Gene trapping is a high-throughput approach to elucidate gene functions by disrupting and recapitulating expression of genes in a target genome. A number of transposon-based gene-trapping systems are developed for mutagenesis in cells and model organisms, but there is still much room for the improvement of their efficiency in gene disruption and mutation. Herein, a gene-trapping system mediated...

Optimizing the extracted analyte collection step in analytical supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is of key importance in achieving high analyte recoveries and extraction efficiencies. Whereas the extraction step in SFE has been well characterized both theoretically and experimentally; the analyte collection step after SFE has few theoretical guidelines, aside from a few empirical studies whi...

The spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) is a newly introduced pest of soft fruits, stone fruits and grapes in Europe. Various trap types are used for monitoring and mass trapping of this pest. In Switzerland, “Gasser-Becherfalle” with a white lid and a liquid wine-vinegar based attractant is the most widely used trap type for both purposes. In order to improve efficiency of monitoring ...

We describe a prototype tandem mass spectrometer that is designed to increase the efficiency of linked-scan analyses by >100-fold over conventional linked-scan instruments. The key element of the mass spectrometer is a novel high ion capacity ion trap, combined in tandem configuration with a quadrupole collision cell and a quadrupole mass analyzer (i.e. a TrapqQ configuration). This ion trap ca...

Certain insects affect cultivations in a detrimental way. A notable case is the olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae (Rossi)), that in Europe alone causes billions of euros in crop-loss/per year. Pests can be controlled with aerial and ground bait pesticide sprays, the efficiency of which depends on knowing the time and location of insect infestations as early as possible. The inspection of traps i...

A simulation methodology is presented capable of evaluating the transient impact of trap kinetics in transistors at the circuit level and thus the effects caused by them, particularly Random Telegraph Noise (RTN) and Bias Temperature Instability (BTI). The downscaling of channel area leads to transistors with a smaller number of traps, but each trap causing a larger impact on the transistor’s e...

Cooling and manipulation of a large number of antiprotons held in an electro-magnetic trap are key techniques for the synthesizing antihydrogen atoms and antiprotonic atoms [1]. We, MUSASHI sub-group in ASACUSA collaboration, achieved accumulation and cooling of antiprotons with at least 50 times higher efficiency than has been achieved by conventional methods [2]. Extracting these antiprotons ...

To facilitate the scanning of large genomic regions for the presence of exonic gene segments we have constructed a cosmid-based exon trap vector. The vector serves a dual purpose since it is also suitable for contig construction and physical mapping. The exon trap cassette of vector sCOGH1 consists of the human growth hormone gene driven by the mouse mettallothionein-1 promoter. Inserts are clo...

To monitor malaria transmission, effective sampling methods for host seeking vectors are necessary. The suitability of these methods can be determined by field measurements of their trapping efficiencies. We compared the efficiencies of the Human Landing Catch (HLC), the Centers for Disease Control light trap (CDC-LT) placed next to occupied bednets and the Mbita trap for sampling Anopheles gam...

Finite-element methods along with Monte Carlo simulations were used to design a magnetic storage device for ultracold neutrons (UCN) to measure their lifetime. A setup was determined which should make it possible to confine UCN with negligible losses and detect the protons emerging from β-decay with high efficiency: stacked superconducting solenoids create the magnetic storage field, an electro...