Influence of vitamins and food on the fluorescence spectrum of human urine.

Objectives: Fluorescence spectroscopy of human urine is a method with the potential to gain importance as a diagnostic tool in the medical field, e.g., for measuring Coproporphyrin III (CPIII) as an indicator of cancer and acute types of porphyria.

Core-multi-shell design: unlocking multimodal capabilities in lanthanide-based nanoparticles as upconverting, -weighted MRI and CT probes.

Multimodal bioimaging probes merging optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray computed tomography (CT) capabilities have attracted considerable attention due to their potential biomedical applications. Lanthanide-based nanoparticles are promising candidates for multimodal imaging because of their optical, magnetic and X-ray attenuation properties. We prepared a set of hexagonal-phase (β)-NaGdF:Yb,Er/NaGdF/NaDyF core/shell/shell nanoparticles (Dy-CSS NPs) and demonstrated their optical/-weighted MRI/CT multimodal capabilities.

Non-Invasive Zinc Protoporphyrin Screening Offers Opportunities for Secondary Prevention of Iron Deficiency in Blood Donors.

Background: Frequent blood donors are at high risk of developing iron deficiency. Currently, there is no potent screening during blood donation to detect iron deficient erythropoiesis (IDE) before anemia develops and deferral from donation is inevitable.

Study Design And Methods: In addition to capillary and venous hemoglobin, the iron status of 99 frequent blood donors was assessed by various venous blood parameters and zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP).

Rye and Rye Bran as Components of Diets in Piglet Production-Effects on Prevalence.

The nutritional benefits of rye (and therefore rye bran) are mainly due to its high content of fermentable dietary fiber, the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). Microorganisms in the large intestine are able to convert these into short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), including butyrate. Butyrate strengthens the epithelial barrier function in the colon by nourishing the enterocytes and inhibiting the spread of in the intestinal tract.

Epidemiological Study on Prevalence in Sow Herds Using Direct and Indirect Detection Methods.

In piglet production, the beginning of pork production, prevalence requires greater attention as having an impact on the subsequent production steps. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence in three sow herds with attached piglet rearing units. prevalence was investigated either directly by boot swabs and feces or indirectly by serum samples taken during gilt integration, the peripartal period, and piglet rearing.

Screening for iron deficiency in surgical patients based on noninvasive zinc protoporphyrin measurements.

Background: Approximately every third surgical patient is anemic. The most common form, iron deficiency anemia, results from persisting iron-deficient erythropoiesis (IDE). Zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) is a promising parameter for diagnosing IDE, hitherto requiring blood drawing and laboratory workup.

Non-invasive measurement of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin in children.

Background: Reliable screening for iron deficiency (ID) has required a blood sample and cost-intensive laboratory measurements. A novel method to non-invasively measure erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), an established marker for ID, is evaluated in children.

Methods: ZnPP was determined non-invasively by fluorescence measurements on the wet vermillion of the lower lip in 99 hospitalized children aged 9 months to 5 years.

Rapid spectrophotometric quantification of urinary porphyrins and porphobilinogen as screening tool for attacks of acute porphyria.

Autosomal-dominant acute porphyria, a group of rare diseases, can lead to life-threatening neurovisceral attacks. No efficient screening test is available today. Elevated urinary porphobilinogen in addition to elevated porphyrins is highly specific for an attack of acute porphyria.

NaYF :Yb,Er/NaYF Core/Shell Nanocrystals with High Upconversion Luminescence Quantum Yield.

Upconversion core/shell nanocrystals with different mean sizes ranging from 15 to 45 nm were prepared via a modified synthesis procedure based on anhydrous rare-earth acetates. All particles consist of a core of NaYF :Yb,Er, doped with 18 % Yb and 2 % Er , and an inert shell of NaYF , with the shell thickness being equal to the radius of the core particle. Absolute measurements of the photoluminescence quantum yield at a series of different excitation power densities show that the quantum yield of 45 nm core/shell particles is already very close to the quantum yield of microcrystalline upconversion phosphor powder.

