Sensitive detection of voltage transients using differential intensity surface plasmon resonance system.

This paper describes theoretical and experimental study of the fundamentals of using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for label-free detection of voltage. Plasmonic voltage sensing relies on the capacitive properties of metal-electrolyte interface that are governed by electrostatic interactions between charge carriers in both phases. Externally-applied voltage leads to changes in the free electron density in the surface of the metal, shifting the SPR position. The study shows the effects of the applied voltage on the shape of the SPR curve. It also provides a comparison between the theoretical and experimental response to the applied voltage. The response is presented in a universal term that can be used to assess the voltage sensitivity of different SPR instruments. Finally, it demonstrates the capacity of the SPR system in resolving dynamic voltage signals; a detection limit of 10mV with a temporal resolution of 5ms is achievable. These findings pave the way for the use of SPR systems in the detection of electrical activity of biological cells.

Anti-confocal assessment of middle ear inflammation.

To improve the diagnostic prediction of recurrence of otitis media with effusion after surgery, an anti-confocal system combined with spectroscopic measurements is proposed to reject unwanted signals from the eardrum and assess the blood content. The anti-confocal system was experimentally evaluated on both optical middle ear phantom and human skin. Results showed effective rejection of signals from the eardrum using a central stop replacing the confocal pinhole, while still detecting signals from the middle ear mucosa. The system is sensitive to changes in blood content, but scattering and absorption characteristics of the eardrum can distort the measurement. Confocal detection of eardrum properties was shown to be a promising approach to correct measurements.

Novel presenilin 1 mutation (p.F386I) in a Chinese family with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Autosomal dominant familial Alzheimer's disease accounts for 0.5% of all Alzheimer's disease. A familial Alzheimer's disease Chinese family, with 7 affected family members, underwent PSEN1 screening in 3 affected family members. A heterozygous novel missense mutation in the PSEN1 gene c.1156T>A, altering phenylalanine to isoleucine at codon 386, was identified. Because the change occurred in conserved domains of this gene and cosegregated with affected family members, this change may have a mutagenic and probably pathogenic effect.

Anti-confocal versus confocal assessment of the middle ear simulated by Monte Carlo methods.

The ability to monitor the inflammatory state of the middle ear mucosa would provide clinical utility. To enable spectral measurements on the mucosa whilst rejecting background signal from the eardrum an anti-confocal system is investigated. In contrast to the central pinhole in a confocal system the anti-confocal system uses a central stop to reject light from the in-focus plane, the eardrum, with all other light detected. Monte Carlo simulations of this system show an increase in detected signal and improved signal-to-background ratio compared to a conventional confocal set-up used to image the middle ear mucosa. System parameters are varied in the simulation and their influence on the level of background rejection are presented.

Sub-100 nm resolution microscopy based on proximity projection grating scheme.

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) has been widely used in life science imaging applications. The maximum resolution improvement of SIM, compared to conventional bright field system is a factor of 2. Here we present an approach to structured illumination microscopy using the proximity projection grating scheme (PPGS), which has the ability to further enhance the SIM resolution without invoking any nonlinearity response from the sample. With the PPGS-based SIM, sub-100 nm resolution has been obtained experimentally, and results corresponding to 2.4 times resolution improvement are presented. Furthermore, it will be shown that an improvement of greater than 3 times can be achieved.

Highly sensitive multipoint real-time kinetic detection of Surface Plasmon bioanalytes with custom CMOS cameras.

Phase sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) techniques are a popular means of characterizing biomolecular interactions. However, limitations due to the narrow dynamic range and difficulty in adapting the method for multi-point sensing have restricted its range of applications. This paper presents a compact phase sensitive SPR technology using a custom CMOS camera. The system is exceptionally versatile enabling one to trade dynamic range for sensitivity without altering the optical system. We present results showing sensitivity over the array of better than 10(-6) Refractive Index Units (RIU) over a refractive index range of 2×10(-2)RIU, with peak sensitivity of 3×10(-7)RIU at the center of this range. We also explain how simply altering the settings of polarization components can give sensitivity on the order of 10(-8)RIU albeit at the cost of lower dynamic range. The consistent response of the custom CMOS camera in the system also allowed us to demonstrate precise quantitative detection of two Fibrinogen antibody-protein binding sites. Moreover, we use the system to determine reaction kinetics and argue how the multipoint detection gives useful insight into the molecular binding mechanisms.

Super-resolution imaging using proximity projection grating and structured light illumination.

