Design, construction, and characterization of a set of biosensors for aromatic compounds.

Aromatic pollutants in the environments pose significant threat to human health due to their persistence and toxicity. Here, we report the design and comprehensive characterization of a set of aromatic biosensors constructed using green fluorescence protein as the reporter and aromatics-responsive transcriptional regulators, namely, NahR, XylS, HbpR, and DmpR, as the detectors. The genetic connections between the detectors and the reporter were carefully adjusted to achieve fold inductions far exceeding those reported in previous studies.

Forecasting health manpower requirements: the case of thoracic surgeons.

This paper presents projections of the future demand for thoracic surgery. Estimates of the future supplies of thoracic surgeons are constructed based on three alternative annual Board-certification rates. The consequences of varying supplies of thoracic surgeons, for a given level of expected demand, are presented in terms of expected work-load levels.