bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Flies and water as reservoirs for bacterial enteropathogens in urban and rural areas in and around Lahore, Pakistan
Authors: Khalil K. , Lindblom G.- B. , Mazhar K. , Kaijser B. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYThe study was conducted to isolate and characterize campylobacter, enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli-labile toxin (ETEC-LT), shigella and salmonella in flies and water.The material for the study, flies (n= 300) and water samples (n= 148), was collected from different localities in and around Lahore, Pakistan. Cultivation of the samples was performed on conventional standard media. Membrane filtration technique was used for water prior to culture. Determination of ETEC-LT was done by GM1 ELISA.Results of our study showed that flies and water were reservoirs for all the four pathogens, campylobacter, ETEC-LT, shigella and salmonella. Flies from the village were carrying fewer enteropathogens, while water from the village was found to be more contaminated as compared to the city. Campylobacter and ETEC-LT were the most frequently isolated pathogens in both flies and water.Thus the incidence of diarrhoeal disease in children of developing countries may be decreased by providing plenty of safe drinking water, improving excreta disposal, toilet facilities and giving education in personal hygiene.
Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA typing: a useful tool for rapid epidemiological typing ofKlebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Wong N. A. C. S. , Linton C. J. , Jalal H. , Millar M. R. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYDiscriminatory typing methods are invaluable in the investigation of outbreaks of infectious diseases. Single primers were used to generate randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles fromKlebsiella pneumoniaeisolates of various serotype andK. pneumoniaeisolates from cases of sepsis at a Malaysian hospital and two English hospitals. RAPD profiles of acceptable reproducibility, a maximum of three minor band variations, were produced using a rapid DNA extraction method. RAPD typing ofK. pneumoniaewas shown to be as discriminatory as restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using pulsed field gel electrophoresis yet quicker and less costly. The findings suggest that RAPD typing may be a useful tool for the epidemiological typing ofK. pneumoniae.
Information on which to base assessments of risk from environments contaminated with anthrax spores
Authors: Watson A. , Keir D. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYAlthough there has been a considerable amount of research conducted intoBacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, the data are widely disseminated in the scientific literature and are therefore not always easy to assimilate. In view of continuing concern about potential anthrax contamination in environmental materials and sites, this review brings together the currently available information relating to the health hazards fromB. anthracis.The relevance of the available information for risk assessment purposes is assessed.
The role of the pre-symptomatic food handler in a common source outbreak of food-borne SRSV gastroenteritis in a group of hospitals
Authors: Lo S. V. , Connolly A. M. , Palmer S. R. , Wright D. , Thomas P. D. , Joynson D. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYA common source outbreak of small round structure virus (SRSV) gastroenteritis affected 81 patients and 114 staff in four hospitals served by one central hospital kitchen. Eating salad items was found to be significantly associated with illness. In a cohort study of a staff buffet function eating turkey salad sandwiches was associated with illness (relative risk = 2·4; 95% CI = 1·4–4·1; P = 0·003), and a case control study of patients in one hospital showed an odds ratio of 6·6 (95% CI = 1·0–71·6; P = 0·04) for eating tuna salad and becoming ill. One of two food handlers who prepared the salads became ill the day following food preparation; she also had a young child at home who had been ill with a gastrointestinal illness during the previous two days. Contamination of food by mechanical transmission of the virus from the child via clothes and hands of the mother, or pre-symptomatic faecal excretion in the mother are possible explanations of contamination of food.
The prevalence of hepatitis B and C in an antenatal population of various ethnic origins
Authors: Boxall E. , Skidmore S. , Evans C. , Nightingale S. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYA total of 3522 samples of serum, collected anonymously from women attending an antenatal clinic, was tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody to hepatitis C. The prevalence of anti-HCV was low; only five confirmed positives were found (0·14%). The prevalence of hepatitis B overall was 0·56%, but was 1·04% in women from immigrant groups. Hepatitis B carriage is therefore four times more common than hepatitis C carriage in the antenatal population comprised of various ethnic origins. The patterns of infection in the two viruses are reversed, hepatitis B being more common in Asian, S.E. Asian and West Indian mothers and hepatitis C being more common in mothers of white Caucasian origin. Routine antenatal screening for anti-HCV is discussed.
