Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in blood by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may facilitate early diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in different groups of patients. We evaluated this approach in 42 patients presenting with ocular or psychotic diseases by comparing the sensitivity and specificity of PCR after heat treatment using a microwave oven with a standard genomic DNA extraction method...

An accurate method based on combination of microwave assisted digestionsuppressed ion chromatography is proposed for the determination of fluoride and chloride in nuclear grade enriched boron (B10). The digestion of the boron matrix is carried out in closed vessel microwave assisted digestion using hydrogen peroxide and dilute nitric acid. By using the microwave assisted approach, the digestion...

The efficiencies of different transformation methods of E. coli DH5Qalpha train, induced by several cations like Mg2+, Mn2+ Rb+ and especially Ca2+, with or without polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were compared using the two commonly used plasmid vectors pCAMBIA1201 and pBI121. The widely used calcium chloride (CaCl2) method appeared to be the most efficient procedure, w...

Characteristics of microwave drying of wood strands with different initial moisture contents and geometries were investigated using a commercial 10 small microwave oven under different power inputs. Temperature and moisture changes along with the drying efficiency were examined at different drying scenar­ ios. Extractives were analyzed using gas chromatography=mass spectrometry (GC=MS). The res...