An evaluation study of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using recombinant protein Pap31 for detection of antibody against Bartonella bacilliformis infection among the Peruvian population.

Reliable laboratory testing is of great importance to detect Bartonella bacilliformis infection. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using recombinant protein Pap31 (rPap31) for the detection of antibodies against B. bacilliformis as compared with immunofluorescent assay (IFA).

Safety, immunogenicity, and lot stability of the whole cell/recombinant B subunit (WC/rCTB) cholera vaccine in Peruvian adults and children.

To assess the safety, immunogenicity, and lot stability of the whole cell/recombinant B subunit cholera vaccine, 2 lots manufactured in June 1991 and February 1992 were tested in January 1995. Two oral doses of vaccine or placebo given 2 weeks apart were given with buffer to 216 Peruvian adults and children. Symptoms were elicited for 3 days after each dose.

Enteropathogens and other factors associated with severe disease in children with acute watery diarrhea in Lima, Peru.

To evaluate enteropathogens and other factors associated with severe disease in children with diarrhea, 381 children <5 years of age with diarrhea and moderate to severe dehydration (in-patients) and 381 age-, sex-, and date-of-visit-matched children with mild diarrhea (out-patients) presenting to a hospital in Peru, were studied. Rotavirus was detected in 52% of the in-patients and 35% of the out-patients (odds ratio [OR]=2.3, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]= 1.

Acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome and inhalation injury: an overview.

Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) are severe respiratory diseases that have a very poor prognosis and have numerous causes. Despite a great deal of research and investigation since the initial description of ARDS 30 years ago many questions about the pathogenesis, treatment and outcome of the disease remain unanswered. Although there is evidence to suggest that outcome of ALI and ARDS is improving, the reasons why are unknown and there is not yet a well developed treatment for these diseases.

Aerosol deposition modeling using ACSL.

An aerosol deposition model has been written for inclusion into physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, allowing PBPK model based risk assessments to be performed for aerosolized materials. Previously, PBPK models could only treat inhaled gases and vapors. The deposition model employs a semi-empirical equation to describe extrathoracic deposition and employs data concerning the geometry of the thoracic conducting airways as well as that of the gas exchange regions of the lung to compute the deposited aerosol mass based on aerosol diffusion, sedimentation, and impaction.

Breathing zone particle size and lead concentration from sanding operations to remove lead based paints.

The relationship between lead concentration in the dry film of lead based paints applied to steel bulkheads aboard ship, the lead concentration found in the air when the paint is removed by mechanical means, and blood lead concentrations of workers involved in lead based paint removal has not been well characterized. Intuitively a direct relationship must exist but confounding factors confuse the issue. Simultaneous sampling procedures from the same paint removal operation may differ by several orders of magnitude.

Expanded safety and immunogenicity of a bivalent, oral, attenuated cholera vaccine, CVD 103-HgR plus CVD 111, in United States military personnel stationed in Panama.

To provide optimum protection against classical and El Tor biotypes of Vibrio cholerae O1, a single-dose, oral cholera vaccine was developed by combining two live, attenuated vaccine strains, CVD 103-HgR (classical, Inaba) and CVD 111 (El Tor, Ogawa). The vaccines were formulated in a double-chamber sachet; one chamber contained lyophilized bacteria, and the other contained buffer. A total of 170 partially-immune American soldiers stationed in Panama received one of the following five formulations: (a) CVD 103-HgR at 10(8) CFU plus CVD 111 at 10(7) CFU, (b) CVD 103-HgR at 10(8) CFU plus CVD 111 at 10(6) CFU, (c) CVD 103-HgR alone at 10(8) CFU, (d) CVD 111 alone at 10(7) CFU, or (e) inactivated Escherichia coli placebo.

Passive transfer of growth-inhibitory antibodies raised against yeast-expressed recombinant Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1(19).

