Individualised and non-contact post-mortem interval determination of human bodies using visible and thermal 3D imaging.

Determining the time since death, i.e., post-mortem interval (PMI), often plays a key role in forensic investigations.

Quantitative aortography for assessing aortic regurgitation after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: results of the multicentre ASSESS-REGURGE Registry.

Aims: Quantitative aortography using videodensitometry is a valuable tool for quantifying paravalvular regurgitation after TAVI, especially in the minimalist approach - without general anaesthesia. However, retrospective assessment of aortograms showed moderate feasibility of assessment. We sought to determine the prospective feasibility of quantitative aortography after a protocol of acquisition.

Tracers as invisible evidence - The transfer and persistence of flock fibres during a car exchange.

This study assessed the recovery of flock fibres used as a tracer in a car exchange scenario. Flock fibres were deposited onto a car seat (or model thereof) and their transfer and persistence was investigated after a real or simulated car exchange. The overall aim of this study was to achieve an optimal use of flock fibres as tracers, i.

Infrared imaging of the crime scene: possibilities and pitfalls.

All objects radiate infrared energy invisible to the human eye, which can be imaged by infrared cameras, visualizing differences in temperature and/or emissivity of objects. Infrared imaging is an emerging technique for forensic investigators. The rapid, nondestructive, and noncontact features of infrared imaging indicate its suitability for many forensic applications, ranging from the estimation of time of death to the detection of blood stains on dark backgrounds.

HDR monotherapy for prostate cancer: a simulation study to determine the effect of catheter displacement on target coverage and normal tissue irradiation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to systematically analyse the effect of catheter displacements both on target coverage and normal tissue irradiation in fractionated high dose rate (HDR) prostate brachytherapy, using a simulation study, and to define tolerances for catheter displacement ensuring that both target coverage and normal tissue doses remain clinically acceptable. Besides the effect of total implant displacement, also displacements of catheters belonging to selected template rows only were evaluated in terms of target coverage and normal tissue dose, in order to analyse the change in dose distribution as a function of catheter dwell weight and catheter location.

Material And Methods: Five representative implant geometries, with 17 catheters each, were selected.

Characterization of a daptomycin-nonsusceptible vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus strain in a patient with endocarditis.

We analyzed the emergence of daptomycin nonsusceptibility in a patient with persistent vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) bacteremia. The daptomycin-nonsusceptible VISA's cell wall demonstrated a reduction in muramic acid O-acetylation, a phenotypic parameter not previously reported for VISA; some isolates also contained a single point mutation in the mprF gene.

Accurate single-pair Förster resonant energy transfer through combination of pulsed interleaved excitation, time correlated single-photon counting, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Quantitative distance measurements are difficult to obtain in spite of the strong distance dependency of the energy transfer efficiency. One problem for the interpretation of the Forster resonant energy transfer (FRET) efficiency is the so-called zero-efficiency peak caused by FRET pairs with missing or nonfluorescent acceptors. Other problems occurring are direct excitation of the acceptor, spectral crosstalk, and the determination of the quantum efficiency of the dyes as well as the detector sensitivity.

A novel system for efficient gene transfer into primary human hepatocytes via cell-permeable hepatitis B virus-like particle.

Protein transduction domains (PTDs) have been used to deliver a variety of biologically active cargo across cellular membranes. However the potential of PTDs to mediate transport of nanoparticular structures into the cytoplasm bypassing the endosomal compartment remains unclear. Cell-permeable virus-like particles (VLPs) harboring a marker gene based on hepatitis B virus nucleocaspids were established.

Concept for the traceability of fluorescence (beads) in flow cytometry: exploiting saturation and microscopic single molecule bleaching.

We have determined the fluorescence yield of stained micro beads, used for calibration purposes in flow cytometry, as function of the irradiance of the exciting laser beam. A rate equation model has been applied to derive the number of fluorescence molecules carried by each micro bead. To derive in situ photo-physical properties of the specific dye, required for the rate equation model, we discuss an approach based on flow cytometric sorting of micro beads, which have passed two laser beams with properly chosen different irradiances, and subsequent observation of single molecule bleaching employing high sensitivity microscopy.