Nitrate preserved sausage meat causes an unusual food poisoning incident

Three teenagers from a butcher's household were admitted to hospital as emergency case after eating sausages. The local consultant in communicable disease control was immediately asked to help investigate the cause of their food poisoning. The cases were treated for methaemoglobinaemia. Investigations revealed that the sausage meat had been prepared using sodium nitrate (saltpetre) as a preservative at levels well in excess of those legally permitted in meat products. Prompt recognition of the cause of the food poisoning prevented the outbreak from becoming much bigger. A large quantity of the sausage meat had been prepared for commercial sale, but the butcher's children had eaten part of the batch on the evening before it was due to go on sale to the public.     

Disease assessment and management of the vasculitides

The improvement in survival with chemotherapy has resulted in a change of the natural history of the systemic vasculitic syndromes. The vasculitides are now viewed as chronic disease rather than fatal conditions. Their course is frequently characterized by relapse as well as the scars of irreversible organ damage from disease and drug toxicity. Assessment tools are available which can serve as outcome measures in clinical trials as well as a guide to better management of individual patients. Improvements in therapy in future are dependent on a better understanding of the pathogenesis of these conditions and the ability to assess disease accurately.     

Comparative in vitro effects of closantel and selected beta-ketoamide anthelmintics on a gastrointestinal nematode and vertebrate liver cells

BACKGROUND: Despite the popularity and widespread practice of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM), researchers may face problems accruing patients to randomized clinical trials, considered the gold standard of biomedical research. Strict exclusion criteria and barriers to participation may limit accrual. Inadequate numbers of subjects decrease the ability of studies to detect an effect that exists and generalize their findings. This article describes the recruitment experience of a CAM trial, details reasons for non-participation, and contrasts participants and non-participants on demographic, clinical, and treatment-related variables. METHODS: Women who were Houston area residents and spoke English, had primary breast cancer (excluding Stage IV), and were 1 to 30 months posttreatment with no steroids, tamoxifen, substance abuse, psychiatric or heart disease, or immune deficiency were eligible. The enrollment process involved three contacts (i.e. introductory letter and brochure, telephone calls, and reminder post cards). Potential participants were told that the study would require blood samples (30 cc) to assess immune function; psychosocial measures to assess emotional well-being, quality-of-life, social support, and coping strategies; and possible assignment to six weekly support or imagery sessions. Factors influencing recruitment and reasons for non-participation were assessed by stratified analysis and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 158 eligible participants, 30% (N = 47) consented to participate. Primary reasons for non-participation included work/childcare (33.3%), transportation/travel (30.6%), and lack of interest (24.3%). Participants were more likely to be 40-54 years of age versus younger or older, divorced/separated, and able to pay some/all medical expenses. Divorced or separated women appeared to be more likely to participate, regardless of financial status. CONCLUSIONS: Researchers must assess the impact of exclusion criteria on accrual and recognize the special needs of their target population. Although age, marital status, and pay status were the strongest predictors of participation, these factors are not amenable to intervention. Based on this study, researchers might boost accrual by providing interventions available during the day and evening to accommodate working women, child care services, transportation, or reimbursement for travel costs.     

Spatial disparity coding in the superior colliculus of the cat

We investigate the spatial and temporal aspects of firing patterns in a network of integrate-and-fire neurons arranged in a one-dimensional ring topology. The coupling is stochastic and shaped like a Mexican hat with local excitation and lateral inhibition. With perfect precision in the couplings, the attractors of activity in the network occur at every position in the ring. Inhomogeneities in the coupling break the translational invariance of localized attractors and lead to synchronization within highly active as well as weakly active clusters. The interspike interval variability is high, consistent with recent observations of spike time distributions in visual cortex. The robustness of our results is demonstrated with more realistic simulations on a network of McGregor neurons which model conductance changes and after-hyperpolarization potassium currents.     

Macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta induces migration and activation of human thymocytes

The CC chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta (MIP-1beta), has been shown to be a chemoattractant preferentially activating CD4(+) CD45RA+ T lymphocytes. Further analysis of chemokine action on lymphocytic cells has shown the potent migration-promoting capacity of MIP-1beta on human thymocytes. The responding cells were the CD4(+) and CD8(+) single-positive (SP), as well as the CD4(+) CD8(+) double-positive (DP) populations, with little if any migratory activity on the double-negative (DN) population. The activation of thymocytes by MIP-1beta appeared to be a direct, receptor-mediated event as evidenced by the rapid mobilization of intracellular calcium, increase in proteins phosphorylated on tyrosine, and activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Radioligand binding analyses showed specific and displaceable binding of MIP-1beta to thymocytes with a Kd of approximately 1 nmol/L, a profile that was comparable with MIP-1beta binding to CCR-5-transfected NIH 3T3 cells. In addition, CCR-5 mRNA was detected in total thymocyte populations indicating that activation of thymocytes by MIP-1beta may occur through binding to CCR-5. Further dissection of the subpopulations showed that only the DP and CD8(+) SP populations expressed CCR-5 and expression data on these two populations was confirmed using anti-CCR-5 monoclonal antibody. These data may be suggestive of a role for MIP-1beta in human thymocyte activation, and show a potential route for HIV infectivity in the developing immune system.     

Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Auditory and Olfactory Stimuli: Performance Among Older Adults With and Without the Apolipoprotein E ε4 Allele.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) demonstrate slowed acquisition of the conditioned response (CR) in eyeblink classical conditioning paradigms (EBCC), although it is unknown how early in the course of the disease CR acquisition is affected. This study investigated whether changes in the rate of CR acquisition were apparent in nondemented older adults at greater genetic risk for developing AD (i.e., carriers of the apolipoprotein E [APOE] ε4 allele). Both ε4+ and ε4- participants demonstrated CR acquisition to auditory and olfactory CSs; however, rate of acquisition to the olfactory CS was significantly slower in ε4+ persons. Both groups acquired the CR to an auditory CS at the same rate. Results support olfactory compromise in the earliest stages of the AD disease process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gas discharge ion source. II. Duopigatron

Ion source performance characteristics consisting of total ion current, ion energy distribution, mass distribution, and ion current density distribution have been measured for several models of a duopigatron. Variations on the duopigatron design involved plasma expansion cup material and dimensions, secondary cathode material, and interelectrode spacings. Of the designs tested, the one with a copper and molybdenum secondary cathode, and a mild steel plasma expansion cup proved to give the best results. The ion current density distribution was peaked at the center of the plasma expansion cup and fell off to 80% of the peak value at the cup wall for a cup 15.2 mm deep. A total ion current of 180 mA consisting of 60%-70% atomic ions was produced with an arc current of 20 A and source pressure of 9.3 Pa. More shallow cups produced a larger beam current and a more sharply peaked ion current density distribution. Typical ion energy distributions were bellshaped curves with a peak 10-20 V below anode potential and with ion energies extending 30-40 V on either side of the peak.     

High levels of HCB and DDE associated with reproductive failure in prairie falcons (Falco mexicanus) from California

With the evidence of deletions in the region responsible for autosomal recessive spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) on chromosome 5, it is now possible to further clarify the clinical and diagnostic findings in proximal SMA. Homozygous deletions of the survival motor neuron (SMN) gene can be detected in about 95% of patients with early onset SMA. In a series of more than 200 patients, we tested 31 patients with atypical features of SMA who fulfilled at least one exclusion criterion according to the diagnostic criteria of the International SMA Consortium for the presence of SMN gene deletions. The patients were subdivided into two groups: 1. Seven index patients being not deleted for the SMN gene who belonged to a well-defined SMA plus variant that has already been shown to be unlinked with chromosome 5q markers: diaphragmatic SMA, SMA plus olivopontocerebellar hypoplasia, SMA with congenital arthrogryposis and bone fractures. 2. Twenty-four patients with clinical signs of SMA and neurogenic findings in EMG/muscle biopsy who had unusual features or other organ involvement. In order to structure this heterogeneous group, each patient was assigned to a subgroup according to the leading atypical feature. In 5 out of 8 unrelated patients with a history of preterm birth and/or perinatal asphyxia leading to a picture of severe SMA in combination with respiratory distress and/or cerebral palsy, no deletion of the SMN gene could be detected. There were five unrelated patients with extended central nervous system involvement (cerebral atrophy, EEG abnormalities, pyramidal tract signs, evidence of cerebellar involvement). Most of these patients (4/5) proved to belong to SMA 5q on the basis of SMN gene deletion findings. The same applied to a group of three patients with classical SMA in association with congenital malformations (mainly heart defect). A fourth group of three patients was characterized mainly by an unusual improvement of the condition; in these patients no SMN gene deletions were present. In three index patients a more complex syndrome of the CNS and other organs was suggested, but the detection of SMN gene deletions in two of them made a coincidence of features more likely. In addition, SMN gene deletions were found in two patients with evidence of congenital fibre type dysproportion in one and extremely raised CK activity ( > 10fold) in the other. While the confirmation of SMN gene deletions is very useful in cases with diagnostic doubts, caution is required when offering prenatal prediction with regard to SMA 5q in families with atypical features. There is strong evidence that there are clinical entities resembling SMA which most likely have another pathogenetic background.     

The crystallography and atomic structure of line defects in twin boundaries in hexagonal-close-packed metals

The crystallographic analysis of line defects in interfaces is discussed and applied to the particular case of twinning dislocations in hexagonal-close-packed (hop) metals, which have been studied here by atomistic simulation. Two crystallographic approaches are used; first, the concept of bicrystal structure maps is developed for the case of interfaces between crystals having multiple-atom bases, and second, the topological theory of line defects based on symmetry theory is used. On the basis of the atomistic calculations, some general conclusions concerning the relative contribution to the total energy of dislocations made by their elastic fields and core structures are presented. This paper is based on a presentation made in the symposium “The Role of Ledges in Phase Transformations” presented as part of the 1989 Fall Meeting of TMS-MSD, October 1–5, 1989, in Indianapolis, IN, under the auspices of the Phase Transformations Committee of the Materials Science Division, ASM INTERNATIONAL.