Active surveillance of health and safety in microbiology laboratories

In microbiology laboratories highly infectious material is handled alongside complex and potentially dangerous equipment, and staff are therefore at risk of infections and accidents. Acts of parliament and regulations exist to protect staff in the workplace, including those exposed to biological agents. The current monitoring of health and safety in laboratories seeks to ensure that employers and employees comply with existing regulations, but this form of passive surveillance is of limited value because it does not highlight shortcomings in techniques, equipment, premises, or personnel. We propose a scheme for the surveillance of health and safety in microbiology laboratories that will actively seek information about laboratory incidents and practices, in order to enable appropriate preventive measures to be instituted.     

The classification of diseases of the temporomandibular joint

There were 2040 patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) diseases in the investigation including clinical, physiological, X-ray methods of research, contrast arthrotomography, computer arthrotomography and magnetic resonance tomography. The changes of structure in different lesions were estimated. The result of received data was elaboration of classification of TMJ internal derangements with estimation of clinical forms in according with structural changes and characteristics of syndromes.     

Hygienic aspects of porcine gullets

In an attempt to elaborate good manufacturing practices, including the collection, processing and storage of porcine gullets, their bacterial condition immediately after collection (100 samples), as well as that of deep frozen gullets just before incorporation into meat products (40 samples), was assessed. Fresh gullets were found to be contaminated to a high degree: poured plate colony count at 30°C (PPCC) approximately 10(6) to 10(7) and Enterobacteriaceae approximately 10(3) to 10(4) cfu g(-1). Deep frozen gullets showed even higher counts: PPCC approximately 10(7) to 10(8) and Enterobacteriaceae approximately 10(4) to 10(5) cfu g(-1). Hygiene during collection was visually assessed in six abattoirs and found to be satisfactory in two, moderate in three and poor in one. The effects of processing, by cleaning or removal of the mucus membrane, on bacterial condition, pH, colour and odour were assessed before and during storage at 4°C and 20°C. Both cleaning and removal of the mucus membrane resulted in up to approximately a tenfold reduction of colony counts. After 7 days' storage at 4°C these were significantly lower than those of unprocessed gullets (P < 0·01). Processed gullets stored at 4°C were no longer fit for consumption after 4 days' storage. It being impossible to achieve a marked improvement in the bacteriological condition of gullets, the incorporation of these products into sausages should be discouraged and their use in petfoods only allowed under reasonable conditions of hygiene and chilling.     

Industrial high‐rate (∼5 nm/s) deposited silicon nitride yielding high‐quality bulk and surface passivation under optimum anti‐reflection coating conditions

High‐quality surface and bulk passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells has been obtained under optimum anti‐reflection coating properties by silicon nitride (a‐SiN_x:H) deposited at very high deposition rates of ∼5 nm/s. These a‐SiN_x:H films were deposited using the expanding thermal plasma (ETP) technology under regular processing conditions in an inline industrial‐type reactor with a nominal throughput of 960 solar cells/hour. The low surface recombination velocities (50–70 cm/s) were obtained on p‐type silicon substrates (8·4 Ω cm resistivity) for as‐deposited and annealed films within the broad refractive index range of 1·9–2·4, which covers the optimum bulk passivation and anti‐reflection coating performance reached at a refractive index of ∼2·1. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Azo-and nitro-reductase activities and cytochromes of Axcaris lumbricoides var suum and Moniezia expansa

1. Isoelectric focusing failed to separate the azo- and nitro-reductases in enzyme preparations from either the nematode Ascaris lumbricoides var suum or the cestode Moniezia expansa. The isoelectric point of the reductases from A. lumbricoides var suum was 4-75, and that of the reductases from M. expansa, 4-50. 2. Cytochromes P-450 and b5 were not detected in the 100 000 g pellet of tissue homogenates from either A. lumbricoides var suum of M. expansa. These cytochromes were not induced in either helminth by 20-methylcholanthrene or 1,2-benzanthracene. 3. The absence of cytochromes P-450 and b5 from A. lumbricoides var suum and M. expansa may be the reason for their inability to metabolize drugs by oxidative pathways and for the 100 000 g pellets of their tissue homogenates being unable to reduce azo- or nitro-compounds.     

Intravenous long term infusions of the rat without anesthesia

The lumbar-spine radiographs of 67 patients with idiopathic chondrocalcinosis articularis were reviewed for disc calcification and other changes. Calcification was present in 21 (31%) of the patients, seen most frequently at the L 2-3 disc space. The 21 patients as a group were significantly older than the 46 patients without disc calcification, and also had a much higher incidence of chondrocalcinosis in peripheral joints. There was no association with back pain or spinal stiffness. The 21 patients with disc calcification included six patients with a destructive peripheral arthropathy, and three of them had destructive changes affecting the lumbar spine. Three patients with a destructive peripheral arthropathy were also included in the group without disc calcification, and one of these had a destructive arthritis of the lumbar spine. For comparison, there was a 55% incidence of spinal chondrocalcinosis in nine patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and peripheral joint chondrocalcinosis, and a 6% incidence in 100 anteroposterior lumbar spine radiograph 'controls', taken before intravenous urography, although in this latter group the changes were minimal and confined to the margin of a single disc in each case.     

Significance of a new type of human fetal hemoglobin carrying a replacement isoleucine replaced by threonine at position 75 )E 19) of the gamma chain

Mating speed of flies which have been aged either in the light, in the dark or in a light-and-dark cycle was measured using two strains, Rochester (R) and Salvador (S), of Drosophila mercatorum. A significant difference in mating tendency depending on the condition of pretreatment was found between R and S strains, while both strains showed a similar pattern of the diurnal rhythm in the light-and-dark cycle. Compared under the same conditions, S flies usually showed a higher mating speed than R flies. Mating speed seems to be affected by at least two different genetic systems. One of them is the genetic system determining absolute speed of mating. Another is the genetic system determining sensitivity to the environmental conditions. There may be considerable differentiation in both systems between R and S strains.