psi and psi' production in fixed-target experiments and on pp collisions at low energy are included. We find that the amount of color octet contribution needed to describe the data is about 1/10 of that found at the Tevatron