A direct plate count method for detecting E. coli in frozen food by detecting indole in colonies

A medium giving maximum indole production colonies of Escherichia coli has been defined and includes diethylaminoethylcellulose which restricts the spread of indole through the agar medium. A reagent based on p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde has been developed to give optimum indication of indole production. A simple method which will identify E. coli in cultures obtained from selective media is described and an extension, including a resuscitation stage, devised for rapid and direct quantitation of E. coli from frozen foods.     

An expert decision support system for network routing: a case study

The paper presents a case study of the development of an expert decision support system which uses simple heuristic methods for fast determination of routes for simultaneous signals in a transmission network of limited capacity. It illustrates how heuristic solutions can be embodied in a model-based DSS and how the standard decision support literature, although intuitively appealing, provides little practical assistance in system construction or classification     

The community-centered board model of managed care for people with developmental disabilities

An asymmetric triazine derivative, HOE 092 V,2-[3,5-alpha-dichloro-4-(4-methyl-sulfonylphenoxy)-phenyl]- 1-methyl-hexahydro-1,2,4-triazine-3,5-dion, was tested in vivo against Glugea anomala parasitizing the connective tissue of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Naturally infected sticklebacks were incubated in 10-1 plastic aquaria in water containing 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 micrograms HOE 092 V/ml for 2, 3, and 4 h at 22 degrees C. As seen at the ultrastructural level, the drug caused severe damage to all developmental stages of G. anomala except the mature spores. Starting with a dose of 2.5 micrograms/ml, the drug caused significant damage on uni- and multinucleate meronts, sporogonial plasmodia, and sporoblasts. The damage mainly consisted in a decrease in the number of ribosomes, an enlargement of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and a vacuolization of the cytoplasma. When treatment was done with 5 micrograms for 2 h, multinucleate meronts and sporogonial plasmodia were no longer detectable, and the sporoblasts and the prespore stages except the mature spores had shrunk. After incubation of the infected fish with 10 micrograms HOE 092 V/ml and 4 h exposure, uninucleate meronts were no longer detectable by means of transmission electron microscopy. In the sporoblast mother cells, vacuolization of the cytoplasma and lysis of the nuclei occurred. However, mature spores were not affected. It seems likely that HOE 092 V can be successfully applied in medicinal baths against Microsporidia in fish. The infected fish should be incubated in separate, aerated containers.     

Synthesis and Characterisation of Some New Ferrocenyl- and Ferrocenylalkynyl-[60]Fullerene Compounds

We report the synthesis and characterisation of a series of ferrocenylfullerene compounds, and some new ferrocene derivatives required as intermediates. The new fullerene species are Fc-[60]fullerene, (8); Fc-C=C-[60]fullerene, (10); Fc-C=C-C=C-[60]fullerene, (12); and (η-C₅H₄SiBu₃)Fe(η-C₅H₄)-[60]fullerene, (14).     

Cytogenetic abnormalities and clonal evolution in an adult hepatoblastoma

Hepatoblastomas usually occur in children < 3 years of age, and only occasional adult cases have been described. To date, 20 cytogenetically abnormal childhood hepatoblastomas have been reported. Karyotypic investigations have shown that most hepatoblastomas are diploid or hyperdiploid, often displaying trisomies for chromosomes 2 and 20. We have cytogenetically investigated an adult hepatoblastoma for which no previous karyotypic data exist. A hypertriploid stemline with multiple numerical and structural chromosomal aberrations, including +2 and +20, was found. In addition, the tumor displayed extensive clonal evolution with 11 subclones. Although the tumor thus displayed some chromosomal abnormalities commonly observed in childhood tumors, providing further support for the importance of these abnormalities in the development of hepatoblastoma, the level of genomic complexity seen in the present case has never been described in childhood hepatoblastomas and may suggest a different etiology or pathogenesis.     

