Microbiological quality of frozen cauliflower, corn, and peas obtained at retail markets.

The microbiological quality of blanched frozen cauliflower, cut corn, and peas at the retail level was determined. At 35 degrees C, mean aerobic plate count (APC) values for cauliflower, corn, and peas, respectively, were 30,000, 6,100, and 4,700 per g; at 30 degrees C, the mean APC values were 45,000, 8,500, and 6,800 per g, respectively. Geometric means for coliform, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus counts for all three vegetables were less than 10 per g.     

Microbiological quality of some spices and herbs in retail markets.

The microbiological quality of 10 spices or herbs was determined by a national survey at the retail level. Aerobic plate count values for the 10 products ranged from less than 100 to 3.1 X 10(8) per g; mean values of the individual spices or herbs ranged from 1,400 to 820,000 per g. Coliform counts ranged from less than 3 to 1.1 X 10(6) per g; however, mean values were less than 20 per g for all products. Escherichia coli counts ranged from less than 3 to 2,300 per g. Except for celery seed, which had a mean value of 7 per g, all mean values were less than 3 per g. Yeast and mold counts were made for 5 of the 10 products. Mean values were generally low; the highest mean (290 per g) was obtained for cinnamon.     

Fast kinetics studies of Escherichia coli electrotransformation.

Direct gene transfer is achieved in Escherichia coli by use of square wave electric pulsing. As observed by video monitoring, the field pulse causes bacteria to orientate parallel to the field lines. Rapid kinetic turbidity changes indicate that this process happens quickly. In these circumstances, and in pulsing conditions prone to inducing transformation, only caps are affected by the field. Considerable cytoplasmic ion leakage occurs during the pulse, affecting the interfacial ionic concentration. The pulsing-buffer osmolarity has to be close to that used with protoplasts. Contact between the plasmid and the bacteria can be very short before the pulse but must be present during the pulse. The plasmid remains accessible to externally added DNases up to 5 days after the pulse, suggesting that the transfer step is slow. Electric-field-mediated transfer can be described in two steps: the anchoring process during the pulse, followed by the crossing of the membrane.     

Usefulness of the stomacher in a microbiological regulatory laboratory.

The relative efficiency of the Waring blender, the Stomacher 400, and the Stomacher 3500 for preparing food samples for microbiological analysis was studied. Comparative aerobic plate count (APC) values were determined on 671 samples, representing 30 categories of foods. Of the 26 categories of nonfatty foods, the blender gave significantly higher geometric mean APC values than those given by the Stomacher 400 and the Stomacher 3500 in 65 and 69 percent of the categories, respectively. In a comparison of the two Stomacher models, the Stomacher 400 gave significantly higher geometric mean APC values than these given by the Stomacher 3500 in 73 percent of the food categories. Addition of Tween 80 to four categories of fatty foods at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 percent did not raise the APC values given by either model of stomacher to the levels given by the Waring blender. Overall, the efficiency of both models of Stomacher, relative to the blender and to each other, was specific and depended upon the particular food being analyzed.     

Microbiological quality of frozen breaded fish and shellfish products.

A survey was made of the microbiological quality of seven frozen, breaded, precooked fish and shellfish products and of frozen, breaded, uncooked shrimp at the retail level. Geometric mean aerobic plate counts per gram (and number of units examined) were as follows: fish sticks, 8,300 (1,539); fish cakes, 5,600 (1,378); crab cakes, 4,900 (1,226); scallops, 1,700 (1,392); clams, 450 (1,384); haddock, 15,000 (1,306); fish in fish and chips dinner, 7,200 (1,485); and uncooked shrimp, 220,000 (1,462). Geometric mean coliform, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus counts for all eight products ranged from 1 to 10/g.     

Simple and sensitive procedure for screening yeast mutants that lyse at nonpermissive temperatures.

After mutagenesis, surviving yeast cells are grown on plates at 25 C and later exposed to 37 C. The plates are then overlaid with a soft agar containing p-nitrophenylphosphate at pH 9.7. Lysed cells liberate alkaline phosphatase which gives rise to a yellow color on and around colonies.     

