Recent European regulations have indicated the need for new bioanalytical screening methods capable of monitoring dioxin and dioxin-like compounds in foodstuffs and environmental samples, cost-effectively and with a quicker turnaround. Cryo-cells of the hepatic H4IIE line preserved in 96-well plates were exposed to sample extracts prepared from various foodstuffs and analysed for their content of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds by means of the 7-Ethoxyresorufin-O-Deethylase (EROD)-assay in two laboratories. Assay data were compared between both laboratories and results from instrumental analysis used as a confirmatory method. Additionally, cut-off values for the different studied matrices were derived. The current European regulation regarding methods of analysis for the control of foodstuffs was applied with the aim of determining the feasibility of the cryo-methodology. Results obtained in both laboratories were in congruence with the required validation parameters of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2017/644. Cut-off values should be established matrix-dependent to reduce the rate of false compliant results and to keep the rate of false non-compliant results under control. In summary, the ready-to-use cryo-assay method for the bioanalytical screening of foodstuffs in control laboratories without cell-culture facilities has successfully proven to be accurate, far quicker and more cost effective than current methods.

Quality and Efficiency — A DEA Based Analysis of the Austrian Electricity Distribution Sector

This paper focuses on the interdependencies between technical efficiencies and energy demand which are often either treated in isolation or do not get the sufficient attention in the literature. More precisely, this paper uses technical efficiencies as one crucial determinant of energy demand in order to integrate at least two issues that are usually investigated separately from each other: the rebound effect resulting from improved technical efficiencies and the asymmetry of energy demand. In this regard, our paper sets out a theoretical framework which has the following implications: higher efficiency increases service demand (first order rebound), low fuel prices and higher efficiency increases the demand for quality (second order) which in turn increases service demand further (third order); ceteris paribus, energy price shocks should increase scrapping rates; fuel prices direct the R&D expenditures of car producers; those on engine efficiency are irreversible, which has the consequence that energy price elasticities depend on the history of energy prices rather than being asymmetrical. Derived implications are subsequently tested on Austrian data. In particular, the purchasing decision diesel versus gasoline powered cars allows to refute the myth that consumers apply high implicit rates for discounting the future benefit from efficient cars.

A fast and efficient method for the selection of plasmamembrane-marked protoplasts via magnetic-associated cell separation (MACS) was developed. Isolated mesophyll protoplasts from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were covalently labeled at their plasma membrane with fluoresceine isothiocyanate (FITC) with an efficiency of greater than 95%. They were subsequently coupled to specific monoclonal antibodies against FITC, which were conjugated to magnetic beads, and mixed with unlabeled hypocotyl protoplasts. About 95% of the marked mesophyll protoplasts were separated by the MACS system with a purity of greater than 80%. Protoplasts embedded in agarose showed normal dividing activities.

AbstractPeripheral blood‐derived T cells from six unprimed caucasian donors were tested for the in vitro reactivity to Plasmodium falciparum merozoites (PFM). Without exception vigorous proliferative responses were observed within the donors tested. The frequency of PFM‐reactive T cells ranged from 1/150–1/300. Phenotypic analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured in the presence of PFM revealed the preferential outgrowth of γ/δ T cells, which represented within 7 days about 70% of the reactive T cell blasts. All reactive γ/δ T cell blasts displayed the Vγ9+ TcR phenotype. We conclude that human γ/δ T cells respond vigorously to PFM, and that this property is confined to Vγ9+ T cell subset.