The transmission of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. to people living or working on dairy farms in New Zealand.

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of campylobacteriosis in the developed world with an incidence rate of 383.5 cases per 100,000 in 2006. Dairy farming has been suggested as a potential source of campylobacteriosis.

Gastroenteritis outbreak caused by waterborne norovirus at a New Zealand ski resort.

In July 2006, public health services investigated an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis among staff and visitors of a popular ski resort in southern New Zealand. The source of the outbreak was a drinking water supply contaminated by human sewage. The virological component of the investigation played a major role in confirming the source of the outbreak.

Dietary exposure and trends of exposure to nutrient elements iodine, iron, selenium and sodium from the 2003-4 New Zealand Total Diet Survey.

The mean dietary exposure to the nutrient elements iodine, Fe, Se and Na by eight age-sex groups of the New Zealand population was estimated from foods purchased and prepared as for consumption. A total of 968 samples comprising 121 foods were collected and analysed. Mean daily exposures were calculated from mean concentration levels of the selected nutrients in each food combined with simulated diets for a 25+-year-old male and female, a 19-24-year-old male, a 11-14-year-old boy and girl, a 5-6-year-old child, a 1-3-year-old toddler and a 6-12-month-old infant.

Survival of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. after application of sewage sludge to a Pinus radiata forest.

Aims: This study investigated the survival of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in sewage sludge applied to young and old Pinus radiata forest in Spring and Autumn/Winter.

Methods And Results: Large numbers of E.

Tobacco particulate matter is more potent than nicotine at upregulating nicotinic receptors on SH-SY5Y cells.

The effect of total particulate matter (TPM) from cigarette smoke on the expression and binding properties of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) was investigated using a human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y). TPM but not nicotine on its own inhibited cell growth at nicotine concentrations above 5 microM. To examine effects on nAChR expression, intact cells were incubated with 3H-epibatidine, and a Bmax of 13 fmoles/10(5) cells (7.

Sensitive multiplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR assay for the detection of human and animal noroviruses in clinical and environmental samples.

In this study, we developed a triplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)-based method that detects and distinguishes between noroviruses belonging to genogroups I, II, and III and that targets the junction between the regions of open reading frame 1 (ORF1) and ORF2. This is the first assay to include all three genogroups and the first real-time RT-PCR-based method developed for the detection of bovine noroviruses. The assay was shown to be broadly reactive against a wide spectrum of norovirus genotypes, including GI/1 through GI/7, GII/1 through GII/8, GII/10, GII/12, and GII/17, in different matrices (including fecal specimens, treated and raw sewage, source water, and treated drinking water).

Benzylpiperazine: a drug of abuse?

N-benzylpiperazine (BZP) is the active ingredient in recreational 'party' or 'p.e.p.

Three surface antigens dominate the mucosal antibody response to gastrointestinal L3-stage strongylid nematodes in field immune sheep.

Although gastrointestinal nematode parasites are a major human and veterinary health problem, little is known about how the host is sometimes able to mount an effective immune rejection response. In previous work, we identified a carbohydrate larval surface antigen (CarLA) as the target of mucosal antibodies that can elicit rejection of Trichostrongylus colubriformis L3s in sheep. Here we characterise the natural mucosal antibody responses to L3s from three major strongylid gastrointestinal parasites of sheep, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Haemonchus contortus and Teladorsagia circumcincta.

Towards understanding the effect of uncertainty in the number of contributors to DNA stains.

DNA evidence recovered from a scene or collected in relation to a case is generally declared as a mixture when more than two alleles are observed at several loci. However, in principle, all DNA profiles may be considered to be potentially mixtures, even those that show not more than two alleles at any locus. When using a likelihood ratio approach to the interpretation of mixed DNA profiles it is necessary to postulate the number of potential contributors.

Effect of heat treatment on hepatitis A virus and norovirus in New Zealand greenshell mussels (Perna canaliculus) by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR and cell culture.

Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and cell culture (50% tissue culture infectious dose [TCID50]) were used to determine the effect of heat treatments on norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in the New Zealand Greenshell mussel (Perna canaliculus). Since it is common practice to cook mussels until the shells open, internal temperatures and opening times of mussels on boiling and steaming were determined at regular time intervals. Fifty mussels in batches of six were exposed to boiling and steaming.

Monoamine oxidase and tobacco dependence.

Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of preventable death around the world, and there are major public health and research efforts in many countries aimed at reducing its usage. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying tobacco dependence are still not completely understood. Nicotine's action on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and the downstream release of dopamine, is believed to be the major pathway underlying tobacco dependence.

Evaluation of uncertainty in quantitative real-time PCR.

Quantitative real-time PCR is one of the newer methods for measurement of the amount of nucleic material in biological systems. However, reliable measurement requires an appropriate estimation of uncertainty and this paper has developed the uncertainty budget associated with this procedure using as an example, data from a quantitative real-time PCR method for the enumeration of Campylobacter jejuni. This uncertainty is relatively large and for instance, a measured result of 151 units of DNA would have a 95% confidence interval of +/-84 units of DNA with the main sources of uncertainty being the measurement of the threshold cycle (Ct) value, the predicted DNA content of the unknown sample from the calibration line and the molar absorbance value for DNA.

