Versatile Near-Infrared Super-Resolution Imaging of Amyloid Fibrils with the Fluorogenic Probe CRANAD-2

CRANAD-2 is a fluorogenic curcumin derivative used for near-infrared detection and imaging in vivo of amyloid aggregates, which are involved in neurodegenerative diseases. We explore the performance of CRANAD-2 in two super-resolution imaging techniques, namely stimulated emission depletion (STED) and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), with markedly different fluorophore requirements. By conveniently adapting the concentration of CRANAD-2, which transiently binds to amyloid fibrils, we show that it performs well in both techniques, achieving a resolution in the range of 45–55 nm. Correlation of SMLM with atomic force microscopy (AFM) validates the resolution of fine features in the reconstructed super-resolved image. The good performance and versatility of CRANAD-2 provides a powerful tool for near-infrared nanoscopic imaging of amyloids in vitro and in vivo.     

On the Relative Twist Formula of l-adic Sheaves

We propose a conjecture on the relative twist formula of l-adic sheaves, which can be viewed as a generalization of Kato—Saito's conjecture. We verify this conjecture under some transversal assumptions. We also define a relative cohomological characteristic class and prove that its formation is compatible with proper push-forward. A conjectural relation is also given between the relative twist formula and the relative cohomological characteristic class.     

A Far-Red Emitting Fluorescent Chemogenetic Reporter for In Vivo Molecular Imaging

Far-red emitting fluorescent labels are highly desirable for spectral multiplexing and deep tissue imaging. Here, we describe the generation of frFAST (far-red Fluorescence Activating and absorption Shifting Tag), a 14-kDa monomeric protein that forms a bright far-red fluorescent assembly with (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)allylidene rhodanine (HPAR-3OM). As HPAR-3OM is essentially non-fluorescent in solution and in cells, frFAST can be imaged with high contrast in presence of free HPAR-3OM, which allowed the rapid and efficient imaging of frFAST fusions in live cells, zebrafish embryo/larvae, and chicken embryos. Beyond enabling the genetic encoding of far-red fluorescence, frFAST allowed the design of a far-red chemogenetic reporter of protein–protein interactions, demonstrating its great potential for the design of innovative far-red emitting biosensors.     

Synthesis of Small‐Sized,Porous, and Low‐Toxic Magnetite Nanoparticles by Thin POSS Silica Coating

In this communication, we report the synthesis of small‐sized (<10 nm), water‐soluble, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coated with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), which contain either polyethylene glycol (PEG) or octa(tetramethylammonium) (OctaTMA) as functional groups. The POSS‐coated MNPs exhibit superparamagnetic behavior with saturation magnetic moments (51–53 emu g^?1) comparable to silica‐coated MNPs. They also provide good colloidal stability at different pH and salt concentrations, and low cytotoxicity to MCF‐7 human breast epithelial cells. The relaxivity data and magnetic resonance (MR) phantom images demonstrate the potential application of these MNPs in bioimaging.     

Point Mutations of Nicotinic Receptor α1 Subunit Reveal New Molecular Features of G153S Slow-Channel Myasthenia

Slow-channel congenital myasthenic syndromes (SCCMSs) are rare genetic diseases caused by mutations in muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits. Most of the known SCCMS-associated mutations localize at the transmembrane region near the ion pore. Only two SCCMS point mutations are at the extracellular domains near the acetylcholine binding site, α1(G153S) being one of them. In this work, a combination of molecular dynamics, targeted mutagenesis, fluorescent Ca²⁺ imaging and patch-clamp electrophysiology has been applied to G153S mutant muscle nAChR to investigate the role of hydrogen bonds formed by Ser 153 with C-loop residues near the acetylcholine-binding site. Introduction of L199T mutation to the C-loop in the vicinity of Ser 153 changed hydrogen bonds distribution, decreased acetylcholine potency (EC₅₀ 2607 vs. 146 nM) of the double mutant and decay kinetics of acetylcholine-evoked cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ rise (τ 14.2 ± 0.3 vs. 34.0 ± 0.4 s). These results shed light on molecular mechanisms of nAChR activation-desensitization and on the involvement of such mechanisms in channelopathy genesis.     

Potts models with magnetic field: Arithmetic,geometry, and computation

We give a sheaf theoretic interpretation of Potts models with external magnetic field, in terms of constructible sheaves and their Euler characteristics. We show that the polynomial countability question for the hypersurfaces defined by the vanishing of the partition function is affected by changes in the magnetic field: elementary examples suffice to see non-polynomially countable cases that become polynomially countable after a perturbation of the magnetic field. The same recursive formula for the Grothendieck classes, under edge-doubling operations, holds as in the case without magnetic field, but the closed formulae for specific examples like banana graphs differ in the presence of magnetic field. We give examples of computation of the Euler characteristic with compact support, for the set of real zeros, and find a similar exponential growth with the size of the graph. This can be viewed as a measure of topological and algorithmic complexity. We also consider the computational complexity question for evaluations of the polynomial, and show both tractable and NP-hard examples, using dynamic programming.     

左手介质椭圆光波导基模传播特性

在椭圆柱坐标系中，采用分离变量方法，得出了左手介质椭圆光波导本征方程的近似解，通过数值计算，分析了椭圆波导偏心率、左手介质的电容率、磁导率对椭圆光波导基模传播特性的影响，并将左介质光波导与右手介质光波导基模特性进行对比，得出左手介质光波导的基模特性与右手介质光波导基模特性差别不大的结论.     

关于左手性介质几何光学的研究（一）

根据几何光学中的费马原理和完善成像原理研究了光线经过正负折射率界面时的传播特性，推导了单负折射率完善成像的曲面方程，讨论了单块负折射率透镜成像特性的一些缺陷及改进方案，依此指出了最短时间原理的适用范围的局限性和利用左手性介质制作光学器件的优越性，为进一步研究左手性介质的光学特性和相关光学器件设计提供了理论基础.     

The Millimeter Wave Tomography Application for the Subsurface Imaging

In the present paper new results of modeling and experimental investigation on millimeter wave subsurface tomography are submitted. Tomographic algorithm is employed for imaging of subsurface objects in the case when conductivity of probed medium is not equal to zero. The possibilities and restrictions of this algorithm for image processing are shown both as a result of modeling and as a result of experiments. A new tomography setup allowing obtaining images of different inhomogeneities in dielectric media is considered.     

一种新型彩色三维光学成像系统

提出一种新型三维彩色光学数字成像系统。此系统利用投影结构光对现实世界中的物体进行数字化，同时得到对应的彩色纹理。详细介绍了系统的硬件设计和软件体系结构设计，得到物体彩色纹理的两种不同方法；直接获取和从编码条纹中提取，给出了用该系统得到的实验结果并简单评价了系统的性能。此系统在反求工程、影视制作、三维游戏制作、医学应用等方面有远大的应用前景。