This paper addresses optical super-resolution in the far field. We will describe the use of a novel optical component, which we call the proximity projection grating (PPG), that can provide different intensity patterns for sample illumination. These different illumination patterns allow the optical system to perform various modes of imaging, all are capable of resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit. Results will be shown to demonstrate the operations of some of these imaging modes. The potential of the PPG unit will also be discussed.

Polarization modulation thermal lens microscopy for imaging the orientation of non-spherical nanoparticles.

In this paper a far field optical technique we call polarization modulation thermal lens microscopy (PM-TLM) is used for imaging the orientation and dichroism of non-spherical nanoparticles. In PM-TLM, the polarization state of a pump beam is periodically modulated which in turn causes morphology related intensity fluctuations in a continuous probe beam, thus allowing high signal to noise ratio detection with using lock-in amplification. Since PM-TLM uses nanoparticle absorption as the contrast mechanism, it may be used to detect and image nanoparticles of far smaller dimensions than can be observed by conventional dark field optical microscopy. The technique, its implementation and experiment results are presented.

Proximity projection grating structured light illumination microscopy.

Structured illumination has been employed in fluorescence microscopy to extend its lateral resolution. It has been demonstrated that a factor of 2 improvement can be achieved. In this paper, we introduce a novel optical arrangement that can further improve the resolution. It makes use of a fine grating held in close proximity to the sample. The fringe pattern thus projected onto the sample contains grating vectors substantially higher than those that are possible with the conventional structured illumination setup. We will present experimental results to demonstrate the principle of the technique, and will show that, theoretically, it can achieve an imaging NA approaching 4.

Wide-field high-resolution surface-plasmon interference microscopy.

We describe a wide-field interferometric surface-plasmon microscope capable of submicrometer resolution. The system is a speckle-illuminated Linnik interferometer, which behaves as a wide-field analog of a scanning heterodyne interferometer. The presented images demonstrate contrast reversals at different defocus while retaining submicrometer lateral resolution. The contrast mechanisms are discussed as well as the instrumental requirements of the technique.

Trace analysis of icariin in human serum with dansyl chloride derivatization after oral administration of Epimedium decoction by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Epimedium herbs are a type of complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with high estrogenic bioactivity. The Epimedium herbal decoction mixture contains many compounds including icariin that can exert potent effects on numerous physiological processes related to human health. An ultrasensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed to determine trace levels of icariin in human serum with dansyl chloride derivatization after oral administration of the Epimedium herbal decoctions. The dansyl-icariin showed an intense protonated molecular ion at m/z 910. The collision-induced dissociation of this ion formed a distinctive product at m/z 764, corresponding to a characteristic removal of a rhamnose sugar moiety of icariin. The selected reaction monitoring, based on the m/z 910-->764 transition, was highly specific and ultrasenstive for icariin in human serum samples. The lower limit of quantitation was 10 pg/mL icariin spiked into blank serum. The ranges of coefficients of variation for interday assays and intraday assays were 0-15.0% and 1.1-17.5%, respectively, for a wide linear range from 10 pg/mL to 4 ng/mL. This method was successfully applied to measure trace levels of icariin in a human serum after oral administration of Epimedium decoction within 48 h for the first time.

Use of artificial neural networks on optical track width measurements.

We have demonstrated recently that, by using an ultrastable optical interferometer together with artificial neural networks (ANNs), track widths down to 60 nm can be measured with a 0.3 NA objective lens. We investigate the effective conditions for training ANNs. Experimental results will be used to show the characteristics of the training samples and the data format of the ANN inputs required to produce suitably trained ANNs. Results obtained with networks measuring double tracks, and classifying different structures, will be presented to illustrate the capability of the technique. We include a discussion on expansion of the application areas of the system, allowing it to be used as a general purpose instrument.

Full-field heterodyne interference microscope with spatially incoherent illumination.

A heterodyne interference microscope arrangement for full-field imaging is described. The reference and object beams are formed with highly correlated, time-varying laser speckle patterns. The speckle illumination confers a confocal transfer function to the system, and by temporal averaging, the coherence noise that often degrades coherent full-field microscope images is suppressed. The microscope described is similar to a Linnik-type microscope and allows the use of high-numerical-aperture objective lenses, but the temporal coherence of the illumination permits the use of a low-power achromatic doublet in the reference arm. The use of a doublet simplifies alignment of the microscope and can reduce the cost. Preliminary results are presented that demonstrate full-field surface height precision of 1 nm rms.

Amplitude and phase microscopy for sizing of spherical particles.

