Prevalence of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in adult dairy cattle.

Objective: To describe shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coil O157:H7 (STEC O157:H7) fecal shedding prevalence, seasonal fecal shedding patterns, and site-specific prevalence from the oral cavity, skin, and feces of dairy cattle.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Animals: Adult dairy cattle from 13 herds in Louisiana.

Remember-know: a matter of confidence.

This article critically examines the view that the signal detection theory (SDT) interpretation of the remember-know (RK) paradigm has been ruled out by the evidence. The author evaluates 5 empirical arguments against a database of 72 studies reporting RK data under 400 different conditions. These arguments concern (a).

Cloning, high level expression, purification, and crystallization of the full length Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin type E light chain.

The catalytic activity of the highly potent botulinum neurotoxins are confined to their N-terminal light chains ( approximately 50kDa). A full-length light chain for the type E neurotoxin with a C-terminal 6x His-tag, BoNT/E-LC, has been cloned in a pET-9c vector and over-expressed in BL21 (DE3) cells. BoNT/E-LC was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on Ni-NTA agarose followed by exclusion chromatography using a Superdex-75 sizing column.

Increasing throughput of parallel on-line extraction liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry system for GLP quantitative bioanalysis in drug development.

An approach is described with turbulent flow on-line extraction liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) for GLP quantitative bioanalysis of a drug candidate. Two systems were built in-house with standard laboratory parts and equipments. One system consisted of one gradient HPLC pump, one isocratic pump, one ten-port valve, two turbulent flow columns, one analytical column, one autosampler and one mass spectrometer.

Factors associated with adverse reactions to cocaine among a sample of long-term, high-dose users in São Paulo, Brazil.

This cross-sectional survey investigates the frequency of adverse cocaine reactions and associated factors among regular cocaine misusers. A sample of 332 cocaine misusers from a range of treatment and nontreatment settings in São Paulo, Brazil, were interviewed using a questionnaire that includes the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), the CAGE, and an eight-item questionnaire investigating the frequency of specific adverse cocaine reactions. The most commonly described reactions were hot flushes (84%), uncontrollable shaking (76%), and feeling ill (75%).

The double back salto dismount from the parallel bars.

The purpose of this study was to identify those mechanical determinants or their trends that distinguished a gymnast's best performance of the double back salto dismount on parallel bars from those judged to be inferior. Dismounts, in the tucked position, by nine Canadian gymnasts were analysed. Unique to this study was the inclusive analysis of multiple performances of the same skill by these athletes.

Iodine should be routinely added to complementary foods.

Iodine deficiency has major health consequences for the fetus and infant. Most individuals can tolerate fairly high intakes of iodine without problems. The Western Hemisphere has made great progress towards correcting its iodine deficiency, but pockets of deficiency remain and fragile monitoring systems endanger sustainability.

Ralstonia metallidurans, a bacterium specifically adapted to toxic metals: towards a catalogue of metal-responsive genes.

Ralstonia metallidurans, formerly known as Alcaligenes eutrophus and thereafter as Ralstonia eutropha, is a beta-Proteobacterium colonizing industrial sediments, soils or wastes with a high content of heavy metals. The type strain CH34 carries two large plasmids (pMOL28 and pMOL30) bearing a variety of genes for metal resistance. A chronological overview describes the progress made in the knowledge of the plasmid-borne metal resistance mechanisms, the genetics of R.

Use of appendix for complete transplant ureteral necrosis.

A 3-yr-old boy with posterior urethral valves underwent cadaveric renal transplant. On the ninth day after transplantation the patient developed a urinary leak, with complete ureteral necrosis. There was insufficient length of undamaged ureter to permit ureteroneocystostomy, unavailability of a native ureter to permit ureteroureterostomy, and an inability to mobilize the transplant kidney or bladder sufficiently to permit direct pyelovesicostomy.

Gender differences in the use of alcohol and psychotropics in a Brazilian population.

This cross-sectional, interview-based survey aimed to assess the use of licit substances in terms of gender and sociodemographic factors in the city of Pelotas, southern Brazil. Subjects aged 15 years and over and living in urban areas were eligible and a total of 1277 subjects were interviewed. The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 54.

