ÚČINNOSŤ DEZINFEKČNÉHO PRÍPRAVKU DUSEPT NA G- A G+ BAKTÉRIE TEPELNE OŠETRENÉHO MLIEKA

We were evaluating the effectiveness of disinfecting appliance Dusept on mixture of G+ and G- bacteria and on the micro-organisms of heat-treated milk by three methods. By using the qualitative method effective action of 2% reagent was found on mixture of G+ and G- bacteria. By the qualitative method with carrier the 2% reagent was also effective on the mixture of G+ and G- bacteria, 1% and 0,1% reagents were not effective. The 2% reagent was not effective on the micro-organisms of milk on a carrier. The 2% solution was effective when applying the quantitative method by 20 minutes actuation on bacteria contained in milk.V experimente sme hodnotili účinnosť dezinfekčného prípravku na báze chlóru tromi metódami na zmes G+ a G- baktérií a na mikroorganizmy obsiahnuté v pasterizovanom mlieku. Pri použití kvalitatívnej platňovej metódy bolo účinné pôsobenie 2 %-ného roztoku na zmes G+ a G- baktérií. Pri kvalitatívnej metóde s použitím skleneného nosiča bol 2 %-ný roztok taktiež účinný na zmes G+ a G- , 1 %-ný a 0,1 %-ný roztok nebol účinný. Pre mikroorganizmy mlieka na nosiči 2 %-ný roztok bol neúčinný. Pri kvantitatívnej metóde bol 2 %-ný roztok po 20 minútovom pôsobení na baktérie obsiahnuté v mlieku účinný

Activation Energy of RTS Noise

Low frequency noise was measured in silicon MOSFET and GaN and InGaAs based HFET devices with special emphasis on the RTS noise. The RTS (Random Telegraph Signal) dependence on the biasing conditions and temperature was analyzed in order to obtain new information regarding production technology. From the time dependence of the RTS noise voltage the mean time of charge carriers capture and emission by traps in the gate oxide layer was determined as a function of applied gate and drain voltage or electron concentration and then several important trap parameters, such as activation energy and position in the channel could be estimated

Serum hyaluronic acid as a potential marker with a predictive value for further radiographic progression of hand osteoarthritis

SummaryObjectiveTo compare serum levels of hyaluronic acid (HA) between patients with erosive and non-erosive hand osteoarthritis (HOA), and investigate its association with morphological changes and radiographic progression over 2 years.MethodsFifty-five women with erosive and 33 women with non-erosive HOA were included in this study. All underwent clinical examination, which included assessment of pain, swelling, deformity and deviation of small hand joints and completed health assessment questionnaires. Serum levels of HA were measured by ELISA. Three-phase bone scintigraphy was performed at baseline. Radiographs of both hands were performed at baseline and after 2 years and scored according Kallman grading scale.ResultsSerum levels of HA were significantly higher in patients with erosive than with non-erosive HOA (P<0.01). It correlated significantly with the number of hand joints with deviations and deformities. HA adjusted for age and disease duration significantly correlated with radiographs at baseline and after 2 years in all patients with HOA (r=0.560 and r=0.542, P<0.01 for both correlations). Although there was an association between HA and radiographic score in erosive disease, after adjustment for confounders it remained no longer significant. HA adjusted for confounders correlated significantly with the late phase in all patients with HOA (r=0.412, P<0.01) and in patients with erosive disease (r=0.320, P<0.05).ConclusionHA is increased in patients with erosive HOA and could be proposed as a surrogate marker with a predictive value for further radiographic progression of HOA in general. Further investigation is necessary to confirm these results

Quantitative copper measurement in oxidized p-type silicon wafers using microwave photoconductivity decay

