Identification of Mycobacterium ulcerans in the environment from regions in Southeast Australia in which it is endemic with sequence capture-PCR.

We recently described the use of PCR to identify the environmental source of Mycobacterium ulcerans during an outbreak of ulcerative disease that occurred in a localized region of southeast Australia. The PCR used was based on amplification of the M. ulcerans-specific insertion sequence, IS2404.

Effects of hyperthermia on uterine blood flow and shunting through uterine arteriovenous anastomoses in the late-pregnant ewe.

The effect of maternal hyperthermia on uterine blood flow (UBF) through the two main uterine arteries and on the proportion of UBF shunted through uterine arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs) was investigated. Eight late-pregnant ewes were exposed to normothermic (22-23 degrees C) or hyperthermic (approximately 39 degrees C) ambient conditions for 8 h. UBF was measured in the left and right uterine arteries using flow probes and microspheres were injected into the uterine artery before, during and after the experimental period.

Evaluation of the long-term function of cryopreserved ovarian grafts in the mouse, implications for human applications.

Ovarian tissue storage has several potentially very valuable clinical applications, including the management of young female patients that are at risk of premature menopause. Ovarian tissue collection, used alone or in combination with oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, may help these patients safeguard their own future fertility. All available evidence from animal studies indicates that grafting of frozen ovarian tissue should be feasible in the human.

A simple PCR method for rapid genotype analysis of Mycobacterium ulcerans.

Two high-copy-number insertion sequences, IS2404 and IS2606, were recently identified in Mycobacterium ulcerans and were shown by Southern hybridization to possess restriction fragment length polymorphism between strains from different geographic origins. We have designed a simple genotyping method that captures these differences by PCR amplification of the region between adjacent copies of IS2404 and IS2606. We have called this system 2426 PCR.

Uterine milk protein, a novel activin-binding protein, is present in ovine allantoic fluid.

Activins are pluripotent growth factors that have recently been shown to be present in placental and fetal membrane preparations. Our previous studies have identified and purified activin A from ovine amniotic and allantoic fluids. In this study, ligand blots of side fractions from the isolation of activin A from allantoic fluid suggested the presence of activin-binding proteins other than follistatin.

What is the cause of a rash after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination?

Surveillance and laboratory confirmation of measles will increase in importance as Australia implements enhanced measles control. We describe a 17-month-old child with fever and rash after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Detection of vaccine-strain measles virus in his urine by polymerase chain reaction confirmed the diagnosis of a vaccine reaction rather than wild-type measles.

Effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibition on the uterine vasculature of the late-pregnant ewe.

Objectives: We studied the role of nitric oxide in the maintenance of uterine vascular tone during pregnancy.

Study Design: Late-pregnant ewes were instrumented with ultrasonographic flow probes on the left and right main uterine arteries. A catheter was passed retrogradely into 1 uterine artery from a tributary.

Effect of labor induction on the expression of oxytocin receptor, cytochrome P450 aromatase, and estradiol receptor in the reproductive tract of the late-pregnant ewe.

Unlabelled: In this study, we investigated the timing of changes in aromatase, estradiol receptor, and oxytocin receptor expression in ovine uterine and placental tissues before parturition. Labor was induced by betamethasone injection into the fetus on Days 130-132 of pregnancy. Tissue samples were collected at injection and then every 14 h until labor (56 h) from four ewes at each time point.

Co-localization of Rab3B and oxytocin to electron dense granules of the sheep corpus luteum during the estrous cycle.

Oxytocin and its carrier protein, neurophysin, are both associated with luteal secretory granules which migrate from the paranuclear region to the cell membrane where exocytosis takes place. Rab3 proteins are thought to be associated with membrane vesicles or granules undergoing exocytotic fusion with the plasma membrane. The objective of this study was to determine whether Rab3B is co-localized with oxytocin within the same secretory granules of large luteal cells obtained from corpora lutea of 16 Merino cross ewes at day 3, 7, 12 or 15 of the estrous cycle using immunocytochemistry.

Campylobacter upsaliensis-associated diarrhea in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Campylobacter upsaliensis was isolated from the feces of 20 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with diarrhea over a 67-month period, representing 18.5% of fecal Campylobacter isolates from our HIV-seropositive patients. All isolates were recovered from feces by a 0.

Ovine allantoic fluid contains high concentrations of activin A: partial dissociation of immunoactivity and bioactivity.

In a preliminary study, allantoic fluid collected from pregnant sheep across gestational ages of 20-124 days contained significantly higher levels of activin bioactivity (189 +/- 74 ng/ml, mean +/- SE) than did amniotic fluid (3.2 +/- 0.6 ng/ml).

Oestrogenic effects of ICI 182,780, a putative anti-oestrogen, on the secretion of oxytocin and prostaglandin F2 alpha during oestrous cycle in the intact ewe.

The effect of ICI 182,780, oestrogen antagonist, on the concentration of oxytocin and uterine PGF2 alpha was investigated in intact Border Leicester Merino cross ewes during the late oestrous cycle. Twelve cyclic ewes (n = 6 per group) were randomly assigned to receive, at 6 h intervals, intra-muscular injection of either peanut oil or ICI 182,780 (1.5 mg kg-1 day-1) in oil for 2 days, starting at 1900 h on day 13 until 1300 h on day 15 post-oestrus.

Stimulation of ovarian oxytocin secretion and uterine prostaglandin release by exogenous progesterone early in the cycle of the ovarian auto-transplanted ewe.

The present study was undertaken to determine whether the administration of progesterone, early in the oestrous cycle, had an influence on ovarian oxytocin secretion and on peripheral concentrations of the prostaglandin F2 alpha metabolite 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2 alpha (PGFM) in the ovarian auto-transplanted ewe. Twelve ewes with ovarian auto-transplants (n = 6 per group) were randomly assigned to receive an i.m.

Candidal epididymo-orchitis: case report and review.

We describe a case of epididymo-orchitis with candiduria and histologically proven epididymal abscesses due to Candida albicans and review six previously reported cases. Candidal epididymo-orchitis occurs in patients with recognized risk factors for candidal infection, often after instrumentation of the urinary tract. Cases caused by both C.

Physiological evidence for arteriovenous anastomoses in the uterine circulation of late-pregnant ewes.

1. The objective of the present study was to determine whether arteriovenous anastomoses (AVA) are present in the uterine circulation of conscious, late-pregnant ewes. 2.

Changes in uterine endometrial phospholipids and fatty acids throughout the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy in the ewe.

This study examined changes in ovine endometrial phospholipids and fatty acid concentrations associated with luteolysis and the establishment of pregnancy in the ewe on days 3, 12 and 15, respectively. Results from this study indicate that endometrial lipids increased as the oestrous cycle progressed from days 3 to 12 and 15, whereas during early pregnancy, endometrial lipids decreased on day 15 of pregnancy when compared to days 3 and 12 of pregnancy. Phosphatidylcholine followed a similar pattern to that of total lipids, with an increase in phosphatidylcholine concentrations as the oestrous cycle progressed.

Source of inhibin in ovine fetal plasma and amniotic fluid during late gestation: half-life of fetal inhibin.

Immunoactive inhibin (ir-inhibin) concentrations were determined in chronically catheterized sheep between 120 and 145 days gestation. Maternal plasma ir-inhibin concentrations remained basal (0.19 +/- 0.

Airport malaria in Cairns.

We report a patient with Plasmodium vivax malaria that was acquired in Cairns in October 1996. Rather than being "introduced" (i.e.

Universal precautions: attitudes of Australian and New Zealand anaesthetists.

Objective: To survey the attitudes of a group of Australasian anaesthetists to the risks of bloodborne infections, and their understanding of Universal Precautions.

Design: A questionnaire survey.

Setting: A conference on health risks to anaesthetists in August 1995.

Effect of oestradiol on ovarian oxytocin secretion rate and luteolysis in the ewe after ovarian auto-transplantation.

The release of ovarian oxytocin and uterine prostaglandin (PG)F2alpha in response to an oestradiol stimulus was investigated. On Day 15 post-oestrus, ten ewes with ovarian auto-transplants (n=5 per group) received an intra-muscular injection of either oestradiol benzoate (50 microg) or vehicle. Blood samples were collected from the ovarian and jugular veins at 30 and 0 min before, and at 15-min intervals up to 540 min after, injection.

Transplantation of cryopreserved fetal ovarian tissue to adult recipients in mice.

Sixteen-day-old fetal mouse ovaries were slowly frozen in 1.5 mol dimethylsulfoxide ml-1 and subjected to one of two thawing procedures--fast thaw or slow thaw. Fresh and frozen-thawed fetal ovaries were transplanted orthotopically (to the bursal cavity) to either bilaterally or unilaterally ovariectomized adult female recipients.

Oxytocin receptor development in ovine uterus and cervix throughout pregnancy and at parturition as determined by in situ hybridization analysis.

The development of uterine oxytocin receptors is an important regulatory step in the initiation of labour. Paracrine production of oxytocin by uterine and placental tissues may also be involved in some species. Placentome, intercotyledonary endometrium, myometrium and fetal membranes were collected from 3-5 ewes each, at regular intervals throughout pregnancy and from eight ewes during labour.

Oxytocin-induced prostaglandin F2 alpha release and endometrial oxytocin receptor concentrations throughout pregnancy in ewes.

Endometrial oxytocin receptor concentrations and oxytocin-induced plasma concentrations of 13,14,dihydro-15-keto prostaglandin F2 alpha were investigated on days 14 and 17 of the oestrous cycle and on days 14, 17, 25, 65, 85 and 145 of gestation in ewes. Total 13,14,dihydro-15-keto prostaglandin F2 alpha release in response to a bolus injection of oxytocin was significantly (P < 0.05) higher at luteolysis (day 17 of the oestrous cycle) than at any other stage of the oestrous cycle or in early gestation.