From the outside, it looks like any typical academic building on the Rutgers University campus. However, inside RUCDR (formerly Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository), millions of samples of human cells and DNA lie in hundreds of vats—in conditions ranging from room temperature to the temperature of liquid nitrogen depending on the sample. Some are swabs from the cheeks of alcoholics, part...

To the Editor: Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae), cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Europe and Asia and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Ameri-cas. In Greece, hantaviruses are endemic, and small outbreaks or sporadic cases of HFRS have been observed; Dobrava virus is the predominant hantavirus and causes severe HFRS (1,2), while Puumala virus is probably the causative a...

Energy usage, dependability of energy supply and climate change are important topics in society. Today, a number of trends can be recognized in the electricity consumption and generation. On the one hand, the electricity consumption increases and becomes more žuctuating. is is caused by increasing economic activity and prosperity, but also by a shiŸ towards more electricity supplied devices, fo...

We describe an inexpensive and convenient container that solves some common problems associated with storing microcentrifuge tubes in refrigerators and freezers. It is made from a plastic box that comes prepackaged with pipet tips, and we have used FISHERbrand Redi-Tip boxes Catalog No. 21-197-8H (size 200 μL) or Catalog No. 21-197-2E (size 0.5–10 μL) (Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) w...

In this issue of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Beekman and colleagues report on discussions surrounding the establishment of European CF specimen biobanks for research use, which is complimented by a short communication by Garratt and the AREST CF research team [1,2]. These articles highlight the challenges and considerations of developing a multi-country CF biobank (the former), but also hig...

A biobank is a depository for biomaterials from a representative portion of a human population and acts as a vault with intricate detailed information pertaining to the individuals from whom biological materials have been collected. Biobanks can be classified into population biobanks, biobanks for molecular epidemiology and biobanks for disease biology. RGCB has been involved in biobanking with...

Avian Influenza Viruses (AIVs) infect many mammals, including humans(1). These AIVs are diverse in their natural hosts, harboring almost all possible viral subtypes(2). Human pandemics of flu originally stem from AIVs(3). Many fatal human cases during the H5N1 outbreaks in recent years were reported. Lately, a new AIV related strain swept through the human population, causing the 'swine flu epi...

on its website until the evening of 7 December. Then, with evidence emerging that some Northern Ireland farms might also be affected, it advised consumers not to eat pork or pork products, such as sausages, bacon, salami and ham, labelled as being from the Irish Republic or Northern Ireland. " We do not believe there is any significant risk to UK consumers, " the statement added. Possibly becau...

BACKGROUND High levels of androgens and estrogens have been reported to be associated with breast cancer. However, the multiplicity of factors that influence hormone levels and methodologic issues complicate the study of the relationship between steroid sex hormones and breast cancer. PURPOSE Using an improved study design, we assessed prospectively the relationship between the principal ster...

Madeleine R. Johnson AGMC/MAEL 813 Irving Wick Drive West Newark AFB, Ohio 43057-5149 This paper describes the initial results of a refrigerant retrofit project at the Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center (AGMC) at Newark Air Force Base, Ohio. The objective is to convert selected types of test equipment to properly operate on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) alternative refrigerants, having no ozone ...