Far-field radiation pattern in Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) Microscopy

Far field radiation pattern under tight focusing condition is investigated in Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) microscopy both in the forward (F-CARS) and backward (E-CARS) directions. While we assume no refraction index mismatch between the sample and the environing medium, our rigorous numerical electromagnetic computation takes into account the exact polarizations of the excitation laser beams and of the induced nonlinear dipoles. F-CARS and E-CARS radiation patterns, as well as their divergence, are studied as a function of the size of the sample object and compared to the excitation beams

The role of symbiosis in the evolution

Simbioza je udruženje dvije ili više različitih vrsta organizama. S obzirom na utjecaj na organizme koje uključuje može se podijeliti u tri kategorije: mutualizam, komenzalizam i parazitizam. U prirodi su simbiotski odnosi česti i u njih ulaze organizmi svih domena (uključujući i viruse) - arheje, eubakterije i pripadnici svih carstava eukariota. Prve ideje o simbiozi predstavio je švicarski botaničar Simon Schwendener u drugoj polovici 19. stoljeća na temelju proučavanja lišajeva. Simbiozu je prvi definirao Heinrich Anton de Bary kao pojavu u kojoj različiti organizmi žive zajedno. Početkom 20. stoljeća razvila se svijest o važnosti simbioze u evoluciji te o utjecaju koevolucije različitih organizama na njihovu specijaciju i koadaptaciju. U simbiozi različiti organizmi međusobno djeluju osiguravajući jedan drugome stanište, ekološku nišu, izvor nutrijenata i reprodukciju te ostvaruju nove metaboličke funkcije, morfološka svojstva i bihevioralne osobine. Rezultati toga su evolucijski napreci koje samostalne jedinke ne bi mogle postići. Tako je mikoriza, simbioza gljiva s korijenjem biljaka, omogućila izlazak biljnih organizama na kopno, ključan za razvoj života kakav danas poznajemo. U simbiozi osobine jedne jedinke često nadomještaju nedostatke one druge. Najbolji primjer za to je da je život neobičnog dubokomorskog cjevaša, s potpunim nedostatkom probavnog sustava, omogućen u ekstremnim uvjetima dubokomorskih hidrotermalnih izvora zbog simbioze sa sumpor-oksidirajućim kemosintetskim bakterijama.Symbiosis is an association of two or more different species. Considering the impact on the organisms it includes, symbiosis can be divided into three categories: mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. Symbiotic relationships are common and they cover all domains of organisms (including viruses) - archaea, eubacteria and all kingdoms of eukaryotes. The first idea of symbiosis was presented by the Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener in the second half of the 19th century, based on the study of lichens. Symbiosis was first defined by Heinrich Anton de Bary as a phenomenon of different organisms living together. At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists became aware of the importance of symbiosis in evolution and the influence coevolution had on speciation and coadaptation of different organisms. In symbiosis, different organisms provide each other habitat, ecological niche, nutrients or reproduction and they generate new metabolic functions, morphological characteristics and behavioral traits. The result is evolutionary progress that independent individuals could not achieve. In such a way, mycorrhiza, a symbiosis of fungi with plant roots, enabled the colonization of terrestrial habitat by plants, which is essential for life as we know it. In symbiosis, the features of one species often cover the deficiencies of the other. The best example for that is the life of an unusual tubeworm, which lacks a digestive system, that was enabled in extreme habitat of deep-sea hydrothermal vents due to its symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing chemosynthetic bacteria

Imaging thrombosis with 99mTc-labeled RAM.1-antibody in vivo.

Platelets play a major role in thrombo-embolic diseases, notably by forming a thrombus that can ultimately occlude a vessel. This may provoke ischemic pathologies such as myocardial infarction, stroke or peripheral artery diseases, which represent the major causes of death worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the specificity of radiolabeled Rat-Anti-Mouse antibody (RAM.1).We describe a method to detect platelets by using a RAM.1 coupled with the chelating agent hydrazinonicotinic acid (HYNIC) conjugated toWe demonstrated a quick and strong affinity of the radiolabeled RAM.1 for the platelet thrombus. Results clearly demonstrated the ability of this radioimmunoconjugate for detecting thrombi from 10 min post injection with an exceptional thrombi uptake. Using FeClThanks to the high sensitivity of SPECT, we provided evidence that [journal articleresearch support, non-u.s. gov't2018 062018 03 17importe

Local carrier recombination and associated dynamics in m-plane InGaN/GaN quantum wells probed by picosecond cathodoluminescence

