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Search results for: DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
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Metals in the environment as risk factors for infectious diseases: gaps and opportunities
PublicationThis chapter aims to provide insights into current knowledge and gaps in our understanding of the influence that trace metals in the environment have on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. By reducing immune function, trace metal deficiencies may substantially contribute to the global burden of diarhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Improved methods and biomarkers for assessing the risk of trace metals deficiencies and toxicities...
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Influence of Urea and Dimethyl Sulfoxide on K-Peptide Fibrillation
PublicationProtein fibrillation leads to formation of amyloids—linear aggregates that are hallmarks of many serious diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In this work, we investigate the fibrillation of a short peptide (K-peptide) from the amyloidogenic core of hen egg white lysozyme in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide or urea. During the studies, a variety of spectroscopic methods were used: fluorescence spectroscopy...
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Pathogenesis of psoriasis in the “omic” era. Part III. Metabolic disorders, metabolomics, nutrigenomics in psoriasis
PublicationPsoriasis is a systemic disease that is strictly connected with metabolic disorders (insulin resistance, atherogenic dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases). It occurs more often in patients with a more severe course of the disease. Obesity is specially an independent risk factor and it is associated with a worse treatment outcome because of the high inflammatory activity of visceral fatty tissue and...
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Human subarachnoid space width oscillations in the resting state
PublicationAbnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pulsatility has been implicated in patients suffering from various diseases, including multiple sclerosis and hypertension. CSF pulsatility results in subarachnoid space (SAS) width changes, which can be measured with near-infrared transillumination backscattering sounding (NIR-T/BSS). The aim of this study was to combine NIR-T/BSS and wavelet analysis methods to characterise the dynamics of the...
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HPLC-coupled post-column derivatization aims at characterization and monitoring of plant phytocomplexes, not at assessing their biological properties
PublicationTwo recent decades of research identified a number of environmental factors as well as mechanisms leading to pathogenic processes in the human organism. A common factor in pathogenesis of many diseases is oxidative stress, a condition in which the production of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS), present in the body as an inevitable consequence of respiration and exacerbated by the inflammatory response and by exogenous factors...
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Ochrona powietrza - europejskie standardy
PublicationCurrent regulations in EU oblige every member country to cover the protection of the air as well as determine, in a bright and clear way, the responsibilities of the governments to monitor the condition and introduce ways of protection of the air from pollution. If the responsibilities imposed by the directive on evaluation and management of the air quality are obeyed by the respective organs of member countries of EU, then the...
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The Influence of Selecting Regions from Endoscopic Video Frames on The Efficiency of Large Bowel Disease Recognition Algorithms
PublicationThe article presents our research in the field of the automatic diagnosis of large intestine diseases on endoscopic video. It focuses on the methods of selecting regions of interest from endoscopic video frames for further analysis by specialized disease recognition algorithms. Four methods of selecting regions of interest have been discussed: a. trivial, b. with the deletion of characteristic, endoscope specific additions to the...
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PCR and real-time PCR assays to detect fungi of Alternaria alternata species
PublicationFungi of the Alternaria genus are mostly associated with allergic diseases. However, with a growing number of immunocompromised patients, these fungi, with A. alternata being the most prevalent one, are increasingly recognized as etiological agents of infections (phaeohyphomycoses) in humans. Nowadays, identification of Alternaria spp. requires their pure culture and is solely based on morphological criteria. Clinically, Alternaria...
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Cytokine IL6, but not IL-1β, TNF-α and NF-κB is increased in paediatric cancer patients
PublicationCytokines are responsible for maintaining homeostasis as cell growth, differentiation, migration and apoptosis mediators. They play a pivotal role in immune responses to inflammatory reactions. In oncological diseases, the cross-talk between cells of the immunological system and cells of the tumour microenvironment is led by cytokines. Also, the overproduction of cytokines may change the tumour microenvironment and stimulate tumour...
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Blood Pressure - Pulse Transit Time Relationships: Comparative Studies
PublicationA non-invasive and continuous blood pressure estimation could allow a better diagnosis and an earlier detection of various diseases. It could be performed using a photoplethysmography. However, it requires that a relation between blood pressure and pulse transit time is known. Eleven theoretical formulas were used in obtaining the simulated and noise free synthetic data. Then, they were utilized in validation of three, commonly...
