Hari Shankar Sharma
Uppsala University, Sweden
Stress induced exacerbation of Alzheimer's disease brain pathology is thwarted by co-administration of nanowired cerebrolysin and monoclonal antibodies to amyloid beta peptide with serotonin 5-HT6 receptor antagonist SB-399885*
Biography:
Hari Shanker Sharma, FRSM (UK); Director of Research (International Experimental Central Nervous System Injury & Repair, IECNSIR), University Hospital, Uppsala University is a Professor of Neurobiology (MRC), and is currently affiliated with the Department of Surgical Sciences, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Uppsala University. He joined Uppsala University in April 1988. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship of the German Government (1989–1991) for hyperthermia and BBB dysfunction in Berlin (Germany). He obtained Degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences of Uppsala University in Neuroanatomy in 1999 and was Awarded the best Thesis of the Medical Faculty “The Hwassers Prize” of 1999. His research is supported by The Laerdal Foundation of Acute Medicine, Stavanger, Norway, European Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD), London, UK, and US Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, USA. He received Distinguished International Scientists Collaboration Award, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Baltimore, MD (2006–2008); US TechConnect Global Innovation Award Washington DC May 12-16, 2013, May 14-17, 2017. He published over 350 research papers and 95 reviews, 14 monographs, and 85 international book chapters and edited 20 book volumes with a Current H-index = 59 of 338 citations (ISI Database) as of today.
Abstract :
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most devastating neurodegenerative diseases affecting mankind worldwide with advancing age mainly above 65 years and above causing great misery in life [1-3]. About more than 7 million are affected with Alzheimer’s disease in America in 2023 resulting in a huge burden on the healthcare system and caregivers and support for the family. However, no suitable therapeutic measures are available at the moment to enhance the quality of life of these patients. Development of Alzheimer’s disease may reflect the stress burden of whole life inculcating the disease processes of these neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system. Thus, new strategies using nano delivery of suitable drug therapy including antibodies are needed in exploring neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology. In this chapter role of stress in exacerbating Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology is explored and treatment strategies are examined using nanotechnology based on our own investigation. Our observations clearly show that restraint stress significantly exacerbates Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology and nano delivery of a multimodal drug cerebrolysin together with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to amyloid beta peptide (AbP) together with a serotonin 5-HT6 receptor antagonist SB399885 significantly thwarted Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology exacerbated by restraint stress, not reported earlier. The possible mechanisms and future clinical significance is discussed.
Aruna Sharma
Uppsala University, Sweden
Sleep deprivation enhances amyloid beta peptide, p-tau and serotonin in the brain. Neuroprotective effects of nanowired delivery of cerebrolysin with monoclonal antibodies toamyloid beta peptide, p-tau and serotonin
Biography:
Dr Aruna Sharma (ORCID /0000-0002-8370-231X), MD, Ph.D., FRSM (UK) Swedish Citizen is Secretary of Research International Experimental Central Nervous System (CNS) Injury & Repair (IECNSIR) currently working at Uppsala University Hospital, Department of Surgical Sciences, Anesthesiology & Intensive Care, Uppsala University, Sweden since 1994. Aruna Sharma was awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award due to her accomplished scientific career of more than 40 years of experience in her professional network, and achievements, including leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field with the current reference value such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in the field of science Dr. Sharma celebrates many years’ experience in her professional network and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. She has excelled as a medical administrator at the Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden fostering a career in medicine that spans 40 years; she initially began her tenure at the hospital in 1992 as a neuropathologist. Dr. Sharma was additionally active in the same role at Freie Universität, a research university in Berlin, from 1989 to 1991. Her expertise includes nanowires delivery of drugs, brain and spinal cord pathology, blood-CNS barriers dysfunctions in neurological diseases, sleep deprivation-induced neurodegenerative diseases, and neuroprotection. She has published more than 150 Peer-reviewed research papers, contributed to edited books (18), and has been editor and co-editor of Elsevier, Academic, and Springer publications (27) since 2002 from Uppsala University currently.
Abstract :
Sleep deprivation is quite frequent in the military during combat, intelligence gathering, or peacekeeping operations. [1-3]. Even one night of sleep deprivation leads to the accumulation of amyloid beta peptide burden that would lead to the precipitation of Alzheimer’s disease over the years. Thus, efforts are needed to slow down or neutralize the accumulation of amyloid beta peptide (AbP) and associated Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology including phosphorylated tau (p-tau) within the brain fluid environment. Sleep deprivation also alters serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) metabolism in the brain microenvironment and impairs the upregulation of several neurotrophic factors. Thus, blockade or neutralization of AbP, p-tau, and serotonin in sleep deprivation may attenuate brain pathology. In this investigation, this hypothesis is examined using nano delivery of cerebrolysin- a balanced composition of several neurotrophic factors and active peptide fragments together with monoclonal antibodies against ABP, p-tau, and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). Our observations suggest that sleep deprivation-induced pathophysiology is significantly reduced following nano delivery of cerebrolysin together with monoclonal antibodies to AbP, p-tau, and 5-HT, not reported earlier.
