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     

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.     

GENERALIZED DERIVATIONS FOR MIXTURES USING THE VIRIAL EQUATION: APPLICATION TO FUGACITY

Calculation of mixture properties using the virial equation of state (VEOS) becomes tedious when the expression contains more than the second virial term. This paper describes a derivation procedure which permits relatively simple extension to any number of virial terms. We have used the fugacity derivation as an example of using the new technique and provide an equation for the fugacity coefficient using any number of terms and any number of components.     

Activated gas plasma surface treatment of polymers for adhesive bonding

Polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(vinyl fluoride) (Tedlar), polystyrene, nylon 6, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (Mylar), polycarbonate, cellulose acetate butyrate, and a poly(oxymethylene) copolymer were treated with activated helium and with activated oxygen. Mechanical strengths of adhesive-bonded specimens prepared from treated and from untreated coupons were compared. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) showed the greatest increases in bond strength. Oxygen and helium were both effective with polyethylene, but polypropylene showed no improvement when treated with activated helium. The results with excited helium parallel the effects of ionizing radiation on these two polymers, as does the appearance of unsaturation bands in the infrared (965 cm^?1 in PE, and 887 and 910 cm^?1 in PP). Active nitrogen produced excellent bond strength with polyethylene but not with polypropylene. Of the remaining polymers examined, Tedlar, polystyrene, and nylon 6 showed the greatest improvement in bondability after treatment, and Mylar showed moderate improvement. Polycarbonate, cellulose acetate butyrate, and the poly(oxymethylene) copolymer gave approximately two-fold increases in lap-shear bond strength. In several cases, significant differences in response to time of treatment and type of excited gas were found.     

Does oral experience terminate ingestion?

Using data from studies of ingestive behavior in developing rat pups we demonstrate how oral experience can contribute to the termination of ingestion. In rat pups, repeated oral stimulation with sweet solutions causes a decline in oral responsiveness. The diminished responsiveness is specific to the flavor of the stimulus experienced orally and can persist for several hours. We suggest that this experience-based decrement in responsiveness is best considered "oral habituation" and that oral habituation largely accounts for the onset of satiety. Post-ingestive feedback signals may have their influence through the oral habituation process or act in the context of oral habituation. Oral habituation is also shown to depend on the pattern of stimulus presentation, a phenomenon that adds considerable complexity to assessing the contributions of oral experience to satiety. The concept of oral habituation may be useful in understanding the immediate control of ingestion and the moment-to-moment expression of ingestive behavior in adult animals.