Renal cortex microperfusion evaluated by laser speckle contrast imaging in an ex vivo perfused kidney model-A proof-of-concept study.

Background: Validated quantitative biomarkers for assessment of renal graft function during normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) conditions are lacking. The aim of this project was to quantify cortex microperfusion during ex vivo kidney perfusion using laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), and to evaluate the sensitivity of LSCI when measuring different levels of renal perfusion. Furthermore, we aimed to introduce LSCI measurements during NMP in differentially damaged kidneys.

Glutathione Protects the Developing Heart from Defects and Global DNA Hypomethylation Induced by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is caused by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), the intake of ethanol (C H OH) during pregnancy. Features of FASD cover a range of structural and functional defects including congenital heart defects (CHDs). Folic acid and choline, contributors of methyl groups to one-carbon metabolism (OCM), prevent CHDs in humans.

A two-region transport model for interpreting T-T measurements in complex systems.

A 1D two region coupled pore model with discrete pore coupling is developed to elucidate the eigenmode interactions in regions with different surface relaxivity. Numerical solution of the model and simulation of the correlation experiment for varying surface relaxivity, pore connectivity and pore size ratio indicate the role of negative eigenmodes and overlap of T and T eigenmodes in generating a time domain signal increase with inversion recovery time, t. The eigenmodes and eigenfunctions are considered in detail providing connection between the mathematical model and the diffusion dynamics and spin physics of the system.

Probing diffusion dynamics during hydrate formation by high field NMR relaxometry and diffusometry.

High-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry and diffusometry along with magnetic resonance imaging were used to monitor phase transition molecular dynamics during hydrate formation occurring in water droplets dispersed in liquid cyclopentane. 1D T relaxation measurements indicate the extent of hydrate formation as well as a reduction in water droplet size with progression of hydrate growth. MRI intensity maps and T relaxation maps indicate spatially dependent hydrate formation rates due to the heterogeneity of the system.

NMR Relaxometry to Characterize the Drug Structural Phase in a Porous Construct.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) frequency spectra and T relaxation time measurements, using a high-power radio frequency probe, are shown to characterize the presence of an amorphous drug in a porous silica construct. The results indicate the ability of non-solid-state NMR methods to characterize crystalline and amorphous solid structural phases in drugs. Two-dimensional T- T magnetic relaxation time correlation experiments are shown to monitor the impact of relative humidity on the drug in a porous silica tablet.

Complex regression Doppler optical coherence tomography.

We introduce a new method to measure Doppler shifts more accurately and extend the dynamic range of Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT). The two-point estimate of the conventional Doppler method is replaced with a regression that is applied to high-density B-scans in polar coordinates. We built a high-speed OCT system using a 1.

Complex decorrelation averaging in optical coherence tomography: a way to reduce the effect of multiple scattering and improve image contrast in a dynamic scattering medium.

We demonstrate that complex decorrelation averaging can reduce the effect of multiple scattering and improve optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging contrast. Complex decorrelation averaging calculates the product of an A-scan and the complex conjugate of a subsequent A-scan. The resultant signal is the product of the amplitudes and the phase difference.

An elegant technique for ex vivo imaging in experimental research-Optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an elegant technology for imaging of tissues and organs and has been established for clinical use for around a decade. Thus, it is used in vivo but can also serve as a valuable ex vivo imaging tool in experimental research. Here, a brief overview is given with a focus on an ex vivo application of OCT.

The influence of running away on the risk of female sexual assault in the subsequent year.

This study explores the sexual risk trajectories of female youths and sheds light on the long-term effects of running away. It evaluates whether running away increases the risk of sexual assault in the following year, which is after runaways return home. The sample consists of 5,387 heterosexual females between the ages of 11 and 18 years from the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

Rotationally acquired four-dimensional optical coherence tomography of embryonic chick hearts using retrospective gating on the common central A-scan.

We introduce a new method of rotational image acquisition for four-dimensional (4D) optical coherence tomography (OCT) of beating embryonic chick hearts. The rotational axis and the central A-scan of the OCT are identical. An out-of-phase image sequence covering multiple heartbeats is acquired at every angle of an incremental rotation of the deflection mirrors of the OCT system.

Impact of running away on girls' pregnancy.

This study assessed the impact of running away on pregnancy in the subsequent year among U.S. adolescents.

Integration of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system into an examination incubator to facilitate in vivo imaging of cardiovascular development in higher vertebrate embryos under stable physiological conditions.

High-resolution in vivo imaging of higher vertebrate embryos over short or long time periods under constant physiological conditions is a technically challenging task for researchers working on cardiovascular development. In chick embryos, for example, various studies have shown that without appropriate maintenance of temperature, as one of the main environmental factors, the embryonic heart rate drops rapidly and often results in an increase in regurgitant flow. Hemodynamic parameters are critical stimuli for cardiovascular development that, for a correct evaluation of their developmental significance, should be documented under physiological conditions.