Aurel Ymeti
CEO, Nanoalmyona BV, Netherlands, Netherlands
Point-of-Care Technologies (POCT) for Healthcare & Wellbeing Applications
Biography:
Aurel Ymeti, is co-Founder and CEO of Nanoalmyona BV, a hightech Dutch company specialized in research and technology development, project management and new business development in Hightech Systems and Materials, including integrated photonics, Lab-on-a-Chip biosensing, optoelectronics, microscopy and nanomedicine. He received a MSc in Theoretical Physics from the University of Tirana, Albania, in 1996, and a PhD in Applied Physics/Nanotechnology from the University of Twente, Netherlands.In 2008 Aurel co-founded Ostendum, a spin-off company of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente.
Aurel has (co)authored about 40 publications in refereed journals, peer-reviewed conference proceedings and books, is inventor of several patents and has presented more than 30 keynote/invited lectures in (inter)national conferences. He was/is involved as a member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), Optical Society of America (OSA), International AIDS Society (IAS), International Society for Analytical Cytology (ISAC) and Advisory Board Member of the Lifeboat Foundation.
His work on photonic biosensors has been featured in many well-known international media publications, incl. MIT’s Technology Review, Nature, Le Monde and BBC Focus Magazine and in 2007 the highly reputable business magazine FORBES has highlighted his work as one of the “13 Amazing New Nanotechnologies”. Aurel has received several awards including the prestigious European Lab-on-a-Chip Nanodevices Technology Innovation Leadership Award from FROST & SULLIVAN in 2013.
Abstract :
Dr. Gergely Szalay
Laboratory of 3D functional network and dendritic imaging, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungary
Inferring dendritic and cortical neuronal assemblies during visual learning revealed with 3D random access microscopy
Biography:
Gergely Szalay has been working at the Research Institute of Experimental Medicine (IEM) since 2008, with the main focus on in vivo, functional, two-photon imaging, targeting both corresponding technical development for improving the feasibility of these measurements (for example 3D imaging, motion correction) and the experimental paradigm (for example behavior system, labeling techniques). Lately, he has been exploring the therapeutic purposes of the technology in animal models. Shortly, they are projecting activity patterns associated with clues in a visual discrimination task to investigate to which extent behavior response can be regained in blind animals.
Besides his main mission, Gergely has also been involved in some shorter which, for example, studies of calcium activity and cell death under occlusion, cell activity patterns and dendritic activity under share-wave, retinal degeneration studies using stimulated-Raman-scattering microscopy of live unlabeled tissue.
Abstract:
Neural circuits in the visual cortex support rapid visual learning. However, due to technical roadblocks, it remains unknown how visual circuits represent multiple visual features of an environment during learning and how behaviorally relevant representations are selected for long-term memory. Here we developed Moculus, a head-mounted virtual reality platform for mice, which covers the entire visual field, allows binocular depth perception, and provides a fully immersive experience.This highly naturalistic and controllable visual environment was combined with novel imaging and molecular biological technology. Namely fast acousto-optical imaging combined with genetically encoded calcium or voltage indicator, where especially for the latter one, the kHz imaging rate is essentially for reliable response detection. These methods afforded rapid visual learning uncovering novel circuit substrates of fast visual learning.We find that sparse cortical representations encode visual cues initially. Then response amplitude and spatiotemporal extent of both the control and reinforcement-associated visual cue-coding neuronal assemblies increase. Finally, assembly activity representing the reinforced cue and the corresponding behavioral outcome selectively increases, indicating competition between different representations. During this competition, reinforced and control cues are represented by partially orthogonal and overlapping spatial clusters of neurons centered around hub cells, which have higher response amplitude, earlier response onset time, and locally increased functional connectivity. Thus, visual circuits can rapidly extend cortical representations during learning to maximize computational capability and allow competition between different assemblies to encode behaviorally relevant information.
Prof. Juan P. Martínez-Pastor
Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales, University of Valencia, Spain
Lasing in Tin-based perovskites
Biography:
Juan P. Martínez-Pastor is Full Professor and Director of the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Valencia (ICMUV). PhD in Physics, he has published more than 300 papers (from which 235 papers in JCR journals with » 7000 citations), seven monographs and one edited book (in press).
He has been the PI of 10 national and several European projects, and coordinator of DROP-IT (DRop-on demand flexible Optoelectronics & Photovoltaics by means of Lead-Free halide perovskITes. Head of the UMDO team, now formed by 6 laboratories + Theory (seven group leaders).
