Atomic force microscopy imaging of living cells

Over the last two decades, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has emerged as the tool of choice to image living organisms in a near-physiological environment. Whereas fluorescence microscopy techniques allow labeling and tracking of components inside cells and the observation of dynamic processes, AFM is mainly a surface technique that can be operated on a wide range of substrates including biological samples. AFM enables extraction of topographical, mechanical and chemical information from these samples.

Quantification of Myocardial Perfusion Using 13N-ammonia PET: a Cross-Comparison Study on Analysis Software Packages - Carimas, PMOD and FlowQuant

Aim. Several software packages (SWP) and models have been released for quantification of myocardial perfusion (MP). Although they all are validated against something, the question remains how well their values agree. The present analysis focused on cross-comparison of three SWP for MP quantification of 13N-ammonia PET studies. Materials & Methods. 48 rest and stress MP 13N-ammonia PET studies of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients (Sciagrà et al., 2009) were analysed with three SW packages - Carimas, PMOD, and FlowQuant - by three observers blinded to the results of each other. All SWP implement the one-tissue-compartment model (1TCM, DeGrado et al. 1996), and first two - the two-tissue-compartment model (2TCM, Hutchins et al. 1990) as well. Linear mixed model for the repeated measures was fitted to the data. Where appropriate we used Bland-Altman plots as well. The reproducibility was assessed on global, regional and segmental levels. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), differences between the SWPs and between models were obtained. ICC≥0.75 indicated excellent reproducibility, 0.4≤ICC<0.75 indicated fair to good reproducibility, ICC<0.4 - poor reproducibility (Rosner, 2010). Results. When 1TCM MP values were compared, the SW agreement on global and regional levels was excellent, except for Carimas vs. PMOD at RCA: ICC=0.715 and for PMOD vs. FlowQuant at LCX:ICC=0.745 which were good. In segmental analysis in five segments: 7,12,13, 16, and 17 the agreement between all SWP was excellent; in the remaining 12 segments the agreement varied between the compared SWP. Carimas showed excellent agreement with FlowQuant in 13 segments and good in four - 1, 5, 6, 11: 0.687≤ICCs≤0.73; Carimas had excellent agreement with PMOD in 11 segments, good in five_4, 9, 10, 14, 15: 0.682≤ICCs≤0.737, and poor in segment 3: ICC=0.341. PMOD had excellent agreement with FlowQuant in eight segments and substantial-to-good in nine_1, 2, 3, 5, 6,8-11: 0.585≤ICCs≤0.738. Agreement between Carimas and PMOD for 2TCM was good at a global level: ICC=0.745, excellent at LCX (0.780) and RCA (0.774), good at LAD (0.662); agreement was excellent for ten segments, fair-to-substantial for segments 2, 3, 8, 14, 15 (0.431≤ICCs≤0.681), poor for segments 4 (0.384) and 17 (0.278). Conclusions. The three SWP used by different operators to analyse 13N-ammonia PET MP studies provide results that agree well at a global level, regional levels, and mostly well even at a segmental level. Agreement is better for 1TCM. Poor agreement at segments 4 and 17 for 2TCM needs further clarification.

Nível de dano, plantas invasoras hospedeiras, inimigos naturais e controle do psilídeo da goiabeira (Triozoida sp.) no submédio São Francisco

Com o objetivo de obter informações para implementação do Manejo Integrado do psilídeo da goiabeira, no Vale do São Francisco, realizaram-se estudos sobre nível de dano, plantas invasoras hospedeiras, seletividade e efeito do thiamethoxam 10GR e 250WG no controle de Triozoida sp. O experimento foi conduzido em Petrolina-PE, em blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram: 1) thiamethoxam 10GR aplicado no solo; 2) thiamethoxam 250WG pulverizado semanalmente; 3) thiamethoxam 10GR aplicado no solo + thiamethoxam 250WG pulverizado semanalmente; 4, 5 e 6) pulverizações com thiamethoxam 250WG quando se constatou 10, 20 e 30% de ramos infestados, respectivamente; 7, 8 e 9) thiamethoxam 10GR aplicado no solo + thiamethoxam 250WG pulverizado semanalmente quando se constatou 10, 20 e 30% de ramos danificados, respectivamente e 10) testemunha (sem inseticida). A percentagem de galhos infestados na testemunha (33,6%) diferiu significativamente dos tratamentos 2 (2,8%), 3 (4,33%), 4 (19,7%), 7 (13,45%), 8 (14,50%) e 9 (15,00%). Nas parcelas tratadas com thiamethoxam, a redução populacional de inimigos naturais variou de 12,5 a 39,6%, correspondendo às notas 1 e 2 na escala de seletividade (1 = atóxico (< 25%), 2 = pouco tóxico (25-50%). O número e o peso de frutos foram semelhantes em todos os tratamentos. Foram encontradas 51 espécies de invasoras, nenhuma hospedeira do psilídeo.