How histological features of basal cell carcinomas influence image quality in optical coherence tomography.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to diagnose and measure the depth of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in skin, but some lesions appear blurred in OCT images. The aim of this study is to identify histological characteristics of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) that correlate with good quality OCT images of the same lesions. A total of 34 patients with BCC were OCT scanned.

Impact of running away on girls' sexual onset.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to longitudinally examine the impact of running away on sexual onset, and to determine the 12-month prevalence of sexual onset among runaway females.

Methods: The sample consists of adolescent females from Waves 1 and 2 of the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=4,564; age range=11-18 years). Voluntary or involuntary sexual onset at Wave 1 results in exclusion from the analysis.

In vivo imaging of the cyclic changes in cross-sectional shape of the ventricular segment of pulsating embryonic chick hearts at stages 14 to 17: a contribution to the understanding of the ontogenesis of cardiac pumping function.

The cardiac cycle-related deformations of tubular embryonic hearts were traditionally described as concentric narrowing and widening of a tube of circular cross-section. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), we have recently shown that, during the cardiac cycle, only the myocardial tube undergoes concentric narrowing and widening while the endocardial tube undergoes eccentric narrowing and widening, having an elliptic cross-section at end-diastole and a slit-shaped cross-section at end-systole. Due to technical limitations, these analyses were confined to early stages of ventricular development (chick embryos, stages 10-13).

Optical coherence tomography imaging of psoriasis vulgaris: correlation with histology and disease severity.

Epidermal thickness (ET) has been suggested as a surrogate measure of psoriasis severity. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a recent imaging technology that provides real-time skin images to a depth of 1.8 mm with a micrometre resolution.

Optical coherence tomography for imaging of skin and skin diseases.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging imaging technology based on light reflection. It provides real-time images with up to 2-mm penetration into the skin and a resolution of approximately 10 microm. It is routinely used in ophthalmology.

Improved quality of optical coherence tomography imaging of basal cell carcinomas using speckle reduction.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a possible imaging method for delineation of non-melanoma skin cancer. Speckle noise is the dominant noise contribution in OCT images; it limits the ability to identify cellular structures especially skin cancer. QUESTIONS ADDRESSED: This report suggests a method for improving OCT image quality for skin cancer imaging.

OCT imaging of skin cancer and other dermatological diseases.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides clinicians and researchers with micrometer-resolution, in vivo, cross-sectional images of human skin up to several millimeter depth. This review of OCT imaging applied within dermatology covers the application of OCT to normal skin, and reports on a large number of applications in the fields of non-melanoma skin cancer, malignant melanomas, psoriasis and dermatitis, infestations, bullous skin diseases, tattoos, nails, haemangiomas, and other skin diseases.

Assessment of optical coherence tomography imaging in the diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer and benign lesions versus normal skin: observer-blinded evaluation by dermatologists and pathologists.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an optical imaging technique that may be useful in diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC).

Objectives: To describe OCT features in NMSC such as actinic keratosis (AK) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and in benign lesions and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of OCT in differentiating NMSC from benign lesions and normal skin.

Methods And Materials: OCT and polarization-sensitive (PS) OCT from 104 patients were studied.

In vivo thickness measurement of basal cell carcinoma and actinic keratosis with optical coherence tomography and 20-MHz ultrasound.

Background: Accurate assessment of tumour size is important when planning treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to diagnose and measure depth of NMSC.

Objectives: To compare accuracy of mean tumour thickness measurement in NMSC tumours < 2 mm of depth using OCT and 20-MHz high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS).

Broadband light generation at approximately 1300 nm through spectrally recoiled solitons and dispersive waves.

We experimentally study the generation of broadband light at approximately 1300 nm from an 810 nm Ti:sapphire femtosecond pump laser. We use two photonic crystal fibers with a second infrared zero-dispersion wavelength (lambda Z2) and compare the efficiency of two schemes: in one fiber lambda Z2=1400 nm and the light at 1300 nm is composed of spectrally recoiled solitons; in the other fiber lambda Z2=1200 nm and the light at 1300 nm is composed of dispersive waves.

High-resolution in vivo imaging of the cross-sectional deformations of contracting embryonic heart loops using optical coherence tomography.

The embryonic heart tube consists of an outer myocardial tube, a middle layer of cardiac jelly, and an inner endocardial tube. It is said that tubular hearts pump the blood by peristaltoid contractions. The traditional concept of cardiac peristalsis sees the cyclic deformations of pulsating heart tubes as concentric narrowing and widening of tubes of circular cross-section.