Low prevalence of antibody to human parvovirus B19 in Singapore
Authors: Matsunaga Y. , Goh K. T. , Utagawa E. , Muroi N. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYA seroepidemiological survey was conducted in Singapore to assess the prevalence of antibody to human parvovirus B19. Sera were collected from 600 healthy individuals between 6 months and over 50 years of age and tested for IgG antibody against B19 virus by antigen capture indirect immunosorbent assay. The overall seropositivity rate was 16·2%. All the children under 5 years of age were seronegative. Antibody prevalence increased gradually from 3·5% in school children (5–14 years of age) to 7·7% in age group 15–19 years and then to 10·3% in young adults (20–24 years of age). In the age group 25–34 years the prevalence was 28% and in the age group over 35 years 65% had parvovirus B19 antibody. The results of the survey indicate that there has been very low incidence of B19 virus infection in Singapore during the last two decades.
Exposure to enteroviruses and hepatitis A virus among divers in environmental waters in France, first biological and serological survey of a controlled cohort
Authors: Garin D. , Fuchs F. , Crance J. M. , Rouby Y. , Chapalain J. C. , Lamarque D. , Gounot A. M. , Aymard M. 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYAn epidemiological study of hepatitis A and enteroviruses was conducted in a military diving training school, by evaluating the viral contamination of water using an ultrafiltration concentration technique, and assessing seroconversion and the presence of virus in stool specimens obtained from 109 divers and 48 controls. Three of 29 water specimens were positive for enterovirus by cell culture and 9 by molecular hybridization. There was little or no risk of virus infection during the training course (49 h exposure) because there was no significant difference between divers and controls for both viral isolation and seroconversion. However, a higher percentage of coxsackievirus B4 and B5 seropositive divers suggests that these were more exposed during previous water training. No hepatitis A virus (HAV) detection and no seroconversion to HAV was observed. The rate of HAV seropositive subjects was 17% in this 24·5-year-old population
Intestinal metabolism of sulfur amino acids
Authors: Bauchart-Thevret Caroline , Stoll Barbara , Burrin Douglas G. 
Published: October 2009

The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a metabolically significant site of sulfur amino acid (SAA) metabolism in the body and metabolises about 20 % of the dietary methionine intake which is mainly transmethylated to homocysteine and trans-sulfurated to cysteine. The GIT accounts for about 25 % of the whole-body transmethylation and trans-sulfuration. In addition,in vivostudies in young pigs indicate that the GIT is a site of net homocysteine release and thus may contribute to the homocysteinaemia. The gut also utilises 25 % of the dietary cysteine intake and the cysteine uptake by the gut represents about 65 % of the splanchnic first-pass uptake. Moreover, we recently showed that SAA deficiency significantly suppresses intestinal mucosal growth and reduces intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, and increases intestinal oxidant stress in piglets. These recent findings indicate that intestinal metabolism of dietary methionine and cysteine is nutritionally important for intestinal mucosal growth. Besides their role in protein synthesis, methionine and cysteine are precursors of important molecules.S-adenosylmethionine, a metabolite of methionine, is the principal biological methyl donor in mammalian cells and a precursor for polyamine synthesis. Cysteine is the rate-limiting amino acid for glutathione synthesis, the major cellular antioxidant in mammals. Further studies are warranted to establish how SAA metabolism regulates gut growth and intestinal function, and contributes to the development of gastrointestinal diseases. The present review discusses the evidence of SAA metabolism in the GIT and its functional and nutritional importance in gut function and diseases.
Alcohol use disorders in older people
Authors: Coulton Simon 
Published: October 2009

SummaryThe number of people aged 65 years or more is increasing worldwide. Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are a common condition in the older population, and this combined with the changing age demographic in the population means that AUD in this population is a significant public health concern. AUD has a major impact upon the physical, psychological and social health of the older population. There is evidence that older people do benefit from interventions to reduce alcohol consumption as much as, if not more than, younger populations. There is evidence that AUD in the older population often goes undetected and the potential for beneficial behavioural health change is not realized.
