Residues of lead,cadmium, mercury and tin in canned meat products from Egypt: an emphasis on permissible limits and sources of contamination

In an attempt to determine the residual levels of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and tin (Sn) in canned meat products marketed in Egypt, a total number of 160 random samples (40 each) of canned chicken luncheon (CCL), canned beef luncheon (CBL), canned frankfurter (CF) and canned corned beef (CCB) were randomly collected from different supermarkets in Egypt to be analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. From the obtained results, it was found that the mean values of residual levels of Pb in examined CCL, CBL, CF and CCB samples were 0.330, 0.224, 0.206 and 0.334 mg/kg, respectively, while those of Cd were 0.057, 0.053, 0.039 and 0.042 mg/kg, those of Hg were 0.387, 0.450, 0.402 and 0.332 mg/kg, and finally those of Sn were 2.061, 2.308, 0.755 and 1.997 mg/kg. The obtained results were compared with the permissible limits of heavy metals recommended by international and national authorities. In addition, the public health significance as well as the sources of contamination of canned meat products by heavy metals were addressed.     

Self-esteem and sources of cognitive bias in the evaluation of past performance

Examined relationships between self-esteem and cognitive biases involved in processing self-relevant information. 49 male and 52 female paid college students completed a series of self-esteem measures, participated in an anagram-solving task, and then answered questions concerning (a) their standards for successful achievement and (b) their retention of solved and unsolved anagrams. Low self-esteem males had higher discrepancies between their criteria for successful achievement and perceived performances than high-self-esteem males; females did not show this relationship. Predicted relationships between self-esteem and retention of solved vs unsolved anagrams were not found for either males or females. As anticipated, no significant relationship was found between level of performance and self-esteem. Implications for interpreting the self-esteem construct and for identifying sex differences in self-esteem are discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lycoperdonosis

In a defined group of 10,281 generally healthy inpatients admitted to surgical services, two deaths were identified as being due in part to an adverse effect of a drug, for a rate of 0.19 drug-related dealths/1,000 surgical patients (approximate 95 per cent confidence limits, 0.02 to 0.71/1,000). Both deaths occurred in women more than sixty years old and were due to hemorrhage associated with heparin therapy.     

MODDE分析软件用于桉木硫酸盐法蒸煮的研究

使用MODDE实验设计与分析软件对桉木硫酸盐法蒸煮的主要影响因素进行了研究,蒸煮条件为:有效碱用量17%～23%,硫化度25%～45%,最高温度150～160℃,保温时间45～135min。实验结果显示:有效碱用量、硫化度、温度和时间对成浆性质都有明显影响;蒸煮所得浆料的各项性能很难同时达到最佳。使用MODDE对实验结果进行优化,当目标卡伯值范围在15～25时,最适宜的蒸煮条件为:有效碱用量20%,硫化度45%,最高温度151℃,保温时间99min;MODDE显示该条件下所得浆料的卡伯值、细浆得率、白度和黏度分别为16、48.5%、46.4%和1498mL/g。     

Production of human normal adult and fetal hemoglobins in Escherichia coli

A hemoglobin expression system in Escherichia coli is described. In order to produce authentic human hemoglobin, we need to co-express both methionine aminopeptidase and globin genes under the control of a strong promoter. We have constructed three plasmids, pHE2, pHE4 and pHE7, for the expression of human normal adult hemoglobin and a plasmid, pHE9, for the expression of human fetal hemoglobin, in high yields. The globin genes can be derived from either synthetic genes or human globin cDNAs. The extra amino-terminal methionine residues of the expressed globins can be removed by the co-expressed methionine aminopeptidase. The heme is inserted correctly into the expressed alpha- globin from our expression plasmids. A fraction (approximately 25%) of the heme is not inserted correctly into the expressed beta- or gamma- globin. However, the incorrectly inserted hemes can be converted into the correct conformation by carrying out a simple oxidation-reduction process on the purified hemoglobin molecule. We have investigated the functional properties of the expressed hemoglobins by measuring their oxygen-binding properties and their structural features by obtaining their 1H-NMR spectra. Our results show that authentic human normal adult and fetal hemoglobins can be produced from our expression plasmids in E. coli and in high yields. Our expression system allows us to design and to produce any recombinant hemoglobins needed for our research on the structure-function relationship in hemoglobin.      

A Polish multicenter survey of antimicrobial susceptibility and prevalence of beta-lactamase production among bacterial pathogens isolated from hospitalized and ambulatory patients

The aim of the study was to establish the frequency of occurrence of bacterial pathogens with beta-lactamase activity, and pattern of resistance among aerobic and anaerobic strains isolated from: respiratory tract, urinary tract, skin and soft tissues (hospitalized patients) and throat swabs (ambulatory patients). The study was conducted in 1994 year in 6 bacteriological laboratories in four Polish towns (Warszawa, Kraków, Katowice, Gdańsk) according to the protocol. Sensitivity of bacteria was tested by the disc method on the Müeller-Hinton agar or chocolate agar according to NCCLS, activity of beta-lactamase was tested with nitrocephin. A total 2038 clinical strains--1869 aerobic and 169 anaerobic was well-defined and tested for susceptibility to ten antibiotics--amoxicilin, augmentin, ofloxacin, gentamycin, cefradin, erythromycin, cefuroxim, kotrimoxazol, cefalexin and cefaclor. Among the isolated aerobes Staphylococcus aureus (25.1%), E. coli (23.2%) and Haemophilus influenzae (14.0%) were most frequent, and in the group of anaerobes the most frequent were Bacteroides spp (40.8%) We have found 45.8% of all tested aerobic strains with beta-lactamase production, the highest proportion in pathogens isolated from respiratory tract--51.4%, 46.6% from urinary tract, and 48.4% from skin and soft tissues. Among the isolated anaerobic--68.8% of Bacteroides and 28.6% others produced beta-lactamase. Forty percentage of all strains were sensitive to amoxicilin, 70-90% of aerobic bacteria were sensitive to augmentin. Augmentin had a high activity against anaerobic bacteria too. Only a small proportion of the tested aerobic bacteria (12.2%) were resistant to ofloxacin, gentamycin showed a sufficient activity against tested strains (24.4% were resistant). The most frequent pathogen--Staphylococcus aureus was resistant to amoxicilin in 83.1% hospitalized patients, and in 73.9% in ambulatory patients.