A study of the use of Ephedra in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The Ephedra plant has been identified as an excellent source of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, both of which can be chemically reduced to form the widely abused illicit drug methamphetamine. Ephedra contains several additional alkaloids that undergo analogous reductions to form amphetamine and N,N-dimethylamphetamine (also drugs of abuse). The main alkaloids obtained from the Ephedra plant have been reduced using four common methods used by the clandestine operator.

The recovery of illicit drugs from oral fluid sampling devices.

Testing for drugs in oral fluid is a convenient procedure for determining recent drug use. A number of issues are still to be resolved and this paper investigates the effects of storage systems on drug stability and recovery using three different collection devices supplied by Cozart, Immunalysis and Microgenics (third party). Drugs were analysed using a range of immunoassay systems followed by MS confirmation and quantitation.

Continuing Mycobacterium bovis transmission from animals to humans in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a large reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis infection in wild and farmed animals. This study aimed to assess the extent of human infection with this organism and the potential contribution of these animal sources. Combined epidemiological and laboratory investigation of human tuberculosis cases over the period 1995-2002 showed that M.

Lipophilic toxicity from the marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevisulcata: use of the brevetoxin neuroblastoma assay to assess toxin presence and concentration.

A method for assessing the presence and concentration of a major toxin produced by Karenia brevisulcata has been developed, based on the neuroblastoma assay for brevetoxins. This cytotoxicity assay, coupled with observations of the dose-response relationship and of changes in cellular morphology during the assay gave a characteristic toxin 'signature'. This signature was consistent whether the toxicity was assessed in extracts of shellfish, seawater samples, uni-algal cultures of K.

DNA profiling of trace DNA recovered from bedding.

Trace DNA is often detected on handled items and worn clothing examined in forensic laboratories. In this study, the potential transfer of trace DNA to bedding by normal contact, when an individual sleeps in a bed, is examined. Volunteers slept one night on a new, lower bed sheet in their own bed and one night in a bed foreign to them.

Methodological aspects of a national population-based study of persistent organochlorine compounds in serum.

Key methodological aspects are presented for a study of concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides in the serum of a sample of the New Zealand population aged 15 years and older. The study took advantage of the sampling frame and sample collection and interview processes of the National Nutrition Study (NNS). An additional blood sample for this organochlorines study was collected by the NNS and questions added to the NNS questionnaire.

Growth of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in povi masima, a traditional Pacific island food.

Aims: To obtain preliminary data on the microbiology and hurdles to pathogen growth in the traditional Pacific Island food, povi masima, which is essentially beef brisket cured in brine.

Methods And Results: Six containers of povi masima were prepared and two were inoculated with five enterotoxigenic strains of Staphyloccocus aureus. The povi masima were divided into two lots each containing two uninoculated control and an inoculated container.

Y STR haplotype data for New Zealand population groups using the Y-Plex 6 kit.

Allele and haplotype frequencies were obtained for the six Y STR loci DYS19, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS393 and DYS385 in the New Zealand population. Ninety-two different haplotypes were found. The Maori population had a specific haplotype that occurred in over 30% of the population.

Recovery of trace DNA and its application to DNA profiling of shoe insoles.

In recent years, the analysis of trace amounts of DNA has become a necessary and useful forensic tool. DNA profiles can be obtained from items that have been worn or handled, due to the presence of transferred DNA derived from skin cells. Shoeprints collected from crime scenes that match a suspects shoe can link a shoe to the crime scene.

Health effects of dental amalgam exposure: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Whether dental amalgam fillings (containing mercury) are hazardous is a long-standing issue, with few epidemiological investigations. Allegations have particularly involved nervous system disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic fatigue syndrome. This retrospective cohort study, the largest of its kind, contained people in the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) between 1977 and 1997.

Persistent organochlorines in the serum of the non-occupationally exposed New Zealand population.

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides were measured in the serum of a sample of the New Zealand population aged 15 years and older. This was the first study to obtain representative measures of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs in the adult population of an entire country. Serum samples were obtained in 1996-1997.

Estimation of septic tank setback distances based on transport of E. coli and F-RNA phages.

Setback distances between septic tank systems and the shorelines of Lake Okareka, New Zealand were determined from model simulations for a worst-case scenario, using the highest hydraulic conductivity and gradient measured in the field, removal rates of the microbial indicators (Escherichia coli and F-RNA phages) determined from a column experiment, and maximum values of the design criteria for the disposal system, and assuming an absence of an unsaturated zone, a continuous discharge of the raw effluent from a failed or non-complying treatment system (both indicators at concentrations of 1x10(7) counts/100 ml) into the groundwater and no sorption of pathogens in the aquifer. Modelling results suggest that the minimal setback distances were 16 m to satisfy the New Zealand Recreational Water Quality Guidelines for E. coli <126 per 100 ml (Ministry for the Environment, 1999) and 48 m to meet the Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 2000 for enteric virus <1 per 100 l (Ministry of Health, 2000).

Evidence in support of self-declaration as a sampling method for the formation of sub-population DNA databases.

Well constructed sub-population databases are fundamental to the application of DNA-based forensic statistics. The size of such databases can affect the ability to examine adequately statistical or population genetic features, and the integrity of both the DNA profile and associated ethnicity information is also of importance. Use of short tandem repeat (STR) DNA profiling technology and the thoughtful construction of the governing legislation has seen large databases of DNA profiles collated for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand.