Biomedical optical imaging is rapidly evolving because of its desirable features of rapid frame rates, high sensitivity, low cost, portability and lack of radiation. Quantum dots are attractive as imaging agents owing to their high brightness, and photo- and bio-stability. Here, the current status of in vitro and in vivo real-time optical imaging with quantum dots is reviewed. In addition, we consider related nanocrystals based on solid-state semiconductors, including upconverting nanoparticles and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer quantum dots.
Intraoperative biophotonic imaging systems for image-guided interventions : Nanophotonics
Brands are not just names slapped on products by the marketing department; they embody the value those products have for your customers. That may be more true for high-tech products than it is for soap. Many managers in high-tech companies believe that market success depends primarily on the price-performance ratio. At the same time, however, most would acknowledge that the bulk of their offerings are fast becoming commodities if they are not already. Products and services are highly similar—printers print and computers compute. Price and performance are just the ante to get into the game.
Neutrophil granules NGs are key components of the innate immune response and mark the development of neutrophilic granulocytes in mammals. However, there has been no specific fluorescent vital stain up to now to monitor their dynamics within a whole live organism. We rationally designed a benzochalcone fluorescent probe HAB featuring high tissue permeability and optimal photophysics such as elevated quantum yield, pronounced solvatochromism and target-induced fluorogenesis. Phenotypic screening identified HAB as the first cell- and organelle-specific small-molecule fluorescent tracer of NGs in live zebrafish larvae, with no labeling of other cell types or organelles. HAB staining was independent of the state of neutrophil activation, labeling NGs of both resting and phagocytically active neutrophils with equal specificity.
Amazon has already been in the crosshairs of the White House when it comes to threats of antitrust investigations, and while some say this is simply Trumpian bluster that has a slim chance of going anywhere, some new numbers out from the researchers at eMarketer could prove to be a fan to the flames. It started as an online bookstore, but today Amazon is a behemoth in all areas of e-commerce, fuelled by a strong Marketplace network of third-party sellers, an ever-expanding range of goods from groceries to fashion, and a very popular loyalty program in the form of Prime. Now, it is fast approaching a tipping point where more people will be spending money online with Amazon, than with all other retailers — combined.