In 1964, just a few years after the invention of the laser, a fluid velocity measurement based on the frequency shift of scattered light was made and the laser Doppler technique was born. This comprehensive review paper charts advances in the development and applications of laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) since those first pioneering experiments. Consideration is first given to the challenges that continue to be posed by laser speckle. Scanning LDV is introduced and its significant influence in the field of experimental modal analysis described. Applications in structural health

Abstract. We have identified the yeast homologue of Neurospora crassa MOM72, the mitochondrial import receptor for the ADP/ATP carrier (AAC), by functional studies and by eDNA sequencing. Mitochondria of a yeast mutant in which the gene for MOM72 was disrupted were impaired in specific binding and import of AAC. Unexpectedly, we found a residual, yet significant import of AAC into mitochondria lacking MOM72 that occurred via the receptor MOM19. We conclude that both MOM72 and MOM19 can direct AAC into mitochondria, albeit with different efficiency. Moreover, the precursor of MOM72 apparently does not require a positively charged sequence at the extreme amino terminus for targeting to mitochondria.

Mitochondrial protein import involves the recognition of preproteins by receptors and their subsequent translocation across the outer membrane. In Neurospora crassa, the two import receptors, MOM19 and MOM72, were found in a complex with the general insertion protein, GIP (formed by MOM7, MOM8, MOM30 and MOM38) and MOM22. We isolated a complex out of S. cerevisiae mitochondria consisting of MOM38/ISP42, the receptor MOM72, and five new yeast proteins, the putative equivalents of N. crassa MOM7, MOM8, MOM19, MOM22 and MOM30. A receptor complex isolated out of yeast cells transformed with N. crassa MOM19 contained the N. crassa master receptor in addition to the yeast proteins. This demonstrates that the yeast complex is functional, and provides strong evidence that we also have identified the yeast MOM19.

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Objective: To develop a simple method for the prospective identification of couples at risk of homozygous α-thalassemia-1 (Hb Bart’s hydrops fetalis) in pregnancy. Methods: Antenatal care (ANC) women and their husbands were analyzed using a simple erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) test and a PCR-based method for the detection of the mutation leading to α-thalassemia-1 of the Southeast Asian type (SEA). Results: Heterozygosity for the α-thalassemia-1 (SEA) deletion was found to correlate with an EOF value <60%. For a prospective screening, ANC women and their husbands are analyzed with the EOF test and only those having a value <60% were further checked by PCR. Of 2,769 cases analyzed during a 6-month period, 24 couples in which both partners are heterozygotes could be identified for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. The application of the EOF test decreased the workload for PCR by ∼80%. Conclusion: Prospective screening for α-thalassemia-1 (SEA) heterozygotes in northern Thailand is becoming easier to realize by the combination of EOF test and PCR.