Purified rabbit immunoglobulin raised against yeast-expressed recombinant FVO or 3D7 Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) 19k-D C terminal fragment (MSP-1(19)) was transfused into malaria-naive Aotus nancymai monkeys that were immediately challenged with FVO asexual stage malaria parasites. Control monkeys received rabbit immunoglobulin raised against the sexual stage antigen Pfs25 or Aotus hyperimmune serum obtained from monkeys immunized by P. falciparum infection and drug cure.

Tissue distribution, metabolism, and clearance of the convulsant trimethylolpropane phosphate in rats.

The distribution, metabolism, and clearance of trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP), a potent, bicyclophosphate, gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic convulsant, were studied in male Fischer-344 rats. Intraperitoneal administration of TMPP was compared with oral gavage with respect to rates of absorption, distribution, and clearance. Distribution of TMPP to major body tissues was evaluated for the first 24 hr after administration or, in the case of regional brain distribution, immediately after the first TMPP-induced clinical seizure.

Geographic distribution and clinical description of leishmaniasis cases in Peru.

Studies were conducted from 1986 through 1993 to further define the geographic distribution and relative importance of different species of Leishmania as a cause of leishmaniasis in Peru. Patients with a clinical diagnosis of cutaneous and/or mucosal or diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis were enrolled at the Naval Medical Research Institute Detachment (NAMRID) Laboratory in Lima, the Tropical Disease Clinic at San Marcos University Daniel A. Carrión, the Central Military Hospital, and a Ministry of Health hospital in Cusco, Peru.

Notes on the phlebotomine sand flies from the Peruvian southeast--I. Description of Lutzomyia (Helcocyrtomyia) adamsi n. sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae).

A new species of phlebotomine sand fly, Lutzomyia adamsi n. sp., is described and illustrated from specimens collected during August 1994, in Sandia, Department of Puno-Peru.

Fever in the returned traveler.

The most important cause of fever in the returned traveler is malaria. All febrile patients in which malaria is epidemiologically possible require urgent evaluation for P. falciparum malaria, which can be rapidly fatal in the nonimmune patient.

Acute effects of a bicyclophosphate neuroconvulsant on monoamine neurotransmitter and metabolite levels in the rat brain.

Naive male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with the bicyclophosphate convulsant trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP) at dose levels from 0.

Trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP) perfusion into the nucleus accumbens of the rat: electroencephalographic, behavioral and neurochemical correlates.

The infusion (0.13 mumol/infusion) of the convulsant trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP) into the nucleus accumbens (NA) of adults Sprague-Dawley rats reliably induced subclinical seizures, hyperlocomotor activity, and integrated stereotypies. Observation of these behaviors was temporally correlated with the appearance of EEG paroxysms, as well as with significant decreases in extracellular concentrations of both dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) in the NA.

Venezuelan equine encephalitis febrile cases among humans in the Peruvian Amazon River region.

A survey was conducted from October 1, 1993 to June 30, 1995 to determine the arboviral etiologies of febrile illnesses in the city of Iquitos in the Amazon River Basin of Peru. The study subjects were patients who were enrolled at medical care clinics or in their homes by Peruvian Ministry of Health (MOH) workers as part of the passive and active disease surveillance program of the MOH. The clinical criterion for enrollment was the diagnosis of a suspected viral-associated, acute, undifferentiated febrile illness of < or = 5 days duration.

Efficacy of sodium stibogluconate alone and in combination with allopurinol for treatment of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.

A randomized, open, controlled clinical trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy, tolerance, and safety of sodium stibogluconate plus allopurinol and sodium stibogluconate alone as treatment of patients with mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. In phase 1 of the study, all 22 patients with severe disease had improvement of their lesions, but only two had clinical cure (both of these patients received sodium stibogluconate alone). In phase 2, which included 59 patients with moderate disease, the cure rate among sodium stibogluconate recipients was 75% (21 of 28) compared with 63.

Evaluation of a bivalent (CVD 103-HgR/CVD 111) live oral cholera vaccine in adult volunteers from the United States and Peru.

