Meat trade: need for international standardization?

Extensive substitution and undeclared species have been recently detected in meat products in South Africa, Europe and Asia. Here we review the methodologies utilized in the identification of species in red meat products and highlight the advantages and drawbacks of these methods. The problem is of a different nature in countries with easily accessible game meat and poor or nonexistent monitoring systems in place. Recommendations are drawn for meat DNA testing in these two scenarios.Web of Scienc

Suppository Solid Provision Technology

Suppository can be used for systemic effects in conditions where oral drug preparations will not be resistant or absorbed rapidly. Once inserted the base suppository melts, softens or dissolves causing the underlying medicinal substance to enter the tissues of the area. In the manufacture of suppositories, there is a term known as the exchange rate for making oleum cacao based. Therefore, weighing should not be carried out one by one, but the exchange rate of active substances is calculated to find the required oleum cacao. The advantage of weighing the ingredients is to provide the suppository period at the time of printing

Uncovering novel pathogenicity-associated loci among Yersinia enterocolitica species by subtractive hybridization

In dieser Arbeit wurde die Methode der subtraktiven Hybridisierung angewandt, um neue Virulenzfaktoren zu finden, die spezifisch für hochpathogene Yersinia enterocolitica Stämme sind. Hierfür wurde die DNA eines nicht pathogenen „Treiber”-Stammes (Y. enterocolitica NF-O, Biotyp 1A) gegen die DNA eines hochpathogenen „Tester”-Stammes (Y. enterocolitica WA-314, Biotyp 1B) subtrahiert. Mit Hilfe der subtraktiven Hybridisierung konnten verschiedene Tester-spezifische Sequenzen ermittelt werden, die sowohl für bereits bekannte als auch neue potentielle Virulenzmarker kodieren. In dieser Arbeit konnte ein neues TypII-Sekretionscluster, genannt yts1 (Yersinia TypII Sekretion 1), ermittelt werden. Das yts1-Gencluster umfasst ein 13 kb großes Operon-ähnliches Modul, welches die Gene yts1C-S enthält. Mittels reverser Transkription/PCR konnte eine bevorzugte Transkription bei 37 °C gezeigt werden. Southern Blot-Analysen sowie PCR haben gezeigt, dass das yts1-Gencluster nur in den hochpathogenen Y. enterocolitica Stämmen vorkommt. Dagegen sind yts1-Gene weder in schwachpathogenen sowie apathogenen Y. enterocolitica Stämmen noch in Y. pseudotuberculosis- und Y. pestis-Isolaten zu finden. Durch Inaktivierung des yts1E-Gens in Y. enterocolitica wurde eine Mutante hergestellt und hinsichtlich Mauspathogenität mit dem Mutterstamm verglichen. Bei oraler Infektion der Mäuse erwies sich die yts1E-Mutante als attenuiert (geringere Keimzahlen) in Leber und Milz im Vergleich zum Mutterstamm. Im Gegensatz dazu konnte bei intravenöser Infektion der Mäuse kein Unterschied zwischen Mutante und Mutterstamm festgestellt werden. Dies könnte ein Hinweis darauf sein, dass das TypII-Sekretionssystem die Erregerdissemination von den Peyer-Plaques in Milz and Leber fördert. Das yts1-Sekretionscluster grenzt stromabwärts an ein Gen, welches für ein potentielles Chitin-Bindungsprotein (ChiY) kodiert. ChiY ist ein mögliches Substrat des Yts1-Sekretons. Sequenzanalysen sagen voraus, dass ChiY ein 55-kDa Protein mit zwei definierten Chitin-Bindungsdomänen ist, von denen sich die eine Domäne am N- und die andere am C-Terminus des Proteins befindet. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass rekombinantes ChiY Chitin bindet. Sequenzanalysen des zugänglichen fast kompletten Genoms von Y. enterocolitica 8081 (Biotyp 1B) führten zum Nachweis eines möglichen zweiten TypII-Sekretionscluster, das in dieser Arbeit als yts2 bezeichnet wird. Wie mittels PCR gezeigt werden konnte, kommt yts2 - im Gegensatz zu Y. pseudotuberculosis und Y. pestis - in allen getesteten pathogenen und apathogenen Y. enterocolitica-Stämmen vor. Reverse Transkriptionsanalysen/PCR zeigten, dass die yts2 - Gene bevorzugt bei 27 °C abgelesen werden. Mittels subtraktiver Technik konnte auch ein neues Insertionselement (IS1330) charakterisiert werden. Durch Southern Blot-Analysen konnte gezeigt werden, dass IS1330 nur in pathogenen Y. enterocolitica Serotypen vorkommt und somit für die epidemiologische Typisierung dieser Spezies eingesetzt werden kann. Diese Arbeit repräsentiert einen neuen Ansatz zur Aufklärung von unterschiedlichen intraspezifischen Genomsequenzen von Y. enterocolitica mit Hilfe der subtraktiven Hybridisierung, um unser Verständnis der genetischen Vielfalt und Heterogenität dieser bakteriellen Spezies zu erweitern. Das zum ersten Mal hier beschriebene yts1-Cluster repräsentiert einen neuen Lokus, der eine wichtige Rolle für die Pathogenese der hochpathogenen Y. enterocolitica Stämme spielt

