Circulating Tumor Cells, Enumeration and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian-Mei Hou

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The detection and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs has shown significant clinical utility with respect to prognosis in breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. Emerging studies show that CTCs can provide pharmacodynamic information to aid therapy decision making. CTCs as a ‘virtual and real-time biopsy’ have clear potential to facilitate exploration of tumor biology, and in particular, the process of metastasis. The challenge of profiling CTC molecular characteristics and generating CTC signatures using current technologies is that they enrich rather than purify CTCs from whole blood; we face the problem of looking for the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’. This review summarizes the current methods for CTC detection and enumeration, focuses on molecular characterization of CTCs, unveils some aspects of CTC heterogeneity, describes attempts to purify CTCs and scans the horizon for approaches leading to comprehensive dissection of CTC biology.

Summary of the Skookumchuck Creek bull trout enumeration project 2001.; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baxter, James S.; Baxter, Jeremy

2002-01-01

This report summarizes the second year of a bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) enumeration project on Skookumchuck Creek in southeastern British Columbia. An enumeration fence and traps were installed on the creek from September 6th to October 12th 2001 to enable the capture of post-spawning bull trout emigrating out of the watershed. During the study period, a total of 273 bull trout were sampled through the enumeration fence. Length and weight were determined for all bull trout captured. In total, 39 fish of undetermined sex, 61 males and 173 females were processed through the fence. An additional 19 bull trout were observed on a snorkel survey prior to the fence being removed on October 12th. Coupled with the fence count, the total bull trout enumerated during this project was 292 fish. Several other species of fish were captured at the enumeration fence including westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi), Rocky Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni), and kokanee (O. nerka). A total of 143 bull trout redds were enumerated on the ground in two different locations (river km 27.5-30.5, and km 24.0-25.5) on October 3rd. The majority of redds (n=132) were observed in the 3.0 km index section (river km 27.5-30.5) that has been surveyed over the past five years. The additional 11 redds were observed in a 1.5 km section (river km 24.0-25.5). Summary plots of water temperature for Bradford Creek, Sandown Creek, Buhl Creek, and Skookumchuck Creek at three locations suggested that water temperatures were within the temperature range preferred by bull trout for spawning, egg incubation, and rearing

MacWilliams Identity for M-Spotty Weight Enumerator

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Kazuyoshi; Fujiwara, Eiji

M-spotty byte error control codes are very effective for correcting/detecting errors in semiconductor memory systems that employ recent high-density RAM chips with wide I/O data (e.g., 8, 16, or 32bits). In this case, the width of the I/O data is one byte. A spotty byte error is defined as random t-bit errors within a byte of length b bits, where 1 le t ≤ b. Then, an error is called an m-spotty byte error if at least one spotty byte error is present in a byte. M-spotty byte error control codes are characterized by the m-spotty distance, which includes the Hamming distance as a special case for t =1 or t = b. The MacWilliams identity provides the relationship between the weight distribution of a code and that of its dual code. The present paper presents the MacWilliams identity for the m-spotty weight enumerator of m-spotty byte error control codes. In addition, the present paper clarifies that the indicated identity includes the MacWilliams identity for the Hamming weight enumerator as a special case.

RatBot: anti-enumeration peer-to-peer botnets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Guanhua [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Eidenbenz, Stephan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Chen, Songqing [GEORGE MASON UNIV.

2010-01-01

Botnets have emerged as one of the most severe cyber threats in recent years. To obtain high resilience against a single point of failure, the new generation of botnets have adopted the peer-to-peer (P2P) structure. One critical question regarding these P2P botnets is: how big are they indeed? To address this question, researchers have proposed both actively crawling and passively monitoring methods to enumerate existing P2P botnets. In this work, we go further to explore the potential strategies that botnets may have to obfuscate their true sizes. Towards this end, this paper introduces RatBot, a P2P botnet that applies some statistical techniques to defeat existing P2P botnet enumeration methods. The key ideas of RatBot are two-fold: (1) there exist a fraction of bots that are indistinguishable from their fake identities, which are spoofing IP addresses they use to hide themselves; (2) we use a heavy-tailed distribution to generate the number of fake identities for each of these bots so that the sum of observed fake identities converges only slowly and thus has high variation. We use large-scale high-fidelity simulation to quantify the estimation errors under diverse settings, and the results show that a naive enumeration technique can overestimate the sizes of P2P botnets by one order of magnitude. We believe that our work reveals new challenges of accurately estimating the sizes of P2P botnets, and hope that it will raise the awareness of security practitioners with these challenges. We further suggest a few countermeasures that can potentially defeat RatBot's anti-enumeration scheme.

Natural product-like virtual libraries: recursive atom-based enumeration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Melvin J

2011-03-28

A new molecular enumerator is described that allows chemically and architecturally diverse sets of natural product-like and drug-like structures to be generated from a core structure as simple as a single carbon atom or as complex as a polycyclic ring system. Integrated with a rudimentary machine-learning algorithm, the enumerator has the ability to assemble biased virtual libraries enriched in compounds predicted to meet target criteria. The ability to dynamically generate relatively small focused libraries in a recursive manner could reduce the computational time and infrastructure necessary to construct and manage extremely large static libraries. Depending on enumeration conditions, natural product-like structures can be produced with a wide range of heterocyclic and alicyclic ring assemblies. Because natural products represent a proven source of validated structures for identifying and designing new drug candidates, mimicking the structural and topological diversity found in nature with a dynamic set of virtual natural product-like compounds may facilitate the creation of new ideas for novel, biologically relevant lead structures in areas of uncharted chemical space.

21 CFR 866.4700 - Automated fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) enumeration systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Automated fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH... Laboratory Equipment and Reagents § 866.4700 Automated fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) enumeration... Hybridization (FISH) Enumeration Systems.” See § 866.1(e) for the availability of this guidance document. [70 FR...

Optimisation of a direct plating method for the detection and enumeration of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores.

Science.gov (United States)

Henczka, Marek; Djas, Małgorzata; Filipek, Katarzyna

2013-01-01

A direct plating method for the detection and enumeration of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores has been optimised. The results of the application of four types of growth media (BAT agar, YSG agar, K agar and SK agar) regarding the recovery and enumeration of A. acidoterrestris spores were compared. The influence of the type of applied growth medium, heat shock conditions, incubation temperature, incubation time, plating technique and the presence of apple juice in the sample on the accuracy of the detection and enumeration of A. acidoterrestris spores was investigated. Among the investigated media, YSG agar was the most sensitive medium, and its application resulted in the highest recovery of A. acidoterrestris spores, while K agar and BAT agar were the least suitable media. The effect of the heat shock time on the recovery of spores was negligible. When there was a low concentration of spores in a sample, the membrane filtration method was superior to the spread plating method. The obtained results show that heat shock carried out at 80°C for 10 min and plating samples in combination with membrane filtration on YSG agar, followed by incubation at 46°C for 3 days provided the optimal conditions for the detection and enumeration of A. acidoterrestris spores. Application of the presented method allows highly efficient, fast and sensitive identification and enumeration of A. acidoterrestris spores in food products. This methodology will be useful for the fruit juice industry for identifying products contaminated with A. acidoterrestris spores, and its practical application may prevent economic losses for manufacturers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enumeration of petroleum hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, S.; Barot, M.; Levine, A.D.

1996-01-01

In-situ biological treatment is one among a number of emerging technologies that may be applied to the remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater. In 1985, a surface spill of 1,500 gallons of dielectric transformer oil at the Sandia National Laboratories (HERMES II facility) resulted in contamination of soil up to depths of 160 feet. The extent of contamination and site characteristics favored the application of in-situ bioremediation as a potential remedial technology. The purpose of this research was to enumerate indigenous microbial populations capable of degrading petroleum hydrocarbons. Microbial enumeration and characterization methods suitably adapted for hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria were used as an indicator of the presence of viable microbial consortia in excavated oil samples with hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations ranging from 300 to 26,850 ppm. Microbial activity was quantified by direct and streak plating soil samples on silica gel media. Effects of toxicity and temperature were studied using batch cultures of hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (selectively isolated in an enrichment medium), at temperatures of 20 and 35 C. It was concluded from this study that it is possible to isolate native microorganisms from contaminated soils from depths of 60 to 160 feet, and with oil concentration ranging from 300 to 26,850 ppm. About 62% of the microorganisms isolated form the contaminated soil were capable of using contaminant oil as a substrate for growth and metabolism under aerobic conditions. Growth rates were observed to be 50% higher for the highest contaminant concentration at 20 C. Resistance to toxicity to contaminant oil was also observed to be greater at 20 C than at 35 C

TEMA and Dot Enumeration Profiles Predict Mental Addition Problem Solving Speed Longitudinally.

Science.gov (United States)

Major, Clare S; Paul, Jacob M; Reeve, Robert A

2017-01-01

Different math indices can be used to assess math potential at school entry. We evaluated whether standardized math achievement (TEMA-2 performance), core number abilities (dot enumeration, symbolic magnitude comparison), non-verbal intelligence (NVIQ) and visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), in combination or separately, predicted mental addition problem solving speed over time. We assessed 267 children's TEMA-2, magnitude comparison, dot enumeration, and VSWM abilities at school entry (5 years) and NVIQ at 8 years. Mental addition problem solving speed was assessed at 6, 8, and 10 years. Longitudinal path analysis supported a model in which dot enumeration performance ability profiles and previous mental addition speed predicted future mental addition speed on all occasions, supporting a componential account of math ability. Standardized math achievement and NVIQ predicted mental addition speed at specific time points, while VSWM and symbolic magnitude comparison did not contribute unique variance to the model. The implications of using standardized math achievement and dot enumeration ability to index math learning potential at school entry are discussed.

Enumeration of minimal stoichiometric precursor sets in metabolic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Ricardo; Wannagat, Martin; Klein, Cecilia C; Acuña, Vicente; Marchetti-Spaccamela, Alberto; Milreu, Paulo V; Stougie, Leen; Sagot, Marie-France

2016-01-01

What an organism needs at least from its environment to produce a set of metabolites, e.g. target(s) of interest and/or biomass, has been called a minimal precursor set. Early approaches to enumerate all minimal precursor sets took into account only the topology of the metabolic network (topological precursor sets). Due to cycles and the stoichiometric values of the reactions, it is often not possible to produce the target(s) from a topological precursor set in the sense that there is no feasible flux. Although considering the stoichiometry makes the problem harder, it enables to obtain biologically reasonable precursor sets that we call stoichiometric. Recently a method to enumerate all minimal stoichiometric precursor sets was proposed in the literature. The relationship between topological and stoichiometric precursor sets had however not yet been studied. Such relationship between topological and stoichiometric precursor sets is highlighted. We also present two algorithms that enumerate all minimal stoichiometric precursor sets. The first one is of theoretical interest only and is based on the above mentioned relationship. The second approach solves a series of mixed integer linear programming problems. We compared the computed minimal precursor sets to experimentally obtained growth media of several Escherichia coli strains using genome-scale metabolic networks. The results show that the second approach efficiently enumerates minimal precursor sets taking stoichiometry into account, and allows for broad in silico studies of strains or species interactions that may help to understand e.g. pathotype and niche-specific metabolic capabilities. sasita is written in Java, uses cplex as LP solver and can be downloaded together with all networks and input files used in this paper at http://www.sasita.gforge.inria.fr.

Performance of mycological media in enumerating desiccated food spoilage yeasts: an interlaboratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuchat, L R; Frandberg, E; Deak, T; Alzamora, S M; Chen, J; Guerrero, A S; López-Malo, A; Ohlsson, I; Olsen, M; Peinado, J M; Schnurer, J; de Siloniz, M I; Tornai-Lehoczki, J

2001-10-22

Dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18) was originally formulated to enumerate nonfastidious xerophilic moulds in foods containing rapidly growing Eurotium species. Some laboratories are now using DG18 as a general purpose medium for enumerating yeasts and moulds, although its performance in recovering yeasts from dry foods has not been evaluated. An interlaboratory study compared DG18 with dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar (DRBC), plate count agar supplemented with chloramphenicol (PCAC), tryptone glucose yeast extract chloramphenicol agar (TGYC), acidified potato dextrose agar (APDA), and orange serum agar (OSA) for their suitability to enumerate 14 species of lyophilized yeasts. The coefficient of variation for among-laboratories repeatability within yeast was 1.39% and reproducibility of counts among laboratories was 7.1%. The order of performance of media for recovering yeasts was TGYC > PCAC = OSA > APDA > DRBC > DG 18. A second study was done to determine the combined effects of storage time and temperature on viability of yeasts and suitability of media for recovery. Higher viability was retained at -18 degrees C than at 5 degrees C or 25 degrees C for up to 42 weeks, although the difference in mean counts of yeasts stored at -18 degrees C and 25 degrees C was only 0.78 log10 cfu/ml of rehydrated suspension. TGYC was equal to PCAC and superior to the other four media in recovering yeasts stored at -18 degrees C, 5 degrees C, or 25 degrees C for up to 42 weeks. Results from both the interlaboratory study and the storage study support the use of TGYC for enumerating desiccated yeasts. DG18 is not recommended as a general purpose medium for recovering yeasts from a desiccated condition.

Impact of enumeration method on diversity of Escherichia coli genotypes isolated from surface water.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, E C; Gentry, T J

2016-11-01

There are numerous regulatory-approved Escherichia coli enumeration methods, but it is not known whether differences in media composition and incubation conditions impact the diversity of E. coli populations detected by these methods. A study was conducted to determine if three standard water quality assessments, Colilert ® , USEPA Method 1603, (modified mTEC) and USEPA Method 1604 (MI), detect different populations of E. coli. Samples were collected from six watersheds and analysed using the three enumeration approaches followed by E. coli isolation and genotyping. Results indicated that the three methods generally produced similar enumeration data across the sites, although there were some differences on a site-by-site basis. The Colilert ® method consistently generated the least diverse collection of E. coli genotypes as compared to modified mTEC and MI, with those two methods being roughly equal to each other. Although the three media assessed in this study were designed to enumerate E. coli, the differences in the media composition, incubation temperature, and growth platform appear to have a strong selective influence on the populations of E. coli isolated. This study suggests that standardized methods of enumeration and isolation may be warranted if researchers intend to obtain individual E. coli isolates for further characterization. This study characterized the impact of three USEPA-approved Escherichia coli enumeration methods on observed E. coli population diversity in surface water samples. Results indicated that these methods produced similar E. coli enumeration data but were more variable in the diversity of E. coli genotypes observed. Although the three methods enumerate the same species, differences in media composition, growth platform, and incubation temperature likely contribute to the selection of different cultivable populations of E. coli, and thus caution should be used when implementing these methods interchangeably for

Enumeration of Enterobacter cloacae after chloramine exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Watters, S K; Pyle, B H; LeChevallier, M W; McFeters, G A

1989-01-01

Growth of Enterobacter cloacae on various media was compared after disinfection. This was done to examine the effects of monochloramine and chlorine on the enumeration of coliforms. The media used were TLY (nonselective; 5.5% tryptic soy broth, 0.3% yeast extract, 1.0% lactose, and 1.5% Bacto-Agar), m-T7 (selective; developed to recover injured coliforms), m-Endo (selective; contains sodium sulfite), TLYS (TLY with sodium sulfite), and m-T7S (m-T7 with sodium sulfite). Sodium sulfite in any medium improved the recovery of chloramine-treated E. cloacae. However, sodium sulfite in TLYS and m-T7S did not significantly improve the detection of chlorine-treated E. cloacae, and m-Endo was the least effective medium for recovering chlorinated bacteria. Differences in recovery of chlorine- and chloramine-treated E. cloacae are consistent with mechanistic differences between the disinfectants. PMID:2619309

Method to enumerate oocysts of cryptosporidium and cysts of Giardia in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briancesco, R.; Bonadonna, L.

2000-01-01

Cryptosporidium and Giardia have been recognized as etiological agents of gastrointestinal illness in humans with severe consequences on children and immunocompromised individuals. Water seems to be vehicle of infection. In last years many efforts have been done to evaluate a method to enumerate oocysts of Cryptosporidium and cysts of Giardia in waters. Throughout filtration and concentration steps, the two procedures proposed allow to enumerate oocysts and cysts belonging to the two genera of protozoa [it

Enumeration of Rectangles in a Tableau Shape

Science.gov (United States)

Mingus, Tabitha T. Y.; Grassl, Richard M.; Diaz, Ricardo; Andrew, Lane; Parker, Frieda

2010-01-01

This article analyzes the challenge of counting the number of rectangles of all sizes in the n-tableau and to provide a combinatorial reason for the answer. The authors present a solution on enumerating rectangles in the n-tableau using Grassl and Mingus results. The authors demonstrate their conjecture for the n-tableau and attempt to apply their…

Enumeration, isolation and identification of bacteria and fungi from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Enumeration, isolation and identification of bacteria and fungi from soil contaminated with petroleum products ... dropping can be useful in the bioremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum products and possibly other oil polluted sites.

Enumeration of self-avoiding walks on the square lattice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, Iwan

2004-01-01

We describe a new algorithm for the enumeration of self-avoiding walks on the square lattice. Using up to 128 processors on a HP Alpha server cluster we have enumerated the number of self-avoiding walks on the square lattice to length 71. Series for the metric properties of mean-square end-to-end distance, mean-square radius of gyration and mean-square distance of monomers from the end points have been derived to length 59. An analysis of the resulting series yields accurate estimates of the critical exponents γ and ν confirming predictions of their exact values. Likewise we obtain accurate amplitude estimates yielding precise values for certain universal amplitude combinations. Finally we report on an analysis giving compelling evidence that the leading non-analytic correction-to-scaling exponent Δ 1 = 3/2

Sample handling factors affecting the enumeration of lactobacilli and cellulolytic bacteria in equine feces

Science.gov (United States)

The objectives were to compare media types and evaluate the effects of fecal storage time and temperature on the enumeration of cellulolytic bacteria and lactobacilli from horses. Fecal samples were collected from horses (n = 3) and transported to the lab (CO2, 37 ºC, 0.5 h). The samples were assign...

A combinatorial enumeration problem of RNA secondary structures

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use

2011-12-21

Dec 21, 2011 ... interesting combinatorial questions (Chen et al., 2005;. Liu, 2006; Schmitt and Waterman 1994; Stein and. Waterman 1978). The research on the enumeration of. RNA secondary structures becomes one of the hot topics in Computational Molecular Biology. An RNA molecule is described by its sequences of.

Effect of storage time and temperature of equine feces on the subsequent enumeration of lactobacilli and cellulolytic bacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Cellulolytic bacteria and lactobacilli are beneficial microbes in the equine hindgut. There are several existing methodologies for the enumeration of these bacteria, which vary based on selective and differential media and sample handling procedures including storage time and temperature. The object...

Probiotic bacteria: selective enumeration and survival in dairy foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, N P

2000-04-01

A number of health benefits have been claimed for probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium spp., and Lactobacillus casei. Because of the potential health benefits, these organisms are increasingly incorporated into dairy foods. However, studies have shown low viability of probiotics in market preparations. In order to assess viability of probiotic bacteria, it is important to have a working method for selective enumeration of these probiotic bacteria. Viability of probiotic bacteria is important in order to provide health benefits. Viability of probiotic bacteria can be improved by appropriate selection of acid and bile resistant strains, use of oxygen impermeable containers, two-step fermentation, micro-encapsulation, stress adaptation, incorporation of micronutrients such as peptides and amino acids and by sonication of yogurt bacteria. This review will cover selective enumeration and survival of probiotic bacteria in dairy foods.

Evaluation of culture media for selective enumeration of bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judit Süle

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to test the suitability of Transgalactosylated oligosaccharides-mupirocin lithium salt (TOS-MUP and MRS-clindamycin-ciprofloxacin (MRS-CC agars, along with several other culture media, for selectively enumerating bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria (LAB species commonly used to make fermented milks. Pure culture suspensions of a total of 13 dairy bacteria strains, belonging to eight species and five genera, were tested for growth capability under various incubation conditions. TOS-MUP agar was successfully used for the selective enumeration of both Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 and B. breve M-16 V. MRS-CC agar showed relatively good selectivity for Lactobacillus acidophilus, however, it also promoted the growth of Lb. casei strains. For this reason, MRS-CC agar can only be used as a selective medium for the enumeration of Lb. acidophilus if Lb. casei is not present in a product at levels similar to or exceeding those of Lb. acidophilus. Unlike bifidobacteria and coccus-shaped LAB, all the lactobacilli strains involved in this work were found to grow well in MRS pH 5.4 agar incubated under anaerobiosis at 37 °C for 72 h. Therefore, this method proved to be particularly suitable for the selective enumeration of Lactobacillus spp.

Mupirocin-mucin agar for selective enumeration of Bifidobacterium bifidum

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pechar, R.; Rada, V.; Parafati, L.; Musilová, S.; Bunešová, V.; Vlková, E.; Killer, Jiří; Mrázek, Jakub; Kmeť, V.; Svejštil, R.

2014-01-01

Roč. 191, č. 1 (2014), s. 32-35 ISSN 0168-1605 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-08803S Institutional support: RVO:67985904 Keywords : probiotics * Bifidobacterium bifidum * selective enumeration Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 3.082, year: 2014

Enumeration of microbial populations in radioactive environments by epifluorescence microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pansoy-Hjelvik, M.E.; Strietelmeier, B.A.; Paffett, M.T.

1997-01-01

Epifluorescence microscopy was utilized to enumerate halophilic bacterial populations in two studies involving inoculated, actual waste/brine mixtures and pure brine solutions. The studies include an initial set of experiments designed to elucidate potential transformations of actinide-containing wastes under salt-repository conditions, including microbially mediated changes. The first study included periodic enumeration of bacterial populations of a mixed inoculum initially added to a collection of test containers. The contents of the test containers are the different types of actual radioactive waste that could potentially be stored in nuclear waste repositories in a salt environment. The transuranic waste was generated from materials used in actinide laboratory research. The results show that cell numbers decreased with time. Sorption of the bacteria to solid surfaces in the test system is discussed as a possible mechanism for the decrease in cell numbers. The second study was designed to determine radiological and/or chemical effects of 239 Pu, 243 Am, 237 Np, 232 Th and 238 U on the growth of pure and mixed anaerobic, denitrifying bacterial cultures in brine media. Pu, Am, and Np isotopes at concentrations of ≤1x10 -6 M , ≤5x10 -6 M and ≤5x10 -4 M respectively, and Th and U isotopes ≤4x10 -3 M were tested in these media. The results indicate that high concentrations of certain actinides affected both the bacterial growth rate and morphology. However, relatively minor effects from Am were observed at all tested concentrations with the pure culture

A state enumeration of the foil knot

OpenAIRE

Ramaharo, Franck; Rakotondrajao, Fanja

2017-01-01

We split the crossings of the foil knot and enumerate the resulting states with a generating polynomial. Unexpectedly, the number of such states which consist of two components are given by the lazy caterer's sequence. This sequence describes the maximum number of planar regions that is obtained with a given number of straight lines. We then establish a bijection between this partition of the plane and the concerned foil splits sequence.

Immunophenotypic enumeration of CD4 + T-lymphocyte values in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: The enumeration of CD4+ T-lymphocytes in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected individuals is an essential tool for staging HIV disease, to make decisions for initiation of anti-retroviral therapy (ART), for monitoring response to ART and to initiate chemoprophylaxis against opportunistic infections.

Enumeration of small collections violates Weber's law.

Science.gov (United States)

Choo, H; Franconeri, S L

2014-02-01

In a phenomenon called subitizing, we can immediately generate exact counts of small collections (one to three objects), in contrast to larger collections, for which we must either create rough estimates or serially count. A parsimonious explanation for this advantage for small collections is that noisy representations of small collections are more tolerable, due to the larger relative differences between consecutive numbers (e.g., 2 vs. 3 is a 50 % increase, but 10 vs. 11 is only a 10 % increase). In contrast, the advantage could stem from the fact that small-collection enumeration is more precise, relying on a unique mechanism. Here, we present two experiments that conclusively showed that the enumeration of small collections is indeed "superprecise." Participants compared numerosity within either small or large visual collections in conditions in which the relative differences were controlled (e.g., performance for 2 vs. 3 was compared with performance for 20 vs. 30). Small-number comparison was still faster and more accurate, across both "more-fewer" judgments (Exp. 1), and "same-different" judgments (Exp. 2). We then reviewed the remaining potential mechanisms that might underlie this superprecision for small collections, including the greater diagnostic value of visual features that correlate with number and a limited capacity for visually individuating objects.

Sensitive enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes and other Listeria species in various naturally contaminated matrices using a membrane filtration method.

Science.gov (United States)

Barre, Léna; Brasseur, Emilie; Doux, Camille; Lombard, Bertrand; Besse, Nathalie Gnanou

2015-06-01

For the enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) in food, a sensitive enumeration method has been recently developed. This method is based on a membrane filtration of the food suspension followed by transfer of the filter on a selective medium to enumerate L. monocytogenes. An evaluation of this method was performed with several categories of foods naturally contaminated with L. monocytogenes. The results obtained with this technique were compared with those obtained from the modified reference EN ISO 11290-2 method for the enumeration of L. monocytogenes in food, and are found to provide more precise results. In most cases, the filtration method enabled to examine a greater quantity of food thus greatly improving the sensitivity of the enumeration. However, it was hardly applicable to some food categories because of filtration problems and background microbiota interference. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BACTERIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF MARINE WATER IN ADRIATIC FISH FARMS: ENUMERATION OF HETEROTROPHIC BACTERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emin Teskeredžić

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Aquaculture is currently one of the fastest growing food production sectors in the world. Increase in nutrients and organic wastes lead to general deterioration of water quality. The problem of water quality is associated with both physical and chemical factors, as well as microbiological water quality. Heterotrophic bacteria play an important role in the process of decomposition of organic matter in water environment and indicate eutrophication process. Here we present our experience and knowledge on bacterial properties of marine water in the Adriatic fish farms with European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L., 1758, with an emphasis on enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria in marine water. We applied two temperatures of incubation, as well as two methods for enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria: substrate SimPlate® test and spread plate method on conventional artificial media (Marine agar and Tryptic Soy agar with added NaCl. The results of analysis of bacteriological properties of marine water in the Adriatic fish farms showed that enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria in marine water depends on the applied incubation temperature and media for enumeration. At the same time, the incubation temperature of 22C favours more intense growth of marine heterotrophic bacteria, whereas a SimPlate test gives higher values of heterotrophic bacteria. Volatile values of heterotrophic bacteria during this research indicate a possible deterioration of microbiological water quality in the Adriatic fish farms and a need for regular monitoring of marine water quality.

