BINA

Background. Collagen protein plays a notable role maintaining firm skin. Topical creams containing collagen fibers are widely available, but their usefulness is questionable due to limited skin penetration. When applied in a cream, collagen does not penetrate the skin leaving the skin structure unaffected.Objective. We formulated micronized collagen in a cream base. Using human skin samples, we sought to investigate the ability of the micronized collagen cream to penetrate human skin. Methods. Particle sizes of micronized marine collagen were evaluated using electron microscopy. Optical profilometry was conducted to evaluate skin topography and roughness. The antioxidant activity of the collagen was evaluated using the electron paramagnetic resonance technique by measuring the changes in free radical production. Collagen penetration depth in human skin samples was monitored using a non-invasive optical technique known as iterative multiplane optical property extraction, which works based on the detection of laser light phase changes following the presence of collagen particles in deep skin layers.Results. According to the electron microscopy, collagen particles were found to be of various sizes, the smallest being about 120nm in diameter. Skin topography measurements revealed that the treated collagen cream increased skin smoothness of the samples. Our results derived from the iterative multiplane optical property extraction indicated that micronized collagen in a cream base penetrates both the stratum corneum and the deep epidermal layers toward the dermis.Conclusion. Our investigation suggests that the collagen in the …

The immune system matures throughout childhood to achieve full functionality in protecting our bodies against threats. The immune system has a strong reciprocal symbiosis with the host bacterial population and the two systems co-develop, shaping each other. Despite their fundamental role in health physiology, the ontogeny of these systems is poorly characterized. In this study, we investigated the development of the BCR repertoire by analyzing high-throughput sequencing of their receptors in several time points of young C57BL/6J mice. In parallel, we explored the development of the gut microbiome. We discovered that the gut IgA repertoires change from birth to adolescence, including an increase in CDR3 lengths and somatic hypermutation levels. This contrasts with the spleen IgM repertoires that remain stable and distinct from the IgA repertoires in the gut. We also discovered that large clones that germinate …

“However, this technique suffers from the fact that it requires a lot of image processing tools, and post processing”“Another interesting approach is to exploit the memory effect of speckles. Memory effect states that there exists a correlation between a speckle pattern even when the laser illumination is tilted within a given angular range. Freund12, 13 used the scattering media as a lens based on speckle intensity correlation. This idea was extended by Bertolotti et al. 14 to image a fluorescent object behind the media.” now reads:“Another interesting approach is to exploit the memory effect of speckles. Memory effect states that there exists a correlation between a speckle pattern even when the laser illumination is tilted within a given angular range. Freund12–14 used the scattering media as a lens based on speckle intensity correlation. This idea was extended by Bertolotti et al. 13 to image a fluorescent object behind …

Utilizing a combination of hyperspectral measurements and sorting K-means algorithms, we study coupled J-aggregate–plasmonic nanostructures system. The effect of proximity and cover ratio of the J-aggregates on the plasmonic resonance is shown and modeled.

We report on the progress of experimental cluster-state generation in the optical frequency comb of a single, phase-modulated optical parametric oscillator.

The TP53 gene is mutated in approximately 60% of all colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. Over 20% of all TP53-mutated CRC tumors carry missense mutations at position R175 or R273. Here we report that CRC tumors harboring R273 mutations are more prone to progress to metastatic disease, with decreased survival, than those with R175 mutations. We identify a distinct transcriptional signature orchestrated by p53R273H, implicating activation of oncogenic signaling pathways and predicting worse outcome. These features are shared also with the hotspot mutants p53R248Q and p53R248W. p53R273H selectively promotes rapid CRC cell spreading, migration, invasion and metastasis. The transcriptional output of p53R273H is associated with preferential binding to regulatory elements of R273 signature genes. Thus, different TP53 missense mutations contribute differently to cancer progression. Elucidation of the …

Terpene synthases are responsible for the biosynthesis of terpenes, the largest family of natural products. Hydropyrene synthase generates hydropyrene and hydropyrenol as its main products along with two byproducts, isoelisabethatriene A and B. Fascinatingly, a single active site mutation (M75L) diverts the product distribution towards isoelisabethatriene A and B. In the current work, we study the competing pathways leading to these products using quantum chemical calculations in the gas-phase. We show that there is a great thermodynamic preference for hydropyrene and hydropyrenol formation, and hence most likely in the synthesis of the isoelisabethatriene products kinetic control is at play.