Intraoperative assessment of laryngeal pathologies with optical coherence tomography integrated into a surgical microscope.

Objective: Endoscopic examination followed by tissue biopsy is the gold standard in the evaluation of lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract. However, it can be difficult to distinguish between healthy mucosa, dysplasia, and invasive carcinoma. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive technique which acquires high-resolution, cross-sectional images of tissue in vivo.

Detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by using optical coherence tomography in combination with microscopy.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive high-resolution imaging technique that permits the detection of cancerous and precancerous lesions of the uterine cervix. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new system that integrates an OCT device into a microscope. OCT images were taken from loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) specimens under microscopic guidance.

Asymptomatic Carriers Contribute to Nosocomial Clostridium difficile Infection: A Cohort Study of 4508 Patients.

Background & Aims: Nosocomial infections with Clostridium difficile present a considerable problem despite numerous attempts by health care workers to reduce risk of transmission. Asymptomatic carriers of C difficile can spread their infection to other patients. We investigated the effects of asymptomatic carriers on nosocomial C difficile infections.

Non-invasive detection of iron deficiency by fluorescence measurement of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin in the lip.

Worldwide, more individuals have iron deficiency than any other health problem. Most of those affected are unaware of their lack of iron, in part because detection of iron deficiency has required a blood sample. Here we report a non-invasive method to optically measure an established indicator of iron status, red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin, in the microcirculation of the lower lip.

Ex vivo investigations on the potential of optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a diagnostic tool for reproductive medicine in a bovine model.

Routine infertility investigations in the male and female include imaging techniques such as ultrasonography and endoscopy (fertiloscopy). However, these techniques lack the resolution to localize vital sperm or to reveal detailed morphological analysis of the oviduct which is often the cause of infertility in females. Therefore we set out to evaluate the efficiency of optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a diagnostic imaging tool for micron-scale visualization of the male and female genital tract.

Rehabilitation for cirrhotic patients discharged after hepatic encephalopathy improves survival.

Introduction: The 1-year mortality of cirrhotic patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is approximately 60-80% in recent studies. We aimed to establish a rehabilitation out-patient clinic (RC) for alcoholic cirrhotic patients sur-viving HE.

Material And Methods: Prospectively, patients surviving HE were offered participation in the RC and were seen by a nurse for a one-hour interview with 1-3 weeks' interval after discharge and by a physician, if needed.

Seeding of picosecond and femtosecond optical parametric amplifiers by weak single mode continuous lasers.

Optical parametric amplifiers are typically seeded with either parametric superfluorescence or broadband continuum pulses. We show both with picosecond and femtosecond pump pulses, that single longitudinal mode cw lasers with mW power can be well used to generate nearly Fourier-transform-limited output pulses. The 532 nm pumped picosecond system is seeded in the near infrared and fully tunable from 1260 to 1630 nm.

Carrier-envelope phase stable sub-two-cycle pulses tunable around 1.8 µm at 100 kHz.

We present a simple and efficient concept for the generation of ultrashort infrared pulses with passively stabilized carrier-envelope phase at 100 kHz repetition rate. The central wavelength is tunable between 1.6 and 2.

First-line treatment with cephalosporins in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis provides poor antibiotic coverage.

Objective: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is a common infection in cirrhosis, associated with a high mortality. Third-generation cephalosporins are recommended as first-line treatment. The aim was to evaluate the epidemiology of microbiological ascitic fluid findings and antimicrobial resistance in Denmark.

Mid-IR femtosecond pulse generation on the microjoule level up to 5 μm at high repetition rates.

We show efficient generation of mid-IR pulses tunable between 1 and 5 μm from 100 kHz class femtosecond systems. The concept can be applied to various sources, particularly based on Ti:sapphire and the newly evolving Yb+ lasers. The mid-IR pulses are generated as the idler of a collinear optical parametric amplifier pumped by the laser fundamental.