To provide optimum protection against classical and El Tor biotypes of Vibrio cholerae O1, a single-dose, oral cholera vaccine was developed by combining two live, attenuated vaccine strains, CVD 103-HgR (classical, Inaba) and CVD 111 (El Tor, Ogawa). The vaccines were formulated in a double-chamber sachet; one chamber contained lyophilized bacteria, and the other contained buffer. In the first study, 23 U.

Venezuelan equine encephalitis and Oropouche virus infections among Peruvian army troops in the Amazon region of Peru.

An outbreak of a febrile illness characterized by headache, ocular pain, myalgia, and arthralgia occurred during June 1994 among Peruvian army troops in Northern Peru. On June 14-16, 1994, clinical data and blood samples were obtained from eight soldiers with a febrile illness, and from 26 others who had a history of febrile illness during the past three months. A follow-up blood sample was obtained 107 days later from four of the febrile and seven of the afebrile soldiers.

Environmental degradation of polyacrylamides. II. Effects of environmental (outdoor) exposure.

The environmental fate of a polyacrylamide thickening agent (PATA), formulated without and with a glyphosate-surfactant herbicide (GH), was examined under various environmental situations: formulation in surface water and ground water, volatility, and soil mobility. Environmental Fate of PATA in Surface Water and Ground Water: PATA was formulated at four concentrations in distilled-deionized water, three surface water samples, and two ground water samples, without and with a GH. Solutions were placed in glass bottles, covered with plastic wrap, and exposed to environmental (outdoor) conditions for 6 weeks.

Evaluation of the respiratory tract after acute exposure to a pyrotechnically generated aerosol fire suppressant.

Fischer 344 rats (250-300 g) were exposed to the resulting aerosols from the pyrolysis of Spectrex Fire Extinguishant (SFE) Formulation A, a pyrotechnically generated aerosol fire suppressant, at a loading equivalent of 50 or 80 g m(-3) air for 15 or 60 min. Exposures were conducted in a 700-1 whole-body inhalation chamber under static conditions. The chamber atmosphere was analyzed for mass aerosol concentration and size distribution.

Oropouche virus transmission in the Amazon River basin of Peru.

Seroepidemiologic studies were conducted to determine the prevalence of Oropouche (ORO) viral antibody, risk factors, and the incidence of infection among residents of the Amazon region of Peru. Blood samples, as well as demographic, cultural, and medical history data, were collected from residents in a sector of the city of Iquitos and in an adjacent rural and three neotropical rain forest communities. Blood specimens were obtained approximately one year later from a cohort of the same study subjects who were negative for ORO antibody on the initial cross-sectional survey.

An overview of the development, validation, and application of neurobehavioral and neuromolecular toxicity assessment batteries: potential applications to combustion toxicology.

Currently, there are few alternatives to the use of animals in toxicology for human risk assessment. Neurobehavioral toxicology is an emerging area in which complex performance capacity is evaluated during or following toxicological exposure. While a number of single tests and a few more complex neurobehavioral batteries exist, no fully validated and comprehensive neurobehavioral toxicity assessment battery has yet been developed.

Environmental degradation of polyacrylamides. 1. Effects of artificial environmental conditions: temperature, light, and pH.

A polyacrylamide thickening agent (PATA) was formulated at four concentrations in distilled-deionized water, without and with a glyphosate-surfactant herbicide (GH). Over a 6-week period, these mixtures were exposed to various controlled temperature and light conditions. Acrylamide concentration, ammonium concentration, and pH were measured at weekly intervals to assess the degradation of polyacrylamide and acrylamide.

Sensitization induced by kindling and kindling-related phenomena as a model for multiple chemical sensitivity.

It has been suggested that the neurobehavioral dysfunction observed in persons presenting with symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) syndrome involves sensitization of neural circuits. Two hypotheses for the route of exposure in induction of neural sensitization in MCS are: (a) direct chemical stimulation of olfactory processes, or (b) general systemic response to inhaled chemicals. In either case, the mechanism of action may involve chemical kindling or kindling-related phenomena.