The Gen-Probe rapid diagnostic system was compared with a culture method for the detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in clinical specimens. Of 116 clinical specimens, 103 (88.8%) yielded identical results. The relative sensitivity and specificity of the probe were both 89%. Rapid turnaround time and its sensitivity and specificity indicate that the probe test is a practical method for the rapid ...

Studies showed that stimulant drugs that affect the monoaminergic system alter both behavioral and cognitive processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of prenatal and acute methamphetamine (MA) exposure on cognitive functions of adult male rats tested in Morris water maze (MWM). We tested adult male rats prenatally exposed to MA (5 mg/kg), saline or no injection. Hal...

An open-ended coaxial probe is designed for making permittivity measurements on volcanic ash. Reference liquids such as water and methanol are used for calibrating the probe, whose input admittance is related to the complex permittivity by Marcuvitz integral. The reflection coefficient of the probe in the presence of volcanic ash samples from Etna volcano, Italy, is measured from 1 to 15 GHz an...

This paper developed an active scanning probe array. The probe array consists of 16×2 probes thermally actuating and sensing. The 32 probes are integrated with Ti/Pt temperature sensors and bimorph thermal actuators. Each probe is a Si3N4 cantilever equipped with a sharp nano scale pyramid tip at its free end. When one of the probes is actuated, its neighboring probes can provide temperature se...

A multiplex PCR designed to differentiate Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex organisms from M. avium and M. intracellulare was used to test 105 isolates identified by DNA probe methods as M. avium, M. intracellulare, or M. avium complex type X. The multiple PCR correctly identified 33 of 34 isolates identified by commercial probe methods as M. avium and all 51 isolates identified as M. intracel...

The 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) test has been used for over a century to evaluate the concentration of biodegradable organic matter in wastewater effluents. The BOD test is a simple batch test, but it is also time consuming, labor intensive, imprecise, and, due to the dilution of the wastewater, takes a relatively long time to complete. Advances in laboratory instruments and lab ware...

Bisulfite plays crucial roles in diverse physiological processes. Therefore, the efficient detection of bisulfite is very important. In this study, we report a colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe (CPT) with a large Stokes shift (162 nm) for bisulfite (HSO3(-)) based FRET mechanism. The probe can quantitatively detect HSO3(-) with low detection limit (45 nM) and high specificity over ...