Detection of Anthrax Spores from the Air by Real-Time PCR

炭疽菌によるエアロゾル汚染防止対策の一環として、炭疽菌芽胞を大気と共に吸引してメンブランフィルターに回収し、その検出をリアルタイムPCRで行った。本システムにより、10個の芽胞を1時間以内に検出することができ、その結果は培養試験による結果と完全に一致した

An investigation of the relationship between organizational culture and the performance of construction organizations

The operation of organizations is very much influenced by their culture. Organizational culture (OC) has been defined as a pattern of basic assumptions that are manifested by the behavior of an organization. Positive OC is considered to be catalytic to performance enhancement. As construction aspires to be an efficient industry, this study aims to contribute in this regard by examining the relationship between organizational culture and the performance of construction organizations. Artifacts corresponding to OC identifiers and Performance indicators are short-listed from a literature review. These artifacts are arranged into constructs. The eight OC constructs are: Goal Clarity, Coordination and Integration, Conflict Resolution, Employee Participation, Innovation Orientation, Performance Emphasis, Reward Orientation and Team orientation. The performance indicator constructs are; Financial, Internal Business Process, Custom and Innovation & Learning. The artifacts were elaborated and operationalized for data collection. The constructs, as well as the OC-Performance relationship framework, were then analyzed and tested using Structural Equation Modeling. Innovation was found to be the most critical OC as far as performance of construction organizations is concerned. In today's knowledge based society, innovative organizations have proved to be the performers. This timely finding highlights the need for a culture that fosters creativity and supports innovation

A Simple and Sensitive Detection System for Bacillus anthracis in Meat and Tissue

食肉及び組織中の炭疽菌の検出法を確立するために、本菌の新鮮培養液を段階希釈し、各希釈液を食肉に接種後、鋳型DNAを調製してPCRを行った。その結果、標的とした毒素遺伝子及び莢膜遺伝子が増幅され、各増幅断片は制限酵素処理により予想されたサイズのフラグメントに切断されることを確認した。本PCRシステムによる結果はBCA寒天を用いた培養試験の結果と完全に一致した

Multi-user interference mitigation under limited feedback requirements for WCDMA systems with base station cooperation

One of the techniques that has been recently identified for dealing with multi-user interference (MUI) in future communications systems is base station (BS) cooperation or joint processing. However, perfect MUI cancellation with this technique demands severe synchronization requirements, perfect and global channel state information (CSI), and an increased backhaul and signaling overhead. In this paper, we consider a more realistic layout with the aim of mitigating the MUI, where only local CSI is available at the BSs. Due to synchronization inaccuracies and errors in the channel estimation, the system becomes partially asynchronous. In the downlink of wideband code division multiple access based systems, this asynchronism stands for the loss of the orthogonality of the spreading codes allocated to users and thus, for an increase in the MUI level of the system. In this contribution, we propose a framework for mitigating the MUI which builds in three main steps: definition of a cooperation area based on the channel characteristics, statistical modeling of the average MUI power experienced by each user and a specific spreading code allocation scheme for users served with joint processing. This code allocation assigns spreading codes to users in such a way that minimum average cross-correlation between active users can be achieved. Interestingly, these steps can be performed with a limited amount of extra feedback from the user's side

Tuning intermolecular interactions in di-octyl substituted polyfluorene via hydrostatic pressure

Polyfluorenes (PFs) represent a unique class of poly para-phenylene based blue-emitting polymers with intriguing structure-property relationships. Slight variations in the choice of functionalizing side chains result in dramatic differences in the inter- and intra-chain structures in PFs. We present photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering studies of bulk samples and thin films of dioctyl-substituted PF (PF8) under hydrostatic pressure. The bulk sample was further thermally annealed at 1.9 GPa. The PL vibronics of the as-is sample red-shift at an average rate of 26 meV/GPa. The thermally annealed sample is characterized by at least two phase transitions at 1.1 GPa and 4.2 GPa, each of which has a different pressure coefficient for PL vibronics. The Huang-Rhys factor, a measure of the electron-phonon interaction, is found to increase with increasing pressures signaling a higher geometric relaxation of the electronic states. The Raman peaks harden with increasing pressures; the intra-ring C-C stretch frequency at 1600 cm$^{-1}$ has a pressure coefficient of 7.2 cm$^{-1}$/GPa and exhibits asymmetric line shapes at higher pressures, characteristic of a strong electron-phonon interaction. The optical properties of PF8 under high pressure are further contrasted with those of a branched side chain substituted PF.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure

An investigation of supervector regression for forensic voice comparison on small data

International audienceThe present paper deals with an observer design for a nonlinear lateral vehicle model. The nonlinear model is represented by an exact Takagi-Sugeno (TS) model via the sector nonlinearity transformation. A proportional multiple integral observer (PMIO) based on the TS model is designed to estimate simultaneously the state vector and the unknown input (road curvature). The convergence conditions of the estimation error are expressed under LMI formulation using the Lyapunov theory which guaranties bounded error. Simulations are carried out and experimental results are provided to illustrate the proposed observer

A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Social Ecology, Environmental Determinants, and Health Systems

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration) and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change) in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed

Short-Course, High-Dose Rifampicin Achieves Wolbachia Depletion Predictive of Curative Outcomes in Preclinical Models of Lymphatic Filariasis and Onchocerciasis

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis are priority neglected tropical diseases targeted for elimination. The only safe drug treatment with substantial curative activity against the filarial nematodes responsible for LF (Brugia malayi, Wuchereria bancrofti) or onchocerciasis (Onchocerca volvulus) is doxycycline. The target of doxycycline is the essential endosymbiont, Wolbachia. Four to six weeks doxycycline therapy achieves >90% depletion of Wolbachia in worm tissues leading to blockade of embryogenesis, adult sterility and premature death 18–24 months post-treatment. Long treatment length and contraindications in children and pregnancy are obstacles to implementing doxycycline as a public health strategy. Here we determine, via preclinical infection models of Brugia malayi or Onchocerca ochengi that elevated exposures of orally-administered rifampicin can lead to Wolbachia depletions from filariae more rapidly than those achieved by doxycycline. Dose escalation of rifampicin achieves >90% Wolbachia depletion in time periods of 7 days in B. malayi and 14 days in O. ochengi. Using pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling and mouse-human bridging analysis, we conclude that clinically relevant dose elevations of rifampicin, which have recently been determined as safe in humans, could be administered as short courses to filariasis target populations with potential to reduce anti-Wolbachia curative therapy times to between one and two weeks

Electrode Materials, Thermal Annealing Sequences, and Lateral/Vertical Phase Separation of Polymer Solar Cells from Multiscale Molecular Simulations

The nanomorphologies of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layer of polymer solar cells are extremely sensitive to the electrode materials and thermal annealing conditions. In this work, the correlations of electrode materials, thermal annealing sequences, and resultant BHJ nanomorphological details of P3HT:PCBM BHJ polymer solar cell are studied by a series of large-scale, coarse-grained (CG) molecular simulations of system comprised of PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Al layers. Simulations are performed for various configurations of electrode materials as well as processing temperature. The complex CG molecular data are characterized using a novel extension of our graph-based framework to quantify morphology and establish a link between morphology and processing conditions. Our analysis indicates that vertical phase segregation of P3HT:PCBM blend strongly depends on the electrode material and thermal annealing schedule. A thin P3HT-rich film is formed on the top, regardless of bottom electrode material, when the BHJ layer is exposed to the free surface during thermal annealing. In addition, preferential segregation of P3HT chains and PCBM molecules toward PEDOT:PSS and Al electrodes, respectively, is observed. Detailed morphology analysis indicated that, surprisingly, vertical phase segregation does not affect the connectivity of donor/acceptor domains with respective electrodes. However, the formation of P3HT/PCBM depletion zones next to the P3HT/PCBM-rich zones can be a potential bottleneck for electron/hole transport due to increase in transport pathway length. Analysis in terms of fraction of intra- and interchain charge transports revealed that processing schedule affects the average vertical orientation of polymer chains, which may be crucial for enhanced charge transport, nongeminate recombination, and charge collection. The present study establishes a more detailed link between processing and morphology by combining multiscale molecular simulation framework with an extensive morphology feature analysis, providing a quantitative means for process optimization