Evaluation of nonpathogenic surrogate bacteria as process validation indicators for Salmonella enterica for selected antimicrobial treatments, cold storage, and fermentation in meat

Prerigor lean and adipose beef carcass tissues were artificially inoculated individually with stationary-phase cultures of five nonpathogenic Escherichia coli cultures that had been previously identified as surrogates for E. coli O157:H7 or a mixture of five Salmonella strains in a fecal inoculum. Each tissue sample was processed with microbial interventions comparable with those used in the meat industry. The log reductions of the E. coli isolates were generally not statistically different from the salmonellae inoculum within a specific treatment. Inoculation experiments were also conducted with ground beef stored at either 4 or -20 degrees C. When compared with the Salmonella inoculum, at least three of the five E. coli strains survived in a manner that was not statistically different from the salmonellae. The E. coli strains and the Salmonella mixed culture were also inoculated into summer sausage batter, and the population enumerated both before and after fermentation. Four of the E. coli strains showed a lower population reduction (higher survival) than the Salmonella mixed culture. The five nonpathogenic E. coli strains may be used as individually or collectively for specific process validation indicators for Salmonella.     

A statistical-based sequential method for fast online detection of fault-induced voltage dips

This paper addresses the problem of detecting voltage dips regarding measurements consisting of fault events, transformer saturation events, and capacitor-switching events. A novel statistical-based sequential detection method is proposed for online classification of these events. The detector is based on the Neyman-Pearson criterion that maximizes the detection rate of fault-induced dips with constrained false alarm rate of the other two types of event. The sequential detector is able to give an earliest possible event discrimination together with the estimated confidence at the time instant ranging from 1/8,1/4,1/2, to 3/4 cycle of the fundamental frequency after detecting an initial voltage drop at 0.95 p.u. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated using measurements from medium voltage networks.     

Journal status

Summary The status of an actor in a social context is commonly defined in terms of two factors: the total number of endorsements the actor receives from other actors and the prestige of the endorsing actors. These two factors indicate the distinction between popularity and expert appreciation of the actor, respectively. We refer to the former as popularity and to the latter as prestige. These notions of popularity and prestige also apply to the domain of scholarly assessment. The ISI Impact Factor (ISI IF) is defined as the mean number of citations a journal receives over a 2 year period. By merely counting the amount of citations and disregarding the prestige of the citing journals, the ISI IF is a metric of popularity, not of prestige. We demonstrate how a weighted version of the popular PageRank algorithm can be used to obtain a metric that reflects prestige. We contrast the rankings of journals according to their ISI IF and their Weighted PageRank, and we provide an analysis that reveals both significant overlaps and differences. Furthermore, we introduce the Y-factor which is a simple combination of both the ISI IF and the weighted PageRank, and find that the resulting journal rankings correspond well to a general understanding of journal status.     

Wavelet-based mann and morrison algorithm for improvement of three-phase unbalanced voltage dips characterisation

This work introduces a method for improvement of characterisation of voltage dip using a new technique based on a discrete wavelet transform. The proposed method estimates the amplitude and phase angle of the system voltages. Fourier transform method was already used to determine these items. The responses of the relevant algorithms under such conditions have errors because of the drawbacks of the Fourier transform. The proposed method is a combination of the discrete wavelet transform for obtaining the sinusoidal waveform of the system voltages, and the Mann and Morrison algorithm, for estimating the amplitude and phase angle of the three-phase voltage, which is then used to characterise the voltage dip. The use of a three-point Mann and Morrison algorithm results in a quicker and more accurate response in determining the voltage dip type, than the Fourier transform method. This is particularly true when the voltage dip duration is very short.     

Power quality following deregulation

Utility deregulation will have tangible and intangible effects on power quality requiring industry-wide action to maintain adequate standards. These effects are discussed in the first part of the paper. The increasing trend towards more extensive use of power electronic control at the generation, transmission and utilization systems following deregulation has power quality implications that will affect the standards, system simulation and monitoring tools. The paper reviews the present methods available in these areas to achieve specified levels of power quality in the deregulated environment     

"Chairside" microbiological tests in periodontics

Based on the specific plaque theory in periodontology, several chairside tests have been introduced for the microbiological examination of periodontal patients. For the majority of these patients, however, a standard therapy (root planing in combination with good oral hygiene) results in a favorable outcome. Therefore, only for a small minority of periodontal patients a microbiological analysis could possibly contribute to better treatment. For such patients, a choice can be made between a culture technique (which is labour intensive and has a long waiting time before an answer is available) and one of the chairside tests. The culture technique has the advantage to examine most of the flora. The chairside tests have the advantage of giving immediate results, but are limited to a small number of species or morphotypes. As long as the outcome of a microbiological examination in general cannot be translated into a more specific treatment strategy, the frequent use of microbial analyses should not be advocated. Since the validity of the chairside tests have yet to be fully examined through clinical trials, culturing should be the method of choice, because their antibiogram could lead to a more specific antibiotic therapy for the few patients in need.     

