A comparative study of cationic liposome and niosome-based adjuvant systems for protein subunit vaccines:characterisation, environmental scanning electron microscopy and immunisation studies in mice

Vesicular adjuvant systems composing dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) can promote both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses to the tuberculosis vaccine fusion protein in mice. However, these DDA preparations were found to be physically unstable, forming aggregates under ambient storage conditions. Therefore there is a need to improve the stability of such systems without undermining their potent adjuvanticity. To this end, the effect of incorporating non-ionic surfactants, such as 1-monopalmitoyl glycerol (MP), in addition to cholesterol (Chol) and trehalose 6,6′-dibehenate (TDB), on the stability and efficacy of these vaccine delivery systems was investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed a reduction in the phase transition temperature (T c) of DDA-based vesicles by ∼12°C when MP and cholesterol (1:1 molar ratio) were incorporated into the DDA system. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the addition of MP to DDA vesicles resulted in the formation of multi-lamellar vesicles. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) of MP-Chol-DDA-TDB (16:16:4:0.5 μmol) indicated that incorporation of antigen led to increased stability of the vesicles, perhaps as a result of the antigen embedding within the vesicle bilayers. At 4°C DDA liposomes showed significant vesicle aggregation after 28 days, although addition of MP-Chol or TDB was shown to inhibit this instability. Alternatively, at 25°C only the MP-based systems retained their original size. The presence of MP within the vesicle formulation was also shown to promote a sustained release of antigen in-vitro. The adjuvant activity of various systems was tested in mice against three subunit antigens, including mycobacterial fusion protein Ag85b-ESAT-6, and two malarial antigens (Merozoite surface protein 1, MSP1, and the glutamate rich protein, GLURP). The MP- and DDA-based systems induced antibody responses at comparable levels whereas the DDA-based systems induced more powerful cell-mediated immune responses. © 2006 The Authors.

Novel spatial scanning technique for surface roughness measurement

We present the first spatial scanning system using wavelength-spatial transformation of chromatic dispersion device. Optical probe used in fiber optic interferometer for surface measurement is demonstrated by using diffraction grating and wavelength scanning technique.

Technology for Scanning Astronomical Photographic Plates

ACM Computing Classification System (1998): J.2.

3D Laser Scanning for Digital Preservation and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage Main scanned objects - Four Temples of Different Religions in Sofia

The project demonstrates the use of modern technologies for preservation and presentation of the cultural and historical heritage. The idea is a database of cultural and historical heritage sites to be created applying three dimensional laser scanning technology and a combination of geodetic and photogrammetric methods and shooting techniques. For the purposes of carrying out this project, we have focused on some heritage sites in the central part of Sofia. We decided to include these particular buildings because of the fact that there is hardly another city in the world where within a radius of 400 m are located four temples of different religions - Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic. In the recent years, preservation of cultural heritage has been increasingly linked to objectives of sustainable development. Today, it has become clear that cultural heritage is also an economic resource that should be used for further economic development (through compulsory preservation of its authentic cultural values). There has been a more active public debate on the role of cultural heritage, regarding the following topics: improving the quality of life through development of cultural tourism, leading to an increase of the employment rate, constantly improving the business climate, etc. Cultural heritage preservation is becoming one of the priority objectives of the urban development policy. The focus has been shifted to new ways of preservation, mainly combinations of sophisticated technological solutions and their application for the purposes of preservation and dissemination of the cultural heritage.

Digitization and 3D Scanning of Historical Artifacts

Protection and preservation of our cultural and literary historical and documentary heritage are particularly relevant today. The paper presents methods for creating digital resources of historical artifacts related to the Balkan war. Special attention is paid to the process of 3D scanning of objects. The methodology will be used in building an electronic archive and Virtual Museum.

Linker-scanning analysis of the HIV-1: integrase protein

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Development of Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography and Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy: Improved Imaging Speed and Handheld Applications

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive three-dimensional interferometric imaging technique capable of achieving micrometer scale resolution. It is now a standard of care in ophthalmology, where it is used to improve the accuracy of early diagnosis, to better understand the source of pathophysiology, and to monitor disease progression and response to therapy. In particular, retinal imaging has been the most prevalent clinical application of OCT, but researchers and companies alike are developing OCT systems for cardiology, dermatology, dentistry, and many other medical and industrial applications.

