In clinical research, parameters required for sample size calculation are usually unknown. A typical approach is to use estimates from some pilot studies as the true parameters in the calculation. This approach, however, does not take into consideration sampling error. Thus, the resulting sample size could be misleading if the sampling error is substantial. As an alternative, we suggest a Bayes...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool for the direct visualization of biological specimens at nanometre-scale resolution. However, images of unstained specimens in water using an atmospheric holder exhibit very poor contrast and heavy radiation damage. Here, we present a new form of microscopy, the frequency transmission electric-field (FTE) method using SEM, that offers low rad...

A new method for rapidly determining total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in a biological sample has been devised and evaluated. A surfactant present in the reagent causes the lysis of cells in the sample. Glutathione, ascorbic acid, protein thiols and other main antioxidant substances in the sample react with a specific redox chromogen (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol) and produce a change in the col...