The present invention provides functional nucleic acid probes, and methods of using functional nucleic acid probes, for binding a target to carry out a desired function. The probes have at least one functional nucleic acid, at least one regulating nucleic acid, and at least one attenuator. The functional nucleic acid is maintained in an inactive state by the attenuator and activated by the regu...

A variable optical attenuator with a compound latch is described. The attenuator and fibre mounts are fabricated in bonded silicon-on-insulator, using microelectromechanical systems technology. The latch has two stages. Each can be continuously adjusted or fixed into position using a rack and tooth driven by electrothermal actuators. The second stage has a mechanical advantage of 10, giving a t...

Alterations in the erm(A) regulatory region of six clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis and one of Staphylococcus haemolyticus displaying a constitutive resistance phenotype were investigated. Anovel deletion of 10 bp with respect to the corresponding sequence of Tn554 was identified in the attenuator of a constitutively expressed erm(A) gene of one of the S. epidermidis isolates. Th...

A gas attenuator is an important element of the LCLS facility. The attenuator must operate in a broad range of x-ray energies, provide attenuation coefficient between 1 and 10 with the accuracy of 1% and, at the same time, be reliable and allow for many months of un-interrupted operation. S. Shen [1] has recently carried out a detailed design study of the attenuator based on the use of nitrogen...

In this paper, a 4-bit digital step attenuator using 0.25 μm GaN HEMT technology for wideband radar systems is presented. A switched-path topology with resistive T-type attenuators and double-pole double-throw (DPDT) switches was used to achieve both low insertion loss phase/amplitude error. The measured of the reference state 2.8–8.3 dB at DC-12 GHz. input output return are less than 12 An att...

Two mechanisms account for AmpC activity in Escherichia coli, namely, mutations in the ampC promoter and attenuator regions resulting in ampC overexpression and acquisition of plasmid-carried ampC genes. In this study, we analyzed 51 clinical E. coli isolates with reduced susceptibility to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, piperacillin-tazobactam, or extended-spectrum cephalosporins for the presence...

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidelines state that dose calibrators must be tested for linearity upon installation and quarterly thereafter over a range of activities from 10 ~J,Ci (370 kBq) to the highest dose administered to the patient (300 mCi [11.1 GBq] ofiodine-131 for therapy at our institution). The simplest method of linearity testing utilizes commercial attenuator kits. These k...