We have developed the world’s first animal free in vitro model for prediction of chronic inflammation after nanoparticle inhalation. It is based on the complex mechanism discovered within intensive collaborative research as a part of a work package, which we have led within 8-million-euro worth European Horizon 2020 SmartNanoTox project. The resulted publication in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials (IF of 27, A’’) was selected as the frontispiece by the editor and is currently in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric. This enormous collaborative work has been directed by our researchers T. Koklič and J. Štrancar (2 corresponding authors - out of 3) despite the fact it has been co-authored by many world’s top toxicologists from Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, and UK including prof. Vogel with more than 15,000 total citations, and prof. Stoeger with more than 4,000 citations (according to ResearchGate). The scientific council of the Jozef Stefan Institute confirmed the relevance of this and associated work and supported the establishment of a spin-out company that would further exploit the economic potential of our discovery.
COBISS.SI-ID: 39713539
We used fluorescence microspectroscopy (FMS) with nanometre spectral resolution, previously developed in LBF, to characterize blood coagulation dynamics and oxygenation in ex-vivo retinal vessels (J. Biophotonics 2020). Based on this method and collaboration with Optotek d.o.o., we obtained an EU patent for spectral detection irregularities in tissue (EP3755994). With fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), we characterised the effects of a new laser source for ophthalmologic theranostics (Applied Physics A 2020), mechanical properties of cellular membranes (Comm. Biol. (Nature Publishing Group) 2019), and a new fluorescent probe for studying immune cells (Bioorg. Chem. 2021). Finally, we have reported multiple important advancements of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and its super-resolution variant STED-FCS (Nature Protocols 2019, A'', IF=11) to measure molecular diffusion, e.g. critical enhancements by adaptive optics and fast electronics (ACS Photonics 2020 and J. Phys. D 2020, I. Urbančič as corresponding author), which offer new applications in challenging experimental conditions, such as in live cells and tissues.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32185127
In the study 3D magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) was used to study metamorphosis of the Carniolan worker honey bee in vivo under controlled temperature and humidity conditions from sealed larva until the emergence of an adult. The 3D images were analyzed by volume rendering and segmentation, enabling the analysis of body, tracheal system and gastrointestinal tract through volume time course. Fat content sensitivity enabled the analysis of flight muscles transformation during the metamorphosis by the signal histogram and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). Although the transformation during metamorphosis is well known, MRM enabled an alternative insight to this process, i.e., 3D in vivo which has relatively high spatial and temporal resolutions. The developed methodology can easily be adapted for studying metamorphosis of other insects or any other incremental biological process on a similar spatial and temporal scale.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32334339
Magnetic resonance methods were used to determine the properties of porous materials such as hydrophilic polymers and wood. We have shown that magnetic resonance relaxation (Fast-field cycling NMR relaxometry) can determine the medium molecules and polymer-chain dynamics in gles, which are important for the drug release kinetics from hydrophilic matrix tablets, as these lead to constantly changing polymer-chain mesh sizes and distributions, which can change the diffusion pathways for the drug carried in the gel layers. The study demonstrated the influence of media pHs (neutral, pure water; acid, HCl pH 1.2) on the gel dynamics, with slower water and polymer-chain dynamics in the acid medium. The data also showed that in the gels with the acid medium, more water was available for drug dissolution. These resulted in different swelling and drug release kinetics of the xanthan tablets with the neutral and acid media (Dynamics of water and xanthan chains in hydrogels studied by NMR relaxometry and their influence on drug release. 2019, vol. 563, p. .373-383). The magnetic resonance method is also suitable for giving comprehensive information about wood drying kinetics, as it allows dynamic monitoring of the spatial distribution of water in the wood, which strongly affects the properties of wood, especially in outdoor applications. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of five wood species: sweet chestnut heartwood (Castanea sativa), European larch heartwood (Larix decidua), Scots pine heartwood and sapwood (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) showed that the drying kinetics depends on the depth of the sample: at the outer parts the moisture content (MC) decreases with drying time, but in the middle of the sample the MC first increases and then decreases with time. Study was published in prestigious journal Cellulose (A'') (Water distribution in wood after short term wetting. Cellulose. 2019, vol. 26, str. 703-721).
COBISS.SI-ID: 2966665
In the period 2019-2021, we published three important publications describing the ISLE approach, the latest improvements and additions, application examples and results of studies related to the effectiveness of the ISLE approach: a stand-alone monograph [1], a chapter in a monograph [2] and a scientific article [3 ]. In the same period, we also made a detailed study on the applicability of tables for self-evaluation of scientific competencies in Project work [4], which are also based on the ISLE approach. The results of this study will help us plan new experimental activities to develop specific scientific competencies. Publications [3] and [4] belong to the class of exceptional achievements A''. 1. ETKINA et al San Rafael: Morgan & Claypool Publishers, cop. 2019. DOI: 10.1088/2053-2571/ab3ebd. [COBISS.SI-ID 3381860] 2. ETKINA et al. Cham: Springer, cop. 2020. [COBISS.SI-ID 3410532] 3. BROOKES et al. Physical review. Physics education research. 2020, vol. 16, iss. 2, str. 020148-1-020148-22, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020148. [COBISS.SI-ID 41266691] 4. FALETIČ et al. Physical review. Physics education research. 2020, vol. 16, iss. 2, str. 020136-1-020136-21, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020136. [COBISS.SI-ID 39211011]
COBISS.SI-ID: 39211011