Efficient Emission Enhancement of Single CdSe/CdS/PMMA Quantum Dots through Controlled Near-Field Coupling to Plasmonic Bullseye Resonators.

A strong increase of spontaneous radiative emission from colloidally synthesized CdSe/CdS/PMMA hybrid particles is achieved when manipulated into plasmonic bullseye resonators with the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM). This type of antenna provides a broadband resonance, which may be precisely matched to the exciton ground state energy in the inorganic cores. Statistically analyzing the spectral photoluminescence (PL) of a large number of individual coupled and uncoupled CdSe/CdS/PMMA quantum dots, we find an order of magnitude of intensity enhancement due to the Purcell effect. Time-resolved PL shows a commensurate increase of the spontaneous emission rate with radiative lifetimes below 230 ps for the bright exciton transition. The combination of AFM and PL imaging allows for sub-200 nm localization of the particle position inside the plasmonic antenna. This capability unveils a different coupling behavior of dark excitonic states: even stronger PL enhancement occurs at positions with maximum spatial gradient of the nearfield, effectively adding a dipolar component to original quadrupole transitions. The broadband maximization of light-matter interaction provided by our nanoengineered compound systems enables an attractive class of future experiments in ultrafast quantum optics.

Analysis of lymphoedema as first symptom of a neoplasm in a series of 650 patients with limb involvement.

In a series of 650 patients with lymphoedema of the extremities, a clinically suspected primary lymphoedema in 60 patients was found upon roentgenological examination to be secondary lymphoedema. After lymphography, tomography and in some cases selective supplementary angiographic examination, the causitive factor for almost all patients could be established and was confirmed after biopsy/operation and pathological-anatomical-anatomical examination. This is a very important finding, because a developing lymphoedema may be the first symptom of a malignant process characterized by tumour infiltration into the lymph nodes. It is exactly in these patients that lymphography may often give rise to unexpected amazing findings, which in certain cases may contribute to the possibility of starting effective treatment.