No abstract available.

Epi-illuminescence intravital fluorescence microscopy has been employed to study leukocyte-endothelial interactions in a number of brain pathologies. Historically, dyes such as Rhodamine 6G have been injected intravenously. However, intravenous injections can predispose experimental animals to a multitude of complications and requires a high degree of technical skill. Here, we study the efficac...

Fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy were employed to investigate the cellular uptake of rhodamine 6G (R6G) alone and of R6G loaded with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by endothelial cells. R6G plays the role of a Raman reporter in SERS but also displays strong fluorescence. The presence of bare R6G molecules and R6G-AuNPs in the cytoplasm of the cells is detected ...

Introduction—Laser lithotripsy of bile duct stones has become a widely accepted endoscopic treatment modality for giant, impacted, or very hard stones. The procedure is usually carried out under direct endoscopic control in view of the potential risk of bile duct injuries in “blind” laser application. Aims—To investigate the use of a rhodamine 6G laser lithotriptor with an integrated optical st...

Piecewise polynomial functions are frequently used to approximate functions that exhibit complex behavior across a variety of scales. We investigate the use of nonuniform FFT (NUFFT) approaches to quickly and accurately evaluate the first several Fourier series coefficents of piecewise linear functions, and propose a new NUFFT approach that provides quick convergence at relatively low cost.

Tuberculosis (TB) disease may progress at different rates and have different outcomes. Neutrophils have been implicated in TB progression; however, data on their role during TB are controversial. In this study, we show that in mice, TB progression is associated with the accumulation of cells that express neutrophilic markers Gr-1 and Ly-6G but do not belong to conventional neutrophils. The cell...

Fermented beverage of plant extract was prepared from about fifty kinds of fruits and vegetables. Natural fermentation was conducted by lactic acid bacteria (Leuconostoc spp.) and yeast (Zygosaccharomyces spp. and Pichia spp.). Fourteen kinds of oligosaccharides have been isolated from this beverage; their structures were confirmed by methylation analysis, MALDI-TOF-MS and NMR measurements. In ...

INTRODUCTION Laser lithotripsy of bile duct stones has become a widely accepted endoscopic treatment modality for giant, impacted, or very hard stones. The procedure is usually carried out under direct endoscopic control in view of the potential risk of bile duct injuries in "blind" laser application. AIMS To investigate the use of a rhodamine 6G laser lithotriptor with an integrated optical ...