In recent years, hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers (HC-PBFs) have been demonstrated to be a promising technology for gas sensing. In particular, the long interaction path lengths available with these fibers are especially advantageous for the detection of weakly absorbing gases such as methane. In the near-infrared region, methane has the strongest absorption band, 2ν3, at 1670 nm. However, H...

Background Although the red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has been reported as a reliable predictor of prognosis in several types of cancer, the prognostic value of RDW in hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) has not been studied. Methods A retrospective analysis of 292 consecutively recruited HC patients undergoing radical resection was conducted. The optimal cutoff value of RDW was determine...

BACKGROUND Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a serious infectious disease. Carnitine plays a crucial role in metabolism and inflammatory responses. Carnitine may be important in improving neuronal dysfunction and loss of neurons. AIM To evaluate serum carnitine concentration in adult patients with various clinical types of LB. MATERIAL/METHODS Groups: 1) patients with erythema migrans (EM, n=16), 2)...

Nigella sativa or Black seed (N. sativa L.) is traditionally used for several ailments in many Middle Eastern countries. It is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the Ranuculacea family with many beneficial properties as antitumor, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antioxidative and antibacterial. This work attempted to study the effect of N. sativa seeds powder and oil on atherosclerosis ...

PURPOSE To compare the effects of a 10-week training program with two different exercises -- traditional hamstring curl (HC) and Nordic hamstrings (NH), a partner exercise focusing the eccentric phase -- on muscle strength among male soccer players. METHODS Subjects were 21 well-trained players who were randomized to NH training (n = 11) or HC training (n = 10). The programs were similar, wit...

We developed two new FRET imaging measures for intramolecular FRET biosensors, called linearly proportional (LP) and highly contrasting (HC) measures, which can be easily calculated by the fluorescence intensities of donor and acceptor as a ratio between their weighted sums. As an alternative to the conventional ratiometric measure, which non-linearly depends on the fraction of active molecule,...

The flow-time curve of resting breathing was recorded in 14 patients (aged 36 +/- 16 yrs) with mild to moderate symptoms of upper airway obstruction (UawO) and compared to that of 28 matched, healthy controls (HC) in order to characterize the breathing pattern of such patients. The inspiratory time over total time (TI/Ttot) was higher in the patients (0.42; SD 0.04) than in HC (0.37; SD 0.04) (...

This paper presents the difference in behavior between hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) columns and conventional reinforced concrete (RC) columns under vehicle collision in terms of dynamic and static forces. The HC-FCS column consisted of an outer FRP tube, an inner steel tube, and a concrete shell sandwiched between the two tubes. The steel tube was hollow inside a...

BACKGROUND Determination of the urinary corticoid-to-creatinine ratio (UCCR) is an important screening test in the diagnosis of hypercortisolism (HC). However, urinary cortisol metabolites interfere with cortisol measurement in immunoassays, leading to decreased specificity. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is considered the gold standard for steroid hormone analysis, because it pro...