scanning near-field optical microscopy (snom) is a member of scanning probe microscopes (spms) family which enables nanostructure investigation of the surfaces on a wide range of materials. in fact, snom combines the spm technology to the optical microscopy and in this way provide a powerful tool to study nano-structures with very high spatial resolution. in this paper, a qualified overview of ...

Since the airway epithelium is the first tissue encountered by airborne fungal spores, specific models are needed to study this interaction. We developed such a model using primary porcine tracheal epithelial cells (PTEC) as a possible alternative to the use of primary human cells. PTEC were obtained from pigs and were cultivated in an air-liquid interface. Fluorescent brightener was employed t...

Inhalation of conidia is the main cause of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and the respiratory epithelium is the first line of defence. To explore the triggering factor for the inflammatory response to Aspergillus fumigatus, the species mainly responsible for IPA, this study analysed the differential expression of three inflammatory genes in A549 cells after challenge with live and kille...

AIMS Different cultural conditions for forming and reverting protoplasts were systematically studied to establish a rapid and efficient protocol for Sclerotium rolfsii ATCC 201126. METHODS AND RESULTS Osmotic stabilizer, lytic enzymes and mycelial age were the main factors influencing protoplast yields. An optimized protocol involving 1-h hydrolysis of 45-h-old mycelium with Trichoderma harzi...

introduction: in this study, we intend to use diffuse optical tomography (dot) as a noninvasive, safe and low cost technique that can be considered as a functional imaging method and mention the importance of image reconstruction in accuracy and procession of image. one of the most important and fastest methods in image reconstruction is the boundary element method (bem). this method is introdu...

the modulation response, relative intensity noise and frequency noise characteristics of qd lasers are investigated theoretically, in presence of an additional optical pumping. it is revealed that the modulation response of qd laser enhances under additional optical beam. by small signal analysis of the carriers' and photons' rates, it is proposed that by injecting excess carriers to ...

In this paper we combined an optical mixer via photonic crystal ringresonator to propose an all optical 1 to 2 decoder. The main idea used in this paper isbased on controlling the optical behavior of the resonant ring via optical powerintensity. We know that resonant wavelength of the photonic crystal ring resonator isvery sensitive upon the refractive index of dielectric rods, on the other had...

OBJECTIVE To identify the sensitivity of several readily available diagnostic tests for onychomycosis. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Dermatology and podiatry departments at a teaching hospital. PATIENTS Sixty-three adult men and women with a clinical examination highly suggestive of onychomycosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Sensitivity of each test and of several test combinations. ...

2-Mercaptobenzimidazole (MBI) is widely utilized as a corrosion inhibitor, copper-plating brightener and rubber accelerator. The residue of MBI in the environment is potentially harmful. In the present work, the toxic interaction of MBI with the important antioxidant enzyme copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) was investigated using spectroscopic and molecular docking methods. MBI can in...