Temporal and spatial patterns of bovine Escherichia coli O157 prevalence and comparison of temporal changes in the patterns of phage types associated with bovine shedding and human E. coli O157 cases in Scotland between 1998-2000 and 2002-2004

Background: Escherichia coli O157 is an important cause of acute diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis and, especially in children, haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). Incidence rates for human E. coli O157 infection in Scotland are higher than most other United Kingdom, European and North American countries. Cattle are considered the main reservoir for E. coli O157. Significant associations between livestock related exposures and human infection have been identified in a number of studies. Results: Animal Studies: There were no statistically significant differences (P = 0.831) in the mean farm-level prevalence between the two studies (SEERAD: 0.218 (95% CI: 0.141-0.32); IPRAVE: 0.205 (95% CI: 0.135-0.296)). However, the mean pat-level prevalence decreased from 0.089 (95% CI: 0.075-0.105) to 0.040 (95% CI: 0.028-0.053) between the SEERAD and IPRAVE studies respectively (P < 0.001). Highly significant (P < 0.001) reductions in mean pat-level prevalence were also observed in the spring, in the North East and Central Scotland, and in the shedding of phage type (PT) 21/28. Human Cases: Contrasting the same time periods, there was a decline in the overall comparative annual reported incidence of human cases as well as in all the major PT groups except 'Other' PTs. For both cattle and humans, the predominant phage type between 1998 and 2004 was PT21/28 comprising over 50% of the positive cattle isolates and reported human cases respectively. The proportion of PT32, however, was represented by few (<5%) of reported human cases despite comprising over 10% of cattle isolates. Across the two studies there were differences in the proportion of PTs 21/28, 32 and 'Other' PTs in both cattle isolates and reported human cases; however, only differences in the cattle isolates were statistically significant (P = 0.002). Conclusion: There was no significant decrease in the mean farm-level prevalence of E. coli O157 between 1998 and 2004 in Scotland, despite significant declines in mean pat-level prevalence. Although there were declines in the number of human cases between the two study periods, there is no statistically significant evidence that the overall rate (per 100,000 population) of human E. coli O157 infections in Scotland over the last 10 years has altered. Comparable patterns in the distribution of PTs 21/28 and 32 between cattle and humans support a hypothesized link between the bovine reservoir and human infections. This emphasizes the need to apply and improve methods to reduce bovine shedding of E. coli O157 in Scotland where rates appear higher in both cattle and human populations, than in other countrie

Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP): Report of a case manifested as a mediastinal mass and multiple pulmonary nodules and review of literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is a rare plasma cell neoplasm of soft tissue without bone marrow involvement or other systemic characteristics of multiple myeloma</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 42 year-old woman presented with intermittent dry cough of 10 months duration. Her breathing sound was slightly coarse without rales or rhonchi on auscultation. CT scan revealed a right anterior mediastinal shadow with multiple pulmonary nodular lesions. A video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was performed. Histopathology showed it to be a myeloma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first presentation of EMP with a mediastinal mass with multiple pulmonary nodules.</p

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Not AvailableThe salt-affected soils cover vast area in more than 100 countries and increasingly decrease the arable land. It may lead to the global food insecurity that is needed to be solved urgently. Concurrently, these degraded areas are suitable for inland saline aquaculture on the conditions of improvement in sediment characteristics. In this connection, an experiment was conducted for 60 days to study changes in physicochemical properties of inland saline aquaculture pond sediments through biochar application. The biochar prepared from dried sugarcane bagasse at 500°C with 33% biomass recovery was characterized for its physicochemical properties and applied over surface and by mixing with the sediment. There was a significant (p < .05) increase in organic carbon (3.82%), available-P (2.13%), available-K (18%), Ca (5.62%), Mg (14%) and water-holding capacity (1.8 times), and decrease in pH (0.41 unit), EC (17%) and bulk density (7%) when biochar (18 t/ha) was mixed with sediment (T2 treatment), whereas increase and decrease in CEC (59%) and available-N (1.01 times), respectively, when biochar (18 t/ha) were applied over sediment surface (T4 treatment). Thus, mixing of sugarcane bagasse biochar with sediment at 18 t/ha is recommended for the improvement of soil characteristics in saline soils for aquaculture through this study. Furthermore, the SEM and FT-IR analysis of treatments showed that sediment aggregation and functional group characteristics improved over a short period of incubation along with microbial biomass.Not Availabl

