Determination of the sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to antibiotics using a synthetic liquid culture medium

Antibiotic sensitivities of 120 Ps. aeruginosa strains isolated from patients and environmental objects have been studied by microdilutions in modified Jorgensen's liquid synthetic nutrient medium. Use of "transitional" concentrations of antibiotics permits a simultaneous examination of the sensitivities of 7-8 Ps. aeruginosa cultures to 6-11 antibiotics. The simplicity, low price, low consumption of nutrient medium, sufficient accuracy and good reproducibility of the results recommend this method for laboratory practice.     

Metabolites of alveolarEchinococcus as determined by [31P]- and [1H]-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

[³¹P]-Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in vivo spectra ofEchinococcus multilocularis cysts growing subcutaneously inMeriones unguiculatus showed prominent signals due to phosphomonoesters (PME), phosphodiesters (PDE), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and the , and phosphate groups of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The internal pH of the parasite cysts was 6.7–6.8. The³¹P spectra of extracts of these subcutaneous cysts showed peaks identified as glucose-6-phosphate (Glu-6-P), glycerol-3-phosphate (Gly-3-P), phosphorylethanolamine (PE), adenosine-5-monophosphate (5-AMP), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), phosphorylcholine (PC), Pi, glycerolphosphorylethanolamine (GPE), glycerolphosphorylcholine (GPC), phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), ATP and diphosphodiesters (DPDE). These metabolites were also detected at comparable concentrations in the extracts of intraperitoneally grown cysts. In addition, significantly more phosphocreatine (PCr), probably of host origin, was detected in the subcutaneous cysts than in the intraperitoneal cysts. [¹H]-NMR spectra of cyst extracts revealed that parasites grown in the abdominal cavity contained significantly less glucose but significantly more succinate, acetate, alanine and -hydroxybutyrate. Glycogen, creatine, glycine, taurine, betaine, cholines and lactate were present at similar concentrations in cyst material from both locations.     

Behavioral and hormonal effects of attachment object separation in surrogate-peer-reared and mother-reared infant rhesus monkeys

Mother-reared and surrogate-peer-reared rhesus monkeys were separated from their respective attachment objects at 6 months of age and tested for the following 9 weeks to determine their home cage behavior and their pituitary-adrenocortical responses to stress. Both groups displayed a strong immediate behavioral response to separation which was characterized by increases vocalization, increased locomotion, and decreased self-play. However, the surrogate-peer-reared infants showed a subsequent recovery in their levels of self-play whereas the mother-reared infants instead developed stereotypic behavior patterns such as repetitive pacing. The 2 groups displayed similar plasma cortisol responses to weekly sessions in an apparatus equipped with animated toy “monsters.” Mother-reared but not surrogate-peer-reared subjects, however, also manifested elevated cortisol levels when an animal in an adjacent cage was captured and removed for stress testing. Mother-reared infant monkeys thus responded in a stronger and more prolonged manner to the loss of their attachment object than surrogate-peer-reared infants. These results suggest that infant rhesus monkeys form stronger attachments to monkey mothers than to inanimate surrogate mothers, a phenomenon which has not been as clearly demonstrated using other indices of attachment strength.     

Maximal oxygen consumption,pulmonary function,body composition,and anthropometry of adolescent female athletes

Three groups of girl athletes — 10 gymnasts and 8 middle-distance swimmers averaging 14 years of age, and 8 middle-distance runners averaging almost 19 — were the subjects of this study. The maximal oxygen intake was determined by graded work load on a bicycle ergometer, certain pulmonary functions by spirometry, and total body potassium by wholebody counting of naturally radioactive⁴⁰K. The total body water was obtained from measurements of deuterium oxide and application of the dilution principle, and creatinine excretion was determined from urine collections. Fat-free mass was calculated from total body water, and the amount of body fat was obtained by subtracting fat-free mass from body weight. Cell mass was calculated from total body potassium. Supporting evidence of leanness or fatness was provided by anthropometric measurements.The runners and swimmers achieved significantly higher maximal oxygen consumption per kg of body weight, fat-free mass, and cell mass; and the runners excelled the gymnasts in certain other pulmonary functions. Total body potassium in milliequivalents per kg of body weight, total body water expressed in percentage of body weight, and creatinine coefficients were similar in all three groups of subjects. These results indicated no differences in body composition. Calculations of body fat, fat-free mass, and cellular mass verified that conclusion; and supporting evidence was obtained from subcutaneous fat folds and from appraisal of leanness by corrected limb diameters or volumes, which also were similar in all three groups.     

Demineralized bone matrix as a biological scaffold for bone repair

Experimental models were created in rat fibula to represent impaired bone healing so that biological deficiencies that cause bone repair to fail or to be delayed may be investigated. These models consist of a 4-mm-long segmental defect, created in rat fibula by osteotomy, and fitted with a 7-mm-long tubular specimen of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) over the cut ends of the fibula. The experiments in this study involved various modifications of the DBM scaffold designed to reduce its osteoinductive activity: steam sterilization (sDBM), ethylene oxide sterilization (eoDBM), trypsin digestion (tDBM), and guanidine hydrochloride extraction (gDBM). Bone healing was evaluated by bending rigidity of the fibula and mineral content of the repair site at 7 weeks post-surgery. The sDBM scaffolds resorbed completely by 7 weeks and hence this model was a nonhealing negative control. Rigidities in the unmodified DBM and tDBM groups were comparable, whereas in the gDBM and eoDBM groups it was significantly reduced. Histologically, in the 4-mm defects repaired with unmodified DBM, direct and endochondral bone formation in the scaffold and the defect resulted in a neocortex consisting of woven and lamellar bone uniting the broken bone by 7 weeks post-surgery. We conclude that the eoDBM and gDBM groups represent failure or delay of the bone repair process when compared with the unmodified DBM group in which the process is analogous to normal bone healing.     

Orexin A mediation of time spent moving in rats: Neural mechanisms

The brain regulates energy balance and spontaneous physical activity, including both small- and large-motor activities. Neural mediators of spontaneous physical activity are currently undefined, although the amount of time spent in sedentary positions versus standing and ambulating may be important in the energetics of human obesity. Orexin A, a neuropeptide produced in caudal hypothalamic areas and projecting throughout the neuraxis, enhances arousal and spontaneous physical activity. To test the hypothesis that orexin A affects the amount of time spent moving, we injected orexin A (0–1000 pmol) into three orexin projection sites in male Sprague–Dawley rats: hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, rostral lateral hypothalamic area and substantia nigra pars compacta, and measured spontaneous physical activity. Orexin A affects local GABA release and we co-injected orexin A with a GABA agonist, muscimol, in each brain site. Dopamine signaling is important to substantia nigra function and so we also co-injected a dopamine 1 receptor antagonist (SCH 23390) in the substantia nigra pars compacta. In all brain sites orexin A significantly increased time spent vertical and ambulating. Muscimol significantly and dose-dependently inhibited orexin A effects on time spent moving only when administered to the rostral lateral hypothalamic area. In the substantia nigra pars compacta, SCH 23390 completely blocked orexin A–induced ambulation. These data indicate that orexin A influences time spent moving, in three brain sites utilizing separate signaling mechanisms. That orexin A modulation of spontaneous physical activity occurs in brain areas with multiple roles indicates generalization across brain site, and may reflect a fundamental mechanism for enhancing activity levels. This potential for conferring physical activity stimulation may be useful for inducing shifts in time spent moving, which has important implications for obesity.     

Slovene smart card and IP based health-care information system infrastructure

Slovenia initiated a nation-wide project to introduce smart cards in the health sector in 1995 and its full-scale deployment started in September 2000. Although the basic aim of the project was to support insurance related procedures, the system was designed in a flexible and open manner to present an infrastructure for the whole health sector. The functionality of the current system is described in this paper along with lessons learned so far. The upgrade of the system is outlined, with emphasis on technical details, the objective being to provide a real-time EDI based environment for a general set of applications in the medical sector, supported by the flexibility and security of modern smart card technologies. Integration with similar systems in other EU countries is discussed.     

Standardized extracts from Chinese herbs induce IL-10 production in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells and alter their differentiation in vitro

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a treatment for atopic dermatitis has been evaluated in clinical trials. Until now, the underlying mechanism of this treatment has remained completely elusive; this is particularly true of its putative effects on dendritic cells (DCs), which might play a pivotal role in the disease. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the influence of a standardized extract from 10 Chinese herbs that was successfully used in clinical trials on the generation of monocyte-derived DCs from atopic donors. METHODS: Detailed phenotypic and functional exploration of DCs generated in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF and treated with different concentrations of TCM or a placebo control was performed. RESULTS: TCM profoundly affected the morphology and phenotype of the developing DCs. They lost their typical dendritic morphology and decreased their expression of CD1a as well as the low-affinity IgE receptor CD23. Most importantly, TCM-exposed DCs exhibited a diminished stimulatory activity toward autologous antigen-specific and allogeneic T cells while secreting high amounts of IL-10. CONCLUSION: TCM induces immunopharmacologic alterations on DCs from atopic donors in vitro. These alterations might account, at least in part, for the therapeutic effect of this treatment in AD in vivo.     

Fenfluramine challenge, self-injurious behavior, and aggression in rhesus monkeys

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) and aggression have been linked to reduced serotonergic (5-HT) functioning in both humans and nonhuman primates. The present study examined serum prolactin and cortisol responses to the 5-HT releasing agent D,L-fenfluramine (FEN) in 24 individually housed rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), 15 of which carried a veterinary record of self-wounding (SW). Subjects received two doses of FEN, 4 and 2 mg/kg, separated by an interval of at least 2 months. For control purposes, monkeys were given an intramuscular saline injection 1 week prior to each FEN challenge. The relationship between the hormonal responses to FEN, wounding history, the rates of self-directed biting and aggression were determined for each animal based on 100 five-minute observations conducted over a period of 12 months surrounding the challenge procedures. Prolactin and cortisol responses to FEN were unrelated either to wounding history or to rates of self-directed biting. However, there were significant inverse correlations between levels of aggression and the prolactin response to both doses of FEN. The present findings provide no evidence for reduced 5-HT system function in rhesus monkeys with SIB under the present challenge conditions. However, the results are consistent with a previously reported inverse relationship between serotonergic activity and aggression. Moreover, a dose-dependent response to FEN was observed only for prolactin, suggesting that this variable is more appropriate than cortisol as an endpoint for FEN challenge in monkeys.