Evaluation of substrate performance for a microbial diagnostic microarray using a four parameter ranking.

The impact of substrates for probe immobilization was studied using a microbial diagnostic microarray consisting of probes designed against the pmoA genes of methanotrophs and functionally related bacteria. The proprietary ARChip Epoxy was compared to seven epoxy-modified competitor slides, and one porous 3D, furthermore two substrates recommended for oligoprobes without description of the surface chemistry. The diagnostic microarray on Cel silylated aldehyde (CSS) slide was used as a reference for this comparison as it was actually used for assay development and validation.

Liquid-metal-ion source development for space propulsion at ARC.

The Austrian Research Centers have a long history of developing indium Liquid-Metal-Ion Source (LMIS) for space applications including spacecraft charging compensators, SIMS and propulsion. Specifically the application as a thruster requires long-term operation as well as high-current operation which is very challenging. Recently, we demonstrated the operation of a cluster of single LMIS at an average current of 100muA each for more than 4800h and developed models for tip erosion and droplet deposition suggesting that such a LMIS can operate up to 20,000h or more.

Ex vivo and computer model study on retinal thermal laser-induced damage in the visible wavelength range.

Excised bovine eyes are used as models for threshold determination of 532-nm laser-induced thermal damage of the retina in the pulse duration regime of 100 micros to 2 s for varying laser spot size diameters. The thresholds as determined by fluorescence viability staining compare well with the prediction of an extended Thompson-Gerstman computer model. Both models compare well with published Rhesus monkey threshold data.

The influence of gender, age, and RET polymorphisms on C-cell hyperplasia and medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Background: RET germline mutations predispose to the development of hereditary medullary thyroid carcinoma (hMTC). Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are described associated with sporadic MTC (sMTC). However, the findings regarding their influence on the clinical course and biological behavior of this disorder are discordant.

Development of an oligonucleotide microarray method for Salmonella serotyping.

Adequate identification of Salmonella enterica serovars is a prerequisite for any epidemiological investigation. This is traditionally obtained via a combination of biochemical and serological typing. However, primary strain isolation and traditional serotyping is time-consuming and faster methods would be desirable.

Immobilization of oligonucleotides on crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) for application in DNA chips.

In biotechnological applications there is an enormeous growth in the development of new miniaturized devices to reduce timescales, cost and amounts of reagents and starting materials. DNA chips represent miniaturized analytical tools that allow the simultaneous detection of different targets for high throughput screening. They consist of a small size support on which DNA probes are in-situ synthezised or immobilized.

Aptamer-antibody on-chip sandwich immunoassay for detection of CRP in spiked serum.

This study describes a RNA aptamer-based biochip with high affinity and specificity for C-reactive protein (CRP). CRP, which exists in concentrations of 1-3mg/l in the serum of healthy patients, has been identified as a reliable biomarker for inflammation and as a potential marker for sepsis and tissue necrosis. The CRP-specific aptamer was covalently immobilized with its 5'-end on ARChip Epoxy.

Validation of modelling the radiation exposure due to solar particle events at aircraft altitudes.

Dose assessment procedures for cosmic radiation exposure of aircraft crew have been introduced in most European countries in accordance with the corresponding European directive and national regulations. However, the radiation exposure due to solar particle events is still a matter of scientific research. Here we describe the European research project CONRAD, WP6, Subgroup-B, about the current status of available solar storm measurements and existing models for dose estimation at flight altitudes during solar particle events leading to ground level enhancement (GLE).

Identification of cytoplasmic ancestor gene-pools of Musa acuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla and their hybrids by chloroplast and mitochondrial haplotyping.

Cytoplasmically inherited characters such as resistance to viral and fungal diseases, determination of starch types, crop yield, resistance to low or high temperature often contribute to the advantageous phenotypic traits of plants. In the present study, our goal was to elucidate the genealogy of cytoplasmic genomes chloroplast and mitochondria in banana. Banana breeding is rather complicated because of the low fertility and mostly unknown origin of the edible cultivars, therefore, knowledge on the putative fertile ancestors of cytoplasmic genomes chloroplast and mitochondria would be beneficial for breeding programmes.

Transcriptomic changes in wind-exposed poplar leaves are dependent on developmental stage.

Responses of plant tissue to environmental challenges can vary among different plant parts and among plants of different ages. Investment into defense has been proposed to be influenced by fitness value and/or allocation of available resources. Here we show at first time at transcriptome level that plant defense is non-linear.

Treatment of yellow water by membrane separations and advanced oxidation methods.

Comparative experimental study is performed on purification of yellow wastewaters separated and collected in solarCity, Linz, Austria. Three membrane methods (micro-, ultra-, and nano-filtration), and two advanced oxidations (gamma radiation and electrochemical oxidation) were applied. Best results concerning the removal of pharmaceuticals and hormones from urine by membrane separation were achieved using the membrane NF-200 (FilmTec).

Phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil and groundwater.

Phytoremediation is an emerging technology for the clean-up of sites contaminated with hazardous chemicals. The term phytoremediation refers to a number of technologies that use photoautotrophic vascular plants for the remediation of sites contaminated with inorganic and organic contaminants. Phytoremediation of organic contaminants can be organized by considering 1) the green liver concept, which elucidates the metabolism of contaminants in planta versus that of contaminants ex planta (e.

Diversity and structure of ectomycorrhizal and co-associated fungal communities in a serpentine soil.

The community of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and co-associated fungi from a serpentine site forested with Pinus sylvestris and Quercus petraea was explored, to improve the understanding of ECM diversity in naturally metalliferous soils. ECM fungi were identified by a combination of morphotyping and direct sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region 2 and of a part of the large-subunit region. Co-associated fungi from selected ECM were identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing of representative clones from libraries.

