Assessment of the efficacy of a low temperature hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilization system

The STERRAD 100 sterilization system (Johnson & Johnson Medical Ltd) uses low temperature hydrogen peroxide gas plasma for sterilization of heat labile equipment. The efficacy of the machine was tested by contaminating a standard set of instruments with different organisms and using a filtration method to assess recovery of organisms from the wash fluids of instruments post-sterilization. Experiments were performed under clean (the organism only) and dirty (organism mixed with egg protein) conditions. A parallel study conducted using a 3M STERIVAC ethylene oxide sterilizer could not be completed owing to closure of the ethylene oxide plant. For sterilization of instruments with long and narrow lumens, hydrogen peroxide adaptors are necessary. The STERRAD 100 sterilizer can achieve effective sterilization of heat labile instruments with a reduction of 6 log10 cfu/mL of organisms tested. This method has the advantages over ethylene oxide sterilization of safety, ease of maintenance and no requirement for aeration time.     

Exceptionally high seizure threshold: ECT device limitations

Numerous studies have confirmed the distinct biological behavior of two subsets of prostate cancer diagnosed incidentally after either transurethral resection (TURP) or open prostatectomy for presumed benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Focal, low-grade lesions are associated with a low risk for clinical progression and are designated as stage T1a or A1. These cases have traditionally been managed conservatively with close clinical observation. In contrast, multifocal, high-volume, or high-grade tumors are associated with a more aggressive clinical course and are designated as stage T1b or A2. Early definitive intervention is usually advocated for these latter patients. Therefore, accurate pathological assignment to either stage T1a or T1b is crucial for selection of appropriate management options. A variety of methods for staging patients with incidentally detected prostate cancer have been proposed, including detailed histological analysis, repeat TURP or transurethral biopsy, serial prostate-specific antigen (PSA) analysis, and imaging with either transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) or magnetic resonance (MRI) techniques. This article critically examines the clinical utility of these staging modalities for patients with incidentally detected prostate cancer.     

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.     

Reasoning about non-immediate triggers in biological networks

Modeling molecular interactions in signalling networks is important from various perspectives such as predicting side effects of drugs, explaining unusual cellular behavior and drug and therapy design. Various formal languages have been proposed for representing and reasoning about molecular interactions. The interactions are modeled as triggered events in most of the approaches. The triggering of events is assumed to be immediate: once an interaction is triggered, it should occur immediately. Although working well for engineering systems, this assumption poses a serious problem in modeling biological systems. Our knowledge about biological systems is inherently incomplete, thus molecular interactions are constantly elaborated and refined at different granularity of abstraction. The model of immediate triggers can not consistently deal with this refinement. In this paper we propose an action language to address this problem. We show that the language allows for refinements of biological knowledge, although at a higher cost in terms of complexity.      

A furostanol saponin from fruits of Balanites aegyptiaca

A new furostanol saponin was isolated from the mesocarp of Balanites aegyptiaca fruits and identified as 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25R)-furost-5-ene-3,22,26-triol 3-O-[[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-[beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-be ta- D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-beta-D-xylopyranoside (balanitesin).     

Accuracy of portable chest radiography in the critical care setting. Diagnosis of pneumonia based on quantitative cultures obtained from protected brush catheter

Sixty-six supine portable chest radiographs done on the day of bronchoscopy in 62 critical care unit patients suspected of having pneumonia were examined in a blinded fashion by two radiologists. Quantitative culture results obtained from protected brush catheter (PBC) specimens were compared with chest radiograph scores. For one observer, the sensitivity of the chest radiograph for predicting the presence of positive culture results was 0.60, specificity was 0.29, overall agreement was 0.41, positive predictive value was 0.34, and negative predictive value was 0.55. For the second observer, the values were as follows: sensitivity, 0.64; specificity, 0.27; overall agreement, 0.41; positive predictive value, 0.35; and negative predictive value, 0.55. The kappa statistic was calculated at 0.27 indicating marginal interobserver reproducibility. We conclude the portable chest radiograph in the critical care setting is not accurate in predicting the presence of pneumonia when the diagnosis is based on quantitative cultures obtained from protected brush catheter specimens.