Enumeration of connected Catalan objects by type

OpenAIRE

Rhoades, Brendon

2010-01-01

Noncrossing set partitions, nonnesting set partitions, Dyck paths, and rooted plane trees are four classes of Catalan objects which carry a notion of type. There exists a product formula which enumerates these objects according to type. We define a notion of `connectivity' for these objects and prove an analogous product formula which counts connected objects by type. Our proof of this product formula is combinatorial and bijective. We extend this to a product formula which counts objects wit...

Comparison of media for enumeration of Clostridium perfringens from foods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, A.E.I. de; Eijhusen, G.P.; Brouwer-Post, E.J.F.; Grand, M.; Johansson, T.; Kärkkäinen, T.; Marugg, J.; Veld, P.H. in 't; Warmerdam, F.H.M.; Wörner, G.; Zicavo, A.; Rombouts, F.M.; Beumer, R.R.

2003-01-01

Many media have been developed to enumerate Clostridium perfringens from foods. In this study, six media [iron sulfite (IS) agar, tryptose sulfite cycloserine (TSC) agar, Shahidi Ferguson perfringens (SFP) agar, sulfite cycloserine azide (SCA), differential clostridial agar (DCA), and oleandomycin

Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thuy Tuong; Slaughter, David C; Hanson, Bradley D; Barber, Andrew; Freitas, Amy; Robles, Daniel; Whelan, Erin

2015-07-28

This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera) and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration) required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1) an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2) a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3) a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

Dense module enumeration in biological networks

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuda, Koji; Georgii, Elisabeth

2009-12-01

Analysis of large networks is a central topic in various research fields including biology, sociology, and web mining. Detection of dense modules (a.k.a. clusters) is an important step to analyze the networks. Though numerous methods have been proposed to this aim, they often lack mathematical rigorousness. Namely, there is no guarantee that all dense modules are detected. Here, we present a novel reverse-search-based method for enumerating all dense modules. Furthermore, constraints from additional data sources such as gene expression profiles or customer profiles can be integrated, so that we can systematically detect dense modules with interesting profiles. We report successful applications in human protein interaction network analyses.

Dense module enumeration in biological networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuda, Koji; Georgii, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Analysis of large networks is a central topic in various research fields including biology, sociology, and web mining. Detection of dense modules (a.k.a. clusters) is an important step to analyze the networks. Though numerous methods have been proposed to this aim, they often lack mathematical rigorousness. Namely, there is no guarantee that all dense modules are detected. Here, we present a novel reverse-search-based method for enumerating all dense modules. Furthermore, constraints from additional data sources such as gene expression profiles or customer profiles can be integrated, so that we can systematically detect dense modules with interesting profiles. We report successful applications in human protein interaction network analyses.

The isolation, enumeration, and characterization of Rhizobium bacteria of the soil in Wamena Biological Garden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SRI PURWANINGSIH

2005-04-01

Full Text Available The eleven soil samples have been isolated and characterized. The aims of the study were to get the pure culture and some data which described about enumeration and especially their characters in relation to the acids and bases reaction in their growth. The isolation of the bacteria use Yeast Extract Mannitol Agar medium (YEMA while the characterization by using YEMA medium mixed with Brom Thymol Blue and Congo Red indicators respectively. The results showed that eighteen isolates have been isolated which consisted of three low growing and fifteen fast growing bacteria. Two isolates were not indicated Rhizobium and sixteen were Rhizobium. Density of Rhizobium enumeration was varied which related to soil organic matter content. The enumeration bacteria in YEMA medium were in the range of 0.6 x 105 and 11.6 x 105 CFU /g soil. The highest population was found in soil sample of Wieb vegetation.

Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thuy Tuong Nguyen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1 an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2 a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3 a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

Enumeration of virtual libraries of combinatorial modular macrocyclic (bracelet, necklace) architectures and their linear counterparts.

Science.gov (United States)

Taniguchi, Masahiko; Du, Hai; Lindsey, Jonathan S

2013-09-23

A wide variety of cyclic molecular architectures are built of modular subunits and can be formed combinatorially. The mathematics for enumeration of such objects is well-developed yet lacks key features of importance in chemistry, such as specifying (i) the structures of individual members among a set of isomers, (ii) the distribution (i.e., relative amounts) of products, and (iii) the effect of nonequal ratios of reacting monomers on the product distribution. Here, a software program (Cyclaplex) has been developed to determine the number, identity (including isomers), and relative amounts of linear and cyclic architectures from a given number and ratio of reacting monomers. The program includes both mathematical formulas and generative algorithms for enumeration; the latter go beyond the former to provide desired molecular-relevant information and data-mining features. The program is equipped to enumerate four types of architectures: (i) linear architectures with directionality (macroscopic equivalent = electrical extension cords), (ii) linear architectures without directionality (batons), (iii) cyclic architectures with directionality (necklaces), and (iv) cyclic architectures without directionality (bracelets). The program can be applied to cyclic peptides, cycloveratrylenes, cyclens, calixarenes, cyclodextrins, crown ethers, cucurbiturils, annulenes, expanded meso-substituted porphyrin(ogen)s, and diverse supramolecular (e.g., protein) assemblies. The size of accessible architectures encompasses up to 12 modular subunits derived from 12 reacting monomers or larger architectures (e.g. 13-17 subunits) from fewer types of monomers (e.g. 2-4). A particular application concerns understanding the possible heterogeneity of (natural or biohybrid) photosynthetic light-harvesting oligomers (cyclic, linear) formed from distinct peptide subunits.

Planar articulated mechanism design by graph theoretical enumeration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kawamoto, A; Bendsøe, Martin P.; Sigmund, Ole

2004-01-01

This paper deals with design of articulated mechanisms using a truss-based ground-structure representation. By applying a graph theoretical enumeration approach we can perform an exhaustive analysis of all possible topologies for a test example for which we seek a symmetric mechanism. This guaran....... This guarantees that one can identify the global optimum solution. The result underlines the importance of mechanism topology and gives insight into the issues specific to articulated mechanism designs compared to compliant mechanism designs....

Enumeration and estimation of insect attack fruits of some cultivars ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this study, five cultivars of Punica granatum identified (two of which are endemic, while the other three are new) were grown in certain farms at Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia. Enumeration to the insects attack its' fruits illustrated that, there are three insects, namely, Virchola livia, Ectomyelois ceratonia and Pseudococcus maitimus ...

Spatial working memory load affects counting but not subitizing in enumeration.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimomura, Tomonari; Kumada, Takatsune

2011-08-01

The present study investigated whether subitizing reflects capacity limitations associated with two types of working memory tasks. Under a dual-task situation, participants performed an enumeration task in conjunction with either a spatial (Experiment 1) or a nonspatial visual (Experiment 2) working memory task. Experiment 1 showed that spatial working memory load affected the slope of a counting function but did not affect subitizing performance or subitizing range. Experiment 2 showed that nonspatial visual working memory load affected neither enumeration efficiency nor subitizing range. Furthermore, in both spatial and nonspatial memory tasks, neither subitizing efficiency nor subitizing range was affected by amount of imposed memory load. In all the experiments, working memory load failed to influence slope, subitizing range, or overall reaction time. These findings suggest that subitizing is performed without either spatial or nonspatial working memory. A possible mechanism of subitizing with independent capacity of working memory is discussed.

Media for the isolation and enumeration of bifidobacteria in dairy products.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, D

2001-09-28

Bifidobacteria are commonly used for the production of fermented milks, alone or in combination with other lactic acid bacteria. Bifidobacteria populations in fermented milks should be over 10(6) bifidobacteria/g at the time of consumption of strain added to the product. Hence, rapid and reliable methods are needed to routinely determine the initial inoculum and to estimate the storage time period bifidobacteria remain viable. Plate count methods are still preferable for quality control measurements in dairy products. It is, therefore, necessary to have a medium that selectively promotes the growth of bifidobacteria, whereas other bacteria are suppressed. The present paper is an overview of media and methods including summaries of published comparisons between different selective media. Culture media for bifidobacteria may be divided into basal, elective, differential and selective culture medium. Non-selective media are useful for routine enumeration of bifidobacteria when present in non-fermented milks. Reinforced Clostridial Agar and De Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) supplemented with cysteine and agar available commercially are the media of choice for industrial quality control laboratories. Several media for selective or differential isolation have been described for enumeration of bifidobacteria from other lactic acid bacteria. From the large number of selective media available, it can be concluded that there is no standard medium for the detection of bifidobacteria. However, Columbia agar base media supplemented with lithium chloride and sodium propionate and MRS medium supplemented with neomycin, paromomycin, nalidixic acid and lithium chloride can be recommended for selective enumeration of bifidobacteria in dairy products.

Development of an enumeration method for arsenic methylating bacteria from mixed culture samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, S M Atiqul; Fukushi, Kensuke; Yamamoto, Kazuo

2005-12-01

Bacterial methylation of arsenic converts inorganic arsenic into volatile and non-volatile methylated species. It plays an important role in the arsenic cycle in the environment. Despite the potential environmental significance of AsMB, an assessment of their population size and activity remains unknown. This study has now established a protocol for enumeration of AsMB by means of the anaerobic-culture-tube, most probable number (MPN) method. Direct detection of volatile arsenic species is then done by GC-MS. This method is advantageous as it can simultaneously enumerate AsMB and acetate and formate-utilizing methanogens. The incubation time for this method was determined to be 6 weeks, sufficient time for AsMB growth.

Miniaturized most probable number for the enumeration of Salmonella sp in artificially contaminated chicken meat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FL Colla

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Salmonella is traditionally identified by conventional microbiological tests, but the enumeration of this bacterium is not used on a routine basis. Methods such as the most probable number (MPN, which utilize an array of multiple tubes, are time-consuming and expensive, whereas miniaturized most probable number (mMPN methods, which use microplates, can be adapted for the enumeration of bacteria, saving up time and materials. The aim of the present paper is to assess two mMPN methods for the enumeration of Salmonella sp in artificially-contaminated chicken meat samples. Microplates containing 24 wells (method A and 96 wells (method B, both with peptone water as pre-enrichment medium and modified semi-solid Rappaport-Vassiliadis (MSRV as selective enrichment medium, were used. The meat matrix consisted of 25g of autoclaved ground chicken breast contaminated with dilutions of up to 10(6 of Salmonella Typhimurium (ST and Escherichia coli (EC. In method A, the dilution 10-5 of Salmonella Typhimurium corresponded to >57 MPN/mL and the dilution 10-6 was equal to 30 MPN/mL. There was a correlation between the counts used for the artificial contamination of the samples and those recovered by mMPN, indicating that the method A was sensitive for the enumeration of different levels of contamination of the meat matrix. In method B, there was no correlation between the inoculated dilutions and the mMPN results.

Aboriginal fractions: enumerating identity in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jennifer A

2012-01-01

Notions of identity in Taiwan are configured in relation to numbers. I examine the polyvalent capacities of enumerative technologies in both the production of ethnic identities and claims to political representation and justice. By critically historicizing the manner in which Aborigines in Taiwan have been, and continue to be, constructed as objects and subjects of scientific knowledge production through technologies of measuring, I examine the genetic claim made by some Taiwanese to be "fractionally" Aboriginal. Numbers and techniques of measuring are used ostensibly to know the Aborigines, but they are also used to construct a genetically unique Taiwanese identity and to incorporate the Aborigines within projects of democratic governance. Technologies of enumeration thus serve within multiple, and sometimes contradictory, projects of representation and knowledge production.

An information theory criteria based blind method for enumerating active users in DS-CDMA system

Science.gov (United States)

Samsami Khodadad, Farid; Abed Hodtani, Ghosheh

2014-11-01

In this paper, a new and blind algorithm for active user enumeration in asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) in multipath channel scenario is proposed. The proposed method is based on information theory criteria. There are two main categories of information criteria which are widely used in active user enumeration, Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Minimum Description Length (MDL) information theory criteria. The main difference between these two criteria is their penalty functions. Due to this difference, MDL is a consistent enumerator which has better performance in higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) but AIC is preferred in lower SNRs. In sequel, we propose a SNR compliance method based on subspace and training genetic algorithm to have the performance of both of them. Moreover, our method uses only a single antenna, in difference to the previous methods which decrease hardware complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed method is capable of estimating the number of active users without any prior knowledge and the efficiency of the method.

A shared, flexible neural map architecture reflects capacity limits in both visual short-term memory and enumeration.

Science.gov (United States)

Knops, André; Piazza, Manuela; Sengupta, Rakesh; Eger, Evelyn; Melcher, David

2014-07-23

Human cognition is characterized by severe capacity limits: we can accurately track, enumerate, or hold in mind only a small number of items at a time. It remains debated whether capacity limitations across tasks are determined by a common system. Here we measure brain activation of adult subjects performing either a visual short-term memory (vSTM) task consisting of holding in mind precise information about the orientation and position of a variable number of items, or an enumeration task consisting of assessing the number of items in those sets. We show that task-specific capacity limits (three to four items in enumeration and two to three in vSTM) are neurally reflected in the activity of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC): an identical set of voxels in this region, commonly activated during the two tasks, changed its overall response profile reflecting task-specific capacity limitations. These results, replicated in a second experiment, were further supported by multivariate pattern analysis in which we could decode the number of items presented over a larger range during enumeration than during vSTM. Finally, we simulated our results with a computational model of PPC using a saliency map architecture in which the level of mutual inhibition between nodes gives rise to capacity limitations and reflects the task-dependent precision with which objects need to be encoded (high precision for vSTM, lower precision for enumeration). Together, our work supports the existence of a common, flexible system underlying capacity limits across tasks in PPC that may take the form of a saliency map. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/349857-10$15.00/0.

Discontinuity in the Enumeration of Sequentially Presented Auditory and Visual Stimuli

Science.gov (United States)

Camos, Valerie; Tillmann, Barbara

2008-01-01

The seeking of discontinuity in enumeration was recently renewed because Cowan [Cowan, N. (2001). "The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity." "Behavioral and Brain Sciences," 24, 87-185; Cowan, N. (2005). "Working memory capacity." Hove: Psychology Press] suggested that it allows evaluating the limit…

Simple method for correct enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haaber, J.; Cohn, M. T.; Petersen, A.

2016-01-01

culture. When grown in such liquid cultures, the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is characterized by its aggregation of single cells into clusters of variable size. Here, we show that aggregation during growth in the laboratory standard medium tryptic soy broth (TSB) is common among clinical...... and laboratory S. aureus isolates and that aggregation may introduce significant bias when applying standard enumeration methods on S. aureus growing in laboratory batch cultures. We provide a simple and efficient sonication procedure, which can be applied prior to optical density measurements to give...

Monitor and Protect Wigwam River Bull Trout for Koocanusa Reservoir : Summary of the Skookumchuck Creek Bull Trout Enumeration Project Final Report 2000-2002.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baxter, Jeremy; Baxter, James S.

2002-12-01

This report summarizes the third and final year of a bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) enumeration project on Skookumchuck Creek in southeastern British Columbia. The fence and traps were operated from September 6th to October 11th 2002 in order to enumerate post-spawning bull trout. During the study period a total of 309 bull trout were captured at the fence. In total, 16 fish of undetermined sex, 114 males and 179 females were processed at the fence. Length and weight data, as well as recapture information, were collected for these fish. An additional 41 bull trout were enumerated upstream of the fence by snorkeling prior to fence removal. Coupled with the fence count, the total bull trout enumerated during the project was 350 individuals. Several fish that were tagged in the lower Bull River were recaptured in 2002, as were repeat and alternate year spawners previously enumerated in past years at the fence. A total of 149 bull trout redds were enumerated on the ground in 2002, of which 143 were in the 3.0 km index section (river km 27.5-30.5) that has been surveyed over the past six years. The results of the three year project are summarized, and population characteristics are discussed.

Inactivation of viable Ascaris eggs by reagents during enumeration.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, K L; Darby, J L

2001-12-01

Various reagents commonly used to enumerate viable helminth eggs from wastewater and sludge were evaluated for their potential to inactivate Ascaris eggs under typical laboratory conditions. Two methods were used to enumerate indigenous Ascaris eggs from sludge samples. All steps in the methods were the same except that in method I a phase extraction step with acid-alcohol (35% ethanol in 0.1 N H(2)SO(4)) and diethyl ether was used whereas in method II the extraction step was avoided by pouring the sample through a 38-microm-mesh stainless steel sieve that retained the eggs. The concentration of eggs and their viability were lower in the samples processed by method I than in the samples processed by method II by an average of 48 and 70%, respectively. A second set of experiments was performed using pure solutions of Ascaris suum eggs to elucidate the effect of the individual reagents and relevant combination of reagents on the eggs. The percentages of viable eggs in samples treated with acid-alcohol alone and in combination with diethyl ether or ethyl acetate were 52, 27, and 4%, respectively, whereas in the rest of the samples the viability was about 80%. Neither the acid nor the diethyl ether alone caused any decrease in egg viability. Thus, the observed inactivation was attributed primarily to the 35% ethanol content of the acid-alcohol solution. Inactivation of the eggs was prevented by limiting the direct exposure to the extraction reagents to 30 min and diluting the residual concentration of acid-alcohol in the sample by a factor of 100 before incubation. Also, the viability of the eggs was maintained if the acid-alcohol solution was replaced with an acetoacetic buffer. None of the reagents used for the flotation step of the sample cleaning procedure (ZnSO(4), MgSO(4), and NaCl) or during incubation (0.1 N H(2)SO(4) and 0.5% formalin) inactivated the Ascaris eggs under the conditions studied.

Survival of probiotic adjunct cultures in cheese and challenges in their enumeration using selective media.

Science.gov (United States)

Oberg, C J; Moyes, L V; Domek, M J; Brothersen, C; McMahon, D J

2011-05-01

Various selective media for enumerating probiotic and cheese cultures were screened, with 6 media then used to study survival of probiotic bacteria in full-fat and low-fat Cheddar cheese. Commercial strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, or Bifidobacterium lactis were added as probiotic adjuncts. The selective media, designed to promote growth of certain lactic acid bacteria (LAB) over others or to differentiate between LAB, were used to detect individual LAB types during cheese storage. Commercial strains of Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium spp. were initially screened on the 6 selective media along with nonstarter LAB (NSLAB) isolates. The microbial flora of the cheeses was analyzed during 9 mo of storage at 6°C. Many NSLAB were able to grow on media presumed selective for Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium spp., or Lb. acidophilus, which became apparent after 90 d of cheese storage, Between 90 and 120 d of storage, bacterial counts changed on media selective for Bifidobacterium spp., suggesting growth of NSLAB. Appearance of NSLAB on Lb. casei selective media [de man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS)+vancomycin] occurred sooner (30 d) in low-fat cheese than in full-fat control cheeses. Differentiation between NSLAB and Lactococcus was achieved by counting after 18 to 24h when the NSLAB colonies were only pinpoint in size. Growth of NSLAB on the various selective media during aging means that probiotic adjunct cultures added during cheesemaking can only be enumerated with confidence on selective media for up to 3 or 4 mo. After this time, growth of NSLAB obfuscates enumeration of probiotic adjuncts. When adjunct Lb. casei or Lb. paracasei cultures are added during cheesemaking, they appear to remain at high numbers for a long time (9 mo) when counted on MRS+vancomycin medium, but a reasonable probability exists that they have been overtaken by NSLAB, which also grow readily on this medium. Enumeration using multiple

Selective and differential enumerations of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium spp. in yoghurt--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashraf, Rabia; Shah, Nagendra P

2011-10-03

Yoghurt is increasingly being used as a carrier of probiotic bacteria for their potential health benefits. To meet with a recommended level of ≥10(6) viable cells/g of a product, assessment of viability of probiotic bacteria in market preparations is crucial. This requires a working method for selective enumeration of these probiotic bacteria and lactic acid bacteria in yoghurt such as Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. casei and Bifidobacterium. This chapter presents an overview of media that could be used for differential and selective enumerations of yoghurt bacteria. De Man Rogosa Sharpe agar containing fructose (MRSF), MRS agar pH 5.2 (MRS 5.2), reinforced clostridial prussian blue agar at pH 5.0 (RCPB 5.0) or reinforced clostridial agar at pH 5.3 (RCA 5.3) are suitable for enumeration of Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus when the incubation is carried out at 45°C for 72h. S. thermophilus (ST) agar and M17 are recommended for selective enumeration of S. thermophilus. Selective enumeration of Lb. acidophilus in mixed culture could be made in Rogosa agar added with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (X-Glu) or MRS containing maltose (MRSM) and incubation in a 20% CO2 atmosphere. Lb. casei could be selectively enumerated on specially formulated Lb. casei (LC) agar from products containing yoghurt starter bacteria (S. thermophilus and Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus), Lb. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium spp. and Lb. casei. Bifidobacterium could be enumerated on MRS agar supplemented with nalidixic acid, paromomycin, neomycin sulphate and lithium chloride (MRS-NPNL) under anaerobic incubation at 37°C for 72h. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Seven-hour fluorescence in situ hybridization technique for enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae in food and environmental water sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Ootsubo, M; Shimizu, T; Tanaka, R; Sawabe, T; Tajima, K; Ezura, Y

2003-01-01

A fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) technique using an Enterobacteriaceae-specific probe (probe D) to target 16S rRNA was improved in order to enumerate, within a single working day, Enterobacteriaceae present in food and environmental water samples. In order to minimize the time required for the FISH procedure, each step of FISH with probe D was re-evaluated using cultured Escherichia coli. Five minutes of ethanol treatment for cell fixation and hybridization were sufficient to visualize cultured E. coli, and FISH could be performed within 1 h. Because of the difficulties in detecting low levels of bacterial cells by FISH without cultivation, a FISH technique for detecting microcolonies on membrane filters was investigated to improve the bacterial detection limit. FISH with probe D following 6 h of cultivation to grow microcolonies on a 13 mm diameter membrane filter was performed, and whole Enterobacteriaceae microcolonies on the filter were then detected and enumerated by manual epifluorescence microscopic scanning at magnification of x100 in ca 5 min. The total time for FISH with probe D following cultivation (FISHFC) was reduced to within 7 h. FISHFC can be applied to enumerate cultivable Enterobacteriaceae in food (above 100 cells g-1) and environmental water samples (above 1 cell ml-1). Cultivable Enterobacteriaceae in food and water samples were enumerated accurately within 7 h using the FISHFC method. A FISHFC method capable of evaluating Enterobacteriaceae contamination in food and environmental water within a single working day was developed.

A system for household enumeration and re-identification in densely populated slums to facilitate community research, education, and advocacy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana R Thomson

Full Text Available We devised and implemented an innovative Location-Based Household Coding System (LBHCS appropriate to a densely populated informal settlement in Mumbai, India.LBHCS codes were designed to double as unique household identifiers and as walking directions; when an entire community is enumerated, LBHCS codes can be used to identify the number of households located per road (or lane segment. LBHCS was used in community-wide biometric, mental health, diarrheal disease, and water poverty studies. It also facilitated targeted health interventions by a research team of youth from Mumbai, including intensive door-to-door education of residents, targeted follow-up meetings, and a full census. In addition, LBHCS permitted rapid and low-cost preparation of GIS mapping of all households in the slum, and spatial summation and spatial analysis of survey data.LBHCS was an effective, easy-to-use, affordable approach to household enumeration and re-identification in a densely populated informal settlement where alternative satellite imagery and GPS technologies could not be used.

The use of antibiotics to improve phage detection and enumeration by the double-layer agar technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferreira Eugénio C

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Double-Layer Agar (DLA technique is extensively used in phage research to enumerate and identify phages and to isolate mutants and new phages. Many phages form large and well-defined plaques that are easily observed so that they can be enumerated when plated by the DLA technique. However, some give rise to small and turbid plaques that are very difficult to detect and count. To overcome these problems, some authors have suggested the use of dyes to improve the contrast between the plaques and the turbid host lawns. It has been reported that some antibiotics stimulate bacteria to produce phages, resulting in an increase in final titer. Thus, antibiotics might contribute to increasing plaque size in solid media. Results Antibiotics with different mechanisms of action were tested for their ability to enhance plaque morphology without suppressing phage development. Some antibiotics increased the phage plaque surface by up to 50-fold. Conclusion This work presents a modification of the DLA technique that can be used routinely in the laboratory, leading to a more accurate enumeration of phages that would be difficult or even impossible otherwise.

Separating the Classes of Recursively Enumerable Languages Based on Machine Size

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

van Leeuwen, J.; Wiedermann, Jiří

2015-01-01

Roč. 26, č. 6 (2015), s. 677-695 ISSN 0129-0541 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP202/10/1333 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA15-04960S Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : recursively enumerable languages * RE hierarchy * finite languages * machine size * descriptional complexity * Turing machines with advice Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science Impact factor: 0.467, year: 2015

Enumeration versus Multiple Object Tracking: The Case of Action Video Game Players

Science.gov (United States)

Green, C. S.; Bavelier, D.

2006-01-01

Here, we demonstrate that action video game play enhances subjects' ability in two tasks thought to indicate the number of items that can be apprehended. Using an enumeration task, in which participants have to determine the number of quickly flashed squares, accuracy measures showed a near ceiling performance for low numerosities and a sharp drop…

Monitor and Protect Wigwam River Bull Trout for Koocanusa Reservoir : Summary of the Skookumchuck Creek Bull Trout Enumeration Project, Annual Report 2001.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baxter, James S.; Baxter, Jeremy

2002-03-01

This report summarizes the second year of a bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) enumeration project on Skookumchuck Creek in southeastern British Columbia. An enumeration fence and traps were installed on the creek from September 6th to October 12th 2001 to enable the capture of post-spawning bull trout emigrating out of the watershed. During the study period, a total of 273 bull trout were sampled through the enumeration fence. Length and weight were determined for all bull trout captured. In total, 39 fish of undetermined sex, 61 males and 173 females were processed through the fence. An additional 19 bull trout were observed on a snorkel survey prior to the fence being removed on October 12th. Coupled with the fence count, the total bull trout enumerated during this project was 292 fish. Several other species of fish were captured at the enumeration fence including westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi), Rocky Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni), and kokanee (O. nerka). A total of 143 bull trout redds were enumerated on the ground in two different locations (river km 27.5-30.5, and km 24.0-25.5) on October 3rd. The majority of redds (n=132) were observed in the 3.0 km index section (river km 27.5-30.5) that has been surveyed over the past five years. The additional 11 redds were observed in a 1.5 km section (river km 24.0-25.5). Summary plots of water temperature for Bradford Creek, Sandown Creek, Buhl Creek, and Skookumchuck Creek at three locations suggested that water temperatures were within the temperature range preferred by bull trout for spawning, egg incubation, and rearing.

