842 research outputs found
Using molecular techniques for rapid detection of Salmonella serovars in frozen chicken and chicken products collected from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The current study was aimed to investigate the incidence of different Salmonella serovars in chicken products either from local or imported source. A total of 152 samples of chicken and chicken productswere collected from different retail establishment markets in Riyadh, KSA including 38 local whole frozen chickens, 62 imported whole frozen chickens, 22 whole poultry eggs and 30 local chicken cuts samples and examined by standard microbiological techniques (SMT). Salmonella isolation revealed a total percentage of 5.92%; chicken cuts revealed a high incidence among the examined samples (10%), followed by local frozen chickens and imported frozen chicken samples with incidence of 7.89 and 4.83%, respectively. For this experiment, the whole chicken eggs were negative for Salmonella species by SMT. Salmonella enteritidis was dominating among the recovered Salmonella serovars, followed bySalmonella typhimurium, while only two strains of Salmonella agona and Salmonella newport were isolated. The PCR assay combined with Rappaport- Vassiliadis (RV) selective broth (PCR-RV) for the detection of Salmonella species in the collected field samples revealed the same positive samples directly from the imported frozen chickens and whole chicken eggs which gave negative results by SMT. Thus PCR-RV technique is rapid, time saving and applicable to detect Salmonella serovarsdirectly from chicken samples
Simulation-Based Design of Bicuspidization of the Aortic Valve
Objective: Severe congenital aortic valve pathology in the growing patient
remains a challenging clinical scenario. Bicuspidization of the diseased aortic
valve has proven to be a promising repair technique with acceptable durability.
However, most understanding of the procedure is empirical and retrospective.
This work seeks to design the optimal gross morphology associated with surgical
bicuspidization with simulations, based on the hypothesis that modifications to
the free edge length cause or relieve stenosis.
Methods: Model bicuspid valves were constructed with varying free edge
lengths and gross morphology. Fluid-structure interaction simulations were
conducted in a single patient-specific model geometry. The models were
evaluated for primary targets of stenosis and regurgitation. Secondary targets
were assessed and included qualitative hemodynamics, geometric height,
effective height, orifice area and prolapse.
Results: Stenosis decreased with increasing free edge length and was
pronounced with free edge length less than or equal to 1.3 times the annular
diameter d. With free edge length 1.5d or greater, no stenosis occurred. All
models were free of regurgitation. Substantial prolapse occurred with free edge
length greater than or equal to 1.7d.
Conclusions: Free edge length greater than or equal to 1.5d was required to
avoid aortic stenosis in simulations. Cases with free edge length greater than
or equal to 1.7d showed excessive prolapse and other changes in gross
morphology. Cases with free edge length 1.5-1.6d have a total free edge length
approximately equal to the annular circumference and appeared optimal. These
effects should be studied in vitro and in animal studies
Possible Z-width probe of a "brane-world" scenario for neutrino masses
The possibility that the accurately known value of the Z width might furnish
information about the coupling of two neutrinos to the Majoron (Nambu-Goldstone
boson of spontaneous lepton number violation) is proposed and investigated in
detail. Both the "ordinary" case and the case in which one adopts a "brane"
world picture with the Majoron free to travel in extra dimensions are studied.
