Production of enterotoxins by Bacteroids fragilis strains--effect of clindamycin

Four B. fragilis strains were examined: one nonenterotoxigenic (NTBF) and three producing enterotoxin (ETBF). The growth of cultures was determined and enterotoxin, which is released to the culture medium during growth of strains, was detected. BHI broth and BHI broth with addition of subinhibitory doses (sub-MIC) of clindamycin were applied. Bacterial cultures were incubated at 37 degrees C for 48 hours. After 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 hours of cultivation, samples of bacterial cultures were collected and the optical density was measured. Then the samples were centrifuged, supernatants were filtered through 0.45 micron filters and concentrated three times with 5000 D ultrafilters. Prepared samples were kept frozen at -70 degrees C until used. The titre of enterotoxin in samples was determined on human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT 29/C1. Neutralization assay was performed with culture filtrates, which were enterotoxin-positive and with rabbit anti-enterotoxin serum. The results of the experiments indicate that enterotoxin is detected after 16 hours of incubation of ETBF strains. Clindamycin at subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) inhibits the growth of B. fragilis cultures. The antibiotic causes also delay and decrease in enterotoxin production by ETBF strains.     

Crystal structure of ICAM-2 reveals a distinctive integrin recognition surface

Recognition by integrin proteins on the cell surface regulates the adhesive interactions between cells and their surroundings. The structure of the 'I' domain that is found in some but not all integrins, has been determined. However, the only integrin ligands for which structures are known, namely fibronectin and VCAM-1, are recognized by integrins that lack I domains. The intercellular adhesion molecules ICAM-1, 2 and 3 are, like VCAM-1, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF), but they are recognized by an I domain-containing integrin, lymphocyte-function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1, or CD11a/CD18). Here we present the crystal structure of the extracellular region of ICAM-2. The glutamic acid residue at position 37 is critical for LFA-1 binding and is proposed to coordinate the Mg2+ ion in the I domain; this Glu 37 is surrounded by a relatively flat recognition surface and lies in a beta-strand, whereas the critical aspartic acid residue in VCAM-1 and fibronectin lie in protruding loops. This finding suggests that there are differences in the architecture of recognition sites between integrins that contain or lack I domains. A bend between domains 1 and 2 of ICAM-2 and a tripod-like arrangement of N-linked glycans in the membrane-proximal region of domain 2 may be important for presenting the recognition surface to LFA-1. A model of ICAM-1 based on the ICAM-2 structure provides a framework for understanding its recognition by pathogens.     

T-cell-dependent pathways in rheumatoid arthritis

In rats carbaryl undergoes extensive biotransformation involving both albumin-mediated hydrolysis and cytochrome P-450-mediated metabolism; studies have suggested that approximately one-half of a carbaryl dose is hydrolysed and one-half is metabolized. Fluosol is known to be an inducer of cytochrome P-450, and Fluosol haemodilution reduces plasma albumin concentrations. The disposition of carbaryl was, therefore, determined in rats for 72 h after 40 mL kg-1 haemodilution with Fluosol or normal saline (0.9% NaCl). Volumes of distribution were significantly reduced after saline haemodilution for 72 h but only at 48 h after Fluosol haemodilution. Fluosol and saline haemodilution had little influence on carbaryl total body clearance (CL). These results indicate that both hepatic and non-hepatic clearance pathways were not influenced by the haemodiluents or the haemodilution procedure.     

Application of degradation kinetics to the rheology of poly(hydroxyalkanoates)

The time‐dependent rheological behavior of a series of 3‐hydroxybuytrate‐based semicrystalline copolymers is employed to determine the expected rheological curves that would be generated in the absence of any polymer degradation. Both dynamic frequency sweep and shear rate sweep experiments were analyzed. A model for the degradation kinetics, coupled with standard rheological relationships, was employed to extrapolate the measured sweeps to predicted curves at time zero, prior to degradation. The model is broadly applicable over a wide range of frequencies or shear rates, and generates a single degradation rate constant k for each polymer studied. A similar, although ad hoc, procedure was applied to the dynamic storage and loss moduli. The model provides a method for determining the rheological behavior of degrading polymers over a time interval, typically found in processing applications. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102:1794–1802, 2006     

