Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is becoming a serious problem both in developed and developing countries. This paper considers the extent of the problem and provides several examples of drugs which have been counterfeited. Additionally, the effects of counterfeit products on consumers, health care providers, drug manufacturers and governments are discussed. Several of the currently used methods o...

This is a longitudinal study on development of prefrontal function in young children. Prefrontal areas have been observed to develop dramatically during early childhood. To elucidate this development, we gave children cognitive shifting tasks related to prefrontal function at 3 years of age (Time 1) and 4 years of age (Time 2). We then monitored developmental changes in behavioral performance a...

Given the exquisite capability of direct, non-destructive label-free sensing molecular transitions, IR spectroscopy has become a ubiquitous and versatile analytical tool. application scenarios range from industrial manufacturing processes, surveillance tasks environmental monitoring to elaborate evaluation (bio)medical samples. recent developments in associated fields, spectroscopic devices inc...

The use of the spectral derivative method in visible and near-infrared optical spectroscopy is presented, whereby instead of using discrete measurements around several wavelengths, the difference between nearest neighbouring spectral measurements is utilized. The proposed technique is shown to be insensitive to the unknown tissue and fibre contact coupling coefficients providing substantially i...

A general overview of the field of single-molecule (SM) surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as it stands today is provided. After years of debates on the basic aspects of SM-SERS, the technique is emerging as a well-established subfield of spectroscopy and SERS. SM-SERS is allowing the observation of subtle spectroscopic phenomena that were not hitherto accessible. Examples of the latter...

Raman spectroscopy is a potentially important clinical tool for real-time diagnosis of disease and in situ evaluation of living tissue. The purpose of this article is to review the biological and physical basis of Raman spectroscopy of tissue, to assess the current status of the field and to explore future directions. The principles of Raman spectroscopy and the molecular level information it p...