Use of a physiologically based extraction test to estimate the human bioaccessibility of potentially toxic elements in urban soils from the city of Glasgow, UK.

A simple, two-stage, physiologically based extraction has been applied to assess the human bioaccessibility of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in 20 urban soils from a major UK city. Chromium and iron bioaccessibilities were found to be markedly higher in the intestinal phase, whilst lead and zinc bioaccessibilities were higher in the stomach. Copper and manganese bioaccessibilities were generally similar under both extraction conditions.

Toward improved biochips based on rolling circle amplification--influences of the microenvironment on the fluorescence properties of labeled DNA oligonucleotides.

Microarrays have become an increasingly important tool for biotechnology and molecular diagnostics. Despite many advantages, their sensitivity is still insufficient for such tasks as the analysis of small sample quantities and for the detection of alterations in gene expression of low-abundance genes. Accordingly, amplification strategies are necessary.