New fabrication approach to ZnO multiple nanofiber sensors

In the presented work, ZnO nanofiber sensor structures designed and fabricated using a standard microelectronic device technology were studied. The structures in the configuration of a resistor with chemically active ZnO multiple nanofibers deposited by electrospinning method were prepared. Investigation of inclusion in the process reactive- ly sputtered AlN insulating film to improve the robustness of the nanofibres on the substrate was undertaken. Selective wet chemical etching of AlN film using photoresist developers and a photoresist mask to define the sensor active area was studied. The Ti/Au ohmic contacts were fabricated using the lift-off photolithography process. To- pography of the sensor structure details was investigated using AFM. Electrical charac- terization by means of I-V measurements was made. Sensitivity to the physiologically relevant concentration of Bovine Serum Albumin in water solution was shown. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2058

Discovery of Juniperus sabina var. balkanensis R. P. Adams and A. N. Tashev in Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Central and Southern Italy and relictual polymorphisms found in nrDNA

Additional analyses of trnS-trnG and nrDNA from specimens from Bosnia-Herzegovina, southern and central, Italy, Croatia and Macedonia revealed the presence of J. sabina var. balkanensis in these areas west of the previously known populations in Greece, Bulgaria and western Turkey. Careful chromatogram analysis of eight (8) polymorphic sites in nrDNA revealed that nearly all of the populations of both var. balkanensis and var. sabina contained from 2 to 8 polymorphic sites. For these 8 heterozygous sites, two exclusive patterns were found in J. sabina. One type (GGACCCAG) was found in 16/62 plants and type 2 (ACGACAGT) was found in 4/62 plants. The majority of the plants examined (42/62) were heterozygous for 1 to 8 sites. These two nrDNA types appear to have arisen via hybridization with a J. thurifera ancestor. The two types appear in both v. sabina and v. balkanensis populations. Extant putative hybrids appear to have formed by crosses between present day type 1 and type 2 nrDNA. Publishe

Quality-Controlled Small-Scale Production of a Well-Defined Bacteriophage Cocktail for Use in Human Clinical Trials

We describe the small-scale, laboratory-based, production and quality control of a cocktail, consisting of exclusively lytic bacteriophages, designed for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus infections in burn wound patients. Based on succesive selection rounds three bacteriophages were retained from an initial pool of 82 P. aeruginosa and 8 S. aureus bacteriophages, specific for prevalent P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains in the Burn Centre of the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels, Belgium. This cocktail, consisting of P. aeruginosa phages 14/1 (Myoviridae) and PNM (Podoviridae) and S. aureus phage ISP (Myoviridae) was produced and purified of endotoxin. Quality control included Stability (shelf life), determination of pyrogenicity, sterility and cytotoxicity, confirmation of the absence of temperate bacteriophages and transmission electron microscopy-based confirmation of the presence of the expected virion morphologic particles as well as of their specific interaction with the target bacteria. Bacteriophage genome and proteome analysis confirmed the lytic nature of the bacteriophages, the absence of toxin-coding genes and showed that the selected phages 14/1, PNM and ISP are close relatives of respectively F8, φKMV and phage G1. The bacteriophage cocktail is currently being evaluated in a pilot clinical study cleared by a leading Medical Ethical Committee

Chorological and synanthropodynamical analysis of trees and shrubs of the Stołowe Mts. (Middle Sudety)

The 153 taxa of trees and shrubs were reported from the Stołowe Mts. Two species (Betula nana and Erica tetralix) were reported probably by mistake,and 7 are now extinct (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis, Genista pilosa, Lembotropis nigricans, Rosa agrestis, Salix lapponum, Salix myrtilloides). The other 144 taxa of trees and shrubs were found in the natural and semi-natural site conditions. The 110 native taxa and 34 anthropophytes are forming the contemporary woody flora. The 44 native taxa belong to various local red data book categories (including extinct),the 63 are not endangered and next 10 are apophytes. A few altitudinal groups of species can be distinguished,which are characterized with specific reaction to the growth of the altitude of localities. The distinct limit in the altitudinal ranges of the woody species occur at elevation of 580-600 m. This altitude was considered as the limit between submontane and montane belts in the Stołowe mountains

Anomalous needle numbers on dwarf shoots of Pinus mugo and P. uncinata [Pinaceae]

The frequency of occurrence of abnormal, three- (or more) needle dwarf shoots of most southern and central European two-needle pine (Pinus) species were studied. No specimens with more than two-needle dwarf shoots were found in a population of P. nigra Arnold subsp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco from the Iberian Peninsula and in two populations of P. uliginosa Neumann from the Sudeten Mountains in Central Europe. Single specimens were found within one population of P. pinaster Aiton from the Iberian Peninsula and among six populations of P. sylvestris L. from the Iberian Peninsula and Central Europe. Abnormal dwarf shoots mostly with three, but also four, five or six needles were found among 24 of 25 surveyed populations of P. mugo Turra and P. uncinata Ramond. The average frequency of specimens with at least one three-needle dwarf shoot was 24% for P. mugo and 20% for P. uncinata. The frequencies of occurrence varied significantly among studied populations and were highest in samples collected from the upper elevational range limits of the species in the mountains and near the northern limits of their ranges. The frequency of abnormal dwarf shoots in the same populations was significantly high in 2-3 consecutive years. Needles from three-needle dwarf shoots were not significantly shorter than those of two-needle shoots

Morphological variation of Juniperus oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa [Cupressaceae] in three Italian localities

The intra- and interpopulational geographic variation of three distant populations of J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa was examined biometrically on the basis of morphological key-characters of needles, seeds and cones. The shortest Euclidean distances were used in the agglomerative grouping of closest neighbourhood and discrimination analysis with principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to verify the south-north differentiation of the taxon in Italy. Most of the cone and seed dimensional characters are correlated. No significant correlations were found between cone and needle characters. The sampled populations differ only insignificantly from one another, while the intrapopulational variation is slightly higher. Cone length as well as seed number, width and thickness were significantly correlated with geographic latitude, while the other four characters are not. Differences in cone shape were observed between individuals, so that several morphotypes can be distinguished

Geographic patterns of genetic diversity of Pinus mugo (Pinaceae) in Central European mountains

The genetic diversity within and among twelve populations (379 individuals) of Pinus mugo from the Giant Mts., Carpathians and Alps was analyzed using ten chloroplast microsatellite markers. A stepwise mutation model (SMM) for microsatellite loci was used in order to estimate divergence between populations and provenances from three mountain ranges. High levels of genetic diversity and significant differentiation were found among the three population groups. The populations from Giant Mts., Carpathians and Alps were strongly differentiated between each other, while differences among populations within these massifs were much lower. The pattern of genetic structure observedin dwarf mountain pine can be characteristic in conifers with a disjunctive geographic distribution. The significant genetic structuring among isolated parts of the geographic range of the species may be a result of an ancient fragmentation andlong lasting geographic isolation between the Giant Mts., Alpine and Tatra populations of P. mugo

Genetic differences between two Polish populations of Pinus uliginosa, compared to P. sylvestris and P. mugo

Genetic differences between two populations of P. uliginosa from Batorów and Węgliniec were assessed on the basis of 15 allozyme loci. The level of genetic differentiation between them was also compared with genetic differences among the three closely related pine taxa: P. uliginosa, P. sylvestris and P. mugo. A high level of genetic variation was found in both populations of P. uliginosa. The average (Na) and effective (Ne) numbers of alleles per locus amounted respectively to 2.47 and 1.50 in Węgliniec and to 2.67 and 1.52 in Batorów and the percentage of polymorphic loci was 80% and 87%, respectively. Close relationship between the three studied species were confirmed. The genetic differences between the two populations of P. uliginosa were substantial, as the Nei's genetic distance between the two populations (D = 0.040) was larger than between populations of P. sylvestris and between populations of P. mugo. The relatively high level of genetic differentiation between P. uliginosa populations may result from their isolation, small size and possibly different origin of these populations

Relationships among Abies nebrodensis, A. alba and A. cephalonica in the morphological and anatomical needle characteristics

We used 39 morphological and anatomical needle traits in the biometric comparisons Abies nebrodensis with A. alba and A. cephalonica. The multivariate analyses were utilised and a closer relationship of A. nebrodensis to A. cephalonica than to A. alba was detected, in contrast to what has been shown for cone characteristics