Exploring human interaction and diet effects on the behavior of dogs in a public animal shelter.

This study examined the effects of 2 manipulations--a brief, regular period of human contact and diet--on the behavior of dogs confined in a public animal shelter. A behavioral battery designed to assess reactions to novel situations, and a test of responsiveness to an unfamiliar human were administered both prior to (pretest) and immediately following (posttest) the 8-week intervention period. Overall, the regular periods of increased human contact together with a diet that contained augmented levels of digestible protein, fat, calories, and animal-derived ingredients reduced signs of behavioral reactivity from pretest to posttest.

Gastrointestinal transit in the common brushtail possum measured by gamma scintigraphy.

This paper reports an example of the application of pharmaceutical technology to wildlife management, specifically the design of an oral delivery system for the common brushtail possum in New Zealand. Designing an oral delivery system requires a knowledge of the time taken for particulates to reach target sites within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The transit time for fluid and indigestible particles of two different size ranges was determined in the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

Evaluation of nonculture methods for the detection of prosthetic hip biofilms.

Authors of previous studies have found that culture-based detection of prosthetic hip infections can be improved by adherence to strict anaerobic protocols and mild ultrasonication of retrieved prostheses to remove bacteria growing as an adherent biofilm. Furthermore, direct analyses of sonicate samples by immunofluorescence microscopy (with genus-specific and species-specific monoclonal antibodies or polyclonal antisera) produces significantly greater and more rapid detection rates for infection compared with culture alone. Despite its diagnostic value within a research setting, the practical advantages and limitations of immunofluorescence microscopy for a busy diagnostic laboratory needs consideration.

Mechanisms of inducible nitric oxide synthase-mediated vascular dysfunction.

Objective: Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is expressed in arteries during inflammation and may contribute to vascular dysfunction. Effects of gene transfer of iNOS to carotid arteries were examined in vitro in the absence of systemic inflammation to allow examination of mechanisms by which iNOS impairs contraction and relaxation.

Methods And Results: After gene transfer of iNOS with an adenovirus (AdiNOS), constrictor responses to phenylephrine (PE) and U46619 were impaired.

CAMP factor homologues in Propionibacterium acnes: a new protein family differentially expressed by types I and II.

Analysis of the draft genome sequence of the opportunistic pathogen Propionibacterium acnes type strain NCTC 737 (=ATCC 6919) revealed five genes with sequence identity to the co-haemolytic Christie-Atkins-Munch-Peterson (CAMP) factor of Streptococcus agalactiae. The predicted molecular masses for the expressed proteins ranged from 28 to 30 kDa. The genes were present in each of the three recently identified recA-based phylogenetic groupings of P.

Effects of restricted spectral rearing on the development of zebrafish retinal physiology.

Research has shown that rearing in abnormal lighting environments affects both visual behavior and retinal physiology in zebrafish larvae. These studies, however, used only constant dark and constant white light as the experimental rearing conditions. This study assessed the effects of rearing larvae in restricted spectral lighting environments on zebrafish retinal physiology.

Propionibacterium acnes types I and II represent phylogenetically distinct groups.

Although two phenotypes of the opportunistic pathogen Propionibacterium acnes (types I and II) have been described, epidemiological investigations of their roles in different infections have not been widely reported. Using immunofluorescence microscopy with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) QUBPa1 and QUBPa2, specific for types I and II, respectively, we investigated the prevalences of the two types among 132 P. acnes isolates.

Organisms isolated from adults with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Patients with cystic fibrosis [CF] have frequent pulmonary exacerbations associated with the isolation of bacterial organisms from sputum samples. It is not clear however, if there are differences in the types of additional organisms isolated from patients who are infected with Burkholderia cepacia complex [BCC] or Pseudomonas aerugionsa [PA] in comparison to those who are not infected with either of these organisms [NI].

Methods: Adult patients attending the regional CF unit were followed over a two year period and patients were assigned to three groups depending on whether they were known to be chronically infected with BCC, PA or NI.

Clinical outcome of Burkholderia cepacia complex infection in cystic fibrosis adults.

Background: The Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) is one of the most important groups of organisms infecting cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The aim of the study was to examine how infection with BCC affects clinical outcome.

Methods: Nineteen CF adults infected with BCC and 19 controls infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa were studied over a 4-year period.

Visual processing of the zebrafish optic tectum before and after optic nerve damage.

Although the zebrafish has become an important model in visual neuroscience, little has been done to examine the processing of its higher visual centers. The purpose of this work was twofold. The first purpose was to examine the physiology of the zebrafish retinotectal system and its relationship to retinal physiology.

Epidemiology of Burkholderia cepacia complex species recovered from cystic fibrosis patients: issues related to patient segregation.

Studies of the prevalence of Burkholderia cepacia complex species amongst cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in different geographical regions, and the association between cross-infection and putative transmissibility markers, will further our understanding of these organisms and help to address infection-control issues. In this study, B. cepacia complex isolates from CF patients in different regions of Europe were analysed.

Prevalence and clonality of Burkholderia cepacia complex genomovars in UK patients with cystic fibrosis referred for lung transplantation.

Background: It has previously been reported that patients infected with Burkholderia cenocepacia (genomovar III) before lung transplantation have a poorer outcome than those with other B. cepacia complex infections.

Methods: An extensive study was conducted to determine the prevalence and clonality of B.

Inflammatory markers in cystic fibrosis patients with transmissible Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) leads to a damaging host inflammatory response. There are an increasing number of reports of P. aeruginosa cross-infection at CF centres.

Autoantibodies to malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein in patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease.

