Highly scalable combinatorial mixing of samples with target-specific primers for rapid pathogen detection on a centrifugal platform

In application areas such as crop genotyping, plant diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and forensics, screening a large number of M samples for specific responses to a library of N active agents in a time- and cost-efficient manner is of critical importance. Parameters of interest include response of cells to a specific drug compound, identification of specific genes or plant pathogens in crops using DNA markers and DNA traceability for food safety. The cost of reagents as well as the liquid handling ro-botics required to perform the enormous number of pipetting steps severely hamper the proliferation of such key technologies into smaller laboratories

Optimised configuration of sensors for fault tolerant control of an electro-magnetic suspension system

For any given system the number and location of sensors can affect the closed-loop performance as well as the reliability of the system. Hence, one problem in control system design is the selection of the sensors in some optimum sense that considers both the system performance and reliability. Although some methods have been proposed that deal with some of the aforementioned aspects, in this work, a design framework dealing with both control and reliability aspects is presented. The proposed framework is able to identify the best sensor set for which optimum performance is achieved even under single or multiple sensor failures with minimum sensor redundancy. The proposed systematic framework combines linear quadratic Gaussian control, fault tolerant control and multiobjective optimisation. The efficacy of the proposed framework is shown via appropriate simulations on an electro-magnetic suspension system

Heuristic optimization of RC bridge piers with rectangular hollow sections

This paper deals with the economic optimization of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers with hollow rectangular sections and describes the efficiency of three heuristic algorithms: two new variants of the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, the genetic algorithm (GA) and the threshold acceptance (TA) algorithm. The GA and TA are used for comparison with the new ACO algorithms. The total number of variables is 95. All variables are discrete in this analysis. The calibration of the new ACO algorithm recommended a 250-member ant population and 100 stages. The best solution costs 69,467 euros, which means savings of about 33% as compared to experience-based design. Finally, results indicate that the new ACO algorithms are potentially useful for optimizing the costs of real RC structures.This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Research Project BIA2006-01444). The authors are grateful for the thorough revision of the manuscript by Dr. Debra Westall.Martínez Martín, FJ.; González Vidosa, F.; Hospitaler Pérez, A.; Yepes Piqueras, V. (2010). Heuristic optimization of RC bridge piers with rectangular hollow sections. Computers and Structures. 88:375-386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2009.11.009S3753868

Erwinia amylovora Novel Plasmid pEI70: Complete Sequence, Biogeography, and Role in Aggressiveness in the Fire Blight Phytopathogen

Comparative genomics of several strains of Erwinia amylovora, a plant pathogenic bacterium causal agent of fire blight disease, revealed that its diversity is primarily attributable to the flexible genome comprised of plasmids. We recently identified and sequenced in full a novel 65.8 kb plasmid, called pEI70. Annotation revealed a lack of known virulence-related genes, but found evidence for a unique integrative conjugative element related to that of other plant and human pathogens. Comparative analyses using BLASTN showed that pEI70 is almost entirely included in plasmid pEB102 from E. billingiae, an epiphytic Erwinia of pome fruits, with sequence identities superior to 98%. A duplex PCR assay was developed to survey the prevalence of plasmid pEI70 and also that of pEA29, which had previously been described in several E. amylovora strains. Plasmid pEI70 was found widely dispersed across Europe with frequencies of 5–92%, but it was absent in E. amylovora analyzed populations from outside of Europe. Restriction analysis and hybridization demonstrated that this plasmid was identical in at least 13 strains. Curing E. amylovora strains of pEI70 reduced their aggressiveness on pear, and introducing pEI70 into low-aggressiveness strains lacking this plasmid increased symptoms development in this host. Discovery of this novel plasmid offers new insights into the biogeography, evolution and virulence determinants in E. amylovora

Evaluation of an accounting model for dynamic virtual organizations

Accounting of Grid resource and service usage determines the central support activity for Grid systems to be adopted as a means for service-oriented computing in Dynamic Virtual Organizations (DVO). An all-embracing study of existing Grid accounting systems has revealed that these approaches focus primarily on technical precision, while they lack a foundation of appropriate economic accounting principles and the support for multi-provider scenarios or virtualization concepts. Consequently, a new, flexible, resource-based accounting model for DVOs was developed, combining technical and economic accounting by means of Activity-based Costing. Driven by a functional evaluation, this paper pursues a full-fledged evaluation of the new, generically applicable Grid accounting model. This is done for the specific environment of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching, Germany. Thus, a detailed evaluation methodology and evaluation environment is outlined, leading to actual model-based cost calculations for a defined set of considered Grid services. The results gained are analyzed and respective conclusions on model applicability, optimizations, and further extensions are drawn

Towards permission-based attestation for the android platform. Short paper

We propose a new attestation approach for the Android platform that integrates Trusted Computing concepts and Android's permission-based access control features. Recent research in the field of mobile security has shown that malware is a real threat. Trusted Computing in general and especially the concept of remote attestation can be leveraged to counter both the dissemination and the potential impact of such malware. However, current attestation approaches are not well suited for mobile platforms and crucial Trusted Computing components are still missing for them. Our approach introduces the necessary Trusted Computing building blocks for the Android platform. Furthermore, we detail how the permissions that are used by an Android phone's installed apps can be attested to a remote party at runtime. Additionally, we highlight areas that are subject of future work

Automated DNA purification and Multiplexed lamp assay preparation On a centrifugal microfluidic “lab-on-a-disc” platform

This work presents a rotational-pulse actuated microfluidic cartridge enabling automated detection of plant pathogens on a compact device towards point-of-use monitoring of food safety. This highly integrated “Lab-on-a-Disc” (LoaD) system first runs the sample over a stationary phase of silica beads, followed by ethanol (EtOH) wash and final elution of DNA. The eluate is then homogenized using ‘shake mode’ agitation, accurately metered and then mixed with reagents for loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). We successfully purify plant DNA and demonstrate on-disc quantitative LAMP amplification