Thermal plasma irradiation under the action of the microwave-frequency-modulated laser beam

The results of the calculation of the thermal irradiation of the laser plasma formed by a powerful laser beam with the microwave-frequency-modulated intensity are presented. The analytical solution has been obtained for the case of the light detonation regime. It has been shown that the modulation of the gasdynamic parameters due to the absorption of the laser radiation leads to the modulation of the spectral and integral brightness observed from the thermal plasma irradiation.     

The action of helium-neon laser radiation on the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The growth properties of M. tuberculosis subjected to the action of helium-neon laser radiation was studied. Laser radiation was shown to change the quantitative and qualitative composition of mycobacterial population. Disturbances in the viability of mycobacteria appear as a consequence of changes in the morphological structure of mycobacterial cells. The maximum effect of helium-neon laser radiation was achieved after the irradiation of M. tuberculosis culture on days 2-3 after inoculation. These results made it possible to suggest that the effect of helium-neon laser radiation was most pronounced in cells at the stage of mitosis (the logarithmic stage of growth) with the highest degree of metabolism.     

Thinking in continua: beyond the “adaptive radiation” metaphor

“Adaptive radiation” is an evocative metaphor for explosive evolutionary divergence, which for over 100 years has given a powerful heuristic to countless scientists working on all types of organisms at all phylogenetic levels. However, success has come at the price of making “adaptive radiation” so vague that it can no longer reflect the detailed results yielded by powerful new phylogeny‐based techniques that quantify continuous adaptive radiation variables such as speciation rate, phylogenetic tree shape, and morphological diversity. Attempts to shoehorn the results of these techniques into categorical “adaptive radiation: yes/no” schemes lead to reification, in which arbitrary quantitative thresholds are regarded as real. Our account of the life cycle of metaphors in science suggests that it is time to exchange the spent metaphor for new concepts that better represent the full range of diversity, disparity, and speciation rate across all of life.     

Laser microirradiation of cerebellar neurons in culture

Electrophysiological and ultrastructural effects of focused laser radiation on neurons from neonatal rat cerebellum in tissue culture are reported. Action potentials were elicited by an extracellular current pulse train. The stimulator voltage required for half-maximum response frequency was measured as a function of the energy delivered by a single laser pulse. Above a “threshold” laser energy, the cell response to stimulation became negligible for all stimulator voltages. Electron micrographs of cells revealed that the mitochondria are preferentially damaged at an energy comparable to the electrophysiological threshold. The damaged mitochondria showed swollen matrix space and disrupted cristae membranes. Higher laser energies resulted in damage to other cytoplasmic structures. The results are consistent with a model that assumes that light interaction with the nerve cells proceeds by local heating of the mitochondria and nearby structures and leads to an increased conductance of the membrane to some ionic species.     

Thermodynamic response of soft biological tissues to pulsed infrared-laser irradiation.

The physical mechanisms that achieve tissue removal through the delivery of short pulses of high-intensity infrared laser radiation, in a process known as laser ablation, remain obscure. The thermodynamic response of biological tissue to pulsed infrared laser irradiation was investigated by measuring and analyzing the stress transients generated by Q-sw Er:YSGG (lambda = 2.79 microns) and TEA CO2 (lambda = 10.6 microns) laser irradiation of porcine dermis using thin-film piezoelectric transducers. For radiant exposures that do not produce material removal, the stress transients are consistent with thermal expansion of the tissue samples. The temporal structure of the stress transients generated at the threshold radiant exposure for ablation indicates that the onset of material removal is delayed with respect to irradiation. Once material removal is achieved, the magnitude of the peak compressive stress and its variation with radiant exposure are consistent with a model that considers this process as an explosive event occurring after the laser pulse. This mechanism is different from ArF- and KrF-excimer laser ablation where absorption of ultraviolet radiation by the collagenous tissue matrix leads to tissue decomposition during irradiation and results in material removal via rapid surface vaporization. It appears that under the conditions examined in this study, explosive boiling of tissue water is the process that mediates the ablation event. This study provides evidence that the dynamics and mechanism of tissue ablation processes can be altered by targeting tissue water rather than the tissue structural matrix.     

