Human gnathostomiasis is a food-borne zoonosis caused by a tissue nematode of the genus Gnathostoma. The disease is highly endemic in Asia, including Thailand. The freshwater swamp eel (Monopterus albus), the second intermediate host of the gnathostome nematode, has an important role in transmitting the infection in Thailand. Surveys on the infective larvae of Gnathostoma spinigerum based on morphological features in freshwater swamp eels have been performed continuously and reported in Thailand. However, there is still limited molecular data on intra-species variations of the parasite. In this study, a total of 19 third-stage larvae of morphologically identified G. spinigerum were collected from 437 liver samples of freshwater swamp eels purchased from a large wholesale market in Bangkok, Thailand. Molecular characterization based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences was performed to elucidate their genetic variations and phylogenetic relationship. Among the 19 infective larvae recovered from these eels, 16 were sequenced successfully. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from the partial COI gene showed the presence of three distinct COI haplotypes. Our findings confirm the presence of G. spinigerum as the main species in Thailand.

A new approach is proposed to analyze Bremsstrahlung X-rays that are emitted from laser-produced plasmas (LPP) and are measured by a stack type spectrometer. This new method is based on a spectral tomographic reconstruction concept with the variational principle for optimization, without referring to the electron energy distribution of a plasma. This approach is applied to the analysis of some experimental data obtained at a few major laser facilities to demonstrate the applicability of the method. Slope temperatures of X-rays from LPP are determined with a two-temperature model, showing different spectral characteristics of X-rays depending on laser properties used in the experiments.

A rapid dot immunogold filtration assay (DIGFA) was adopted for specific immunodiagnosis of human cerebral angiostrongyliasis, using purified 31-kDa glycoprotein specific to Angiostrongylus cantonensis as diagnostic antigen and protein A colloidal gold conjugate as antigen–antibody detector. A total of 59 serum samples were assayed – 11 samples from clinically diagnosed patients with detectable A. cantonensis-specific antibody in immunoblotting; 23 samples from patients with other related parasitic diseases, i.e. gnathostomiasis (n= 8), cysticercosis (n= 5), toxocariasis (n= 2), filariasis (n= 4), paragonimiasis (n= 2) and malaria (n= 2); and 25 samples from normal healthy subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of DIGFA to detect anti-A. cantonensis specific antibodies in serologically confirmed angiostrongyliasis cases, were both 100%. No positive DIGFA was observed in cases with other parasitic diseases, and the healthy control subjects. The 3-min DIGFA is as sensitive and specific as the 3-h immunoblot test in angiostrongyliasis confirmed cases that revealed a 31-kDa reactive band. The gold-based DIGFA is more rapid and easier to perform than the traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The test utilizing purified A. cantonensis antigen is reliable and reproducible for specific immunodiagnosis of human infection with A. cantonensis – thus can be applied as an additional routine test for clinical diagnostic support. Large-scale sero-epidemiological studies in endemic communities in north-east Thailand are under way to evaluate its usefulness under field conditions.

Based on the framework for post-accident rehabilitation preparedness elaborated in theEURANOS project (Dubreuil et al., 2010), a Norwegian Pilot Study wasconducted in spring 2008 to test the suggested method. This article describes the methodused in the Norwegian Pilot Study and the outcomes of the co-expertise meetingsarranged.

The simple spin casting technique has been successfully used for producing mesoporous thin films on glass substrate. The films are found to be homogeneous and continuous in a large size scale, however, the mesostructural phase of the film has been controlled systematically among amorphous (A), one-dimensional hexagonal (1-dH), cubic (C) and Lamellae (L) by increasing surfactant to TEOS concentration ratio in the casting solution. The 1-dH as well as cubic structure is thermally stable after the calcination so that a mesoporous thin film is obtained by surfactant removal. The solution additives of 1-propanol and 2-butanol might play a roll in the direct formation of the primitive cubic phase in the film form which has never been obtained.

3C286 (1328+307) is a powerful radio source identified with a quasar at z=0.849. There is a foreground galaxy responsible for an H I absorption line system at z=0.6922 (Brown & Roberts 1973), centered approximately 2.″5 to the southeast of 3C286. The radio source has a steep spectrum (α = −0.61, Sv ∝ v α between 1.4 and 15 GHz) which turns over at about 100 MHz. Subarcsecond resolution radio images show a misaligned triple structure, dominated by the central component (Spencer et al. 1989) which accounts for at least 95% of the total flux density at all frequencies. 3C286 is one of the strongest extragalactic sources in polarized emission (0.84 Jy at 5 GHz and 1.41 Jy at 1.4 GHz) and with a rotation measure close to 0 rad m–2 (Rudnick and Jones 1983). Hence the observed orientation of the electric field vector is essentially independent of frequency.

The defects and crystallinity of as-grown and annealed TiCx (grown by the high-pressure float-zone) were examined by TEM and double crystal x-ray rocking curves. Three types of subboundaries and planar defects within subgrains were observed in as-grown TiCx. Subboundaries are classified by structure as (i) wide-extended, fault-like defects (WEFLD's), (ii) edge dislocation arrays, and (iii) dislocation networks. Planar defects were observed at dislocation nodes of subboundaries and also within subgrains; this is the first reported observation of planar defects within TiCx subgrains. The misorientation and/or density of subgrains in TiCx was reduced significantly by annealing at 2300 °C in contact with graphite.

0.6 µm-wide lines of high Tc Y-Ba-Cu-O have been fabricated by direct laser writing on mirror-like thin films which were grown by laser deposition without post annealing. Laser ablation etching had no effect on the Tc and Jc until the lines were < 1µm wide. The 0.6 µm-wide strip showed some degradation of Tc and Jc. The critical current densities for these patterned lines were measured to be ∼5×106 A/cm2 at 50 K.

We have performed a coordinated experimental and theoretical investigation of the structure and stability of Ti/C multilayers. The samples were prepared by conventional techniques and the lattice structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction. Electron Energy Loss and Auger spectroscopies (EELS,AS), in conjunction with Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) were employed to characterize the chemical composition of the samples. It was observed that the Ti/C interface is isolated by a thin titanium oxide layer. The center of the Ti layer gives a typical EELS spectrum of Ti metal. The carbon shows a graphitic character. We have used total energy calculations to study the crystallographic structure and electronic behavior at the interface in Ti-C superlattices. This involved examining a series of structures in the Ti-C system proceeding from the ground state NaCl structure to superlattices. In particular we performed total energy calculations for an arrangement of atoms designed to allow direct investigation of the competition between Ti-C bonds and C-C bonds. We conclude that the equilibrium structure is dominated by C-C bonding and so we find that the interface has a graphite like atomic arrangement rather than a carbide like arrangement. We than further explored the interactions in this graphitic arrangement and found that the interface does not have a significant Ti-C bonding and that the interface most likely consists of simply a layer of graphite adjoining a titanium surface. This carries important implications for the diffusion and bonding at the interface.