Population size and habitat relationships of Black-bellied SandgrousePterocles orientalisin the Canary Islands, Spain
Authors: SEOANE JAVIER , CARRASCAL LUIS M. , PALOMINO DAVID , ALONSO C. LUIS 
Published: October 2009

SummaryWe estimated the breeding population size and assess the habitat relationships of Black-bellied Sandgrouse in the Eastern Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Spain) by means of a survey based on 1,787 0.5-km line transects and distance sampling done in 2005 and 2006. The population comprised 2,906 individuals (90% CI: 2,363–3,562), which is much higher than the numbers estimated in previous reports based on partial surveys, and constitutes 20% of the total Spanish population. Sandgrouse in the Canaries are currently restricted to Fuerteventura, where 70% of the population gathers in four areas that encompass just 16.7 % of the island and are largely within Special Protection Areas classified under the EU Birds Directive (except the area of Tefia-Ampuyenta, first in absolute number of individuals). The environmental characteristics that maximize the probability of occurrence of the sandgrouse in Fuerteventura (probability = 0.196) are: treeless non-cultivated areas of sandy soils without bare bedrock, with a rock cover less than 44%, located in non-coastal areas with an average terrain slope less than 27.5%, at more than 400 m from the nearest urban area, with less than 795 m of dirt roads per 20 ha, with at least 0.9% of shrub cover and a NDVI index higher than 53. Sandgrouse were closer to human settlements in midsummer than in March, perhaps being attracted to artificial pools surrounding villages. Similar habitat characteristics exist in nearby Lanzarote, where the species could hypothetically reach densities as high as 4–5 birds km−2. Possible reasons for the absence of sandgrouse in this island are discussed.
Giant right ventricular fibroma co-existing atrial septal defect in a 15 year old girl
Authors: Dimassi Adel , Dimassi Wael , Arnaout M. Samir 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe most common benign cardiac tumours are the myxomas, the rhabdomyomas, and the fibromas, with the latter 2 variants being the most common tumours encountered in children. The size and location of tumours within the heart create a variety of clinical findings, such as murmurs, chest pain, tachyarrythmias, and congestive cardiac failure. Nowadays, the tumours are usually diagnosed by echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac catheterization. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice if the tumour causes either arrhythmia or cavitary obstruction. In this report, we describe a giant ventricular fibroma co-existing with an atrial septal defect in a girl aged 15 years.
The impact of vascular comorbidities on qualitative error analysis of executive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: LAMAR MELISSA , LIBON DAVID J. , ASHLEY ANGELA V. , LAH JAMES J. , LEVEY ALLAN I. , GOLDSTEIN FELICIA C. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractRecent evidence suggests that patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular comorbidities (VC) perform worse across measures of verbal reasoning and abstraction when compared to patients with AD alone. We performed a qualitative error analysis of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III Similarities zero-point responses in 45 AD patients with varying numbers of VC, including diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Errors were scored in set if the answer was vaguely related to how the word pair was alike (e.g., dog-lion: “they can be trained”) and out of set if the response was unrelated (“a lion can eat a dog”). AD patients with 2–3 VC did not differ on Similarities total score or qualitative errors from AD patients with 0–1 VC. When analyzing the group as a whole, we found that increasing numbers of VC were significantly associated with increasing out of set errors and decreasing in set errors in AD. Of the vascular diseases investigated, it was only the severity of diastolic blood pressure that significantly correlated with out of set responses. Understanding the contribution of VC to patterns of impairment in AD may provide support for directed patient and caregiver education concerning the presentation of a more severe pattern of cognitive impairment in affected individuals. (JINS, 2010, 16, 77–83.)
Efficiency considerations in triangular adaptive mesh refinement
Authors: Behrens Jörn , Bader Michael 
Published: October 2009

Locally or adaptively refined meshes have been successfully applied to simulation applications involving multi-scale phenomena in the geosciences. In particular, for situations with complex geometries or domain boundaries, meshes with triangular or tetrahedral cells demonstrate their superior ability to accurately represent relevant realistic features.
