Design Principles for Cationic,Astrocyte-Targeted Probes

The brain's astrocytes play key roles in normal and pathological brain processes. Targeting small molecules to astrocytes in the presence of the many other cell types in the brain will provide useful tools for their visualization and manipulation. Herein, we explore the functional consequences of synthetic modifications to a recently described astrocyte marker composed of a bright rhodamine-based fluorophore and an astrocyte-targeting moiety. We altered the nature of the targeting moiety to probe the dependence of astrocyte targeting on hydrophobicity, charge, and pK_a when exposed to astrocytes and neurons isolated from the mouse cortex. We found that an overall molecular charge of +2 and a targeting moiety with a heterocyclic aromatic amine are important requirements for specific and robust astrocyte labeling. These results provide a basis for engineering astrocyte-targeted molecular tools with unique properties, including metabolite sensing or optogenetic control.     

新时代多学科诊疗模式中放射科医生的价值

伴随着医疗体系的改革,放射科医生的工作模式正在发生变化,由既往仅书写大量的放射影像报告转变为多学科诊疗团队的核心成员,在患者安全和医疗质量、教育、科普宣传、临床科学研究及卫生经济学等层面均发挥着重要作用。多学科诊疗模式为放射科医生提供了向临床各科室、患者、医疗机构和社会展现自我价值的重要机会。     

Synthesis of mesoporous core-shell structured GdPO_4:Eu@SiO_2@mSiO_2 nanorods for drug delivery and cell imaging applications

Mesoporous GdPO_4:Eu@SiO_2@mSiO_2 core-shell nanorods(NRs) were prepared by a facile two-step method.First,the monodispersed GdPO_4:Eu NRs were obtained on a large scale via a facile precipitation method,then mesoporous silica was wrapped onto their surface through hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate(TEOS).The XRD result indicates that the as-prepared GdPO_4:Eu NRs core has hexagonal phase.The FTIR and the N_2 adsorption/desorption isotherm analysis confirm the successful coating of mesoporous silica.The TEM images show that the obtained GdPO_4:Eu@SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs exhibit uniform monodisperse core-shell structure with a nanorod core(length of 200 nm;width of 20 nm),and mesoporous silica shell of 15 nm.Under excitation of 274 nm,GdPO_4:Eu@SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs show strong red luminescence from ~5 D_0→~7 F_J(J=1,2,3 and 4) transitions of Eu~(3+).Furthermore,the GdPO_4:Eu@-SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs exhibit obvious T_1 enhancement effect due to paramagnetism of Gd~(3+).The drug loading capacity and pH-sensitive releasing behavior of the as-prepared GdPO_4:Eu@SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs were studied by using doxorubicin(DOX) as model drug.The excellent biocompatibility of GdPO_4:Eu@-SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs was demonstrated by MTT assay.Taken together,the mesoporous GdPO_4:Eu@-SiO_2@mSiO_2 NRs may be potentially applied in fields of drug delivery and dual-modal imaging.     

Preparation and characterization of multilayer Gd2O2S:Tb phosphor screen for X-ray detection application

Gd2O2S:Tb (GOS) phosphor screen, generally with a multilayer structure, has been widely used in digital X-ray imaging. GOS phosphor screen is fabricated via a slip casting route, which is an effective method to obtain multilayer composites with good strength. The GOS slurry was prepared using the menhaden oil, polyvinyl butyral and PEG-400 as dispersant, binder and plasticizer, respectively, and slip casted on a support layer. After the GOS scintillation layer is formed, a transparent polyethylene terephthalate film is covered on it as a protective layer. The X-ray excited emission spectra of the obtained GOS phosphor screen is well match to the spectral response of a-Si:H photodiode, and the spatial resolution was close to 3.7 LP/mm, which could meet the request of the commercial application.     

