Comparison of three rapid and easy bacterial DNA extraction methods for use with quantitative real-time PCR

The development of fast and easy on-site molecular detection and quantification methods for hazardous microbes on solid surfaces is desirable for several applications where specialised laboratory facilities are absent. The quantification of bacterial contamination necessitates the assessment of the efficiency of the used methodology as a whole, including the preceding steps of sampling and sample processing. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qrtPCR) for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to measure the recovery of DNA from defined numbers of bacterial cells that were subjected to three different DNA extraction methods: the QIAamp® DNA Mini Kit, Reischl et al.’s method and FTA® Elute. FTA® Elute significantly showed the highest median DNA extraction efficiency of 76.9% for E. coli and 108.9% for S. aureus. The Reischl et al. method and QIAamp® DNA Mini Kit inhibited the E. coli qrtPCR assay with a 10-fold decrease of detectable DNA. None of the methods inhibited the S. aureus qrtPCR assay. The FTA® Elute applicability was demonstrated with swab samples taken from the International Space Station (ISS) interior. Overall, the FTA® Elute method was found to be the most suitable to selected criteria in terms of rapidity, easiness of use, DNA extraction efficiency, toxicity, and transport and storage conditions

EFSA BIOHAZ Panel (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards), 2013. Scientific Opinion on the public health hazards to be covered by inspection of meat (bovine animals).

A risk ranking process identified Salmonella spp. and pathogenic verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) as current high-priority biological hazards for meat inspection of bovine animals. As these hazards are not detected by traditional meat inspection, a meat safety assurance system for the farm-to-chilled carcass continuum using a risk-based approach was proposed. Key elements of the system are risk-categorisation of slaughter animals for high-priority biological hazards based on improved food chain information, as well as risk-categorisation of slaughterhouses according to their capability to control those hazards. Omission of palpation and incision during post-mortem inspection for animals subjected to routine slaughter may decrease spreading and cross-contamination with the high-priority biological hazards. For chemical hazards, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls were ranked as being of high potential concern; all other substances were ranked as of medium or lower concern. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account the completeness and quality of the food chain information supplied and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated to include new hazards. Control programmes across the food chain, national residue control programmes, feed control and monitoring of environmental contaminants should be better integrated. Meat inspection is a valuable tool for surveillance and monitoring of animal health and welfare conditions. Omission of palpation and incision would reduce detection effectiveness for bovine tuberculosis and would have a negative impact on the overall surveillance system especially in officially tuberculosis free countries. The detection effectiveness for bovine cysticercosis, already low with the current meat inspection system, would result in a further decrease, if palpation and incision are removed. Extended use of food chain information could compensate for some, but not all, the information on animal health and welfare lost if only visual post-mortem inspection is applied

Mortality table construction based on Social Security System\u27s 1974-1983 mortality experience

Mortality table is a device used in exhibiting mortality data. It is a series of relationships between the probable numbers of dying and living at a given age. It has five columns the age (x), number living (lx), deaths each year (dx), probability of dying (qx), and the expectation of life (ex). Mortality table was constructed based on the mortality experience of an insurer which consists of the number of deaths and the number of persons exposed at age x. Using the 1974-1983 SSS Mortality Experience, the values of qx, lx, dx, and ex are computed. With these values, mortality table is constructed. Then, using again these values and the SSS interest rate, the commutation functions column is constructed. This column helps in computing life insurance premiums

Effect of the Usage of Handrails on Gait Dynamics in People with Parkinson\u27s Disease

The purpose of this project is to determine if increasing body stability during handrails-use walking on a treadmill will increase the complexity of gait variability in patients with Parkinsons disease (PD). In young healthy participants, stride time-series of walking presents a pattern of complex variability, but this complexity critically decreases in patients with PD. Complexity is defined as an optimal state between too much regularity and too much irregularity, allowing the locomotor system to maintain robust performances while being able to adapt to perturbations. A possible explanation is that the decrease in complexity results from increased control mechanisms to avoid excessive postural instability, which is already impaired in PD patients. If the decrease in complexity observed in PD results from a more cautious gait in response to excessive postural instability, we expect that increasing their postural stability would be associated to increased level of complexity. One solution to increase body stability is to walk while holding treadmill handrails. Fifteen patients with PD, fifteen age-matched controls and fifteen healthy young adults will be recruited. Subjects will undergo clinical and functional tests, as well as two 15 min walking trials at comfortable speed, with and without holding treadmill handrails. Analysis of the stride-to-stride fluctuations will be conducted using detrended fluctuations analysis. In addition, deviations of the center of mass will be estimated by deviations of a marker placed on the lower back of participants. We anticipate lower deviations in the anterior-posterior and the medio-lateral planes when participants hold onto the handrails