Bounds on the dimensionless coupling constants are obtained, allowing for any
number of extra dimensions and any intrinsic mass scale. These bounds may be
applied to a variety of different Majoron models. If a technically natural
see-saw model is adopted, the predicted coupling constants are far below these
upper bounds. In addition, for this natural model, the effect of extra
dimensions is to decrease the predicted partial Z width, the increase due to
many Kaluza-Klein excitations being compensated by the decrease of their common
coupling constant.Comment: RevTeX, 12 pages, 3 figure
A systematic review of models to predict recruitment to multicentre clinical trials
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Less than one third of publicly funded trials managed to recruit according to their original plan often resulting in request for additional funding and/or time extensions. The aim was to identify models which might be useful to a major public funder of randomised controlled trials when estimating likely time requirements for recruiting trial participants. The requirements of a useful model were identified as usability, based on experience, able to reflect time trends, accounting for centre recruitment and contribution to a commissioning decision.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review of English language articles using MEDLINE and EMBASE. Search terms included: randomised controlled trial, patient, accrual, predict, enrol, models, statistical; Bayes Theorem; Decision Theory; Monte Carlo Method and Poisson. Only studies discussing prediction of recruitment to trials using a modelling approach were included. Information was extracted from articles by one author, and checked by a second, using a pre-defined form.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 326 identified abstracts, only 8 met all the inclusion criteria. Of these 8 studies examined, there are five major classes of model discussed: the unconditional model, the conditional model, the Poisson model, Bayesian models and Monte Carlo simulation of Markov models. None of these meet all the pre-identified needs of the funder.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To meet the needs of a number of research programmes, a new model is required as a matter of importance. Any model chosen should be validated against both retrospective and prospective data, to ensure the predictions it gives are superior to those currently used.</p
Lack of correlation of stem cell markers in breast cancer stem cells
BACKGROUND: Various markers are used to identify the unique sub-population of breast cancer cells with stem cell properties. Whether these markers are expressed in all breast cancers, identify the same population of cells, or equate to therapeutic response is controversial. METHODS: We investigated the expression of multiple cancer stem cell markers in human breast cancer samples and cell lines in vitro and in vivo, comparing across and within samples and relating expression with growth and therapeutic response to doxorubicin, docetaxol and radiotherapy. RESULTS: CD24, CD44, ALDH and SOX2 expression, the ability to form mammospheres and side-population cells are variably present in human cancers and cell lines. Each marker identifies a unique rather than common population of cancer cells. In vivo, cells expressing these markers are not specifically localized to the presumptive stem cell niche at the tumour/stroma interface. Repeated therapy does not consistently enrich cells expressing these markers, although ER-negative cells accumulate. CONCLUSIONS: Commonly employed methods identify different cancer cell sub-populations with no consistent therapeutic implications, rather than a single population of cells. The relationships of breast cancer stem cells to clinical parameters will require identification of specific markers or panels for the individual cancer
A supernova constraint on bulk majorons
In models with large extra dimensions all gauge singlet fields can in
principle propagate in the extra dimensional space. We have investigated
possible constraints on majoron models of neutrino masses in which the majorons
propagate in extra dimensions. It is found that astrophysical constraints from
supernovae are many orders of magnitude stronger than previous accelerator
bounds. Our findings suggest that unnatural types of the "see-saw" mechanism
for neutrino masses are unlikely to occur in nature, even in the presence of
extra dimensions.Comment: Minor changes, matches the version to appear in PR
Quantum Correlations in NMR systems
In conventional NMR experiments, the Zeeman energy gaps of the nuclear spin
ensembles are much lower than their thermal energies, and accordingly exhibit
tiny polarizations. Generally such low-purity quantum states are devoid of
quantum entanglement. However, there exist certain nonclassical correlations
which can be observed even in such systems. In this chapter, we discuss three
such quantum correlations, namely, quantum contextuality, Leggett-Garg temporal
correlations, and quantum discord. In each case, we provide a brief theoretical
background and then describe some results from NMR experiments.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
Epidemiological Interactions between Urogenital and Intestinal Human Schistosomiasis in the Context of Praziquantel Treatment across Three West African Countries
© 2015 Knowles et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article
Alterations in the gut microbiome implicate key taxa and metabolic pathways across inflammatory arthritis phenotypes
Musculoskeletal diseases affect up to 20% of adults worldwide. The gut microbiome has been implicated in inflammatory conditions, but large-scale metagenomic evaluations have not yet traced the routes by which immunity in the gut affects inflammatory arthritis. To characterize the community structure and associated functional processes driving gut microbial involvement in arthritis, the Inflammatory Arthritis Microbiome Consortium investigated 440 stool shotgun metagenomes comprising 221 adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritis and 219 healthy controls and individuals with joint pain without an underlying inflammatory cause. Diagnosis explained about 2% of gut taxonomic variability, which is comparable in magnitude to inflammatory bowel disease. We identified several candidate microbes with differential carriage patterns in patients with elevated blood markers for inflammation. Our results confirm and extend previous findings of increased carriage of typically oral and inflammatory taxa and decreased abundance and prevalence of typical gut clades, indicating that distal inflammatory conditions, as well as local conditions, correspond to alterations to the gut microbial composition. We identified several differentially encoded pathways in the gut microbiome of patients with inflammatory arthritis, including changes in vitamin B salvage and biosynthesis and enrichment of iron sequestration. Although several of these changes characteristic of inflammation could have causal roles, we hypothesize that they are mainly positive feedback responses to changes in host physiology and immune homeostasis. By connecting taxonomic alternations to functional alterations, this work expands our understanding of the shifts in the gut ecosystem that occur in response to systemic inflammation during arthritis
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