Primary leiomyosarcoma in the heart of a guinea pig.

Leiomyosarcoma was diagnosed in the heart of a 3-year-old female guinea pig. Neoplastic tissue was located in the ventricular septum extending into the right ventricular lumen, but was not obvious grossly. Microscopically, the mass was nodular and infiltrative and was composed of streams and bundles of spindle cells. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin. There was no cross striation of the muscle cells. This is the first report of cardiac leiomyosarcoma in a guinea pig.

Dispersive optical interface based on nanofiber-trapped atoms.

We dispersively interface an ensemble of 1000 atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding a tapered optical nanofiber. This method relies on the azimuthally asymmetric coupling of the ensemble with the evanescent field of an off-resonant probe beam, transmitted through the nanofiber. The resulting birefringence and dispersion are significant; we observe a phase shift per atom of ∼1 mrad at a detuning of 6 times the natural linewidth, corresponding to an effective resonant optical density per atom of 0.027. Moreover, we utilize this strong dispersion to nondestructively determine the number of atoms.

Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber.

Trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms are essential requirements for their use in advanced quantum technologies. Here we simultaneously realize both of these tasks with cesium atoms interacting with a multicolor evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber. The atoms are localized in a one-dimensional optical lattice about 200 nm above the nanofiber surface and can be efficiently interrogated with a resonant light field sent through the nanofiber. Our technique opens the route towards the direct integration of laser-cooled atomic ensembles within fiber networks, an important prerequisite for large scale quantum communication schemes. Moreover, it is ideally suited to the realization of hybrid quantum systems that combine atoms with, e.g., solid state quantum devices.

Cold-atom physics using ultrathin optical fibers: light-induced dipole forces and surface interactions.

The strong evanescent field around ultrathin unclad optical fibers bears a high potential for detecting, trapping, and manipulating cold atoms. Introducing such a fiber into a cold-atom cloud, we investigate the interaction of a small number of cold cesium atoms with the guided fiber mode and with the fiber surface. Using high resolution spectroscopy, we observe and analyze light-induced dipole forces, van der Waals interaction, and a significant enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of the atoms. The latter can be assigned to the modification of the vacuum modes by the fiber.

How does psychological processing relate to compliance behaviour after lung transplantation? A content analytical study.

Non-compliance is one of the crucial problems impairing outcome after transplantation. Fourteen lung transplant recipients were interviewed about their thoughts regarding transplant-related topics. Compliance was assessed by doctors. The psychological processing was investigated by content analysis. Highly compliant patients perceived more advantages by transplantation. In contrast, low-compliant patients reported either an emotional distance to the lung or a closer relationship to the donor. Furthermore, they showed a contradictory relationship to the medical staff. There are some indications that perception of advantages by transplantation is crucial to compliance. This experience takes place in the context of a good staff-patient relationship. Emotional distance to the lung or nearness to the donor are further contributing factors of non-compliance.

Ultra-sensitive surface absorption spectroscopy using sub-wavelength diameter optical fibers.

The guided modes of sub-wavelength diameter air-clad optical fibers exhibit a pronounced evanescent field. The absorption of particles on the fiber surface is therefore readily detected via the fiber transmission. We show that the resulting absorption for a given surface coverage can be orders of magnitude higher than for conventional surface spectroscopy. As a demonstration, we present measurements on sub-monolayers of 3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules at ambient conditions, revealing the agglomeration dynamics on a second to minutes timescale.

Quantitative aspects of membrane behavior in rat parathyroid cells after depression or elevation of serum calcium.

The behavior of membranes concerned with parathyroid hormone secretion was studied by electron microscopic morphometry in parathyroid cells of rats with temporarily reduced serum calcium concentration resulting from phosphate ion application and in rats with elevated serum calcium concentration following vitamin D3 administration. The phosphate ion application resulted in an increase of the cell surface area and a concomitant decrease of the surface area of the Golgi complex and secretory granules within 3 hours. After 3 hours, the cell surface area decreased, whereas the surface area of the Golgi complex and the secretory granules increased, and after 12 hours, the surface area of the rough endoplasmic reticulum also increased. In the vitamin D3-treated rats the surface area of the secretory granules increased, but the cell surface area had decreased by 24, 48, and 72 hours after application. These data suggest that parathyroid cells respond to a transient depression of the serum calcium concentration by an initial centrifugal membrane shift indicating enhanced exocytosis, followed by a centripedal membrane shift indicating enhanced endocytic retrieval of the plasma membrane. Later, membrane synthesis led to an increase of the membrane compartments concerned with parathyroid hormone secretion. Elevation of the serum calcium concentration following vitamin D3 treatment resulted in reduced release of parathyroid hormone by exocytosis and enhanced retrieval of plasma membranes by endocytosis. The fate of the retrieval plasma membrane remains unclear.