Real-Time Duplex Applications of Loop-Mediated AMPlification (LAMP) by Assimilating Probes

Isothermal nucleic-acid amplification methods such as Loop-Mediated isothermal AMPlification (LAMP) are increasingly appealing alternatives to PCR for use in portable diagnostic system due to the low cost, weight, and power requirements of the instrumentation. As such, interest in developing new probes and other functionality based on the LAMP reaction has been intense. Here, we report on the development of duplexed LAMP assays for pathogen detection using spectrally unique Assimilating Probes. As proof of principle, we used a reaction for Salmonella enterica as a model coupled with a reaction for λ-phage DNA as an internal control, as well as a duplexed assay to sub-type specific quarantine strains of the bacterial wilt pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum. Detection limits for bacterial DNA analyzed in individual reactions was less than 100 genomic equivalents in all cases, and increased by one to two orders of magnitude when reactions were coupled in duplexed formats. Even so, due to the more robust activity of newly available strand-displacing polymerases, the duplexed assays reported here were more powerful than analogous individual reactions reported only a few years ago, and represent a significant advance for incorporation of internal controls to validate assay results in the field.     

Catalytic Hydrocracking of a Bitumen‐Derived Asphaltene over NiMo/γ‐Al2O3 at Various Temperatures

Hydrocracking of a bitumen‐derived asphaltene over NiMo/γ‐Al₂O₃ was investigated in a microbatch reactor at varying temperatures. The molar kinetics of asphaltene cracking reaction was examined by fitting the experimental data. Below a defined temperature, the molar reaction showed the first‐order kinetic feature while at higher temperatures secondary reactions such as coke formation became significant, causing deviation of the reaction behavior from the proposed first‐order kinetic model. Selectivity analysis proved that dominant products varied from gases to liquids to gases with increasing temperature, shifting the dominant reaction from C–S bonds cleavage to C–C bonds cleavage.     

钛基Ce掺杂SnO_2-RuO_2电极的制备及其对焦化废水的电解处理

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了经稀土元素Ce掺杂改性的Ti/RuO_2-SnO_2-Ce电极,利用SEM、XRD、EDS等分析方法对电极表面的形貌、物相和涂层成分进行了表征,利用CV曲线、LSV曲线等检测手段对电极的电化学性能进行了测试。以Ti/RuO_2-SnO_2-Ce电极为阳极,钛板为阴极,构建电化学氧化反应装置,并采用其对焦化废水进行电解处理。结果表明,Ti/RuO_2-SnO_2电极经稀土Ce改性后极板表面活性位点数量明显增大,金属涂层的结晶化程度明显增强,电极的催化氧化活性显著提高。室温条件下,保持pH值为7.83,在电流密度为30mA/cm~2,电解时间为30min时,焦化废水经电解处理后COD去除率可达91.63%,TOC去除率可达66.22%,UV254值下降到0.921。     

Microstructure,mechanical properties and bio-corrosion properties of Mg-HA bionanocomposites fabricated by a novel severe plastic deformation process

This research investigates the alterations in microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion behavior of binary magnesium-hydroxyapatite bionanocomposites with 2, 5, and 10 wt%HA. By mixing Mg and HA powders with different percentages of HA contents, a combined method of cyclic extrusion compression (CEC), equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and conventional extrusion were employed to consolidate the mixture of powders. All composites were examined. The results indicate that the addition of hydroxyapatite to magnesium improves the mechanical properties, but these properties are deteriorated with the hydroxyapatite content of over 5 wt%. The corrosion behavior of the composites was examined by immersion test, mass loss and polarization tests in Hank’s solution. The results indicate that Mg-5HA exhibits the best corrosion resistance and the corrosion rate increases when the HA content rises to more than 5 wt%. In addition, the specimen produced through the proposed method in this work indicates better corrosion resistance in comparison with cast and extruded pure Mg.     

Sleep Disorders Reduce Health-Related Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis (Nottingham Health Profile Data in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis)

Quality of Life (QoL) is decreased in multiple sclerosis (MS), but studies about the impact of sleep disorders (SD) on health-related quality of Life (HRQoL) are lacking. From our original cohort, a cross-sectional polysomnographic (PSG) study in consecutive MS patients, we retrospectively analysed the previously unpublished data of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Those MS patients suffering from sleep disorders (n = 49) showed significantly lower HRQoL compared to MS patients without sleep disorders (n = 17). Subsequently, we classified the patients into four subgroups: insomnia (n = 17), restless-legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder and SD due to leg pain (n = 24), obstructive sleep apnea (n = 8) and patients without sleep disorder (n = 17). OSA and insomnia patients showed significantly higher NHP values and decreased HRQoL not only for the sleep subscale but also for the “energy” and “emotional” area of the NHP. In addition, OSA patients also showed increased NHP values in the “physical abilities” area. Interestingly, we did not find a correlation between the objective PSG parameters and the subjective sleep items of the NHP. However, this study demonstrates that sleep disorders can reduce HRQoL in MS patients and should be considered as an important confounder in all studies investigating HRQoL in MS.     

Modeling and analysis of passive worm propagation in the P2P file-sharing network

A number of worms, named P2P (peer-to-peer) passive worms, have recently surfaced, which propagate in P2P file-sharing networks and have posed heavy threats to these networks. In contrast to the majority of Internet worms, it is by exploiting users’ legitimate activities instead of vulnerabilities of networks in which P2P passive worms propagate. This feature evidently slows down their propagation, which results in them not attracting an adequate amount of attention in literature. Meanwhile, this feature visibly increases the difficulty of detecting them, which makes it very possible for them to become epidemic. In this paper, we propose an analytical model for P2P passive worm propagation by adopting epidemiological approaches so as to identify their behaviors and predict the tendency of their propagation accurately. Compared with a few existing models, dynamic characteristics of P2P networks are taken into account. Based on this proposed model, the sufficient condition for the global stability of the worm free equilibrium is derived by applying epidemiological theories. Large scale simulation experiments have validated both the proposed model and the condition.