The wavefront is scrambled when coherent light propagates through a random scattering medium and which makes direct use of the conventional optical methods ineffective. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a structured light illumination for imaging through an opaque scattering layer. Proposed technique is reference free and capable to recover the complex field from intensities of the speckle patterns. This is realized by making use of the phase-shifting in the structured light illumination and applying spatial averaging of the speckle pattern in the intensity correlation measurement. An experimental design is presented and simulated results based on the experimental design are shown to demonstrate imaging of different complex-valued objects through scattering layer.

We demonstrate a high-fidelity directional coupler in photonic integrated waveguides, utilizing a novel scheme of detuning modulated composite segments. We reduce the wavelength dependence by almost an order of magnitude, indicating significantly increased robustness.

Direct, distributed analysis of forward scattering is demonstrated for the first time in any optical medium, using inter-modal nonlinear coupling in polarization maintaining fibers. Local spectra of forward Brillouin scattering and Kerr effect are resolved.

We present a fiber-based photonic computing concept and system which rely on incoherent data encoding and scalable architecture. Our results suggest projected performance of> 1,000,000 Tera operations per second (TOPs) and efficiency of> 1000 TOPs/Watt.

Tailoring the precise construction of non‐precious metals and carbon‐based heterogeneous catalysts for electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is crucial for energy conversion applications. Herein, this work reports the composite of Ni doped Fe2O3 (Ni−Fe2O3) with mildly oxidized multi‐walled CNT (O−CNT) as an outstanding Mott‐Schottky catalyst for OER and MOR. O−CNT acts as a co‐catalyst which effectively regulates the charge transfer in Ni−Fe2O3 and thus enhances the electrocatalytic performance. Ni−Fe2O3/O−CNT exhibits a low onset potential of 260 mV and overpotential 310 mV @ 10 mA cm−2 for oxygen evolution. Being a Mott‐Schottky catalyst, it achieves the higher flat band potential of −1.15 V with the carrier density of 0.173×1024 cm−3. Further, in presence of 1 M CH3OH, it delivers the MOR current density of 10 mA cm−2 at 1.46 V …

In this work, we demonstrate optomechanical measurements of radiation induced alterations of the acoustic velocity in a fluoroacrylate polymer coating of a silica optical fiber. The optomechanical measurement is based on forward Brillouin scattering initiated in the fiber core which stimulates acoustic waves that reach the fiber coating. The measurement may serve as an additional metric to quantify the dose of ionizing radiation to which the fiber was exposed. We have demonstrated that the stiffness of the coating increases following gamma irradiation, as measured by the time of flight of radial acoustic waves through the coating. The measurement was performed on few meters long fiber, but can be extended to a spatially distributed analysis in longer fibers. The tests showed a linear dependence of the acoustic time-of flight on the overall dosage of gamma irradiation. The time of flight decreased by as much as 15 …

Diabetic foot is a well-known problem among patients suffering from peripheral arterial diseases (PAD). This article presents an optical sensor for contactless measurement of the anatomical site based on laser speckle techniques. The sensor illuminates the inspected tissue and analyzes the captured back-reflected light from the time-changing speckle patterns. An occlusion test was implemented to provide a statistical parameter to differentiate between a low perfused and a healthy foot. A clinical study of 15 subjects was conducted. The video was analyzed by two methods: dynamic laser speckle (DLS) and laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA). Data analysis included several classification models, where the KNN model exhibited maximum performance. These findings suggest that a simple and inexpensive system for PAD monitoring can be designed for home use and/or in community clinics.