Imaging phonon eigenstates and elucidating the energy storage characteristics of a honeycomb-lattice phononic crystal cavity.

We extend gigahertz time-domain imaging to a wideband investigation of the eigenstates of a phononic crystal cavity. Using omnidirectionally excited phonon wave vectors, we implement an ultrafast technique to experimentally probe the two-dimensional acoustic field inside and outside a hexagonal cavity in a honeycomb-lattice phononic crystal formed in a microscopic crystalline silicon slab, thereby revealing the confinement and mode volumes of phonon eigenstates-some of which are clearly hexapole in character-lying both inside and outside the phononic-crystal band gap. This allows us to obtain a quantitative measure of the spatial acoustic energy storage characteristics of a phononic crystal cavity. We also introduce a numerical approach involving toneburst excitation and the monitoring of the acoustic energy decay together with the integral of the Poynting vector to calculate the Q factor of the principal in-gap eigenmode, showing it to be limited by ultrasonic attenuation rather than by phonon leakage to the surrounding region.

Improvement of clinical and immunological parameters after allergen-specific immunotherapy in atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is considered a curative treatment in some atopic diseases, but in AD contradictory clinical results exist and the action of AIT has not been elucidated. In the literature, there is no evidence for parallel investigations of permeability barrier, cutaneous and blood immune responses after AIT in AD. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to investigate immune parameters in the blood and skin and to detect clinical and barrier changes after AIT in AD. METHODS: Mild-to-moderate AD patients (n = 14) with concomitant allergic rhinitis to house dust mites were selected. All patients received topical treatment, while eight patients were randomly selected for adjuvant AIT also. At baseline and after 6 months, clinical, barrier and immunological investigations (serum and skin tests) were performed. In selected patients, biopsies from atopy patch tests (APTs) were analysed by immunohistochemistry for AD-relevant immune cells and mediators. RESULTS: In the adjuvant AIT group, clinical parameters and barrier functions improved significantly. Blood immune parameters displayed no significant changes. Post-AIT APT became negative in all patients in the AIT group, but remained positive in the non-AIT group. Cutaneous dendritic cell and T-cell recruitment decreased significantly after allergen challenge in the AIT group, but no significant changes in skin or serum immunoglobulin E levels or prick test (SPT) reactivity were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Allergen immunotherapy is a beneficial adjuvant treatment for sensitized AD patients. AIT improves not only clinical symptoms, but also permeability barrier functions. The effect of AIT on sensitization should be detected by APT, not by SPT.

Broadband evolution of phononic-crystal-waveguide eigenstates in real- and k-spaces.

Control of sound in phononic band-gap structures promises novel control and guiding mechanisms. Designs in photonic systems were quickly matched in phononics, and rows of defects in phononic crystals were shown to guide sound waves effectively. The vast majority of work in such phononic guiding has been in the frequency domain, because of the importance of the phononic dispersion relation in governing acoustic confinement in waveguides. However, frequency-domain studies miss vital information concerning the phase of the acoustic field and eigenstate coupling. Using a wide range of wavevectors k, we implement an ultrafast technique to probe the wave field evolution in straight and L-shaped phononic crystal surface-phonon waveguides in real- and k-space in two spatial dimensions, thus revealing the eigenstate-energy redistribution processes and the coupling between different frequency-degenerate eigenstates. Such use of k-t space is a first in acoustics, and should have other interesting applications such as acoustic-metamaterial characterization.

Correlation among metallothionein expression, intratumoural macrophage infiltration and the risk of metastasis in human cutaneous malignant melanoma.

BACKGROUND: The formation of metastases and the efficacy of systemic therapies in cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) depend on the characteristics of the tumour cells and the host immune response. Aberrant expression of metallothionein (MT) has been observed in several types of cancers with poor prognoses. OBJECTIVE: To perform an immunohistochemical study on primary CMM comparing the MT expression of tumours without metastases (n = 23) to that of samples with haematogenous metastases (n = 23) and to examine the correlation between MT staining and immunological markers relevant in CMM progression. METHODS: The immunohistochemical labelling of different tumour sections was analysed using tissue microarrays for the evaluation of the suitability of this method in future studies. RESULTS: Our results suggest that MT overexpression is significantly more frequent in primary CMM with haematogenous metastases (P = 0.018) and that the overexpression is independent of the Breslow tumour thickness (R = 0.102, P = 0.501). Interestingly, MT overexpression of the tumour cells was correlated with the presence of tumour-infiltrating CD68(+) macrophages (P = 0.003), a known predictive factor for melanoma progression, thereby suggesting a role for MT in the development of a defective host immune response. Furthermore, the presence of CD163(+) macrophages infiltrating the tumours correlated with metastasis formation (P < 0.001), whereas the presence CD1a(+) dendritic cells surrounding the tumours was associated with a lower risk of haematogenous spread (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that MT may represent a suitable prognostic factor that can characterize the metastasising ability of CMM and the tumour-promoting host immune response.

