Soil hydrau-physical data are important for many hydrological modelings. They are the main variables controllingthe key processes such as water and chemicals movement and transport in the soil profiles. This study was conductedin order to analyze the spatial distribution of selected soil hydrau-physcial characteristics including infiltration rate(IR), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), bulk...

BACKGROUND Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) used to detect small changes in specific mRNA concentrations is often associated with poor reproducibility. Thus, there is a need for stringent quality control in each step of the protocol. METHODS Real-time PCR-based calibration curves for a target gene, tissue factor (TF), and a reference gene, beta-actin, generated from PCR amplico...

The assessment of musculo-articular stiffness (MAS) with the free-oscillation technique is a popular method with a variety of applications. This study examined the sources of variability (load applied and frequency of oscillation) when MAS is assessed. Over two testing occasions, 14 healthy men (27.7±5.2 yr, 1.82±0.04 m, 79.5±8.4 kg) were measured for isometric maximum voluntary contraction and...

BACKGROUND The reproducibility of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has not been established in young cystic fibrosis (CF) patients using a valid protocol. METHODS Thirteen 7-18 year olds completed three CPETs, separated by 48 h and 4-6 weeks. CPET involved a ramp-incremental cycling test with supramaximal verification. RESULTS Maximal oxygen uptake was repeatedly determined with no l...

OBJECTIVE To quantitatively measure hepatic fibrosis on gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and identify the correlations with aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) values. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study on gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3T MR imaging included 81 patients with CHB infection. To quant...

Nanoindentation has recently gained attention as a characterization technique for mechanical properties of biological tissues, such as bone, on the sub-micron level. However, optimal methods to characterize viscoelastic properties of bones are yet to be established. This study aimed to compare the time-dependent viscoelastic properties of bone tissue obtained with different nanoindentation meth...

Multiple immune parameters such as frequencies of autoreactive CD4(+), CD8(+) T-cells and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T-cells have been explored as biomarkers in human T1D. However, intra-individual temporal variation of these parameters has not been assessed systematically over time. We determined the variation in each of these parameters in a cohort of T1D and healthy donors (HDs), at monthly inter...

Knowledge of the rate at which the compression of the soil layer takes place is essential from design considerations. This can be achieved by determining the value of the coefficient of consolidation, cv . To obtain cv , it is essential to conduct a routine one-dimensional consolidation test. With the obtained time-compression data, and using any one of the several available curve-fitting proce...