Processing in Image Interpolation and Motion Detection

This article discusses processing in Image Interpolation and Motion Detection. Image or image has become a common thing and has become part of everyday people's life. In a particular interest, image is used as a tool to express various kinds of feelings which for some people are difficult to express through words. Such as explaining a reason, interpretation, illustration, communication, memory, education, evaluation, entertainment, and others. Then the concept of image and its processing is associated with changing and improving the image. Image is a representation, similarity, or imitation of an object or object, for example your photo represents the entity of yourself on camera. X-ray photographs of the chest represent the inside of a person's body, the data in a BMP file represents what it represents

Distinct Effects of Cigarette Smoke and e-Cigarette Aerosols on Inflammation and Stem Cell Proliferation in Clonal Hematopoiesis

Clonal hematopoiesis of intermediate potential (CHIP), the outgrowth of mutant hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) clones without blood count abnormalities, increases the risk of hematological malignancies and cardiovascular disease. The most common CHIP driver mutations are in TET2, DNMT3A, TP53, ASXL1, and JAK2, which are also classically seen in myeloid malignancies. Asxl1 is the CHIP variant most strongly associated with smoking. In a UK Biobank study of >30,000 participants, 69% of people with ASXL1 mutations were past or current smokers, while TET2 and DNMT3A mutations also had a significant but more modest association with smoking status. However, few studies have investigated the impact of the popular cigarette alternative, the electronic cigarette (e-cig). As the popular alternative to smoking, one of the biggest CHIP risk factors, it is crucial to characterize the impact of e-cigarettes on systemic inflammation and hematopoietic function. This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms by which CHIP mutations regulate hematopoiesis and inflammation in response to e-cigarette exposure and antioxidant modulation. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a safe and freely available dietary supplement that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. To test the impact of cigarettes vs. E-cigarettes on in vivo ASXL1 expansion, lethally irradiated CD45.1/2 recipient mice were transplanted with equal numbers of whole bone marrow cells from wild type (WT) (CD45.1) and ASXL1-/- mice (CD45.2). Eight weeks post-transplant, mice were exposed to smoke (n=12) or room air (n=8) using a nose-only inhalation exposure system for 2 hours/day, 4 days/week. Smoke-exposed mice were exposed to traditional cigarette smoke for 3 months, then this cohort was split in two, with one half switching to air (i.e. smoking “cessation”) or to e-cigarette aerosol (smoking “substitution”). At regular intervals, peripheral blood was drawn to determine the percentage of WT and ASXL1 cells by flow cytometry. In all groups, the percentage of Asxl1-/- in peripheral blood initially fell from ~60% to 40% and was stable throughout the exposure period. CBCs were mostly normal, with a slight derangement of platelets and monocytes near the end of exposure. At euthanasia, liver and spleen weights were normal in all mice. We measured TNFa production in LPS-stimulated splenocytes via ELISA and found no significant difference at 24hours. However, when plated in methylcellulose, splenocytes from both the smoke-air “cessation” and smoke-e-cigarette “substitution” cohort had a 30% decrease in colony proliferation. Peritoneal macrophages displayed similar rates of phagocytosis of fluorescent Zymosan S. cerevisiae particles. This was unexpected, as literature suggests smoke exposure should impair macrophage phagocytosis. Further studies will include use a smaller number of particles to better differentiate limited phagocytosis. In a secondary transplant, transplanted cells from the smoke-e-cigarette “substitution” cohort had reduced engraftment and survival. Together, these results suggest that traditional cigarette smoke and e-cigarette aerosols can both alter hematopoietic stem cell function but potentially by distinct cellular processes. To explore the mechanisms of e-cigarette inflammation, whole BM from WT or CHIP-mutant mice or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from MPN patients were incubated overnight with cigarette smoke extract (CSE), e-cigarette aerosol+/-nicotine, and/or NAC and plated in methylcellulose for colony formation assays. In WT and Tet2+/- cells, CSE and e-cigarette liquid significantly reduces colony formation at similar rates. However, the Tet2-/- cells were more resistant to e-cigarette reduction of colony formation. In WT cells, NAC rescued CSE-reduced colony formation, but not e-cigarette-reduced colony formation. This suggests that the effects of CSE are related to reactive oxygen species that may be mitigated an antioxidant, while the e-cigarette extract is reducing colony formation by a different mechanism unaffected by NAC. Taken together, we can conclude that the impact of e-cigarettes on hematopoietic stem cell function is complex and warrants further characterization to improve safety for the millions of users. The inflammatory nature of smoking provides a context to study the impact of this environment on CHIP-mutant competition

