| 1. |
- Andersson, M. G., et al.
(författare)
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Separated by a common language : Awareness of term usage differences between languages and disciplines in biopreparedness
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biosecurity and bioterrorism. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1538-7135 .- 1557-850X. ; 11:SUPPL. 1, s. S276-S285
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Preparedness for bioterrorism is based on communication between people in organizations who are educated and trained in several disciplines, including law enforcement, health, and science. Various backgrounds, cultures, and vocabularies generate difficulties in understanding and interpretating terms and concepts, which may impair communication. This is especially true in emergency situations, in which the need for clarity and consistency is vital. The EU project AniBioThreat initiated methods and made a rough estimate of the terms and concepts that are crucial for an incident, and a pilot database with key terms and definitions has been constructed. Analysis of collected terms and sources has shown that many of the participating organizations use various international standards in their area of expertise. The same term often represents different concepts in the standards from different sectors, or, alternatively, different terms were used to represent the same or similar concepts. The use of conflicting terminology can be problematic for decision makers and communicators in planning and prevention or when handling an incident. Since the CBRN area has roots in multiple disciplines, each with its own evolving terminology, it may not be realistic to achieve unequivocal communication through a standardized vocabulary and joint definitions for words from common language. We suggest that a communication strategy should include awareness of alternative definitions and ontologies and the ability to talk and write without relying on the implicit knowledge underlying specialized jargon. Consequently, cross-disciplinary communication skills should be part of training of personnel in the CBRN field. In addition, a searchable repository of terms and definitions from relevant organizations and authorities would be a valuable addition to existing glossaries for improving awareness concerning bioterrorism prevention planning. © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
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| 2. |
- Knutsson, R., et al.
(författare)
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Accidental and deliberate microbiological contamination in the feed and food chains - How biotraceability may improve the response to bioterrorism
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Food Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1605 .- 1879-3460. ; 145:SUPPL. 1, s. S123-S128
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A next frontier of the global food safety agenda has to consider a broad spectrum of bio-risks, such as accidental and intentional contaminations in the food and feed chain. In this article, the background for the research needs related to biotraceability and response to bioterrorism incidents are outlined. Given the current scale of international trade any response need to be considered in an international context. Biotraceability (e.g. the ability to use downstream information to point to processes or within a particular food chain that can be identified as the source of undesirable agents) is crucial in any food-born outbreak and particular in the response to bioterrorism events. In the later case, tested and proven biotraceability improves the following: (i) international collaboration of validated tracing tools and detection methods, (ii) multi-disciplinary expertise and collaboration in the field of food microbiology and conceptual modeling of the food chain, (iii) sampling as a key step in biotracing (iv) optimized sample preparation procedures, including laboratory work in Biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories, (v) biomarker discovery for relevant tracing and tracking applications, and (vi) high-throughput sequencing using bio-informatic platforms to speed up the characterization of the biological agent. By applying biotraceability, the response phase during a bioterrorism event may be shortened and is facilitated for tracing the origin of biological agent contamination. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
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| 3. |
- Woudstra, C., et al.
(författare)
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Validation of a real-time PCR based method for detection of clostridium botulinum types C, D and their mosaic variants C-D and D-C in a multicenter collaborative trial
- 2013
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Ingår i: Anaerobe. - : Elsevier BV. - 1075-9964 .- 1095-8274. ; 22, s. 31-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two real-time PCR arrays based on the GeneDisc® cycler platform (Pall-GeneDisc Technologies) were evaluated in a multicenter collaborative trial for their capacity to specifically detect and discriminate Clostridium botulinum types C, D and their mosaic variants C-D and D-C that are associated with avian and mammalian botulism. The GeneDisc® arrays developed as part of the DG Home funded European project 'AnibioThreat' were highly sensitive and specific when tested on pure isolates and naturally contaminated samples (mostly clinical specimen from avian origin). Results of the multicenter collaborative trial involving eight laboratories in five European Countries (two laboratories in France, Italy and The Netherlands, one laboratory in Denmark and Sweden), using DNA extracts issued from 33 pure isolates and 48 naturally contaminated samples associated with animal botulism cases, demonstrated the robustness of these tests. Results showed a concordance among the eight laboratories of 99.4%-100% for both arrays. The reproducibility of the tests was high with a relative standard deviation ranging from 1.1% to 7.1%. Considering the high level of agreement achieved between the laboratories these PCR arrays constitute robust and suitable tools for rapid detection of C.botulinum types C, D and mosaic types C-D and D-C. These are the first tests for C.botulinum C and D that have been evaluated in a European multicenter collaborative trial. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Magnuson, Ann, et al.
(författare)
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High-valent Ruthenium-Manganese Complexes for Solar Energy Production.
- 2001
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Ingår i: PS2001 Proceedings.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present progress in the development of artificial photosynthesis, as a means to harvesting and storage of solar energy. The plan is to compose molecular systems that combine known photochemistry with emerging functional model compounds. A photochemical device for solar energy conversion contains a photosensitizer, an electron acceptor system and a donor system that prevents charge recombination. Our goal is to utilize water as sacrificial electron donor, which will allow a net production of reducing equivalents, and the ultimate production of fuel. The only light-driven molecular catalyst for water oxidation exists in Photosystem II (PSII), which has a tetranuclear Mn-cluster in the active site. Here we present several Mn-compounds, that we have developed for the purpose of creating water-oxidizing catalysts. Our idea is to link Ru-tris(bipyridine) derivatives, which mimicks the function of the primary donor in PS II, with manganese complexes, mimicking the tetra-Mn cluster on the PSII donor side. We have constructed a number of heteronuclear complexes, containing a Ru-photosensitizer and various Mn-complexes. The compounds have been characterized with regards to their photophysical and photochemical properties, redox potentials and structure. The most promising compounds are capable of undergoing several electron transfers from the Mn-complex to the photosensitizer, leaving 3 to 4 oxidizing equivalents on the Mn. In the latest development, we have constructed ligands that stabilize higher oxidation states in Mn, in order to promote formation of Mn(V) which many believes is an intermediate in the water oxidation mechanism.
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