Structural and functional characteristics of muscle allotransplants, formed under different conditions of laser irradiation

It is known that a low-energy laser radiation can cause reflex suppression of immunity. The present experiments were designed to determine the plastic activity of allogenic muscle tissue in different conditions of a previous action of laser rays. The cross homotransplantation of gastrocnemius muscles was carried out between intact rats, or between rats in which 14 days before transplantation each hind leg was subjected to low-energy He-Ne laser radiation in dose of 7.5-9 J/cm2 (10 procedures, the duration of each exposure was equal to 5 min), or between intact and radiated rats. It was shown that the donor muscle tissue survived longer when a nonradiated muscle was transplanted into the radiated muscle bed. The axons grew into the donor muscle tissue. More allogenic muscle tissue was involved in contractile reaction when stimulation was carried out via the nerve. Laser radiation of a homotransplant alone, or that of a homotransplant and a muscle bed in the recipient was less effective. So, He-Ne laser radiation of the area of a planned allotransplantation decreased the transplant immunity response and favoured a longer development of allogenic muscle tissue. The viability of donor muscle tissue therewith increased, if the muscle allograft had not been subjected to a previous laser radiation.     

Theoretical analysis of thermal damage in biological tissues caused by laser irradiation

A bioheat transfer approach is proposed to study thermal damage in biological tissues caused by laser radiation. The laser light propagation in the tissue is first solved by using a robust seven-flux model in cylindrical coordinate system. The resulting spatial distribution of the absorbed laser energy is incorporated into the bioheat transfer equation for solving temperature response. Thermal damage to the tissue is assessed by the extent of denatured protein using a rate process equation. It is found that for the tissue studied, a significant protein denaturation process would take place when temperature exceeds about 53 degrees C. The effects of laser power, exposure time and beam size as well as the tissue absorption and scattering coefficients on the thermal damage process are examined and discussed. The laser conditions that cause irreversible damage to the tissue are also identified.     

用组织光学特性鉴别诊断人离体的正常膀胱和膀胱癌组织

研究正常人膀胱和膀胱癌组织在Kube lka-Munk二流模型下对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808 nm波长的激光的光学特性的差异。采用双积分球系统和Kube lka-Munk二流模型进行测量研究。实验结果表明,正常膀胱和膀胱癌组织在Kube lka-Munk二流模型下对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808 nm波长的每一个波长的激光的吸收、散射、总衰减、有效衰减系数都有非常显著性的差异(P<0.01)。膀胱癌组织对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808nm波长的激光的吸收系数明显地较正常膀胱组织对相应波长的激光的吸收系数要大(P<0.01),膀胱癌组织对476.5 nm和514.5 nm波长的激光的散射系数明显地较正常膀胱组织对相应波长的激光的散射系数要小(P<0.01),而膀胱癌组织对808 nm波长的激光的散射系数明显地较正常膀胱组织对同一波长的激光的散射系数要大(P<0.01)。膀胱癌组织对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808 nm波长的激光的总衰减系数明显地较正常膀胱组织对相应波长的激光的总衰减系数要大(P<0.01),膀胱癌组织对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808 nm波长的激光的有效衰减系数明显地较正常膀胱组织对相应波长的激光的有效衰减系数要大(P<0.01)。提示使用双积分球系统和Kube lka-Munk二流模型来确定离体的正常膀胱组织和膀胱癌组织对476.5 nm,514.5 nm和808nm波长的激光的光学特性的差异鉴别诊断病变的膀胱组织是一个有效的方法。     

Effect of pulsed CO2-laser irradiation on bone tissue

Different dynamic effects on biological tissue caused by pulsed laser radiation are described. It is shown that the parameters of these effects which take place on the bone tissue affected by pulsed CO2-laser radiation are directly dependent on the parameters of these pulses and may be predicted for any concrete application.     

Molecular level damages of low power pulsed laser radiation in a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora

AIM: To study the molecular level damages in a marine bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora, exposed to low power pulsed laser radiation from an Nd:YAG laser. METHODS AND RESULTS: The laser damages in bacterial DNA were monitored by studying the formation of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites. Molecular probe kits were used for this purpose. Occurrence of lesions in the cell walls was monitored under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed that laser radiation significantly increased the number of AP sites in the bacterial DNA. This increase corresponded to the laser fluence (J cm(-2)) and to the duration of laser irradiation. TEM observation showed the occurrence of lesions in bacterial cell walls upon laser irradiation. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that bacteria exposed to laser irradiation suffers DNA damages and resulted in broken cell walls. These events led to bacterial mortality. These are in addition to the mechanisms reported earlier such as the photochemical reactions occurring inside the cells upon exposure to low power laser. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These results help us to understand the mechanisms of bacterial mortality on exposure to low power pulsed laser irradiation and are useful in formulating a laser treatment strategy to kill bacteria.     

