Determination of tissue optical properties by steady-state spatial frequency-domain reflectometry

A new non-invasive method to measure the optical properties of biological tissue is described. This method consists of illuminating the investigated sample with light which is spatially periodically modulated in intensity. The spatial modulation of the backscattered light and the diffuse reflectivity of the sample, both detected with an imaging technique, are used to deduce the absorption and reduced scattering coefficient from a table generated by Monte Carlo simulations. This principle has three major advantages: Firstly, it permits the immediate acquisition of the average values of the optical coefficients over a relatively large area (typ. 20 mm in diameter), thus avoiding the perturbations generated by small tissue heterogeneities; It also provides good flexibility for measuring the optical coefficients at various wavelengths and it does not require the use of a detector with a large dynamic range. The method was first validated on phantoms with known optical properties. Finally, we measured the optical properties of human skin at 400 nm, 500 nm, 633 nm and 700 nm in vivo.     

Neutral Polymeric Surfactants Derived from Dextran: A Study of Their Aqueous Solution Behavior

Summary: Amphiphilic polysaccharides are obtained by hydrophobic modification of a neutral bacterial polysaccharide, dextran. By reacting the polysaccharide with aliphatic epoxides (epoxyoctane and epoxydodecane) in dimethyl sulfoxide, a series of amphiphilic polymers is obtained which covers a large range of structural parameters (length of the polysaccharide, number and nature of hydrocarbon moieties). The solution behavior of dextran derivatives is first characterized by viscometric measurements in dilute and semi‐dilute domains. The effects of molecular parameters on polymer viscosity behavior are evidenced and discussed. Information on the state of aggregation of polymers is obtained by the use of static and dynamic light scattering. The presence of aggregates in the dilute domain is clearly evidenced and their structural characteristics are estimated (size, molecular weight and number of aggregation). The aggregates are shown to account for the viscometric results in the examined concentration range, relating their chemical parameters (hydrodynamic radius and molecular weight) to the macroscopic behavior of the solutions.

     

Swelling,Elasticity and Spatial Inhomogeneity of Poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) Hydrogels Formed at Various Polymer Concentrations

Summary: The equilibrium swelling degree, modulus of elasticity and the spatial inhomogeneity of poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAAm) hydrogels were investigated over the entire range of the initial monomer concentration. The degree of dilution of the networks after their preparation was denoted by ν, the volume fraction of crosslinked polymer after the gel preparation. The linear swelling ratio of the gels increased linearly with increasing ν. Depending on the value of ν, three different gel regimes were observed: (1) For ν < 0.3, increasing ν decreases the extent of cyclization during crosslinking so that the effective crosslink density of gels increases with rising ν. (2) For 0.3 < ν < 0.7, increasing ν reduces the accessibility of the pendant vinyl groups during crosslinking due to steric hindrance at high polymer concentrations. As a result, the effective crosslink density of gels decreases with increasing ν. (3) For ν > 0.7, the modulus of elasticity increases sharply with increasing ν due to the increasing extent of chain entanglements in this high concentration regime. Static light scattering measurements on the gels show that the degree of spatial gel inhomogeneity in PDMAAm gels attains a maximum value at ν = 0.06. The appearance of a maximum as well as the ν‐dependence of scattered light intensities from gels was successfully reproduced by the theory proposed by Panyukov and Rabin.

Effective crosslink density ν_e of the hydrogels shown as a function of ν.     

Kubelka-Munk模型下的兔血管对氦-氖激光的散射与吸收特性

测量了兔动脉和静脉对 He-Ne激光的反射和透射传输特性。实验采用两积分球系统及波长为632.8nm的He-Ne激光器,并根据测量数据及采用 Kubelka-Munk模型分析和计算了兔动脉和静脉组织对该长激光的吸收系数、散射系数及总的光强I（x）及前向散射通量i(x）和后向散射通量j(x）随厚度的变化情况。结果表明,兔动脉和静脉的漫反射率和透射率有明显差别,而且,动脉对激光的吸收系数明显较静脉的要小,而动脉对激光的散射系数却明显较静脉的要大,在动脉和静脉组织中总的光强I（x）及前向散射通量i(x）和后向散射通量j(x）随组织厚度的变化情况也有明显的区别。     

Diagnostic accuracy of Raman spectroscopy for prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundAlthough various studies have been conducted to demonstrate the possibility of Raman spectroscopy (RS) as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer (PC), it is difficult to use it in the real clinical area because of imitations in various research processes. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis about the accuracy in diagnostic use of RS for PC.MethodsA literature search was done using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases in March 2019 to analyze the accuracy of RS for diagnosis of PC. The accuracy of RS for diagnosis of PC was evaluated by means of pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC).ResultsFive studies were included for qualitative analysis by screening the remaining articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria by means of a systematic review. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of RS were 0.89 (95% CI: 0.87–0.91) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.89–0.93), respectively. The overall PLR and NLR were 9.12 (95% CI: 4.15–20.08) and 0.14 (95% CI: 0.07–0.29), respectively. The DOR of RS demonstrated high accuracy (73.32; 95% CI: 18.43–291.73). The area under the curves (AUCs) of SROC curves was 0.93.ConclusionsRS is an optical diagnostic method with high potential for diagnosis and grading of PC and has advantages of real-time and convenient use. In order to consider real-time use of RS in an actual clinical setting, more studies for standardization and generalization of RS performance and analytical method must be conducted.     

