Resonant Grating without a Planar Waveguide Layer as a Refractive Index Sensor.

Dielectric grating-based sensors are usually based on the guided mode resonance (GMR) obtained using a thin planar waveguide layer (PWL) adjacent to a thin subwavelength grating layer. In this work, we present a detailed investigation of thick subwavelength dielectric grating structures that exhibit reflection resonances above a certain thickness without the need for the waveguide layer, showing great potential for applications in biosensing and tunable filtering. Analytic and numerical results are thoroughly discussed, as well as an experimental demonstration of the structure as a chemical sensor in the SWIR (short wave infrared) spectral range (1200-1800 nm).

Mental health status among younger generation around Chernobyl.

Introduction: In order to improve our understanding of how to approach the younger generation around Chernobyl, we screened mental health status among young adults born after the accident living in the Gomel region, Belarus.

Material And Methods: We enrolled 697 medical students who were born after the accident. Participants were asked to answer self-administered questionnaires including the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).

Prognosis of thyroid nodules in individuals living in the Zhitomir region of Ukraine.

Objective: After the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP), the incidence of thyroid cancer increased among children. Recently, a strong relationship between solid thyroid nodules and the incidence of thyroid cancer was shown in atomic bomb survivors. To assess the prognosis of benign thyroid nodules in individuals living in the Zhitomir region of Ukraine, around the CNPP, we conducted a follow-up investigation of screening data from 1991 to 2000 in the Ukraine.

Urinary iodine concentrations of pregnant women in Ukraine.

Background: Iodine requirements increase during pregnancy and previous studies have reported the inadequate iodine status of pregnant women in areas that have achieved iodine sufficiency in the general population. We examined the urinary iodine (UI) concentrations of pregnant women in Ukraine, where the iodine status is showing improvement among the general population.

Methods: We enrolled 148 pregnant women<16 weeks pregnant and 80 healthy women as a control group living in Zhitomir, Ukraine.

Screening for 137Cs body burden due to the Chernobyl accident in Korosten City, Zhitomir, Ukraine: 1996-2008.

During the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) accident on 26 April 1986, large amounts of radionuclides were released and spread to vast areas. Inhabitants residing around CNPP have been exposed to external and internal irradiation due to the long half-life of (137)Cs (30 years). In this study, we screened for internal whole-body (137)Cs concentration using a whole-body counter in the Zhitomir state of Ukraine.

Evaluation of (137)Cs body burden in inhabitants of Bryansk Oblast, Russian Federation, where a high incidence of thyroid cancer was observed after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

To determine the current risk of internal radiation exposure after the Chernobyl accident, the (137)Cs body burden of the inhabitants of Bryansk Oblast, Russian Federation was evaluated, from 1998 to 2008. The study population is composed of 84 666 people who visited Bryansk No. 2 Hospital.

Urinary iodine concentrations in urban and rural areas around Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

In 2007, we screened urinary iodine (UI) concentrations in urban (Gomel city) and in rural areas (Hoiniki city) of the Gomel Region, Republic of Belarus, which was heavily contaminated by the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in order to evaluate the current state of iodine supplementation in these areas. Median levels of UI were 220.5 microg/L (151.