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technique used to reduce monochromatic aberrations in optical instruments. It is used in astronomical telescopes, laser communications, high-power lasers, retinal imaging, optical fabrication and microscopy to improve system performance. Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) is a noninvasive confocal imaging technique that produces high contrast two-dimensional retinal images. AO is combined with SLO (AOSLO) to compensate for the wavefront distortions caused by the optics of the eye, providing the ability to visualize the living retina with cellular resolution. AOSLO has shown great promise to advance the understanding of the etiology of retinal diseases on a cellular level.

Broadly, we endeavor to enhance the vision outcome of ophthalmic patients through improved diagnostics and personalized therapy. Toward this end, the objective of the work presented herein was the development of advanced techniques for increasing the imaging speed, reducing the form factor, and broadening the versatility of OCT and AOSLO. Despite our focus on applications in ophthalmology, the techniques developed could be applied to other medical and industrial applications. In this dissertation, a technique to quadruple the imaging speed of OCT was developed. This technique was demonstrated by imaging the retinas of healthy human subjects. A handheld, dual depth OCT system was developed. This system enabled sequential imaging of the anterior segment and retina of human eyes. Finally, handheld SLO/OCT systems were developed, culminating in the design of a handheld AOSLO system. This system has the potential to provide cellular level imaging of the human retina, resolving even the most densely packed foveal cones.

Pyramid Multi-resolution Scanning for Two-sample Comparison

Testing for two-sample differences is challenging when the differences are local and only involve a small portion of the data. To solve this problem, we apply a multi- resolution scanning framework that performs dependent local tests on subsets of the sample space. We use a nested dyadic partition of the sample space to get a collection of windows and test for sample differences within each window. We put a joint prior on the states of local hypotheses that allows both vertical and horizontal message passing among the partition tree to reflect the spatial dependency features among windows. This information passing framework is critical to detect local sample differences. We use both the loopy belief propagation algorithm and MCMC to get the posterior null probability on each window. These probabilities are then used to report sample differences based on decision procedures. Simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the performance. Multiple testing adjustment and convergence of the algorithms are also discussed.

Linker-scanning analysis of the HIV-1: integrase protein

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Airborne Laser Scanning and the Archaeological Interpretation of Ireland’s First World War Landscape”:The Case Study of Randalstown Training Camp

The training of Irish soldiers for service in the British Army during the First World War required the establishment of training camps across the island, such as at Shane’s Castle Estate, close to Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The camp saw active use from 1914 to 1918 but after the war it was demilitarised and returned to use as farmland. Archaeological investigations have revealed that earthwork traces of the camp can still be identified in the modern landscape. Comparison of a map of the camp from 1915, Airborne Laser Scanning data and aerial photographs has enabled the footprint of the camp to be re-established, while also helping to identify the location of specific elements such as the remains of barrack huts, stores, mess halls and officers’ quarters.

Gene scanning of VDJH-amplified segments is a clinically relevant technique to detect contaminating tumor cells in the apheresis products of multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

Contaminating tumour cells in apheresis products have proved to influence the outcome of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). The gene scanning of clonally rearranged VDJ segments of the heavy chain immunoglobulin gene (VDJH) is a reproducible and easy to perform technique that can be optimised for clinical laboratories. We used it to analyse the aphereses of 27 MM patients undergoing APBSCT with clonally detectable VDJH segments, and 14 of them yielded monoclonal peaks in at least one apheresis product. The presence of positive results was not related to any pre-transplant characteristics, except the age at diagnosis (lower in patients with negative products, P = 0.04). Moreover, a better pre-transplant response trended to associate with a negative result (P = 0.069). Patients with clonally free products were more likely to obtain a better response to transplant (complete remission, 54% vs 28%; >90% reduction in the M-component, 93% vs 43% P = 0.028). In addition, patients transplanted with polyclonal products had longer progression-free survival, (39 vs 19 months, P = 0.037) and overall survival (81% vs 28% at 5 years, P = 0.045) than those transplanted with monoclonal apheresis. In summary, the gene scanning of apheresis products is a useful and clinically relevant technique in MM transplanted patients.