Enumerating all maximal frequent subtrees in collections of phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, Akshay; Fernández-Baca, David

2014-01-01

A common problem in phylogenetic analysis is to identify frequent patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees. The goal is, roughly, to find a subset of the species (taxa) on which all or some significant subset of the trees agree. One popular method to do so is through maximum agreement subtrees (MASTs). MASTs are also used, among other things, as a metric for comparing phylogenetic trees, computing congruence indices and to identify horizontal gene transfer events. We give algorithms and experimental results for two approaches to identify common patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees, one based on agreement subtrees, called maximal agreement subtrees, the other on frequent subtrees, called maximal frequent subtrees. These approaches can return subtrees on larger sets of taxa than MASTs, and can reveal new common phylogenetic relationships not present in either MASTs or the majority rule tree (a popular consensus method). Our current implementation is available on the web at https://code.google.com/p/mfst-miner/. Our computational results confirm that maximal agreement subtrees and all maximal frequent subtrees can reveal a more complete phylogenetic picture of the common patterns in collections of phylogenetic trees than maximum agreement subtrees; they are also often more resolved than the majority rule tree. Further, our experiments show that enumerating maximal frequent subtrees is considerably more practical than enumerating ordinary (not necessarily maximal) frequent subtrees.

A comparison of test statistics for the recovery of rapid growth-based enumeration tests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Heuvel, Edwin R.; IJzerman-Boon, Pieta C.

This paper considers five test statistics for comparing the recovery of a rapid growth-based enumeration test with respect to the compendial microbiological method using a specific nonserial dilution experiment. The finite sample distributions of these test statistics are unknown, because they are

Enumeration for spanning trees and forests of join graphs based on the combinatorial decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung Sik U

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the enumeration for rooted spanning trees and forests of the labelled join graphs $K_m+H_n$ and $K_m+K_{n,p}$, where $H_n$ is a graph with $n$ isolated vertices. 

Enumeration of Mars years and seasons since the beginning of telescopic exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Piqueux, Sylvain; Byrne, Shane; Titus, Timothy N.; Hansen, Candice J.; Kieffer, Hugh H.

2015-01-01

A clarification for the enumeration of Mars Years prior to 1955 is presented, along with a table providing the Julian dates associated with Ls = 0° for Mars Years -183 (beginning of the telescopic study of Mars) to 100. A practical algorithm for computing Ls as a function of the Julian Date is provided. No new science results are presented

The Enumeration Structure of 爾雅 Ěryǎ's "Semantic Lists"

Science.gov (United States)

Teboul (戴明德), Michel

Modern linguistic enumeration theory is applied to a study of 爾雅 Ěryǎ's Semantic Lists, leading to an in-depth analysis of the work's first three sections without any recourse to the traditional methods of Chinese classical philology. It is hoped that an extension of the same method can lead to a better understanding of the remaining 16 sections.

Enumerating all maximal frequent subtrees in collections of phylogenetic trees

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background A common problem in phylogenetic analysis is to identify frequent patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees. The goal is, roughly, to find a subset of the species (taxa) on which all or some significant subset of the trees agree. One popular method to do so is through maximum agreement subtrees (MASTs). MASTs are also used, among other things, as a metric for comparing phylogenetic trees, computing congruence indices and to identify horizontal gene transfer events. Results We give algorithms and experimental results for two approaches to identify common patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees, one based on agreement subtrees, called maximal agreement subtrees, the other on frequent subtrees, called maximal frequent subtrees. These approaches can return subtrees on larger sets of taxa than MASTs, and can reveal new common phylogenetic relationships not present in either MASTs or the majority rule tree (a popular consensus method). Our current implementation is available on the web at https://code.google.com/p/mfst-miner/. Conclusions Our computational results confirm that maximal agreement subtrees and all maximal frequent subtrees can reveal a more complete phylogenetic picture of the common patterns in collections of phylogenetic trees than maximum agreement subtrees; they are also often more resolved than the majority rule tree. Further, our experiments show that enumerating maximal frequent subtrees is considerably more practical than enumerating ordinary (not necessarily maximal) frequent subtrees. PMID:25061474

Evaluation of dispersion methods for enumeration of microorganisms from peat and activated carbon biofilters treating volatile organic compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Khammar, Nadia; Malhautier, Luc; Degrange, Valérie; Lensi, Robert; Fanlo, Jean-Louis

2004-01-01

To enumerate microorganisms having colonized biofilters treating volatile organic compounds, it is necessary firstly to evaluate dispersion methods. Crushing, shaking and sonication were then tested for the removal of microflora from biofilters packing materials (peat and activated carbon). Continuous or discontinuous procedures, and addition of glass beads had no effect on the number of microorganisms removed from peat particles. The duration of treatment also had no effect for shaking and crushing, but the number of microorganisms after 60 min of treatment with ultrasound was significantly higher than that obtained after 0.5 min. The comparison between these methods showed that crushing was the most efficient for the removal of microorganisms from both peat and activated carbon. The comparison between three chemical dispersion agents showed that 1% Na-pyrophosphate was less efficient, compared with 200 mM phosphate buffer or 1% Na-hexametaphosphate. To optimize the cultivation of microorganisms, three different agar media were compared. Tryptic soy agar tenfold diluted (TSA 1/10) was the most suitable medium for the culture of microflora from a peat biofilter. For the activated carbon biofilter, there was no significant difference between Luria Bertoni, TSA 1/10, and plate count agar. The optimized extraction and enumeration protocols were used to perform a quantitative characterization of microbial populations in an operating laboratory activated carbon biofilter and in two parallel peat biofilters.

An insight into the isolation, enumeration and molecular detection of Listeria monocytogenes in food

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jodi Woan-Fei Law

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen that can cause listeriosis through the consumption of food contaminated with this pathogen. The ability of L. monocytogenes to survive in extreme conditions and cause food contaminations have become a major concern. Hence, routine microbiological food testing is necessary to prevent food contamination and outbreaks of foodborne illness. This review provides insight into the methods for cultural detection, enumeration and molecular identification of L. monocytogenes in various food samples. There are a number of enrichment and plating media that can be used for the isolation of L. monocytogenes from food samples. Enrichment media such as buffered Listeria Enrichment Broth (BLEB, Fraser broth and University of Vermont Medium (UVM Listeria enrichment broth are recommended by regulatory agencies such as FDA-BAM, USDA-FSIS and ISO. Many plating media are available for the isolation of L. monocytogenes, for instance, PALCAM, Oxford and other chromogenic media. Besides, reference methods like FDA-BAM, ISO 11290 method and USDA-FSIS method are usually applied for the cultural detection or enumeration of L. monocytogenes. MPN technique is applied for the enumeration of L. monocytogenes in the case of low level contamination. Molecular methods including polymerase chain reaction (PCR, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR, real-time/quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP, DNA microarray and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS technology for the detection and identification of L. monocytogenes are discussed in this review. Overall, molecular methods are rapid, sensitive, specific, time- and labour-saving. In future, there are chances for the development of new techniques for the detection and identification of foodborne with improved features.

Validation of Microcapillary Flow Cytometry for Community-Based CD4+ T Lymphocyte Enumeration in Remote Burkina Faso

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Cybèle A; Traore, Arouna; Machekano, Rhoderick N; Israelski, Dennis M

2010-01-01

Background: CD4+ T lymphocyte enumeration plays a critical role in the initiation and monitoring of HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy. There is an urgent need for low-cost CD4+ enumeration technologies, particularly for use in dry, dusty climates characteristic of many small cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Blood samples from 98 HIV-infected patients followed in a community HIV clinic in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso were obtained for routine CD4+ T lymphocyte count monitoring. The blood samples were divided into two aliquots, on which parallel CD4+ measurements were performed using microcapillary (Guava EasyCD4) and dedicated (Becton Dickinson FACSCount) CD4+ enumeration systems. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated, and the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) for EasyCD4 <200 cells/µL were determined compared to the reference standard FACSCount CD4 <200 cells/µL. Results: Mean CD4 counts for the EasyCD4 and FACSCount were 313.75 cells/µL and 303.47 cells/µL, respectively. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was 0.92 (p<0.001). Median values using EasyCD4 were higher than those with the FACSCount (p=0.004). For a CD4<350 cells/uL, sensitivity of the EasyCD4 was 93.9% (95%CI 85.2-98.3%), specificity was 90.6% (95% CI 75.0-98.0%), and PPV was 95.4% (95%CI 87.1-99.0%). Conclusion: Use of the EasyCD4 system was feasible and highly accurate in the harsh conditions of this remote city in Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating acceptable sensitivity and specificity compared to a standard operating system. Microcapillary flow cytometry offers a cost-effective alternative for community-based, point-of-care CD4+ testing and could play a substantial role in scaling up HIV care in remote, resource-limited settings. PMID:21253463

An insight into the isolation, enumeration, and molecular detection of Listeria monocytogenes in food

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Jodi Woan-Fei; Ab Mutalib, Nurul-Syakima; Chan, Kok-Gan; Lee, Learn-Han

2015-01-01

Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen that can cause listeriosis through the consumption of food contaminated with this pathogen. The ability of L. monocytogenes to survive in extreme conditions and cause food contaminations have become a major concern. Hence, routine microbiological food testing is necessary to prevent food contamination and outbreaks of foodborne illness. This review provides insight into the methods for cultural detection, enumeration, and molecular identification of L. monocytogenes in various food samples. There are a number of enrichment and plating media that can be used for the isolation of L. monocytogenes from food samples. Enrichment media such as buffered Listeria enrichment broth, Fraser broth, and University of Vermont Medium (UVM) Listeria enrichment broth are recommended by regulatory agencies such as Food and Drug Administration-bacteriological and analytical method (FDA-BAM), US Department of Agriculture-Food and Safety (USDA-FSIS), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Many plating media are available for the isolation of L. monocytogenes, for instance, polymyxin acriflavin lithium-chloride ceftazidime aesculin mannitol, Oxford, and other chromogenic media. Besides, reference methods like FDA-BAM, ISO 11290 method, and USDA-FSIS method are usually applied for the cultural detection or enumeration of L. monocytogenes. most probable number technique is applied for the enumeration of L. monocytogenes in the case of low level contamination. Molecular methods including polymerase chain reaction, multiplex polymerase chain reaction, real-time/quantitative polymerase chain reaction, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, DNA microarray, and next generation sequencing technology for the detection and identification of L. monocytogenes are discussed in this review. Overall, molecular methods are rapid, sensitive, specific, time- and labor-saving. In future, there are

HEMATOPOIETIC PROGENITOR CELLS AS A PREDICTIVE OF CD34+ ENUMERATION PRIOR TO PERIPHERAL BLOOD STEM CELLS HARVESTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Zulkafli

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: To date, the CD34+ cell enumeration has relied predominantly on flow cytometry technique. However, flow cytometry is time consuming and operator dependent. The application of the hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs channel in Sysmex XE-2100, a fully automated hematology analyzer offers an alternative approach, which is with minimal sample manipulation and less operator dependent. This study evaluates the utility of HPC counts as a predictive of CD34+ enumeration prior to peripheral blood stem cells harvesting. Materials and methods: HPC, CD34+, white blood cell (WBC, reticulocytes (retic, immature platelet fraction (IPF and immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF were determined in 61 samples from 19 patients with hematological malignancies (15 lymphoma and 4 multiple myeloma patients at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM who had received granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF and planned for autologous transplantation. Results: CD34+ count showed strong and significant correlation with HPC. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC curve analysis revealed that HPC count > 21.5 x 106 / L can predicts a pre harvest CD34+ count of >20 x 106 / L with sensitivity of 77%, specificity of 64% and area under the curve (AUC of 0.802. Conclusion: We concluded that HPC count can be a useful potential parameter in optimizing timing for CD34+ enumeration prior to leukapheresis.

Sieving for pseudosquares and pseudocubes in parallel using doubly-focused enumeration and wheel datastructures

OpenAIRE

Sorenson, Jonathan P.

2010-01-01

We extend the known tables of pseudosquares and pseudocubes, discuss the implications of these new data on the conjectured distribution of pseudosquares and pseudocubes, and present the details of the algorithm used to do this work. Our algorithm is based on the space-saving wheel data structure combined with doubly-focused enumeration, run in parallel on a cluster supercomputer.

Specific dot-immunobinding assay for detection and enumeration of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arredondo, R.; Jerez, C.A.

1989-01-01

A specific and very sensitive dot-immunobinding assay for the detection and enumeration of the bioleaching microorganism Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was developed. Nitrocellulose spotted with samples was incubated with polyclonal antisera against whole T. ferrooxidans cells and then in 125 I-labeled protein A or 125 I-labeled goat antirabbit immunoglobulin G; incubation was followed by autoradiography. Since a minimum of 10 3 cells per dot could be detected, the method offers the possibility of simultaneous processing of numerous samples in a short time to monitor the levels of T. ferrooxidans in bioleaching operations

Comparison of selected methods for the enumeration of fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli in shellfish.

Science.gov (United States)

Grabow, W O; De Villiers, J C; Schildhauer, C I

1992-09-01

In a comparison of five selected methods for the enumeration of fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli in naturally contaminated and sewage-seeded mussels (Choromytilus spp.) and oysters (Ostrea spp.), a spread-plate procedure with mFC agar without rosolic acid and preincubation proved the method of choice for routine quality assessment.

Fluorogenic membrane overlays to enumerate total coliforms, Escherichia coli, and total Vibrionaceae in shellfish and seawater

Science.gov (United States)

Three assays were developed to enumerate total coliforms, Escherichia coli, and total Vibrionaceae in shellfish and other foods and in seawater and other environmental samples. Assays involve membrane overlays of overnight colonies on non-selective agar plates to detect ß-glucuronidase and lysyl am...

Coupling graph perturbation theory with scalable parallel algorithms for large-scale enumeration of maximal cliques in biological graphs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samatova, N F; Schmidt, M C; Hendrix, W; Breimyer, P; Thomas, K; Park, B-H

2008-01-01

Data-driven construction of predictive models for biological systems faces challenges from data intensity, uncertainty, and computational complexity. Data-driven model inference is often considered a combinatorial graph problem where an enumeration of all feasible models is sought. The data-intensive and the NP-hard nature of such problems, however, challenges existing methods to meet the required scale of data size and uncertainty, even on modern supercomputers. Maximal clique enumeration (MCE) in a graph derived from such biological data is often a rate-limiting step in detecting protein complexes in protein interaction data, finding clusters of co-expressed genes in microarray data, or identifying clusters of orthologous genes in protein sequence data. We report two key advances that address this challenge. We designed and implemented the first (to the best of our knowledge) parallel MCE algorithm that scales linearly on thousands of processors running MCE on real-world biological networks with thousands and hundreds of thousands of vertices. In addition, we proposed and developed the Graph Perturbation Theory (GPT) that establishes a foundation for efficiently solving the MCE problem in perturbed graphs, which model the uncertainty in the data. GPT formulates necessary and sufficient conditions for detecting the differences between the sets of maximal cliques in the original and perturbed graphs and reduces the enumeration time by more than 80% compared to complete recomputation

Enumeration of sugars and sugar alcohols hydroxyl groups by aqueous-based acetylation and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

A method is described for enumerating hydroxyl groups on analytes in aqueous media is described, and applied to some common polyalcohols (erythritol, mannitol, and xylitol) and selected carbohydrates. The analytes were derivatized in water with vinyl acetate in presence of sodium phosphate buffer. ...

Comparison of methods for detection and enumeration of airborne microorganisms collected by liquid impingement.

OpenAIRE

Terzieva, S; Donnelly, J; Ulevicius, V; Grinshpun, S A; Willeke, K; Stelma, G N; Brenner, K P

1996-01-01

Bacterial agents and cell components can be spread as bioaerosols, producing infections and asthmatic problems. This study compares four methods for the detection and enumeration of aerosolized bacteria collected in an AGI-30 impinger. Changes in the total and viable concentrations of Pseudomonas fluorescens in the collection fluid with respect to time of impingement were determined. Two direct microscopic methods (acridine orange and BacLight) and aerodynamic aerosol-size spectrometry (Aeros...

An interlaboratory study to find an alternative to the MPN technique for enumerating Escherichia coli in shellfish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ogden, I.D.; Brown, G.C.; Gallacher, S.

1998-01-01

Nine laboratories in eight countries tested 16 batches of common mussels (Mytilus edulis) over a 32 week period in order to find an alternative to the Most Probable Number (MPN) technique to enumerate E. coli. The alternatives investigated included the 3M Petrifilm system, the Merck Chromocult agar...

Introducing the fit-criteria assessment plot - A visualisation tool to assist class enumeration in group-based trajectory modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Klijn, Sven L; Weijenberg, Matty P; Lemmens, Paul; van den Brandt, Piet A; Lima Passos, Valéria

2017-10-01

Background and objective Group-based trajectory modelling is a model-based clustering technique applied for the identification of latent patterns of temporal changes. Despite its manifold applications in clinical and health sciences, potential problems of the model selection procedure are often overlooked. The choice of the number of latent trajectories (class-enumeration), for instance, is to a large degree based on statistical criteria that are not fail-safe. Moreover, the process as a whole is not transparent. To facilitate class enumeration, we introduce a graphical summary display of several fit and model adequacy criteria, the fit-criteria assessment plot. Methods An R-code that accepts universal data input is presented. The programme condenses relevant group-based trajectory modelling output information of model fit indices in automated graphical displays. Examples based on real and simulated data are provided to illustrate, assess and validate fit-criteria assessment plot's utility. Results Fit-criteria assessment plot provides an overview of fit criteria on a single page, placing users in an informed position to make a decision. Fit-criteria assessment plot does not automatically select the most appropriate model but eases the model assessment procedure. Conclusions Fit-criteria assessment plot is an exploratory, visualisation tool that can be employed to assist decisions in the initial and decisive phase of group-based trajectory modelling analysis. Considering group-based trajectory modelling's widespread resonance in medical and epidemiological sciences, a more comprehensive, easily interpretable and transparent display of the iterative process of class enumeration may foster group-based trajectory modelling's adequate use.

Multicanonical simulation of the Domb-Joyce model and the Gō model: new enumeration methods for self-avoiding walks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Nobu C; Kikuchi, Macoto

2013-01-01

We develop statistical enumeration methods for self-avoiding walks using a powerful sampling technique called the multicanonical Monte Carlo method. Using these methods, we estimate the numbers of the two dimensional N-step self-avoiding walks up to N = 256 with statistical errors. The developed methods are based on statistical mechanical models of paths which include self-avoiding walks. The criterion for selecting a suitable model for enumerating self-avoiding walks is whether or not the configuration space of the model includes a set for which the number of the elements can be exactly counted. We call this set a scale fixing set. We selected the following two models which satisfy the criterion: the Gō model for lattice proteins and the Domb-Joyce model for generalized random walks. There is a contrast between these two models in the structures of the configuration space. The configuration space of the Gō model is defined as the universal set of self-avoiding walks, and the set of the ground state conformation provides a scale fixing set. On the other hand, the configuration space of the Domb-Joyce model is defined as the universal set of random walks which can be used as a scale fixing set, and the set of the ground state conformation is the same as the universal set of self-avoiding walks. From the perspective of enumeration performance, we conclude that the Domb-Joyce model is the better of the two. The reason for the performance difference is partly explained by the existence of the first-order phase transition of the Gō model

Detection and enumeration of Salmonella enteritidis in homemade ice cream associated with an outbreak: comparison of conventional and real-time PCR methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, K H; Valentin-Bon, I E; Brackett, R E

2006-03-01

Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) is a significant cause of foodborne illnesses in the United States. Consumption of undercooked eggs and egg-containing products has been the primary risk factor for the disease. The importance of the bacterial enumeration technique has been enormously stressed because of the quantitative risk analysis of SE in shell eggs. Traditional enumeration methods mainly depend on slow and tedious most-probable-number (MPN) methods. Therefore, specific, sensitive, and rapid methods for SE quantitation are needed to collect sufficient data for risk assessment and food safety policy development. We previously developed a real-time quantitative PCR assay for the direct detection and enumeration of SE and, in this study, applied it to naturally contaminated ice cream samples with and without enrichment. The detection limit of the real-time PCR assay was determined with artificially inoculated ice cream. When applied to the direct detection and quantification of SE in ice cream, the real-time PCR assay was as sensitive as the conventional plate count method in frequency of detection. However, populations of SE derived from real-time quantitative PCR were approximately 1 log higher than provided by MPN and CFU values obtained by conventional culture methods. The detection and enumeration of SE in naturally contaminated ice cream can be completed in 3 h by this real-time PCR method, whereas the cultural enrichment method requires 5 to 7 days. A commercial immunoassay for the specific detection of SE was also included in the study. The real-time PCR assay proved to be a valuable tool that may be useful to the food industry in monitoring its processes to improve product quality and safety.

The influence of the microbial quality of wastewater, lettuce cultivars and enumeration technique when estimating the microbial contamination of wastewater-irrigated lettuce.

Science.gov (United States)

Makkaew, P; Miller, M; Cromar, N J; Fallowfield, H J

2017-04-01

This study investigated the volume of wastewater retained on the surface of three different varieties of lettuce, Iceberg, Cos, and Oak leaf, following submersion in wastewater of different microbial qualities (10, 10 2 , 10 3 , and 10 4 E. coli MPN/100 mL) as a surrogate method for estimation of contamination of spray-irrigated lettuce. Uniquely, Escherichia coli was enumerated, after submersion, on both the outer and inner leaves and in a composite sample of lettuce. E. coli were enumerated using two techniques. Firstly, from samples of leaves - the direct method. Secondly, using an indirect method, where the E. coli concentrations were estimated from the volume of wastewater retained by the lettuce and the E. coli concentration of the wastewater. The results showed that different varieties of lettuce retained significantly different volumes of wastewater (p 0.01) were detected between E. coli counts obtained from different parts of lettuce, nor between the direct and indirect enumeration methods. Statistically significant linear relationships were derived relating the E. coli concentration of the wastewater in which the lettuces were submerged to the subsequent E. coli count on each variety the lettuce.

Specificity for field enumeration of Escherichia coli in tropical surface waters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Peter Kjær Mackie; Aalbaek, B; Aslam, R

2001-01-01

In remote rural areas in developing countries, bacteriological monitoring often depends on the use of commercial field media. This paper evaluates a commercial field medium used for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in different surface waters under primitive field conditions in rural Pakistan....... In order to verify the field kit, 117 presumptive E. coli isolates have been tested, finding a specificity of only 40%. By excluding some strains based on colony colours, the calculated specificity could be increased to 65%. Thus, it is suggested that prior to use in a tropical environment, the specificity...... of any commercial medium used should be tested with representative tropical isolates, in order to increase the specificity....

Algebraic computability and enumeration models recursion theory and descriptive complexity

CERN Document Server

Nourani, Cyrus F

2016-01-01

This book, Algebraic Computability and Enumeration Models: Recursion Theory and Descriptive Complexity, presents new techniques with functorial models to address important areas on pure mathematics and computability theory from the algebraic viewpoint. The reader is first introduced to categories and functorial models, with Kleene algebra examples for languages. Functorial models for Peano arithmetic are described toward important computational complexity areas on a Hilbert program, leading to computability with initial models. Infinite language categories are also introduced to explain descriptive complexity with recursive computability with admissible sets and urelements. Algebraic and categorical realizability is staged on several levels, addressing new computability questions with omitting types realizably. Further applications to computing with ultrafilters on sets and Turing degree computability are examined. Functorial models computability is presented with algebraic trees realizing intuitionistic type...

Use of enrichment real-time PCR to enumerate salmonella on chicken parts.

Science.gov (United States)

Oscar, T P

2014-07-01

Salmonella bacteria that survive cooking or that cross-contaminate other food during meal preparation and serving represent primary routes of consumer exposure to this pathogen from chicken. In the present study, enrichment real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to enumerate Salmonella bacteria that contaminate raw chicken parts at retail or that cross-contaminate cooked chicken during simulated meal preparation and serving. Whole raw chickens obtained at retail were partitioned into wings, breasts, thighs, and drumsticks using a sterilized knife and cutting board, which were then used to partition a cooked chicken breast to assess cross-contamination. After enrichment in buffered peptone water (400 ml, 8 h, 40°C, 80 rpm), subsamples were used for qPCR and cultural isolation of Salmonella. In some experiments, chicken parts were spiked with 0 to 3.6 log of Salmonella Typhimurium var. 5- to generate a standard curve for enumeration by qPCR. Of 10 raw chickens examined, 7 (70%) had one or more parts contaminated with Salmonella. Of 80 raw parts examined, 15 (19%) were contaminated with Salmonella. Of 20 cooked chicken parts examined, 2 (10%) were cross-contaminated with Salmonella. Predominant serotypes identified were Typhimurium (71%) and its variants (var. 5-, monophasic, and nonmotile) and Kentucky (18%). The number of Salmonella bacteria on contaminated parts ranged from one to two per part. Results of this study indicated that retail chicken parts examined were contaminated with low levels of Salmonella, which resulted in low levels of cross-contamination during simulated meal preparation and serving. Thus, if consumers properly handle and prepare the chicken, it should pose no or very low risk of consumer exposure to Salmonella.