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The influence of food phytochemicals on cyclic phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) activity
PublicationCyclic phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) belongs to family of cyclic phosphodiesterases, which are expressed predominantly in inflammatory cells, airway smooth muscles, cardiovascular tissues and brain. Inhibitors of this family of enzymes found medicinal applications as antidepressants, antiinflamatory drugs (mainly in airway diseases) or antiasthmatics (Ibudilast). PDE4 inhibitors are also being tested for preventing the development...
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A survey of automatic speech recognition deep models performance for Polish medical terms
PublicationAmong the numerous applications of speech-to-text technology is the support of documentation created by medical personnel. There are many available speech recognition systems for doctors. Their effectiveness in languages such as Polish should be verified. In connection with our project in this field, we decided to check how well the popular speech recognition systems work, employing models trained for the general Polish language....
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The Unfolded Protein Response: A Double-Edged Sword for Brain Health
PublicationEfficient brain function requires as much as 20% of the total oxygen intake to support normal neuronal cell function. This level of oxygen usage, however, leads to the generation of free radicals, and thus can lead to oxidative stress and potentially to age-related cognitive decay and even neurodegenerative diseases. The regulation of this system requires a complex monitoring network to maintain proper oxygen homeostasis. Furthermore,...
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DIFFRACTION PHASE MICROSCOPY FOR OBSERVATION ON RED BLOOD CELLS FLUCTUATION
PublicationNowadays there is quite huge need for more and more precise and effective fast diagnostics methods in hematology diseases. One of the most important blood components are erythrocytes – RBCs (Red Blood Cells). Due to their size they are easy to observe using microscopy. It is commonly known that the shape and lifetime of RBCs allows for early disease identification. Authors present special measurement system for RBCs fluctuations observation...
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Result of the 6-min walk test is an independent prognostic factor of surgically treated non-small-cell lung cancer
PublicationPathological tumour, node and metastasis (TNM) stage remains the most significant prognostic factor of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Meanwhile, age, gender, pulmonary function tests, the extent of surgical resection and the presence of concomitant diseases are commonly used to complete the prognostic profile of the patient with early stage of NSCLC. The aim of this study is to assess how the result of a 6-min walk test (6MWT)...
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Fluctuation-Enhanced Sensing with Organically Functionalized Gold Nanoparticle Gas Sensors Targeting Biomedical Applications
PublicationDetection of volatile organic compounds is a useful approach to non-invasive diagnosis of diseases through breath analysis. Our experimental study presents a newly developed prototype gas sensor, based on organically-functionalized gold nanoparticles, and results on formaldehyde detection using fluctuation-enhanced gas sensing. Formaldehyde was easily detected via intense fluctuations of the gas sensor’s resistance, while the cross-influence...
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A System for Heart Sounds Classification
PublicationThe future of quick and efficient disease diagnosis lays in the development of reliable non-invasive methods. As for the cardiac diseases – one of the major causes of death around the globe – a concept of an electronic stethoscope equipped with an automatic heart tone identification system appears to be the best solution. Thanks to the advancement in technology, the quality of phonocardiography signals is no longer an issue. However,...
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An overview of fermentation in the food industry - looking back from a new perspective
PublicationFermentation is thought to be born in the Fertile Crescent, and since then, almost every culture has integrated fermented foods into their dietary habits. Originally used to preserve foods, fermentation is now applied to improve their physicochemical, sensory, nutritional, and safety attributes. Fermented dairy, alcoholic beverages like wine and beer, fermented vegetables, fruits, and meats are all highly valuable due to their...
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Population-based case-control study of alpha 1-antitrypsin and SLC11A1 in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
PublicationBackground: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract. Genetic factors and an abnormal immune response to infections are suspected to be involved in inflammatory bowel diseases. Methods: In the present study 300 blood samples from CD patients (n 100), UC patients (n 100), and healthy controls (n 100) were taken from a population-based case-control study. PCR assays...
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Selected organophosphorus compounds with biological activity. Applications in medicine
PublicationThe purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the latest applications of organophosphorus compounds (OPs) that exhibit biological activity. A large family of OPs have become popular in recent years. The practical application of OPs in modern medicine has been attributed to their unique properties. In this article, the methods used to select these compounds will be emphasized. This paper will first outline the findings...