铁酸镧B位掺Mn/Co/Cr试样的红外辐射性能与机理

采用高温固相烧结法制备了粉体材料LaFeO₃、LaFe_0.75Co_0.25O₃、LaFe_0.75Cr_0.25O₃和LaFe_0.75Mn_0.25O₃，通过XRD、FTIR、SEM、XPS等检测手段对材料进行表征，同时运用CASTEP模块模拟计算了材料的电子能带结构和光学性质。实验结果表明：掺入Mn/Cr/Co离子后晶格发生畸变,晶格对称性降低。Mn/Cr/Co掺杂后的粉体材料在近中红外波段发射率排序为：掺Mn>掺Co>掺Cr>纯LaFeO₃，其中掺Mn在0.2～2.5μm波段为0.8722，2.5～5μm波段为0.6755，远大于纯LaFeO₃的发射率（近中红外波段发射率均为0.5左右）。发射率提升的机理在于：Mn掺杂后,引入了Mn³⁺杂质能级，产生了激活能小的Mn³⁺?Mn⁴⁺跳跃小极化子，电子-氧空位载流子吸收亦增强，同时体系的晶格畸变导致振动吸收加剧。第一性原理计算结果表明掺杂Mn/Cr/Co材料的禁带宽度分别0.793eV、2.406eV、1.722eV均小于纯LaFeO₃的3.817eV，结合态密度计算结果分析其原因，主要Mn3d、Cr3d、Co3d轨道与O2p轨道杂化形成杂质能级，同时Mn3d、Cr3d、Co3d在导带也存在态密度峰，且峰的位置都比LaFeO₃峰更靠近费米能级，作为新的导带底相当于缩短了价带顶到导带底之间的间隙宽度。LaFe_0.75Mn_0.25O₃材料在近中红外波段的优异辐射性能表现，可作为耐高温抗氧化高发射率材料在高温热工炉窑具有潜在应用前景。     

面向长距离量子通信的双光子关联成像技术

量子时域鬼成像利用光子对的时间-频率关联性实现了50km光纤链路上的图像传送,有望应用于量子通信的协议中。然而,现有方案的成像质量较差,成像速度较慢,因此其应用性在一定程度上受到了限制。文章对已有成像方案进行了较大的改进,利用可编程滤波器数字设定待成像信息,进而实现了二维图像信息的自动化实时传送。实验结果证明,改进方案的成像质量和速度均有显著改善,有利于推动量子关联成像在量子通信领域的应用。     

An Integrated Flexible All-Nanowire Infrared Sensing System with Record Photosensitivity

Infrared (IR) photodetectors are a key optoelectronic device and have thus attracted considerable research attention in recent years. Photosensitivity is an increasingly important device performance parameter for nanoscale photodetectors and image sensors, as it determines the ultimate imaging quality and contrast. However, photosensitivities of state-of-the-art low-dimensional nanostructure-based IR detectors are considerably low, limiting their practical applications. Herein, a biomimetic IR detection amplification (IRDA) system that boosts photosensitivity by several orders of magnitude by introducting nanowire field effect transistors (FETs), resulting in a peak photosensitivity of 7.6 × 10⁴ under an illumination of 1342 nm, is presented. Consequently, high-contrast imaging of IR light is obtained on the flexible IRDA arrays. The image information can be then trained and recognized by an artificial neural network for higher image-recognition efficiency. This work provides a new perspective for developing high-performance IR imaging systems, and is expected to undoubtedly enlighten future work on artificial intelligence and biorobotic systems.     

基于自回归谱外推的全聚焦成像分辨力提升

针对相邻缺陷全聚焦超声成像混叠问题，结合低阶、宽有效频带自回归谱外推方法，压缩超声波时域脉冲宽度，实现亚波长级全聚焦（Total focusing method，TFM）成像分辨力。建立碳钢试块模型，设置两个中心间距1.8 mm，直径1.3 mm圆孔，选用中心频率2.25 MHz，32阵元相控阵探头采集全矩阵数据。针对全矩阵数据，选择自回归阶数为2，信号频谱最大幅值下降14 dB为有效频带，建立自回归模型并外推有效频带外的高频与低频成分，随后对全矩阵数据进行延迟叠加处理和TFM成像。仿真结果表明，低阶、宽有效频带自回归谱外推处理方法具有较高的鲁棒性和准确性，TFM成像后可有效分离中心间距0.7λ（λ为超声波长）圆孔，保留缺陷横向位置信息的同时，定位误差不超过0.73%。对碳钢试块中相同位置及尺寸的圆孔进行试验验证，定位误差不超过1.06%，有效地提高TFM成像分辨力。     