Multicentre evaluation of stable reference whole blood for enumeration of lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Cherry; Belgrave, Danielle; Janossy, George; Bradley, Nicholas J; Stebbings, Richard; Gaines-Das, Rose; Thorpe, Robin; Sawle, Alex; Arroz, Maria Jorge; Brando, Bruno; Gratama, Jan Willem; Orfao de Matos, Alberto; Papa, Stephano; Papamichail, Michael; Lenkei, Rodica; Rothe, Gregor; Barnett, David

2005-06-22

BACKGROUND: Clinical indications for lymphocyte subset enumeration by flow cytometry include monitoring of disease progression and timing of therapeutic intervention in infection with human immunodeficiency virus. Until recently international standardisation has not been possible due to a lack of suitable stable reference material. METHODS: This study consisted of two trials of a stabilised whole blood preparation. Eleven participants were sent two standard protocols for staining plus gating strategy and asked to report absolute counts for lymphocyte subsets. RESULTS: No significant difference was detected between the two methods when results from the two assays and all partners were pooled. Significant differences in results from the different partners were observed. However, representative mean counts were obtained for geometric means, geometric coefficient of variation, and 95% confidence interval for CD3 910 cells/mul, 9%, and 888 to 933, respectively), CD4 (495 cells/mul, 12%, and 483 to 507), and CD8 (408 cells/mul, 13%, and 393 to 422). CONCLUSION: We have introduced a stabilised blood preparation and a well-characterized biological standard. The availability of this reference material greatly simplifies the validation of new techniques for CD4(+) T-cell enumeration and the expansion of external quality assurance programmes for clinical laboratories, including those that operate in resource-restricted environments. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Strategies for enumeration of circulating microvesicles on a conventional flow cytometer: Counting beads and scatter parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhatatbeh, Mohammad J; Enjeti, Anoop K; Baqar, Sara; Ekinci, Elif I; Liu, Dorothy; Thorne, Rick F; Lincz, Lisa F

2018-01-01

Enumeration of circulating microvesicles (MVs) by conventional flow cytometry is accomplished by the addition of a known amount of counting beads and calculated from the formula: MV/μl = (MV count/bead count) × final bead concentration. We sought to optimize each variable in the equation by determining the best parameters for detecting 'MV count' and examining the effects of different bead preparations and concentrations on the final calculation. Three commercially available bead preparations (TruCount, Flow-Count and CountBright) were tested, and MV detection on a BD FACSCanto was optimized for gating by either forward scatter (FSC) or side scatter (SSC); the results were compared by calculating different subsets of MV on a series of 74 typical patient plasma samples. The relationship between the number of beads added to each test and the number of beads counted by flow cytometry remained linear over a wide range of bead concentrations ( R 2 ≥ 0.997). However, TruCount beads produced the most consistent (concentration variation = 3.8%) calculated numbers of plasma CD41 + /Annexin V + MV, which were significantly higher from that calculated using either Flow-Count or CountBright ( p beads by FSC and 0.16 μm beads by SSC, but there were significantly more background events using SSC compared with FSC (3113 vs. 470; p = 0.008). In general, sample analysis by SSC resulted in significantly higher numbers of MV ( p beads provided linear results at concentrations ranging from 6 beads/μl to 100 beads/μl, but TruCount was the most consistent. Using SSC to gate MV events produced high background which negatively affected counting bead enumeration and overall MV calculations. Strategies to reduce SSC background should be employed in order to reliably use this technique.

A selective medium for the enumeration and differentiation of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus.

Science.gov (United States)

Nwamaioha, Nwadiuto O; Ibrahim, Salam A

2018-06-01

Modified reinforced clostridial medium (mRCM) was developed and evaluated for the differential enumeration of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus. Lactobacillus bulgaricus, an important species of lactic acid bacteria with health benefits, is used in the production of yogurt and other fermented foods. Our results showed that supplementing reinforced clostridial medium with 0.025% CaCl 2 , 0.01% uracil, and 0.2% Tween 80 (mRCM) significantly enhanced the growth rate of L. bulgaricus RR and ATCC 11842 strains as measured by the optical densities of these strains after 12 h of incubation at 42°C. The bacterial populations (plate count) of the RR and ATCC 11842 strains were 0.76 and 0.77 log cfu/g higher in mRCM than in de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe and reinforced clostridial medium media, respectively. Conversely, the population counts for other bacterial species (Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus reuteri) were significantly inhibited in the mRCM medium. The addition of aniline blue dye to mRCM (mRCM-blue) improved the selectivity of L. bulgaricus in mixed lactic bacterial cultures compared with de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe medium and lactic agar with regard to colony appearance and morphology. The mRCM-blue performed better than the conventional medium in culturing, enumerating, and differentiating L. bulgaricus. Therefore, mRCM-blue could be used as a selective medium to enhance the growth and differentiation of L. bulgaricus in order to meet the increasing demand for this beneficial species of bacteria. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Absolute Enumeration of Probiotic Strains Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM® and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bl-04® via Chip-Based Digital PCR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah J. Z. Hansen

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The current standard for enumeration of probiotics to obtain colony forming units by plate counts has several drawbacks: long time to results, high variability and the inability to discern between bacterial strains. Accurate probiotic cell counts are important to confirm the delivery of a clinically documented dose for its associated health benefits. A method is described using chip-based digital PCR (cdPCR to enumerate Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bl-04 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM both as single strains and in combination. Primers and probes were designed to differentiate the target strains against other strains of the same species using known single copy, genetic differences. The assay was optimized to include propidium monoazide pre-treatment to prevent amplification of DNA associated with dead probiotic cells as well as liberation of DNA from cells with intact membranes using bead beating. The resulting assay was able to successfully enumerate each strain whether alone or in multiplex. The cdPCR method had a 4 and 5% relative standard deviation (RSD for Bl-04 and NCFM, respectively, making it more precise than plate counts with an industry accepted RSD of 15%. cdPCR has the potential to replace traditional plate counts because of its precision, strain specificity and the ability to obtain results in a matter of hours.

Enumeration of an extremely high particle-to-PFU ratio for Varicella-zoster virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, John E; Henderson, Ernesto P; Grose, Charles

2009-07-01

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is renowned for its low titers. Yet investigations to explore the low infectivity are hampered by the fact that the VZV particle-to-PFU ratio has never been determined with precision. Herein, we accomplish that task by applying newer imaging technology. More than 300 images were taken of VZV-infected cells on 4 different samples at high magnification. We enumerated the total number of viral particles within 25 cm(2) of the infected monolayer at 415 million. Based on these numbers, the VZV particle:PFU ratio was approximately 40,000:1 for a cell-free inoculum.

Rapid detection, characterization, and enumeration of foodborne pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoorfar, J

2011-11-01

As food safety management further develops, microbiological testing will continue to play an important role in assessing whether Food Safety Objectives are achieved. However, traditional microbiological culture-based methods are limited, particularly in their ability to provide timely data. The present review discusses the reasons for the increasing interest in rapid methods, current developments in the field, the research needs, and the future trends. The advent of biotechnology has introduced new technologies that led to the emergence of rapid diagnostic methods and altered food testing practices. Rapid methods are comprised of many different detection technologies, including specialized enzyme substrates, antibodies and DNA, ranging from simple differential plating media to the use of sophisticated instruments. The use of non-invasive sampling techniques for live animals especially came into focus with the 1990s outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that was linked to the human outbreak of Creutzfeldt Jakob's Disease. Serology is still an important tool in preventing foodborne pathogens to enter the human food supply through meat and milk from animals. One of the primary uses of rapid methods is for fast screening of large number of samples, where most of them are expected to be test-negative, leading to faster product release for sale. This has been the main strength of rapid methods such as real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Enrichment PCR, where a primary culture broth is tested in PCR, is the most common approach in rapid testing. Recent reports show that it is possible both to enrich a sample and enumerate by pathogen-specific real-time PCR, if the enrichment time is short. This can be especially useful in situations where food producers ask for the level of pathogen in a contaminated product. Another key issue is automation, where the key drivers are miniaturization and multiple testing, which mean that not only one instrument is flexible

Enumeration and stability analysis of simple periodic orbits in β-Fermi Pasta Ulam lattice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonone, Rupali L.; Jain, Sudhir R.

2014-01-01

We study the well-known one-dimensional problem of N particles with a nonlinear interaction. The special case of quadratic and quartic interaction potential among nearest neighbours is the β-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam model. We enumerate and classify the simple periodic orbits for this system and find the stability zones, employing Floquet theory. Such stability analysis is crucial to understand the transition of FPU lattice from recurrences to globally chaotic behavior, energy transport in lower dimensional system, dynamics of optical lattices and also its impact on shape parameter of bio-polymers such as DNA and RNA

Enumeration and stability analysis of simple periodic orbits in β-Fermi Pasta Ulam lattice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sonone, Rupali L., E-mail: vaidehisonone@gmail.com; Jain, Sudhir R., E-mail: vaidehisonone@gmail.com [Department of Physics, University of Pune, Pune-411007, India and Nuclear Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai - 400085 (India)

2014-04-24

We study the well-known one-dimensional problem of N particles with a nonlinear interaction. The special case of quadratic and quartic interaction potential among nearest neighbours is the β-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam model. We enumerate and classify the simple periodic orbits for this system and find the stability zones, employing Floquet theory. Such stability analysis is crucial to understand the transition of FPU lattice from recurrences to globally chaotic behavior, energy transport in lower dimensional system, dynamics of optical lattices and also its impact on shape parameter of bio-polymers such as DNA and RNA.

Comparative assessment of antibiotic susceptibility of coagulase-negative staphylococci in biofilm versus planktonic culture as assessed by bacterial enumeration or rapid XTT colorimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerca, Nuno; Martins, Silvia; Cerca, Filipe; Jefferson, Kimberly K; Pier, Gerald B; Oliveira, Rosário; Azeredo, Joana

2005-08-01

To quantitatively compare the antibiotic susceptibility of biofilms formed by the coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus with the susceptibility of planktonic cultures. Several CoNS strains were grown planktonically or as biofilms to determine the effect of the mode of growth on the level of susceptibility to antibiotics with different mechanisms of action. The utility of a new, rapid colorimetric method that is based on the reduction of a tetrazolium salt (XTT) to measure cell viability was tested by comparison with standard bacterial enumeration techniques. A 6 h kinetic study was performed using dicloxacillin, cefazolin, vancomycin, tetracycline and rifampicin at the peak serum concentration of each antibiotic. In planktonic cells, inhibitors of cell wall synthesis were highly effective over a 3 h period. Biofilms were much less susceptible than planktonic cultures to all antibiotics tested, particularly inhibitors of cell wall synthesis. The susceptibility to inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis was affected by the biofilm phenotype to a lesser degree. Standard bacterial enumeration techniques and the XTT method produced equivalent results both in biofilms and planktonic assays. This study provides a more accurate comparison between the antibiotic susceptibilities of planktonic versus biofilm populations, because the cell densities in the two populations were similar and because we measured the concentration required to inhibit bacterial metabolism rather than to eradicate the entire bacterial population. While the biofilm phenotype is highly resistant to antibiotics that target cell wall synthesis, it is fairly susceptible to antibiotics that target RNA and protein synthesis.

A Comparative Study of Enumeration Techniques for Free-Roaming Dogs in Rural Baramati, District Pune, India

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Harish Kumar Tiwari

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The presence of unvaccinated free-roaming dogs (FRD amidst human settlements is a major contributor to the high incidence of rabies in countries such as India, where the disease is endemic. Estimating FRD population size is crucial to the planning and evaluation of interventions, such as mass immunisation against rabies. Enumeration techniques for FRD are resource intensive and can vary from simple direct counts to statistically complex capture-recapture techniques primarily developed for ecological studies. In this study we compared eight capture-recapture enumeration methods (Lincoln–Petersen’s index, Chapman’s correction estimate, Beck’s method, Schumacher-Eschmeyer method, Regression method, Mark-resight logit normal method, Huggin’s closed capture models and Application SuperDuplicates on-line tool using direct count data collected from Shirsuphal village of Baramati town in Western India, to recommend a method which yields a reasonably accurate count to use for effective vaccination coverage against rabies with minimal resource inputs. A total of 263 unique dogs were sighted at least once over 6 observation occasions with no new dogs sighted on the 7th occasion. Besides this direct count, the methods that do not account for individual heterogeneity yielded population estimates in the range of 248–270, which likely underestimate the real FRD population size. Higher estimates were obtained using the Huggin’s Mh-Jackknife (437 ± 33, Huggin’s Mth-Chao (391 ± 26, Huggin’s Mh-Chao (385 ± 30, models and Application “SuperDuplicates” tool (392 ± 20 and were considered more robust. When the sampling effort was reduced to only two surveys, the Application SuperDuplicates online tool gave the closest estimate of 349 ± 36, which is 74% of the estimated highest population of free-roaming dogs in Shirsuphal village. This method may thus be considered the most reliable method for estimating the FRD population with

Comparative evaluation of direct plating and most probable number for enumeration of low levels of Listeria monocytogenes in naturally contaminated ice cream products.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi; Pouillot, Régis; S Burall, Laurel; Strain, Errol A; Van Doren, Jane M; De Jesus, Antonio J; Laasri, Anna; Wang, Hua; Ali, Laila; Tatavarthy, Aparna; Zhang, Guodong; Hu, Lijun; Day, James; Sheth, Ishani; Kang, Jihun; Sahu, Surasri; Srinivasan, Devayani; Brown, Eric W; Parish, Mickey; Zink, Donald L; Datta, Atin R; Hammack, Thomas S; Macarisin, Dumitru

2017-01-16

A precise and accurate method for enumeration of low level of Listeria monocytogenes in foods is critical to a variety of studies. In this study, paired comparison of most probable number (MPN) and direct plating enumeration of L. monocytogenes was conducted on a total of 1730 outbreak-associated ice cream samples that were naturally contaminated with low level of L. monocytogenes. MPN was performed on all 1730 samples. Direct plating was performed on all samples using the RAPID'L.mono (RLM) agar (1600 samples) and agar Listeria Ottaviani and Agosti (ALOA; 130 samples). Probabilistic analysis with Bayesian inference model was used to compare paired direct plating and MPN estimates of L. monocytogenes in ice cream samples because assumptions implicit in ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regression analyses were not met for such a comparison. The probabilistic analysis revealed good agreement between the MPN and direct plating estimates, and this agreement showed that the MPN schemes and direct plating schemes using ALOA or RLM evaluated in the present study were suitable for enumerating low levels of L. monocytogenes in these ice cream samples. The statistical analysis further revealed that OLS linear regression analyses of direct plating and MPN data did introduce bias that incorrectly characterized systematic differences between estimates from the two methods. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Comparative analysis of chemical similarity methods for modular natural products with a hypothetical structure enumeration algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Skinnider, Michael A; Dejong, Chris A; Franczak, Brian C; McNicholas, Paul D; Magarvey, Nathan A

2017-08-16

Natural products represent a prominent source of pharmaceutically and industrially important agents. Calculating the chemical similarity of two molecules is a central task in cheminformatics, with applications at multiple stages of the drug discovery pipeline. Quantifying the similarity of natural products is a particularly important problem, as the biological activities of these molecules have been extensively optimized by natural selection. The large and structurally complex scaffolds of natural products distinguish their physical and chemical properties from those of synthetic compounds. However, no analysis of the performance of existing methods for molecular similarity calculation specific to natural products has been reported to date. Here, we present LEMONS, an algorithm for the enumeration of hypothetical modular natural product structures. We leverage this algorithm to conduct a comparative analysis of molecular similarity methods within the unique chemical space occupied by modular natural products using controlled synthetic data, and comprehensively investigate the impact of diverse biosynthetic parameters on similarity search. We additionally investigate a recently described algorithm for natural product retrobiosynthesis and alignment, and find that when rule-based retrobiosynthesis can be applied, this approach outperforms conventional two-dimensional fingerprints, suggesting it may represent a valuable approach for the targeted exploration of natural product chemical space and microbial genome mining. Our open-source algorithm is an extensible method of enumerating hypothetical natural product structures with diverse potential applications in bioinformatics.

Validation of a Rapid Bacteria Endospore Enumeration System for Planetary Protection Application

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Fei; Kern, Roger; Kazarians, Gayane; Venkateswaran, Kasthuri

NASA monitors spacecraft surfaces to assure that the presence of bacterial endospores meets strict criteria at launch, to minimize the risk of inadvertent contamination of the surface of Mars. Currently, the only approved method for enumerating the spores is a culture based assay that requires three days to produce results. In order to meet the demanding schedules of spacecraft assembly, a more rapid spore detection assay is being considered as an alternate method to the NASA standard culture-based assay. The Millipore Rapid Microbiology Detection System (RMDS) has been used successfully for rapid bioburden enumeration in the pharmaceutical and food industries. The RMDS is rapid and simple, shows high sensitivity (to 1 colony forming unit [CFU]/sample), and correlates well with traditional culture-based methods. It combines membrane filtration, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence chemistry, and image analysis based on photon detection with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera. In this study, we have optimized the assay conditions and evaluated the use of the RMDS as a rapid spore detection tool for NASA applications. In order to select for spores, the samples were subjected to a heat shock step before proceeding with the RMDS incubation protocol. Seven species of Bacillus (nine strains) that have been repeatedly isolated from clean room environments were assayed. All strains were detected by the RMDS in 5 hours and these assay times were repeatedly demonstrated along with low image background noise. Validation experiments to compare the Rapid Sore Assay (RSA) and NASA standard assay (NSA) were also performed. The evaluation criteria were modeled after the FDA Guideline of Process Validation, and Analytical Test Methods. This body of research demonstrates that the Rapid Spore Assay (RSA) is quick, and of equivalent sensitivity to the NASA standard assay, potentially reducing the assay time for bacterial endospores from over 72 hours to less than 8 hours

The Application of Digital Pathology to Improve Accuracy in Glomerular Enumeration in Renal Biopsies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avi Z Rosenberg

Full Text Available In renal biopsy reporting, quantitative measurements, such as glomerular number and percentage of globally sclerotic glomeruli, is central to diagnostic accuracy and prognosis. The aim of this study is to determine the number of glomeruli and percent globally sclerotic in renal biopsies by means of registration of serial tissue sections and manual enumeration, compared to the numbers in pathology reports from routine light microscopic assessment.We reviewed 277 biopsies from the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE digital pathology repository, enumerating 9,379 glomeruli by means of whole slide imaging. Glomerular number and the percentage of globally sclerotic glomeruli are values routinely recorded in the official renal biopsy pathology report from the 25 participating centers. Two general trends in reporting were noted: total number per biopsy or average number per level/section. Both of these approaches were assessed for their accuracy in comparison to the analogous numbers of annotated glomeruli on WSI.The number of glomeruli annotated was consistently higher than those reported (p<0.001; this difference was proportional to the number of glomeruli. In contrast, percent globally sclerotic were similar when calculated on total glomeruli, but greater in FSGS when calculated on average number of glomeruli (p<0.01. The difference in percent globally sclerotic between annotated and those recorded in pathology reports was significant when global sclerosis is greater than 40%.Although glass slides were not available for direct comparison to whole slide image annotation, this study indicates that routine manual light microscopy assessment of number of glomeruli is inaccurate, and the magnitude of this error is proportional to the total number of glomeruli.

Comparing the mannitol-egg yolk-polymyxin agar plating method with the three-tube most-probable-number method for enumeration of Bacillus cereus spores in raw and high-temperature, short-time pasteurized milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Nigel M; Getty, Kelly J K; Schmidt, Karen A; Nutsch, Abbey L; Linton, Richard H

2011-03-01

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual recommends two enumeration methods for Bacillus cereus: (i) standard plate count method with mannitol-egg yolk-polymyxin (MYP) agar and (ii) a most-probable-number (MPN) method with tryptic soy broth (TSB) supplemented with 0.1% polymyxin sulfate. This study compared the effectiveness of MYP and MPN methods for detecting and enumerating B. cereus in raw and high-temperature, short-time pasteurized skim (0.5%), 2%, and whole (3.5%) bovine milk stored at 4°C for 96 h. Each milk sample was inoculated with B. cereus EZ-Spores and sampled at 0, 48, and 96 h after inoculation. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in B. cereus populations among sampling times for all milk types, so data were pooled to obtain overall mean values for each treatment. The overall B. cereus population mean of pooled sampling times for the MPN method (2.59 log CFU/ml) was greater (P milk samples ranged from 2.36 to 3.46 and 2.66 to 3.58 log CFU/ml for inoculated milk treatments for the MYP plate count and MPN methods, respectively, which is below the level necessary for toxin production. The MPN method recovered more B. cereus, which makes it useful for validation research. However, the MYP plate count method for enumeration of B. cereus also had advantages, including its ease of use and faster time to results (2 versus 5 days for MPN).

Molecular structures enumeration and virtual screening in the chemical space with RetroPath2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Mathilde; Duigou, Thomas; Carbonell, Pablo; Faulon, Jean-Loup

2017-12-19

Network generation tools coupled with chemical reaction rules have been mainly developed for synthesis planning and more recently for metabolic engineering. Using the same core algorithm, these tools apply a set of rules to a source set of compounds, stopping when a sink set of compounds has been produced. When using the appropriate sink, source and rules, this core algorithm can be used for a variety of applications beyond those it has been developed for. Here, we showcase the use of the open source workflow RetroPath2.0. First, we mathematically prove that we can generate all structural isomers of a molecule using a reduced set of reaction rules. We then use this enumeration strategy to screen the chemical space around a set of monomers and predict their glass transition temperatures, as well as around aminoglycosides to search structures maximizing antibacterial activity. We also perform a screening around aminoglycosides with enzymatic reaction rules to ensure biosynthetic accessibility. We finally use our workflow on an E. coli model to complete E. coli metabolome, with novel molecules generated using promiscuous enzymatic reaction rules. These novel molecules are searched on the MS spectra of an E. coli cell lysate interfacing our workflow with OpenMS through the KNIME Analytics Platform. We provide an easy to use and modify, modular, and open-source workflow. We demonstrate its versatility through a variety of use cases including molecular structure enumeration, virtual screening in the chemical space, and metabolome completion. Because it is open source and freely available on MyExperiment.org, workflow community contributions should likely expand further the features of the tool, even beyond the use cases presented in the paper.

Limitations of the A-1M method for fecal coliform enumeration in the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas).

Science.gov (United States)

Kaysner, C A; Weagant, S D

1987-01-01

Use of the A-1M method, which was originally devised for testing water samples, has recently been extended for enumeration of fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli in shellfish and other food products. Results of our study indicate that while this method is reliable for analysis of growing waters, the use of the A-1M method for testing Pacific oysters may be less reliable because bacteria not belonging to the coliform group but which are sometimes present in these animals also give a positive reaction.

Resuscitation effects of catalase on airborne bacteria.

OpenAIRE

Marthi, B; Shaffer, B T; Lighthart, B; Ganio, L

1991-01-01

Catalase incorporation into enumeration media caused a significant increase (greater than 63%) in the colony-forming abilities of airborne bacteria. Incubation for 30 to 60 min of airborne bacteria in collection fluid containing catalase caused a greater than 95% increase in colony-forming ability. However, catalase did not have any effects on enumeration at high relative humidities (80 to 90%).

Use of non-linear mixed-effects modelling and regression analysis to predict the number of somatic coliphages by plaque enumeration after 3 hours of incubation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendez, Javier; Monleon-Getino, Antonio; Jofre, Juan; Lucena, Francisco

2017-10-01

The present study aimed to establish the kinetics of the appearance of coliphage plaques using the double agar layer titration technique to evaluate the feasibility of using traditional coliphage plaque forming unit (PFU) enumeration as a rapid quantification method. Repeated measurements of the appearance of plaques of coliphages titrated according to ISO 10705-2 at different times were analysed using non-linear mixed-effects regression to determine the most suitable model of their appearance kinetics. Although this model is adequate, to simplify its applicability two linear models were developed to predict the numbers of coliphages reliably, using the PFU counts as determined by the ISO after only 3 hours of incubation. One linear model, when the number of plaques detected was between 4 and 26 PFU after 3 hours, had a linear fit of: (1.48 × Counts 3 h + 1.97); and the other, values >26 PFU, had a fit of (1.18 × Counts 3 h + 2.95). If the number of plaques detected was PFU after 3 hours, we recommend incubation for (18 ± 3) hours. The study indicates that the traditional coliphage plating technique has a reasonable potential to provide results in a single working day without the need to invest in additional laboratory equipment.

Development of quantitative real-time PCR for detection and enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hajime; Saito, Rumi; Miya, Satoko; Tanaka, Yuichiro; Miyamura, Natsumi; Kuda, Takashi; Kimura, Bon

2017-04-04

The family Enterobacteriaceae, members of which are widely distributed in the environment, includes many important human pathogens. In this study, a rapid real-time PCR method targeting rplP, coding for L16 protein, a component of the ribosome large subunit, was developed for enumerating Enterobacteriaceae strains, and its efficiency was evaluated using naturally contaminated food products. The rplP-targeted real-time PCR amplified Enterobacteriaceae species with Ct values of 14.0-22.8, whereas the Ct values for non-Enterobacteriaceae species were >30, indicating the specificity of this method for the Enterobacteriaceae. Using a calibration curve of Ct=-3.025 (log CFU/g)+37.35, which was calculated from individual plots of the cell numbers in different concentrations of 5 Enterobacteriaceae species, the rplP-targeted real-time PCR was applied to 51 food samples. A Enterobacteriaceae species in foods rapidly and accurately, and therefore, it can be used for the microbiological risk analysis of foods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of pre-PCR processing approaches for enumeration of Salmonella enterica in naturally contaminated animal feed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schelin, Jenny; Andersson, Gunnar; Vigre, Håkan

2014-01-01

Three pre‐PCR processing strategies for the detection and/or quantification of Salmonella in naturally contaminated soya bean meal were evaluated. Methods included: (i) flotation‐qPCR [enumeration of intact Salmonella cells prior to quantitative PCR (qPCR)], (ii) MPN‐PCR (modified most probable...... be due to the presence of nonculturable Salmonella and/or a heterogeneous distribution of Salmonella in the material. The evaluated methods provide different possibilities to assess the prevalence of Salmonella in feed, together with the numbers of culturable, as well as nonculturable cells, and can...... be applied to generate data to allow more accurate quantitative microbial risk assessment for Salmonella in the feed chain....

