Ultrasound examination with contrast in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. The results of the pilot study.

Aim: Assessment of diagnostic significance of informativeness and security of ultrasonography with contrast enhancement drug SonoVue in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

Materials And Methods: The pilot conducted a prospective study which involved 15 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). All patients gave written consent to participate in the study and processing of personal data.

Towards sensitive, high-throughput, biomolecular assays based on fluorescence lifetime.

Time-resolved fluorescence detection for robust sensing of biomolecular interactions is developed by implementing time-correlated single photon counting in high-throughput conditions. Droplet microfluidics is used as a promising platform for the very fast handling of low-volume samples. We illustrate the potential of this very sensitive and cost-effective technology in the context of an enzymatic activity assay based on fluorescently-labeled biomolecules.

Serum immunoglobulin free light chains in patients with monoclonal gammapathies.

Serum concentrations of κ- and λ-free light chains and their ratios were compared in 126 patients with monoclonal gammapathies (age 23-80 years) and 60 normal subjects (25-82 years). The main group included patients with intact immunoglobulin multiple myeloma, Bence Jones multiple myeloma, nonsecreting multiple myeloma, plasmocytoma, and monoclonal gammapathy of unknown origin. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by the analysis of 3 serum specimens with different concentrations of κ- and λ-free light chains.