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Biopsy needles coated with the antimicrobial coatings
PublicationDrug delivery systems are used to achieve higher therapeutic effects of medicaments in a specific diseased site with minimal toxicological effect. The used of biopolymers in drug delivery systems ensure the biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. Drug delivery systems enhance the drug delivery actively and can be used in different diseases. In this study, two types of polymer coatings were prepared and were...
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Regulation of Cellular Redox Homeostasis by (–)-Epicatechin and Cocoa Extracts—A Pilot Study
PublicationCocoa polyphenols play an important role in protection against diseases in which oxidative stress is implicated as a causal or contributing factor. The main aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of different cocoa extracts and main cocoa bioactive compound (–)-epicatechin on cell growth and support of antioxidant cellular barrier in colon adenocarcinoma cell line model (HT29). Results show that the tested cocoa bioactivity...
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REGULATION OF CELLULAR REDOX HOMEOSTASIS BY (-)-EPICATECHIN AND COCOA EXTRACTS – PILOT STUDY
PublicationCocoa polyphenols play an important role in protection against diseases in which oxidative stress is implicated as a causal or contributing factor. The main aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of different cocoa extracts and main cocoa bioactive compound (–)-epicatechin on cell growth and support of antioxidant cellular barrier in colon adenocarcinoma cell line model (HT29). Results show that the tested cocoa bioactivity...
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Observation on red blood cells fluctuations by diffraction phase microscopy
PublicationNowadays there is quite huge need for more and more precise and effective fast diagnostics methods in hematology diseases. One of the most important blood components are erythrocytes – Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Due to their size they are easy to observe using microscopy. It is commonly known that the shape and lifetime of RBCs allows for early disease identification. Authors present special measurement system for RBCs fluctuations...
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Endoscopy video analysis algorithms and their independence of rotation , brightness , contrast , color and blur
PublicationThe article presents selected image analysis algorithms for endoscopy videos. Mathematical methods that are part of these algorithms are described, and authors’ claims about the characteristics of these algorithms, such as the independence of rotation, brightness, contrast, etc. are mentioned. Using the common test on the real endoscopic image database and a set of image transformations, the validity of these claims was checked...
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Early Stages of RNA-Mediated Conversion of Human Prions
PublicationPrion diseases are characterized by the conversion of prion proteins from a PrPC fold into a disease-causing PrPSC form that is self-replicating. A possible agent to trigger this conversion is polyadenosine RNA, but both mechanism and pathways of the conversion are poorly understood. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamic simulations we study the time evolution of PrPC over 600 μs. We find that both the D178N mutation and interacting...
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Sulfonamides with hydroxyphenyl moiety: Synthesis, structure, physicochemical properties, and ability to form complexes with Rh(III) ion
PublicationSulfonamides are the first successfully synthesized antimicrobial drugs. The mechanism of sulfonamides’ antimicrobial action involves competitive inhibition of folic acid synthesis and prevention of the growth and reproduction of bacteria. Even though they have been applied in therapy for more than 75 years, sulfonamides are still the drugs of choice for the treatment of various diseases. The aim of this work was to synthesize...
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Investigating beliefs in anti-vax conspiracy theories among medical students
PublicationAbstract: While the doctors’ role in immunization is essential, their lack of knowledge or vaccine hesitancy may affect their ability to communicate effectively and educate patients about vaccination, vaccine hesitancy, and vaccine conspiracy theories. This, in turn, may hinder health policy aimed at fighting infectious diseases. Vaccine hesitancy is prevalent not only among the general population but also among healthcare...
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Olfactory receptor-based biosensors as potential future tools in medical diagnosis
PublicationThe detection of biomarkers is the future of non-invasive medical diagnosis and screening. Discovery and identification of reliable disease specific volatile organic compounds is dependent on repeatable, accurate analysis of trace level gaseous analytes mainly in breath samples. Natural variety of the olfactory systems and the compounds capable of gas molecules binding creates wide possibilities of acquisition and implementation...
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A novel method of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strain differentiation using polymorphic GC-rich gene sequences.
