Unsaturated lipid bodies as a hallmark of inflammation studied by Raman 2D and 3D microscopy

Endothelial HMEC-1 cells incubated with pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α for 6 and 24 hours were studied as a model of inflammation using Raman imaging. Striking changes in distribution, composition and concentration of cellular lipids were observed after exposure to TNF-α compared to the control. In particular, 3D Raman imaging revealed a significant increase in the amount of lipid entities formed under inflammation. Lipid bodies were randomly distributed in the cytoplasm and two types of droplets were assembled: more saturated one, in spectral characteristics resembling phosphatidylcholine and saturated cholesteryl esters, observed also in the control, and highly unsaturated one, containing also cholesterols, being a hallmark of inflamed cells. The statistical analysis showed that the number of lipid bodies was significantly dependent on the exposure time to TNF-α. Overall, observed formation of unsaturated lipid droplets can be directly correlated with the increase in production of prostacyclins - endogenous inflammation mediators

Identification and Characterization of Skin Biomolecules for Drug Targeting and Monitoring by Vibrational Spectroscopy

The article discusses the application of vibrational spectroscopy techniques for in vivo identification and characterization of glucose biomolecules monitored in the skin of healthy, prediabetes and diabetes subjects; for molecular characterization of water and proteins in in vivo monitored patch tested inflamed skin of the patients with contact dermatitis; for description of nucleic acids and proteins at the molecular level with progression to malignancy in skin cancerous lesions. The results of the studies show new possibilities to assess activity levels of glucose metabolism in the skin tissue of healthy, prediabetes and diabetes subjects; activity and severity of inflammation; activity of the processes of carcinogenesis with regard to benign, premalignant and malignant transformation. Based on our findings, we suggest that vibrational spectroscopy might be a rapid screening tool with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to identify and characterize skin biomolecules in described diseases for drug targeting and monitoring by the pharmacological community

Spectroscopic approach for dynamic bioanalyte tracking with minimal concentration information

Vibrational spectroscopy has emerged as a promising tool for non-invasive, multiplexed measurement of blood constituents - an outstanding problem in biophotonics. Here, we propose a novel analytical framework that enables spectroscopy-based longitudinal tracking of chemical concentration without necessitating extensive a priori concentration information. The principal idea is to employ a concentration space transformation acquired from the spectral information, where these estimates are used together with the concentration profiles generated from the system kinetic model. Using blood glucose monitoring by Raman spectroscopy as an illustrative example, we demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach as compared to conventional calibration methods. Specifically, our approach exhibits a 35% reduction in error over partial least squares regression when applied to a dataset acquired from human subjects undergoing glucose tolerance tests. This method offers a new route at screening gestational diabetes and opens doors for continuous process monitoring without sample perturbation at intermediate time points.National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (9P41EB015871-27)Kwansei Gakuin University (Grant 126004

Bordetella pertussis population dynamics and phylogeny in Japan after adoption of acellular pertussis vaccines

Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, has experienced a resurgence in the past 15 years, despite the existence of both whole-cell and acellular vaccines. Here, we performed whole genome sequencing analysis of 149 clinical strains, provided by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan, isolated in 1982-2014, after Japan became the first country to adopt acellular vaccines against B. pertussis. Additionally, we sequenced 39 strains provided by the Konan Kosei Hospital in Aichi prefecture, Japan, isolated in 2008-2013. The genome sequences afforded insight into B. pertussis genome variability and population dynamics in Japan, and revealed that the B. pertussis population in Japan was characterized by two major clades that divided more than 40 years ago. The pertactin gene was disrupted in about 20 % of the 149 NIID isolates, by either a deletion within the signal sequence (ΔSS) or the insertion of IS element IS481 (prn :: IS481). Phylogeny suggests that the parent clones for these isolates originated in Japan. Divergence dating traced the first generation of the pertactin-deficient mutants in Japan to around 1990, and indicated that strains containing the alternative pertactin allele prn2 may have appeared in Japan around 1974. Molecular clock data suggested that observed fluctuations in B. pertussis population size may have coincided with changes in vaccine usage in the country. The continuing failure to eradicate the disease warrants an exploration of novel vaccine compositions

Comparison in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Salicylideneamine between Silver and Gold Colloid and Silver Mirror Substrate

由水杨醛衍生得到的Schiff碱由于其具有起因于受激分子内质子转移的光致 (热致 )变色性质而受到了人们的重视 .本文利用表面增强拉曼光谱研究了该类化合物在金、银基底及银溶胶表面上的拉曼光谱 ,比较了不同基底对吸附分子结构的影响In recent years, the study of photochromic and thermochromic materials has grown because of their possible applications in the optical processing of information, in addition to the scientific interest. Salicylidineaniles is one of the prospective choices owing to their photochromism caused by intramolecular hydrogen transfer [1～3] (Fig.1). It is generally agreed that, in the salicylideneamine system, photoexcitation is followed by a rapid barrierless proton transfer and subsequent rearrangement to form a colored photoproduct [4] . The photochemistry of the system in fluid solution is different from that of the solid, even in fluid solution, the photo? and thermo?chromic behavior is changed with the polarity of solvent [5,6] . Although the study on these Schiff bases has been continuing for several decades, there is no conclusion on the photochromic mechanism and the structure of the photoproduct by now.作者联系地址：吉林大学超分子结构与谱学教育部重点实验室!吉林长春130023,日本关西学院大学理学部!日本西宫市662-8501Author's Address: 1. Key Lab. for Supramolecular Structure and Spectroscopy of Ministry of Education, Jilin Univ., Changchun, 130023,China.2. School of Science, Kwansei?Gakuin Univ., Nishinomiya 662?8501, Japan; Detail

ニホン シカ ダイガク リンショウ ジッシュウ シサツ ホウコク

We made a field trip to Nippon Dental University Hospital to observe its clinical training practices on February 16, 2011. Distinctive features of the clinical training system were as follows. 1) Clinical training is given to fifth-year students. Students in the sixth-year are intent on their studies. 2) There is a one-month overlap in the training periods between these two groups, as patients are handed over from the fifth- to the fourth-year students. This handover is a student-led event. 3) After this period, pre-clinical training is given to the fifth-year students for three months, and then clinical training begins. 4) Patients are requested to evaluate and give feedback to the students treating them. Each student should receive five or more evaluations. 5) A mentor system was introduced in 2005. According to our findings and the results of the“ World Café” held on the same day with trainee dentists and fifth-year students, we identified the following means of improving our clinical training system. First, students under clinical training are now permitted to participate in case-report conferences of trainee dentists, as of 2011. This program was introduced based on the concept of top-down processing to help students form perceptions about cases and treatment. Second, the necessity of a faculty-development program focused on clinical training is recognized, to standardize and improve the guidance given to students by advising doctors. Third, the mentor system and the“ World Café” need more attention as elements of clinical training to support students and motivate improvement

Bandwidth enhancement in an InGaN/GaN three-section superluminescent diode for optical coherence tomography

In this paper, the optoelectronic properties of InGaN-based blue (430 nm) superluminescent light-emitting diodes with a multi-section, three contact design are reported. The bias conditions of the rear absorber section and gain sections are explored in terms of enhancing and maximizing spectral bandwidth. We demonstrate that broader emission can be obtained with a short circuit, rather than an open circuit absorber section, and with two active regions at different current densities as opposed to a single active contact. Under optimal drive conditions, a −3 dB linewidth of 20 nm is obtained at 430 nm. Analysis of the device emission spectrum indicates that an axial resolution of ∼3.4 μm may be obtained in an optical coherence tomography system