Factors determining patient choice of device for GH therapy

AIM: To assess the factors determining patient choice of GH device, and whether offering free patient choice improves compliance with GH therapy. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional study performed on patients offered free choice of GH device in a regional growth clinic. In a subgroup having home delivery, GH compliance was assessed using ampoule counts. RESULTS: 125 patients (74 (59%) male), median (range) 9.30 (1.0-18.3) years were commenced on GH from January 2001 to March 2004, and offered free choice of device. 68 (54%) chose a needled device, and 57 (46%) needle-free. There was no statistical difference in age, sex or diagnostic category between the two groups. Light blue devices were more likely to be chosen by males (p=0.056). Questionnaires giving reasons for choosing a device were available in 40, and a further 50 gave reasons for both choosing a specific device and not choosing others. Other than choice of needled/needle-free device, the factor most likely to determine choice was 'ease of use'. Only 6 (4.8%) subsequently changed device, and compliance remained high but unchanged at approximately 90%. CONCLUSIONS: There are no specific features which determine what GH device a patient will choose. For those units offering free patient choice, a wide range of different devices should be made available.     

Phenotypic and molecular characteristics of Escherichia coli isolated from aquatic environment of Bangladesh

Pathogenic Escherichia coli remains important etiological agent of infantile diarrhea in Bangladesh. Previous studies have focused mostly on clinical strains, but very little is known about their presence in aquatic environments. The present study was designed to characterize potentially pathogenic E. coli isolated between November 2001 and December 2003 from aquatic environments of 13 districts of Bangladesh. Serotyping of 96 randomly selected strains revealed O161 to be the predominant serotype (19%), followed by O55 and O44 (12% each), and 11% untypable. Serotype-based pathotyping of the E. coli strains revealed 47%, 30%, and 6% to belong to EPEC, ETEC, and EHEC pathotypes, respectively. The majority of the 160 strains tested were resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents. Plasmid pro-filing showed a total of 17 different bands ranging from 1.3 to 40 kb. However, 35% of the strains did not contain any detectable plasmid, implying no correlation between plasmid and drug resistance. Although virulence gene profiling revealed 97 (61%) of the strains to harbor the gene encoding heat-stable enterotoxin (ST), 2 for the gene encoding Shiga toxin (Stx), and none for the gene for heat-labile enterotoxin (LT), serotype-based pathotyping of E. coli was not fully supported by this gene profiling. A dendrogram derived from the PFGE patterns of 22 strains of three predominant serogroups indicated two major clusters, one containing mainly serogroup O55 and the other O8. Three strains of identical PFGE profiles belonging to serogroup O55 were isolated from three distinct areas, which may be of epidemiological significance. Finally, it may be concluded that serotype-based pathotyping may be useful for E. coli strains of clinical origin; however, it is not precise enough for reliably identifying environmental strains as diarrheagenic.     

Is Helicobacter pylori a True Microaerophile?

BACKGROUND: There is no general consensus about the specific oxygen and carbon dioxide requirements of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium is considered a microaerophile and consequently, it is grown under atmospheres at oxygen tensions 5-19% and carbon dioxide tensions 5-10%, both for clinical and basic and applied research purposes. The current study compared the growth of H. pylori in vitro, under various gas atmospheres, and determined some specific changes in the physiology of bacteria grown under different oxygen partial pressures. METHODS: Measurements of bacterial growth under various conditions were carried out employing classical solid and liquid culture techniques. Enzymatic activities were measured using spectrophotometric assays. RESULTS: H. pylori and all the other Helicobacter spp. tested had an absolute requirement for elevated carbon dioxide concentrations in the growth atmosphere. In contrast with other Helicobacter spp., H. pylori can tolerate elevated oxygen tensions when grown at high bacterial concentrations. Under 5% CO(2), the bacterium showed similar growth in liquid cultures under oxygen tensions from microaerobic (< 5%) to fully aerobic (21%) at cell densities higher than 5 x 10(5) cfu/ml for media supplemented with horse serum and 5 x 10(7) cfu/ml for media supplemented with beta-cyclodextrin. Evidence that changes occurred in the physiology of H. pylori was obtained by comparing the activities of ferredoxin:NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) oxidoreductases of bacteria grown under microaerobic and aerobic atmospheres. CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori is a capnophile able to grow equally well in vitro under microaerobic or aerobic conditions at high bacterial concentrations, and behaved like oxygen-sensitive microaerophiles at low cell densities. Some characteristics of H. pylori cells grown in vitro under microaerobic conditions appeared to mimic better the physiology of organisms grown in their natural niche in the human stomach.     

