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    A study of the adhesive foot of the gecko: Translation of a publication by Franz Weitlaner
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2015) Kroner, Elmar; Davis, Chelsea S.
    In recent years, hundreds of scientific studies have been published regarding gecko-inspired adhesives. The primary reason for this increasing interest lies in the unique properties which are combined in the adhesive system of the gecko: this natural system can quickly and repeatedly adhere to different surface chemistry and roughness without the use of adhesion-mediating fluids. Although these properties seem to be inconspicuous at first, there is no man-made system currently available which successfully combines all of these properties and competes with the biological adhesive system. However, there are many applications which may benefit from an artificial adhesion system inspired by geckos, ranging from climbing robots and handling systems to biomedical patches and household objects.
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    In-vivo Raman spectroscopy: from basics to applications
    (Bellingham, Wash. : SPIE, 2018) Cordero, Eliana; Latka, Ines; Matthäus, Christian; Schie, Iwan W.; Popp, Jürgen
    For more than two decades, Raman spectroscopy has found widespread use in biological and medical applications. The instrumentation and the statistical evaluation procedures have matured, enabling the lengthy transition from ex-vivo demonstration to in-vivo examinations. This transition goes hand-in-hand with many technological developments and tightly bound requirements for a successful implementation in a clinical environment, which are often difficult to assess for novice scientists in the field. This review outlines the required instrumentation and instrumentation parameters, designs, and developments of fiber optic probes for the in-vivo applications in a clinical setting. It aims at providing an overview of contemporary technology and clinical trials and attempts to identify future developments necessary to bring the emerging technology to the clinical end users. A comprehensive overview of in-vivo applications of fiber optic Raman probes to characterize different tissue and disease types is also given.
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    Looking for a perfect match: multimodal combinations of Raman spectroscopy for biomedical applications
    (Bellingham, Wash. : SPIE, 2021) Schie, Iwan; Stiebing, Clara; Popp, Jürgen
    Raman spectroscopy has shown very promising results in medical diagnostics by providing label-free and highly specific molecular information of pathological tissue ex vivo and in vivo. Nevertheless, the high specificity of Raman spectroscopy comes at a price, i.e., low acquisition rate, no direct access to depth information, and limited sampling areas. However, a similar case regarding advantages and disadvantages can also be made for other highly regarded optical modalities, such as optical coherence tomography, autofluorescence imaging and fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence lifetime microscopy, second-harmonic generation, and others. While in these modalities the acquisition speed is significantly higher, they have no or only limited molecular specificity and are only sensitive to a small group of molecules. It can be safely stated that a single modality provides only a limited view on a specific aspect of a biological specimen and cannot assess the entire complexity of a sample. To solve this issue, multimodal optical systems, which combine different optical modalities tailored to a particular need, become more and more common in translational research and will be indispensable diagnostic tools in clinical pathology in the near future. These systems can assess different and partially complementary aspects of a sample and provide a distinct set of independent biomarkers. Here, we want to give an overview on the development of multimodal systems that use RS in combination with other optical modalities to improve the diagnostic performance.
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    An Innovative Protocol for Metaproteomic Analyses of Microbial Pathogens in Cystic Fibrosis Sputum
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2021) Graf, Alexander C.; Striesow, Johanna; Pané-Farré, Jan; Sura, Thomas; Wurster, Martina; Lalk, Michael; Pieper, Dietmar H.; Becher, Dörte; Kahl, Barbara C.; Riedel, Katharina
    Hallmarks of cystic fibrosis (CF) are increased viscosity of mucus and impaired mucociliary clearance within the airways due to mutations of the cystic fibrosis conductance regulator gene. This facilitates the colonization of the lung by microbial pathogens and the concomitant establishment of chronic infections leading to tissue damage, reduced lung function, and decreased life expectancy. Although the interplay between key CF pathogens plays a major role during disease progression, the pathophysiology of the microbial community in CF lungs remains poorly understood. Particular challenges in the analysis of the microbial population present in CF sputum is (I) the inhomogeneous, viscous, and slimy consistence of CF sputum, and (II) the high number of human proteins masking comparably low abundant microbial proteins. To address these challenges, we used 21 CF sputum samples to develop a reliable, reproducible and widely applicable protocol for sputum processing, microbial enrichment, cell disruption, protein extraction and subsequent metaproteomic analyses. As a proof of concept, we selected three sputum samples for detailed metaproteome analyses and complemented and validated metaproteome data by 16S sequencing, metabolomic as well as microscopic analyses. Applying our protocol, the number of bacterial proteins/protein groups increased from 199-425 to 392-868 in enriched samples compared to nonenriched controls. These early microbial metaproteome data suggest that the arginine deiminase pathway and multiple proteases and peptidases identified from various bacterial genera could so far be underappreciated in their contribution to the CF pathophysiology. By providing a standardized and effective protocol for sputum processing and microbial enrichment, our study represents an important basis for future studies investigating the physiology of microbial pathogens in CF in vivo – an important prerequisite for the development of novel antimicrobial therapies to combat chronic recurrent airway infection in CF.