Slord Development Corporation: information system plan

Slord Development Corporation (SDC) is a medium scale manufacturer of canned food products such as sardines, mackerel, squid, tomato paste, black beans, green peas and pork and beans. It manufactures, packs and distributes these wide array of products all over the country. It also offers subcontracting services to other manufacturing companies. At present, SDC maintains a manual-based information system and everything is done manually. As a result, the present system inevitably produces voluminous reports and piles of papers and forms. These are all kept for references and are also used as basis for new transactions and sales. Aside from this, file handling, record keeping and computations are aided only by calculators, typewriters, papers and pens. Moreover, the company is not performing any formal strategic planning as well as market and environmental analysis. It cannot make use of its current information and data to help the company compete in its industry because of information redundancies, inconsistencies and inefficiency. Also, the company cannot cope with the rapid information technology advancements. In line with these, the group proposed an Information System Plan (ISP) for the company. This ISP aims to systemize file handling, record storage, retrieval or critical reports generations, monitoring of sales, purchasing and inventories and computation. Aside from office automation, the proposed Information System Plan shall focus on strategic or mission-critical applications. There is a great deal of applications in marketing, sales, operations, purchasing and inventory management. With this, business production will increase because information system resources are used effectively and efficiently. Moreover, computer applications will emerge to provide better management information, improved decision making, greater productivity and competitive advantage

Analytical prediction of the effective dynamic behaviour and the damping characteristics of laminated steel stacks as used in electric machines

The main objective of this paper is to investigate a detailed, micromechanical model for discontinuous, layered composites like they appear in electric motors. The model is employed in order to calculate the resulting properties of a laminated steel stack from the stator of an electric motor. In particular, the frequency dependency of the elastic behavior and the damping characteristics are of interest. The method is based on a representative unit cell, yet it is still fully analytical, wherefore it accelerates the determination of material data. The results were compared to findings from experiments with stator specimens. The predicted elastic constants as well as the damping behavior were in good accordance with experimental data

Proteasome Inhibitors Sensitize Colon Carcinoma Cells to TRAIL-Induced. Apoptosis via Enhanced Release of Smac/DIABLO from the Mitochondria.

The synergistic interaction between proteasome inhibitors and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising approach to induce cell death in tumor cells. However, the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of this synergism have been proven to be cell type specific. We therefore focused our investigation on TRAIL-resistant colon carcinoma cells in this study. DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and increased caspase-3-like enzyme activity was exclusively induced only by combined treatment with proteasome inhibitors (epoxomicin, MG132, bortezomib/PS-341) and TRAIL. The expression level of anti-apoptotic proteins (XIAP, survivin, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL), regulated by NF-kappaB transcription factor, was not effected by any of these treatments. TRAIL alone induced only partial activation of caspase-3 (p20), while the combination of TRAIL and proteasome inhibition led to the full proteolytic activation of caspase-3 (p17). Only the combination treatment induced marked membrane depolarization and the release of cytochrome c, HtrA2/Omi and Smac/DIABLO. Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was not released in any of these conditions. These results are consistent with a model where the full activation of caspase-3 by caspase-8 is dependent on the release of Smac/DIABLO in response to the combined treatment. This molecular mechanism, independent of the inhibition NF-kappaB activity, may provide rationale for the combination treatment of colon carcinomas with proteasome inhibitors and recombinant TRAIL or agonistic antibody of TRAIL receptors

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells as stable source of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand delivery for cancer therapy

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (AD-MSC) may offer efficient tools for cell-based gene therapy approaches. In this study, we evaluated whether AD-MSC could deliver proapoptotic molecules for cancer treatment. Human AD-MSCs were isolated and transduced with a retroviral vector encoding full-length human tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a proapoptotic ligand that induces apoptosis in a variety of human cancers but not normal tissues. Although several studies have documented the antitumor activity of recombinant human TRAIL, its use in vivo is limited by a short half-life in plasma due to a rapid clearance by the kidney. We found that these limitations can be overcome using stably transduced AD-MSC, which could serve as a constant source of TRAIL production. AD-MSC armed with TRAIL targeted a variety of tumor cell lines in vitro, including human cervical carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and, in combination with bortezomib, TRAIL-resistant breast cancer cells. Killing activity was associated with activation of caspase-8 as expected. When injected i.v. or s.c. into mice, AD-MSC armed with TRAIL localized into tumors and mediated apoptosis without significant apparent toxicities to normal tissues. Collectively, our results provide preclinical support for a model of TRAIL-based cancer therapy relying on the use of adipose-derived mesenchymal progenitors as cellular vectors