On the other hand, these methods require more complex data structures and are therefore less easily implemented, maintained and optimized. Acceptance in the Earth-system modelling community is still low. One of the major drawbacks is posed by indirect addressing due to unstructured or dynamically changing data structures and correspondingly lower efficiency of the related computations.
In this paper, we will derive several strategies to circumvent the mentioned efficiency constraint. In particular, we will apply recent computational sciences methods in combination with results of classical mathematics (space-filling curves) in order to linearize the complex data and access structure.
A new antimicrobial peptide isolated from Oudneya africana seeds
Authors: Hammami Riadh , Hamida Jeannette Ben , Vergoten Gérard , Lacroix Jean‐Marie , Slomianny Marie‐Christine , Mohamed Neffati , Fliss Ismail 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACT Oudneya africana R. Br. (Brassicaceae), a wild‐growing plant in the arid region of Tunisia, is used in ethno‐medicinal treatment of microbial infections. Validation of ethno‐therapeutic claims pertaining to the plant was sought by investigating its antimicrobial activity. A proteinaceous extract of the seeds, called AS‐3000, showed activity against various organisms including L. monocytogenes, E. coli, B. subtilis, E. hirae, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and C. albicans. Extract AS‐3000 exhibited a synergistic effect against L. ivanovii when combined with vancomycin or chloramphenicol. The post‐antibiotic inhibitory effect of the ampicillin/AS‐3000 combination was 2.3‐fold greater than for the antibiotic alone. The mode of action of AS‐3000 on Listeria and Escherichia was visible using SEM. These results support the use of O. africana for treating microbial infections.
Policy options for alcohol price regulation: the importance of modelling population heterogeneity
Authors: Meier Petra Sylvia , Purshouse Robin , Brennan Alan 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTContext and aims Internationally, the repertoire of alcohol pricing policies has expanded to include targeted taxation, inflation‐linked taxation, taxation based on alcohol‐by‐volume (ABV), minimum pricing policies (general or targeted), bans of below‐cost selling and restricting price‐based promotions. Policy makers clearly need to consider how options compare in reducing harms at the population level, but are also required to demonstrate proportionality of their actions, which necessitates a detailed understanding of policy effects on different population subgroups. This paper presents selected findings from a policy appraisal for the UK government and discusses the importance of accounting for population heterogeneity in such analyses.Method We have built a causal, deterministic, epidemiological model which takes account of differential preferences by population subgroups defined by age, gender and level of drinking (moderate, hazardous, harmful). We consider purchasing preferences in terms of the types and volumes of alcoholic beverages, prices paid and the balance between bars, clubs and restaurants as opposed to supermarkets and off‐licenses.Results Age, sex and level of drinking fundamentally affect beverage preferences, drinking location, prices paid, price sensitivity and tendency to substitute for other beverage types. Pricing policies vary in their impact on different product types, price points and venues, thus having distinctly different effects on subgroups. Because population subgroups also have substantially different risk profiles for harms, policies are differentially effective in reducing health, crime, work‐place absence and unemployment harms.Conclusion Policy appraisals must account for population heterogeneity and complexity if resulting interventions are to be well considered, proportionate, effective and cost‐effective.