[Epidemiology of the endocrine orbitopathy]. / Endokrinná orbitopatia-- epidemiologické súvislosti.

The goal of this paper was to evaluate epidemiological data of the endocrine orbitopathy in a group of 126 patients (250 eyes) during the 5-years period (1999-2004). The prevalence of endocrine orbitopathy was at the age 46.5 +/- 11.4 years, predominantly in females: 5.3 times more often than in males. In most cases (94%) and independently on the sex, hyperthyroidism accompanied the endocrine orbitopathy. Hyperthyroidism mostly (91%) preceded the appearance of the endocrine orbitopathy. Most patients with endocrine orbitopathy had eyelid signs (91% females and 85% males respectively), protrusion or exophtalmos (77% females, 75% males). 69% patients (68% females, 70% males) had elevated intraocular pressure (pseudoglaucoma, primary glaucoma). During the active stage of the endocrine orbitopathy with protrusion (52% patients), pseudoglaucoma was detected in 7% of patients. During the inactive stage of the endocrine orbitopathy with protrusion (34% patients), pseudoglaucoma was detected in 4% of patients. Primary glaucoma was found in 2% (active stage) and 1% (inactive astage).

Changes in levels of thyroid hormones and TSH in acute myocardial infarction.

The changes in levels of total serum thyroxine (T4), total serum triiodothyronine (T3), effective thyroxine ratio (ETR), and serum TSH were investigated in 88 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The T4 and T3 values decreased significantly on the third day of hospitalization to return to starting values on the 7th day. ETR values were significantly reduced on the 3rd day and remained so also on the 7th day. Compared to starting values, serum TSH levels were increased on the 7th day of hospitalization, yet not significantly. In the group of 16 patients who died within 96 hours, ETR values were significantly increased on the 1st day of hospitalization (immediately after admission) in comparison with the group of AMI surviving patients. The highest frequency rate of abnormally low T3 values was found in patients who died within 96 hours. With respect to thyroid function evaluation, ETR proved to be the most satisfactory parameter with the lowest percentage of abnormal values.

Haemodynamic effect of prazosin during hyperosmolar mannitol load in essential hypertension.

The haemodynamic effect of one-week prazosin therapy was investigated in 21 patients with essential hypertension (9 of WHO stage I, 12 of stage II). There was a significant decrease of mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) at rest after prazosin therapy in both stage I and II hypertensives. Under the condition of hyperosmolar load (after mannitol infusion), prazosin has no significant influence on the haemodynamics in stage I hypertensives. Contrastingly, in stage II essential hypertension, prazosin increased cardiac index, stroke volume index and decreased MABP and TPR in comparison with the values before therapy and after placebo. Microcirculation in the forearm and thigh muscles was not influenced. The results indicate that prazosin improves subclinical impairment of cardiac function, which is present in stage II and is so an advantageous antihypertensive drug preferable for stages II and higher of the disease.

[Follow-up checks of children born from induced pregnancy (author's transl)]. / Nachuntersuchung von Kindern aus induzierten Schwangerschaften.

The following results were obtained by the authors from follow-up checks of 102 children, aged between 2.5 and eight years, who had been delivered from induced pregnancies. - Developmental abnormalities were recorded from seven cases, in the context of paediatric examinations. Minimal neurological deviations were exhibited by 14 children. Moderate retardation was established in psychological tests from something between 25 and 30 per cent of all cases. Positive responses to electroencephalography, however, without any clinical symptoms were observed in 20 per cent of the probands. Neurological symptoms and moderate retardation were recordable primarily from children who had originated from pathological pregnancies. The above findings are likely to support the recommendation to continue treatment of functional sterility by means of induced ovulation. Yet, treatment of that kind should be restricted to women unlikely to be afflicted with pathological pregnancy, which however, cannot be safely forecast in all cases.