World status of monitoring iodine deficiency disorders control programs.

Monitoring and evaluation are the last phases of a national iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) control program but among the most important. This paper summarizes the latest recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) about indicators and their normative values for monitoring the progress of IDD elimination and illustrates the successful monitoring programs in Switzerland and in China. Salt is the usual vehicle for iodine supplementation and quality control for iodine content can be assessed quantitatively by titration and qualitatively by simple test kits that can be used in the field.

Transcript profiling of human platelets using microarray and serial analysis of gene expression.

Human platelets are anucleate blood cells that retain cytoplasmic mRNA and maintain functionally intact protein translational capabilities. We have adapted complementary techniques of microarray and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) for genetic profiling of highly purified human blood platelets. Microarray analysis using the Affymetrix HG-U95Av2 approximately 12 600-probe set maximally identified the expression of 2147 (range, 13%-17%) platelet-expressed transcripts, with approximately 22% collectively involved in metabolism and receptor/signaling, and an overrepresentation of genes with unassigned function (32%).

Epidemiologic investigation of Mycobacterium bovis in a population of cats.

Objective: To determine whether cats exposed at a residence were infected with Mycobacterium bovis, whether the tuberculin skin test can identify cats infected with M bovis, and whether an ELISA could identify tuberculosis-infected cats.

Animals: 20 domestic cats exposed to a cat with laboratory-confirmed disseminated M bovis infection.

Procedure: Cats were administered a tuberculin skin test and monitored for 72 hours.

Genomic signature tags (GSTs): a system for profiling genomic DNA.

Genomic signature tags (GSTs) are the products of a method we have developed for identifying and quantitatively analyzing genomic DNAs. The DNA is initially fragmented with a type II restriction enzyme. An oligonucleotide adaptor containing a recognition site for MmeI, a type IIS restriction enzyme, is then used to release 21-bp tags from fixed positions in the DNA relative to the sites recognized by the fragmenting enzyme.

Diagnostic and hematologic features of probable essential thrombocythemia in two dogs.

The clinical and hematologic features of two cases of probable essential thrombocythemia in the dog are described. Both dogs presented with hepatosplenomegaly, severe nonregenerative anemia, neutrophilia and Thrombocytosis. Mean platelet volume and percentages of large platelets were markedly increased in both dogs.

Evidence for two commonly deleted regions on mouse chromosome 2 in gamma ray-induced acute myeloid leukemic cells.

Objective: The objective of this study was to delineate a precise molecular map of the commonly deleted region (CDR) on mouse chr2 in radiation-induced mouse acute myeloid leukemic (AML) cells.

Materials And Methods: We used a PCR-based loss of heterozygosity (LOH) assay to map the chr2-CDR in AML cells isolated from F1 hybrid mice (BALB/cJ x CBA/CaJ) which developed AML following exposure to a single dose of 3 Gy of 137Cs gamma rays. A total of 30 polymorphic microsatellite markers, mapping within or close to chr2(D-E), were used under optimized PCR conditions that generate a single major band for each marker on a nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel.

Latent semantic analysis: a new method to measure prose recall.

The aim of this study was to compare traditional methods of scoring the Logical Memory test of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III with a new method based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). LSA represents texts as vectors in a high-dimensional semantic space and the similarity of any two texts is measured by the cosine of the angle between their respective vectors. The Logical Memory test was administered to a sample of 72 elderly individuals, 14 of whom were classified as cognitively impaired by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Approaches toward the directed design of a vaccine against Borrelia burgdorferi.

The overall efficacy of a recombinant vaccine for Lyme disease that is effective worldwide will depend upon the selection of one or more immunoprotective target(s) and the frequency of genetic variation, which can alter the antigenicity of the immunoprotective epitopes of the target proteins. Careful delineation of these protective epitopes on target antigens is essential for the development of vaccine candidates as well as for understanding the limitations of such vaccines. Structural models of these targets will provide critical information about conformation and specific residue surface accessibility for defining protective epitopes.