Accuracy and Precision Analysis for a Biophotonic Assay of C-Reactive Protein

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society of Chemistry via the DOI in this recordA multiplexed biophotonic assay platform has been developed using the localised particle plasmon in gold nanoparticles assembled in an array and functionalised for two assays: total IgG and C-reactive protein (CRP). A protein A/G (PAG) assay, calibrated with a NIST reference material, shows a maximum surface coverage of max = 7.13 ± 0.19 mRIU, equivalent to 1.5 ng mm-2 of F(ab)-presenting antibody. The CRP capture antibody has an equivalent surface binding density of max = 2.95 ± 0.41 mRIU indicating a 41% capture antibody availability. Free PAG binding to the functionalised anti-CRP surface shows that only 47 ± 3 % of CRP capture antibodies are correctly presenting Fab regions for antigen capture. The accuracy and precision of the CRP sensor assay was assessed with 54 blood samples containing spiked CRP in the range 2 – 160 mg/L. The mean accuracy was 0.42 mg/L with Confidence Interval (CI) at 95% from -14.7 to 13.8 mg/L and the precision had a Coefficient of Variation (CV) of 10.6% with 95% CI 0.9% - 20.2%. These biophotonic platform performance metrics indicate a CRP assay with 2 - 160 mg/L dynamic range, performed in 8 minutes from 5 L of whole blood without sample preparation.Attomarker Ltd

Secretion of DNases by Marine Bacteria: A Culture Based and Bioinformatics Approach

The vast majority of bacteria present in the natural environment are present in the form of aggregates and/or biofilms. Microbial aggregates are ubiquitous in the marine environment and are inhabited by diverse microbial communities which often express intense extracellular enzymatic activities. However, the secretion of an important group of enzymes, DNases, by bacteria from marine aggregates has not been studied, despite the importance of these aggregates in biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in the oceans. In this work, we therefore, employed both culture-based and bioinformatics approaches to understand the diversity of bacterial DNases in marine bacterioplankton. We found that 34% of 345 strains of attached and non-attached marine bacteria showed extracellular DNase activity. Most of these isolates belong to Proteobacteria (53%) and Firmicutes (34%). Secretion of DNases by bacteria isolated from marine gel particles (MGP) is reported here for the first time. Then, to further understand the wider diversity of the potential to produce DNases, sequences were compared using 2316 whole genome and 42 metagenome datasets. Thirty-nine different taxonomic groups corresponding to 10 bacterial phyla were found to encode genes responsible for DNase secretion. This study highlights the unexpected and widespread presence of DNase secretion in bacteria in general and in MGP more specifically. This has important implications for understanding the dynamics and fate of marine microbial aggregates in the oceans

Foreign trade of Czech dairy products after the accession to the European Union

Skoncentrowano się na analizie i próbie oceny konkurencyjności handlu zagranicznego Republiki Czeskiej w zakresie produktów mleczarskich. Produkty mleczarskie są jedną z niewielu kategorii produktów rolno-żywnościowych, które generują nadwyżkę w czeskim handlu zagranicznym towarami rolno-spożywczymi. Z przeprowadzonej analizy wynika, że po akcesji do Unii Europejskiej zwiększyły się obroty czeskiego handlu zagranicznego produktami mleczarskimi. Nadwyżka w handlu produktami mleczarskimi uległa podwojeniu. Niekorzystna pozostała jednak struktura towarowa tych obrotów. W eksporcie dominują bowiem surowce, natomiast w imporcie produkty przetworzone.The paper products the analysis and competitiveness assessment of Czech foreign trade in the scope of dairy products. These products are one offew categories of agricultural and food products that generate a surplus in Czech foreign trade. The conducted analysis suggests that after accession to the European Union the turnover of Czech dairy products foreign trade increased. Both import and export had similar dynamics (it more than doubled in the period 2004-2008). Also the positive balance in dairy products trade more than doubled in the analysed period. However the goods structure of these turnovers is still unfavourable. As raw materials dominate export and processed products dominate import

Orchidaceae II

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Exact difference schemes and schemes of higher order of approximation for convection-diffusion equation. I

The initial-boundary value problem for a convection-diffusion equation [formula] is considered. The difference scheme, approximating this problem, is constructed. It is shown that for traveling wave solutions the scheme is exact (EDS). The monotonicity of the scheme is also taken into consideration. Presented numerical experiments illustrate the theoretical results investigated in the paper