Differential expression of pathogenicity- and virulence-related genes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri under copper stress

In this study, we used real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to evaluate the expression of 32 genes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri related to pathogenicity and virulence that are also involved in copper detoxification. Nearly all of the genes were up-regulated, including copA and copB. Two genes homologous to members of the type II secretion system (xcsH and xcsC) and two involved in the degradation of plant cell wall components (pglA and pel) were the most expressed in response to an elevated copper concentration. The type II secretion system (xcs operon) and a few homologues of proteins putatively secreted by this system showed enhanced expression when the bacteria were exposed to a high concentration of copper sulfate. The enhanced expression of the genes of secretion II system during copper stress suggests that this pathway may have an important role in the adaptative response of X. axonopodis pv. citri to toxic compounds. These findings highlight the potential role of these genes in attenuating the toxicity of certain metals and could represent an important means of bacterial resistance against chemicals used to control diseases

Investigation of the Enteric Pathogenic Potential of Oral Campylobacter concisus Strains Isolated from Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter concisus, a bacterium colonizing the human oral cavity, has been shown to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study investigated if patients with IBD are colonized with specific oral C. concisus strains that have potential to cause enteric diseases. METHODOLOGY: Seventy oral and enteric C. concisus isolates obtained from eight patients with IBD and six controls were examined for housekeeping genes by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), Caco2 cell invasion by gentamicin-protection-assay, protein analysis by mass spectrometry and SDS-PAGE, and morphology by scanning electron microscopy. The whole genome sequenced C. concisus strain 13826 which was isolated from an individual with bloody diarrhea was included in MLST analysis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: MLST analysis showed that 87.5% of individuals whose C. concisus belonged to Cluster I had inflammatory enteric diseases (six IBD and one with bloody diarrhea), which was significantly higher than that in the remaining individuals (28.6%) (P<0.05). Enteric invasive C. concisus (EICC) oral strain was detected in 50% of patients with IBD and none of the controls. All EICC strains were in Cluster 1. The C. concisus strain colonizing intestinal tissues of patient No. 1 was closely related to the oral C. concisus strain from patient No. 6 and had gene recombination with the patient's own oral C. concisus. The oral and intestinal C. concisus strains of patient No. 3 were the same strain. Some individuals were colonized with multiple oral C. concisus strains that have undergone natural recombination. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that patients with IBD are colonized with specific oral C. concisus strains, with some being EICC strains. C. concisus colonizing intestinal tissues of patients with IBD at least in some instances results from an endogenous colonization of the patient's oral C. concisus and that C. concisus strains undergo natural recombination

Shotgun sequencing of Yersinia enterocolitica strain W22703 (biotype 2, serotype O:9): genomic evidence for oscillation between invertebrates and mammals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Yersinia enterocolitica </it>strains responsible for mild gastroenteritis in humans are very diverse with respect to their metabolic and virulence properties. Strain W22703 (biotype 2, serotype O:9) was recently identified to possess nematocidal and insecticidal activity. To better understand the relationship between pathogenicity towards insects and humans, we compared the W22703 genome with that of the highly pathogenic strain 8081 (biotype1B; serotype O:8), the only <it>Y. enterocolitica </it>strain sequenced so far.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used whole-genome shotgun data to assemble, annotate and analyse the sequence of strain W22703. Numerous factors assumed to contribute to enteric survival and pathogenesis, among them osmoregulated periplasmic glucan, hydrogenases, cobalamin-dependent pathways, iron uptake systems and the <it>Yersinia </it>genome island 1 (YGI-1) involved in tight adherence were identified to be common to the 8081 and W22703 genomes. However, sets of ~550 genes revealed to be specific for each of them in comparison to the other strain. The plasticity zone (PZ) of 142 kb in the W22703 genome carries an ancient flagellar cluster Flg-2 of ~40 kb, but it lacks the pathogenicity island YAPI_Ye, the secretion system <it>ysa </it>and <it>yts1</it>, and other virulence determinants of the 8081 PZ. Its composition underlines the prominent variability of this genome region and demonstrates its contribution to the higher pathogenicity of biotype 1B strains with respect to W22703. A novel type three secretion system of mosaic structure was found in the genome of W22703 that is absent in the sequenced strains of the human pathogenic <it>Yersinia </it>species, but conserved in the genomes of the apathogenic species. We identified several regions of differences in W22703 that mainly code for transporters, regulators, metabolic pathways, and defence factors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The W22703 sequence analysis revealed a genome composition distinct from other pathogenic <it>Yersinia enterocolitica </it>strains, thus contributing novel data to the <it>Y. enterocolitica </it>pan-genome. This study also sheds further light on the strategies of this pathogen to cope with its environments.</p