Dissecting individual steps of nitrogen transcription factor cooperation in the Aspergillus nidulans nitrate cluster.

In the ascomycete fungus Aspergillus nidulans, the transcriptional activation of nitrate assimilating genes (niiA, niaD) depends on the cooperativity between a general nitrogen status-sensing regulator (the GATA factor AreA) and a pathway-specific activator (the Zn-cluster regulator NirA). Because nitrate assimilation leads to intracellular ammonium formation, it is difficult to determine the individual contributions of NirA and AreA in this complex activation/inactivation process. In an attempt to find a suitable marker for the nitrogen status sensed by AreA, we determined the intracellular free amino acid levels on different nitrogen growth conditions.

PCR-based analysis of differentially methylated regions of GNAS enables convenient diagnostic testing of pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib.

Background: Pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHPIb) is characterized by parathyroid hormone (PTH) resistance, which can lead to hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and increased serum PTH. The disorder is caused by mutations in regulatory regions of the GNAS gene (GNAS complex locus) that lead to interferences in the methylation status of alternative GNAS promoters, such as exon A/B, NESP55, and XL alpha-s. PHPIb comprises disorders that show distinctive changes in methylation status but share the same clinical phenotype: (a) loss of methylation only at exon A/B of the GNAS gene and involving no other obvious epigenetic abnormalities [e.

Free radical processes in green tea polyphenols (GTP) investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.

This chapter reviews the current status of research on investigations of the free radical chemistry of green tea and its constituent polyphenols (GTP). It is based on the use of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and also includes a section on practical aspects of the technique, which should be of value to readers who are unfamiliar with the detailed operation of EPR. The free radical chemistry of GTP is important, because many of their antioxidant functions involve reactions with O(2)-derived free radicals, and the products of such reactions are themselves generally free radicals.

Identification of zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein binding to clone AE7A5 antihuman EPO antibody by means of nano-HPLC and high-resolution high-mass accuracy ESI-MS/MS.

The detection of doping with recombinant erythropoietins (Epo) by isoelectric focusing (IEF) and Western double blotting strongly relies on the specificity of the detection antibody used. Currently a monoclonal mouse antibody (clone AE7A5) is used for that purpose. Despite its excellent sensitivity (amol range) the antibody shows some nonspecific binding behavior.

Lateral leakage in symmetric SOI rib-type slot waveguides.

We theoretically investigate the lateral leakage in fully symmetric horizontal rib-type slot waveguides caused by coupling between the TM-like slot mode and a TE slab mode. The leakage mechanism is described and the dependence on the geometry parameters is studied using the variational mode-matching method. In addition, the effective-index method to solve the transcendent eigenmode equation of rib-type slot waveguides is applied and compared with the aforementioned rigorous numerical method.

State of the art of standard methods used for environmental radioactivity monitoring.

Methods for assessment of radioactivity in the environment are selected by the prevailing circumstances and the objective of the investigations. Examples of the broad range of scenarios to be considered are routine monitoring of large areas for low-activity concentrations and emergency monitoring dealing possibly with high dose rates. For each of these situations the type of monitoring programme to be established is influenced by the source of radioactivity as well as the environment, with different characteristics in terms of time schedule and subject of measurement.

The application of isotope ratio mass spectrometry for discrimination and comparison of adhesive tapes.

Forensic scientists are frequently requested to differentiate between, or compare, adhesive tapes from a suspect or a crime scene. The most common polymers used to back packaging tape are polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. Much of the oriented polypropylene (OPP) needed to produce packaging tapes, regardless of the tape brand, is supplied by just a few polymer manufacturers.

A pilot study of mobile phone-based therapy for obese patients.

We conducted a pilot study to assess the feasibility of a web-based therapy management system with mobile phone access to support obese patients. A total of 25 patients participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 48 years.

Targeted radionuclide therapy: theoretical study of the relationship between tumour control probability and tumour radius for a 32P/33P radionuclide cocktail.

As revealed by previous theoretical studies, targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) that relies on a single beta-emitting radioisotope is likely to be inappropriate for clinical scenarios such as disseminated malignancy. For a patient with a vast number of tumours and metastases of largely differing sizes a high level of therapeutical efficiency might be achieved only for a restricted range of tumour sizes. This is due to the limited range of beta-electrons in human tissue, essentially causing the therapeutical impact to vary tremendously with tumour size.

An Open Distributed Architecture for Sensor Networks for Risk Management.

Sensors provide some of the basic input data for risk management of natural andman-made hazards. Here the word 'sensors' covers everything from remote sensingsatellites, providing invaluable images of large regions, through instruments installed on theEarth's surface to instruments situated in deep boreholes and on the sea floor, providinghighly-detailed point-based information from single sites. Data from such sensors is used inall stages of risk management, from hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment in the preeventphase, information to provide on-site help during the crisis phase through to data toaid in recovery following an event.

Nucleosome positioning and histone H3 acetylation are independent processes in the Aspergillus nidulans prnD-prnB bidirectional promoter.

In Aspergillus nidulans, proline can be used as a carbon and nitrogen source, and its metabolism requires the integration of three signals, including proline induction and nitrogen and carbon metabolite derepression. We have previously shown that the bidirectional promoter in the prnD-prnB intergenic region undergoes drastic chromatin rearrangements such that proline induction leads to the loss of positioned nucleosomes, whereas simultaneous carbon and nitrogen metabolite repression results in the partial repositioning of these nucleosomes. In the proline cluster, the inhibition of deacetylases by trichostatin A leads to partial derepression and is associated with a lack of nucleosome positioning.