From Enumerating to Generating: A Linear Time Algorithm for Generating 2D Lattice Paths with a Given Number of Turns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ting Kuo

2015-05-01

Full Text Available We propose a linear time algorithm, called G2DLP, for generating 2D lattice L(n1, n2 paths, equivalent to two-item  multiset permutations, with a given number of turns. The usage of turn has three meanings: in the context of multiset permutations, it means that two consecutive elements of a permutation belong to two different items; in lattice path enumerations, it means that the path changes its direction, either from eastward to northward or from northward to eastward; in open shop scheduling, it means that we transfer a job from one type of machine to another. The strategy of G2DLP is divide-and-combine; the division is based on the enumeration results of a previous study and is achieved by aid of an integer partition algorithm and a multiset permutation algorithm; the combination is accomplished by a concatenation algorithm that constructs the paths we require. The advantage of G2DLP is twofold. First, it is optimal in the sense that it directly generates all feasible paths without visiting an infeasible one. Second, it can generate all paths in any specified order of turns, for example, a decreasing order or an increasing order. In practice, two applications, scheduling and cryptography, are discussed.

Enumeration of CD4 and CD8 T-cells in HIV infection in Zimbabwe using a manual immunocytochemical method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gomo, E; Ndhlovu, P; Vennervald, B J

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To enumerate CD4 and CD8 T-cells using the simple and cheap immuno-alkaline phosphatase (IA) method and to compare it with flow cytometry (FC); and to study the effects of duration of sample storage on the IA method results. DESIGN: Method comparison study. SETTING: Blair Research...... Laboratory, Harare, Zimbabwe. SUBJECTS: 41 HIV positive and 11 HIV negative men and women from Harare participating in HIV studies at Blair Research Laboratory, Zimbabwe. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CD4 and CD8 T-cell counts by FC and the IA method. RESULTS: The IA method and FC were highly correlated for CD4...... counts (Spearman rs = 0.91), CD4 percentage (rs = 0.84), CD8 count (rs = 0.83), CD8 percentage (rs = 0.96) and CD4/CD8 ratio (rs = 0.89). However, CD4 cell counts and percentage measured by the IA method were (mean difference +/- SE) 133 +/- 24 cells/microL [corrected] and 6.7 +/- 1.1% higher than those...

Does availability of physical activity and food outlets differ by race and income? Findings from an enumeration study in a health disparate region.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Jennie L; Chau, Clarice; Luebbering, Candice R; Kolivras, Korine K; Zoellner, Jamie

2012-09-06

Low-income, ethnic/racial minorities and rural populations are at increased risk for obesity and related chronic health conditions when compared to white, urban and higher-socio-economic status (SES) peers. Recent systematic reviews highlight the influence of the built environment on obesity, yet very few of these studies consider rural areas or populations. Utilizing a CBPR process, this study advances community-driven causal models to address obesity by exploring the difference in resources for physical activity and food outlets by block group race and income in a small regional city that anchors a rural health disparate region. To guide this inquiry we hypothesized that lower income and racially diverse block groups would have fewer food outlets, including fewer grocery stores and fewer physical activity outlets. We further hypothesized that walkability, as defined by a computed walkability index, would be lower in the lower income block groups. Using census data and GIS, base maps of the region were created and block groups categorized by income and race. All food outlets and physical activity resources were enumerated and geocoded and a walkability index computed. Analyses included one-way MANOVA and spatial autocorrelation. In total, 49 stores, 160 restaurants and 79 physical activity outlets were enumerated. There were no differences in the number of outlets by block group income or race. Further, spatial analyses suggest that the distribution of outlets is dispersed across all block groups. Under the larger CPBR process, this enumeration study advances the causal models set forth by the community members to address obesity by providing an overview of the food and physical activity environment in this region. This data reflects the food and physical activity resources available to residents in the region and will aid many of the community-academic partners as they pursue intervention strategies targeting obesity.

Does availability of physical activity and food outlets differ by race and income? Findings from an enumeration study in a health disparate region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hill Jennie L

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Low-income, ethnic/racial minorities and rural populations are at increased risk for obesity and related chronic health conditions when compared to white, urban and higher-socio-economic status (SES peers. Recent systematic reviews highlight the influence of the built environment on obesity, yet very few of these studies consider rural areas or populations. Utilizing a CBPR process, this study advances community-driven causal models to address obesity by exploring the difference in resources for physical activity and food outlets by block group race and income in a small regional city that anchors a rural health disparate region. To guide this inquiry we hypothesized that lower income and racially diverse block groups would have fewer food outlets, including fewer grocery stores and fewer physical activity outlets. We further hypothesized that walkability, as defined by a computed walkability index, would be lower in the lower income block groups. Methods Using census data and GIS, base maps of the region were created and block groups categorized by income and race. All food outlets and physical activity resources were enumerated and geocoded and a walkability index computed. Analyses included one-way MANOVA and spatial autocorrelation. Results In total, 49 stores, 160 restaurants and 79 physical activity outlets were enumerated. There were no differences in the number of outlets by block group income or race. Further, spatial analyses suggest that the distribution of outlets is dispersed across all block groups. Conclusions Under the larger CPBR process, this enumeration study advances the causal models set forth by the community members to address obesity by providing an overview of the food and physical activity environment in this region. This data reflects the food and physical activity resources available to residents in the region and will aid many of the community-academic partners as they pursue intervention

Enumeration of Salmonellae in Table Eggs, Pasteurized Egg Products, and Egg-Containing Dishes by Using Quantitative Real-Time PCR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakočiūnė, Džiuginta; Pasquali, Frédérique; da Silva, Cristiana Soares

2014-01-01

PCR) was employed for enumeration of salmonellae in different matrices: table eggs, pasteurized egg products, and egg-containing dishes. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Tennessee were used to artificially contaminate these matrices. The results showed a linear regression between...... the numbers of salmonellae and the quantification cycle (Cq) values for all matrices used, with the exception of pasteurized egg white. Standard curves were constructed by using both stationary-phase cells and heat-stressed cells, with similar results. Finally, this method was used to evaluate the fate...

Expansion and Compression of Time Correlate with Information Processing in an Enumeration Task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Wutz

Full Text Available Perception of temporal duration is subjective and is influenced by factors such as attention and context. For example, unexpected or emotional events are often experienced as if time subjectively expands, suggesting that the amount of information processed in a unit of time can be increased. Time dilation effects have been measured with an oddball paradigm in which an infrequent stimulus is perceived to last longer than standard stimuli in the rest of the sequence. Likewise, time compression for the oddball occurs when the duration of the standard items is relatively brief. Here, we investigated whether the amount of information processing changes when time is perceived as distorted. On each trial, an oddball stimulus of varying numerosity (1-14 items and duration was presented along with standard items that were either short (70 ms or long (1050 ms. Observers were instructed to count the number of dots within the oddball stimulus and to judge its relative duration with respect to the standards on that trial. Consistent with previous results, oddballs were reliably perceived as temporally distorted: expanded for longer standard stimuli blocks and compressed for shorter standards. The occurrence of these distortions of time perception correlated with perceptual processing; i.e. enumeration accuracy increased when time was perceived as expanded and decreased with temporal compression. These results suggest that subjective time distortions are not epiphenomenal, but reflect real changes in sensory processing. Such short-term plasticity in information processing rate could be evolutionarily advantageous in optimizing perception and action during critical moments.

Enumeration, identification and decontamination of microorganisms on empty fruit bunches (EFB) and palm press fibre (PPF) from selected palm oil mills in the Peninsular Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foziah Ali; Muhammad Lebai Juri; Mat Rasol Awang

1998-01-01

The PPF and EFB temporarily disposed into the environment at the mill are heavily contaminated with micro-organisms, therefore require decontamination prior to utilisation. The current methods for decontaminating PPF and EFB has been briefly reviewed (Mat Rasol et. al.,1987). They suggested that these by-products can be effectively decontaminated by gamma-irradiation and the resulting sterilised by-products could subsequently be used for conversion into animals feeds by fermentation with fungi or chemical stock. The primary objectives of the investigation are: a) to enumerate contaminating microorganisms on PPF and EFB collected from various oil palm mills in the Peninsular Malaysia, and b) to establish the inactivation curves of the PPF and EFB from the selected palm oil mills

Detecting and enumerating soil-transmitted helminth eggs in soil: New method development and results from field testing in Kenya and Bangladesh.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Steinbaum

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Globally, about 1.5 billion people are infected with at least one species of soil-transmitted helminth (STH. Soil is a critical environmental reservoir of STH, yet there is no standard method for detecting STH eggs in soil. We developed a field method for enumerating STH eggs in soil and tested the method in Bangladesh and Kenya. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA method for enumerating Ascaris eggs in biosolids was modified through a series of recovery efficiency experiments; we seeded soil samples with a known number of Ascaris suum eggs and assessed the effect of protocol modifications on egg recovery. We found the use of 1% 7X as a surfactant compared to 0.1% Tween 80 significantly improved recovery efficiency (two-sided t-test, t = 5.03, p = 0.007 while other protocol modifications-including different agitation and flotation methods-did not have a significant impact. Soil texture affected the egg recovery efficiency; sandy samples resulted in higher recovery compared to loamy samples processed using the same method (two-sided t-test, t = 2.56, p = 0.083. We documented a recovery efficiency of 73% for the final improved method using loamy soil in the lab. To field test the improved method, we processed soil samples from 100 households in Bangladesh and 100 households in Kenya from June to November 2015. The prevalence of any STH (Ascaris, Trichuris or hookworm egg in soil was 78% in Bangladesh and 37% in Kenya. The median concentration of STH eggs in soil in positive samples was 0.59 eggs/g dry soil in Bangladesh and 0.15 eggs/g dry soil in Kenya. The prevalence of STH eggs in soil was significantly higher in Bangladesh than Kenya (chi-square, χ2 = 34.39, p < 0.001 as was the concentration (Mann-Whitney, z = 7.10, p < 0.001. This new method allows for detecting STH eggs in soil in low-resource settings and could be used for standardizing soil STH detection globally.

Evaluation of modified dichloran 18% glycerol (DG18) agar for enumerating fungi in wheat flour: a collaborative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuchat, L R; Hwang, C A

1996-04-01

Dichloran 18% glycerol agar base supplemented with 100 micrograms of chloramphenicol ml-1 (DG18 agar) was compared to DG18 agar supplemented with 100 micrograms of Triton X-301 ml-1 (DG18T) and DG18 agar supplemented with 1 microgram of iprodione [3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-N-(1-methyl-ethyl)-2,4-dioxo-1-imidazolidine- carboxamide] ml-1 (DG18I agar) for enumeration of fungi in ten brands of wheat flour. As the flours contained low fungal populations, all were inoculated with two to four strains of xerophilic fungi (Aspergillus candidus, A. penicillioides, Eurotium amstelodami, E. intermedium, E. repens, E. rubrum, E. tonophilum, E. umbrosum and Wallemia sebi), after which counts ranged from 3.87 to 6.37 log10 CFU g-1. Significantly higher populations (p repens or E. tonophilum had also been inoculated into at least one of the three flours showing significantly higher numbers of CFU on DG18T agar. Analysis of collapsed data from all samples showed that DG18T agar was significantly better than DG18 or DG18I agars at p < 0.10 but not at p < 0.05. Coefficients of variation for reproducibility (among-laboratory variation) were 8.4%, 7.5% and 8.6%, respectively, for DG18, DG18T and DG18I agars. DG18I agar restricted colony development most, especially for Eurotium species. Naturally occurring Penicillium species grew equally well on DG18 and DG18T agars, whereas W. sebi grew well on all three media. DG18T agar was judged to be superior to DG18 and DG18I agars for enumerating fungi in wheat flours.

Using pattern enumeration to accelerate process development and ramp yield

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Linda; Pang, Jenny; Xu, Jessy; Tsai, Mengfeng; Wang, Amy; Zhang, Yifan; Sweis, Jason; Lai, Ya-Chieh; Ding, Hua

2016-03-01

During a new technology node process setup phase, foundries do not initially have enough product chip designs to conduct exhaustive process development. Different operational teams use manually designed simple test keys to set up their process flows and recipes. When the very first version of the design rule manual (DRM) is ready, foundries enter the process development phase where new experiment design data is manually created based on these design rules. However, these IP/test keys contain very uniform or simple design structures. This kind of design normally does not contain critical design structures or process unfriendly design patterns that pass design rule checks but are found to be less manufacturable. It is desired to have a method to generate exhaustive test patterns allowed by design rules at development stage to verify the gap of design rule and process. This paper presents a novel method of how to generate test key patterns which contain known problematic patterns as well as any constructs which designers could possibly draw based on current design rules. The enumerated test key patterns will contain the most critical design structures which are allowed by any particular design rule. A layout profiling method is used to do design chip analysis in order to find potential weak points on new incoming products so fab can take preemptive action to avoid yield loss. It can be achieved by comparing different products and leveraging the knowledge learned from previous manufactured chips to find possible yield detractors.

Development of a rapid approach for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in riverbed sediment: case study, the Apies River, South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Abia

2015-12-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Abia_2015_ABSTRACT.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 3292 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Abia_2015_ABSTRACT.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Journal of Soils... and Sediments Development of a rapid approach for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in riverbed sediment: case study, the Apies River, South Africa L. K. A. Abia: M. N. B. Momba Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Science, Tshwane University...

Solving binary-state multi-objective reliability redundancy allocation series-parallel problem using efficient epsilon-constraint, multi-start partial bound enumeration algorithm, and DEA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalili-Damghani, Kaveh; Amiri, Maghsoud

2012-01-01

In this paper, a procedure based on efficient epsilon-constraint method and data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proposed for solving binary-state multi-objective reliability redundancy allocation series-parallel problem (MORAP). In first module, a set of qualified non-dominated solutions on Pareto front of binary-state MORAP is generated using an efficient epsilon-constraint method. In order to test the quality of generated non-dominated solutions in this module, a multi-start partial bound enumeration algorithm is also proposed for MORAP. The performance of both procedures is compared using different metrics on well-known benchmark instance. The statistical analysis represents that not only the proposed efficient epsilon-constraint method outperform the multi-start partial bound enumeration algorithm but also it improves the founded upper bound of benchmark instance. Then, in second module, a DEA model is supplied to prune the generated non-dominated solutions of efficient epsilon-constraint method. This helps reduction of non-dominated solutions in a systematic manner and eases the decision making process for practical implementations. - Highlights: ► A procedure based on efficient epsilon-constraint method and DEA was proposed for solving MORAP. ► The performance of proposed procedure was compared with a multi-start PBEA. ► Methods were statistically compared using multi-objective metrics.

Automatic Slide-Loader Fluorescence Microscope for Discriminative Enumeration of Subseafloor Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fumio Inagaki

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The marine subsurface environment is considered the potentially largest ecosystem on Earth, harboring one-tenth of all living biota (Whitman et al., 1998 and comprising diverse microbial components (Inagaki et al., 2003, 2006; Teske, 2006; Inagaki and Nakagawa, 2008. In deep marine sediments, the discrimination of life is significantly more difficult than in surface sediments and terrestrial soils because buried cells generally have extremely low metabolic activities (D’Hondt et al., 2002, 2004, and a highly consolidated sediment matrix produces auto-fluorescence fromdiatomaceous spicules and other mineral particles (Kallmeyer et al., 2008. The cell abundance in marine subsurface sediments has conventionally been evaluated by acridine orange direct count (AODC; Cragg et al., 1995; Parkes et al., 2000 down to 1613 meters below the seafloor (mbsf (Roussel et al., 2008. Since the cell-derived AOsignals often fade out in a short exposure time, recognizing and counting cells require special training. Hence, such efforts to enumerate AO-stained cells from the subseafloor on photographic images have been difficult, and a verification of counts by other methods has been impossible. In addition, providing mean statistical values from low biomass sedimentary habitats has been complicated byphysical and time limitations, yet these habitats are considered critical for understanding the Earth’s biosphere close to the limits of habitable zones (Hoehler, 2004; D’Hondt et al., 2007.

Chromogenic media for the detection and/or enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes - results of trials performed by a working group of the International Organization for Standardization - ISO/TC 34/SC 9

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beumer, R.R.; Hazeleger, W.C.

2007-01-01

The solid selective media PALCAM and Oxford agar originally described in the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Standard 11290 part 1 and part 2 "Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs - Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes", suffer

Enumeration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the viable but nonculturable state using direct plate counts and recognition of individual gene fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffitt, Kimberly J; Noriea, Nicholas F; Johnson, Crystal N; Grimes, D Jay

2011-05-01

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a gram-negative, halophilic bacterium indigenous to marine and estuarine environments and it is capable of causing food and water-borne illness in humans. It can also cause disease in marine animals, including cultured species. Currently, culture-based techniques are used for quantification of V. parahaemolyticus in environmental samples; however, these can be misleading as they fail to detect V. parahaemolyticus in a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state which leads to an underestimation of the population density. In this study, we used a novel fluorescence visualization technique, called recognition of individual gene fluorescence in situ hybridization (RING-FISH), which targets chromosomal DNA for enumeration. A polynucleotide probe labeled with Cyanine 3 (Cy3) was created corresponding to the ubiquitous V. parahaemolyticus gene that codes for thermolabile hemolysin (tlh). When coupled with the Kogure method to distinguish viable from dead cells, RING-FISH probes reliably enumerated total, viable V. parahaemolyticus. The probe was tested for sensitivity and specificity against a pure culture of tlh(+), tdh(-), trh(-)V. parahaemolyticus, pure cultures of Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio fischeri, and a mixed environmental sample. This research will provide additional tools for a better understanding of the risk these environmental organisms pose to human health. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enumeration of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria by an overlayer technique and its use in evaluation of petroleum-contaminated sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogardt, A.H.; Hemmingsen, B.B.

1992-01-01

Bacteria that are capable of degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were enumerated by incorporating soil and water dilutions together with fine particles of phenanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, into an agarose overlayer and pouring the mixture over a mineral salts underlayer. The phenanthrene-degrading bacteria embedded in the overlayer were recognized by a halo of clearing in the opaque phenanthrene layer. Diesel fuel- or creosote-contaminated soil and water that were undergoing bioremediation contained 6 x 10 6 to 100 x 10 6 phenanthrene-degrading bacteria per g and ca. 5 x 10 5 phenanthrene-degrading bacteria per ml, respectively, whereas samples from untreated polluted sites contained substantially lower numbers. Unpolluted soil and water contained no detectable phenanthrene degraders or only very modest numbers of these organisms

Numerical and experimental characterization of solid-state micropore-based cytometer for detection and enumeration of biological cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jinhong; Chen, Liang; Ai, Ye; Cheng, Yuanbing; Li, Chang Ming; Kang, Yuejun; Wang, Zhiming

2015-03-01

Portable diagnostic devices have emerged as important tools in various biomedical applications since they can provide an effective solution for low-cost and rapid clinical diagnosis. In this paper, we present a micropore-based resistive cytometer for the detection and enumeration of biological cells. The proposed device was fabricated on a silicon wafer by a standard microelectromechanical system processing technology, which enables a mass production of the proposed chip. The working principle of this cytometer is based upon a bias potential modulated pulse, originating from the biological particle's physical blockage of the micropore. Polystyrene particles of different sizes (7, 10, and 16 μm) were used to test and calibrate the proposed device. A finite element simulation was developed to predict the bias potential modulated pulse (peak amplitude vs. pulse bandwidth), which can provide critical insight into the design of this microfluidic flow cytometer. Furthermore, HeLa cells (a type of tumor cell lines) spiked in a suspension of blood cells, including red blood cells and white blood cells, were used to assess the performance for detecting and counting tumor cells. The proposed microfluidic flow cytometer is able to provide a promising platform to address the current unmet need for point-of-care clinical diagnosis. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Further evidence of community education effects on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Øystein Kravdal

2012-11-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Earlier investigations have shown that a woman's chance of having a child, or various proximate determinants of her fertility, are influenced by the socioeconomic resources in the community in which she lives, net of her own resources. METHODS This study, which is based on DHS surveys from 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, adds to the knowledge about this issue. With a focus on first and higher-order birth rates, four specific questions are addressed. RESULTS One result is that the effects of the average education in the census enumeration area in which a woman lives, net of her own education, have remained stable or become stronger over the last decade. Second, these effects are most pronounced among women who score high on indicators of socioeconomic development, which suggests that they may become further strengthened. Third, effects even appear when a fixed-effects approach - based on data from two DHS surveys with GPS coordinates in each country - is employed to control for unobserved constant characteristics of units at a slightly higher level than the census enumeration area. Fourth, local processes seem to be particularly important: the education among women in the province or nearest census enumeration areas does not have a similar fertility-depressing effect.

Effect of Blood Collection Tube Type and Time to Processing on the Enumeration and High-Content Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells Using the High-Definition Single-Cell Assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Lee, Mariam; Kolatkar, Anand; McCormick, Madelyn; Dago, Angel D; Kendall, Jude; Carlsson, Nils Anders; Bethel, Kelly; Greenspan, Emily J; Hwang, Shelley E; Waitman, Kathryn R; Nieva, Jorge J; Hicks, James; Kuhn, Peter

2018-02-01

- As circulating tumor cell (CTC) assays gain clinical relevance, it is essential to address preanalytic variability and to develop standard operating procedures for sample handling in order to successfully implement genomically informed, precision health care. - To evaluate the effects of blood collection tube (BCT) type and time-to-assay (TTA) on the enumeration and high-content characterization of CTCs by using the high-definition single-cell assay (HD-SCA). - Blood samples of patients with early- and advanced-stage breast cancer were collected into cell-free DNA (CfDNA), EDTA, acid-citrate-dextrose solution, and heparin BCTs. Time-to-assay was evaluated at 24 and 72 hours, representing the fastest possible and more routine domestic shipping intervals, respectively. - We detected the highest CTC levels and the lowest levels of negative events in CfDNA BCT at 24 hours. At 72 hours in this BCT, all CTC subpopulations were decreased with the larger effect observed in high-definition CTCs and cytokeratin-positive cells smaller than white blood cells. Overall cell retention was also optimal in CfDNA BCT at 24 hours. Whole-genome copy number variation profiles were generated from single cells isolated from all BCT types and TTAs. Cells from CfDNA BCT at 24-hour TTA exhibited the least noise. - Circulating tumor cells can be identified and characterized under a variety of collection, handling, and processing conditions, but the highest quality can be achieved with optimized conditions. We quantified performance differences of the HD-SCA for specific preanalytic variables that may be used as a guide to develop best practices for implementation into patient care and/or research biorepository processes.

Comparison of the quantitative dry culture methods with both conventional media and most probable number method for the enumeration of coliforms and Escherichia coli/coliforms in food.

Science.gov (United States)

Teramura, H; Sota, K; Iwasaki, M; Ogihara, H

2017-07-01

Sanita-kun™ CC (coliform count) and EC (Escherichia coli/coliform count), sheet quantitative culture systems which can avoid chromogenic interference by lactase in food, were evaluated in comparison with conventional methods for these bacteria. Based on the results of inclusivity and exclusivity studies using 77 micro-organisms, sensitivity and specificity of both Sanita-kun™ met the criteria for ISO 16140. Both media were compared with deoxycholate agar, violet red bile agar, Merck Chromocult™ coliform agar (CCA), 3M Petrifilm™ CC and EC (PEC) and 3-tube MPN, as reference methods, in 100 naturally contaminated food samples. The correlation coefficients of both Sanita-kun™ for coliform detection were more than 0·95 for all comparisons. For E. coli detection, Sanita-kun™ EC was compared with CCA, PEC and MPN in 100 artificially contaminated food samples. The correlation coefficients for E. coli detection of Sanita-kun™ EC were more than 0·95 for all comparisons. There were no significant differences in all comparisons when conducting a one-way analysis of variance (anova). Both Sanita-kun™ significantly inhibited colour interference by lactase when inhibition of enzymatic staining was assessed using 40 natural cheese samples spiked with coliform. Our results demonstrated Sanita-kun™ CC and EC are suitable alternatives for the enumeration of coliforms and E. coli/coliforms, respectively, in a variety of foods, and specifically in fermented foods. Current chromogenic media for coliforms and Escherichia coli/coliforms have enzymatic coloration due to breaking down of chromogenic substrates by food lactase. The novel sheet culture media which have film layer to avoid coloration by food lactase have been developed for enumeration of coliforms and E. coli/coliforms respectively. In this study, we demonstrated these media had comparable performance with reference methods and less interference by food lactase. These media have a possibility not only

Comparison of culture media, simplate, and petrifilm for enumeration of yeasts and molds in food.

Science.gov (United States)

Taniwaki, M H; Silva, N; Banhe, A A; Iamanaka, B T

2001-10-01

The efficacy of three culture media, dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol (DRBC), dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18), and potato dextrose agar (PDA) supplemented with two antibiotics, were compared with the Simplate and Petrifilm techniques for mold and yeast enumeration. The following foods were analyzed: corn meal, wheat flour, cassava flour, bread crumbs, whole meal, sliced bread, ground peanuts, mozzarella cheese, grated parmesan cheese, cheese rolls, orange juice, pineapple pulp, pineapple cake, and mushroom in conserve. Correlation coefficients of DRBC versus PDA and DG18 for recovering total mold and yeast counts from the composite of 14 foods indicated that the three media were generally equivalent. Correlation coefficients for Petrifilm versus culture media were acceptable, although not as good as between culture media. Correlation coefficients of Simplate versus DRBC, DG18, PDA, and Petrifilm for recovering total yeasts and molds from a composite of 11 foods demonstrated that there was no equivalence between the counts obtained by Simplate and other culture media and Petrifilm, with significant differences observed for the most foods analyzed.