We describe a numerical vector diffraction model based on Mie theory that describes the imaging of spherical particles by bright-field, confocal, and interferometric microscopes. The model correctly scales the amplitude-scattered field relative to the incident field so that the forward-scattered and incident light can be interfered to correctly model imaging with copolarization transmission microscopes for the first time to our knowledge. The model is used to demonstrate that amplitude and phase imaging with an interferometric microscope allows subwavelength particle sizing. Furthermore, we show that the phase channel allows much smaller particles to be sized than amplitude-only measurements. The model is validated by experimental measurements.

Focus errors and their correction in microscopic deformation analysis using correlation.

Subpixel digital image correlation has been applied to microscope images to analyze surface deformation. Nonintegral pixel shifting and successive approximation are used to calculate the subpixel element of the sample displacement without introducing systematic interpolation errors. Although in-plane displacement precision of better than 2% of a pixel, or < 15 nm at x10 magnification, is shown to be achievable, the use of even moderate numerical aperture microscope objectives render the technique sensitive to errors or variations in sample focusing. The magnitude of this effect is determined experimentally and a focus compensation method is described and demonstrated.

The influencing Factors of Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Patients / 대한신장학회잡지

This study was performed to evaluate the factors influencing the Quality of Life(QOL) in hemodialysis patients. Authors surveyed and analyzed the questionnaires about social characteristics, symptom, social support, satisfaction with life and quality of life. With these questionnaires, authors compared the hemodialysis patients(N=240, >6 month with hemodialysis) with the control group(N=240). Additionally authors eva- luated the anemia state, nutritional state and dialysis effect, and then analyzed the correlation between these laboratory findings and quality of life in hemodialysis patients. The results were as follows ; 1) The mean age of control group was 33.4 +/- 8.2 yrs, and the patients group was 48.812yrs. 2) Of 294 patients, 73 had the religion(75.2%), 173 had studied above high school(58.8%), 211 were married(71.8%), and 94 were homemaker(3296). Economically, 130 of 294 patients(44.2M) were the middle classes. The patients without occupation were 121 of 294 patients(41.2M), while those with occupation were 77(26.1%) and remainder were housemaker. The patients with medical insurance were 59.9%, those with 1st Medicaid were 22.4%, and those with 2nd Medicaid were 17%. 3) The causes of ESRD were CGN(29.5%), DM (22.3%), etc. Total duration of hemodialysis was 51.4 43.8 months in average, and weekly hemodialysis time was 11.541.98 hours in average. Average BMI was 20.6 +/- 2.79, and in 236 of 294 patients(80.1%), EPO was injected. Of all the complication, 96(32.9%) was cardiovascular problem. Iron storage state was relatively good in all the patients, and the mean level of PTH-i was 174.3 +/- 307.9pg/dl, hemoglobin 8.5 +/- 1.3g/dl, cholesterol 161.536.6mg/dl, total protein 6.60.5g/dl, albumin 3.960.4g/dl. The URR was 65.36.9%, and KtV was 1.3 +/- 0.3. The comparison about laboratory finding between male and female was as followed; Hb. and albumin level was signifi- cantly higher in male compared with female patients, and cholesterol, URR and Kt/V was significantly higher in female than in male. 4) The result of statistic analysis about several variables and Questionnaires. (1) The subjective and objective instrument about QOL showed positive correlation, and the QOL was correlated positively to symptom, physical health state and social support. (2) Of social characteristics, the direct influencing factors for QOL were occupation, economic state, marriage state, and educational state, whereas in- direct factors were a fee for medical treatment and social support. In clinical and laboratory characteristics, the significant factors were age, DM, symptoms, albumin, pre-dialytic creatinine, sodium and calcium. The effect of dialysis did not correlate with QOL. In conclusion, to increase QOL in dialysis pa- tients, all of the community, family, and medical team should make an effort. Firsty, the concern and the support of the community about the dialysis patients should be promoted in social welfare and the opportunity of employment. Secondly, the patients should promote the self-reliance and self- efficacy to take a share of their role in the community and a family by their own efforts. Lastly, the medical team should make an effort to decrease the symptom, to correct the anemia and malnutrition, to treat the complication, and to promote the physical activity. Through these efforts, the health of patients will be elevated. Elevation of the patient's health will increase the possibility of employment and self-reliance, and subsequently will increase the economics. If so, the burden of a fee for the medical treatment will be reduced. Additionally, if social and familial support increase, the QOL of the dialysis patients will be better.

Changes of Na-K ATPase during acute ischemic renal failure / 대한신장학회잡지

No abstract available.

Two cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome / 대한신장학회잡지

No abstract available.

Clinical significance of cellular immunity in the renal interstitium of IgA nephropathy / 대한신장학회잡지

No abstract available.