Gibberellin-producing endophytic fungi isolated from Monochoria vaginalis

The role of endophytic fungi in plant growth and development is well documented. However, endophytic fungi with growth promotion capacity have never been isolated from weeds previously. In the current study, we isolated 8 fungal endophytes from the roots of Monochoria vaginalis, a serious weed of rice paddy in Korea. These isolates were screened on Waito-C, in order to identify plant growth promoting metabolites. Two fungal isolates (M5.A & M1.5) significantly promoted the plant height and shoot length of Waito-C during preliminary screening experiments. The culture filtrates (CFs) of M5.A and M1.5 also promoted the shoot length of Echinocloa crusgalli. Gibberellins (GAs) analysis of the CFs of M5.A and M1.5 showed that these endophytic fungi secrete higher quantities of GAs as compared with wild-type G. fujikuroi KCCM12329. The CF of M5.A contained bioactive GAs (GA3, 2.8 ng/ml; GA4, 2.6 ng/ml, and GA7, 6.68 ng/ml) in conjunction with physiologically inactive GA9 (1.61 ng/ml) and GA24 (0.18 ng/ml). The CF of M1.5 contained physiologically active GAs (GA3, 1.64 ng/ml; GA4, 1.37 ng/ml and GA7, 6.29 ng/ml) in conjunction with physiologically inactive GA9 (3.44 ng/ml), GA12 (0.3 ng/ml), and GA24 (0.59 ng/ml). M5.A and M1.5 were identified as new strains of Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp., respectively, based on their 18S rDNA sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis.     

Frequencies of PrP genotypes and their implication for breeding against scrapie susceptibility in nine Pakistani sheep breeds

Prion protein (PrP) gene of 308 sheep was genotyped to investigate polymorphisms at scrapie-associated codons 136, 154 and 171 to assess the resistance of nine different Pakistani sheep breeds to natural/typical scrapie. As a result six genotypes were established on the basis of polymorphic codons 154 and 171. The most scrapie-susceptible codon 136 (A/V) was monomorphic (A) in all breeds. Wild-type genotype ARQ/ARQ was detected with maximum prevalence ranging from 63.2% in crossbred Pak-karakul to 100% in native Buchi, Kachi and Thalli breeds. The most frequent of typical scrapie-associated genotypes was ARQ/ARR as indicated by five of nine breeds. The coding region of PrP gene of 49 animals from the total sampled was also sequenced to ascertain additional polymorphisms. Polymorphism was found in 13 animals of the six breeds in codons 101(Q/R), 112(M/T), 146(N/S) and 189(Q/L) and ten genotypes were established on the basis of these polymorphic codons. Only Hissardale possessed five of the ten genotypes. The most frequent genotype was M¹¹²ARQ/T¹¹²ARQ detected in Hissardale, Pak-karakul and Awassi, whereas genotypes ARQr²³¹/ARQr²³¹ and ARQR²³¹/ARQr²³¹ (established on the basis of silent polymorphism agg/cgg-R/R) were detected in all breeds. Some animals consisted of three polymorphisms at different PrP codons that are not common in European breeds. An infrequent double heterozygosity (c/c a/g g/t) for codon 171 resulting in a genotype R/H was also detected in three animals each one from Kajli, Hissardale and Pak-karakul. This study concludes that all native sheep breeds are poor in scrapie-resistant PrP genotypes and could contract scrapie if exposed to prions.     

Adsorption of Methyl Parathion from Aqueous Solutions Using Mango Kernels: Equilibrium,Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies

The adsorption of methyl parathion from aqueous solutions by the low-cost and abundant adsorbent mango kernel was studied in a batch adsorption system. The adsorption was studied as a function of pH, contact time, initial pesticide concentration, adsorbent dose, and temperature. A maximum adsorption of 98% ± 1% was achieved. Physicochemical characterization of the adsorbent was carried out by EDXRF, BET, and CHNS analysis. Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms were employed to evaluate the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent. Lagergren, Morris-Weber, and Reichenberg equations were employed to study the kinetics of the adsorption process. Thermodynamic parameters Δ H, Δ S, and Δ G were computed. The developed adsorption method was applied to real environmental samples.     

Serum Electrolyte and Mineral Variations During Pregnancy and Lactation in Nili-Ravi Buffalo

The aim of present study was to determine the changes of sodium, potassium, chloride, copper, and zinc in serum of Nili-Ravi buffalo during pregnancy and lactation. The study was carried out on 25 Nili-Ravi buffaloes during March 2008 to February 2009 at Buffalo Research Institute, Pattoki, District Kasur. Blood samples were taken from each buffalo during early pregnancy (Phase EP), i.e., between 1 and 3 months gestation, mid pregnancy (Phase MP), i.e., between 4 and 6 months gestation, late pregnancy (Phase LP), i.e., between 7 and 10 months gestation, and during lactation (Phase LT). Serum sodium, potassium, and chloride were determined on a clinical chemistry analyzer whereas copper and zinc were determined on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The mean serum sodium, potassium, and chloride concentrations varied non-significantly (P > 0.05) during pregnancy and lactation. With advancing pregnancy, copper increased and was significantly high (P < 0.05) during late pregnancy whereas during lactation copper concentrations dropped significantly (P < 0.05). The zinc concentrations increased non-significantly during early and mid pregnancy. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in zinc concentrations during lactation compared with late pregnancy. This study demonstrates that concentrations of serum sodium, potassium, and chloride remain unchanged during pregnancy and lactation whereas serum copper concentrations increased and zinc concentrations decreased with advancing pregnancy because of the demand of the fetus at different periods of pregnancy.