Enumeration of antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes by single-platform, HLA tetramer-based flow cytometry: a European multicenter evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Heijnen, Ingmar A F M; Barnett, David; Arroz, Maria J; Barry, Simon M; Bonneville, Marc; Brando, Bruno; D'hautcourt, Jean-Luc; Kern, Florian; Tötterman, Thomas H; Marijt, Erik W A; Bossy, David; Preijers, Frank W M B; Rothe, Gregor; Gratama, Jan W

2004-11-01

HLA class I peptide tetramers represent powerful diagnostic tools for detection and monitoring of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells. The impetus for the current multicenter study is the critical need to standardize tetramer flow cytometry if it is to be implemented as a routine diagnostic assay. Hence, the European Working Group on Clinical Cell Analysis set out to develop and evaluate a single-platform tetramer-based method that used cytomegalovirus (CMV) as the antigenic model. Absolute numbers of CMV-specific CD8(+) T cells were obtained by combining the percentage of tetramer-binding cells with the absolute CD8(+) T-cell count. Six send-outs of stabilized blood from healthy individuals or CMV-carrying donors with CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell counts of 3 to 10 cells/microl were distributed to 7 to 16 clinical sites. These sites were requested to enumerate CD8(+) T cells and, in the case of CMV-positive donors, CMV-specific subsets on three separate occasions using the standard method. Between-site coefficients of variation of less than 10% (absolute CD8(+) T-cell counts) and approximately 30% (percentage and absolute numbers of CMV-specific CD8(+) T cells) were achieved. Within-site coefficients of variation were approximately 5% (absolute CD8(+) T-cell counts), approximately 9% (percentage CMV-specific CD8(+) T cells), and approximately 17% (absolute CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell counts). The degree of variation tended to correlate inversely with the proportion of CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell subsets. The single-platform MHC tetramer-based method for antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cell counting has been evaluated by a European group of laboratories and can be considered a reproducible assay for routine enumeration of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells. (c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A collaborative study on a Nordic standard protocol for detection and enumeration of thermotolerant Campylobacter in food (NMKL 119, 3. Ed., 2007)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosenquist, Hanne; Bengtsson, Anja; Hansen, Tina Beck

2007-01-01

A Nordic standard protocol for detection and enumeration of thermotolerant Campylobacter in food has been elaborated (NMKL 119, 3. Ed., 2007). Performance and precision characteristics of this protocol were evaluated in a collaborative study with participation of 14 laboratories from seven European...... jejuni (SLV-542). Expected concentrations (95% C.I.) (cfu g(-1) or ml(-1)) of both strains in matrices were 0.6-1.4 and 23-60 for qualitative detection, and 0.6-1.4; 23-60; and 420-1200 for semi-quantitative detection. For quantitative determination, the expected concentrations of C. jejuni/C. coli were...

A comparison of cryopreservation methods: Slow-cooling vs. rapid-cooling based on cell viability, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and CD34+ enumeration of human umbilical cord blood mononucleated cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Ferry

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The finding of human umbilical cord blood as one of the most likely sources of hematopoietic stem cells offers a less invasive alternative for the need of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Due to the once-in-a-life time chance of collecting it, an optimum cryopreservation method that can preserve the life and function of the cells contained is critically needed. Methods Until now, slow-cooling has been the routine method of cryopreservation; however, rapid-cooling offers a simple, efficient, and harmless method for preserving the life and function of the desired cells. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of slow- and rapid-cooling to preserve umbilical cord blood of mononucleated cells suspected of containing hematopoietic stem cells. The parameters used in this study were differences in cell viability, malondialdehyde content, and apoptosis level. The identification of hematopoietic stem cells themselves was carried out by enumerating CD34+ in a flow cytometer. Results Our results showed that mononucleated cell viability after rapid-cooling (91.9% was significantly higher than that after slow-cooling (75.5%, with a p value = 0.003. Interestingly, the malondialdehyde level in the mononucleated cell population after rapid-cooling (56.45 μM was also significantly higher than that after slow-cooling (33.25 μM, with a p value p value = 0.138. However, CD34+ enumeration was much higher in the population that underwent slow-cooling (23.32 cell/μl than in the one that underwent rapid-cooling (2.47 cell/μl, with a p value = 0.001. Conclusions Rapid-cooling is a potential cryopreservation method to be used to preserve the umbilical cord blood of mononucleated cells, although further optimization of the number of CD34+ cells after rapid-cooling is critically needed.

Effect of Moringa oleifera consumption on diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Villarruel-López, A; López-de la Mora, D A; Vázquez-Paulino, O D; Puebla-Mora, A G; Torres-Vitela, Ma R; Guerrero-Quiroz, L A; Nuño, K

2018-04-10

Therapeutic use of leaves of M. oleifera has been evaluated in diabetes because of its possible capacity to decrease blood glucose and lipids concentration after ingestion, as result of the polyphenols content and others compounds. Nevertheless most results have been obtain from leaf extract, therefore this study would use leaf powder as the regular way of consumption of population to know effects over toxicity glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, corporal weight, and predominant groups of microbiota. Powdered leaf was administrated in different doses to know toxicity and genotoxicity using LD50 and micronuclei assay. Hyperglycemia was induced by alloxan on Sprague Dawley rats. Glucose and body weight were measured once a week meanwhile cholesterol and triglycerides were analyzed at the end of the study by commercial kits. Different organs were examined by hematoxylin-eosin technique. Lactic acid bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated from stool samples. The tested doses revealed no lethal dose and no significant differences in genotoxicity parameter. The consumption of the leaves showed a hypoglycemic effect ( 30 g over no M. oleifera treated groups). There was no change in enumeration of lactic acid bacteria (8.4 CFU/g) but there were differences in the predominance of type of lactobacillus and enterobacteria enumeration. These results help to increase information over the most popular use of M. oleifera and its safety. However there are needed more studies over the hypoglycemic mechanisms and effects over intestinal microbiota.

Radiation Effects Research Foundation bibliography of published papers, 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This issue is the bibliography of the publication by the staffs of the Radiation Effects Research Institute (RERF) in 1989. Titles in original and English language with author names are enumerated. Indexes by research areas and by author name are also attached. (J.P.N.) 62 refs

Radiation Effects Research Foundation bibliography of published papers, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

This issue is the bibliography of the publication by the staffs of the Radiation Effects Research Institute (RERF) in 1988. Titles in original and English language with author names are enumerated. Indeces by research areas and by author name are also attached. (J.P.N.) 99 refs

Elucidating the genotype-phenotype map by automatic enumeration and analysis of the phenotypic repertoire.

Science.gov (United States)

Lomnitz, Jason G; Savageau, Michael A

The gap between genotype and phenotype is filled by complex biochemical systems most of which are poorly understood. Because these systems are complex, it is widely appreciated that quantitative understanding can only be achieved with the aid of mathematical models. However, formulating models and measuring or estimating their numerous rate constants and binding constants is daunting. Here we present a strategy for automating difficult aspects of the process. The strategy, based on a system design space methodology, is applied to a class of 16 designs for a synthetic gene oscillator that includes seven designs previously formulated on the basis of experimentally measured and estimated parameters. Our strategy provides four important innovations by automating: (1) enumeration of the repertoire of qualitatively distinct phenotypes for a system; (2) generation of parameter values for any particular phenotype; (3) simultaneous realization of parameter values for several phenotypes to aid visualization of transitions from one phenotype to another, in critical cases from functional to dysfunctional; and (4) identification of ensembles of phenotypes whose expression can be phased to achieve a specific sequence of functions for rationally engineering synthetic constructs. Our strategy, applied to the 16 designs, reproduced previous results and identified two additional designs capable of sustained oscillations that were previously missed. Starting with a system's relatively fixed aspects, its architectural features, our method enables automated analysis of nonlinear biochemical systems from a global perspective, without first specifying parameter values. The examples presented demonstrate the efficiency and power of this automated strategy.

Effect of seasonal drawdown variations on groundwater quality in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

2013-07-24

Jul 24, 2013 ... Igbinosa and Okoh (2009) reported the damaging conse- quences of leachate infiltration into groundwater bodies on life expectancy of such water consumers, while Quinn et al. (2006) enumerated its effect and that of delayed drawdown on moist plant productivity and wetland ecology. Several studies have ...

Application of a good manufacturing practices checklist and enumeration of total coliform in swine feed mills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debora da Cruz Payao Pellegrini

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A cross-sectional study in four swine feed mills aimed to evaluate the correlation between the score of the inspection checklist defined in the Normative Instruction 4 (IN 4/ Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, and the enumeration of total coliforms throughout the manufacturing process. The most of non-conformities was found in the physical structure of the feed mills. Feed mill B showed the lowest number of unconformities while units A and D had the largest number of nonconformities. In 38.53% (489/1269 of the samples the presence of total coliform was detected, however no significant difference in the bacterial counts was observed between sampling sites and feed mills. The logistic regression pointed higher odds ratio (OR for total coliforms isolation at dosing (OR = 9.51, 95% CI: 4.43 to 20.41, grinding (OR = 7.10, 95% CI = 3.27 to 15.40 and residues (OR = 6.21, 95% CI: 3.88 to 9.95 In spite of having the second score in the checklist inspection, feed mill C presented the highest odds for total coliforms isolation (OR= 2,43, IC 95%: 1,68-3,53. The data indicate no association between the score of checklist and the presence of hygienic indicators in feed mills.

Ameliorative effects of betaine and ascorbic acid administration to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This review highlights the huge challenges heat stress pose to profitable production of broiler chickens during the hot-dry season. It also enumerates the negative effects of heat stress due to excess production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in broiler chickens. It emphasizes that administration of betaine and/or ascorbic ...

Elucidating the genotype–phenotype map by automatic enumeration and analysis of the phenotypic repertoire

Science.gov (United States)

Lomnitz, Jason G; Savageau, Michael A

2015-01-01

Background: The gap between genotype and phenotype is filled by complex biochemical systems most of which are poorly understood. Because these systems are complex, it is widely appreciated that quantitative understanding can only be achieved with the aid of mathematical models. However, formulating models and measuring or estimating their numerous rate constants and binding constants is daunting. Here we present a strategy for automating difficult aspects of the process. Methods: The strategy, based on a system design space methodology, is applied to a class of 16 designs for a synthetic gene oscillator that includes seven designs previously formulated on the basis of experimentally measured and estimated parameters. Results: Our strategy provides four important innovations by automating: (1) enumeration of the repertoire of qualitatively distinct phenotypes for a system; (2) generation of parameter values for any particular phenotype; (3) simultaneous realization of parameter values for several phenotypes to aid visualization of transitions from one phenotype to another, in critical cases from functional to dysfunctional; and (4) identification of ensembles of phenotypes whose expression can be phased to achieve a specific sequence of functions for rationally engineering synthetic constructs. Our strategy, applied to the 16 designs, reproduced previous results and identified two additional designs capable of sustained oscillations that were previously missed. Conclusions: Starting with a system’s relatively fixed aspects, its architectural features, our method enables automated analysis of nonlinear biochemical systems from a global perspective, without first specifying parameter values. The examples presented demonstrate the efficiency and power of this automated strategy. PMID:26998346

Differential enumeration of subpopulations in concentrated frozen and lyophilized cultures of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Yuyu; Wang, Zhaoxia; Bao, Qiuhua; Zhang, Heping

2017-11-01

Differential enumeration of subpopulations in concentrated frozen and lyophilized cultures of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus ND02 derived from 2 propagation procedures was determined. The subpopulations consisted of 3 categories (physiological states): viable cells capable of forming colonies on agar plates (VC+), viable cells incapable of forming colonies on agar plates (VC-), widely referred to as viable but nonculturable (VBNC) cells, and nonviable or dead cells (NVC). Counts of VC+ were recorded using a conventional plate count procedure. A fluorescent vital staining procedure that discriminates between viable (VC+ and VC-) and NVC cells was used to determine the number of viable and nonviable cells. Both propagation procedures had 2 variables: in procedure (P)1, the propagation medium was rich in yeast extract (4.0%) and the pH was maintained at 5.7; in P2, the medium was devoid of yeast extract and the pH was maintained at 5.1. The results showed that post-propagation operations-concentration of cells by centrifugation and subsequent freezing or lyophilization of cell concentrate-induced different degrees of transience from VC+ to VC- states in cells derived from P1 and P2. Compared with cells derived from P2, cells from P1 were more labile to stress associated with centrifugation, freezing, and lyophilization, as revealed by differential counting. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development and application of a new method for specific and sensitive enumeration of spores of nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum types B, E, and F in foods and food materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Peck, Michael W; Plowman, June; Aldus, Clare F; Wyatt, Gary M; Izurieta, Walter Penaloza; Stringer, Sandra C; Barker, Gary C

2010-10-01

The highly potent botulinum neurotoxins are responsible for botulism, a severe neuroparalytic disease. Strains of nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum form neurotoxins of types B, E, and F and are the main hazard associated with minimally heated refrigerated foods. Recent developments in quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) and food safety objectives (FSO) have made food safety more quantitative and include, as inputs, probability distributions for the contamination of food materials and foods. A new method that combines a selective enrichment culture with multiplex PCR has been developed and validated to enumerate specifically the spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum. Key features of this new method include the following: (i) it is specific for nonproteolytic C. botulinum (and does not detect proteolytic C. botulinum), (ii) the detection limit has been determined for each food tested (using carefully structured control samples), and (iii) a low detection limit has been achieved by the use of selective enrichment and large test samples. The method has been used to enumerate spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum in 637 samples of 19 food materials included in pasta-based minimally heated refrigerated foods and in 7 complete foods. A total of 32 samples (5 egg pastas and 27 scallops) contained spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum type B or F. The majority of samples contained <100 spores/kg, but one sample of scallops contained 444 spores/kg. Nonproteolytic C. botulinum type E was not detected. Importantly, for QMRA and FSO, the construction of probability distributions will enable the frequency of packs containing particular levels of contamination to be determined.

Maximal Conflict Set Enumeration Algorithm Based on Locality of Petri Nets%基于Pe tri网局部性的极大冲突集枚举算法

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

潘理; 郑红; 刘显明; 杨勃

2016-01-01

冲突是Petri网研究的重要主题。目前Petri网冲突研究主要集中于冲突建模和冲突消解策略，而对冲突问题本身的计算复杂性却很少关注。提出Petri网的冲突集问题，并证明冲突集问题是NP（Non-deterministic Polyno-mial）完全的。提出极大冲突集动态枚举算法，该算法基于当前标识的所有极大冲突集，利用Petri网实施局部性，仅计算下一标识中受局部性影响的极大冲突集，从而避免重新枚举所有极大冲突集。该算法时间复杂度为O（m2 n），m是当前标识的极大冲突集数目，n是变迁数。最后证明自由选择网、非对称选择网的极大冲突集枚举算法复杂度可降至O（n2）。极大冲突集枚举算法研究将为Petri网冲突问题的算法求解提供理论参考。%Conflict is an essential concept in Petri net theory.The existing research focuses on the modelling and resolu-tion strategies of conflict problems,but less on the computational complexity of the problems theirselves.In this paper,we pro-pose the conflict set problem for Petri nets,and prove that the conflict set problem is NP-complete.Furthermore,we present a dynamic algorithm for the maximal conflict set enumeration.Our algorithm only computes those conflict sets that are affected by local firing,which avoids enumerating all maximal conflict sets at each marking.The algorithm needs time O(m2n)where m is the number of maximal conflict sets at the current marking and n is the number of transitions.Finally,we show that the maximal conflict set enumeration problem can be solved in O(n2)for free-choice nets and asymmetric choice nets.The results on complexity of thel conflict set problem provide a theoretical reference for solving conflict problems of Petri nets.

A combination of direct viable count and fluorescence in situ hybridization for specific enumeration of viable Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp.bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Hernández, J; Moreno, Y; Amorocho, C M; Hernández, M

2012-03-01

We have developed a direct viable count (DVC)-FISH procedure for quickly and easily discriminating between viable and nonviable cells of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus strains, the traditional yogurt bacteria. direct viable count method has been modified and adapted for Lact. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Strep. thermophilus analysis by testing different times of incubation and concentrations of DNA-gyrase inhibitors. DVC procedure has been combined with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for the specific detection of viable cells of both bacteria with specific rRNA oligonucleotide probes (DVC-FISH). Of the four antibiotics tested (novobiocin, nalidixic acid, pipemidic acid and ciprofloxacin), novobiocin was the most effective for DVC method and the optimum incubation time was 7 h for both bacteria. The number of viable cells was obtained by the enumeration of specific hybridized cells that were elongated at least twice their original length for Lactobacillus and twice their original size for Streptococcus. This technique was successfully applied to detect viable cells in inoculated faeces. Results showed that this DVC-FISH procedure is a quick and culture-independent useful method to specifically detect viable Lact. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Strep. thermophilus in different samples, being applied for the first time to lactic acid bacteria. © 2011 The Authors. Letters in Applied Microbiology © 2011 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Development and Application of a New Method for Specific and Sensitive Enumeration of Spores of Nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum Types B, E, and F in Foods and Food Materials ▿

Science.gov (United States)

Peck, Michael W.; Plowman, June; Aldus, Clare F.; Wyatt, Gary M.; Penaloza Izurieta, Walter; Stringer, Sandra C.; Barker, Gary C.

2010-01-01

The highly potent botulinum neurotoxins are responsible for botulism, a severe neuroparalytic disease. Strains of nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum form neurotoxins of types B, E, and F and are the main hazard associated with minimally heated refrigerated foods. Recent developments in quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) and food safety objectives (FSO) have made food safety more quantitative and include, as inputs, probability distributions for the contamination of food materials and foods. A new method that combines a selective enrichment culture with multiplex PCR has been developed and validated to enumerate specifically the spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum. Key features of this new method include the following: (i) it is specific for nonproteolytic C. botulinum (and does not detect proteolytic C. botulinum), (ii) the detection limit has been determined for each food tested (using carefully structured control samples), and (iii) a low detection limit has been achieved by the use of selective enrichment and large test samples. The method has been used to enumerate spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum in 637 samples of 19 food materials included in pasta-based minimally heated refrigerated foods and in 7 complete foods. A total of 32 samples (5 egg pastas and 27 scallops) contained spores of nonproteolytic C. botulinum type B or F. The majority of samples contained <100 spores/kg, but one sample of scallops contained 444 spores/kg. Nonproteolytic C. botulinum type E was not detected. Importantly, for QMRA and FSO, the construction of probability distributions will enable the frequency of packs containing particular levels of contamination to be determined. PMID:20709854

Organizational structures of companies versus project management effectiveness

OpenAIRE

Joanna Haffer

2012-01-01

An organizational structure, indicated as one out of the four main organizational conditions supporting project management, has an essential meaning for project execution. This article, based on the research results, describes different organizational structures of project-orientated enterprises, enumerating their advantages and disadvantages, and reveals the influence of inter-organizational relations on project management effectiveness in enterprises operating in Poland. The results indicat...

Kleene Monads: Handling Iteration in a Framework of Generic Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Goncharov, Sergey; Schröder, Lutz; Mossakowski, Till

Monads are a well-established tool for modelling various computational effects. They form the semantic basis of Moggi’s computational metalanguage, the metalanguage of effects for short, which made its way into modern functional programming in the shape of Haskell’s do-notation. Standard computational idioms call for specific classes of monads that support additional control operations. Here, we introduce Kleene monads, which additionally feature nondeterministic choice and Kleene star, i.e. nondeterministic iteration, and we provide a metalanguage and a sound calculus for Kleene monads, the metalanguage of control and effects, which is the natural joint extension of Kleene algebra and the metalanguage of effects. This provides a framework for studying abstract program equality focussing on iteration and effects. These aspects are known to have decidable equational theories when studied in isolation. However, it is well known that decidability breaks easily; e.g. the Horn theory of continuous Kleene algebras fails to be recursively enumerable. Here, we prove several negative results for the metalanguage of control and effects; in particular, already the equational theory of the unrestricted metalanguage of control and effects over continuous Kleene monads fails to be recursively enumerable. We proceed to identify a fragment of this language which still contains both Kleene algebra and the metalanguage of effects and for which the natural axiomatisation is complete, and indeed the equational theory is decidable.

Tobacco counter-advertising: a review of the literature and a conceptual model for understanding effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Agostinelli, Gina; Grube, Joel W

2003-01-01

The tobacco counter-advertising literature is reviewed as it relates to basic process questions concerning what makes counter-advertisements effective. Limitations in addressing (a) counter-advertisement content and the psychological mediators targeted, (b) counter-advertisement style and the affective reactions targeted, (c) prior smoking experience, and (d) other audience factors are enumerated. A theoretical model based on alcohol advertising research is presented to address those limitations. The model addresses the practical research question of predicting when tobacco counter-advertising will work by examining the independent influence of each of these enumerated factors, as well as how these factors operate in concert, qualifying each other. The model also addresses the process question of explaining how counter-advertising works by identifying affective and cognitive processes as mediators. By understanding the processes that underlie the qualified findings, one can better advise the designers of tobacco counter-advertisements how to be more effective.

A novel dendritic cell-based direct ex vivo assay for detection and enumeration of circulating antigen-specific human T cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrio, Roberto; Zhang, Ge; Drake, Donald R; Schanen, Brian C

2018-05-07

Although a variety of assays have been used to examine T cell responses in vitro, standardized ex vivo detection of antigen-specific CD4 + T cells from human circulatory PBMCs remains constrained by low-dimensional characterization outputs and the need for polyclonal, mitogen-induced expansion methods to generate detectable response signals. To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel methodology utilizing antigen-pulsed autologous human dendritic target cells in a rapid and sensitive assay to accurately enumerate antigen-specific CD4 + T cell precursor frequency by multiparametric flow cytometry. With this approach, we demonstrate the ability to reproducibly quantitate poly-functional T cell responses following both primary and recall antigenic stimulation. Furthermore, this approach enables more comprehensive phenotypic profiling of circulating antigen-specific CD4 + T cells, providing valuable insights into the pre-existing polarization of antigen-specific T cells in humans. Combined, this approach permits sensitive and detailed ex vivo detection of antigen-specific CD4 + T cells delivering an important tool for advancing vaccine, immune-oncology and other therapeutic studies.

Rapid enumeration of low numbers of moulds in tea based drinks using an automated system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Kouichi; Yamaguchi, Nobuyasu; Baba, Takashi; Amano, Norihide; Nasu, Masao

2011-01-31

Aseptically prepared cold drinks based on tea have become popular worldwide. Contamination of these drinks with harmful microbes is a potential health problem because such drinks are kept free from preservatives to maximize aroma and flavour. Heat-tolerant conidia and ascospores of fungi can survive pasteurization, and need to be detected as quickly as possible. We were able to rapidly and accurately detect low numbers of conidia and ascospores in tea-based drinks using fluorescent staining followed by an automated counting system. Conidia or ascospores were inoculated into green tea and oolong tea, and samples were immediately filtered through nitrocellulose membranes (pore size: 0.8 μm) to concentrate fungal propagules. These were transferred onto potato dextrose agar and incubated for 23 h at 28 °C. Fungi germinating on the membranes were fluorescently stained for 30 min. The stained mycelia were counted selectively within 90s using an automated counting system (MGS-10LD; Chuo Electric Works, Osaka, Japan). Very low numbers (1 CFU/100ml) of conidia or ascospores could be rapidly counted, in contrast to traditional labour intensive techniques. All tested mould strains were detected within 24h while conventional plate counting required 72 h for colony enumeration. Counts of slow-growing fungi (Cladosporium cladosporioides) obtained by automated counting and by conventional plate counting were close (r(2) = 0.986). Our combination of methods enables counting of both fast- and slow-growing fungi, and should be useful for microbiological quality control of tea-based and also other drinks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Yersinia enterocolitica in slaughter pig tonsils: enumeration and detection by enrichment versus direct plating culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Damme, Inge; Habib, Ihab; De Zutter, Lieven

2010-02-01

Tonsil samples from 139 slaughter pigs were examined for the presence of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica by enrichment procedures based on the standard method ISO 10273:2003. In addition, samples were tested by direct plating method to evaluate its efficiency compared to the enrichment culture methods and to quantify the level of contamination in porcine tonsils. In total, 52 samples (37.4%) were positive for pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, all belonging to bioserotype 4/O:3. Fifty out of the 52 positive samples (96.2%) were detected by direct plating. Enumeration showed an average concentration of 4.5 log(10) CFU g(-1) and 4.4 log(10) CFU g(-1) tonsil on Salmonella-Shigella-desoxycholate-calcium chloride (SSDC) and cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) agar plates, respectively. The enrichment procedures recommended by the ISO 10273:2003 method were not optimal for the isolation of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica from pig tonsils: two days enrichment in irgasan-ticarcillin-potassium chlorate (ITC) broth resulted in an isolation rate of 84.6%, while 5 days enrichment in peptone-sorbitol-bile (PSB) broth recovered only 59.6% of positive samples. Reducing the enrichment time in PSB from 5 to 2 days resulted in a significantly higher recovery rate (94.2%) and might serve as an appropriate enrichment protocol for the isolation of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica from pig tonsils. Compared to enrichment culture methods, results based on direct plating can be obtained in a shorter time course and provide quantitative data that might be needed for further risk assessment studies.

Enumeration and identification of gram negative bacteria present in soil underlying urban waste-sites in southwestern Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Achudume, A C; Olawale, J T

2010-09-01

Samples of soils underlying wastes were collected from four sites representing four demographic regions of a medium sized town in southwestern Nigeria. Standard methods and reference strains of isolated bacteria were employed for identification. Evaluation of the enzymatic and biochemical reactions showed that all isolated and identified microbes were non-fermenting heterotrophic (HTB). For example, Klebsiella pnemuniae may be involved in wound infections, particularly following bowel surgery. Similarly Pseudomonas aeruginosa can produce serious nosocomial infections if it gains access to the body through wounds or intravenous lines. From the 15 culure plates, 88 colonies with various characteristics were enumerated. They differed in aspect of viscosity and color. The bacterial species were identified by percent positive reactions while oxidative and sugar fermentation tests revealed various characteristics among the isolated strains. All of the isolates were negative for citrate utilization, gelatin liquefaction, nitrate reduction, methyl red and Voges Proskaur, motility and hydrogen sulphate production. The quantity of HTB present in an area serves as an index of the general sanitary conditions of that area. The presence of a large number of HTB, in an ecological area may be considered a liability as it can enhance the spread of diseases and on a larger scale may enable epidemics to arise. Therefore, there is need for control of waste sites by recovery and regular germicidal sanitation.

Comparison of New and Traditional Culture-Dependent Media for Enumerating Foodborne Yeasts and Molds.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuchat, Larry R; Mann, David A

2016-01-01

Fifty-six foods and food ingredients were analyzed for populations of naturally occurring yeasts and molds using Petrifilm rapid yeast and mold (RYM) count plates, Petrifilm yeast and mold (YM) count plates, dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol (DRBC) agar plates, acidified potato dextrose agar (APDA) plates, and dichloran 18% glycerol (DG18) agar plates. Colonies were counted after incubating plates for 48, 72, and 120 h at 25°C. Of 56 foods in which either yeasts or molds were detected on at least one medium incubated for 120 h, neither yeasts nor molds were detected in 55.4, 73.2, 21.4, 19.6, and 71.4% of foods plated on the five respective media and incubated for 48 h; 10.7, 14.3, 3.6, 1.8, and 19.6% of foods were negative after 72 h, and 3.6, 1.8, 0, 0, and 0% of foods were negative after 120 h. Considering all enumeration media, correlation coefficients were 0.03 to 0.97 at 48 h of incubation; these values increased to 0.75 to 0.99 at 120 h. Coefficients of variation for total yeasts and molds were as high as 30.0, 30.8, and 27.2% at 48, 72, and 120 h, respectively. The general order of performance was DRBC = APDA > RYM Petrifilm > YM Petrifilm ≥ DG18 when plates were incubated for 48 h, DRBC > APDA > RYM Petrifilm > YM Petrifilm ≥ DG18 when plates were incubated for 72 h, and DRBC > APDA > RYM Petrifilm > YM Petrifilm > DG18 when plates were incubated for 120 h. Differences in performance among media are attributed to the diversity of yeasts and molds likely to be present in test foods and differences in nutrient, pH, and water activity requirements for resuscitation of stressed cells and colony development.

Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program - Entiat River Snorkel Surveys, 2006-2007.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelle, R.D.

2007-10-01

The USFWS Mid-Columbia River Fishery Resource Office conducted snorkel surveys at 11 sites during the summer 2006 survey period and at 15 sites during fall 2006 and winter 2007 survey periods as part of the Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program in the Entiat River. A total of 39,898 fish from 14 species/genera and an unknown category were enumerated. Chinook salmon were the overall most common fish observed and comprised 19% of fish enumerated followed by mountain whitefish (18%) and rainbow trout (14%). Day and night surveys were conducted during the summer 2006 period (August), while night surveys were conducted during the fall 2006 (October) and winter 2007 (February/March) surveys. This is second annual progress report to Bonneville Power Administration for the snorkel surveys conducted in the Entiat River as related to long-term effectiveness monitoring of restoration programs in this watershed. The objective of this study is to monitor the fish habitat utilization of planned in-stream restoration efforts in the Entiat River by conducting pre- and post-construction snorkel surveys at selected treatment and control sites.

Analyzing the behavior and reliability of voting systems comprising tri-state units using enumerated simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yacoub, Sherif

2003-01-01

Voting is a common technique used in combining results from peer experts, for multiple purposes, and in a variety of domains. In distributed decision making systems, voting mechanisms are used to obtain a decision by incorporating the opinion of multiple units. Voting systems have many applications in fault tolerant systems, mutual exclusion in distributed systems, and replicated databases. We are specifically interested in voting systems as used in decision-making applications. In this paper, we describe a synthetic experimental procedure to study the behavior of a variety of voting system configurations using a simulator to: analyze the state of each expert, apply a voting mechanism, and analyze the voting results. We introduce an enumerated-simulation approach and compare it to existing mathematical approaches. The paper studies the following behaviors of a voting system: (1) the reliability of the voting system, R; (2) the probability of reaching a consensus, P c ; (3) certainty index, T; and (4) the confidence index, C. The configuration parameters controlling the analysis are: (1) the number of participating experts, N, (2) the possible output states of an expert, and (3) the probability distribution of each expert states. We illustrate the application of this approach to a voting system that consists of N units, each has three states: correct (success), wrong (failed), and abstain (did not produce an output). The final output of the decision-making (voting) system is correct if a consensus is reached on a correct unit output, abstain if all units abstain from voting, and wrong otherwise. We will show that using the proposed approach, we can easily conduct studies to unleash several behaviors of a decision-making system with tri-state experts

Diversity and enumeration of halophilic and alkaliphilic bacteria in Spanish-style green table-olive fermentations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucena-Padrós, Helena; Ruiz-Barba, José Luis

2016-02-01

The presence and enumeration of halophilic and alkaliphilic bacteria in Spanish-style table-olive fermentations was studied. Twenty 10-tonne fermenters at two large manufacturing companies in Spain, previously studied through both culture dependent and independent (PCR-DGGE) methodologies, were selected. Virtually all this microbiota was isolated during the initial fermentation stage. A total of 203 isolates were obtained and identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. They belonged to 13 bacterial species, included in 11 genera. It was noticeable the abundance of halophilic and alkaliphilic lactic acid bacteria (HALAB). These HALAB belonged to the three genera of this group: Alkalibacterium, Marinilactibacillus and Halolactibacillus. Ten bacterial species were isolated for the first time from table olive fermentations, including the genera Amphibacillus, Natronobacillus, Catenococcus and Streptohalobacillus. The isolates were genotyped through RAPD and clustered in a dendrogram where 65 distinct strains were identified. Biodiversity indexes found statistically significant differences between both patios regarding genotype richness, diversity and dominance. However, Jaccard similarity index suggested that the halophilic/alkaliphilic microbiota in both patios was more similar than the overall microbiota at the initial fermentation stage. Thus, up to 7 genotypes of 6 different species were shared, suggesting adaptation of some strains to this fermentation stage. Morisita-Horn similarity index indicated a high level of codominance of the same species in both patios. Halophilic and alkaliphilic bacteria, especially HALAB, appeared to be part of the characteristic microbiota at the initial stage of this table-olive fermentation, and they could contribute to the conditioning of the fermenting brines in readiness for growth of common lactic acid bacteria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of ionizing radiations on connective tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altman, K.I.; Gerber, G.B.

1980-01-01

The effects of ionizing radiations on connective tissue in lung, heart, vasculature, kidney, skin, and skeletal tissues are reviewed. Special emphasis is given to the effect of ionizing radiations on vasculo-connective tissue and fibrotic changes following radiation-induced injury to organs and tissues. In order to put the subject matter in proper prospective, the general biochemistry, physiology, and pathology of connective tissue is reviewed briefly together with the participation of connective tissue in disease. The review closes with an assessment of future problems and an enumeration and discussion of important, as yet unanswered questions

Evaluation of Petrifilm™ method for enumerating aerobic bacteria in Crottin goat's cheese Evaluación de PetrifilmTM para la enumeración de bacterias aerobias en queso de cabra Crottin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.B. de Sousa

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The PetrifilmTM Aerobic Count Plate (ACP developed by 3M laboratories, is a ready-to-use culture medium system, useful for the enumeration of aerobic bacteria in food. PetrifilmTMwas compared with a standard method in several different food products with satisfactory results. However, many studies showed that bacterial counts in PetrifilmTM were significantly lower than those obtained with conventional methods in fermented food. The purpose of this study was to compare the PetrifilmTM method for enumerating aerobic bacteria with a conventional method (PCA in Crottin goat's cheese. Thirty samples were used for the colony count. The mean count and standard deviation were 7.18 ± 1.17 log CFU g-1 on PCA and 7.11 ± 1.05 log CFU g-1 on PetrifilmTM. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between both methods (t = 1.33, P = 0.193. The Pearson correlation coefficient (0.971, P=0.0001 indicated a strong linear relationship between the PetrifilmTM and the standard method. The results showed that PetrifilmTM is suitable and a convenient alternative to this standard method for the enumeration of aerobic flora in goat soft cheese.PetrifilmTM Aerobic Count Plate (ACP desarrollado por 3M es un sistema listo para usar, empleado para el recuento de bacterias aerobias en alimentos. PetrifilmTMfue comparado con los métodos estándar en diferentes productos alimenticios con resultados satisfactorios. Sin embargo, en alimentos fermentados, algunos estudios mostraron que el recuento de bacterias aerobias en PetrifilmTM fue significativamente menor que aquellos obtenidos con los métodos convencionales (PCA. El propósito de este estudio fue comparar el método PetrifilmTM para el recuento de bacterias aerobias con un método convencional en queso de cabra Crottin. Se usaron 30 muestras para el recuento de colonias. Las medias y desviaciones estándar fueron 7,18 ± 1,17 log UFC g-1 en PCA y 7,11 ± 1,05 log UFC g-1 en PetrifilmTM. El análisis de

On the use of the serial dilution culture method to enumerate viable phytoplankton in natural communities of plankton subjected to ballast water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cullen, John J; MacIntyre, Hugh L

2016-01-01

Discharge standards for ballast water treatment (BWT) systems are based on concentrations of living cells, for example, as determined with vital stains. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) stops the reproduction of microorganisms without killing them outright; they are living, but not viable, and ecologically as good as dead. Consequently, UV-treated discharge can be compliant with the intent of regulation while failing a live/dead test. An alternative evaluation of BWT can be proposed based on the assessment of viable, rather than living, cells in discharge water. In principle, the serial dilution culture-most probable number (SDC-MPN) method provides the appropriate measure for phytoplankton. But, the method has been criticized, particularly because it is thought that many phytoplankton species cannot be cultured. A review of the literature shows that although SDC-MPN has been used for more than 50 years-generally to identify and count phytoplankton species that cannot be preserved-its application to enumerate total viable phytoplankton seems to be new, putting past criticisms of the method in a different light. Importantly, viable cells need to grow only enough to be detected, not to be brought into sustained culture, and competition between species in a dilution tube is irrelevant as long as the winner is detectable. Thorough consideration of sources of error leads to recommendations for minimizing and quantifying uncertainties by optimizing growth conditions and conducting systematic comparisons. We conclude that with careful evaluation, SDC-MPN is potentially an effective method for assessing the viability of phytoplankton after BWT.

An improved procedure for detection and enumeration of walrus signatures in airborne thermal imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Burn, Douglas M.; Udevitz, Mark S.; Speckman, Suzann G.; Benter, R. Bradley

2009-01-01

In recent years, application of remote sensing to marine mammal surveys has been a promising area of investigation for wildlife managers and researchers. In April 2006, the United States and Russia conducted an aerial survey of Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) using thermal infrared sensors to detect groups of animals resting on pack ice in the Bering Sea. The goal of this survey was to estimate the size of the Pacific walrus population. An initial analysis of the U.S. data using previously-established methods resulted in lower detectability of walrus groups in the imagery and higher variability in calibration models than was expected based on pilot studies. This paper describes an improved procedure for detection and enumeration of walrus groups in airborne thermal imagery. Thermal images were first subdivided into smaller 200 x 200 pixel "tiles." We calculated three statistics to represent characteristics of walrus signatures from the temperature histogram for each the. Tiles that exhibited one or more of these characteristics were examined further to determine if walrus signatures were present. We used cluster analysis on tiles that contained walrus signatures to determine which pixels belonged to each group. We then calculated a thermal index value for each walrus group in the imagery and used generalized linear models to estimate detection functions (the probability of a group having a positive index value) and calibration functions (the size of a group as a function of its index value) based on counts from matched digital aerial photographs. The new method described here improved our ability to detect walrus groups at both 2 m and 4 m spatial resolution. In addition, the resulting calibration models have lower variance than the original method. We anticipate that the use of this new procedure will greatly improve the quality of the population estimate derived from these data. This procedure may also have broader applicability to thermal infrared

Enumerating bone marrow blasts from nonerythroid cellularity improves outcome prediction in myelodysplastic syndromes and permits a better definition of the intermediate risk category of the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R).

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo, Xavier; Arenillas, Leonor; Luño, Elisa; Senent, Leonor; Arnan, Montserrat; Ramos, Fernando; Pedro, Carme; Tormo, Mar; Montoro, Julia; Díez-Campelo, María; Blanco, María Laura; Arrizabalaga, Beatriz; Xicoy, Blanca; Bonanad, Santiago; Jerez, Andrés; Nomdedeu, Meritxell; Ferrer, Ana; Sanz, Guillermo F; Florensa, Lourdes

2017-07-01

The Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) has been recognized as the score with the best outcome prediction capability in MDS, but this brought new concerns about the accurate prognostication of patients classified into the intermediate risk category. The correct enumeration of blasts is essential in prognostication of MDS. Recent data evidenced that considering blasts from nonerythroid cellularity (NECs) improves outcome prediction in the context of IPSS and WHO classification. We assessed the percentage of blasts from total nucleated cells (TNCs) and NECs in 3924 MDS patients from the GESMD, 498 of whom were MDS with erythroid predominance (MDS-E). We assessed if calculating IPSS-R by enumerating blasts from NECs improves prognostication of MDS. Twenty-four percent of patients classified into the intermediate category were reclassified into higher-risk categories and showed shorter overall survival (OS) and time to AML evolution than those who remained into the intermediate one. Likewise, a better distribution of patients was observed, since lower-risk patients showed longer survivals than previously whereas higher-risk ones maintained the outcome expected in this poor prognostic group (median OS < 20 months). Furthermore, our approach was particularly useful for detecting patients at risk of dying with AML. Regarding MDS-E, 51% patients classified into the intermediate category were reclassified into higher-risk ones and showed shorter OS and time to AML. In this subgroup of MDS, IPSS-R was capable of splitting our series in five groups with significant differences in OS only when blasts were assessed from NECs. In conclusion, our easy-applicable approach improves prognostic assessment of MDS patients. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantum effects in black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frolov, V.P.

1979-01-01

A strict definition of black holes is presented and some properties with regard to their mass are enumerated. The Hawking quantum effect - the effect of vacuum instability in the black hole gravitational field, as a result of shich the black hole radiates as a heated body is analyzed. It is shown that in order to obtain results on the black hole radiation it is sufficient to predetermine the in-vacuum state at a time moment in the past, when the collapsing body has a large size, and its gravitational field can be neglected. The causes and the place of particle production by the black hole, and also the space-time inside the black hole, are considered

Rapid Quantification of the Toxic Alga Prymnesium parvum in Natural Samples by Use of a Specific Monoclonal Antibody and Solid-Phase Cytometry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

West, N. J.; Bacchieri, R.; Hansen, Gert

2006-01-01

The increasing incidence of harmful algal blooms around the world and their associated health and economic effects require the development of methods to rapidly and accurately detect and enumerate the target species. Here we describe use of a solid-phase cytometer to detect and enumerate the toxi......-phase cytometer can be used to rapidly enumerate natural P. parvum cells and that it could be used to detect other toxic algae, with an appropriate antibody or DNA probe....

NAVAIR Portable Source Initiative (NPSI) Standard for Material Properties Reference Database (MPRD) V2.2

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-26

of a material to conduct electricity . p-electrical_resisitivity electrical resistivity electrical ohm-m The property of a material...that resists the flow of electrical current. p-magnetic_susceptibility magnetic susceptibility electrical The degree to which a...enumeration Zr enumeration Nb enumeration Mo enumeration Tc enumeration Ru enumeration Rh enumeration Pd enumeration Ag enumeration

Application of quantitative real-time PCR compared to filtration methods for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in surface waters within Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Vital, Pierangeli G; Van Ha, Nguyen Thi; Tuyet, Le Thi Hong; Widmer, Kenneth W

2017-02-01

Surface water samples in Vietnam were collected from the Saigon River, rural and suburban canals, and urban runoff canals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and were processed to enumerate Escherichia coli. Quantification was done through membrane filtration and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Mean log colony-forming unit (CFU)/100 ml E. coli counts in the dry season for river/suburban canals and urban canals were log 2.8 and 3.7, respectively, using a membrane filtration method, while using Taqman quantitative real-time PCR they were log 2.4 and 2.8 for river/suburban canals and urban canals, respectively. For the wet season, data determined by the membrane filtration method in river/suburban canals and urban canals samples had mean counts of log 3.7 and 4.1, respectively. While mean log CFU/100 ml counts in the wet season using quantitative PCR were log 3 and 2, respectively. Additionally, the urban canal samples were significantly lower than those determined by conventional culture methods for the wet season. These results show that while quantitative real-time PCR can be used to determine levels of fecal indicator bacteria in surface waters, there are some limitations to its application and it may be impacted by sources of runoff based on surveyed samples.

Rapid detection of pathological mutations and deletions of the haemoglobin beta gene (HBB) by High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis and Gene Ratio Analysis Copy Enumeration PCR (GRACE-PCR).

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Andrew; Sasse, Jurgen; Varadi, Aniko

2016-10-19

Inherited disorders of haemoglobin are the world's most common genetic diseases, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. The large number of mutations associated with the haemoglobin beta gene (HBB) makes gene scanning by High Resolution Melting (HRM) PCR an attractive diagnostic approach. However, existing HRM-PCR assays are not able to detect all common point mutations and have only a very limited ability to detect larger gene rearrangements. The aim of the current study was to develop a HBB assay, which can be used as a screening test in highly heterogeneous populations, for detection of both point mutations and larger gene rearrangements. The assay is based on a combination of conventional HRM-PCR and a novel Gene Ratio Analysis Copy Enumeration (GRACE) PCR method. HRM-PCR was extensively optimised, which included the use of an unlabelled probe and incorporation of universal bases into primers to prevent interference from common non-pathological polymorphisms. GRACE-PCR was employed to determine HBB gene copy numbers relative to a reference gene using melt curve analysis to detect rearrangements in the HBB gene. The performance of the assay was evaluated by analysing 410 samples. A total of 44 distinct pathological genotypes were detected. In comparison with reference methods, the assay has a sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 98 %. We have developed an assay that detects both point mutations and larger rearrangements of the HBB gene. This assay is quick, sensitive, specific and cost effective making it suitable as an initial screening test that can be used for highly heterogeneous cohorts.

Algorithm for complete enumeration based on a stroke graph to solve the supply network configuration and operations scheduling problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Maheut

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an algorithm that solves the supply network configuration and operations scheduling problem in a mass customization company that faces alternative operations for one specific tool machine order in a multiplant context. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this objective, the supply chain network configuration and operations scheduling problem is presented. A model based on stroke graphs allows the design of an algorithm that enumerates all the feasible solutions. The algorithm considers the arrival of a new customized order proposal which has to be inserted into a scheduled program. A selection function is then used to choose the solutions to be simulated in a specific simulation tool implemented in a Decision Support System. Findings and Originality/value: The algorithm itself proves efficient to find all feasible solutions when alternative operations must be considered. The stroke structure is successfully used to schedule operations when considering more than one manufacturing and supply option in each step. Research limitations/implications: This paper includes only the algorithm structure for a one-by-one, sequenced introduction of new products into the list of units to be manufactured. Therefore, the lotsizing process is done on a lot-per-lot basis. Moreover, the validation analysis is done through a case study and no generalization can be done without risk. Practical implications: The result of this research would help stakeholders to determine all the feasible and practical solutions for their problem. It would also allow to assessing the total costs and delivery times of each solution. Moreover, the Decision Support System proves useful to assess alternative solutions. Originality/value: This research offers a simple algorithm that helps solve the supply network configuration problem and, simultaneously, the scheduling problem by considering alternative operations. The proposed system

An improved automated procedure for informal and temporary dwellings detection and enumeration, using mathematical morphology operators on VHR satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Jenerowicz, Małgorzata; Kemper, Thomas

2016-10-01

Every year thousands of people are displaced by conflicts or natural disasters and often gather in large camps. Knowing how many people have been gathered is crucial for an efficient relief operation. However, it is often difficult to collect exact information on the total number of the population. This paper presents the improved morphological methodology for the estimation of dwellings structures located in several Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camps, based on Very High Resolution (VHR) multispectral satellite imagery with pixel sizes of 1 meter or less including GeoEye-1, WorldView-2, QuickBird-2, Ikonos-2, Pléiades-A and Pléiades-B. The main topic of this paper is the approach enhancement with selection of feature extraction algorithm, the improvement and automation of pre-processing and results verification. For the informal and temporary dwellings extraction purpose the high quality of data has to be ensured. The pre-processing has been extended by including the input data hierarchy level assignment and data fusion method selection and evaluation. The feature extraction algorithm follows the procedure presented in Jenerowicz, M., Kemper, T., 2011. Optical data are analysed in a cyclic approach comprising image segmentation, geometrical, textural and spectral class modeling aiming at camp area identification. The successive steps of morphological processing have been combined in a one stand-alone application for automatic dwellings detection and enumeration. Actively implemented, these approaches can provide a reliable and consistent results, independent of the imaging satellite type and different study sites location, providing decision support in emergency response for the humanitarian community like United Nations, European Union and Non-Governmental relief organizations.

Effects of sodium azide on the abundance of prokaryotes and viruses in marine samples.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Winter

Full Text Available Flow cytometry is set to become the standard method for enumerating prokaryotes and viruses in marine samples. However, the samples need to be flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen directly after aldehyde fixation. Because liquid nitrogen may not always be available, we tested the potential of sodium azide as a preservative for prokaryotes and viruses in marine samples as a possible alternative. For that we conducted incubation experiments with untreated and sodium azide treated marine water samples at 4°C and room temperature. The data indicate that sodium azide cannot be used to maintain marine samples used for the enumeration of prokaryotes and viruses.

Alpha particle effects in burning tokamak plasmas: overview and specific examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigmar, D.J.

1986-07-01

Using the total power balance of an ignited tokamak plasma as a guideline, a range of alpha driven effects is surveyed regarding their impact on achieving and maintaining fusion burn. Specific examples of MHD and kinetic modes and multi species transport dynamics are discussed, including the possible interaction of these categories of effects. This power balance approach rather than a straightforward enumeration of possible effects serves to reveal their non-linear dependence and the ensuing fragility of our understanding of the approach to and maintenance of ignition. Specific examples are given of the interaction between α-power driven sawtoothing and ideal MHD stability, and direct α-effects on MHD modes including kinetic corrections. Anomalous ion heat transport and central impurity peaking mechanisms and anomalous and collisional α-transport including the ambipolar electric field are discussed

Performance and specificity of the covalently linked immunomagnetic separation-ATP method for rapid detection and enumeration of enterococci in coastal environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer-Faust, Amity G; Thulsiraj, Vanessa; Ferguson, Donna; Jay, Jennifer A

2014-05-01

The performance and specificity of the covalently linked immunomagnetic separation-ATP (Cov-IMS/ATP) method for the detection and enumeration of enterococci was evaluated in recreational waters. Cov-IMS/ATP performance was compared with standard methods: defined substrate technology (Enterolert; IDEXX Laboratories), membrane filtration (EPA Method 1600), and an Enterococcus-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay (EPA Method A). We extend previous studies by (i) analyzing the stability of the relationship between the Cov-IMS/ATP method and culture-based methods at different field sites, (ii) evaluating specificity of the assay for seven ATCC Enterococcus species, (iii) identifying cross-reacting organisms binding the antibody-bead complexes with 16S rRNA gene sequencing and evaluating specificity of the assay to five nonenterococcus species, and (iv) conducting preliminary tests of preabsorption as a means of improving the assay. Cov-IMS/ATP was found to perform consistently and with strong agreement rates (based on exceedance/compliance with regulatory limits) of between 83% and 100% compared to the culture-based Enterolert method at a variety of sites with complex inputs. The Cov-IMS/ATP method is specific to five of seven different Enterococcus spp. tested. However, there is potential for nontarget bacteria to bind the antibody, which may be reduced by purification of the IgG serum with preabsorption at problematic sites. The findings of this study help to validate the Cov-IMS/ATP method, suggesting a predictable relationship between the Cov-IMS/ATP method and traditional culture-based methods, which will allow for more widespread application of this rapid and field-portable method for coastal water quality assessment.

Enumeration of Salmonids in the Okanogan Basin Using Underwater Video, Performance Period: October 2005 (Project Inception) - 31 December 2006.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Peter N.; Rayton, Michael D.; Nass, Bryan L.; Arterburn, John E.

2007-06-01

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Tribes) identified the need for collecting baseline census data on the timing and abundance of adult salmonids in the Okanogan River Basin in order to determine basin and tributary-specific spawner distributions, evaluate the status and trends of natural salmonid production in the basin, document local fish populations, and augment existing fishery data. This report documents the design, installation, operation and evaluation of mainstem and tributary video systems in the Okanogan River Basin. The species-specific data collected by these fish enumeration systems are presented along with an evaluation of the operation of a facility that provides a count of fish using an automated method. Information collected by the Colville Tribes Fish & Wildlife Department, specifically the Okanogan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program (OBMEP), is intended to provide a relative abundance indicator for anadromous fish runs migrating past Zosel Dam and is not intended as an absolute census count. Okanogan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program collected fish passage data between October 2005 and December 2006. Video counting stations were deployed and data were collected at two locations in the basin: on the mainstem Okanogan River at Zosel Dam near Oroville, Washington, and on Bonaparte Creek, a tributary to the Okanogan River, in the town of Tonasket, Washington. Counts at Zosel Dam between 10 October 2005 and 28 February 2006 are considered partial, pilot year data as they were obtained from the operation of a single video array on the west bank fishway, and covered only a portion of the steelhead migration. A complete description of the apparatus and methodology can be found in 'Fish Enumeration Using Underwater Video Imagery - Operational Protocol' (Nass 2007). At Zosel Dam, totals of 57 and 481 adult Chinook salmon were observed with the video monitoring system in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Run

Prevalence reduction of pathogens in poultry fed with Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fanelli, A.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Description of the subject. The growth of new antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens represents a huge problem in poultry rearing. There is evidence that dietary yeast could be effective in the protection against a variety of pathogens that can affect poultry health and cause foodborne diseases in humans. Since still few or contradictory information are available for this topic. Objectives. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of live yeast supplementation in broiler chickens on Salmonella enteritidis and Campylobacter jejuni content in feces, cecum, and skin. Method. Supplemented yeast consisted of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Levucell® SB20, type boulardii I-1079, Lallemand, France and was administered at a rate of 1 x 106 CFU·g-1 of feed. On day ten of life, birds were orally challenged with S. enteritidis (1 x 105 CFU/bird and C. jejuni (3 x 105 CFU/bird. Growth performance, and coliforms, yeasts and lactobacilli enumeration were evaluated on day 0, 10, 20 and 38. Ten and eighteen days post infection (PI, 10 animals per replicate were slaughtered and pooled ceca content were analyzed for yeast enumeration and Salmonella and Campylobacter frequency and enumeration. The presence and the enumeration of Salmonella and Campylobacter in neck and breast skin were performed on one subject per replicate. Results. Dietary S. cerevisiae increased yeast and lactobacilli (p = 0.01 count, while Salmonella enumeration and frequency significantly decreased in neck (p = 0.03 and tended to decrease in cecum (p = 0.06, feces (p = 0.06, and breast (p = 0.08. On 10d PI Campylobacter presence was decreased in cecum (p = 0.01, feces (p < 0.01, breast skin (p = 0.04 and neck skin (p < 0.01, while the enumeration was found to be lower in feces (p < 0.01 and neck skin (p = 0.05. At the end of the trial the frequency of this pathogen was decreased in feces (p < 0.01, and breast skin (p = 0.02, while the enumeration was diminished in cecum (p

Size effects in lithium ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Hu-Rong; Yin Ya-Xia; Guo Yu-Gao

2016-01-01

Size-related properties of novel lithium battery materials, arising from kinetics, thermodynamics, and newly discovered lithium storage mechanisms, are reviewed. Complementary experimental and computational investigations of the use of the size effects to modify electrodes and electrolytes for lithium ion batteries are enumerated and discussed together. Size differences in the materials in lithium ion batteries lead to a variety of exciting phenomena. Smaller-particle materials with highly connective interfaces and reduced diffusion paths exhibit higher rate performance than the corresponding bulk materials. The thermodynamics is also changed by the higher surface energy of smaller particles, affecting, for example, secondary surface reactions, lattice parameter, voltage, and the phase transformation mechanism. Newly discovered lithium storage mechanisms that result in superior storage capacity are also briefly highlighted. (topical review)

A visual sense of number emerges from the dynamics of a recurrent on-center off-surround neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Sengupta, Rakesh; Surampudi, Bapi Raju; Melcher, David

2014-09-25

It has been proposed that the ability of humans to quickly perceive numerosity involves a visual sense of number. Different paradigms of enumeration and numerosity comparison have produced a gamut of behavioral and neuroimaging data, but there has been no unified conceptual framework that can explain results across the entire range of numerosity. The current work tries to address the ongoing debate concerning whether the same mechanism operates for enumeration of small and large numbers, through a computational approach. We describe the workings of a single-layered, fully connected network characterized by self-excitation and recurrent inhibition that operates at both subitizing and estimation ranges. We show that such a network can account for classic numerical cognition effects (the distance effect, Fechner׳s law, Weber fraction for numerosity comparison) through the network steady state activation response across different recurrent inhibition values. The model also accounts for fMRI data previously reported for different enumeration related tasks. The model also allows us to generate an estimate of the pattern of reaction times in enumeration tasks. Overall, these findings suggest that a single network architecture can account for both small and large number processing. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Organizational structures of companies versus project management effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Haffer

2012-12-01

Full Text Available An organizational structure, indicated as one out of the four main organizational conditions supporting project management, has an essential meaning for project execution. This article, based on the research results, describes different organizational structures of project-orientated enterprises, enumerating their advantages and disadvantages, and reveals the influence of inter-organizational relations on project management effectiveness in enterprises operating in Poland. The results indicate that the more a character of inter-organizational relations is heading towards project structure, the higher project management effectiveness is. In the next sequence the project management processes are supported by strong matrix structures, whereas the worst outcomes are provided by functional structures. Simultaneously, it was concluded that project structures are conducive to high advancement of project management processes, and among them, especially project risk management processes as well as communication, time and cost management processes.

