Thermal analysis of dry eye subjects and the thermal impulse perturbation model of ocular surface.

In this study, we explore the usage of ocular surface temperature (OST) decay patterns to distinguished between dry eye patients with aqueous deficient dry eye (ADDE) and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). The OST profiles of 20 dry eye subjects were measured by a long-wave infrared thermal camera in a standardized environment (24 °C, and relative humidity (RH) 40%). The subjects were instructed to blink every 5 s after 20 ∼ 25 min acclimation.

Detection of microregional hypoxia in mouse cerebral cortex by two-photon imaging of endogenous NADH fluorescence.

The brain's ability to function at high levels of metabolic demand depends on continuous oxygen supply through blood flow and tissue oxygen diffusion. Here we present a visualized experimental and methodological protocol to directly visualize microregional tissue hypoxia and to infer perivascular oxygen gradients in the mouse cortex. It is based on the non-linear relationship between nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) endogenous fluorescence intensity and oxygen partial pressure in the tissue, where observed tissue NADH fluorescence abruptly increases at tissue oxygen levels below 10 mmHg(1).

Mitochondrial superoxide flashes: metabolic biomarkers of skeletal muscle activity and disease.

Mitochondrial superoxide flashes (mSOFs) are stochastic events of quantal mitochondrial superoxide generation. Here, we used flexor digitorum brevis muscle fibers from transgenic mice with muscle-specific expression of a novel mitochondrial-targeted superoxide biosensor (mt-cpYFP) to characterize mSOF activity in skeletal muscle at rest, following intense activity, and under pathological conditions. Results demonstrate that mSOF activity in muscle depended on electron transport chain and adenine nucleotide translocase functionality, but it was independent of cyclophilin-D-mediated mitochondrial permeability transition pore activity.

Large-scale propagation of ultrasound in a 3-D breast model based on high-resolution MRI data.

A 40 x 35 x 25-mm(3) specimen of human breast consisting mostly of fat and connective tissue was imaged using a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner. The resolutions in the image plane and in the orthogonal direction were 130 microm and 150 microm, respectively. Initial processing to prepare the data for segmentation consisted of contrast inversion, interpolation, and noise reduction.