Hyperspectral computed tomographic imaging spectroscopy of vascular oxygen gradients in the rabbit retina in vivo

Diagnosis of retinal vascular diseases depends on ophthalmoscopic findings that most often occur after severe visual loss (as in vein occlusions) or chronic changes that are irreversible (as in diabetic retinopathy). Despite recent advances, diagnostic imaging currently reveals very little about the vascular function and local oxygen delivery. One potentially useful measure of vascular function is measurement of hemoglobin oxygen content. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel method of accurately, rapidly and easily measuring oxygen saturation within retinal vessels using in vivo imaging spectroscopy. This method uses a commercially available fundus camera coupled to two-dimensional diffracting optics that scatter the incident light onto a focal plane array in a calibrated pattern. Computed tomographic algorithms are used to reconstruct the diffracted spectral patterns into wavelength components of the original image. In this paper the spectral components of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin are analyzed from the vessels within the image. Up to 76 spectral measurements can be made in only a few milliseconds and used to quantify the oxygen saturation within the retinal vessels over a 10-15 degree field. The method described here can acquire 10-fold more spectral data in much less time than conventional oximetry systems (while utilizing the commonly accepted fundus camera platform). Application of this method to animal models of retinal vascular disease and clinical subjects will provide useful and novel information about retinal vascular disease and physiology.     

Structural and spectroscopic studies of a model for catechol oxidase

A binuclear copper complex, [Cu₂(BPMP)(OAc)₂][ClO₄]·H₂O, has been prepared using the binucleating ligand 2,6-bis[bis(pyridin-2-ylmethylamino)methyl]-4-methylphenol (H-BPMP). The X-ray crystal structure reveals the copper centers to have a five-coordinate square pyramidal geometry, with the acetate ligands bound terminally. The bridging phenolate occupies the apical position of the square-based pyramids and magnetic susceptibility, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and variable-temperature variable-field magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) measurements indicate that the two centers are very weakly antiferromagnetically coupled (J = −0.6 cm⁻¹). Simulation of the dipole–dipole-coupled EPR spectrum showed that in solution the Cu–O–Cu angle was increased from 126° to 160° and that the internuclear distance was larger than that observed crystallographically. The high-resolution spectroscopic information obtained has been correlated with a detailed ligand-field analysis to gain insight into the electronic structure of the complex. Symmetry arguments have been used to demonstrate that the sign of the MCD is characteristic of the tetragonally elongated environment. The complex also displays catecholase activity (k _cat = 15 ± 1.5 min⁻¹, K _M = 6.4 ± 1.8 mM), which is compared with other dicopper catechol oxidase models. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Regulatory role of sphingomyelin metabolites in hypoxia-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation

The rotating frame nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation rate R(1rho) in the blood and cell lysate was studied at 4.7T to provide reference values for in vivo modeling and to address the mechanisms contributing to net relaxation. A strong dependence on oxygenation, hematocrit, and spin lock field strength B(1) (0.2-1.6G) was observed in whole blood, whereas in lysate the effects were severely attenuated. The results were further compared to transverse relaxation rate R(2). A good agreement in low-field asymptotes of these two relaxation rates was found. R(1rho) field dispersion was fitted to Lorenzian line shape and resulted in correlation times around 40 micros. The dispersion behavior was related to motional properties of intracellular hemoglobin and effects of susceptibility shift interface across the cell membrane induced by compartmentalization of Hb into cells in blood.     

Do Size and Insecticide Treatment Matter? Evaluation of Different Nets against Phlebotomus argentipes,the Vector of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Nepal

In the Indian subcontinent, Leishmania donovani, the parasite causing visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is transmitted by the sand fly vector Phlebotomus argentipes. Long lasting insecticide treated nets (LN) have been postulated as alternative or complement to Indoor Residual Spraying but there are few field studies evaluating the entomological efficacy of different nets against this vector. We conducted two crossover trials in a VL endemic area in Nepal to compare the barrier effect of (1) LN with different mesh sizes (156 holes/inch² vs 625 holes/inch²) and (2) alpha-cypermethrin treated LN and untreated nets having the same mesh size (156 holes/inch²). Each crossover trial had two arms consisting of a sequence of two different nets for 8 nights. We used 10 cattle sheds per trial. A cow placed under the net was used as bait. CDC light traps placed inside the nets were used to evaluate the number of P. argentipes crossing the net barrier. Negative binomial generalized estimating equation (GEE) population-averaged models adjusted by night and sequence were used to estimate the barrier effect of the different nets. The crossover trials conducted in a rural village in Morang district (South-eastern Nepal) demonstrated that reducing the size of the holes in treated nets (625 holes/inch²) increased the barrier effect of LN by 77% (95% confidence interval (CI): 56%–88%) compared with treated nets with larger holes (156 holes/inch²). Treating nets with alpha-cypermethrin reduced the number of P. argentipes captured inside the nets by 77% (95% CI: 27%–93%) compared with untreated nets. The effectiveness and acceptability of finer mesh pyrethroid treated LN should be tested for VL prevention in a randomized controlled trial.