Foodborne diseases: a survey on working methods used by 6 Public Health Services in the Lombardy Region. 1. Outbreaks

Since foodborne diseases, especially those caused by bacteria, have become an increasingly important public health problem, the Authors conducted a survey in order to evaluate the organization of, and the intervention carried out by, six Public Health Services in the Lombardia region, after reports of foodborne diseases outbreaks. Lack of correct methodology was detected, not to mention the usual omission of epidemic curves and attack rates. Besides, too many microbiological tests were made and it took too much time to take care of and to report the outbreaks to Regional and National Health Authorities. Forty-one outbreaks were examined: 415 cases occurred (AR: 28.7%), most of which home-made food-related. In 25 outbreaks the suspected food vehicles were eggs or fish, but only 5 of them were confirmed by laboratory tests. Salmonella enterica, either serovar Eenteritidis or group D, appeared responsible for 26 of the outbreaks [corrected].     

Impact of finite laser linewidth on the performance of OFDMnetworks employing single-cavity Fabry-Perot demultiplexers

In this paper we investigate the impact of finite laser linewidths (i.e. source partial coherence) on the crosstalk performance of optical frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) networks employing single-cavity Fabry-Perot demultiplexers. Results are presented that show the important limitation imposed by the finite laser linewidths on the attainable bit error rate (BER), maximum number of users, and the required power penalties to overcome this impairment     

Mine operating accurate stability control with optical fibersensing and Bragg grating technology: the European BRITE/EURAM STABILOSproject

Recent developments of stability control in mines, essentially based on Ge-doped fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are reported including results about the different aspects of the system: accurate characterizations of FBG, sensor network topology and multiplexing method, user interface design and sensor packaging     

2-D dopant profiling in VLSI devices using dopant-selectiveetching: an atomic force microscopy study

We report a detailed mapping of a 2-D dopant profile on a fully processed industrial sample with large dynamic range and high spatial resolution by utilizing a dopant-selective etching process and Atomic Force Microscopy. The experimental results show excellent agreement with those obtained from SRP and SIMS as corroborative methods. We also discuss the most critical factors which influence the applicability, reproducibility, and reliability of this method     

Stability analysis of nonlinear TE polarized waves inmultiple-quantum-well waveguides

A stability analysis of TE polarized nonlinear guided waves in multiple-quantum-well waveguides is presented. In particular, a scalar finite element approach has been used in order to numerically investigate symmetrical as well as asymmetrical field distributions and their properties. For high input power, the analysis reveals the stable and the unstable nature of asymmetrical and symmetrical multiple quantum well waveguide solutions. Similar features to single linear film bounded by nonlinear media are pointed out. The limits of the homogeneous slab approximation are discussed     

Demonstration and genotyping of pestivirus RNA from mammalian cell lines

Mineralization occurred both in fetal rat calvarial cells and UMR 106 osteoblastic cells when they were cultured in medium containing L-ascorbate and beta-glycerophosphate as evidenced by von Kóssa staining as well as deposition of calcium ions and inorganic phosphate in the cells. When compared with corresponding non-mineralized cell cultures, both the mineralized cultures of calvarial cells and UMR 106 cells did not exhibit any change in intracellular bone-specific alkaline phosphatase activities which were measured by wheatgerm lectin precipitation method. Our results support the hypothesis that mineralization may not exert any direct negative feedback on matrix protein synthesis in osteoblasts during bone formation.