PublicationTuberculosis is one of the leading infectious diseases. In this work, a new genotyping method of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complex strain is presented. 27 Mtb genomes were analyzed for the presence of length polymorphism within polymorphic GC-rich gene sequences. Four genes, Rv3345c, Rv3507, Rv0747 and Rv3511, showing variation in length depending on the Mtb strain were selected for designing primer sequences flanking variable...
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Therapeutic Potential of Multifunctional Tacrine Analogues
PublicationTacrine is a potent inhibitor of cholinesterases (acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase) that shows limiting clinical application by liver toxicity. In spite of this, analogues of tacrine are considered as a model inhibitor of cholinesterases in the therapy of Alzheimer’s disease. The interest in these compounds is mainly related to a high variety of their structure and biological properties. In the present review, we...
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Approaches Towards Better Immunosuppressive Agents
PublicationSeveral classes of compounds are applied in clinics due to their immunosuppressive properties in transplantology and the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Derivatives of mycophe-nolic acid, corticosteroids and chemotherapeutics bearing heterocyclic moieties like methotrexate, azathioprine, mizoribine, and ruxolitinib are active substances with investigated mechanisms of action. However, improved synthetic approaches of known drugs...
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Non-Nutritive Bioactive Compounds in Food of Plant Origin
PublicationThe increasing knowledge on the health benefits of certain food ingredients, in particular, those of plant origin, opened the discussion of the possibility of using edible plants or their active components in the prevention of non-communicable diseases. The health-promoting properties of plant foods are related to the presence of non-nutritive compounds, mainly plant secondary metabolites, which can affect many biological mechanisms...
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Recent developmentsinthesynthesisand biological activityofacridine/acridoneanalogues
PublicationMany people in the world struggle with cancer or bacterial, parasitic, viral, Alzheimer's and other diseases. Therefore, many scientists seek new, more effective, more selective and less toxic drugs. Acridine/acridone derivatives constitute a class of compounds with a broad spectrum of biological activity and are of great interest to scientists. Todate, many acridine/acridone analogues have been obtained,which, inter alia, exhibit...
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Optical glyphs based localization and identification system
PublicationThe paper presents a description of functioning of a platform supporting the detection of obstructive diseases in the respiratory system education process. A 16-parameter model of the respiratory system simulated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment was set in the role of the tested patient. It has been linked to the control layer, developed in the LabVIEW environment, using the SIT library (Simulation Interface Toolkit). This layer...
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An application supporting the educational process of the respiratory system obstructive diseases detection
PublicationThe paper presents a description of functioning of a platform supporting the detection of obstructive diseases in the respiratory system education process. A 16-parameter model of the respiratory system simulated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment was set in the role of the tested patient. It has been linked to the control layer, developed in the LabVIEW environment, using the SIT library (Simulation Interface Toolkit). This layer...
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Sample preparation and recent trends in volatolomics for diagnosing gastrointestinal diseases
PublicationThe analysis of the human volatilome can be successfully used for rapid and non-invasive diagnostics of gastrointestinal diseases. However, the introduction of techniques based on detection of volatiles is limited, among other factors, by difficulties which arise during the sampling stage and instrumental analysis. The aim of this article was to review and discuss medical and analytical literature on the analysis of volatiles in...
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Investigation of photothermolysis therapy of human skin diseases using optical phantoms
PublicationDermatological diseases, such as neurofibroma (Recklinghausen disease) or hemangiomas can be efficiently treated using photothermolysis from laser irradiation. We have utilized a developed 975 nm fiber diode laser as a low-cost alternative over common Nd:YAG lasers. This paper describes the investigations of interaction of 975 nm diode laser radiation-pulses with optical skin phantoms which were designed and manufactured in our...
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Application of spectroscopy to the measurement of blood parameters
PublicationSpectroscopy is the study of formation and interpretation of the spectra arising from the interactions of all types of radiation on matter, understood as a collection of atoms and molecules. This is a very important department of optics which gives us many opportunities to measure various parameters such as material blood parameters. Among the diseases that are associated significantly with changes in rheological properties of...
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Markov Model of Disease Development and Recovery
PublicationMarkov models are commonly used to simulate diseases and allow modeling of multiple health states and outcomes. Starting with the well known Le Bras multistate model (cascading failure model) with time-independent transitions we will see how simple Markov mortality models may be pressed into the service of survival and event history analysis. We will focus on more complex models which will be able to take into account remission,...