Fluorescence and Laser Photon Counting: Measurements of Epithelial [Ca2+]i or [Na+]i with Ciliary Beat Frequency

We describe a system we developed that enabled simultaneous measurements of either epithelial calcium ion concentration ([Ca²⁺]i) or sodium ion concentration [Na⁺]i with the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) in native ciliated epithelia using either Fura-2 (AM) or SBFI (AM) ratiometric fluorescence photon counting along with nonstationary laser light scattering. Studies were performed using native epithelial tissues obtained from ovine tracheae. The dynamic range of the laser light-scattering system was determined by a simulated light beating experiment. The nonstationary CBF was demonstrated by the time-frequency analysis of the raw photon count sequences of backscattered heterodyne photons from cultured and native epithelia. Calibrations of calcium and sodium ion concentrations were performed using the respective Fura-2 and SBFI impermanent salts as well as in native epithelia. The cumulative responses of 10^–6, 10^–5, and 10^–4} M nifedipine on [Ca²⁺]i together with the CBF as well as the cumulative responses of 10^–5, 10^–4, and 10^–3 M amiloride on [Na⁺]i together with the CBF were also determined. Nifedipine decreased [Ca²⁺]i but had no effect on CBF. Amiloride decreased [Na⁺]i and CBF. Stimulation of CBF corresponded with either an increase of [Na⁺]i or an increase of [Ca²⁺]i. Decreases of [Na⁺]i or substantial decreases of [Ca²⁺]i were associated with decreases in the CBF. These data demonstrate the utility of this system for investigating the regulatory mechanisms of intracellular ions dynamics and the CBF in native epithelia. © 1998 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC98: 8780+s, 8722-q, 4262Be     

Thermoresponsive Reversible Unimer Micelles of Amphiphilic Fluorinated Copolymers

Amphiphilic fluorinated copolymers PEGMAx-co-FAy and TEGMAx-co-FAy are prepared by activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET-ATRP). All polymers present a reversible thermoresponsive lower critical solution temperature-type behavior, and a cloud point temperature (T_c) in the range of 30–60 °C strictly dependent on the length of the oxyethylene side chain, the content of the hydrophobic counits, and the concentration of the solution. Combined small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and dynamic light scattering measurements are used to study the self-assembly behavior in water, organic solvents (tetrahydrofuran [THF] and dimethylformamide [DMF]), and a fluorinated solvent (hexafluorobenzene [HFB]). SAXS confirms the formation of compact-globular single-chain self-folded unimer micelles in water below T_c, which generally presents small hydrodynamic diameters (D_h ≤ 8 nm) as a result of the folding of the hydrophobic perfluorohexylethyl acrylate counits. The copolymers are also able to form reverse unimer micelle in HFB. The copolymers are not able to self-assemble in unimer micelles in THF or DMF solutions, in which they adopt conventional random coil conformations.     

Control of resolution and perception in working memory

Mechanisms underlying and controlling resolution and perception in working memory are studied by means of a pulse-coupled network model. It is shown that the adaptivity, i.e. the degree to which previous activity affects the ability to fire, of the excitatory units can control several aspects of the network dynamics in a coordinated way to enable multiple items to be resolved and perceived in working memory. One basic aspect is the complexity of the dynamics that regulates the temporal resolution of several items. The slow NMDA-receptor-mediated component of synaptic couplings to excitatory units facilitates successive activations of a given item. The dimension of the activated subspace of the complete available neural representation space is gradually decreased as adaptivity is reduced. It is also shown that the formation of perception by sufficiently intense and coherent activation of different features of an object can be controlled concurrently with resolution by the adaptivity. The mechanisms derived can account for the observed capacity of working memory with respect to number of items consciously resolved and also for the observed temporal separation of different items. Numerous observations link neuromodulators to cognitive functions and to various brain disorders involving working memory. Based on the influence of various neuromodulators on neuronal adaptivity, the model can also account for neuromodulatory regulation of working memory functions.     

CBN对脑缺血再灌注小鼠线粒体损伤的影响

目的：观察CBN对脑缺血再灌注小鼠的线粒体损伤的影响。方法：分离提纯脑缺血再灌注小鼠脑的线粒体。用分光光度法检测线粒体的膜肿胀度，用激光拉曼光谱检测脑线粒体的生物大分子的变化。结果：小鼠脑缺血再灌注后。其线粒体出现膜肿胀，CBN50、100mg／kg iv对此有明显的抑制作用。各组脑线粒体的Raman和IR光谱基本一致。CBN组与假手术组比较接近。模型组只是在量上有一些差异。结论：CBN对脑缺血再灌注小鼠的线粒体损伤的有一定的保护作用。     

喹诺酮类抗生素在蒸发光散射检测器中响应因子的一致性考察

目的考察不同的喹诺酮类抗生素在蒸发光散射检测器(ELSD)中的响应因子是否一致，进而评价利用ELSD迅速测定该类药物含量的可行性。方法用HPLC-ELSD法测定了几种喹诺酮类抗生素（依诺沙星、左氧氟沙星、环丙沙星、洛美沙星和加替沙星）的进样量与响应取双对数的线性方程。色谱条件：YMC-Pack ODS-AM 柱 (150 mm×4.6 mm ID，5 μm)；流动相 0.5%三乙胺水溶液(三氟醋酸调至pH 2.5)-乙腈(48∶12);流速0.6 mL·min^-1。检测器条件：漂移管温度117 ℃，气体流速3.0 L·min^-1。结果5种物质的线性方程间无显著性差异（P>0.05）。结论5种不同的喹诺酮类抗生素在ELSD中的响应因子一致，可尝试用HPLC-ELSD法建立该类药物的一类新药基准品。