Diagnostic DNA analysis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become a valuable tool for rapid detection of biothreat agents. However, analysis is often challenging because of the limited size, quality, and purity of the biological target. Pre-PCR processing is an integrated concept in which the issues of analytical limit of detection and simplicity for automation are addressed in all steps le

This paper presents an analysis on energy dissipation of digital half-band filters operating in the sub-threshold (sub-VT) region with throughput and supply voltage constraints. A 12-bit filter is implemented along with various unfolded structures, used to form a decimation filter chain. The designs are synthesized in a 65 nm low-leakage CMOS technology with various threshold voltages. A sub-VT en

This article deals with the possible existence of deliberate fertility control before the fertility transition. The timing of the fertility response to economic stress, as measured by fluctuations in grain prices, is used as a measure of deliberate, but non-parity specific, control. Birth histories from six German villages (1766–1863), including information on occupation of the husband, are used t

To specify the incidence and risk factors for secondary autoimmune diseases (ADs) after HSCT for a primary AD, we retrospectively analyzed AD patients treated by HSCT reported to EBMT from 1995 to 2009 with at least 1 secondary AD (cases) and those without (controls). After autologous HSCT, 29 of 347 patients developed at least 1 secondary AD within 21.9 (0.6-49) months and after allogeneic HSCT,

We present a method based on passive spectroscopy with aim to remotely study flying birds. A compact spectrometer is continuously recording spectra of a small section of the sky, waiting for birds to obscure part of the field-of-view when they pass the field in flight. In such situations the total light intensity received through the telescope, looking straight up, will change very rapidly as comp

So far, no common environmental and/or phenotypic factor has been associated with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The known risk factors for melanoma include sun exposure, pigmentation and nevus phenotypes(1); risk factors associated with RCC include smoking, obesity and hypertension(2). A recent study of coexisting melanoma and RCC in the same patients supports a genetic predisposition u

The imprinting factors of the β-lactam antibiotics penicillin V, methicillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, and piperacillin on a poly(methacrylic acid-co-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate) molecularly imprinted stationary phase targeted for penicillin G were correlated with molecular descriptors obtained by molecular computation. One-parameter linear regression and multivaria

Femoral neck fractures in children and young adults are rare, but have a high risk of avascular necrosis (AVN) and subsequent gradual collapse of the femoral head. In 2006, we initiated the use of scintigraphy for the diagnosis of vascular impairment after a cervical fracture in children. In the present retrospective case study, we evaluated the effect of the remaining postoperative circulation in

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Environmental and genetic factors, as well as microbial products from yeasts and bacteria, play a role in triggering the disease. A cohort of 619 adult patients with AD was screened for severity of AD, sensitization to Malassezia sympodialis, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Serum

There is an ever-increasing awareness and interest within the clinical research field that has creating a large demand for blood fraction samples as well as other clinical samples. The translational research area is another field that demanding for blood samples, used widely in proteomics, genomics, as well as metabolomics. Blood samples are the global most common biological samples that find its

To characterize the immunophenotypic relationship between the squamous and the glandular compartments in the oeophagus of patients with columnar lined oesophagus.

The paddyfield warbler, Acrocephalus agricola, has extended its breeding range from Central Asia to the western Black Sea coast. The Balkan population offers a unique chance to test the effect of breeding range expansion on the genetically programmed migratory direction. We studied 21 paddyfield warblers at Durankulak Lake, NE Bulgaria, by recording their autumn migratory orientation in circular o

Pharmacological and revascularization strategies following myocardial infarction (MI) have changed substantially during the last two decades. We investigated the temporal trends in heart failure (HF) incidence and mortality during the first 90days following first-time MI between 1997 and 2010 in Denmark.

Background Compared with placebo, prophylactic treatment with bisphosphonates reduces risk of skeletal events in patients with multiple myeloma. However, because of toxicity associated with long-term bisphosphonate treatment, establishing the lowest effective dose is important. This study compared the effect of two doses of pamidronate on health-related quality of life and skeletal morbidity in pa

With fast growing power consumption and device miniaturization, micro/minichannels are superior to macrochannels or conventional channels for high heat-flux dissipation due to their large surface area to volume ratios and high heat transfer coefficients. However, the associated large pressure drop penalty and flow boiling instability of micro/minichannels hinder their advancement in many practical

Our simple dynamic-simulation model shows that the global supply of Rare Earth Elements is limited for meeting the future demands of new technologies. Unless improved recycling policies are adapted strategic elements may become scarce in the next half-century as a result of a “peak Rare Earths Elements” phenomenon. The model results also show that the market alone cannot solve the resource-ineffic

Cooperative diversity using distributed space-time codes has been recently proposed to form virtual antennas in order to achieve diversity gain. In this paper, we consider a multi-relay network operating in amplify-and-forward (AAF) mode. Motivated by protocol III presented in (Nabar et al. 2004), we propose a cooperative diversity protocol implementing space–time coding for an arbitrary number of

A study of the feasibility of perturbation-based control methods in industrial fed-batch fermentations based on experiments in industrial production scale bioreactors (>100 m(3)) is presented, as well as modelling of the relation between substrate feed rate and dissolved oxygen level in such a process. Several different types of perturbation-based control methods have been suggested for control of