The reality of living in passive solar homes: A user-experience study

This paper presents a study of a user-experience survey about living in passive solar homes. It was carried out at the Energy Park located in the western part of Milton Keynes. The survey focuses on the reality of living in passive solar homes as perceived or experienced by the occupant. It is hoped that the findings would come to bear on strategic passive solar design decisions that would address the improvement of the well-being of the occupant.. The survey is aimed at assessing user satisfaction with the overall performance of their homes as well as a study of some of the problems that are believed to be common in passive solar housing.Results from the survey seem to indicate that the majority of those who buy passive solar homes are motivated to do so by a desire for thermal comfort at low cost. The building aesthetics is the second most important factor, showing that passive solar home lovers are also conscious of the quality of the architectural design. The overall performance of passive solar homes in this study, with regard to thermal and visual comfort, seems to be generally satisfactory. Statistical analysis showed some significant association between some important environmental design parameters.     

Doubling the engineer's utility

The big challenge for military forces and their industrial supporters since the end of the cold war is how to convert technologies once viewed as exclusively military to serve civilian ends as well. The authors discuss a case of dual use in which a rigorous military method for designing complex computer systems appears suited to complicated civilian projects. The method is supported by a new language, CaRT-Spec, which is application independent and therefore suitable for both military and civilian applications     

Lipid and lipoprotein distributions in children by ethnic group, gender, and geographic location--preliminary findings of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH)

Male and female isometric strength curves for elbow fixation, shoulder flexion, and wrist supination-pronation are obtained during systematic variation in arm configuration. The shape of a given moment-angle curve is found to be a function of the orientations of joints kinematically coupled to the primary joint. It is also found that female elbow strength curves are shifted toward flexion with respect to male elbow-strength curves, suggesting that the in situ rest length of upper-limb muscles relative to joint angle may be longer for males than for females. Experimental results were contrasted with simulation results obtained using a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model which estimates the relationships between initial joint orientations, muscle tension-length behavior, and joint moments. In most of the cases, simulation results complimented experimental data and provided insights into likely in situ muscle rest lengths and moments arms, especially for the multiarticular biceps brachii muscle. Where inconsistencies exist between simulated and experimental data, subtle biomechanical complexities within the forearm and the shoulder girdle complex are identified that require future investigation.     

Comparison of voice analysis systems for perturbation measurement

Dysphonic voices are often analyzed using automated voice analysis software. However, the reliability of acoustic measures obtained from these programs remains unknown, particularly when they are applied to pathological voices. This study compared perturbation measures from CSpeech, Computerized Speech Laboratory, SoundScope, and a hand marking voice analysis system. Sustained vowels from 29 male and 21 female speakers with mild to severe dysphonia were digitized, and fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, and harmonics- or signal-to-noise ratios were computed. Commercially available acoustical analysis programs agreed well, but not perfectly, in their measures of F0. Measures of perturbation in the various analysis packages use different algorithms, provide results in different units, and often yield values for voices that violate the assumption of quasi-periodicity. As a result, poor rank order correlations between programs using similar measures of perturbation were noted. Because measures of aperiodicity apparently cannot be reliably applied to voices that are even mildly aperiodic, we question their utility in quantifying vocal quality, especially in pathological voices.     

Hematopoietic precursor cell exhaustion is a cause of proliferative defect in primitive hematopoietic stem cells (PHSC) after chemotherapy

The aim of the present study is to determine the possibility of measuring the bone mineral density (BMD) around implants by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Therefore, the trabecular BMD was measured close to 127-600 microns and at a distance from various uncoated and Ca-P-coated implants inserted into the femoral condyle of goals. The implants were left in situ for 12 weeks. In addition, the bone-implant interface was evaluated histologically. For comparative reasons the BMD of non-implanted lateral and medial femoral condyles was also measured. The reproducibility of the measurements, expressed as a coefficient of variation, was found to be 0.44%. Moreover, the regions closest to the implants exhibited a higher BMD than all other regions, and the regions located in the medial condyle showed a higher BMD than the lateral condylar regions. Although the histological sections of the implants in the medial condyle demonstrated more bone contact with the coated than with the uncoated implants, a higher density was measured around the uncoated implants. The results regarding the non-implanted condyles indicated a higher density in the medial than in the lateral condyle. In view of these results, we conclude that BMD around dental implants depends on the location of the implant and that DEXA appears to be an excellent tool for analysing bone-implant reactions.