Elastic-viscoplastic differential equations on a manifold modelling of in-plane stretching of sheet metal

The computational method for large deformation plasticity called differential equations on a manifold (DEM) has previously been shown to be effective for axisymmetric and plane strain sheet metal forming problems. The method has now been formulated for in-plane stretching problems, incorporated into a computer code, and applied to several problems. The code's performance is robust and accurate, as evidenced by a comparison with other published results. Incorporation of an automatic mesh generator significantly reduces data preparation time.     

Practice nurses' self-reported opportunistic smoking cessation advice in three contexts.

Little is known of the current smoking cessation activities of practice nurses and their attitudes toward giving smoking cessation advice. This study aimed to (a) compare practice nurses' reports of giving smoking cessation advice as part of cervical screening with their reports of giving such advice in cardiovascular disease screening and diabetes care, (b) compare their beliefs about providing such advice in these three contexts, and (c) determine the strongest predictors of their reports of giving smoking cessation advice. A survey was completed by 152 practice nurses in the United Kingdom. The frequency with which they reported giving smoking cessation advice and their beliefs about giving such advice in three contexts are reported. Nurses reported being more likely to give smoking cessation advice and had more positive beliefs about giving it in the more traditional contexts of cardiovascular screening and diabetes care compared with cervical screening. Beliefs about the appropriateness and practicality of giving such advice in the latter context were the strongest predictors of nurses' reports of doing so. This study provides guidance on the potential barriers that need to be overcome to increase the frequency with which nurses give smoking cessation advice in the context of cervical screening.     

Information technology and regulatory reformThe interorganisational effects of a technological innovation

This paper examines whether information technology can play a strategic role in supporting regulatory reforms aimed at achieving voluntary cooperation with government regulation. Analysis of the case of electronic tax return lodgment in Australia suggests that the effects of IT are contextual, and identifies positive effects of the new IT system on voluntary cooperation. However, in this case, divergence between private and public interests and uncertainty and lack of participation in regulatory decision-making appear to restrict the development of voluntary cooperation as a primary basis for government regulation.     

Phlebotomus papatasi sand fly salivary gland lysate down-regulates a Th1, but up-regulates a Th2, response in mice infected with Leishmania major

A vertebrate host becomes infected with Leishmania major when the sand fly vector injects parasites into skin along with saliva. Previous studies showed that salivary gland lysate of the New World sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis markedly enhanced L. major infection in CBA mice. However, L. major is an Old World parasite transmitted in nature by the Old World sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi. Here we examine the ability of P. papatasi salivary gland lysate to enhance infection (lesion size and parasite burden) by L. major. In addition, we examine the effects of salivary gland lysate on the immune response to L. major by monitoring the levels of cytokine mRNA from the lymph nodes draining cutaneous lesions. We found that P. papatasi salivary gland lysate dramatically exacerbated lesion development in disease-resistant CBA mice. This exacerbation of disease correlated with inhibition of the production of Thl cytokines and associated factors (IFN-gamma, IL-12, and inducible nitric oxide synthase), but with enhancement of the Th2 cytokine IL-4, whereas no changes in the levels of IL-10 and TGF-beta were noted. Importantly, salivary gland lysate directly up-regulated expression of IL-4 mRNA in mice in the absence of infection with L. major.     

Using argumentation to model agent decision making in economic experiments

In this paper we demonstrate how a qualitative framework for decision making can be used to model scenarios from experimental economic studies and we show how our approach explains the results that have been reported from such studies. Our framework is an argumentation-based one in which the social values promoted or demoted by alternative action options are explicitly represented. Our particular representation is used to model the Dictator Game and the Ultimatum Game, which are simple interactions in which it must be decided how a sum of money will be divided between the players in the games. Studies have been conducted into how humans act in such games and the results are not explained by a decision-model that assumes that the participants are purely self-interested utility-maximisers. Some studies further suggest that differences in choices made in different cultures may reflect their day to day behaviour, which can in turn be related to the values of the subjects, and how they order their values. In this paper we show how these interactions can be modelled in agent systems in a framework that makes explicit the reasons for the agents’ choices based upon their social values. Our framework is intended for use in situations where agents are required to be adaptable, for example, where agents may prefer different outcome states in transactions involving different types of counter-parties.