Evaluation of a Yersinia adhesion gene (yadA) specific PCR for the identification of enteropathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica

A total of 101 Yersinia enterocolitica strains was investigated with a PCR assay [Blais and Phillipe, Food Control, 6 (1995) 211-214] targeting the Yersinia adhesin gene (yadA) responsible for autoagglutination. Compared to the autoagglutination test the PCR assay has a specificity of 100% but a sensitivity of only 70%. This failure might be caused by the sequence heterogeneity of yadA.     

Antiadhesion as a functional concept for prevention of pathogens: N-Phenylpropenoyl-L-amino acid amides as inhibitors of the Helicobacter pylori BabA outer membrane protein

Scope: Besides flavan‐3‐ols, a family of N‐phenylpropenoyl‐L ‐amino acids (NPAs) has been recently identified as polyphenol/amino acid conjugates in the seeds of Theobroma cacao as well as in a variety of herbal drugs. NPAs were shown to exhibit antiadhesive activities against Helicobacter pylori. Methods and results: For structure/activity relationship 24 homologous NPAs (2 mM) were investigated in a flow cytometric assay on potential antiadhesive effects against H. pylori adhesion to human gastric AGS cells. Dihydroxylation of the aromatic molecule part was shown to be necessary for activity; methoxylation decreases activity. High polarity of the amino acid is a prerequisite for activity. The model compound N‐(E)‐caffeoyl‐L ‐glutamic acid 11 exerted a concentration‐dependent inhibition of bacterial adhesion with saturation at 30% inhibition level. The antiadhesive effect was additionally confirmed by in situ adhesion assay on intact human gastric tissue. NPAs exhibited no cytotoxicity. Using immobilized ligands interaction 11 with bacterial adhesin BabA was demonstrated. RT‐PCR indicated that the inhibition of BabA is not correlated with subsequent feed back regulations to express more adhesins or virulence factors (vacA, cagA, cagL, cagα, fucT, ureI, ureA, OMPs). The interaction of bacterial adhesins with the respective ligands does not automatically lead to a subsequent signal transduction towards induction of virulence processes. Conclusion: The nutritional use of NPA‐containing food may justify a positive antiadhesive effect against the recurrence of H. pylori infections.     

The Open City and the e[ad] School of Architecture and Design

Located in Ritoque on central Chile's Pacific coast, Open City is a unique community established in the 1970s by faculty members from the nearby e[ad] school of architecture at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. Here Professor David Jolly Monge , a founding member of the Open City, and Guest-Editors Christian Hermansen Cordua and Michael Hensel describe how the construction of structures on the site offer the collective community and students alike ongoing opportunities for ‘thinking, research and experimentation’.     

The nuclear refrigeration of copper

Nuclear refrigeration experiments have been performed on samples containing 0.93 g-atom of copper. After demagnetization to a field of 800 G from initial conditions of 25 kG and 16 mK, lattice temperatures of less than 1 mK were reached. The temperature of the copper nuclei was measured with a pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance thermometer. The lattice temperature was then calculated from this value and the experimentally determined heat leak of 0.10±0.02 erg/sec. An attempt to measure the lattice temperature directly by observing the anisotropy in the angular distribution of the rays emitted by 1 µCi of ⁵⁴ MnZN was not successful. A number of solutions of the differential equations describing nuclear refrigeration have been obtained and were used to simulate experiments with various heat leaks and final magnetic fields. Calculations have also been fitted to the experimental results wherever possible.     

建筑与环境的融合——嵌入式建筑的特征

质疑当下对孤立建筑物的偏好:这些建筑与周边环境相割裂,显得十分突兀;提出嵌入式建筑的解决途经,其旨在实现建筑与环境的高度整合,减少城市化与项目施工带来的快速积聚的负面影响;通过对甄选建筑案例的讨论,探讨嵌入式建筑的潜在特征和表现,以推动可持续的建筑设计.     

Towards an Architectural History of Performance: Auxiliarity,Performance and Provision in Historical Persian Architectures

Despite its extensive empire, Persia historically presented a challenging environment for the building of structures and infrastructure. The mountainous landscape of the Iranian plateaus has an arid or semi-arid climate with distinct seasonal variations and temperatures that fluctuated throughout the day. Despite this, water management and soil-fertilisation strategies and passive environmental modulation in architecture were all highly developed previous to the 19th century so as to be finely attuned to the local context, while also responding to the greater demands of a centralised empire. Here Michael Hensel, Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel, Mehran Gharleghi and Salmaan Craig discuss and illustrate their detailed findings of the performance of historic structures. These include qanats (water canals), water cisterns, ice houses and pigeon houses as well as the seminal Khaju Bridge in Isfahan and the Boroujerdi's House in Kashan.     

Performance-Orientated Design Precursors and Potentials

Performance-oriented design is not without precedent. In the past, architecture responded with great sophistication and beauty to the need to preserve local resources and provide diverse and suitable conditions for human habitation. In the current context of escalating environmental and ecological changes, learning from precedents and developing their potential is becoming increasingly important. However, many architects refuse to look back in fear of returning to an imagined medieval condition, preferring instead to invest in the technologies that lie at the core of the environmental change and spatial and social division, which we may no longer be able to afford. In response to these circumstances, Michael Hensel examines the potential of past approaches to passive environmental modulation as a reworked spatial paradigm for design that interrelates material, spatial and environmental dynamics with dynamic patterns of habitation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Continuous "high flux" dialysis: an effective renal replacement therapy for intensive care patients

Currently available replacement therapies for the treatment of acute renal failure are reviewed. Particular interest is focused on their application in intensive care, especially in septic patients. Underlying principles and mechanisms of action are explained. The continuous "High flux-dialysis" is shown to be a particularly effective form of renal replacement therapy.