Chemical imaging of surfaces with the scanning electrochemical microscope

Scanning electrochemical microscopy is a scanning probe technique that is based on faradaic current changes as a small electrode is moved across the surface of a sample. The images obtained depend on the sample topography and surface reactivity. The response of the scanning electrochemical microscope is sensitive to the presence of conducting and electroactive species, which makes it useful for imaging heterogeneous surfaces. The principles and instrumentation used to obtain images and surface reaction-kinetic information are discussed, and examples of applications to the study of electrodes, minerals, and biological samples are given.     

Trace metal concentrations in Posidonia oceanica of North Corsica (northwestern Mediterranean Sea): use as a biological monitor?

Background  

Within semi-closed areas like the Mediterranean Sea, anthropic wastes tend to concentrate in the environment. Metals, in particular, are known to persist in the environment and can affect human health due to accumulation in the food chain. The seagrass Posidonia oceanica, widely found in Mediterranean coastal waters, has been chosen as a "sentinel" to quantify the distribution of such pollutants within the marine environment. Using a technique similar to dendrochronology in trees, it can act as an indicator of pollutant levels over a timeframe of several months to years. In the present study, we measured and compared the levels of eight trace metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, and Pb) in sheaths dated by lepidochronology and in leaves of shoots sampled from P. oceanica meadows collected from six offshore sites in northern Corsica between 1988 and 2004; in the aim to determine 1) the spatial and 2) temporal variations of these metals in these areas and 3) to compared these two types of tissues.     

Assortative mating in sympatric host races of the European corn borer

Although a growing body of work supports the plausibility of sympatric speciation in animals, the practical difficulties of directly quantifying reproductive isolation between diverging taxa remain an obstacle to analyzing this process. We used a combination of genetic and biogeochemical markers to produce a direct field estimate of assortative mating in phytophagous insect populations. We show that individuals of the same insect species, the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis, that develop on different host plants can display almost absolute reproductive isolation-the proportion of assortative mating was >95%-even in the absence of temporal or spatial isolation.     

Teaching veterinary clinical pathology to undergraduate students: an integrated European project

BACKGROUND: Veterinary clinical pathology is a relatively new and emerging discipline in Europe that has gained momentum with the recent establishment of a specialty college. In this situation, veterinary faculties may face challenges in understanding and defining what clinical pathology is and how it can best be integrated into existing curricula. In addition, many schools in Europe may not yet have available a critical mass of suitably qualified faculty capable of teaching in all areas of clinical pathology. OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of this report is to describe the goals, procedures adopted, teaching material produced, and proposed future activities of a major European initiative designed to develop a veterinary clinical pathology curriculum. METHODS: Four working subgroups were formed to establish a list of course objectives and topics and prepare a series of lectures. These contents were reviewed and discussed several times at a series of general meetings. RESULTS: An undergraduate course on veterinary clinical pathology was designed with course objectives, a list of topics and a CD-ROM consisting of 24 lectures. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this project could be useful in the establishment or improvement of training programs in veterinary clinical pathology at the undergraduate level in Europe and in other places around the world. The provision of teaching resources for faculty could help to instill in veterinary students a strong understanding of the discipline and promote development of advanced training programs and career opportunities in clinical pathology in Europe.     

Plasticity of animal genome architecture unmasked by rapid evolution of a pelagic tunicate

Genomes of animals as different as sponges and humans show conservation of global architecture. Here we show that multiple genomic features including transposon diversity, developmental gene repertoire, physical gene order, and intron-exon organization are shattered in the tunicate Oikopleura, belonging to the sister group of vertebrates and retaining chordate morphology. Ancestral architecture of animal genomes can be deeply modified and may therefore be largely nonadaptive. This rapidly evolving animal lineage thus offers unique perspectives on the level of genome plasticity. It also illuminates issues as fundamental as the mechanisms of intron gain.     

Exogenous induction of cerebral beta-amyloidogenesis is governed by agent and host

Protein aggregation is an established pathogenic mechanism in Alzheimer's disease, but little is known about the initiation of this process in vivo. Intracerebral injection of dilute, amyloid-beta (Abeta)-containing brain extracts from humans with Alzheimer's disease or beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice induced cerebral beta-amyloidosis and associated pathology in APP transgenic mice in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The seeding activity of brain extracts was reduced or abolished by Abeta immunodepletion, protein denaturation, or by Abeta immunization of the host. The phenotype of the exogenously induced amyloidosis depended on both the host and the source of the agent, suggesting the existence of polymorphic Abeta strains with varying biological activities reminiscent of prion strains.     

Electrochemistry and electrogenerated chemiluminescence from silicon nanocrystal quantum dots

Reversible electrochemical injection of discrete numbers of electrons into sterically stabilized silicon nanocrystals (NCs) (approximately 2 to 4 nanometers in diameter) was observed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in N,N'-dimethylformamide and acetonitrile. The electrochemical gap between the onset of electron injection and hole injection-related to the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals-grew with decreasing nanocrystal size, and the DPV peak potentials above the onset for electron injection roughly correspond to expected Coulomb blockade or quantized double-layer charging energies. Electron transfer reactions between positively and negatively charged nanocrystals (or between charged nanocrystals and molecular redox-active coreactants) occurred that led to electron and hole annihilation, producing visible light. The electrogenerated chemiluminescence spectra exhibited a peak maximum at 640 nanometers, a significant red shift from the photoluminescence maximum (420 nanometers) of the same silicon NC solution. These results demonstrate that the chemical stability of silicon NCs could enable their use as redox-active macromolecular species with the combined optical and charging properties of semiconductor quantum dots.     

Lung ring-down artifact as a sign of pulmonary alveolar-interstitial disease

Three dogs with presumptive cardiogenic pulmonary edema underwent a thoracic ultrasonographic examination. Multiple ring-down artifacts involving both sides of the thorax emanating from the pleural-lung interface were detected. When clinical and radiographic signs of pulmonary edema were resolved, ring-down artifacts were not observed. The ring-down artifact may be a useful diagnostic sign for screening the lung of animals with acute respiratory distress where radiographs are not feasible.     

Multiple congenital epitrichial sweat gland hamartomas in a piglet

A case of multiple congenital epitrichial sweat gland hamartomas in a 2-day-old piglet is presented. The skin lesions were raised, ovoid to linear in configuration, alopecic, red-purple to pink, and cauliflower-like to cerebriform in appearance. Histological examination of skin specimens confirmed a diagnosis of epitrichial sweat gland hamartoma. Complete necropsy examination revealed no other lesions.