Mathematical modeling of microbial growth in refrigerated horsemeat : it's importance in the quality of meat

Horsemeat is an important economic resource for our country, as Argentina is considered one of the leading world exporters of horsemeat. But there is little research about the quality of it. It was examined the effect of: (i) storage temperature (0, 4ºC) and (ii) gaseous permeability of the packaging film (polyethylene and EVA SARAN EVA for vacuum packaging) on the growth of bacteria (Total Aerobic Mesophilic Heterotrophic Bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas sp.) isolated from horse muscle. Microbial growth was modelled using Gompertz or the Linear Regression Models. The lowest final bacteria counts were obtained with the combination of 0ºC and vacuum packaging. At higher temperatures, 4ºC, there were no significant differences (p<0.05) among the final counts in relation to both films. The lowest values of µ (microbial growth rate) for the development of studied microorganisms were observed in samples stored in EVA SARAN EVA DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.19137/cienvet2013-151

Características físico-químicas y microbiológicas de mieles de La Pampa

The honey is defined as the natural sweet substance produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar or secretions of plants; or excretions of sucking insects that lives on them.The bees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own in the honey comb.The objective of this work was to characterize the honey of the province of La Pampa, based on physico-chemical and microbiological features to search for indicators to ensure better quality for internal and external trade of this product.Thirty-eight samples of different honey-farm, dividing the province of La Pampa in 4 different zones (North, South, East andWest) were analyzed.The physicochemical determinations were pH; total acidity, free acidity and lactone; diastase and ashes. The microbiological analysis made was: determination of total aerobic bacteria count, determination of total coliforms, determination of Salmonella sp and Shigella and the determination of fungi and yeasts.According to the regulations of the CAA results were observed in all cases and regulation MERCOSUR thus also to international standards, concluding honeys in the province of La Pampa can be considered as a good Argentine quality product.La miel se define como la sustancia dulce natura producida por abejas Apis Melifera a partir del néctar de las plantas o de secreciones de partes vivas de éstas o de excreciones de insectos succionadores de plantas que quedan sobre partes vivas de las mismas y que las abejas recogen, transforman y combinan con sustancias especìficas propias y depositan, deshidratan, almacenana y dejan en el panal para que madure y añeje. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar las mieles de la Provincia de La Pampa, en función de sus características físico quimicas y microbiológicas con el fin de buscar indicadores que aseguren una mejor calidad para el comercio interno y externo de este producto. Se analizaron 38 muestras provenientes de diversos establecimientos productores de miel, dividiendo a la Provincia de La Pampa en 4 zonas (Norte, Sur, Ete y Oeste). Se realizaron las determinaciones físico-químicas de pH; acidez total, libre y lactónica; diastasas y cenizas. Los análisis microbiológicos realizados fueron: determinación de recuento total de bacterias aeróbicas; determianción de coliforme totales ; determinación de Salmonella y Shigella sp. y la determinación de hongos y levaduras. En todos los casos se observaron resultados acordes a las normativas de CAA y Reglamento MERCOSUR, como también a normas internacionales, concluyéndose que las mieles de la Provincia de La Pampa pueden ser consideradas como un buen producto de calidad argentina

HDAC9 is implicated in atherosclerotic aortic calcification and affects vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype.

Aortic calcification is an important independent predictor of future cardiovascular events. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis to determine SNPs associated with the extent of abdominal aortic calcification (n = 9,417) or descending thoracic aortic calcification (n = 8,422). Two genetic loci, HDAC9 and RAP1GAP, were associated with abdominal aortic calcification at a genome-wide level (P < 5.0 × 10-8). No SNPs were associated with thoracic aortic calcification at the genome-wide threshold. Increased expression of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells promoted calcification and reduced contractility, while inhibition of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells inhibited calcification and enhanced cell contractility. In matrix Gla protein-deficient mice, a model of human vascular calcification, mice lacking HDAC9 had a 40% reduction in aortic calcification and improved survival. This translational genomic study identifies the first genetic risk locus associated with calcification of the abdominal aorta and describes a previously unknown role for HDAC9 in the development of vascular calcification

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Chronic Methamphetamine Administration Causes Differential Regulation of Transcription Factors in the Rat Midbrain

Methamphetamine (METH) is an addictive and neurotoxic psychostimulant widely abused in the USA and throughout the world. When administered in large doses, METH can cause depletion of striatal dopamine terminals, with preservation of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Because alterations in the expression of transcription factors that regulate the development of dopaminergic neurons might be involved in protecting these neurons after toxic insults, we tested the possibility that their expression might be affected by toxic doses of METH in the adult brain. Male Sprague-Dawley rats pretreated with saline or increasing doses of METH were challenged with toxic doses of the drug and euthanized two weeks later. Animals that received toxic METH challenges showed decreases in dopamine levels and reductions in tyrosine hydroxylase protein concentration in the striatum. METH pretreatment protected against loss of striatal dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase. In contrast, METH challenges caused decreases in dopamine transporters in both saline- and METH-pretreated animals. Interestingly, METH challenges elicited increases in dopamine transporter mRNA levels in the midbrain in the presence but not in the absence of METH pretreatment. Moreover, toxic METH doses caused decreases in the expression of the dopamine developmental factors, Shh, Lmx1b, and Nurr1, but not in the levels of Otx2 and Pitx3, in saline-pretreated rats. METH pretreatment followed by METH challenges also decreased Nurr1 but increased Otx2 and Pitx3 expression in the midbrain. These findings suggest that, in adult animals, toxic doses of METH can differentially influence the expression of transcription factors involved in the developmental regulation of dopamine neurons. The combined increases in Otx2 and Pitx3 expression after METH preconditioning might represent, in part, some of the mechanisms that served to protect against METH-induced striatal dopamine depletion observed after METH preconditioning

Epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection and sepsis in critically ill patients: “AbSeS”, a multinational observational cohort study and ESICM Trials Group Project

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection in an international cohort of ICU patients according to a new system that classifies cases according to setting of infection acquisition (community-acquired, early onset hospital-acquired, and late-onset hospital-acquired), anatomical disruption (absent or present with localized or diffuse peritonitis), and severity of disease expression (infection, sepsis, and septic shock). Methods: We performed a multicenter (n = 309), observational, epidemiological study including adult ICU patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal infection. Risk factors for mortality were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The cohort included 2621 patients. Setting of infection acquisition was community-acquired in 31.6%, early onset hospital-acquired in 25%, and late-onset hospital-acquired in 43.4% of patients. Overall prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was 26.3% and difficult-to-treat resistant Gram-negative bacteria 4.3%, with great variation according to geographic region. No difference in prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was observed according to setting of infection acquisition. Overall mortality was 29.1%. Independent risk factors for mortality included late-onset hospital-acquired infection, diffuse peritonitis, sepsis, septic shock, older age, malnutrition, liver failure, congestive heart failure, antimicrobial resistance (either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria, or carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria) and source control failure evidenced by either the need for surgical revision or persistent inflammation. Conclusion: This multinational, heterogeneous cohort of ICU patients with intra-abdominal infection revealed that setting of infection acquisition, anatomical disruption, and severity of disease expression are disease-specific phenotypic characteristics associated with outcome, irrespective of the type of infection. Antimicrobial resistance is equally common in community-acquired as in hospital-acquired infection

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors