Validation and application of a robust yeast estrogen bioassay for the screening of estrogenic activity in animal feed.

Previously we described the construction and properties of a rapid yeast bioassay stably expressing human estrogen receptor alpha (hERalpha) and yeast enhanced green fluorescent protein (yEGFP), the latter in response to estrogens. In the present study this yeast estrogen assay was validated as a qualitative screening method for the determination of estrogenic activity in animal feed. This validation was performed according to EC Decision 2002/657. Twenty blank animal feed samples, including milk replacers and wet and dry feed samples, were spiked with 17beta-estradiol (E2beta) at 5 ng g(-1), 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2) at 5 ng g(-1), diethylstilbestrol (DES) at 10 ng g(-1), zearalenone at 1.25 microg g(-1) or equal at 200 microg g(-1). All of these blank and low estrogen spiked feed samples fulfilled the CCalpha and CCbeta criterions, meaning that all 20 blank feed samples gave a signal below the determined decision limit CCalpha and were thus classified as compliant, and at least 19 out of the 20 spiked samples gave a signal above this CCalpha (beta = 5%) and were thus classified as suspect. The method was specific and estrogens in feed were stable for up to 98 days. In this study we also present long-term performance data and several examples of estrogens found in the routine screening of animal feed. This is the first successful example of a developed, validated and applied bioassay for the screening of hormonal substances in feed.     

清洁能源发展趋势

能源话题主导了2005年的新闻，紧跟着这些热点新闻报道之后而来的，是猛增的风险投资。分析风险投资进入的力度以及领域可以把握未来清洁能源领域发展的趋势。[编按]     

Twin-bus-controller protocol for fibre optic networks

A new Data Link Layer protocol, named the Twin-Bus-Controller (TBC) protocol, is proposed for a fibre optic network with unidirectional bus topology. The TBC protocol operates on a contention-based, time-division multiplexing scheme, and is managed by two centralized bus controllers. These controllers, which also function as network managers cooperate with each other to control and coordinate the activities on the twin bus. The IBC protocol has the capability to perform at a very high network utilization, and uses simple hardware at all stations except the two bus controllers. This arrangement provides a relatively inexpensive means to accommodate a large number of stations. Heterogeneous data consisting of real-time sensor and control signals, voice and video data, and non-real-time data such as those due to accounting and administration, can be simultaneously handled by the TBC protocol. The TBC protocol maintains global queues for all different types of data, and each class of data has a bounded delay. Furthermore, any new type of data can be added easily to the network without shutting it down or affecting those stations that are unrelated to the new data. A finite-state-machine model has been used to describe the TBC protocol. Performance of the TBC protocol has been evaluated by statistical analysis as well as via simulation for multiple classes of data traffic. Performance of the TBC protocol has been compared with that of Buzznet and Fasnet. The TBC protocol can be directly applied to diverse computer communication systems, e.g. office, manufacturing, and banking environments.     

The effect of surface treatments on the adhesion of electrochemically deposited hydroxyapatite coating to titanium and on its interaction with cells and bacteria

The effect of different mechanical and chemical pre-treatments on the adhesion strength of hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating on a commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) substrate was studied by means of a standard tensile test followed by microscopic and chemical analysis to determine the locus of fracture. In addition, the effects of either these pre-treatments or post-treatment by low-energy electron irradiation, which allowed tuning the wettability of the surface, on both osteoblast progenitor attachment and S. aureus bacteria attachment were investigated. A dedicated program was developed for unambiguous identification and count of stained cells. A single-phase HAp coating was formed by electrodeposition. A series of surface pre-treatments consisted of grinding down to P1000, etching in HNO₃/HF solution, grit blast, soaking in NaOH and subsequent heat treatment provided the highest adhesion strength to the HAp coating. Osteoblast progenitors derived from rats may be attached preferentially to a hydrophilic surface (post-treatment to θ = 30°), while the bacteria seemed to be less attached to hydrophobic surfaces (post-treatment to θ = 105°). However, the results were not statistically different. The bacteria seemed to be less attached to the smoother, uncoated surfaces.     

监控更广的网络领域

Ron Martin说:新技术是现代工业网络中的信息技术(IT)和操作技术(OT)的界限越来越模糊。因此,各方组织机构正在寻找能够监控他们以太网网络的新方法。