Role of carotid sonography as a first examination in the evaluation of patients with transient ischemic attacks and strokes: benefit in relation to age

PURPOSE: We studied the influence of age on the utility of carotid sonography in patients with transient ischemic attacks and strokes. METHODS: The results of Doppler ultrasound examinations of the carotid arteries in 613 consecutive patients with transient ischemic attacks (n = 450) or strokes (n = 163) were analyzed for different age groups. For each patient, the grade of stenosis was scored for the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. The results of the ultrasound examinations were correlated with angiographic findings and findings at endarterectomy. The extent of atherosclerosis for each age group was expressed as the ratio between the number of grade II-IV stenoses (> or = 50%) in the carotid arteries and the number of patients in that group ("atherosclerosis ratio"). RESULTS: Under the age of 40 years, high-grade atherosclerotic stenoses were not found. However, 3 relatively young patients had dissections of the internal carotid arteries. The atherosclerosis ratio exceeded 0.5 for age groups 65-69 years through 80+ years. Among the patients with high-grade stenoses, ischemic heart disease prevented endarterectomy in 63% of patients in age group 80+ years, 44% in age group 75-79 years, and 26% in age group 70-74 years. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid sonography did not detect any significant atherosclerotic changes in young patients but was useful for diagnosing other etiologies of ischemic cerebral disease, eg, carotid dissection. At the other end of the spectrum, the impact of carotid sonography on patient management appears to be limited in patients over the age of 70 years. Carotid sonography seems to be most useful for patients 40-69 years old.     

Bridging the gap between signal and power

Signal processing has been used in many different applications, including electric power systems. This is an important category, since a wide variety of digital measurements is available and data analysis is required to deliver diagnostic solutions and correlation with known behaviors. Measurements are taken at numerous locations, and the analysis of data applies to a variety of issues in ? power quality (PQ) and reliability ? power system and equipment diagnostics ? power system control ? power system protection. This article focuses on problems and issues related to PQ and power system diagnostics, in particular those where signal processing techniques are extremely important. PQ is a general term that describes the quality of voltage and current waveforms. PQ problems include all electric power problems or disturbances in the supply system that prevent end-user equipment from operating properly. Examples of voltage and current variations that can result in PQ problems include voltage interruptions, long- and short-duration voltage variations, steady-state research opportunities that use the measured voltages and currents to indicate possible equipment and system problems (referred to as equipment diagnostics).     

Analytical effectiveness factor calculations concerning product-inhibited fermentations associated with biofilm growth and maintenance

An analytical reaction engineering model, recently presented by van Ede et al. (1992), which describes formation of inhibiting products associated with the growth of immobilized biofilms, is extended to describe simultaneous production associated with biofilm maintenance. The model accounts for both the metabolic rate controlling behaviour of an inhibitory product in the biofilm, and the effect of diffusion limitation in the transport of this product or a substrate, on the biofilm thickness. Simple criteria are presented to check the applicability of the model in the case of true Monod kinetics. As a potentially industrially important example, ethanol production by Zymomonas mobilis is treated.     

Inhibition of translation by mRNA encoding NIPP-1, a nuclear inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1

Transient transfection of COS-1 cells with an expression vector for NIPP-1, a nuclear subunit of protein phosphatase-1, did not result in an overexpression of NIPP-1 protein, although the levels of mRNA encoding NIPP-1 increased dramatically. Moreover, high concentrations of NIPP-1 mRNA inhibited the translation in reticulocyte lysates of various unrelated mRNAs. This inhibition of translation was caused by the NIPP-1 messenger and not by the translation product, since mutation of the start codon abolished NIPP-1 protein production, but had no influence on the translational inhibition. Analysis of deletion mutants showed that the inhibition was mediated by a 0.5-kb fragment in the 5'-end of the NIPP-1 mRNA. This region, when inserted in the 5'-untranslated region of the beta-galactosidase messenger, inhibited the translation of beta-galactosidase mRNA in COS-1 cells. A predicted highly stable secondary structure deltaG = -239.5 kJ/mol) is present between residues 300 and 500 of NIPP-1 mRNA. The possible importance of this structure in the translational inhibition is discussed.