Optical glucose sensor for microfluidic cell culture systems.

Glucose is the primary energy source of human cells. Therefore, monitoring glucose inside microphysiological systems (MPS) provides valuable information on the viability and metabolic state of the cultured cells. However, continuous glucose monitoring inside MPS is challenging due to a lack of suitable miniaturized sensors.

Optimized Camera-Based Patient Positioning in CT: Impact on Radiation Exposure.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a 3-dimensional (3D) camera can outperform highly trained technicians in precision of patient positioning and whether this transforms into a reduction in patient exposure.

Materials And Methods: In a single-center study, 3118 patients underwent computer tomography (CT) scans of the chest and/or abdomen on a latest generation single-source CT scanner supported with an automated patient positioning system by 3D camera. One thousand five hundred fifty-seven patients were positioned laser-guided by a highly trained radiographer (camera off) and 1561 patients with 3D camera (camera on) guidance.

Optical ammonia sensors based on fluorescent aza-BODIPY dyes- a flexible toolbox.

We present three types of optical ammonia sensors suitable for environmental, bioprocess, and reaction monitoring. A respective fluorescent BF-chelated tetraarylazadipyrromethene dye (aza-BODIPYs) is physically entrapped in a polyurethane hydrogel (HydroMed D4) forming an emulsion system with vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The analyte-sensitive layer is covered by a hydrophobic membrane which excludes hydrophilic substances.

The novel language-systematic aphasia screening SAPS: screening-based therapy in combination with computerised home training.

Background: SAPS-'Sprachsystematisches Aphasiescreening'-is a novel language-systematic aphasia screening developed for the German language, which already had been positively evaluated. It offers a fast assessment of modality-specific psycholinguistic components at different levels of complexity and the derivation of impairment-based treatment foci from the individual performance profile. However, SAPS has not yet been evaluated in combination with the new SAPS-based treatment.

Low-latency system for evaluation of image-enhancement-algorithms on patients using subretinal implants.

In this paper, a real-time system consisting of a camera device, computational unit and head mounted display, adjusted to the needs of patients using subretinal implants, is presented. Retinal implants demonstrated to partially restore useful vision to patients suffering from hereditary retinal degeneration diseases. Even though various implant-mediated visual perceptions in daily-life were reported, perceived vision could be enhanced using algorithms well known from image-processing.

Benefit of spatial filtering for visual perception with a subretinal implant.

Subretinal implants have proven to be capable of restoring vision to patients suffering from hereditary retinal degeneration diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and cone-rod dystrophy. Although they already provide basic visual perception, there is still much room for improvement in this field. Effects like electric field interference limit the visual acuity and may be the cause of the perceived vision to be blurred.

Clock recovery PLL with gated PFD for NRZ ON-OFF Modulated Signals in a retinal implant system.

A Clock Recovery Phase Locked Loop with Gated Phase Frequency Detector (GPLL) for NRZ ON-OFF Modulated Signals with low data transmission rates for an inductively powered subretinal implant system is presented. Low data transmission rate leads to a long absence of inductive powering in the system when zeros are transmitted. Consequently there is no possibility to extract any clock in these pauses, thus the digital circuitry can not work any more.

Neurogenesis in an early protostome relative: progenitor cells in the ventral nerve center of chaetognath hatchlings are arranged in a highly organized geometrical pattern.

Emerging evidence suggests that Chaetognatha represent an evolutionary lineage that is the sister group to all other Protostomia thus promoting these animals as a pivotal model for our understanding of bilaterian evolutionary history. We have analyzed the proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in the developing ventral nerve center (VNC) of Spadella cephaloptera hatchlings. To that end, for the first time in Chaetognatha, we performed in vivo incorporation experiments with the S-phase specific mitosis marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU).

In vitro study of iridium electrodes for neural stimulation.

Iridium is one of the main electrode materials for applications like neural stimulation. Iridium has a higher charge injection capacity when activated and transformed into AIROF (activated iridium oxide film) using specific electrical signals. Activation is not possible in stimulating devices, if they do not include the necessary circuitry for activation.

An economical and convenient experiment setup for electrode investigation.

Electrodes are among the critical components of neural stimulation devices. Investigating electrode properties like electrode impedance, charge injection capacity, and electrode corrosion limits plays an important role in electrode development. There are many commercial devices available for this purpose.

Development of the nervous system in hatchlings of Spadella cephaloptera (Chaetognatha), and implications for nervous system evolution in Bilateria.

Chaetognaths (arrow worms) play an important role as predators in planktonic food webs. Their phylogenetic position is unresolved, and among the numerous hypotheses, affinities to both protostomes and deuterostomes have been suggested. Many aspects of their life history, including ontogenesis, are poorly understood and, though some aspects of their embryonic and postembryonic development have been described, knowledge of early neural development is still limited.

Transition from marine to terrestrial ecologies: changes in olfactory and tritocerebral neuropils in land-living isopods.

In addition to the ancestors of insects, representatives of five lineages of crustaceans have colonized land. Whereas insects have evolved sensilla that are specialized to allow the detection of airborne odors and have evolved olfactory sensory neurons that recognize specific airborne ligands, there is so far little evidence for aerial olfaction in terrestrial crustaceans. Here we ask the question whether terrestrial Isopoda have evolved the neuronal substrate for the problem of detecting far-field airborne chemicals.

Invertebrate neurophylogeny: suggested terms and definitions for a neuroanatomical glossary.

Background: Invertebrate nervous systems are highly disparate between different taxa. This is reflected in the terminology used to describe them, which is very rich and often confusing. Even very general terms such as 'brain', 'nerve', and 'eye' have been used in various ways in the different animal groups, but no consensus on the exact meaning exists.

Embryonic development of the histaminergic system in the ventral nerve cord of the Marbled Crayfish (Marmorkrebs).

The embryonic development of neurotransmitter systems in crustaceans so far is poorly understood. Therefore, in the current study we monitored the ontogeny of histamine-immunoreactive neurons in the ventral nerve cord of the Marbled Crayfish, an emerging crustacean model system for developmental studies. The first histaminergic neurons arise around 60% of embryonic development, well after the primordial axonal scaffold of the ventral nerve cord has been established.

Prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance among children and adolescents with marked obesity.

Background: Childhood obesity, epidemic in the United States, has been accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents. We determined the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance in a multiethnic cohort of 167 obese children and adolescents.

Methods: All subjects underwent a two-hour oral glucose-tolerance test (1.

Effect of feeding quandong (Santalum acuminatum) oil to rats on tissue lipids, hepatic cytochrome P-450 and tissue histology.

Quandong kernels are a traditional Aboriginal food item; they are rich in oil and contain large amounts of an unusual fatty acid, trans-11-octadecen-9-ynoic acid (santalbic acid), but it is not known whether this acid is absorbed and/or metabolized. The oil was fed at 12.6% of total energy content in semi-synthetic diets to groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats for 10 and 20 days.