提高关联成像重构质量的研究

比较基于压缩感知关联成像(CGI)与伪逆关联成像(PGI)两者之间的成像效果差异,探讨形态学权重自适应对关联成像去除噪声的效果。选择不同的图像,通过MATLAB软件开展仿真实验,对目标图像分别采样64、256、512、1 024、2 048、3 000次,首先通过关联成像、基于压缩感知关联成像与伪逆关联成像三种方法重构图像,再对比压缩感知与伪逆两种方法重构图像的效果,以峰值信噪比(PSNR)、相关系数(CC)为量化指标,将基于压缩感知关联成像与伪逆关联成像在不同采样次数下进行对比分析。同时,通过实验分析形态学权重自适应去除关联成像中噪声的效果。伪逆关联成像在低次数采样的情况下比基于压缩感知关联成像的成像效果更好,在高采样次数下,基于压缩感知关联成像的成像效果更好。在实际重构中压缩感知关联成像重构的图像仍有噪声,形态学权重自适应可以有效去除关联成像实验中产生的噪声。     

Tissue-Specific Ferritin- and GFP-Based Genetic Vectors Visualize Neurons by MRI in the Intact and Post-Ischemic Rat Brain

(1) Background: Neurogenesis is considered to be a potential brain repair mechanism and is enhanced in stroke. It is difficult to reconstruct the neurogenesis process only from the histological sections taken from different animals at different stages of brain damage and restoration. Study of neurogenesis would greatly benefit from development of tissue-specific visualization probes. (2) Purpose: The study aimed to explore if overexpression of ferritin, a nontoxic iron-binding protein, under a doublecortin promoter can be used for non-invasive visualization of neurogenesis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (3) Methods: Ferritin heavy chain (FerrH) was expressed in the adeno-associated viral backbone (AAV) under the doublecortin promoter (pDCX), specific for young neurons, in the viral construct AAV-pDCX-FerrH. Expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was used as an expression control (AAV-pDCX-eGFP). The viral vectors or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were injected intracerebrally into 18 adult male Sprague–Dawley rats. Three days before injection, rats underwent transient middle-cerebral-artery occlusion or sham operation. Animals were subjected to In vivo MRI study before surgery and on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after injection using a Bruker BioSpec 11.7 T scanner. Brain sections obtained on day 28 after injection were immunostained for ferritin, young (DCX) and mature (NeuN) neurons, and activated microglia/macrophages (CD68). Additionally, RT-PCR was performed to confirm ferritin expression. (4) Results: T2* images in post-ischemic brains of animals injected with AAV-pDCX-FerrH showed two distinct zones of MRI signal hypointensity in the ipsilesioned hemisphere starting from 14 days after viral injection—in the ischemic lesion and near the lateral ventricle and subventricular zone (SVZ). In sham-operated animals, only one zone of hypointensity near the lateral ventricle and SVZ was revealed. Immunochemistry showed that ferritin-expressing cells in ischemic lesions were macrophages (88.1%), while ferritin-expressing cells near the lateral ventricle in animals both after ischemia and sham operation were mostly mature (55.7% and 61.8%, respectively) and young (30.6% and 7.1%, respectively) neurons. RT-PCR confirmed upregulated expression of ferritin in the caudoputamen and corpus callosum. Surprisingly, in animals injected with AAV-pDCX-eGFP we similarly observed two zones of hypointensity on T2* images. Cellular studies also showed the presence of mature (81.5%) and young neurons (6.1%) near the lateral ventricle in both postischemic and sham-operated animals, while macrophages in ischemic lesions were ferritin-positive (98.2%). (5) Conclusion: Ferritin overexpression induced by injection of AAV-pDCX-FerrH was detected by MRI using T2*-weighted images, which was confirmed by immunochemistry showing ferritin in young and mature neurons. Expression of eGFP also caused a comparable reduced MR signal intensity in T2*-weighted images. Additional studies are needed to investigate the potential and tissue-specific features of the use of eGFP and ferritin expression in MRI studies.