Abstract:
Among metal halide perovskites, lead-free compounds are the most promising non-toxic alternative for developing different devices (micro-LEDs, micro-lasers, optical amplifiers, nonlinear optical modulators, photodetectors, etc.) integrated in the same chip. The most straightforward strategy is the use of Sn-perovskites, even if still suffers from very low stability and most of the synthesis, fabrication and/or characterization work must be done under inert atmosphere or vacuum. We have demonstrated efficient amplification of the spontaneous emission (ASE), which is achieved under relatively low excitation fluence threshold (≈ 2 and ≈ 25 microJ/cm2 for 15 and 300 K, respectively) in backscattering geometry. When a thin film of FASnI3 is integrated forming optical waveguides (rigid: Si/SiO2/FASnI3/PMMA or flexible: PET/FASnI3/PMMA), this threshold can be further reduced by one order of magnitude, because of the strong electromagnetic field confinement and high gain of the active material. Moreover, ASE light is strongly polarized in the plane of the films and it can be tuned (and even disappear) by bending the flexible PET substrate. Above the ASE threshold we simultaneously observed a spectrally reproducible random lasing (RL) effect, which is characterized by a high mode stability and very high-quality factor. The modes are spectrally reproducible and stable with time, which is a unique property of very thin FASnI3 films (200 nm thick) that can be due to the high efficiency of light scattering by grains of the film, as a result of the high refractive index of the material. Further advances have been achieved recently in FASnI3 films into DBR-based microcavities, within the framework of achievements in our European project DROP-IT.
Jesús Arriaga
Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
Experimental measurements of the decay coefficient of a phononic metamaterial
Biography:
J. Arriaga has been working in photonic and phononic crystals and metamaterials for the last 15 years, especially interested in problems of calculating effective parameters using the homogenization theory in the low-frequency limit. Previously he was working in the electronic structure of semiconductors and superlattices and in the field of the so-called photonic crystal fibers.
Abstract:
Acoustic wave propagation in metamaterials is a topic of great interest among the scientific community. For example, the pressure in a plane sound wave propagating in a viscous homogeneous fluid decay exponentially with distance and its decay coefficient depends on the fluid density ρ, the sound velocity c, and the two viscosity coefficients η and ξ. The decay length of sound in water at the frequency of 50 kHz is approximately 15 km. Therefore, viscous losses in the bulk can be neglected in the design of devices of sizes a few meters or centimeters. However, when a sound wave meets a solid boundary, a narrow viscous layer of thickness δ =(2η/(ωρ))1/2 is formed. Velocity gradients within this viscous layer greatly exceed the gradients in the bulk, leading to higher viscous losses than in free fluid. Moreover, if the sound wave meets a set of solid boundaries, multiple reflections and viscous friction in narrow channels strongly increase energy losses. In some cases, viscous losses are desirable in devices that reduce external noise. Modern sound absorbers use innovative designs based on metamaterials. Artificial acoustic metamaterials can be used as structures to increase sound absorption to an extent not achieved in natural materials. In this work, we present the experimental results for the decay coefficient of a sound wave propagating in a photonic crystal of solid cylinders embedded in a viscous fluid. Our experimental results show that the decay of the acoustic wave is 5-6 times larger than the decay of sound in a homogeneous medium. We observe that the decay of sound scales is the square root of frequency, unlike the square of frequency scaling known for free viscous fluid. By considering different asymmetric unit cells, we confirm our previous theoretical results that the phonemic crystal behaves like a dissipative homogeneous Meta fluid with anisotropic viscosity.
Prof. S. V. Kukhlevsky
Institute of Physics, University of Pecs, Hungary
Generation of Nonevanescent Diffraction-less 2D Beams with Subwavelength Widths in High-refraction-index Media
Biography:
Prof. S. V. Kukhlevsky received a CSc in Physics from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Pecs (UP), Hungary, in 1995. From 1993 to 1996, he was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Physics at UP. From 1997 to 2009, he was an Associate Professor with the Department of Physics at UP. He received a DSc in 2008 from HAS. From 2009 until now, he has been a Professor with the Department of Physics, UP. His research interests include nanooptics, nanophotonics, diffraction-less beam optics, plasma-based x-ray lasers and x-ray optics
Abstract:
Non-diffracting light beams with subwavelength transverse dimensions are evanescent when propagating in free space. There are well-known linear solutions to the wave equations that predict the diffraction-less propagation of nonevanescent subwavelength beams in unbounded homogeneous linear media with high refractive indices. The present study describes a method for creating such beams by connecting a Fresnel-type (Fresnel-waveguide) light source to the optical medium through which the beams are propagated. The parameters of the source and medium for producing two-dimensional (2D) beams with nanometre-scale widths are obtained through analytical and numerical analyses. The two models of the Fresnel-waveguide source have been investigated. The Fresnel waveguide in the first model is a linear array of beams formed by the periodic lateral translation and phase change of a light beam launched from a metal slit (2D-waveguide). In the second model, a phased array of metal 2D-waveguides in contact with the optical medium simulates the Fresnel-waveguide source.
