Carriage of antibiotic-resistant Haemophilus influenzae strains in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy.

Haemophilus influenzae is one of the major pathogenic bacteria in upper respiratory tract of children. In this study, the presence of various H. influenzae genotypes were followed-up for at least 13 weeks, starting from one week before surgery.

Evaluation of applicability of the Sartorius Airport MD8 sampler for detection of Bacillus endospores in indoor air.

This study was designed to evaluate the measuring range and lowest limit of detection of Bacillus endospores in the ambient room air when the Sartorius MD8 sampler, and two different culture methods for bacterial enumeration were used. Different concentrations of bioaerosol were generated inside the test chamber filled with either the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-filtered air or with the ambient room air. The detection of endospores in the HEPA-filtered air was achievable: (1) when they were aerosolized at a concentration above 7.

Use of a foam spatula for sampling surfaces after bioaerosol deposition.

The present study had three goals: (i) to evaluate the relative quantities of aerosolized Bacillus atrophaeus spores deposited on the vertical, horizontal top, and horizontal bottom surfaces in a chamber; (ii) to assess the relative recoveries of the aerosolized spores from glass and stainless steel surfaces with a polyester swab and a macrofoam sponge wipe; and (iii) to estimate the relative recovery efficiencies of aerosolized B. atrophaeus spores and Pantoea agglomerans using a foam spatula at several different bacterial loads by aerosol distribution on glass surfaces. The majority of spores were collected from the bottom horizontal surface regardless of which swab type and extraction protocol were used.

Fas and FasL expression on cells of two transplantable melanoma lines according to their different biological properties.

Fas and FasL interaction induces apoptotic cell death. In immunocompetent cells it plays a crucial role in the effector functions of the cells and in the regulation of host immune response. In tumours (e.

The activity of caspases in spontaneous and camptothecin-induced death of melanotic and amelanotic melanoma cell.

Loss of pigment in hamster amelanotic melanoma line is accompanied by a faster growth rate, higher tumorigenicity and shorter animal survival time. Thus, the malignancy of melanoma increases during the alteration of melanotic (Ma) into amelanotic (Ab) line. As changes in the ability to undergo a spontaneous or induced apoptosis, and the role of caspases in this process during melanoma progression are not well defined, they were investigated in this work.

Spontaneous apoptosis of melanotic and amelanotic melanoma cells in different phases of cell cycle: relation to tumor growth.

Since the spontaneous alteration of native melanotic (Ma) into amelanotic (Ab) transplantable melanoma line it has been observed that this alteration is accompanied by the acceleration of growth of Ab line. The aim of the present study was to check and estimate spontaneous apoptosis of cells from cell cycle phases. Cytometric cell cycle analysis was performed by staining cells with propidium iodide (PI).

[Prevalence of Escherichia coli strains in the canteens].

The prevalence of enteropathogenic (EPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) E. coli strains in stool specimens from asymptomatic human carriers working in the canteens and also in the kitchen and sanitary facilities was evaluated. The E.

Expression of CD44 on two lines of transplantable melanoma cells--relationship with cytokine secretion and tumor progression.

In the present work it was investigated if a spontaneous alteration of the native melanotic transplantable melanoma form into amelanotic form, connected with the tumor progression, is accompanied by changes of CD44 surface glycoprotein expression. We also tried to find out if there exists any correlation between changes in CD44 expression and IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-10 secretion. Cells of two hamster transplantable melanoma lines: melanotic and amelanotic were used.

Estimation of macrophage IL-10 and NO secretion in the cytotoxicity against transplantable melanomas in relation to the progression of these tumours.

The relationship between the secretion of interleukin 10 (IL-10) and nitric oxide (NO) by hamster peritoneal macrophages and their cytotoxic effects on the cells of those two melanoma lines was studied. The nonuniform reaction of macrophages from hamsters bearing two transplantable melanoma lines has been observed. An increase in the cytotoxicity of macrophages from hamsters bearing the amelanotic melanoma line was accompanied by an inverse correlation between IL-10 and NO secretion.

Heterogeneous susceptibility to spontaneous and induced apoptosis characterizes two related transplantable melanomas with different biological properties.

A family of phenotypically and biologically different transplantable hamster melanomas was derived from a single tumor more than 40 yr ago. In this work, we were seeking the differences between the abilities of the cells from two biologically heterogeneous (melanotic and amelanotic) members of this family to undergo spontaneous or camptothecin-induced apoptosis. We studied these differences by looking at three important features of the apoptotic process, i.