Possible role of biofilm in fulminant meningitis related to cochlear implantation of dysplastic inner ear.

Unlabelled: Thanks to improvements in device design and surgical procedures, the number of potential candidates for cochlear implantation has been growing to include patients with inner ear malformations. Many precautions are taken pre-, peri- and postoperatively for these patients given the increased risk of surgical and medical complications, but with the rising bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the discovery of biofilm as a probable cause of chronic infections, postoperative morbidity remains higher than desired.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation is to describe histological findings on a temporal bone from a 2-year-old infant with a cochlear implant and an inner ear deformity who died of bacterial meningitis.

Time-gated Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography.

A novel optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is presented that combines Fourier-domain OCT with incoherent nonlinear time gating. By processing backscattered light in the optical domain, the user can select a restricted depth field of view for improved contrast and acquisition speed. This technique has the additional advantage that imaging is done in the infrared (approximately 1280 nm) but is detected in the visible(approximately 504 nm).

High speed in situ depth profiling of ultrafast micromachining.

We demonstrate real-time depth profiling of ultrafast micromachining of stainless steel at scan rates of 46 kHz. The broad bandwidth and high power of the light source allows for simultaneous machining and coaxial Fourier-domain interferometric imaging of the ablation surface with depth resolutions of 6 mum. Since the same light is used to machine as to probe, spatial and temporal synchronization are automatic.

Increased internal and external bacterial load during Drosophila aging without life-span trade-off.

The role of microbial load during aging of the adult fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is incompletely understood. Here we show dramatic increases in aerobic and anaerobic bacterial load during aging, both inside the body and on the surface. Scanning electron microscopy and cell staining analyses of the surface of aged flies detected structures resembling abundant small bacteria and bacterial biofilms.

Heightened tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic: natural variability or climate trend?

We find that long-period variations in tropical cyclone and hurricane frequency over the past century in the North Atlantic Ocean have occurred as three relatively stable regimes separated by sharp transitions. Each regime has seen 50% more cyclones and hurricanes than the previous regime and is associated with a distinct range of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Overall, there appears to have been a substantial 100-year trend leading to related increases of over 0.

Cryosectioning fixed and cryoprotected biological material for immunocytochemistry.

Immunocytochemistry for transmission electron microscopy provides important information on the location and relative abundance of proteins inside cells. Gaining access to this information without extracting or disrupting the location of target proteins requires specialized preparation methods. Sectioning frozen blocks of chemically fixed and cryoprotected biological material is one method for obtaining immunocytochemical data.

Microwave-assisted processing and embedding for transmission electron microscopy.

Microwave processors can provide a means of rapid processing and resin embedding for biological specimens that are to be sectioned and examined by transmission electron microscopy. This chapter describes a microwave-assisted protocol for processing, dehydrating, and embedding biological material, from living specimens to blocks embedded in sectionable resin in 4 h or less.

Declines in sex ratio at birth and fetal deaths in Japan, and in U.S. whites but not African Americans.

Background: The expected ratio of male to female births is generally believed to be 1.05, also described as the male proportion of 0.515.

Bread of heaven or wines of light: entheogenic legacies and esoteric cosmologies.

This is an article in two parts. The first part discusses current research in psychoactive preparations of ergot in various religious systems with a particular emphasis on Persian, Greek, Jewish and Islamic sources. Certain poems, hadith, and scriptural writings suggest an entheogenic heritage to various ancient sects that exerted and received philosophical and ritual influences over large distances and over time.

Does the English Breast Screening Programme's information leaflet improve women's knowledge about mammography screening? A before and after questionnaire survey.

Objectives: To explore whether the English Breast Screening Programme's leaflet improved women's knowledge of breast cancer screening. Design Before and after postal questionnaire survey. Participants A random sample of 100 women aged between 49 and 64 years registered with GPs in Oxfordshire on whom data from a prospective, questionnaire survey was available on knowledge and perception of breast cancer screening.

Donation after cardiac death in pediatric critical care.

Objective: To describe the unmet need for pediatric organs, the history of donation after cardiac death (DCD), implementation of DCD policies in children's hospitals, and the current U.S. experience with DCD in children.

Characterization of rat spiral ligament cell line immortalized by adenovirus 12-simian virus 40 hybrid virus.

Objectives: Spiral ligament fibrocytes play an important role in inner ear ion homeostasis and are classified into several subtypes according to expression of specific enzymes such as Na+, K+ -ATPase, Ca++ -ATPase, and carbonic anhydrase. Although our understanding of the cell and molecular biology of spiral ligament fibrocytes has increased over time, access to these cells still remains a significant hurdle hindering future studies. In this study, we aimed to establish a rat spiral ligament cell line with minimal disruption of the original characteristics.

Women's knowledge about breast cancer risk and their views of the purpose and implications of breast screening--a questionnaire survey.

Objectives: To assess women's knowledge and perception of breast screening, including its benefits and disadvantages, and explore whether demographic and other personal characteristics are associated with accurate knowledge.

Design: Questionnaire survey of a random sample of 1000 women aged between 49 and 64 years registered with GPs in Oxfordshire.

Results: Thirty-six per cent of women knew the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, and the interpretation of numeric risks varied among women.

Efficacy of signal-averaged electrocardiography in the young orthotopic heart transplant patient to detect allograft rejection.

Endomyocardial biopsy is the gold standard survey for cardiac graft rejection. Signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) identifies slowly conducting, diseased myocardium. We sought to determine whether SAECG is a sensitive, noninvasive transplant surveillance method in the young.

Imidazole groups on a linear, cyclodextrin-containing polycation produce enhanced gene delivery via multiple processes.

The linear, cyclodextrin-containing polycation (CDP) is one of many non-viral gene delivery vectors that show improved transfection efficiency when modified to have pH-buffering capacity. The buffering activity is presumed to confer enhanced ability to escape the endocytic pathway. Here, the differences in delivery behavior between CDP and its pH-buffering, imidazole-containing variant (CDPim) are investigated in order to elucidate the mechanism(s) by which these related materials exhibit differences in gene delivery.

Cytoplasmic bacteria and the autophagic pathway.

Cytoplasmic bacteria may assist in our study of the autophagic pathway. This review highlights the use of Listeria monocytogenes for examining the assembly of autophagic vacuoles in mammalian cells. Inhibiting protein synthesis of cytoplasmic L.

Coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics in the Indian Ocean during 1997-98.

Climate variability in the Indian Ocean region seems to be, in some aspects, independent of forcing by external phenomena such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. But the extent to which, and how, internal coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics determine the state of the Indian Ocean system have not been resolved. Here we present a detailed analysis of the strong seasonal anomalies in sea surface temperatures, sea surface heights, precipitation and winds that occurred in the Indian Ocean region in 1997-98, and compare the results with the record of Indian Ocean climate variability over the past 40 years.

Identification of biofilm proteins in non-typeable Haemophilus Influenzae.

Background: Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae biofilm formation is implicated in a number of chronic infections including otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis. Biofilm structure includes cells and secreted extracellular matrix that is "slimy" and believed to contribute to the antibiotic resistant properties of biofilm bacteria. Components of biofilm extracellular matrix are largely unknown.

Presbycusic neuritic degeneration within the osseous spiral lamina.

Objective: To describe a neglected anatomic variant occurring with presbycusis.

Study Design: Retrospective temporal bone histopathology study.

Methods: Quantitative analysis of peripheral hair cells, neurites, neurons, and the stria vascularis in temporal bones from individuals who had presbycusis.