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A Measurement System for Quasi-Spectral Determination of Absorption and Scattering Parameters of Veterinary Tissue Phantoms
PublicationThis paper describes the construction of a system for the quasi-spectral determination of absorption and scattering parameters of animal tissue phantoms. Several tissue phantoms, including one reference and two modified for examination, were prepared from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The phantoms were measured using a system based on an integrating sphere and the light sources of wavelengths commonly used for the treatment of various...
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Identification of evolutionary conserved DNA sequence and corresponding S21 ribosomal protein region for diagnostic purposes of all Borrelia spirochetes
PublicationIt is still under investigation, whether all Borrelia sp. causing Lyme borreliosis and other diseases are already identified and properly classified as human pathogens. For this reason, it is of great importance to develop a diagnostic ELISA test that detects all Borrelia sp. The aim of this study was to identify conserved DNA and protein regions present in all currently known Borrelia sp. In experimental studies 31 available Borrelia...
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2-Methoxyestradiol and Hydrogen Peroxide as Promising Biomarkers in Parkinson’s Disease
PublicationEstrogens function in numerous physiological processes including controlling brain cell growth and differentiation. 2-Meth- oxestradiol (2-ME2), a 17β-estradiol (E2) metabolite, is known for its anticancer effects as observed both in vivo and in vitro. 2-ME2 affects all actively dividing cells, including neurons. The study aimed to determine whether 2-ME2 is a potentially cancer-protective or rather neurodegenerative agent in a...
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A Novel Approach to the Assessment of Cough Incidence
PublicationIn this paper we consider the problem of identication of cough events in patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases. The information about frequency of cough events is necessary to medical treatment. The proposed approach is based on bidirectional processing of a measured vibration signal - cough events are localized by combining the results of forward-time and backward-time analysis. The signal is at rst transformed...
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The properties, functions and use of selenium compounds in living organisms
PublicationSelenium occurs in the environment in inorganic and organic compounds. For many years it was regarded as a toxic element, causing numerous illnesses and diseases. But research in the last 50 years has revealed a "bright side" to this element, especially as a component of selenoproteins, selenium makes a significant contribution to the health of humans and animals. The selenium content in an organism depends on its concentration...
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Reducing nighttime light exposure in the urban environment to benefit human health and society
PublicationNocturnal light pollution can have profound effects on humans and other organisms. Recent research indicates that nighttime outdoor lighting is increasing rapidly. Evidence from controlled laboratory studies demonstrates that nocturnal light exposure can strain the visual system, disrupt circadian physiology, suppress melatonin secretion, and impair sleep. There is a growing body of work pointing to adverse effects of outdoor lighting...
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Fibrillar aggregates in powdered milk
PublicationThis research paper addresses the hypothesis that powdered milk may contain amyloid fibrils. Amyloids are fibrillar aggregates of proteins. Up to this time, research on the presence of amyloids in food products are scarce. To check the hypothesis we performed thioflavin T fluorescence assay, X-ray powder diffraction, atomic force microscopy and fluorescence microscopy imaging. Our preliminary results show that commercially available...
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Electronic Noses in Medical Diagnostics
PublicationElectronic nose technology is being developed in order to identify aromas in a way parallel to the biologic olfaction. When applied to the field of medicine, such device should be able to identify and discriminate between different diseases. In recent years this kind of approach finds application in medical diagnostics, and especially in disease screening. Despite the fact that devices utilizing chemical sensor arrays are not routinely...
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Milky Sap of Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus L.) and Anti-Viral Properties
PublicationThe milky juice of the greater celandine herb has been used in folk medicine and in homeopathy for treatment of viral warts for years. However, classical medicine fails to use properties of celandine herbs in treatment of diseases induced by papilloma viruses. Nevertheless, dermatological outpatient clinics are regularly visited by patients reporting efficacy of milky sap isolated from celandine herb in treatment of their own...
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Recent advances in aqueous virus removal technologies
PublicationThe COVID-19 outbreak has triggered a massive research, but still urgent detection and treatment of this virus seems a public concern. The spread of viruses in aqueous environments underlined efficient virus treatment processes as a hot challenge. This review critically and comprehensively enables identifying and classifying advanced biochemical, membrane-based and disinfection processes for effective treatment of virus-contaminated...