Epidemiological aspects of Aeromonas salmonicida in the marine environment.

The epidemiology of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida in the marine environment was investigated. Nutrient resuscitation and infectivity studies did not support a previous claim of dormancy in A. salmonicida and validated the use of colony-forming units (cfu) in survival studies. Survival of A. salmonicida in seawater was assessed and found to be of short duration «10 days). Survival of the bacterium in non-sterile sediment, obtained from beneath a salmon cage, appeared to be limited. The minimum infective dose of A. salmonicida to Atlantic salmon in short duration (1-3 days) bath exposure in sea water was 10' cfu ml-I. Prolonged exposure for three weeks resulted in infection with 102 cfu ml- I. Intragastric intubation of the bacterium established infection with doses >105 cfu. Shedding of A. salmonicida from infected salmon was 105-108 cfu/fish/hr. Survival and shedding results were combined in a computer model. A. salmonicida was predicted to travel >6 km suspended within the water column of a sea loch. Covert infection in freshwater farmed salmon was assessed by ELISA and the standard stress test. Results indicated that ELISA may be useful as a routine monitor of furunculosis infection. The efficacy of dot-blot immunoassay was found to be 108 cfu A. salmonicida in fish kidney tissue. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and salmon mucus were not found to inhibit the growth of A. salmonicida supporting recent evidence that fish skin is a site of carriage. In vitro studies suggested that trout serum proteins do not confer protection from fish antibody on A. salmonicida in covert infections. Preliminary work was undertaken to develop a specific DNA probe for A. salmonicida which will allow its detection in environmental samples and carrier fish. A gene library of A. salmonicida was constructed in lambda gtll and screened for" A "-protein with antibodies

Velocity map imaging of the dynamics of the CH3 + HCl -> CH4 + Cl reaction using a dual molecular beam method

International audienceThe reactions CH3 + HCl → CH4 + Cl(²P_3/2) and CD₃ + HCl → CD₃H + Cl(²P_3/2) have been studied by photo-initiation (by CH₃I or CD₃I photolysis at 266 nm) in a dual molecular beam apparatus. Product Cl(²P</sub>3/2</sub>) atoms were detected using resonance enhanced multi-photon ionisation and velocity map imaging, revealing product translational energy and angular scattering distributions in the centre-of-mass frame. Image analysis is complicated by the bimodal speed distribution of CH₃ (and CD₃) radicals formed in coincidence with I(²P_3/2) and I(²P_1/2) atoms from CH₃I (CD₃I) photodissociation, giving overlapping Newton diagrams with displaced centre of mass velocities. The relative reactivities to form Cl atoms are greater for the slower CH₃ speed group than the faster group by factors of ~1.5 for the reaction of CH₃ and ~2.5 for the reaction of CD₃, consistent with the greater propensity of the faster methyl radicals to undergo electronically adiabatic reactions to form Cl(²P_1/2). The average fraction of the available energy becoming product translational energy is = 0.48 ± 0.05 and 0.50 ± 0.03 for reaction of the faster and slower sets of CH₃ radicals, respectively. The Cl atoms are deduced to be preferentially forward scattered with respect to the HCl reagents, but the angular distributions from the dual beam imaging experiments require correction for under-detection of forward scattered Cl products

Mutual information-based binarisation of multiple images of an object: an application in medical imaging

A new method for image thresholding of two or more images that are acquired in different modalities or acquisition protocols is proposed. The method is based on measures from information theory and has no underlying free parameters nor does it require training or calibration. The method is based on finding an optimal set of global thresholds, one for each image, by maximising the mutual information above the thresholds while minimising the mutual information below the thresholds. Although some assumptions on the nature of images are made, no assumptions are made by the method on the intensity distributions or on the shape of the image histograms. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated both on synthetic images and medical images from clinical practice. It is then compared against three other thresholding method

Icarus Falls: The Coal Health Scandal

The handling of cases under the Coal Health Compensation Schemes, set up in 1999 to compensate miners suffering from workplace medical conditions, resulted in over 100 solicitors from more than 30 firms facing disciplinary proceedings. Three were struck off, three suspended and over forty fined following the largest investigation ever mounted by the regulator. This article examines the political and regulatory context of the scandal, describes one of the cases presented to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal and examines the relevance of theories of transgression to professional disciplinary matters. It concludes by considering the regulatory impacts and implications of the scandal

Outcome of ATP-based tumor chemosensitivity assay directed chemotherapy in heavily pre-treated recurrent ovarian carcinoma

BACKGROUND: We wished to evaluate the clinical response following ATP-Tumor Chemosensitivity Assay (ATP-TCA) directed salvage chemotherapy in a series of UK patients with advanced ovarian cancer. The results are compared with that of a similar assay used in a different country in terms of evaluability and clinical endpoints. METHODS: From November 1998 to November 2001, 46 patients with pre-treated, advanced ovarian cancer were given a total of 56 courses of chemotherapy based on in-vitro ATP-TCA responses obtained from fresh tumor samples or ascites. Forty-four patients were evaluable for results. Of these, 18 patients had clinically platinum resistant disease (relapse < 6 months after first course of chemotherapy). There was evidence of cisplatin resistance in 31 patients from their first ATP-TCA. Response to treatment was assessed by radiology, clinical assessment and tumor marker level (CA 125). RESULTS: The overall response rate was 59% (33/56) per course of chemotherapy, including 12 complete responses, 21 partial responses, 6 with stable disease, and 15 with progressive disease. Two patients were not evaluable for response having received just one cycle of chemotherapy: if these were excluded the response rate is 61%. Fifteen patients are still alive. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 6.6 months per course of chemotherapy; median overall survival (OAS) for each patient following the start of TCA-directed therapy was 10.4 months (95% confidence interval 7.9-12.8 months). CONCLUSION: The results show similar response rates to previous studies using ATP-TCA directed therapy in recurrent ovarian cancer. The assay shows high evaluability and this study adds weight to the reproducibility of results from different centre