[Fatal cases of poisoning in eastern Denmark during a five-year period (1998-2002)].

Introduction: The goal of this investigation was to determine the pattern of fatal poisonings in eastern Denmark from 1998 to 2002 and compare it with similar investigations from 1979 to 1996.

Materials And Methods: The material included 2,996 autopsies from eastern Denmark in which extensive forensic chemical investigations were performed.

Results: Of the 2,996 autopsies, 694 cases were drug addicts, in whom 497 fatal overdoses were detected, while in the remaining 2,302 cases of nonaddicts, 443 fatal poisonings were determined.

Genetic labelling and application of the isoproturon-mineralizing Sphingomonas sp. strain SRS2 in soil and rhizosphere.

Aims: To construct a luxAB-labelled Sphingomonas sp. strain SRS2 maintaining the ability to mineralize the herbicide isoproturon and usable for monitoring the survival and distribution of strain SRS2 on plant roots in laboratory systems.

Methods And Results: We inserted the mini-Tn5-luxAB marker into strain SRS2 using conjugational mating.

Reconstruction of a yeast cell from X-ray diffraction data.

Details are provided of the algorithm used for the reconstruction of yeast cell images in the recent demonstration of diffraction microscopy by Shapiro, Thibault, Beetz, Elser, Howells, Jacobsen, Kirz, Lima, Miao, Nieman & Sayre [Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.

Physician use of electronic medical records: issues and successes with direct data entry and physician productivity.

At Intermountain Health Care, we evaluated whether physicians in an ambulatory setting will voluntarily choose to enter data directly into an electronic health record (EHR). In this paper we describe the benefits of an EHR, as they exist in the current IHC application and the ways in which we have sought to minimize obstacles to physician data entry. Currently, of 472 IHC employed physicians, 321 (68%) routinely enter some data directly into the EHR without coercion.

Haptoglobin-related protein is a high-affinity hemoglobin-binding plasma protein.

Haptoglobin-related protein (Hpr) is a primate-specific plasma protein associated with apolipoprotein L-I (apoL-I)-containing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles shown to be a part of the innate immune defense. Despite the assumption hitherto that Hpr does not bind to hemoglobin, the present study revealed that recombinant Hpr binds hemoglobin as efficiently as haptoglobin (Hp). However, in contrast to Hp, Hpr did not promote any high-affinity binding to the scavenger receptor CD163.

Evidence for a two-step mechanism involved in the formation of covalent HC x TSG-6 complexes.

IalphaI and TSG-6 interact to form a covalent bond between the C-terminal Asp alpha-carbon of an IalphaI heavy chain (HC) and an unknown component of TSG-6. This event disrupts the protein-glycosaminoglycan-protein (PGP) cross-link and dissociates IalphaI. In simple terms the interaction involves 5 components: (i) the IalphaI HCs, (ii) bikunin, (iii) chondroitin sulfate chain, (iv) TSG-6, and (v) divalent cations.

Biodegradation, bioaccessibility, and genotoxicity of diffuse polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution at a motorway site.

Diffuse pollution of surface soil with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is problematic in terms of the large areas and volumes of polluted soil. The levels and effects of diffuse PAH pollution at a motorway site were investigated. Surface soil was sampled with increasing distance from the asphalt pavement and tested for total amounts of PAHs, amounts of bioaccessible PAHs, total bacterial populations, PAH degrader populations, the potential for mineralization of 14C-PAHs, and mutagenicity.

Scanning transmission X-ray microscopic analysis of purified melanosomes of the mouse iris.

Melanosomes are specialized intracellular membrane bound organelles that produce and store melanin pigment. The composition of melanin and distribution of melanosomes determine the color of many mammalian tissues, including the hair, skin, and iris. However, the presence of melanosomes within a tissue carries potentially detrimental risks related to the cytotoxic indole-quinone intermediates produced during melanin synthesis.

The hemopexin and O-glycosylated domains tune gelatinase B/MMP-9 bioavailability via inhibition and binding to cargo receptors.

Gelatinase B/matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a key regulator and effector of immunity, contains a C-terminal hemopexin domain preceded by a unique linker sequence of approximately 64 amino acid residues. This linker sequence is demonstrated to be an extensively O-glycosylated (OG) domain with a compact three-dimensional structure. The OG and hemopexin domains have no influence on the cleavage efficiency of MMP-9 substrates.

High-resolution ab initio three-dimensional x-ray diffraction microscopy.

Coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy is a method of imaging nonperiodic isolated objects at resolutions limited, in principle, by only the wavelength and largest scattering angles recorded. We demonstrate x-ray diffraction imaging with high resolution in all three dimensions, as determined by a quantitative analysis of the reconstructed volume images. These images are retrieved from the three-dimensional diffraction data using no a priori knowledge about the shape or composition of the object, which has never before been demonstrated on a nonperiodic object.

Illumination for coherent soft X-ray applications: the new X1A beamline at the NSLS.

The X1A soft X-ray undulator beamline at the NSLS has been rebuilt to serve two microscopy stations operating simultaneously. Separate spherical-grating monochromators provide the resolving power required for XANES spectroscopy at the C, N and O absorption edges. The exit slits are fixed and define the coherent source for the experiments.

A specimen chamber for soft X-ray spectromicroscopy on aqueous and liquid samples.

A specimen chamber is described for soft X-ray spectromicroscopy of hydrated specimens and solutions. Applications include imaging and carbon edge spectroscopy of hydrated clay/polymer suspensions.