The effect of a mutagenic factor on the morphologo-biochemical properties of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A yeast mutant valuable for the baking industry was obtained by using laser radiation. Its morphological and biochemical characteristics were studied.     

Tissue printing on nitrocellulose paper: A new method for immunolocalization of proteins,localization of enzyme activities and anatomical analysis

In this review we discuss the application of tissue printing of plant material on nitrocellulose paper. A number of different approaches and applications can be used with imprinted nitrocellulose paper. These include immunocytochemistry, protein staining and morphological analysis of imprinted tissue. The ease with which tissue imprints on nitrocellulose papers can be handled and processed for a number of cytochemical and morphological analyses makes this technique a powerful new tool for use by plant biologists.     

Experimental effect of ultraviolet laser radiation on lung, tracheal and bronchial tissues

The authors studied morphological changes under the effect of laser radiation. Various disorders in the blood circulation have been revealed such as hyperemia, stasis which did not depend upon the exposition time.     

He-Ne激光照射日本沼虾心脏、鳃和腹神经组织细胞的光学显微镜观察

本文采用He-Ne激光照射日本沼虾的心脏、鳃和腹神经,研究其对日本沼虾组织细胞形态结构的影响。实验结果为：(1)实验组的心脏和鳃组织细胞具有明显异染色质的细胞数量百分比要比对照组的分别增大21．78％和13．23％;(2)实验组的腹神经分泌细胞核的平均直径比对照组的缩小0．82／an,核内有明显异染色质的平均直径比对照组的缩小1．69μm。实验表明：He-Ne激光照射后,细胞核内异染色质均发生凝聚现象。     

Controlling the near‐infrared transparency of costal cartilage by impregnation with clearing agents and magnetite nanoparticles

Penetration depth of near‐infrared laser radiation to costal cartilage is controlled by the tissue absorption and scattering, and it is the critical parameter to provide the relaxation of mechanical stress throughout the whole thickness of cartilage implant. To enhance the penetration for the laser radiation on 1.56 μm, the optical clearing solutions of glycerol and fructose of various concentrations are tested. The effective and reversible tissue clearance was achieved. However, the increasing absorption of radiation should be concerned: 5°C‐8°C increase of tissue temperature was detected. Laser parameters used for stress relaxation in cartilage should be optimized when applying optical clearing agents. To concentrate the absorption in the superficial tissue layers, magnetite nanoparticle (NP) dispersions with the mean size 95 ± 5 nm and concentration 3.9 ± 1.1 × 10¹¹ particles/mL are applied. The significant increase in the tissue heating rate was observed along with the decrease in its transparency. Using NPs the respective laser power can be decreased, allowing us to obtain the working temperature locally with reduced thermal effect on the surrounding tissue.      

Antibodies and immunohistochemistry in extracellular matrix research

Immunohistochemistry is a powerful investigative tool that can provide researchers with important supplemental information to the routine morphological assessment of musculo-skeletal connective tissues in health and disease and also during tissue repair and regeneration. A wide variety of antibodies (both monoclonal and polyclonal) are now available from commercial and non-commercial sources that recognise the major structural and soluble components of cellular and extracellular matrix compartments. These include antibodies towards the major collagen and proteoglycan species and their metabolites, glycosaminoglycans, glycoproteins, enzymes, enzyme generated neo-epitopes, growth factors, cytokines and related signalling molecules. In addition, cell surface markers, cytoskeletal components and many other cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins, too numerous to mention, can also be detected. When allied with high resolution imaging modalities (e.g. confocal laser scanning microscopy) immunohistochemistry thus has the potential to reveal a wealth of macromolecular information about the complex three-dimensional composition and organisation of cellular and extracellular matrix compartments in many different connective tissue types. These technologies can also be used to quantify signal intensities and thereby facilitate numerical computation of image data.     

Elevated frequency of abnormalities in barn swallows from Chernobyl

Ever since the Chernobyl accident in 1986, that contaminated vast areas in surrounding countries with radiation, abnormalities and birth defects have been reported in human populations. Recently, several studies suggested that the elevated frequency of such abnormalities can be attributed to poverty and stress in affected human populations. Here, we present long-term results for a free-living population of barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, demonstrating the presence of 11 morphological abnormalities in populations around Chernobyl, but much less frequently in an uncontaminated Ukrainian control population and three more distant control populations. The presence of these abnormalities in barn swallows is associated with reduced viability. These findings demonstrate a link between morphological abnormalities and radiation in an animal population that cannot be attributed to poverty and stress. The most parsimonious hypothesis for abnormalities in animal and human populations alike is that the effects are caused by the same underlying cause, viz. radiation derived from the Chernobyl accident.     

