Influence of Different Arm Positions in the Localizer Radiograph(s) on Patient Dose during Exposure-Controlled CT Examinations of the Neck to Pelvis.

Our aim was to examine the impact of different arm positions during imaging of the localizer radiograph(s) on effective dose for exposure-controlled computed tomography (CT) (Siemens/Canon) scans of the neck to pelvis. An anthropomorphic whole-body phantom was scanned from the neck to pelvis with the arms positioned in three different ways during the acquisition of the localizer radiograph: (i) above the head, (ii) alongside the trunk, and (iii) along the trunk with the hands placed on the abdomen. In accordance with clinical routines, the arms were not included in the subsequent helical scans.

EFFECTIVE DOSE AND EFFECT OF DOSE MODULATION FOR LOCALIZER RADIOGRAPHS USING APPLIED AND ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS ON TOSHIBA/CANON CT SYSTEMS.

The purpose was to estimate the effective dose of Toshiba/Canon thorax localizer radiographs for available parameter settings, and to test their dose modulation ability. Localizer radiographs were acquired of anthropomorphic chest phantoms (body mass indices 29 and 23) using various settings (120-80 kV, 100-10 mA). The milliamperes values were compared from resulting helical scan data.

Dose estimation of ultra-low-dose chest CT to different sized adult patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of patient size on radiation dose for standard CT (SD-CT), ultra-low-dose CT (ULD-CT) and two-view digital radiography (DR).

Methods: Dosimeters were distributed within the lungs of chest phantoms representing males of 65 kg and 82 kg (body mass indices 23 and 29). In contrast to SD-CT and DR which include automatic exposure control (AEC), the ULD scan employs a fixed mAs value.

Historical microbiology: revival and phylogenetic analysis of the luminous bacterial cultures of M. W. Beijerinck.

Luminous bacteria isolated by Martinus W. Beijerinck were sealed in glass ampoules in 1924 and 1925 and stored under the names Photobacterium phosphoreum and 'Photobacterium splendidum'. To determine if the stored cultures were viable and to assess their evolutionary relationship with currently recognized bacteria, portions of the ampoule contents were inoculated into culture medium.

A combined evidence phylogenetic analysis of Anguimorpha (Reptilia: Squamata).

Anguimorpha is a clade of limbed and limbless squamates with ca. 196 extant species and a known fossil record spanning the past 130 million years. Morphology-based and molecule-based phylogenetic analyses disagree on several key points.

Phylogeny, genomics, and symbiosis of Photobacterium.

Photobacterium comprises several species in Vibrionaceae, a large family of Gram-negative, facultatively aerobic, bacteria that commonly associate with marine animals. Members of the genus are widely distributed in the marine environment and occur in seawater, surfaces, and intestines of marine animals, marine sediments and saline lake water, and light organs of fish. Seven Photobacterium species are luminous via the activity of the lux genes, luxCDABEG.

Multi-gene analysis reveals previously unrecognized phylogenetic diversity in Aliivibrio.

The "Vibrio fischeri species group" recently was reclassified as a new genus, Aliivibrio, comprising four species, Aliivibrio fischeri, Aliivibrio logei, Aliivibrio salmonicida, and Aliivibrio wodanis. Only limited phylogenetic analysis of strains within Aliivibrio has been carried out, however, and taxonomic ambiguity is evident within this group, especially for phenotypically unusual strains and certain strains isolated from bioluminescent symbioses. Therefore, to examine in depth the evolutionary relationships within Aliivibrio and redefine the host affiliations of symbiotic species, we examined several previously identified and newly isolated strains using phylogenetic analysis based on multiple independent loci, gapA, gyrB, pyrH, recA, rpoA, the luxABE region, and the 16S rRNA gene.

Phylogenetic analysis of the incidence of lux gene horizontal transfer in Vibrionaceae.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is thought to occur frequently in bacteria in nature and to play an important role in bacterial evolution, contributing to the formation of new species. To gain insight into the frequency of HGT in Vibrionaceae and its possible impact on speciation, we assessed the incidence of interspecies transfer of the lux genes (luxCDABEG), which encode proteins involved in luminescence, a distinctive phenotype. Three hundred three luminous strains, most of which were recently isolated from nature and which represent 11 Aliivibrio, Photobacterium, and Vibrio species, were screened for incongruence of phylogenies based on a representative housekeeping gene (gyrB or pyrH) and a representative lux gene (luxA).

Reclassification of Vibrio fischeri, Vibrio logei, Vibrio salmonicida and Vibrio wodanis as Aliivibrio fischeri gen. nov., comb. nov., Aliivibrio logei comb. nov., Aliivibrio salmonicida comb. nov. and Aliivibrio wodanis comb. nov.

