Detection and identification of mycobacteria in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues by nested PCR and restriction enzyme analysis

A novel assay based on a nested PCR and restriction enzyme analysis of the PCR products was developed for the rapid detection and identification of Mycobacterium bovis and M. avium-M. intracellulare species in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue (PET) specimens. On the basis of the nucleotide sequence data obtained in the present study, general nested primers were constructed to amplify a 424-bp segment of the gene encoding the 65-kDa surface antigen of mycobacteria. The nested PCR assay proved to be highly sensitive, since as little as 5 to 10 fg of extracted mycobacterial DNA was detected. The safety of the assay as a routine method for the diagnosis of M. bovis and M. avium-M. intracellulare in PET specimens was provided by taking various precautions. In order to prevent false positivity, specific tools and procedures were applied. To detect false-negative results and assess the efficiency of the PCR, an internal standard molecule of amplification was constructed. The digestion of the amplicons with the restriction endonuclease Sau96-I allowed the identification of M. bovis and M. avium-M. intracellulare in a large number of clinical specimens. The present results indicate that PCR combined with an internal control of amplification and restriction enzyme analysis of the amplicons provides a rapid, sensitive, and reliable method for routine diagnostic laboratories to detect and identify M. bovis and M. avium-M. intracellulare in PET specimens.     

Signal-to-noise ratio of nonlinearity recorded holograms of diffuse objects

A nonlinear model for holographic recording materials is used to evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio in diffuse-object holograms. A comparison of this model with the linear model proposed by Upatnieks and Leonard [J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60, 297 (1970)] shows that our model justifies the experimental results obtained for dieletric holograms at high density before bleaching.     

Robotics in Education

Collision avoidance is essential for safe robot manipulation. Especially with humans around, robots should work only when safety can be robustly guaranteed. In this paper, we propose using virtual impedance control for reactive, smooth, and consistent collision avoidance that interferes minimally with the original task. The virtual impedance control operates in the risk space, a vector space describing the possibilities of all forthcoming collisions, and is designed to elude all risks in a consistent response in order to create assuring human-robot interaction experiences. The proposed scheme intrinsically handles kinematic singularity and the activation of avoidance using a boundary layer defined on the spectrum of Jacobian. In cooperation with the original controller, the proposed avoidance scheme provides a proof of convergence if the original controller is stable with and without projection. In simulations and experiments, we verified the characteristics of the proposed control scheme and integrated the system with Microsoft Kinect to monitor the workspace for real-time collision detection and avoidance. The results show that the proposed approach is suitable for robot operation with humans nearby.     

BETaaS: A Platform for Development and Execution of Machine-to-Machine Applications in the Internet of Things

Wireless Personal Communications - The integration of everyday objects into the Internet represents the foundation of the forthcoming Internet of Things (IoT). Smart objects will be the building...     

Diffuse-object Holograms in Silver Halide Sensitized Gelatin

Abstract

This paper deals with diffuse-object holograms recorded in silver halide sensitized gelatin. Both the diffraction efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio when reconstruction is done with different wavelengths are measured. The experimental results we obtained show that new theoretical models for the functioning of this type of processing must be developed if we wish to justify the results we obtained.     

The influence of alkaline treatment on the chemical composition and adsorption-structural characteristics of mineral nanoporous sorbent M<Subscript>45</Subscript>K<Subscript>20</Subscript>

The chemical and adsorption-structural properties of natural nanoporous mineral sorbent M₄₅C₂₀ having two main components (clay-montmorillonite and zeolite-clinoptilolite) and treated with 2M NaOH solution are investigated. It is ascertained based on the results of chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and IR spectrometry that alkali treatment results in modification of the chemical composition and structure of the mineral sorbent M₄₅C₂₀ and significantly improves its adsorption properties.     

Freeze‐drying concentration of Rangpur lime juice

The use of freeze‐drying for concentrating lime Rangpur juice was investigated. This procedure allowed obtaining concentrated Rangpur lime juices between 23 and 51.3 °Brix, without affecting their organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. The efficiency of the procedure was inversely related to the film thickness of the matrix to be lyophilised. The sublimation speed per unit area diminished with the reduction in the residual moisture content of the juice. The mathematical model that fitted to the concentration procedure allowed to predict the time required for concentrating Rangpur lime by freeze‐drying starting from samples of different thickness. When compared with other citric juices evaluated, the Rangpur lime juice was the most suitable for freeze‐drying concentration. The results could be used to devise optimal industrial freeze‐drying cycles for processing Rangpur lime juices at different concentrations.     

Efficient implementation of the implicit error correction nVoD schema

Implicit Error Correction is a near Video-on-Demand (nVoD) schema that trades bandwidth utilization for initial playback delay while potentially allowing an infinite number of users. Additionally, it provides error protection without further bandwidth increase by exploiting the implicit redundancy of nVoD protocols, using linear combinations of the segments transmitted in a given time slot. This paper introduces a new implementation that outperforms the original schema by adding two new mechanisms: redundancy channels and feedback error correction.     

Which App? A recommender system of applications in markets: Implementation of the service for monitoring users’ interaction

Users face the information overload problem when downloading applications in markets. This is mainly due to (i) the increasing unmanageable number of applications and (ii) the lack of an accurate and fine-grained categorization of the applications in the markets. To address this issue, we present an integrated solution which recommends to the users applications by considering a big amount of information: that is, according to their previously consumed applications, use pattern, tags used to annotate resources and history of ratings. We focus this paper on the service for monitoring users’ interaction.