Polygalacturonase from Sitophilus oryzae: possible horizontal transfer of a pectinase gene from fungi to weevils.

Endo-polygalacturonase, one of the group of enzymes known collectively as pectinases, is widely distributed in bacteria, plants and fungi. The enzyme has also been found in several weevil species and a few other insects, such as aphids, but not in Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae, or Caenorhabditis elegans or, as far as is known, in any more primitive animal species. What, then, is the genetic origin of the polygalacturonases in weevils? Since some weevil species harbor symbiotic microorganisms, it has been suggested, reasonably, that the symbionts' genomes of both aphids and weevils, rather than the insects' genomes, could encode polygalacturonase.

Role of environmental cleaning in controlling an outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii on a neurosurgical intensive care unit.

An outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii colonization and infection occurred in 19 patients over a 14-month period during 1998-1999 on a neurosurgical intensive care unit. During efforts to control the outbreak a significant correlation was observed between the number of environmental isolates of A. baumannii obtained during each monthly screening and the number of patients with A.

Risk factors for acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by patients with cystic fibrosis.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an increasing problem for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). It has been associated with clinical deterioration in some patients with CF, creates additional infection control problems, and may affect acceptance onto transplant waiting lists. Recent attempts to eradicate the organism have met with only moderate success.

The interplay between women's life course work patterns and financial planning for later life.

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between women's life course work patterns and their financial planning for later life, we examined data from semi-structured interviews with retired women (n = 28) aged 59 to 92. The majority of women disrupted their careers at some point in time, for an average of 14 years, primarily for child-rearing responsibilities. We found that financial preparedness and income security in later life are structured by women's life course work patterns.

Reflexive planning for later life.

Informed by Giddens' (1991) concept of reflexive life planning and the notion of later life as a time of increasing social and financial risk, this research explores the idea of reflexive planning for later life. We utilize a conceptual model that incorporates three types of planning for later life: public protection, self-insurance, and self-protection. Drawing on qualitative, life-history data from a study of 51 mid-life and older Canadians, we examined whether individuals recognized the risks associated with later life, and if so, how far these recognitions entered into the preparations people made for their futures.

Helping to build and rebuild secure lives and futures: financial transfers from parents to adult children and grandchildren.

This paper explores intergenerational financial transfers from parents to adult children and grandchildren within a life course perspective. Research on intergenerational financial transfers has been sparse, and little is known about the financial support older Canadians provide to family members or about the meaning of that assistance. Survey data from a convenience sample of older Canadians was analysed to determine the types of financial assistance older persons provide, what motivates them to provide this assistance, and what meanings such transfers have for the older persons themselves.

Help to older parents and parents-in-law: does paid employment constrain women's helping behaviour?

While concern has been expressed for some time about the impact of rising female employment on informal help to older adults, few studies have directly compared employed and not-employed women and only rarely has research utilized national, population-based samples. This article examines whether paid employment reduces the provision and/or the intensity of specific types of help offered by women to older parents and parents-in-law. Data were drawn from the 1996 General Social Survey of Canada and consist of a sub-sample of women aged 40 to 64 who had at least one parent or parent-in-law alive.

Publicly funded and family-friend care in the case of long-term illness: the role of the spouse.

In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to the value of unpaid work in the economy. One very important aspect of unpaid work is caregiving for chronically ill or disabled people and the question of whether or not family-and-friend caregiving eases the burden on the publicly funded system. Using data from the 1996 General Social Survey, this paper investigates the extent to which the presence of a spouse of a senior aged 55 and over with a long-term illness reduces the amount of publicly funded care received.

Evaluation of a hydrogen laser vacuum ultraviolet source for photoionization mass spectrometry of pharmaceuticals.

A photoionization hydrogen laser time-of-flight mass spectrometer system (H2-TOFMS) has been evaluated for the rapid analysis of drugs of abuse and pharmaceutical agents extracted from prescription tablets and spiked urine samples. The spectra obtained using the H2-TOFMS showed primarily intact molecular ions (M+*) after introduction by a heated probe and irradiation with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons from the laser. Samples analyzed by this technique required only a simple solid-phase extraction step; no chromatographic separation or derivatization was necessary to identify the drugs of abuse or pharmaceutical agents.

Simultaneous multichannel mass-specific detection for high-performance liquid chromatography using an array detector sector-field mass spectrometer.

The use of a separation step, such as liquid chromatography, prior to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has become a common tool for highly selective and sensitive analyses. This type of coupling has several benefits including the ability to perform speciation analysis or to remove isobaric interferences. Several limitations of conventional instruments result from the necessity to scan or pulse the mass spectrometer to obtain a complete mass spectrum.

TNP-470, an angiogenesis inhibitor, attenuates the development of allograft vasculopathy.

Fischer 344 rat recipients of Lewis allografts were treated with TNP-470, a synthetic fumagillin derivative and a well-established angiogenesis inhibitor. TNP-470 alone resulted in some prolongation of graft survival as compared with untreated recipients, but all grafts ultimately failed. In contrast, treatment with cyclosporine (CsA) from day 0 to 30 resulted in prolonged graft survival and marked cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) by histology (mean score 2.

Significance of anticardiolipin antibodies on short and long term allograft survival and function following kidney transplantation.

The significance of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACAs) prior to renal transplantation is unclear. We studied a cohort of 337 patients who underwent renal transplantation from 1996 to 2001. Follow-up continued until allograft loss, patient death or 31 December 2002.

'Cepacia syndrome' with Burkholderia multivorans, 9 years after initial colonization.

A 16-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis developed 'cepacia syndrome' 9 years after the first isolation of Burkholderia multivorans. It is important to recognise that 'cepacia syndrome' is not restricted to those infected with genomovar type III strains and that rapid, irreversible clinical decline can occur many years after the 1st isolation of Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc).

Evaluation of a new definition for chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis patients.

Background: Patients were defined each successive month as either 'chronic' when more than 50% of the preceding 12 months were PA culture positive, 'intermittent' when < or =50% of the preceding 12 months were PA culture positive, 'free of PA', with no growth of PA for the previous 12 months, having previously been PA culture positive, or 'never infected', when PA had never been cultured.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 146 children attending the Leeds Regional Cystic Fibrosis Centre was performed to assess relationship between the new definition and clinical scores and investigations. The response variable was regressed on age and sex and the residuals analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test.

Mercury binding to the chelation therapy agents DMSA and DMPS and the rational design of custom chelators for mercury.

Clinical chelation therapy of mercury poisoning generally uses one or both of two drugs--meso-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and dimercaptopropanesulfonic acid (DMPS), commercially sold as Chemet and Dimaval, respectively. We have used a combination of mercury L(III)-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to investigate the chemistry of interaction of mercuric ions with each of these chelation therapy drugs. We show that neither DMSA nor DMPS forms a true chelate complex with mercuric ions and that these drugs should be considered suboptimal for their clinical task of binding mercuric ions.

Assessment by flow cytometry of intracellular cytokine production in the peripheral blood cells of renal transplant recipients.

Introduction: There is accumulating evidence that non-invasive immune monitoring may be useful in the early period after renal transplant, particularly with regard to predicting the presence of acute rejection. It is less clear whether chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is also associated with consistent changes in peripheral blood or urine cells. We hypothesized that patients with CAN would manifest different patterns of cytokine production (compared with non-CAN controls), detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Receptor binding specificities of Herstatin and its intron 8-encoded domain.

Retention of intron 8 in alternative HER-2 mRNA generates an inhibitory secreted ligand, Herstatin, with a novel receptor-binding domain (RBD) encoded by the intron. This study examines binding interactions with several receptors and investigates sequence variations in intron 8. The RBD, expressed as a peptide, binds at nM concentrations to HER-2, the EGFR, DeltaEGFR, HER-4 and to the IGF-1 receptor, but not to HER-3 nor to the FGF-3 receptor, whereas a rare mutation in the RBD (Arg to Ile) eliminates receptor binding.

Use of a novel array detector for the direct analysis of solid samples by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma sector-field mass spectrometry.

The use of laser ablation (LA) as a sample-introduction method for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) creates a powerful tool for trace elemental analysis. With this type of instrument, high analyte spatial resolution is possible in three dimensions with ng/g limits of detection and minimal sample consumption. Here, simultaneous detection is used to eliminate the correlated noise that plagues the ablation process.

Characterization of a focal plane camera fitted to a Mattauch-Herzog geometry mass spectrograph. 2. Use with an inductively coupled plasma.

A novel charge-sensitive detector array, termed the focal plane camera (FPC), has been coupled to a Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrograph (MHMS) with an inductively coupled plasma ionization source. The FPC employs an array of gold Faraday cups, each with its own charge-integrating circuit that allows the simultaneous detection of several m/z ratios. The ion-sampling interface of the MHMS has been redesigned to provide better heat transfer away from the sampler and skimmer cones and to reduce the negative effects of turbulent gas flows around the plasma.

Gender differences in health: a Canadian study of the psychosocial, structural and behavioural determinants of health.

Gender-based inequalities in health have been frequently documented. This paper examines the extent to which these inequalities reflect the different social experiences and conditions of men's and women's lives. We address four specific questions.

Role of environmental cleaning in controlling an outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii on a neurosurgical intensive care unit.

An outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii colonization and infection occurred in 19 patients over a 14-month period during 1998-1999 on a neurosurgical intensive care unit. During efforts to control the outbreak a significant correlation was observed between the number of environmental isolates of A. baumannii obtained during each monthly screening and the number of patients with A.