Four closely related species, Vibrio fischeri, Vibrio logei, Vibrio salmonicida and Vibrio wodanis, form a clade within the family Vibrionaceae; the taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of this clade have remained ambiguous for many years. To resolve this ambiguity, we tested these species against other species of the Vibrionaceae for phylogenetic and phenotypic differences. Sequence identities for the 16S rRNA gene were > or =97.

Photobacterium kishitanii sp. nov., a luminous marine bacterium symbiotic with deep-sea fishes.

Six representatives of a luminous bacterium commonly found in association with deep, cold-dwelling marine fishes were isolated from the light organs and skin of different fish species. These bacteria were Gram-negative, catalase-positive, and weakly oxidase-positive or oxidase-negative. Morphologically, cells of these strains were coccoid or coccoid-rods, occurring singly or in pairs, and motile by means of polar flagellation.

Natural merodiploidy of the lux-rib operon of Photobacterium leiognathi from coastal waters of Honshu, Japan.

Sequence analysis of the bacterial luminescence (lux) genes has proven effective in helping resolve evolutionary relationships among luminous bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis using lux genes, however, is based on the assumptions that the lux genes are present as single copies on the bacterial chromosome and are vertically inherited. We report here that certain strains of Photobacterium leiognathi carry multiple phylogenetically distinct copies of the entire operon that codes for luminescence and riboflavin synthesis genes, luxCDABEG-ribEBHA.

Phylogenetic diversity and cosymbiosis in the bioluminescent symbioses of "Photobacterium mandapamensis".

"Photobacterium mandapamensis" (proposed name) and Photobacterium leiognathi are closely related, phenotypically similar marine bacteria that form bioluminescent symbioses with marine animals. Despite their similarity, however, these bacteria can be distinguished phylogenetically by sequence divergence of their luminescence genes, luxCDAB(F)E, by the presence (P. mandapamensis) or the absence (P.

Phylogenetic resolution and habitat specificity of members of the Photobacterium phosphoreum species group.

Substantial ambiguity exists regarding the phylogenetic status of facultatively psychrophilic luminous bacteria identified as Photobacterium phosphoreum, a species thought to be widely distributed in the world's oceans and believed to be the specific bioluminescent light-organ symbiont of several deep-sea fishes. Members of the P. phosphoreum species group include luminous and non-luminous strains identified phenotypically from a variety of different habitats as well as phylogenetically defined lineages that appear to be evolutionarily distinct.

Genomic and phylogenetic characterization of luminous bacteria symbiotic with the deep-sea fish Chlorophthalmus albatrossis (Aulopiformes: Chlorophthalmidae).

Bacteria forming light-organ symbiosis with deep-sea chlorophthalmid fishes (Aulopiformes: Chlorophthalmidae) are considered to belong to the species Photobacterium phosphoreum. The identification of these bacteria as P. phosphoreum, however, was based exclusively on phenotypic traits, which may not discriminate between phenetically similar but evolutionarily distinct luminous bacteria.

Phylogenetic analysis of the lux operon distinguishes two evolutionarily distinct clades of Photobacterium leiognathi.

The luminous marine bacterium Photobacterium mandapamensis was synonymized several years ago with Photobacterium leiognathi based on a high degree of phenotypic and genetic similarity. To test the possibility that P. leiognathi as now formulated, however, actually contains two distinct bacterial groups reflecting the earlier identification of P.

Genomic polymorphism in symbiotic populations of Photobacterium leiognathi.

Photobacterium leiognathi forms a bioluminescent symbiosis with leiognathid fishes, colonizing the internal light organ of the fish and providing its host with light used in bioluminescence displays. Strains symbiotic with different species of the fish exhibit substantial phenotypic differences in symbiosis and in culture, including differences in 2-D PAGE protein patterns and profiles of indigenous plasmids. To determine if such differences might reflect a genetically based symbiont-strain/host-species specificity, we profiled the genomes of P.

Molecular systematics of primary reptilian lineages and the tuatara mitochondrial genome.

We provide phylogenetic analyses for primary Reptilia lineages including, for the first time, Sphenodon punctatus (tuatara) using data from whole mitochondrial genomes. Our analyses firmly support a sister relationship between Sphenodon and Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes. Using Sphenodon as an outgroup for select squamates, we found evidence indicating a sister relationship, among our study taxa, between Serpentes (represented by Dinodon) and Varanidae.

Mitochondrial DNA Evidence and Evolution in Varanoidea (Squamata).

Varanoidea is a monophyletic group of anguimorph lizards, comprising the New World helodermatids, the Bornean earless monitor Lanthanotus borneensis, and the Old World monitors (Varanus). I use mitochondrial DNA sequences and extensive taxonomic sampling to test alternative hypotheses of varanoid relationships. The most parsimonious hypothesis confirms the monophyly of Varanoidea (Heloderma, Lanthanotus, and Varanus) and Varanus, as well as the sister-taxon relationship of Varanus and Lanthanotus.