Early Cretaceous supradetachment basins in the Hohhot metamorphic core complex, Inner Mongolia, China
Authors: Ritts B. D. , Berry A. K. , Johnson C. L. , Darby B. J. , Davis G. A. 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTLower Cretaceous basins of the Hohhot metamorphic core complex in the Daqing Shan of Inner Mongolia, China, formed coevally with top to the SE faulting on the Hohhot detachment, as indicated by cross‐cutting relationships between the basin and the detachment, sediment–source relationships between the exhumed footwall of the detachment and the basin, and concordant ages between cooling of the footwall and sedimentation in the basin at about 122 Ma. The basins grade through two phases of deposition, marked by distinct sedimentologic characteristics. Early, debris flow, rock avalanche and streamflow deposits in alluvial fans filled multiple structurally segmented basins. Later, a widespread, integrated basin formed and was filled by conglomeratic fluvial and sheetflood deposits supplied by drainage systems flowing to the SE, subparallel to the extension direction. Throughout deposition of the Lower Cretaceous strata, sediment was derived dominantly from the lower plate of the detachment; with progressive unroofing of the lower plate, higher grade lithologies including gneiss and mylonite provided clasts to the Lower Cretaceous conglomerate. The basin fill is thin throughout the basin (<1200 m), but is much thicker on the SE side of the core complex, where detachment faulting was longer lived. These sedimentary rocks record the progressive exhumation of the lower plate of the Hohhot detachment, folding of the Hohhot detachment, and growth of the Hohhot metamorphic core complex, a classic metamorphic core complex that formed in response to fast, large‐magnitude extension. Accordingly, the basin associated with the detachment is consistent, in terms of structural setting and sedimentary style, with the end‐member model of supradetachment basin sedimentation, and supports the applicability of the supradetachment basin concept to sedimentation in highly extended terranes. These results also illustrate the dominance of lower plate relative uplift in localizing accommodation space in the overlying basins and providing sediment supply to the syn‐extensional basins.
Complement activation pathways in murine immune complex-induced arthritis and in C3a and C5a generationin vitro
Authors: Banda N K , Levitt B , Wood A K , Takahashi K , Stahl G L , Holers V M , Arend W P 
Published: October 2009

SummaryThe alternative pathway (AP) of complement alone is capable of mediating immune complex-induced arthritis in the collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) model in mice. Whether the classical pathway (CP) or lectin pathway (LP) alone can mediate CAIA is not known. Using mice genetically deficient in different complement components, our results reported herein establish that the CP and LP alone are each incapable of mediating CAIA. A lower level or absence of C3 and/or C5 activation by the CP may be possible explanations for the importance of the AP in CAIA and in many murine models of disease. In addition, other investigators have reported that CP C5 convertase activity is absent in mouse sera. To address these questions, we employed an in vitro system of adherent immunoglobulin (Ig)G-induced complement activation using plates coated with murine anti-collagen monoclonal antibody (mAb). These experiments used complement-deficient mouse sera and wild-type mouse or normal human sera under conditions inactivating either the CP (Ca++ deficiency) or the AP (mAb inhibitory to factor B). Robust generation of both C3a and C5a by either the AP or CP alone were observed with both mouse and human sera, although there were some small differences between the species of sera. We conclude that neither the CP nor LP alone is capable of mediating CAIA in vivo and that mouse sera exhibits a high level of IgG-induced C5a generation in vitro through either the CP or AP.
Radical scavenging activity and apoptotic effects in HT‐29 human colon cancer cells of black sesame seed extract
Authors: Kim Mi‐Ja , Jeong Min Kyu , Chang Pahn‐Shick , Lee JaeHwan 
Published: October 2009

SummaryFunctionality of black sesame seed methanol extracts (BSME) including radical scavenging activity and apoptotic effects on human colon cancer cell lines were measured. Radical scavenging activities of BSME was determined by 2,2′‐diphenyl‐1‐pycryl‐hydrazil (DPPH) and 2,2′‐azino‐bis [3‐ethylbenzthiazoline‐6‐sulphonic acid (ABTS)]methods. Total phenolic contents (TPC) were also measured. Cell toxicity effects of BSME on human colon cancer cell HT‐29 were evaluated using 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and apoptotic effects were tested by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)‐mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) expressions of BCL‐2 and BAX. TPC of BSME was 4.80 ± 0.21 μm tannic acid equivalent mg−1 BSME. DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging abilities by BSME in EC50 were 27.10 and 6.12 mg mL−1 BSME, respectively. Concentration from 6.7 to 10.0 mg mL−1 BSME exhibited proper cell toxicity based on the results of MTT assay and was enough to increase the apoptosis of colon cancer cells with typical apoptotic characteristics from TUNEL assay. In RT‐PCR, 6.7–10.0 mg mL−1 BSME reduced the expression of BCL‐2 and increased the expression of BAX, compared with untreated controls. BSME possessing phenolic compounds with radical scavenging ability may be related with inducing colon cancer cell death.