Beyond spider personality: The relationships between behavioral,physiological, and environmental factors

Spiders are useful models for testing different hypotheses and methodologies relating to animal personality and behavioral syndromes because they show a range of behavioral types and unique physiological traits (e.g., silk and venom) that are not observed in many other animals. These characteristics allow for a unique understanding of how physiology, behavioral plasticity, and personality interact across different contexts to affect spider''s individual fitness and survival. However, the relative effect of extrinsic factors on physiological traits (silk, venom, and neurohormones) that play an important role in spider survival, and which may impact personality, has received less attention. The goal of this review is to explore how the environment, experience, ontogeny, and physiology interact to affect spider personality types across different contexts. We highlight physiological traits, such as neurohormones, and unique spider biochemical weapons, namely silks and venoms, to explore how the use of these traits might, or might not, be constrained or limited by particular behavioral types. We argue that, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the flexibility and persistence of specific behavioral types in spiders, it is necessary to incorporate these underlying mechanisms into a synthesized whole, alongside other extrinsic and intrinsic factors.     

Organic acid profile of isovaleric acidemia: a comprehensive metabolomics approach

Isovaleric acidemia (IVA, MIM 248600) can be a severe and potentially life-threatening disease in affected neonates, but with a positive prognosis on treatment for some phenotypes. This study presents the first application of metabolomics to evaluate the metabolite profiles derived from urine samples of untreated and treated IVA patients as well as of obligate heterozygotes. All IVA patients carried the same homozygous c.367 G > A nucleotide change in exon 4 of the IVD gene but manifested phenotypic diversity. Concurrent class analysis (CONCA) was used to compare all the metabolites from the original complete data set obtained from the three case and two control groups used in this investigation. This application of CONCA has not been reported previously, and is used here to compare four different modes of scaling of all metabolites. The variables important in discrimination from the CONCA thus enabled the recognition of different metabolic patterns encapsulated within the data sets that would not have been revealed by using only one mode of scaling. Application of multivariate and univariate analyses disclosed 11 important metabolites that distinguished untreated IVA from controls. These included well-established diagnostic biomarkers of IVA, endogenous detoxification markers, and 3-hydroxycaproic acid, an indicator of ketosis, but not reported previously for this disease. Nine metabolites were identified that reflected the effect of treatment of IVA. They included detoxification products and indicators related to the high carbohydrate and low protein diet which formed the hallmark of the treatment. This investigation also provides the first comparative metabolite profile for heterozygotes of this inherited metabolic disorder. The detection of informative metabolites in even very low concentrations in all three experimental groups highlights the potential advantage of the holistic mode of analysis of inherited metabolic diseases in a metabolomics investigation.     

A Systematic Review of the Relationship between Blood Loss and Clinical Signs

Introduction

This systematic review examines the relationship between blood loss and clinical signs and explores its use to trigger clinical interventions in the management of obstetric haemorrhage.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature was carried out using a comprehensive search strategy to identify studies presenting data on the relationship of clinical signs & symptoms and blood loss. Methodological quality was assessed using the STROBE checklist and the general guidelines of MOOSE.

Results

30 studies were included and five were performed in women with pregnancy-related haemorrhage (other studies were carried in non-obstetric populations). Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and shock index were the parameters most frequently studied. An association between blood loss and HR changes was observed in 22 out of 24 studies, and between blood loss and SBP was observed in 17 out of 23 studies. An association was found in all papers reporting on the relationship of shock index and blood loss. Seven studies have used Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves to determine the accuracy of clinical signs in predicting blood loss. In those studies the AUC ranged from 0.56 to 0.74 for HR, from 0.56 to 0.79 for SBP and from 0.77 to 0.84 for shock index. In some studies, HR, SBP and shock index were associated with increased mortality.

Conclusion

We found a substantial variability in the relationship between blood loss and clinical signs, making it difficult to establish specific cut-off points for clinical signs that could be used as triggers for clinical interventions. However, the shock index can be an accurate indicator of compensatory changes in the cardiovascular system due to blood loss. Considering that most of the evidence included in this systematic review is derived from studies in non-obstetric populations, further research on the use of the shock index in obstetric populations is needed.     

She Loves Me,She Loves Me Not: On the Dualistic Asexual/Sexual Nature of Dermatophyte Fungi

Mycopathologia - Dermatophytes are ascomycetous fungi whose sexuality is greatly influenced by their ecology. Sexual reproduction is ubiquitous among soil-related geophiles and some...