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Extracting structural features of rat sciatic nerve using polarization-sensitive spectral domain optical coherence tomography

We present spectral domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (SD PS-OCT) imaging of peripheral nerves. Structural and polarization-sensitive OCT imaging of uninjured rat sciatic nerves was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. OCT and its functional extension, PS-OCT, were used to image sciatic nerve structure with clear delineation of the nerve boundaries to muscle and adipose tissues. A long-known optical effect, bands of Fontana, was also observed. Postprocessing analysis of these images provided significant quantitative information, such as epineurium thickness, estimates of extinction coefficient and birefringence of nerve and muscle tissue, frequency of bands of Fontana at different stretch levels of nerve, and change in average birefringence of nerve under stretched condition. We demonstrate that PS-OCT combined with regular-intensity OCT (compared with OCT alone) allows for a clearer determination of the inner and outer boundaries of the epineurium and distinction of nerve and muscle based on their birefringence pattern. PS-OCT measurements on normal nerves show that the technique is promising for studies on peripheral nerve injury. © 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Inflation and Dark Energy from spectroscopy at z > 2

The expansion of the Universe is understood to have accelerated during two epochs: in its very first moments during a period of Inflation and much more recently, at z < 1, when Dark Energy is hypothesized to drive cosmic acceleration. The undiscovered mechanisms behind these two epochs represent some of the most important open problems in fundamental physics. The large cosmological volume at 2 < z < 5, together with the ability to efficiently target high-$z$ galaxies with known techniques, enables large gains in the study of Inflation and Dark Energy. A future spectroscopic survey can test the Gaussianity of the initial conditions up to a factor of ~50 better than our current bounds, crossing the crucial theoretical threshold of $\sigma(f_{NL}^{\rm local})$ of order unity that separates single field and multi-field models. Simultaneously, it can measure the fraction of Dark Energy at the percent level up to $z = 5$, thus serving as an unprecedented test of the standard model and opening up a tremendous discovery space

Bacterial Stressors in Minimally Processed Food

Stress responses are of particular importance to microorganisms, because their habitats are subjected to continual changes in temperature, osmotic pressure, and nutrients availability. Stressors (and stress factors), may be of chemical, physical, or biological nature. While stress to microorganisms is frequently caused by the surrounding environment, the growth of microbial cells on its own may also result in induction of some kinds of stress such as starvation and acidity. During production of fresh-cut produce, cumulative mild processing steps are employed, to control the growth of microorganisms. Pathogens on plant surfaces are already stressed and stress may be increased during the multiple mild processing steps, potentially leading to very hardy bacteria geared towards enhanced survival. Cross-protection can occur because the overlapping stress responses enable bacteria exposed to one stress to become resistant to another stress. A number of stresses have been shown to induce cross protection, including heat, cold, acid and osmotic stress. Among other factors, adaptation to heat stress appears to provide bacterial cells with more pronounced cross protection against several other stresses. Understanding how pathogens sense and respond to mild stresses is essential in order to design safe and effective minimal processing regimes

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Atomic force microscopy studies of bioprocess engineering surfaces - imaging, interactions and mechanical properties mediating bacterial adhesion

The detrimental effect of bacterial biofilms on process engineering surfaces is well documented. Thus, interest in the early stages of bacterial biofilm formation; in particular bacterial adhesion and the production of anti-fouling coatings has grown exponentially as a field. During this time, Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become an essential tool for the evaluation of bacterial adhesion. Due to its versatility AFM offers not only insight into the topographical landscape and mechanical properties of the engineering surfaces, but elucidates, through direct quantification the topographical and biomechnical properties of the foulants The aim of this paper is to collate the current research on bacterial adhesion, both theoretical and practical, and outline how AFM as a technique is uniquely equipped to provide further insight into the nanoscale world at the bioprocess engineering surface

Neuropathology and behavioural features of transgenic murine models of Alzheimer's disease.

Our understanding of the underlying biology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been steadily progressing; however, this is yet to translate into a successful treatment in humans. The use of transgenic mouse models has helped to develop our understanding of AD, not only in terms of disease pathology, but also with the associated cognitive impairments typical of AD. Plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are often amongst the last pathological changes in AD mouse models, after neuronal loss and gliosis. There is a general consensus that successful treatments need to be applied before the onset of these pathologies and associated cognitive symptoms. This review discusses the different types of AD mouse models in terms of the temporal progression of the disease, how well they replicate the pathological changes seen in human AD and their cognitive defects. We provide a critical assessment of the behavioural tests used with AD mice to assess cognitive changes and decline, and discuss how successfully they correlate with cognitive impairments in humans with AD. This information is an important tool for AD researchers, when deciding on appropriate mouse models, and when selecting measures to assess behavioural and cognitive change. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved