Distinguishing the parasitic wasp, Peristenus howardi, from some of its congeners using polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease digestion

A molecular procedure incorporating polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the COI gene and restriction endonuclease digestion of PCR products was used to distinguish Peristenus howardi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from four other Peristenus species. Non-solvent extraction of parasite DNA using a commercially available kit proved to be very effective in producing amplifiable template. Use of SfcI endonuclease produced restriction fragments with banding patterns in agarose gel electrophoresis that readily separated P. howardi, P. digoneutis, P. conradi, P. pallipes, and P. pseudopallipes. However, while the restriction fragment banding patterns of both P. pallipes and P. pseudopallipes were easily distinguishable from the other Peristenus species, they could not be reliably separated from one another. This molecular procedure can be used in applied and ecological research to better understand the role of P. howardi in the Peristenus-Lygus parasite-host system within the Pacific Northwest. Consensus sequences of our amplimers for all five Peristenus spp. are deposited in GenBank under accession numbers AY626370, AY626371, AY626372, AY626373, and AY626374

Multiple metal contamination from house paints: consequences of power sanding and paint scraping in New Orleans.

Power sanding exterior paint is a common practice during repainting of old houses in New Orleans, Louisiana, that triggers lead poisoning and releases more than Pb. In this study we quantified the Pb, zinc, cadmium, manganese, nickel, copper, cobalt, chromium, and vanadium in exterior paint samples collected from New Orleans homes (n = 31). We used interior dust wipes to compare two exterior house-painting projects. House 1 was measured in response to the plight of a family after a paint contractor power sanded all exterior paint from the weatherboards. The Pb content (approximately 130,000 microg Pb/g) was first realized when the family pet died; the children were hospitalized, the family was displaced, and cleanup costs were high. To determine the quantity of dust generated by power sanding and the benefits of reducing Pb-contaminated dust, we tested a case study house (house 2) for Pb (approximately 90,000 microg/g) before the project was started; the house was then dry scraped and the paint chips were collected. Although the hazards of Pb-based paints are well known, there are other problems as well, because other toxic metals exist in old paints. If house 2 had been power sanded to bare wood like house 1, the repainting project would have released as dust about 7.4 kg Pb, 3.5 kg Zn, 9.7 g Cd, 14.8 g Cu, 8.8 g Mn, 1.5 g Ni, 5.4 g Co, 2.4 g Cr, and 0.3 g V. The total tolerable daily intake (TTDI) for a child under 6 years of age is 6 microg Pb from all sources. Converting 7.4 kg Pb to this scale is vexing--more than 1 billion (10(9)) times the TTDI. Also for perspective, the one-time release of 7.4 x 10(9) microg of Pb dust from sanding compares to 50 x 10(9) microg of Pb dust emitted annually per 0.1 mile (0.16 km) from street traffic during the peak use of leaded gasoline. In this paper, we broaden the discussion to include an array of metals in paint and underscore the need and possibilities for curtailing the release of metal dust

Shall I buy a tractor?

12 pages; includes photograph. This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Extracorporeal Treatment in Phenytoin Poisoning: Systematic Review and Recommendations from the EXTRIP Workgroup

The Extracorporeal Treatments in Poisoning (EXTRIP) Workgroup conducted a systematic literature review using a standardized process to develop evidence-based recommendations on the use of extracorporeal treatment (ECTR) in patients with phenytoin poisoning. The authors reviewed all articles, extracted data, summarized findings, and proposed structured voting statements following a predetermined format. A 2-round modified Delphi method was used to reach a consensus on voting statements, and the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to quantify disagreement. 51 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only case reports, case series, and pharmacokinetic studies were identified, yielding a very low quality of evidence. Clinical data from 31 patients and toxicokinetic grading from 46 patients were abstracted. The workgroup concluded that phenytoin is moderately dialyzable (level of evidence = C) despite its high protein binding and made the following recommendations. ECTR would be reasonable in select cases of severe phenytoin poisoning (neutral recommendation, 3D). ECTR is suggested if prolonged coma is present or expected (graded 2D) and it would be reasonable if prolonged incapacitating ataxia is present or expected (graded 3D). If ECTR is used, it should be discontinued when clinical improvement is apparent (graded 1D). The preferred ECTR modality in phenytoin poisoning is intermittent hemodialysis (graded 1D), but hemoperfusion is an acceptable alternative if hemodialysis is not available (graded 1D). In summary, phenytoin appears to be amenable to extracorporeal removal. However, because of the low incidence of irreversible tissue injury or death related to phenytoin poisoning and the relatively limited effect of ECTR on phenytoin removal, the workgroup proposed the use of ECTR only in very select patients with severe phenytoin poisoning

Wellness and Multiple Sclerosis: The National MS Society Establishes a Wellness Research Working Group and Research Priorities

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have identified “wellness” and associated behaviors as a high priority based on “social media listening” undertaken by the National MS Society (i.e. the Society). Objective: The Society recently convened a group that consisted of researchers with experience in MS and wellness-related research, Society staff members, and an individual with MS for developing recommendations regarding a wellness research agenda. Method: The members of the group engaged in focal reviews and discussions involving the state of science within three approaches for promoting wellness in MS, namely diet, exercise, and emotional wellness. Results: That process informed a group-mediated activity for developing and prioritizing research goals for wellness in MS. This served as a background for articulating the mission and objectives of the Society’s Wellness Research Working Group. Conclusion: The primary mission of the Wellness Research Working Group is the provision of scientific evidence supporting the application of lifestyle, behavioral, and psychosocial approaches for promoting optimal health of mind, body, and spirit (i.e. wellness) in people with MS as well as managing the disease and its consequences

Fibroblast and Lymphoblast Gene Expression Profiles in Schizophrenia: Are Non-Neural Cells Informative?

Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) and fibroblasts provide conveniently derived non-neuronal samples in which to investigate the aetiology of schizophrenia (SZ) using gene expression profiling. This assumes that heritable mechanisms associated with risk of SZ have systemic effects and result in changes to gene expression in all tissues. The broad aim of this and other similar studies is that comparison of the transcriptomes of non-neuronal tissues from SZ patients and healthy controls may identify gene/pathway dysregulation underpinning the neurobiological defects associated with SZ. Using microarrays consisting of 18,664 probes we compared gene expression profiles of LCLs from SZ cases and healthy controls. To identify robust associations with SZ that were not patient or tissue specific, we also examined fibroblasts from an independent series of SZ cases and controls using the same microarrays. In both tissue types ANOVA analysis returned approximately the number of differentially expressed genes expected by chance. No genes were significantly differentially expressed in either tissue when corrected for multiple testing. Even using relaxed parameters (p≤0.05, without multiple testing correction) there were still no differentially expressed genes that also displayed ≥2-fold change between the groups of SZ cases and controls common to both LCLs and fibroblasts. We conclude that despite encouraging data from previous microarray studies assessing non-neural tissues, the lack of a convergent set of differentially expressed genes associated with SZ using fibroblasts and LCLs indicates the utility of non-neuronal tissues for detection of gene expression differences and/or pathways associated with SZ remains to be demonstrated

Genetic variation in South Indian castes: evidence from Y-chromosome, mitochondrial, and autosomal polymorphisms

Background: Major population movements, social structure, and caste endogamy have influenced the genetic structure of Indian populations. An understanding of these influences is increasingly important as gene mapping and case-control studies are initiated in South Indian populations. Results: We report new data on 155 individuals from four Tamil caste populations of South India and perform comparative analyses with caste populations from the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh. Genetic differentiation among Tamil castes is low (R = 0.96% for 45 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers), reflecting a largely common origin. Nonetheless, caste- and continent-specific patterns are evident. For 32 lineage-defining Y-chromosome SNPs, Tamil castes show higher affinity to Europeans than to eastern Asians, and genetic distance estimates to the Europeans are ordered by caste rank. For 32 lineage-defining mitochondrial SNPs and hypervariable sequence (HVS) 1, Tamil castes have higher affinity to eastern Asians than to Europeans. For 45 autosomal STRs, upper and middle rank castes show higher affinity to Europeans than do lower rank castes from either Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. Local between-caste variation (Tamil Nadu R = 0.96%, Andhra Pradesh R = 0.77%) exceeds the estimate of variation between these geographically separated groups (R = 0.12%). Low, but statistically significant, correlations between caste rank distance and genetic distance are demonstrated for Tamil castes using Y-chromosome, mtDNA, and autosomal data. Conclusion: Genetic data from Y-chromosome, mtDNA, and autosomal STRs are in accord with historical accounts of northwest to southeast population movements in India. The influence of ancient and historical population movements and caste social structure can be detected and replicated in South Indian caste populations from two different geographic regions

Analysis of the variability of nursing care by pathology in a sample of nine Belgian hospitals

info:eu-repo/semantics/published27th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 201