Application perspectives of localization microscopy in virology.

Localization microscopy approaches allowing an optical resolution down to the single-molecule level in fluorescence-labeled biostructures have already found a variety of applications in cell biology, as well as in virology. Here, we focus on some perspectives of a special localization microscopy embodiment, spectral precision distance/position determination microscopy (SPDM). SPDM permits the use of conventional fluorophores or fluorescent proteins together with standard sample preparation conditions employing an aqueous buffered milieu and typically monochromatic excitation. This allowed superresolution imaging and studies on the aggregation state of modified tobacco mosaic virus particles on the nanoscale with a single-molecule localization accuracy of better than 8 nm, using standard fluorescent dyes in the visible spectrum. To gain a better understanding of cell entry mechanisms during influenza A virus infection, SPDM was used in conjunction with algorithms for distance and cluster analyses to study changes in the distribution of virus particles themselves or in the distribution of infection-related proteins, the hepatocyte growth factor receptors, in the cell membrane on the single-molecule level. Not requiring TIRF (total internal reflection) illumination, SPDM was also applied to study the molecular arrangement of gp36.5/m164 glycoprotein (essentially associated with murine cytomegalovirus infection) in the endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear membrane inside cells with single-molecule resolution. On the basis of the experimental evidence so far obtained, we finally discuss additional application perspectives of localization microscopy approaches for the fast detection and identification of viruses by multi-color SPDM and combinatorial oligonucleotide fluorescence in situ hybridization, as well as SPDM techniques for optimization of virus-based nanotools and biodetection devices.

[Caricatures of aging in German newspapers and magazine cartoons. Historical comparison between the 1960s and the present]. / Altersbilder in Karikaturen deutscher Zeitschriften und Zeitungen. Historischer Vergleich zwischen den 1960er Jahren und der Gegenwart.

BACKGROUND: The focus of this study was the collective images of aging that were unconsciously used despite rationally led social discourse on aging. Hypothesized was that despite changes in aging over the last 50 years these images went unaltered and thereby negative stereotypes of previous generations were maintained. In an effort to verify this hypothesis images of aging in cartoons were empirically examined, a first in the field of German language. METHODS: Using a social scientific operationalization of age stereotypes and culturally historical topoi as a basis, a content analysis was conducted on 2,546 cartoons (with 8,882 characters) from the years 1960-1964 and 2007. RESULTS: In general both young and old age are equally encoded with negative connotations by deficient characteristics and acknowledged stereotypes partially significantly more often in the cartoons from 2007 than from 1960-1964. CONCLUSIONS: The last 50 years have seen no substantial changes in the images of aging as depicted by magazine and newspaper cartoons. Humor requires more frequent analysis as it often unconsciously reveals socially unacceptable images of aging, even those embedded in science.

Bilateral cochlear implantation in a patient with long-term deafness.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: 1) To report the case of a 70-year-old patient with a history of auditory deprivation for 80% of his life and who received bilateral cochlear implants and 2) to discuss different aspects of the case, including duration of auditory deprivation, the decision for bilateral implantation, age at implantation, and the use of this treatment modality for tinnitus. CASE REPORT: A two-stages bilateral cochlear implantation was performed in a 70-year-old patient with long-term deafness without operative or post-operative problems with excellent functional result. DISCUSSION: Various studies have reported that in patients with long-term auditory deprivation, the results of cochlear implants are delayed and sometimes unsatisfactory when compared to patients with more recent post-lingual deafness. However they did not contraindicate the surgery. The positive results with the first implant (both for the tinnitus and the hearing loss) motivated the patient and medical team to proceed to bilateral implantation. CONCLUSION: Patients with longstanding auditory deprivation can achieve good functional results even though at a slower rate. The use of bilateral cochlear implants accelerates and optimizes the final outcome.