We report our experience with a new real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay applicable for simultaneous quantification and characterization of MBR/JH translocation in follicular lymphomas. This technique, which combines amplification with the FRET probe with SYBR Green I melting curve analysis, allows efficient detection of tumor cells in bone marrow or peripheral blood and their compar...

A SYBR Green LightCycler PCR assay using a single primer pair allowed simultaneous detection of stx1 and/or stx2 of Escherichia coli O157:H7. A distinct sequence of the Shiga-like toxin genes was amplified to yield products of 227 and/or 224 bp, respectively. The two products were distinguished by melting point curve analysis.

Synovial sarcomas are aggressive tumors of adolescent and young adults that account for up to 10% of soft tissue sarcomas. Cytogenetically, they are characterized by translocation t(X;18), which is found in more than 95% of tumors. In most cases, it results in fusion of the SYT gene with the SSX1 or SSX2 gene, thus creating SYT-SSX1 or SYT-SSX2 rearrangement. The 2 types of gene fusion have bee...

Two conventional PCR-enzyme immunoassays (PCR-EIAs) and two real-time PCR assays (LightCycler system; Roche Diagnostics) were evaluated as confirmation assays with cppB and 16S rRNA genes as targets. Of 765 male and female genitourinary and nasopharyngeal specimens positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the COBAS AMPLICOR Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae PCR test (Roche Diagnostics), ...

We established a real-time PCR assay with melting curve analysis to rapidly genotype quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) of gyrase A and topoisomerase IV genes in Haemophilus influenzae. This assay is a useful tool for the detection of fluoroquinolone resistance and for the early detection of preexisting QRDR mutations.

S U M M A R Y We develop a self-consistent thermodynamic description of silicate liquids applicable across the entire mantle pressure and temperature regime. The description combines the finite strain free energy expansion with an account of the temperature dependence of liquid properties into a single fundamental relation, while honouring the expected limiting behaviour at large volume and hig...

Real-time PCR hybridization probe sets were tested for the specific detection of amplified genome segment 2 cDNA from all nine serotypes of African horsesickness virus (AHSV). The hybridization probes were derived from the sequences of genome segments 2 of the nine reference strains of the virus and were designed to have clearly distinguishable peak melting temperatures. Viral dsRNA from each o...