Rapid identification and differentiation of the vaccine strain Rac H from EHV 1 field isolates using a non-radioactive DNA probe

A method for rapid differentiation between the EHV 1 live vaccine strain Rac H and field isolates is described. Total DNA was isolated from virus-infected small scale cell cultures. DNA fragments digested with restriction endonuclease BamHI were separated, transfered and immobilized on filter membranes. A Digoxigenin-labeled probe derived from EHV 1 was used for hybridization. This probe hybridized specifically to sequences of the inverted terminal repeat region which in case of Rac H include a deletion of 0.8 kb. By comparing the different migration patterns after blot hybridization it could be shown that in 65 isolates from cases of abortion the live vaccine strain Rac H was not involve

Polyaniline/palladium nanohybrids for moisture and hydrogen detection.

Palladium nanoparticles display fascinating electronic, optical and catalytic properties, thus they can be used for various applications such as sensor fabrication. Conducting polymers such as polyaniline have also been widely used in sensor technology due to its cost effectiveness, versatility, and ease of synthesis. In this research, attention was given to unify the exceptional properties of these two materials and construct palladium nanoparticle coated polyaniline films to detect hydrogen and moisture. Electrochemical polymerization of aniline was carried out on gold sputtered epoxy resin boards. Polyaniline film was generated across a gap of 0.2 mm created by a scratch made on the gold coating prior to electrochemical polymerization. A palladium nanoparticle dispersion was prepared using sonochemical reduction method and coated on to polyaniline film using drop-drying technique. Polyaniline only films were also fabricated for comparative analysis. Sensitivity of films towards humidity and hydrogen was evaluated using impedance spectroscopy in the presence of the respective species. According to the results, polyaniline films exhibited an impedance drop in the presence of humidity and the response was significantly improved once palladium nanoparticles were incorporated. Interestingly, polyaniline only films did not respond to hydrogen. Nevertheless, palladium nanoparticle coated polyaniline films exhibited remarkable response towards hydrogen

An abstract modeling approach towards system-level design-space exploration.

Integration of increasingly complex systems on a chip augments the need of system-level methods for specification and design. In the earliest phases of the design process important design decisions can be taken on the basis of a fast exploration of the design space. This paper describes an abstract modeling approach towards system-level design-space exploration, which is formal and flexible. It uses a uniform system model that contains both functional and architectural information. Disjunct, parameterizable resources represent the real-time behavior of the target architecture. Due to the expressiveness of the modeling language (POOSL), control as well as data oriented behavior can be specified in the functional part of the system model. Well-founded design decisions can be taken as a result of performance estimations that are based on Markov theory

MT and reflection seismics in northwestern Skellefte Ore district, Sweden

A seismic reflection and MT survey was carried out along a 27-km long transect in northwestern Skellefte District, as part of a bigger 3D modeling project. The main motivation for the data acquisition is to elucidate the geologic relationship between the known mineralizations in the Adak mining camp to the north and in the well studied Kristineberg area south of the transect. The seismic reflection data were acquired with a VIBSIST system, and show reflectivity down to 3 s. Apart from the conventional processing for crystalline environments, the seismic data was also subject to an azimuthal binning procedure and crossdip analysis, allowing the orientation of planar reflectors in 3D. Regarding the MT data, it is primarily of good quality along the 17 installed sites. The inversion of the determinant of the impedance tensor yielded a stable 2D resistivity model, dominated by resistors corresponding to the postorogenic intrusions along the transect. Adding the location of the analyzed seismic reflectors in the MT inversion rendered an integrated model that facilitated a preliminary joint interpretation of the data sets. Overall, the results are in good agreement with surface observations and reveal a crude configuration of the geologic units below the transect. The most prominent outcomes are the lateral and depth extent of the large postorogenic intrusions in the area reaching to 5- or 6-km depth, the dimensions of the nearly vertical Brännäs gabbro extending to 6-km depth, and the presence of enhanced conductivities along the transect at about 10 km depth. The latter is probably related to the deep conductor previously identified in the district

Parallel paradigms and run-time management techniques for many-core architectures

The 2PARMA project aims at providing parallel programming models and run-time resource management techniques to exploit the features of many-core processor architectures, by focusing on the definition of parallel programming models that combine component-based and single-instruction multiplethread approaches, instruction set virtualisation based on portable bytecode, run-time resource management policies and mechanisms as well as design space exploration methodologies for Many-core Computing Fabrics