Management of E. coli dependent factorial diseases in weaning piglets

The most important postweaning factorial diseases are at least partly caused by E. coli. The term postweaning coli complex can be subcategorized into the following manifestations: postweaning diarrhoea, edema disease, postweaning wasting and hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. In the presented study the effect of prophylactic zootechnique alone and zoo- and biotechnique in combination was evaluated during the first weeks postweaning. The results showed that combined zoo- and biotechnique is superior to simple zootechnique regarding food conversion (1.41 kg versus 1.73 kg), average daily weight gain (390 g versus 325 g) and postweaning piglet mortality (3.1% versus 4.9%). It is the opinion of the authors that combined postweaning zoo- and biotechnique should be performed in such pig production units where ETEC and/or SLTEC are present.     

The three-dimensional architecture of the mitotic spindle,analyzed by confocal fluorescence and electron microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy techniques have become important tools in mitosis research. The well-known disadvantages of fluorescence microscopy, rapid bleaching, phototoxicity and out-of-focus contributions blurring the in-focus image are obstacles which still need to be overcome. Confocal fluorescence microscopy has the potential to improve our capabilities of analyzing cells, because of its excellent depth-discrimination and image processing power. We have been using a confocal fluorescence microscope for the study of the mechanism of poleward chromosome movement, and report here (1) a cell preparation technique, which allows labeling of fixation sensitive spindle antigens with acceptable microtubule preservation; (2) the use of image processing methods to represent the spatial distribution of various labeled elements in pseudocolour; (3) a novel immunoelectron microscopic labeling method for microtubules, which allows the visualization of their distribution in semithin sections at low magnification; and (4) a first attempt to study microtubule dynamics with a confocal fluorescence microscope in living cells, microinjected with rhodamine labeled tubulin. Our experience indicates that confocal fluorescence microscopy provides real advantages for the study of spatial colocalization of antigens in the mitotic spindle. It does not, however, overcome the basic limits of resolution of the light microscope. Therefore, it has been necessary to use an electron microscopic method. Our preliminary results with living cells show that it is possible to visualize the entire microtubule network in stereo, but that the sensitivity of the instrument is still too low to perform dynamic time studies. It will be worthwhile to further develop this new type of optical instrumentation and explore its usefulness on both fixed and living cells.     

Microwave and millimeterwave oscillator developments at the Johannes Kepler University

This contribution reviews the research work performed at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria, on the development of oscillators for the microwave and millimeter wave frequency range. This work, performed by the Microelectronics Institute and the Institute for Communications and Information Engineering, covers the range from low GHz frequencies up to 61 GHz and is devoted to applications like mobile communications and sensing. The active devices are based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), and Silicon (Si) and include Gunn-devices, bipolar transistors, and CMOS-technology.     

Phase-Error Measurement and Compensation in PLL Frequency Synthesizers for FMCW Sensors—I: Context and Application

The synthesis of linear frequency sweeps or chirps is required, among others, in frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar systems for object position estimation. Low phase and frequency errors in sweeps with high bandwidth are a prerequisite for good accuracy and resolution, but, in certain applications where high measurement rates are desired, the additional demand for short sweep cycles has to be met. Transient phenomena in dynamic synthesizers as well as nonlinear system behavior usually cause unknown phase errors in the system output. For the class of phase-locked-loop (PLL)-based frequency synthesizers, a novel output phase-measurement method and dedicated circuitry are proposed that allow significant reduction of phase errors by adaptive input predistortion. The measurement procedure is implemented within the PLL control circuitry and does not require external equipment. The application of this method to PLL system identification and linearization of extremely short frequency sweeps is shown     

A leg proprioception based 6 DOF odometry for statically stable walking robots

This article presents a 3D odometry algorithm for statically stable walking robots that only uses proprioceptive data delivered by joint angle and joint torque sensors embedded within the legs. The algorithm intrinsically handles each kind of emerging statically stable gait and is independent of predefined gait patterns. Additionally, the algorithm can be equally applied to stiff robots as well as to robots with compliant joints. Based on the proprioceptive information a 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) pose estimate is calculated in three steps. First, point clouds, represented by the foot positions with respect to the body frame at two consecutive time steps, are matched and provide a 6 DOF estimate for the relative body motion. The obtained relative motion estimates are summed up over time giving a 6 DOF pose estimate with respect to the start frame. Second, joint torque measurement based pitch and roll angle estimates are determined. Finally in a third step, these estimates are used to stabilize the orientation angles calculated in the first step by data fusion employing an error state Kalman filter. The algorithm is implemented and tested on the DLR Crawler, an actively compliant six-legged walking robot. For this specific robot, experimental data is provided and the performance is evaluated in flat terrain and on gravel, at different joint stiffness settings and for various emerging gaits. Based on this data, problems associated with the odometry of statically stable walking robots are identified and discussed. Further, some results for crossing slopes and edges in a complete 3D scenario are presented.     

An Overview of Synergistic Data Tools for Biological Scrutiny

A network of biological databases is reviewed, supplying a framework for studies of human genes and the association of their genomic variations with human phenotypes. The network is composed of GeneCards, the human gene compendium, which provides comprehensive information on all known and predicted human genes, along with its suite members GeneDecks and GeneLoc. Two databases are shown that address genes and variations focusing on olfactory reception (HORDE) and transduction (GOSdb). In the realm of disease scrutiny, we portray MalaCards, a novel comprehensive database of human diseases and their annotations. Also shown is GeneKid, a tool aimed at generating novel kidney disease biomarkers using systems biology, as well as Xome, a database for whole-exome next-generation DNA sequences for human diseases in the Israeli population. Finally, we show LifeMap Discovery, a database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, which links to both GeneCards and MalaCards.