Dr. Itir Bakis Dogru-Yüksel
Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Department of Physics, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, Netherlands
Iontronic microscopy of laser-patterned gold micro-electrodes
Biography:
Itir Bakis Dogru-Yüksel is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Utrecht University in the Physics Department, Nanophotonics group. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Physics at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. After graduating with honors, she pursued an M.Sc. in the Micro and Nanotechnology Department at the same university. She received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Science and Engineering department at Koç University in ?stanbul, Turkey researching various biomaterial-based self-assembled photonics devices. During her Ph.D. period, she researched at Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, and Sungkyunkwan University, Korea as a visiting scientist to develop directional random biolasers. Now she investigates Scattering based Imaging Systems and observes the dynamics of nanomaterials in real-time.
Abstract:
In this work, we used laser ablation to fabricate thin gold microelectrodes and we investigate the electrochemical interaction of these electrodes with solvated ions using optical AC-voltammetry which is a variation of iontronic microscopy. Instead of lithographic fabrication methods that require cleanroom facilities, we use laser ablation to obtain microstructures in a few seconds. The high-energy laser pulses remove overlapping disk-shaped regions from the gold thin film, leaving sharp tips at their intersection. These sharp tips enable the formation of an inhomogeneous electric field along the tips. The solvated ions in the solution are redistributed under the application of an alternating electric field, creating a local refractive index contrast that we measure using a custom-built total-internal reflection scattering microscope1.
Local ion concentrations are usually determined by electrochemical analysis methods, but our methods enable full optical investigation, using a sensitive differential imaging technique. The interferometric scattering signal from the total internally reflected light carries the information on the local refractive index change due to the movement of ions. The signal from ions is enhanced due to interference with the background scattering signal, without the intense illumination beam saturating the camera. We verify the suggested contrast mechanism by correlating the optical signal from the ions with the electrical current measured in parallel using a potentiostat.
Furthermore, the sharp corners and tips patterned on the electrodes allow us to trap nanoparticles and increase their concentration in the field of view. This simple fabrication method, in combination with Iontronic microscopy, can thus be used to investigate the (electro)chemical interaction around nanoparticles at the single particle level.
Dr. Sausan Abdulrazak
Ioffe Institute, Russia
Generation of “droplet” quasi-Bessel and Bessel beams based on conically refracted laser radiation
Biography:
My research is focused on the study of methods for the generation of quasi-bessel beams based on the emission of semiconductor lasers for optical manipulation, which has been successfully developing since 2015. The results of my research on quasi-bessel beam generation have been published in several papers in WoS and Scopus indexed journals. I have given several oral and poster presentations on the topics of my work at international conferences over the past years, including OSA Biophotonics Congress, International Conference Laser Optics, PhysikA.SPb and ICONO/LAT. Now I am actively developing the topic of optical manipulation based on conically refracting semiconductor laser radiation with the goal of developing an affordable tool for microbiological studies worldwide.
Abstract:
Over the past decade there has been considerable interest in the class of nondiffracting light beams known as Bessel beams. Bessel beams are widely used for optical manipulation of microscopic objects due to their ability to propagate a considerable distance without diffraction and to self-restore after passing an obstacle.In this work we demonstrate two methods: generation quasi-Bessel beams by use of conical lens (axicon) and by converting conically refracted radiation of a semiconductor laser by an axicon.The advantage of presented methods in comparison with bulky and expensive optical schemes based on SLM is the simplification and compensation of the experimental setup, which leads to a reduction in the cost of manufacturing components and, as a result, of the setup as a whole.A semiconductor laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used to generate the quasi-bessel beams. The longitudinal beam intensity distribution for a conical lens with an apex angle of 140° shows that the side ring intensity is periodically cancelled - side ring cancellation. The length of the waist, the central spot without side rings, is 40 μm.Interference due to rounded tip of the axicon can be overridden by using conically refracted light. In the region of waist of conical refraction, two light rings are formed, separated by a dark Pagendorff ring. Raman distribution of conical refraction allows to obtain a center spot for semiconductor lasers of tens of microns in size. A semiconductor laser with a wavelength of 637nm, a biaxial crystal located along the radiation propagation axis of one of the optical axes, and an axicon with an angle at the top of 160° were used for generation. The diameter of the central spot of the beam is 3 μm, but lacks the effect of cancellation of side lobs.This innovative techniques can offer significant potential for developing a "lab-on-a-chip" apparatus. These beams can generate "bottle" beams and can entrap micro-objects with either low refractive index or high absorption index at the device's operating wavelength.