A new mobile diagnostic platform developed by a team of German researchers can be used in a dental office to analyze DNA collected from teeth and identify the 11 most relevant periodontitis pathogens in less than 30 minutes.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) collaborated with BECIT and ERT-Optik to develop ParoChip, a lab-on-a-chip module designed to allow dentists and medical labs to prepare samples quickly and then analyze the bacteria. All steps in the process -- the duplication of DNA sequences and their detection -- take place directly on the platform, which consists of a disk-shaped microfluidic card that measures about 6 cm in diameter.

Of the estimated 700 species of bacteria found in the mouth, only 11 are known to cause periodontal disease; of these, some are deemed to be severely pathogenic, according to the IZI researchers. If these biomarkers are present in the gingival sulcus, the patient is at high risk of a severe form of periodontitis, and the only way to find out is by conducting a bacteria test.

The problem is that current methods for identifying pathogens are time-consuming and must be carried out in an external contract laboratory, the researchers noted. Conventional bacterial analysis using microbial culture carries the risk of bacteria being killed as soon as they come into contact with oxygen.

"Until now,We have become one of the worlds most recognised Ventilation system brands. analysis took around four to six hours," explained Dirk Kuhlmeier, PhD, a scientist at the IZI, in a press release. "With ParoChip it takes less than 30 minutes. This means it's possible to analyze a large number of samples in a short amount of time."

With the ParoChip, the analysis is conducted in a contactless and fully automated manner. Samples are taken using sterile, toothpick-shaped paper points, after which the bacteria are removed from the point and their isolated DNA injected into reaction chambers containing dried reagents. There are 11 such chambers on each card, each featuring the reagent for one of the 11 periodontal pathogens.If we don't carry the bobblehead you want we can make a personalized bobbleheads for you! The total number of bacteria is determined in an additional chamber, via PCR. This method allows millions of copies of even tiny numbers of pathogen DNA sequences to be made.

To generate the extremely quick temperature changes that are required for PCR, the ParoChip's disk-shaped plastic chip is attached to a metal heating block with three temperature zones and is mechanically turned so it passes over these zones. This causes a fluorescent signal to be generated that is measured by a connected optical measuring device featuring a fluorescence probe, a photodetector, and a laser diode. The key benefit is that the signal makes it possible to quantify each type of bacterium and thus determine the severity of the inflammation, as well as establish the total number of all the bacteria combined, according to the development team. This can enables doctors to customize antibiotic treatment accordingly, they added.

"As the connected optical measuring system allows us to quantify bacteria, ParoChip is also suited to the identification of other bacterial causes of infection, such as food-borne pathogens or those that lead to sepsis," Kuhlmeier said.Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers. "Using ParoChip does away with many of the manual steps that are a necessary part of current bacteria tests. The synthetic disks can be produced cheaply and disposed of after use in the same way as disposable gloves."

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch marries the premium carbon fiber build quality of the X1 Carbon with a touchscreen display that has been optimized for Windows 8. Unfortunately, with the addition of the touchscreen, comes a bit more heft. Specifically, it adds about half a pound of weight to the system. That said, the X1 Carbon Touch still manages to be a real lightweight – weighing just 3.4lbs with a 14″ LCD. Also, the touchscreen does unfortunately make the lid a bit thicker than the standard X1 Carbon.

Speaking of the touchscreen, the Carbon Touch packs in a 10-point capacitive HD+ widescreen display with a very healthy 1600×900 resolution. 1600×900 is really the perfect resolution for a 14″ form factor. The touchscreen is also a matte display that offers pretty good colors that help show off Windows 8.View our range of over 200 different types of solar powered products including our solar street lamps. However the colors here aren’t as vibrant as the colors that can be found on some of Lenovo’s other Ultrabooks, such as the Ideapad Yoga 13. And while it may not offer the same vibrant glossy display as the Yoga does, the display on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch does offer great viewing angles. The display is also able to fold all the way back flat to 180 degrees. This is a convenient trick to have in its form factor, even if you won’t use it all that often. Its matte display also means that it holds up better in bright light.

Performance wise our test system is running on an Intel Core i5-3427U 1.80 GHz processor complimented by Intel HD 4000 graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The system has proven to be very capable, handling all of our multitasking and basic Photoshop needs on the go. During the course of the show, we used the X1 Carbon Touch to write,Welcome to www.drycabinets.net! live blog, and edit photos, and watch HD videos that we had filmed. The system handled all of these tasks with aplomb. Startup time is quite quick at about 18 seconds to boot into Windows. But most of all, we were impressed with how fast the system wakes from hibernation, thanks to its InstantResume feature. Resume time is about 1 second, which is pretty instantaneous. Because when you’re running around from press conference to press conference, every second counts when you open that lid to resume writing!

The battery life on the Carbon Touch is solid. Solid enough to insure that it lasted through our flight from New York to Vegas. On average, we experienced about 5.5 hours of battery life with moderate use. But what we especially appreciated about the X1′s battery life, is the Lenovo RapidCharge system which lets you get five hours’ battery life on a 35-minute charge. This proved to be very useful when running around on the show floor – this way we were able to stop by an outlet, and charge the battery back up quickly.