The thermodynamic response of soft biological tissues to pulsed ultraviolet laser irradiation.

The physical mechanisms that enable short pulses of high-intensity ultraviolet laser radiation to remove tissue, in a process known as laser ablation, remain obscure. The thermodynamic response of biological tissue to pulsed laser irradiation was investigated by measuring and subsequently analyzing the stress transients generated by pulsed argon fluorine (ArF, lambda = 193 nm) and krypton fluorine (KrF, lambda = 248 nm) excimer laser irradiation of porcine dermis using thin-film piezoelectric transducers. For radiant exposures that do not cause material removal, the stress transients are consistent with rapid thermal expansion of the tissue. At the threshold radiant exposure for ablation, the peak stress amplitude generated by 248 nm irradiation is more than an order of magnitude larger than that produced by 193 nm irradiation. For radiant exposures where material removal is achieved, the temporal structure of the stress transient indicates that the onset of material removal occurs during irradiation. In this regime, the variation of the peak compressive stress with radiant exposure is consistent with laser-induced rapid surface vaporization. For 193 nm irradiation, ionization of the ablated material occurs at even greater radiant exposures and is accompanied by a change in the variation of peak stress with radiant exposure consistent with a plasma-mediated ablation process. These results suggest that absorption of ultraviolet laser radiation by the extracellular matrix of tissue leads to decomposition of tissue on the time scale of the laser pulse. The difference in volumetric energy density at ablation threshold between the two wavelengths indicates that the larger stresses generated by 248 nm irradiation may facilitate the onset of material removal. However, once material removal is achieved, the stress measurements demonstrate that energy not directly responsible for target decomposition contributes to increasing the specific energy of the plume (and plasma, when present), which drives the gas dynamic expansion of ablated material. This provides direct evidence that ultraviolet laser ablation of soft biological tissues is a surface-mediated process and not explosive in nature.     

Phenotypic traits meet patterns of resource use in the radiation of “sharpfin” sailfin silverside fish in Lake Matano

Disruptive natural selection on traits related to resource exploitation may lead to differential adaptation and finally to speciation. Trait utility, the performance of traits in terms of fitness, is a central criterion for the recognition of adaptive radiation. Utility of morphological structures involved in foraging can be detected by relating their variation to individual resource use. Here, we test for trophic adaptations in the radiation of “sharpfin” sailfin silversides (Atheriniformes: Telmatherinidae), endemic to ancient graben-lake Matano in central Sulawesi (Indonesia). This small species-flock is characterized by high phenotypic diversity, including traits most likely related to feeding ecology. Previous analyses suggest that species boundaries are porous, indicating very recent or possibly ongoing processes of species flock formation. To test for adaptation to resource use in this radiation, we compared morphological traits among trophic groups of individuals as identified by stomach content analyses. We analyzed variation in candidate structures or structural complexes commonly recognized as indicative of trophic adaptation in fish radiations, including shapes of body, oral and pharyngeal jaws, gill rakers and body size. We found fine-scaled morphological differentiation according to feeding habits, covering all traits analyzed. Fish-, shrimp- and egg-feeders were most distinct, with major axes of morphological variation fitting patterns of adaptation reported from other lacustrine fish radiations. Thus, the present results are consistent with fine-scaled morphological adaptation to resource use, supporting the adaptive character of the sharpfin sailfin silverside radiation.     

Using genetically engineered mice for radiation research

The laboratory mouse has been used for many decades as a model system for radiation research. Recent advances in genetic engineering now allow scientists to delete genes in specific cell types at different stages of development. The ability to manipulate genes in the mouse with spatial and temporal control opens new opportunities to investigate the role of genes in regulating the response of normal tissues and tumors to radiation. Currently, we are using the Cre-loxP system to delete genes, such as p53, in a cell-type specific manner in mice to study mechanisms of acute radiation injury and late effects of radiation. Our results demonstrate that p53 is required in the gastrointestinal (GI) epithelium to prevent radiation-induced GI syndrome and in endothelial and/or hematopoietic cells to prevent late effects of radiation. We have also used these genetic tools to generate primary tumors in mice to study tumor response to radiation therapy. These advances in genetic engineering provide a powerful model system to dissect both the mechanisms of normal tissue injury after irradiation and the mechanisms by which radiation cures cancer.