Quantitative analysis of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-induced proteome alterations in 5L rat hepatoma cells using isotope-coded protein labels.

In an effort to contribute to a better understanding of the hepatic toxicity of the ubiquitous environmental pollutant and hepatocarcinogen 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a comprehensive quantitative proteome analysis was performed on 5L rat hepatoma cells exposed to 1 nM TCDD for 8 h. Changes in the abundances of individual protein species in TCDD-treated cells as compared to untreated cells were analysed using the nongel-based isotope-coded protein label (ICPL) method [Schmidt, A., Kellermann, J.

Microbial degradation of street dust polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in microcosms simulating diffuse pollution of urban soil.

Diffuse pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of topsoil in urban regions has caused increasing concerns in recent years. We simulated diffuse pollution of soil in microcosms by spiking sandy topsoil (A-horizon) and coarse, mineral subsoil (C-horizon) with street dust (PM63) isolated from municipal street sweepings from central Copenhagen. The microbial communities adapted to PAH degradation in microcosms spiked with street dust in both A-horizon and C-horizon soils, in spite of low PAH-concentrations.

Degradation of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid in top- and subsoil is quantitatively linked to the class III tfdA gene.

The tfdA gene is known to be involved in the first step of the degradation of the phenoxy acid herbicide 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) in several soil bacteria, but bacteria containing other tfdA-like genes have been isolated as well. A quantitative real-time PCR method was used to monitor the increase in the concentration of tfdA genes during degradation of MCPA in sandy topsoil and subsoil over a period of 115 days. Quantitative PCR revealed growth in the tfdA-containing bacterial community, from 500 genes g(-1) soil to approximately 3 x 10(4) genes g(-1) soil and to 7 x 10(5) genes g(-1) soil for topsoil initially added to 2.

Chemical heterogeneity of organic soil colloids investigated by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and C-1s NEXAFS microspectroscopy.

Colloid release and deposition in soils and sorption of inorganic and organic pollutants to soil colloids are strongly influenced by the composition and chemical heterogeneity of colloidal soil particles. To investigate the chemical heterogeneity of organic soil colloids at the particle scale, we used synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and C-1s near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy on 49 individual particles isolated from the surface horizons of three forest soils. Stacks of 130 images of each particle were collected at different X-ray energies between 280 and 310 eV.

Biological imaging by soft x-ray diffraction microscopy.

We have used the method of x-ray diffraction microscopy to image the complex-valued exit wave of an intact and unstained yeast cell. The images of the freeze-dried cell, obtained by using 750-eV x-rays from different angular orientations, portray several of the cell's major internal components to 30-nm resolution. The good agreement among the independently recovered structures demonstrates the accuracy of the imaging technique.

Stress-induced single-polarization single-transverse mode photonic crystal fiber with low nonlinearity.

We report on the design of a single-polarization single-transverse mode large mode area photonic crystal fiber. By including index-matched stress applying elements in the photonic cladding an ultra-broadband single polarization window is obtained while a large mode field area of ~700 microm(2) is maintained. Based on that design, an Yb-doped double-clad photonic crystal fiber is realized that combines low nonlinearity and single polarization properties.

Bone mineral density of American Indian and Alaska Native women compared with non-Hispanic white women: results from the Women's Health Initiative Study.

Objective: To compare bone mineral density (BMD) of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women with that of non-Hispanic white women.

Design: This cross-sectional study compared mean BMD between AI/AN women and a random sample of non-Hispanic white women matched on geographic region in the Women's Health Initiative Study, a prospective study of postmenopausal women. We analyzed baseline BMD measurements for the total hip, spine, and whole body from 139 AI/AN women and 1,431 non-Hispanic white women.

UV treatment of fishmeal: a method to remove dioxins?

This study evaluates the use of UV on contaminated fishmeal and photodegradation of dioxins. Fishmeal samples were placed under UVA or UVB light for 2, 5, and 10 days. Subsequently, analysis of amino acid content, lipid oxidation marker, ethoxyquin content, dioxin, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) profiling was carried out.

Megalin binds and mediates cellular internalization of folate binding protein.

Folate is an essential vitamin involved in a number of biological processes. High affinity folate binding proteins (FBPs) exist both as glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked, membrane associated folate binding proteins and as soluble FBPs in plasma and some secretory fluids such as milk, saliva and semen. The function and significance of FBPs are unresolved, however, it has been suggested that they may facilitate folate uptake, e.

GATA-4:FOG interactions regulate gastric epithelial development in the mouse.

Transcription factor GATA-4 is a key participant in cytodifferentiation of the mouse hindstomach. Here we show that GATA-4 cooperates with a Friend-of-GATA (FOG) cofactor to direct gene expression in this segment of gut. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that GATA-4 and FOG-1 are co-expressed in hindstomach epithelial cells from embryonic days (E) 11.

Elucidating the key member of a linuron-mineralizing bacterial community by PCR and reverse transcription-PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting and cultivation.

A bacterial community from Danish agricultural soil was enriched with linuron [N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N'-methoxy-N'-methylurea] as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. The community mineralized [ring-U-14C]linuron completely to 14CO2 and 14C-biomass. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis and cultivation revealed that a Variovorax sp.

A randomized clinical trial of acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture in fibromyalgia.

Background: Fibromyalgia is a common chronic pain condition for which patients frequently use acupuncture.

Objective: To determine whether acupuncture relieves pain in fibromyalgia.

Design: Randomized, sham-controlled trial in which participants, data collection staff, and data analysts were blinded to treatment group.