Oxidised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has physicochemical properties that are pivotal in atherosclerotic plaque formation. As a consequence, antioxidant regimens may prove an important therapy in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Since oxidised LDL is immunogenic, the aims of our study were to measure serum IgG titres to malondialdehyde-modified LDL (MDA-LDL) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and control subjects and assess their potential as a clinical marker for coronary atherosclerosis and, consequently, antioxidant intervention.

Effects of a program of human interaction and alterations in diet composition on activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in dogs housed in a public animal shelter.

Objective: To determine whether a program of human interaction or alterations in diet composition would alter activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in dogs housed in an animal shelter.

Design: Prospective study.

Animals: 40 dogs.

Irreversible inhibition of the bacterial cysteine protease-transpeptidase sortase (SrtA) by substrate-derived affinity labels.

We report on the first synthesis, kinetic evaluation and application of novel substrate-derived inhibitors against the Staphylococcus aureus cysteine protease-transpeptidase, sortase (staphylococcal surface protein sorting A, SrtA). The peptidyl-diazomethane and peptidyl-chloromethane analogues, Cbz (benzyloxycarbonyl)-Leu-Pro-Ala-Thr-CHN(2) (I) and Cbz-Leu-Pro-Ala-Thr-CH(2)Cl (II) respectively were found to act as time-dependent irreversible inhibitors of recombinant sortase (SrtA(DeltaN)). The peptidyl-chloromethane analogue (II) was the most powerful with an inhibitor specificity constant (k(i)/K(i)) of 5.

Opponent and nonopponent contributions to the zebrafish electroretinogram using heterochromatic flicker photometry.

While some lower vertebrates, such as zebrafish, do not appear to possess anatomically separate pathways of processing visual information (such as M-pathways and P-pathways), it is believed that separate processing of the visual stimulus (such as luminance and chromatic processing) is a basic requirement of vertebrate vision. In this study, spectral sensitivity functions were obtained from electroretinogram responses to heterochromatic flicker photometry stimuli at several flicker rates, including a low flicker rate (2 Hz), in an attempt to predominantly stimulate chromatic processes and a high flicker rate (16 Hz), in an attempt to predominantly stimulate luminance processes. In addition, chromatic adaptation was used to isolate and examine the temporal properties of the different cone-type contributions to the electroretinogram response.

Burkholderia cepacia complex genomovars and pulmonary transplantation outcomes in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Burkholderia cepacia is a group of organisms that comprises seven genotypically distinct species (B cepacia genomovars I-VII), which are collectively known as the B cepacia complex. Preoperative infection with B cepacia is associated with a poor prognosis in lung transplant recipients with cystic fibrosis. Many centres do not, therefore, offer transplants to these individuals.

PCR-based detection and identification of Burkholderia cepacia complex pathogens in sputum from cystic fibrosis patients.

PCR amplification of the recA gene followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was investigated for the rapid detection and identification of Burkholderia cepacia complex genomovars directly from sputum. Successful amplification of the B. cepacia complex recA gene from cystic fibrosis (CF) patient sputum samples containing B.

The Connecticut Cardiovascular Consortium: a unique, state-wide research collaboration to advance clinical outcomes in patients with heart disease.

The establishment of "best clinical practices" founded upon evidence-based medicine has become an increasingly important priority. Frequently, management guidelines are derived from published research data and disseminated among practitioners to help optimize patient care. The ultimate clinical impact of these guidelines in the "real world," however, is often clouded by an incomplete assessment of patient outcomes throughout the continuum of health-care delivery models.

Beyond Viagra. Psychological issues in the assessment and treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Background: The availability of sildenafil nitrate (Viagra) has led to a significant increase in the number of men seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). However, when Viagra is focused on exclusively, the psychogenic factors that may be implicated in the aetiology and/or maintenance of erectile dysfunction may be neglected.

Objective: To highlight the psychosocial context in which this distressing problem may manifest itself and to illustrate the potential value of psychological methods in both its assessment and treatment.

Measurement of asialylated LDL in the blood of patients with coronary artery disease by antibody-lectin sandwich assay.

Elevated concentrations of asialylated LDL (asialo-LDL) have been reported in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This may stimulate lipid accumulation in arterial intima cells and promote atherosclerosis. To investigate asialo-LDL as a potential risk-factor for coronary atherogenesis, we developed an antibody-lectin sandwich assay to measure levels in serum from CAD patients and age-matched control subjects.

The measurement of dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger: an examination of the factor structure of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ).

Objective: To conduct separate factor analyses of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R, TFEQ-D and TFEQ-H) scales and provide initial evidence of the construct validity of the obtained solutions.

Design: A cross-sectional survey with a 12 month retest of a subsample of subjects.

Subjects: A total of 553 undergraduate university women with a mean age of 25.

A study of the anti-invasive properties of N-alpha-phthalimidomethyl-ketomethylene tripeptide-based metalloprotease inhibitors.

We have developed matrix metalloprotease (MMP) inhibitors based on synthetic peptides incorporating a non-cleavable peptide-bond isostere at the site of the putative scissile bond. These inhibitors, N-alpha-phthaloyl-Gly-psi(CO-CH2)-Leu-Tyr-Ala-NH2 (Pht-G-CH2-LYA-NH2) and N-alpha-phthaloyl-Gly-psi(CO-CH2)-Leu-Tic-Ala-NH2 (Pht-G-CH2-LTcA-NH2) were kinetically evaluated against the type IV collagenases, gelatinase A (MMP-2) and B (MMP-9), and compared with an exactly analogous chelating-based inhibitor, N-alpha-mercaptoacetyl-Leu-Tyr-Ala-NH2 (HSCH2CO-LYA-NH2). The peptide inhibitors were also tested for their anti-invasive effects on breast carcinoma cell lines using a modification of the Boyden chamber assay.