We propose a method to measure trace copper contamination in p-type silicon using the microwave photoconductivity decay (μ-PCD) technique. The method is based on the precipitation of interstitial copper, activated by high-intensity light, which results in enhanced minority carrier recombination activity. We show that there is a quantitative correlation between the enhanced recombination rate and the Cu concentration by comparing μ-PCD measurements with transient ion drift and total reflection x-ray fluorescence measurements. The results indicate that the method is capable of measuring Cu concentrations down to 10exp10cm−3. There are no limitations to wafer storage time if corona charge is used on the oxidized wafer surfaces as the charge prevents copper outdiffusion. We briefly discuss the role of oxide precipitates both in the copperprecipitation and in the charge carrier recombination processes.Peer reviewe

Traditions in Spider Monkeys Are Biased towards the Social Domain

Cross-site comparison studies of behavioral variation can provide evidence for traditions in wild species once ecological and genetic factors are excluded as causes for cross-site differences. These studies ensure behavior variants are considered within the context of a species' ecology and evolutionary adaptations. We examined wide-scale geographic variation in the behavior of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) across five long-term field sites in Central America using a well established ethnographic cross-site survey method. Spider monkeys possess a relatively rare social system with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, also typical of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens). From the initial 62 behaviors surveyed 65% failed to meet the necessary criteria for traditions. The remaining 22 behaviors showed cross-site variation in occurrence ranging from absent through to customary, representing to our knowledge, the first documented cases of traditions in this taxon and only the second case of multiple traditions in a New World monkey species. Of the 22 behavioral variants recorded across all sites, on average 57% occurred in the social domain, 19% in food-related domains and 24% in other domains. This social bias contrasts with the food-related bias reported in great ape cross-site comparison studies and has implications for the evolution of human culture. No pattern of geographical radiation was found in relation to distance across sites. Our findings promote A. geoffroyi as a model species to investigate traditions with field and captive based experiments and emphasize the importance of the social domain for the study of animal traditions.Research at Barro Colorado Island was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9711161), the Leakey Foundation, the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley (www.berkeley.edu) and a Short-term Fellowship from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (www.stri.org). Research at Corcovado National Park's Sirena Biological Station was supported by NSF award 0233248 (with R. Sussman), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists (www.asp.org), and Washington University in St. Louis (www.wustl.edu). Funds for Sirena's field lab facility were provided to L. E. Gilbert (Univ. of Texas at Austin) by NSF BSR 8315399 and a matching WWF grant, and funds for updating Sirena's trail system and installation of spatial reference system were provided by the Mellon Foundation through the Institute of Latin American Studies at UT Austin. Research at Santa Rosa and Punta Laguna was supported by The British Academy (www.britac.ac.uk), the Wenner-Gren Foundation (www.wennergren.org), the Leakey Foundation (www.leakeyfoundation.org) and the North of England Zoological Society (www.chesterzoo.org). CJS was supported by a Gladstone bursary from the University of Chester (www.chester.ac.uk) and by the Santander University Scheme (www.santander.co.uk). Research at Runaway Creek was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Metastasis-inducing S100A4 protein is associated with the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives. To evaluate the association between metastasis-inducing protein S100A4 and disease activity in patients with RA, and to demonstrate the effect of TNF-alpha blocking therapy on plasma levels of S100A4 in these patients. Methods. Plasma levels of the S100A4 protein were analysed in 40 anti-TNF-alpha naive patients with active RA. Of the 40 patients, 25 were treated with adalimumab and monitored over time. The conformational form of S100A4 was analysed using size-exclusion gel chromatography. TNF-alpha mRNA expression and protein synthesis were analysed by RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. Results. Baseline levels of S100A4 were significantly correlated with disease activity in RA patients (r = 0.41; P < 0.01). After 12 weeks of treatment with adalimumab, there was an obvious shift in the conformations of S100A4 from the multimeric to the dimeric forms, whereas the total levels of the S100A4 protein remained unchanged. This suggests that the bioactive (multimer) S100A4 may decline in response to successful treatment with adalimumab. In addition, we showed significant up-regulation of TNF-alpha mRNA (P < 0.01), and protein release to the cell culture medium of monocytes stimulated with the S100A4 multimer compared with those treated with the dimer and to the unstimulated monocytes (P < 0.001). Conclusions. This is the first study to show that the levels of the S100A4 protein are correlated with RA disease activity. Furthermore, only the bioactive form, but not the total amount of S100A4, decreases after successful TNF-alpha blocking therapy in patients with RA. These data support an important role for the S100A4 multimer in the pathogenesis of R

