Application of Dynamic and Static Light Scattering for Size and Shape Characterization of Small Extracellular Nanoparticles in Plasma and Ascites of Ovarian Cancer Patients

In parallel to medical treatment of ovarian cancer, methods for the early detection of cancer tumors are being sought. In this contribution, the use of non-invasive static (SLS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) for the characterization of extracellular nanoparticles (ENPs) in body fluids of advanced serous ovarian cancer (OC) and benign gynecological pathology (BP) patients is demonstrated and critically evaluated. Samples of plasma and ascites (OC patients) or plasma, peritoneal fluid, and peritoneal washing (BP patients) were analyzed. The hydrodynamic radius (Rh) and the radius of gyration (Rg) of ENPs were calculated from the angular dependency of LS intensity for two ENP subpopulations. Rh and Rg of the predominant ENP population of OC patients were in the range 20–30 nm (diameter 40–60 nm). In thawed samples, larger particles (Rh mostly above 100 nm) were detected as well. The shape parameter ρ of both particle populations was around 1, which is typical for spherical particles with mass concentrated on the rim, as in vesicles. The Rh and Rg of ENPs in BP patients were larger than in OC patients, with ρ ≈ 1.1–2, implying a more elongated/distorted shape. These results show that SLS and DLS are promising methods for the analysis of morphological features of ENPs and have the potential to discriminate between OC and BP patients. However, further development of the methodology is required.

3D Characterization of Sponge Cake as Affected by Freezing Conditions Using Synchrotron X-ray Microtomography at Negative Temperature

In this study, the microstructural evolution of a non-reactive porous model food (sponge cake) during freezing was investigated. Sponge cake samples were frozen at two different rates: slow freezing (0.3 °C min−1) and fast freezing (17.2 °C min−1). Synchrotron X-ray microtomography (µ-CT) and cryo-scanning electron microscopy (Cryo-SEM) were used to visualize and analyze the microstructure features. The samples were scanned before and after freezing using a specific thermostated cell (CellStat) combined with the synchrotron beamline. Cryo-SEM and 3D µ-CT image visualization allowed a qualitative analysis of the ice formation and location in the porous structure. An image analysis method based on grey level was used to segment the three phases of the frozen samples: air, ice and starch. Volume fractions of each phase, ice local thickness and shape characterization were determined and discussed according to the freezing rates.

Simulation of Heat and Water Transport on Different Tree Canopies: A Finite Element Approach

Heat and water transport modeling is a widely explored topic in micro-meteorology, agriculture, and forestry. One of the most popular models is the Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) model, which includes partial differential equations (PDEs) for air-soil temperature and humidity, but with a priori discretized PDE for the foliage temperature in each canopy layer; it is solved using the finite difference method and the canopy shape is defined as a simple rule of proportionality of total quantities such as the total leaf area index. This work proposes a novel canopy shape characterization based on Weibull distribution, providing a continuous vertical shape function capable of fitting any tree species. This allows formulating a fully continuous SHAW-derived model, which is numerically solved by a finite element approach of P1 Lagrange type. For this novel approach, several numerical experiments were carried out to understand how the shape of well distinguishable canopies influences heat and water transport.

SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION OF MEDIASTINUM IN TUBERCULOSIS CHEST RADIOGRAPHS USING LEVEL SET SEGMENTATION

Mediastinum is considered as one of the substantial anatomical regions for the gross diagnosis of several chest related pathologies. The geometric variations of the mediastinum in Chest Radiographs (CXRs) could be utilised as potential image markers in the early detection of Tuberculosis (TB). This study attempts to segment mediastinum in CXRs using level sets for the shape characterization of TB conditions. The CXR images for this study are considered from a public database. An edge-based distance regularized level set evolution is employed to segment the lungs followed by a region-based Chan-Vese model that extracts mediastinum region. Features such as mediastinum area and lungs area are extracted from the segmented images. Further, mediastinum to lungs area ratio is calculated. Statistical analysis is performed on the features to differentiate normal and TB images. Results show that the proposed segmentation approach is able to segment the lungs and extract the mediastinum in CXRs. It is found that features namely mediastinum area and mediastinum to lungs area ratio are statistically significant in the differentiation of TB. Larger mediastinum area is observed in TB images as compared to normal. The performance of lung field segmentation is also observed to be in line with the literature. The mediastinum segmentation approach in CXRs obtains to be a novel method as compared to the existing methods. As the proposed approach based on mediastinum image analysis provides better shape characterization, the study could be clinically useful in the differentiation of TB conditions.

Supplemental Material: Detrital zircons from Late Paleozoic Ice Age sequences in Victoria Land (Antarctica): New constraints on the glaciation of southern Gondwana

Raw laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis and detrital zircon grain shape characterization of the late Paleozoic diamictite samples from Victoria Land, Antarctica.

Supplemental Material: Detrital zircons from Late Paleozoic Ice Age sequences in Victoria Land (Antarctica): New constraints on the glaciation of southern Gondwana

Raw laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis and detrital zircon grain shape characterization of the late Paleozoic diamictite samples from Victoria Land, Antarctica.