We report on spatially resolved and time-resolved cathodoluminescence (CL) studies of the recombination mechanisms of InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) grown by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy on bulk m-plane Ammono GaN substrates. As a result of the 2° miscut of the GaN substrate, the sample surface exhibits step bunches, where semi-polar QWs with a higher indium concentration than the planar m-plane QWs form during the QW growth. Spatially resolved time-integrated CL maps under both continuous and pulsed excitation show a broad emission band originating from the m-plane QWs and a distinct low energy emission originating from the semi-polar QWs at the step bunches. High resolution time-resolved CL maps reveal that when the m-QWs are excited well away from the step bunches the emission from the m-plane QWs decays with a time constant of 350 ps, whereas the emission originating semi-polar QWs decays with a longer time constant of 489 ps. The time constant of the decay from the semi-polar QWs is longer due to the separation of the carrier wavefunctions caused by the electric field across the semi-polar QWs.This work has been funded by the EPSRC (Grant Nos. EP/J003603/1, EP/J001627/1, and EP/M011682/1) and in part by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grants Agreement No. 279361 (MACONS)

Aortic thrombus in a patient with myeloproliferative thrombocytosis, successfully treated by pharmaceutical therapy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Thrombosis in myeloproliferative thrombocytosis occurs usually in the microvessels and medium-sized arteries and veins and only rarely in the aorta. Aortic thrombosis is usually treated with thrombectomy. Reported here is a rare case that was treated pharmacologically.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 60-year-old Japanese woman presented with numbness of both lower extremities. Her platelet count was 1787 × 10³/μl. Through bone marrow examination, we diagnosed her condition as myelodysplastic and/or myeloproliferative disorder-unclassifiable. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomographic scan revealed aortic thrombosis. Her platelet count was controlled with hydroxyurea and ranimustine. Aspirin and ticlopidine improved the numbness in both lower limbs on the second day. Aortic thrombosis was not observed in a computed tomographic scan on the seventh day.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>For aortic thrombosis, surgical management is usually adopted, but pharmacological management is also an option because of its immediate curative effects.</p

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Cell Cycle Regulation and Cytoskeletal Remodelling Are Critical Processes in the Nutritional Programming of Embryonic Development

Many mechanisms purport to explain how nutritional signals during early development are manifested as disease in the adult offspring. While these describe processes leading from nutritional insult to development of the actual pathology, the initial underlying cause of the programming effect remains elusive. To establish the primary drivers of programming, this study aimed to capture embryonic gene and protein changes in the whole embryo at the time of nutritional insult rather than downstream phenotypic effects. By using a cross-over design of two well established models of maternal protein and iron restriction we aimed to identify putative common “gatekeepers” which may drive nutritional programming

Resident Cardiac Immune Cells and Expression of the Ectonucleotidase Enzymes CD39 and CD73 after Ischemic Injury

BACKGROUND: The ectoenzymes CD39 and CD73 are expressed by a broad range of immune cells and promote the extracellular degradation of nucleotides to anti-inflammatory adenosine. This study explored the abundance of CD73 and CD39 on circulating and resident cardiac leukocytes and coronary endothelial cells under control conditions and in response to inflammation following myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). METHODS AND RESULTS: A method was elaborated to permit FACS analysis of non-myocardial cells (resident leukocytes, coronary endothelium and CD31(-) CD45(-) cells) of the unstressed heart. Under control conditions the murine heart contained 2.3 × 10(3) resident leukocytes/mg tissue, the most prominent fraction being antigen-presenting mononuclear cells (CD11b(+) CD11c(+) F4/80(+) MHCII(+)) followed by B-cells, monocytes and T-cells. CD73 was highly expressed on circulating and resident cardiac lymphoid cells with little expression on myeloid cells, while the opposite was true for CD39. Cardiomyocytes and erythrocytes do not measurably express CD39/CD73 and CD39 dominates on coronary endothelium. Three days after I/R, CD73 was significantly upregulated on invading granulocytes (2.8-fold) and T-cells (1.5-fold). Compared with coronary endothelial cells, CD73 associated with leukocytes comprised 2/3 of the total cardiac CD73. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that extracellular ATP formed during I/R is preferentially degraded by CD39 present on myeloid cells, while the formation of immunosuppressive adenosine is mainly catalysed by CD73 present on granulocytes and lymphoid cells. Upregulated CD73 on granulocytes and T-cells infiltrating the injured heart is consistent with the existence of an autocrine adenosinergic loop which may promote the healing process