Traditions in spider monkeys are biased towards the social domain

Cross-site comparison studies of behavioral variation can provide evidence for traditions in wild species once ecological and genetic factors are excluded as causes for cross-site differences. These studies ensure behavior variants are considered within the context of a species' ecology and evolutionary adaptations. We examined wide-scale geographic variation in the behavior of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) across five long-term field sites in Central America using a well established ethnographic cross-site survey method. Spider monkeys possess a relatively rare social system with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, also typical of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens). From the initial 62 behaviors surveyed 65% failed to meet the necessary criteria for traditions. The remaining 22 behaviors showed cross-site variation in occurrence ranging from absent through to customary, representing to our knowledge, the first documented cases of traditions in this taxon and only the second case of multiple traditions in a New World monkey species. Of the 22 behavioral variants recorded across all sites, on average 57% occurred in the social domain, 19% in food-related domains and 24% in other domains. This social bias contrasts with the food-related bias reported in great ape cross-site comparison studies and has implications for the evolution of human culture. No pattern of geographical radiation was found in relation to distance across sites. Our findings promote A. geoffroyi as a model species to investigate traditions with field and captive based experiments and emphasize the importance of the social domain for the study of animal traditions.Research at Barro Colorado Island was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9711161), the Leakey Foundation, the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley (www.berkeley.edu) and a Short-term Fellowship from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (www.stri.org). Research at Corcovado National Park's Sirena Biological Station was supported by NSF award 0233248 (with R. Sussman), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists (www.asp.org), and Washington University in St. Louis (www.wustl.edu). Funds for Sirena's field lab facility were provided to L. E. Gilbert (Univ. of Texas at Austin) by NSF BSR 8315399 and a matching WWF grant, and funds for updating Sirena's trail system and installation of spatial reference system were provided by the Mellon Foundation through the Institute of Latin American Studies at UT Austin. Research at Santa Rosa and Punta Laguna was supported by The British Academy (www.britac.ac.uk), the Wenner-Gren Foundation (www.wennergren.org), the Leakey Foundation (www.leakeyfoundation.org) and the North of England Zoological Society (www.chesterzoo.org). CJS was supported by a Gladstone bursary from the University of Chester (www.chester.ac.uk) and by the Santander University Scheme (www.santander.co.uk). Research at Runaway Creek was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

beta-Lactamase can function as a reporter of bacterial protein export during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of host cells

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that is able to avoid destruction by host immune defenses. Exported proteins of M. tuberculosis, which include proteins localized to the bacterial surface or secreted into the extracellular environment, are ideally situated to interact with host factors. As a result, these proteins are attractive candidates for virulence factors, drug targets, and vaccine components. Here we describe a new β-lactamase reporter system capable of identifying exported proteins of M. tuberculosis during growth in host cells. Because β-lactams target bacterial cell wall synthesis, β-lactamases must be exported beyond the cytoplasm to protect against these drugs. When used in protein fusions, β-lactamase can report on the subcellular location of another protein as measured by protection from β-lactam antibiotics. Here we demonstrate that a truncated TEM-1 β-lactamase lacking a signal sequence for export (‘BlaTEM-1) can be used in this manner directly in a mutant strain of M. tuberculosis lacking the major β-lactamase, BlaC. The ‘BlaTEM-1 reporter conferred β-lactam resistance when fused to both Sec and Tat export signal sequences. We further demonstrate that β-lactamase fusion proteins report on protein export while M. tuberculosis is growing in THP-1 macrophage-like cells. This genetic system should facilitate the study of proteins exclusively exported in the host environment by intracellular M. tuberculosis