Confocal Microscopy with Detector Arrays

Abstract

Imaging in a scanning optical microscope with a detector consisting of an array of rings is considered. It is found that both transverse and axial resolution can be increased simultaneously.     

Understanding how cystic fibrosis mutations cause a loss of Cl- channel function

Defective epithelial Cl- secretion is the hallmark of the lethal genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF). This abnormality is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a regulated Cl- channel. Since the identification of the single gene encoding CFTR, several hundred disease-causing mutations, associated with a wide variety of clinical phenotypes, have been reported. To understand the relationship between genotype and clinical phenotype, researchers have investigated how mutations in CFTR disrupt its function. Here, we review the recent progress in understanding how CF-associated mutations in CFTR produce defective Cl- channels, and discuss the implications of this knowledge for the development of therapy for CF.     

Sensitive fieldable photoelastic fiber-optic hydrophone

A multimode fiber-optic intensity-modulated hydrophone has been constructed that appears capable not only of matching the sensitivity of conventional hydrophones but in fact has the potential for deployment at ocean depths and the potential for surviving severe hydrostatic shocks. This approach uses a transduction element comprised of a channel of photoelastic material that becomes optically birefringent when subjected to a uniaxial stress. The birefringence in turn acts cooperatively with polarizers to modulate the light beam traveling through the material in a manner that is in accordance with the applied acoustic stress signal.     

Dielectric analysis of the cure of thermosetting epoxy/amine systems

A low molecular weight epoxy resin is cured isothermally with an aromatic amine hardener, and the dielectric properties are measured as a function of the frequency, reaction time, and cure temperature. At specific stages in the cure, small samples from the reacting mixture are quenched and subsequently analyzed for the glass transition temperature and epoxy group conversion by differential scanning calorimetry. In this manner, the change In dielectric properties can be directly correlated with the network structure. The ionic conductivity is modeled as a function of the cure temperature and the cure-dependent glass transition temperature using a Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF) relation. Combining this WLF relation with the DiBenedetto equation, a comprehensive model relating conductivity with the extent of reaction and cure temperature has been developed.     

Transgenic N-myc mouse model for indolent B cell lymphoma: tumor characterization and analysis of genetic alterations in spontaneous and retrovirally accelerated tumors

Little is known about stepwise deregulation of specific genes leading to lymphoid malignancy. Aberrant myc gene expression in transgenic mice is correlated with B cell lymphomagenesis. We generated a unique transgenic mouse model in which deregulated murine E mu-N-myc transgene expression leads to development of indolent B cell lymphoma. Tumor cells were monoclonal, morphologically mature and surface immunoglobulin expressing B cells. Tumors arose in a disease course and exhibited a cytoarchitectural appearance reminiscent of human follicular lymphoma. Yet tumor cells were staged as preB since they failed to rearrange the immunoglobulin light chain genes. Retroviral insertion mutagenesis analyses of adult transgenic mice infected as newborns with murine leukemia virus revealed decreased disease latency, increased lymphoma incidence and a histologically more mature tumor type. Proviral insertion sites were not equivalent when accelerated E mu-N-myc indolent lymphomas were compared to accelerated c-myc preB cell lymphomas. The bcl-2 gene was not disrupted in either spontaneous or provirally accelerated E mu-N-myc lymphomas. These findings suggest that tumor progression in N-myc-associated indolent B cell lymphoma can proceed along diverse pathways involving distinctly different combinations of deregulated and/or intact genes than those pathways described in highly aggressive forms of myc-related murine preB cell disease.     

Retinoid X receptor expression in the normal pituitary and clinically ''non-functioning'' pituitary tumours

Nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma is the suggested appellation for a tumefactive process of the nasal passages and contiguous paranasal sinuses in seven children with a detectable mass in the nose. With the exception of one patient who was 7 years of age at diagnosis, the others were 3 months of age or less upon recognition of the mass. Two children were diagnosed in the first 2 weeks of life. Imaging studies showed a complex solid and cystic mass or masses filling the nasal cavity and extending into the ethmoid sinuses in most cases. Erosion of the surrounding bone, including the cribriform plate, resulted in an intracranial component in the four cases. Surgical resection was the treatment of choice despite its technical difficulties that often necessitated a combined intranasal and intracranial approach. Residual disease with continued growth in one case was the clinical outcome in two children, and the remaining five patients have not experienced any further difficulties. The piecemeal fragments of tissue disclosed a collage of histologic features, but the basic morphologic elements were well-demarcated nodules of cartilage with some variation in the cellular density and maturation of the chondrocytes, a myxoid to spindle cell stroma, focal osteoclastlike giant cells in the stroma, and erythrocyte-filled spaces resembling those of the aneurysmal bone cyst. Two of the tumors were less polymorphous or complex in their spectrum of histologic features. These nasal masses have similarities to the so-called chest wall hamartoma or mesenchymal hamartoma of the chest wall in terms of the clinical presentation in infancy and the basic cartilaginous character of both entities. There is a degree of presumption in the designation of these nasal and chest wall tumors as hamartomas because the pathogenesis has not been established for either entity.     

Microstructural characterization of a

A detailed investigation concerning the microstructural characteristics of a rapidly solidified Al-Mg-Mn powder alloy has been carried out. A range of microstructures was observed in the atomized powder: dendritic, cellular, and featureless morphologies. Variations in structure have been related to cooling rate, nucleation undercooling, and recalescence during solidification. A metastable Al-Mn phase was created during atomization and was present in two distinct morphologies. Decomposition behavior during thermal and thermomechanical processing has been studied. An interesting feature was the retention of the metastable phase through the initial consolidation stages.