Confocal Raman microspectroscopy and fluorescence imaging are two well-established methods providing functional insight into the extracellular matrix and into living cells and tissues, respectively, down to single molecule detection. In living tissues, however, cells and extracellular matrix coexist and interact. To acquire information on this cell-matrix interaction, we developed a technique for colocalized, correlative multispectral tissue analysis by implementing high-sensitivity, wide-field fluorescence imaging on a confocal Raman microscope. As a proof of principle, we study early stages of bone formation in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae because the zebrafish has emerged as a model organism to study vertebrate development. The newly formed bones were stained using a calcium fluorescent marker and the maturation process was imaged and chemically characterized in vivo. Results obtained from early stages of mineral deposition in the zebrafish fin bone unequivocally show the presence of hydrogen phosphate containing mineral phases in addition to the carbonated apatite mineral. The approach developed here opens significant opportunities in molecular imaging of metabolic activities, intracellular sensing, and trafficking as well as in vivo exploration of cell-tissue interfaces under (patho-)physiological conditions.

We investigate the local and global character of the equilibrium and the local stability of the period-two solution of the difference equation xn+1=βxnxn−1+γxn−12+δxnBxnxn−1+Cxn−12+Dxn where the parameters β, γ, δ, B, C, D are nonnegative numbers which satisfy B+C+D>0 and the initial conditions x−1 and x0 are arbitrary nonnegative numbers such that Bxnxn−1+Cxn−12+Dxn>0 for all n≥0. MSC:39A10, 39A11, 39A30.

Soil samples from the industrial area in the town of Bužim, Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed in order to determine their different manganese species. Samples were extracted from seven locations - at the manganese mine and the surrounding area. The paper aims to present the use of the sequential extraction method in determination of the specific distribution of Mn in soil, as well as in estimation of its origin, mobility and bioavailability in the sampling locations. Sequential extraction used here included determination of the amount of Mn in various soil fractions: the water-soluble fraction, exchangeable fraction, carbonate fraction, easily reduced fraction and the organic fraction. Additionally, it included manganese oxides or moderately reduced oxides, amorphous iron oxide, crystalline iron oxide and the residual fraction. It was determined that chemical properties of soil considerably affect the distribution of heavy metals within different soil fractions. The highest percentage of natural Mn was determined in the residual fraction (27.00%) at Popovic polje, while the highest percentage of anthropogenic origin Mn was determined at Bucevci (57.00%) in the Fe-Mn oxides fraction. The highest near-total content of Mn was determined at Popovic polje (20950.00 mg/kg). The highest percentage of natural Mn (27.00%) was determined in the same area. The highest percentage of Mn of an anthropogenic origin (57.00%) was determined at Bucevci.

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression.Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95% confidence interval=1.02–1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2.Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2.

Pigtail macaques, Macaca nemestrina (PT), are more susceptible to vaginal transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD) than rhesus macaques (RM). However, comparative studies to explore the reasons for these differences are lacking.

This paper presents the results of an experimental method for determining the efficiency of worm gears. Research into worm gears is primarily aimed at increasing the load carrying capacity, prolongation of life cycle and/or achieving higher efficiency, which can result in a reduction in exploitation costs. A larger share of sliding movement with respect to sliding-rolling movement of gearing contributes to the quiet operation but, on the other hand, causes a significant power loss. Very often, the load limit is not put by the load carrying capacity of gearing but by the ability to carry away the heat caused by friction. In order to design a worm gearbox that would be closer to the optimal solution from the temperature point of view (the heat), it is necessary to determine the operation losses. Besides the geometry of gearing, which influences the efficiency by forming conditions required for the creation of hydrodynamic lubrication, the applied lubricant also plays a significant role. In the research presented in this paper, mineral and synthetic oils were used for the combination of materials CuSn12/16MnCr5 used for gears operating at variable output load and two different rotational speeds.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which an inappropriate self-directed immune response affects and destroys insulin-producing β-cells in pancreatic islets leading to dysregulated blood glucose levels. T1D may affect people of any age, its clinical presentation is highly variable, and its incidence is increasing worldwide (1). The initial triggering events of T1D are unknown and their elucidation is of pivotal importance. Several factors might lead to the breakdown of β-cell–specific T-cell tolerance, including genetics, exogenous infectious pathogen, noninfectious environment agents, endogenous superantigens, or physiological stress events (2). The hallmark of autoimmune diabetes is insulitis, which progresses to a destruction of β-cells that results in clinical T1D. An altered balance between proinflammatory T-helper type 1 (Th1)/Th17 cells (γ-interferon [IFN-γ], interleukin [IL]-17) and Th2 immune response (IL-4, IL-10) leads to T1D (3,4). Evidence also suggests that both genetic and environmental factors may induce local inflammatory response, where activated intraislet dendritic cells (DCs) prevent peripheral T-cell tolerance (5). Moreover, it has been recently demonstrated that the development of destructive insulitis is partly due to impaired islet-resident Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (6,7). Several animal experimental models have been used for the investigation of the pathogenesis of T1D and it appears that a NOD mouse is the model of choice. NOD mice spontaneously develop early peri-insulitis and later intraislet insulitis caused by autoreactive T cells, …