Impact of the demerit point system on road traffic accident mortality in Spain.

Background: To assess the effect of the Demerit Point System (DPS), introduced in Spain on 1 July 2006, on the number of fatalities due to road traffic accidents, using a methodology that controls for the seasonal variation and trend in the data series.

Methods: Time-series analysis by ARIMA models of 29 113 fatalities in road traffic accidents (at the accident scene or within 24 h thereafter), between January 2000 and December 2007. The model permitted estimation of an intervention parameter, together with its 95% CI, to calculate the number of fatalities that would have occurred if the DPS had not been implemented, after controlling for the effect of other measures introduced in 2004.

Glycine betaine enhances growth of nitrogen-fixing bacteria Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAL5 under saline stress conditions.

In this study, the effect of glycine betaine as osmoprotectant compound for Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAL5 was evaluated by kinetic growth parameters. Batch fermentation assays were performed employing media supplemented with different sodium chloride concentrations to simulate saline stress conditions. Salt concentrations of 50-300 mM led to decreased cell concentrations, while the maximum specific growth rates and cell productivities were reduced at concentrations above 100-mM NaCl.

Molecular modeling and inhibitory activity of cowpea cystatin against bean bruchid pests.

Plant cystatins show great potential as tools to genetically engineer resistance of crop plants against pests. Two important potential targets are the bean weevils Acanthoscelides obtectus and Zabrotes subfasciatus, which display major activities of digestive cysteine proteinases in midguts. In this study a cowpea cystatin, a cysteine proteinase inhibitor found in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds, was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified with a Ni-NTA agarose column.

Tissue plasminogen activator plasma levels as a potential diagnostic aid in acute pulmonary embolism.

Context: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially fatal and frequent complication of deep venous thrombosis, and the most reliable techniques for the diagnosis of PE are not universally available and have other limitations.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of 4 different fibrinolysis system parameters, namely, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), plasmin-antiplasmin complexes (PAP), and D-dimer, in the diagnosis of acute PE.

Setting: A 350-bed university hospital serving an area with 280,000 inhabitants.

Antibody responsiveness to the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli bundle-forming pilus subunit A in lactating mothers and asymptomatic children.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to examine the antibody responsiveness to the bundle-forming pilus subunit A of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in human colostrum (n = 36) and serum (n = 90) of paediatric ambulatory patients, 3-24 months of age. Affinity purified recombinant bundle-forming pilus subunit A was used in immunoblot analysis to detect antigen-specific serum immunoglobulins G and A, and colostrum immunoglobulin A. Circulating immunoglobulin G antibody activity to the bundle-forming pilus subunit A was readily detected in all children.

Temporal and tissue localization of a cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) cystatin.

A cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walpers cv. Pitiúba) cystatin was analysed to determine its localization during development and germination of cowpea seeds, using western blotting with a specific antiserum.