NOVEL PCR ASSAYS FOR THREE FUR MITES IN NATURALLY INFECTED MICE WITHOUT ANIMAL SACRIFICE

Rodent fur mite infestation is a persistent and intractable problem in laboratory rodent colonies, due to insensitive diagnostics, unrepresentative samples for testing and improper sentinel system. Myocoptes musculinus (COP), Myobia musculi (MOB) and Radfordia affinis (RDA) have been reported in laboratory mouse colonies. To improve the sensitivity and efficiency of fur mite detection, COP-specific PCR and MOB/RDA-specific PCR assays were developed to detect and differentiate these fur mites, with the existence of a rodent housekeeping gene. The COP-specific PCR and the MOB/RDA-specific PCR could specifically detect COP and MOB/RDA at as low as 10 copies, respectively. In comparison of the specific PCRs with traditional methods (pluck test, tape test and pelt exam) for fur mite diagnosis, 31 rodents and 17 cage environment samples were evaluated. In screening for the infestation status of various fur mites on individual animals, the specific PCR assays showed distinctly higher sensitivity and accuracy (100% and 100%) than those of the traditional methods (sensitivity: 25–80%, accuracy: 83.9–96.8%). Interestingly, by using cage wipe environmental samples, the specific PCR assays exhibited 100% sensitivity and accuracy in the fur mite detection and differentiation. The COP-specific and MOB/RDA-specific PCR assays developed in this study could be reliable alternatives for routine pathogen monitoring of laboratory mice and environments of animal facilities without animal sacrifice. [Chou C-L, Cheng Y-C, Wang MH, Wan CH, Novel PCR assays for three fur mites in naturally infected mice without animal sacrifice, Taiwan Vet J XX(X):XX–XX, 2020.

Electroless Nickel and Au Plated Silver LTCC Solution for Advanced Hermetic Packages

Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) for military and medical applications requires high reliability interconnects that have been traditionally met using cermet Au metallization But due to the rising cost of Au, it has become cost prohibitive in some applications to tier 1 defense contractors. The utilization of Silver cermet metallization reduces the costs of LTCC up to 50%, however requires proper coverage using either a Mixed Metal, or a Nickel (Ni) and Au (Au) Plated surface. Efforts to date on mixed metal solutions with resistive PdAg or PtAg transitions without Kirkendahl voiding have been unreliable for systems requiring post fire metallizations due to voiding at the silver to Au transition. Anaren Ceramics has developed an all Silver LTCC solution that utilizes Electroless Ni and Au (ENiG) plating, lowering the cost of entry for LTCC users up to 50%. Anaren Ceramics has developed a proprietary plating process for the DuPont 951 LTCC [1] tape material and silver metallization which meet the needs of high reliability, high cavity count LTCC packages that are fully solderable using PbSn, or AuSn materials for hermetic applications. The Anaren Ceramics solution meets Mil Std 883 test requirements and this paper will discuss the test results for plated LTCC substrates and AuSn brazed LTCC assemblies that include 350°C Bake Test, Tape Peel, X Ray Inspection, Open Header Leak Rate, Moisture under Bias, Salt Atmosphere, Die Shear, and Wire Bond.

Effects of Segment and Pause Manipulations on the Identification of Treated Stutterers

This study examined the hypothesis that reading rate affects the identification of treated stutterers. Thirty-two pairs of recorded speech samples, in which one member of the pair was a treated stutterer and the other was a nonstutterer, were available from previous research. Listeners had been able to distinguish readily between the members of these pairs. For each pair of samples, the durations of the treated stutterer's segments and pauses were adjusted to match those of the nonstutterer as closely as possible by means of a computer-based waveform editor. A test tape was prepared that included the 32 original pairs of stimuli, the 32 edited pairs, and 64 pairs of foils. Listeners were required to indicate which member of each pair was the treated stutterer. Analysis of the responses indicated that the listeners' ability to distinguish between talkers was significantly reduced for the edited stimulus pairs. The results imply that the rate used by treated stutterers must be critically evaluated if the goal of therapv is the production of perceptually "normal" speech.