Comparison among populations with severe and intermediate alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Severe alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is associated with a high risk of airflow obstruction and emphysema. The risk of lung disease in those with intermediate AAT deficiency is unclear. Our aims were to compare pulmonary function, time of onset of symptoms, and indicators of quality of life among patients with severe AATD (PI*ZZ), patients with intermediate AATD (PI*MZ) from the Italian Registry of AATD with a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cohort of patients without AATD (PI*MM).

Fast 3-D Imaging of Brain Organoids With a New Single-Objective Planar-Illumination Two-Photon Microscope.

Human inducible pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold a large potential for disease modeling. hiPSC-derived human astrocyte and neuronal cultures permit investigations of neural signaling pathways with subcellular resolution. Combinatorial cultures, and three-dimensional (3-D) embryonic bodies (EBs) enlarge the scope of investigations to multi-cellular phenomena.

Rapid Morphological and Cytoskeletal Response to Microgravity in Human Primary Macrophages.

The FLUMIAS (Fluorescence-Microscopic Analyses System for Life-Cell-Imaging in Space) confocal laser spinning disk fluorescence microscope represents a new imaging capability for live cell imaging experiments on suborbital ballistic rocket missions. During the second pioneer mission of this microscope system on the TEXUS-54 suborbital rocket flight, we developed and performed a live imaging experiment with primary human macrophages. We simultaneously imaged four different cellular structures (nucleus, cytoplasm, lysosomes, actin cytoskeleton) by using four different live cell dyes (Nuclear Violet, Calcein, LysoBrite, SiR-actin) and laser wavelengths (405, 488, 561, and 642 nm), and investigated the cellular morphology in microgravity (10 to 10 g) over a period of about six minutes compared to 1 g controls.

Real-Time 3D High-Resolution Microscopy of Human Cells on the International Space Station.

Here we report the successful first operation of FLUMIAS-DEA, a miniaturized high-resolution 3D fluorescence microscope on the International Space Station (ISS) by imaging two scientific samples in a temperature-constant system, one sample with fixed cells and one sample with living human cells. The FLUMIAS-DEA microscope combines features of a high-resolution 3D fluorescence microscope based on structured illumination microscope (SIM) technology with hardware designs to meet the requirements of a space instrument. We successfully demonstrated that the FLUMIAS technology was able to acquire, transmit, and store high-resolution 3D fluorescence images from fixed and living cells, allowing quantitative and dynamic analysis of subcellular structures, e.

Outstanding personalities in German-speaking mycology : Dedicated to Professor Dr. Johannes Müller.

The history of medical and veterinary mycology in general has been reviewed in the excellent monography by G.C. Ainsworth (1905-1998) published in 1986.

Italian registry of patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: general data and quality of life evaluation.

Alpha1-antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD) is a rare hereditary disorder with an estimated prevalence of about 1/5000 individuals in Italy. Deficient patients are at a higher risk of developing lung emphysema and chronic liver disease. The low estimated prevalence of AATD prompted the establishment of a registry with the aim of learning more about the natural history and the quality of care of these patients.

Analysis of signal processing in vestibular circuits with a novel light-emitting diodes-based fluorescence microscope.

Optical visualization of neural network activity is limited by imaging system-dependent technical tradeoffs. To overcome these constraints, we have developed a powerful low-cost and flexible imaging system with high spectral variability and unique spatio-temporal precision for simultaneous optical recording and manipulation of neural activity of large cell groups. The system comprises eight high-power light-emitting diodes, a camera with a large metal-oxide-semiconductor sensor and a high numerical aperture water-dipping objective.

Impact of the IASLC/ATS/ERS classification in pN0 pulmonary adenocarcinomas: a study with radiological-pathological comparisons and survival analyses.

The aim of this study was: (1) to compare the new pathological findings as detected by the IASLC/ATS/ERS classification with the traditional radiological features in pulmonary pN0 adenocarcinomas, (2) to evaluate their prognostic significance on overall survival (OS). A total of 42 surgically resected pN0 pulmonary adenocarcinomas were analyzed. On CT scans, the following radiological data were recorded: sphericity, predominant margins, cavitation and bronchogram, attenuation and percentage of ground glass opacity (GGO).

4D in in vivo 2-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy with sample motion in 6 degrees of freedom.

2-Photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM) is often used for chronic in vivo studies. Small deviations in the sample orientation, however, make comparison of three-dimensional image stacks taken at different time-points challenging. When analysing changes of three-dimensional structures over time (4D imaging) this fundamental problem is one of the main limitations when complex structures are studied repetitively.

Efficient large core fiber-based detection for multi-channel two-photon fluorescence microscopy and spectral unmixing.

Low-magnification high-numerical aperture objectives maximize the collection efficiency for scattered two-photon excited fluorescence (2PEF), but non-descanned detection schemes for such objectives demand optical components much bigger than standard microscope optics. Fiber coupling offers the possibility of removing bulky multi-channel detectors from the collection site, but coupling and transmission losses are generally believed to outweigh the benefits of optical fibers. We present here two new developments based on large-core fiber-optic fluorescence detection that illustrate clear advantages over conventional air-coupled 2PEF detection schemes.

Treatment of tinea capitis - a critical appraisal.

Griseofulvin has been introduced in 1958, ever since it remained the gold standard for the treatment of tinea capitis in the United States. Despite the availability of new antifungals like terbinafine, itraconazole and fluconazole -with few exceptions not licensed for their use in children - duration of tinea capitis treatment could not be shortened. The reasons therefore are the anatomic structure of the hair follicle, the dormant sebum-production before onset of puberty, and the way of action of the new antifungals.

3D-topography of cell nuclei in a vertebrate retina--a confocal and two-photon microscopic study.

We demonstrate methods to simultaneously acquire and evaluate the pattern of cell nuclei in the three cell layers of the vertebrate retina as an aspect of its functional morphology. 3D-position, shape and quantity of fluorescence-labelled cell nuclei are measured using laser scanning microscopy at several retinal locations, the pros and cons of single and two-photon excitation are compared. Subsequently topographies of all discriminable morphotypes are calculated via linear interpolation of local countings.

Updates on the epidemiology of dermatophyte infections.

The spectrum of dermatophytes isolated from skin lesions had changed in last 70 years. Before the Second World War in Germany, Microsporum audouinii and Epidermophyton floccosum ranked the first, whereas Trichophyton rubrum is the most common dermatophyte since the fifties of last century, accounting for 80-90% of the strains, followed by T. mentagrophytes.

Dermatomycological guidelines: 10 years of experience in Germany.

Since the mid-1990s of the last century, dermatomycological guidelines have been prepared and published in Germany. This has been achieved by a group of experts encompassing leading representatives of Deutschsprachige Mykologische Gesellschaft, Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft as well as Berufsverband Deutscher Dermatologen. Preparation of guidelines is based on a defined procedure.

Onychomycosis.

The guideline on onychomycosis, as passed by the responsible German medical societies, is presented in the present study.

Tinea capitis: ringworm of the scalp.

The guideline tinea capitis, as passed by three German medical societies, is presented in the present study.

Mycobacterium marinum, a further infectious agent associated with sarcoidosis: the polyetiology hypothesis.

A 39-y-old male had a diagnosis of sarcoidosis and corticosteroid therapy was started. Surprisingly, following his discharge from hospital, Mycobacterium marinum was isolated in 1 of 3 sputum samples taken 7 weeks earlier on admission. After this, Mycobacterium marinum-DNA was identified in the stored lung biopsies by the PCR-RFLP of the hsp65 gene.