Effect of Mutations on HP Lattice Proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Guangjie; Vogel, Thomas; Landau, David; Li, Ying; Wüst, Thomas

2013-03-01

Using Wang-Landau sampling with approriate trial moves[2], we investigate the effect of different types of mutations on lattice proteins in the HP model. While exact studies have been carried out for short HP proteins[3], the systems we investigate are of much larger size and hence not accessible for exact enumerations. Based on the estimated density of states, we systematically analyse the changes in structure and degeneracy of ground states of particular proteins and measure thermodynamic quantities like the stability of ground states and the specific heat, for example. Both, neutral mutations, which do not change the structure and stability of ground states, as well as critical mutations, which do change the thermodynamic behavior qualitatively, have been observed. Research supported by NSF

A Novel Strategy for Detection and Enumeration of Circulating Rare Cell Populations in Metastatic Cancer Patients Using Automated Microfluidic Filtration and Multiplex Immunoassay.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Jesus M Magbanua

Full Text Available Size selection via filtration offers an antigen-independent approach for the enrichment of rare cell populations in blood of cancer patients. We evaluated the performance of a novel approach for multiplex rare cell detection in blood samples from metastatic breast (n = 19 and lung cancer patients (n = 21, and healthy controls (n = 30 using an automated microfluidic filtration and multiplex immunoassay strategy. Captured cells were enumerated after sequential staining for specific markers to identify circulating tumor cells (CTCs, circulating mesenchymal cells (CMCs, putative circulating stem cells (CSCs, and circulating endothelial cells (CECs. Preclinical validation experiments using cancer cells spiked into healthy blood demonstrated high recovery rate (mean = 85% and reproducibility of the assay. In clinical studies, CTCs and CMCs were detected in 35% and 58% of cancer patients, respectively, and were largely absent from healthy controls (3%, p = 0.001. Mean levels of CTCs were significantly higher in breast than in lung cancer patients (p = 0.03. Fifty-three percent (53% of cancer patients harbored putative CSCs, while none were detectable in healthy controls (p<0.0001. In contrast, CECs were observed in both cancer and control groups. Direct comparison of CellSearch® vs. our microfluidic filter method revealed moderate correlation (R2 = 0.46, kappa = 0.47. Serial blood analysis in breast cancer patients demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring circulating rare cell populations over time. Simultaneous assessment of CTCs, CMCs, CSCs and CECs may provide new tools to study mechanisms of disease progression and treatment response/resistance.

A Novel Strategy for Detection and Enumeration of Circulating Rare Cell Populations in Metastatic Cancer Patients Using Automated Microfluidic Filtration and Multiplex Immunoassay.

Science.gov (United States)

Magbanua, Mark Jesus M; Pugia, Michael; Lee, Jin Sun; Jabon, Marc; Wang, Victoria; Gubens, Matthew; Marfurt, Karen; Pence, Julia; Sidhu, Harwinder; Uzgiris, Arejas; Rugo, Hope S; Park, John W

2015-01-01

Size selection via filtration offers an antigen-independent approach for the enrichment of rare cell populations in blood of cancer patients. We evaluated the performance of a novel approach for multiplex rare cell detection in blood samples from metastatic breast (n = 19) and lung cancer patients (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 30) using an automated microfluidic filtration and multiplex immunoassay strategy. Captured cells were enumerated after sequential staining for specific markers to identify circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating mesenchymal cells (CMCs), putative circulating stem cells (CSCs), and circulating endothelial cells (CECs). Preclinical validation experiments using cancer cells spiked into healthy blood demonstrated high recovery rate (mean = 85%) and reproducibility of the assay. In clinical studies, CTCs and CMCs were detected in 35% and 58% of cancer patients, respectively, and were largely absent from healthy controls (3%, p = 0.001). Mean levels of CTCs were significantly higher in breast than in lung cancer patients (p = 0.03). Fifty-three percent (53%) of cancer patients harbored putative CSCs, while none were detectable in healthy controls (p<0.0001). In contrast, CECs were observed in both cancer and control groups. Direct comparison of CellSearch® vs. our microfluidic filter method revealed moderate correlation (R2 = 0.46, kappa = 0.47). Serial blood analysis in breast cancer patients demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring circulating rare cell populations over time. Simultaneous assessment of CTCs, CMCs, CSCs and CECs may provide new tools to study mechanisms of disease progression and treatment response/resistance.

Development of a strain-specific real-time PCR assay for enumeration of a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri in chicken feed and intestine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verity Ann Sattler

Full Text Available A strain-specific real-time PCR assay was developed for quantification of a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (DSM 16350 in poultry feed and intestine. The specific primers were designed based on a genomic sequence of the strain derived from suppression subtractive hybridization with the type strain L. reuteri DSM 20016. Specificity was tested using a set of non-target strains from several sources. Applicability of the real-time PCR assay was evaluated in a controlled broiler feeding trial by using standard curves specific for feed and intestinal matrices. The amount of the probiotic L. reuteri was determined in feed from three feeding phases and in intestinal samples of the jejunum, ileum, and caecum of three, 14, and 39 day old birds. L. reuteri DSM 16350 cells were enumerated in all feeds supplemented with the probiotic close to the inclusion rate of 7.0 × 10(3 cfu/g, however, were not detected in L. reuteri DSM 16350 free feed. In three day old birds L. reuteri DSM 16350 was only detected in intestinal samples from probiotic fed animals ranging from 8.2 ± 7.8 × 10(5 cfu/g in the jejunum, 1.0 ± 1.1×10(7 cfu/g in the ileum, and 2.5 ± 5.7 × 10(5 cfu/g in the caecum. Similar results were obtained for intestinal samples of older birds (14 and 39 days. With increasing age of the animals the amount of L. reuteri signals in the control animals, however, also increased, indicating the appearance of highly similar bacterial genomes in the gut microbiota. The L. reuteri DSM 16350 qPCR assay could be used in future for feeding trials to assure the accurate inclusion of the supplement to the feed and to monitor it's uptake into the GIT of young chicken.

Development of a strain-specific real-time PCR assay for enumeration of a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri in chicken feed and intestine.

Science.gov (United States)

Sattler, Verity Ann; Mohnl, Michaela; Klose, Viviana

2014-01-01

A strain-specific real-time PCR assay was developed for quantification of a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (DSM 16350) in poultry feed and intestine. The specific primers were designed based on a genomic sequence of the strain derived from suppression subtractive hybridization with the type strain L. reuteri DSM 20016. Specificity was tested using a set of non-target strains from several sources. Applicability of the real-time PCR assay was evaluated in a controlled broiler feeding trial by using standard curves specific for feed and intestinal matrices. The amount of the probiotic L. reuteri was determined in feed from three feeding phases and in intestinal samples of the jejunum, ileum, and caecum of three, 14, and 39 day old birds. L. reuteri DSM 16350 cells were enumerated in all feeds supplemented with the probiotic close to the inclusion rate of 7.0 × 10(3) cfu/g, however, were not detected in L. reuteri DSM 16350 free feed. In three day old birds L. reuteri DSM 16350 was only detected in intestinal samples from probiotic fed animals ranging from 8.2 ± 7.8 × 10(5) cfu/g in the jejunum, 1.0 ± 1.1×10(7) cfu/g in the ileum, and 2.5 ± 5.7 × 10(5) cfu/g in the caecum. Similar results were obtained for intestinal samples of older birds (14 and 39 days). With increasing age of the animals the amount of L. reuteri signals in the control animals, however, also increased, indicating the appearance of highly similar bacterial genomes in the gut microbiota. The L. reuteri DSM 16350 qPCR assay could be used in future for feeding trials to assure the accurate inclusion of the supplement to the feed and to monitor it's uptake into the GIT of young chicken.

Utility of the point of care CD4 analyzer, PIMA, to enumerate CD4 counts in the field settings in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thakar Madhuri

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In resource limited settings non-availability of CD4 count facility at the site could adversely affect the ART roll out programme. Point of care CD4 enumerating equipments can make the CD4 count available at the site of care and improve the patients’ management considerably. This study is aimed at determining the utility of a Point of Care PIMA CD4 analyzer (Alere, Germany in the field settings in India. Method The blood samples were collected from 1790 participants at 21 ART centers from different parts of the country and tested using PIMA and the reference methods (FACSCalibur, FACSCount and CyFlow SL3. The paired finger prick and venous blood samples from 175 participants were tested by the PIMA CD4 Analyzer and then by FACSCalibur. Result The CD4 counts obtained by PIMA CD4 analyzer showed excellent correlation with the counts obtained by the reference methods; for venous blood the Pearson’s r was 0.921, p 500 cells/mm3, the differences in the median CD4 counts obtained by the reference method and the PIMA analyzer were not significant (P > 0.05 and the relative bias were low (−7 to 5.1%. The Intermachine comparison showed variation within the acceptable limit of%CV of 10%. Conclusion In the field settings, the POC PIMA CD4 analyzer gave CD4 counts comparable to the reference methods for all CD4 ranges. The POC equipment could identify the patients eligible for ART in 91% cases. Adequate training is necessary for finger prick sample collection for optimum results. Decentralization of CD4 testing by making the CD4 counts available at primary health centers, especially in remote areas with minimum or no infrastructure would reduce the missed visits and improve adherence of the patients.

Detection and Specific Enumeration of Multi-Strain Probiotics in the Lumen Contents and Mucus Layers of the Rat Intestine After Oral Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hee Ji; Orlovich, David A; Tagg, John R; Fawcett, J Paul

2009-12-01

Although the detection of viable probiotic bacteria following their ingestion and passage through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) has been well documented, their mucosal attachment in vivo is more difficult to assess. In this study, we investigated the survival and mucosal attachment of multi-strain probiotics transiting the rat GIT. Rats were administered a commercial mixture of the intestinal probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus LA742, Lactobacillus rhamnosus L2H and Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 and the oral probiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 every 12 h for 3 days. Intestinal contents, mucus and faeces were tested 6 h, 3 days and 7 days after the last dose by strain-specific enumeration on selective media and by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. At 6 h, viable cells and DNA corresponding to all four probiotics were detected in the faeces and in both the lumen contents and mucus layers of the ileum and colon. Viable probiotic cells of B. lactis and L. rhamnosus were detected for 7 days and L. acidophilus for 3 days after the last dose. B. lactis and L. rhamnosus persisted in the ileal mucus and colon contents, whereas the retention of L. acidophilus appeared to be relatively higher in colonic mucus. No viable cells of S. salivarius K12 were detected in any of the samples at either day 3 or 7. The study demonstrates that probiotic strains of intestinal origin but not of oral origin exhibit temporary colonisation of the rat GIT and that these strains may have differing relative affinities for colonic and ileal mucosa.

Effects of the Consortium of Pseudomonas, Bacillus and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Johnny

uncertain but the most favoured theory is that it has been formed by microbial decomposition of plant and animal ... affects the oil fluid properties such as gravity, viscosity and other physical parameters of crude oil (Atlas, .... Native Aquatic Bacteria: Enumeration, Activity And Ecology, ... Wang, X., X. Yu, and Bartha, R. (1990).

Effects of probiotics on growth performance, blood parameters, and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ziyanda Dlamini

2017-09-25

Sep 25, 2017 ... During this phase, the piglets have to cope with ... Pigs were kept individually in a temperature-controlled building in flat deck type ... Dilutions were subsequently plated in triplicate on selective agar media for enumeration of target bacterial ..... inactivated cells on the performance, microflora and blood ...

The use of income information of census enumeration area as a proxy for the household income in a household survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Fabio S; Vasconcellos, Mauricio Tl; Anjos, Luiz A

2009-09-22

Some of the Census Enumeration Areas' (CEA) information may help planning the sample of population studies but it can also be used for some analyses that require information that is more difficult to obtain at the individual or household level, such as income. This paper verifies if the income information of CEA can be used as a proxy for household income in a household survey. A population-based survey conducted from January to December 2003 obtained data from a probabilistic sample of 1,734 households of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Uniform semi-association models were adjusted in order to obtain information about the agreement/disagreement structure of data. The distribution of nutritional status categories of the population of Niterói according to income quintiles was performed using both CEA- and household-level income measures and then compared using Wald statistics for homogeneity. Body mass index was calculated using body mass and stature data measured in the households and then used to define nutritional status categories according to the World Health Organization. All estimates and statistics were calculated accounting for the structural information of the sample design and a significance level lower than 5% was adopted. The classification of households in the quintiles of household income was associated with the classification of these households in the quintiles of CEA income. The distribution of the nutritional status categories in all income quintiles did not differ significantly according to the source of income information (household or CEA) used in the definition of quintiles. The structure of agreement/disagreement between quintiles of the household's monthly per capita income and quintiles of the head-of-household's mean nominal monthly income of the CEA, as well as the results produced by these measures when they were associated with the nutritional status of the population, showed that the CEA's income information can be used when income

The use of income information of census enumeration area as a proxy for the household income in a household survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasconcellos Mauricio TL

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Some of the Census Enumeration Areas' (CEA information may help planning the sample of population studies but it can also be used for some analyses that require information that is more difficult to obtain at the individual or household level, such as income. This paper verifies if the income information of CEA can be used as a proxy for household income in a household survey. Methods A population-based survey conducted from January to December 2003 obtained data from a probabilistic sample of 1,734 households of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Uniform semi-association models were adjusted in order to obtain information about the agreement/disagreement structure of data. The distribution of nutritional status categories of the population of Niterói according to income quintiles was performed using both CEA- and household-level income measures and then compared using Wald statistics for homogeneity. Body mass index was calculated using body mass and stature data measured in the households and then used to define nutritional status categories according to the World Health Organization. All estimates and statistics were calculated accounting for the structural information of the sample design and a significance level lower than 5% was adopted. Results The classification of households in the quintiles of household income was associated with the classification of these households in the quintiles of CEA income. The distribution of the nutritional status categories in all income quintiles did not differ significantly according to the source of income information (household or CEA used in the definition of quintiles. Conclusion The structure of agreement/disagreement between quintiles of the household's monthly per capita income and quintiles of the head-of-household's mean nominal monthly income of the CEA, as well as the results produced by these measures when they were associated with the nutritional status of the population

Anti-bullying Policies and Disparities in Bullying: A State-Level Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Flores, Javier E; Cavanaugh, Joseph E; Onwuachi-Willig, Angela; Ramirez, Marizen R

2017-08-01

Recent research suggests that anti-bullying laws may be effective in reducing risk of bullying victimization among youth, but no research has determined whether these laws are also effective in reducing disparities in bullying. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-bullying legislation in reducing disparities in sex- and weight-based bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Data on anti-bullying legislation were obtained from the U.S. Department of Education, which commissioned a systematic review of 16 key components of state laws in 2011. States were also categorized based on whether their legislation enumerated protected groups and, if so, which groups were enumerated. These policy variables from 28 states were linked to individual-level data on bullying and cyberbullying victimization from students in 9th through 12th grade participating in the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System study (N=79,577). Analyses were conducted in 2016. There was an absence of any kind of moderating effect of anti-bullying legislation on weight-based disparities in bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Only state laws with high compliance to Department of Education enumeration guidelines were associated with lower sex-based disparities in bullying victimization. Anti-bullying policies were not associated with lower weight-based disparities in bullying and cyberbullying victimization among youth, and only one form of policies (high compliance to Department of Education enumeration guidelines) was associated with lower sex-based disparities in bullying victimization. Results therefore suggest that anti-bullying legislation requires further refinement to protect youth who are vulnerable to bullying victimization. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of different building blocks designs on the statistical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tholang T. Mokhele

Enumeration Areas (EAs), Small Area Layers (SALs) and SubPlaces) from the 2001 census data were used as building blocks for the generation of census output areas with AZTool program in both rural and urban areas of South Africa. One way-Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was also performed to determine statistical ...

Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program - Entiat River Snorkel Surveys and Rotary Screw Trap, 2007.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelle, R.D.

2008-01-01

The USFWS Mid-Columbia River Fishery Resource Office conducted snorkel surveys at 24 sites during the summer and fall periods of 2006 survey periods as part of the Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program in the Entiat River. A total of 37,938 fish from 15 species/genera and an unknown category were enumerated. Chinook salmon were the overall most common fish observed and comprised 15% of fish enumerated followed by rainbow trout (10%) and mountain whitefish (7%). Day surveys were conducted during the summer period 2007 (August), while night surveys were conducted during the fall 2007 (October) surveys. The USFWS Mid-Columbia River Fishery Resource Office (MCFRO) operated two rotary screw traps on the Entiat River as part of the Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP) program from August through November of 2007. Along with the smolt traps, juvenile emigrants were also captured at remote locations throughout the Entiat watershed and its major tributary, the Mad River. A total of 999 wild Oncorhynchus mykiss and 5,107 wild run O. tshawytscha were PIT tagged during the study period. Rotary screw trap efficiencies averaged 22.3% for juvenile O. tshawytscha and 9.0% for juvenile O. mykiss. Rotary screw traps operated 7 days a week and remote capture operations were conducted when flow and temperature regimes permitted. This is third annual progress report to Bonneville Power Administration for the snorkel surveys conducted in the Entiat River as related to long-term effectiveness monitoring of restoration programs in this watershed. The objective of this study is to monitor the fish habitat utilization of planned in-stream restoration efforts in the Entiat River by conducting pre- and post-construction snorkel surveys at selected treatment and control sites.

Decontamination of fermented chicken feet by 60Co irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Peng; Wang Yan; Huang Min; Wu Ling; Du Xiaoying; Lei Qing; Xie Yan

2010-01-01

Fermented chicken feet was treated by 60Co irradiation, and the aerobic plate count, enumeration of coliforms, pathogens and TBARS value were measured during storage. The results showed that, aerobic plate count of all irradiated samples was lower than control, and enumeration of coliforms, and pathogens of Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella, Salmonella were not detected. TBARS value of all treatments was stable during 60 d storage. It could be concluded that 60Co irradiation of chicken feet was an effective method to prolong its shelf life. (authors)

Enumeration Verification System (EVS)

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — EVS is a batch application that processes for federal, state, local and foreign government agencies, private companies and internal SSA customers and systems. Each...

Oligarchies: Naming, Enumerating Counting

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Jacques Derrida

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The following text is the first chapter of Jacques Derrida’s book Politiques de l’amitié [The Politics of Friendship], being the exemplary and standard case of deconstruction, in this particular case, of philosophical texts (Cicero, Plato and, notably, Aristotle. The starting point for the discussion is the performative contradiction inscribed in the wellknown fragment On friendship from Essays by Michel de Montaigne: “O mes amis, il n’y a nul amy” (O my friends, there is no friend. Apparently, everything here is well-known and obvious, even the very notion of friendship, but as we proceed in the argument provided by Derrida, the obvious becomes less obvious to us and takes on new shades and hues in meaning, acquires new values. What is objective mixes in this fascinating argument with what is subjective. What is friendship? What is friendship today? Is friendship limited to just private sphere of interpersonal relations? The answer to the latter question is, according to Derrida, clearly negative. In the course of his argument he states: “There is no democracy without a community of friends”. This argument provides clues to understand a particular archeology of the notion, revealing oblique senses and contexts of the word “friendship”, its istory shown from the antiquity to the present day.

Integer Set Compression and Statistical Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsson, N. Jesper

2014-01-01

enumeration of elements may be arbitrary or random, but where statistics is kept in order to estimate probabilities of elements. We present a recursive subset-size encoding method that is able to benefit from statistics, explore the effects of permuting the enumeration order based on element probabilities......Compression of integer sets and sequences has been extensively studied for settings where elements follow a uniform probability distribution. In addition, methods exist that exploit clustering of elements in order to achieve higher compression performance. In this work, we address the case where...

Evaluation of the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) scoring system in elderly patients with pressure sores undergoing fasciocutaneous flap-reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizumoto, Kazuo; Morita, Eishin

2009-01-01

The aim of the present study was to predict operative morbidity in elderly patients with deep pressure sores by using the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) scoring system. Fifteen patients over 70 years old were retrospectively reviewed who had undergone gluteus maximus fasciocutaneous flap-reconstruction for pressure sores of the sacral region from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007. Complications were seen in six cases (40%) after operation. Four were wound infection, one was chest infection and another was septicemia. The subjects were divided into two groups by the presence (complicated group) or absence (non-complicated group) of postoperative complications. Each item of physiological scores, physiological score (PS), operative severity score (OS) and predicted morbidity rate (R) were calculated and compared between two groups. As a result, hemoglobin (P = 0.0276), PS (P = 0.0023) and R (P = 0.0078) differed significantly between the two groups. It is noteworthy that the PS were over 25 in all of the complicated group, but in only one of nine in the non-complicated group (P = 0.0014). Our study suggests that, for pressure sores in the sacral region in elderly patients, gluteus maximus fasciocutaneous flap-reconstruction can be employed in patients whose PS are under 24 in the POSSUM scoring system.

Neighbourhood effects on health: Does it matter where you draw the boundaries?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flowerdew, R; Manley, DJ; Sabel, Clive E

2008-01-01

There has been considerable discussion in health geography and related areas of neighbourhood effects on health: the idea that people?s health in one geographical area may be influenced not only by the composition of that area?s population, but also by the area?s geographical context. Hence......, the healthiness or otherwise of the neighbourhood may have an important effect on local people?s health. Although neighbourhoods and their boundaries are sometimes obvious to local residents, it is more common to find considerable disagreement on the size and contents of a neighbourhood. In this paper, we use...... British census Enumeration Districts as building blocks to construct alternative zonal systems, and experiment to see if neighbourhoods defined in different ways have similar implications for health. The well known modifiable areal unit problem shows that analytical conclusions may differ substantially...

Portsmouth physiological and operative severity score for the Enumeration of Mortality and morbidity scoring system in general surgical practice and identifying risk factors for poor outcome

Science.gov (United States)

Tyagi, Ashish; Nagpal, Nitin; Sidhu, D. S.; Singh, Amandeep; Tyagi, Anjali

2017-01-01

Background: Estimation of the outcome is paramount in disease stratification and subsequent management in severely ill surgical patients. Risk scoring helps us quantify the prospects of adverse outcome in a patient. Portsmouth-Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (P-POSSUM) the world over has proved itself as a worthy scoring system and the present study was done to evaluate the feasibility of P-POSSUM as a risk scoring system as a tool in efficacious prediction of mortality and morbidity in our demographic profile. Materials and Methods: Validity of P-POSSUM was assessed prospectively in fifty major general surgeries performed at our hospital from May 2011 to October 2012. Data were collected to obtain P-POSSUM score, and statistical analysis was performed. Results: Majority (72%) of patients was male and mean age was 40.24 ± 18.6 years. Seventy-eight percentage procedures were emergency laparotomies commonly performed for perforation peritonitis. Mean physiological score was 17.56 ± 7.6, and operative score was 17.76 ± 4.5 (total score = 35.3 ± 10.4). The ratio of observed to expected mortality rate was 0.86 and morbidity rate was 0.78. Discussion: P-POSSUM accurately predicted both mortality and morbidity in patients who underwent major surgical procedures in our setup. Thus, it helped us in identifying patients who required preferential attention and aggressive management. Widespread application of this tool can result in better distribution of care among high-risk surgical patients. PMID:28250670

Aphid Identification and Counting Based on Smartphone and Machine Vision

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Suo Xuesong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Exact enumeration of aphids before the aphids outbreak can provide basis for precision spray. This paper designs counting software that can be run on smartphones for real-time enumeration of aphids. As a first step of the method used in this paper, images of the yellow sticky board that is aiming to catch insects are segmented from complex background by using GrabCut method; then the images will be normalized by perspective transformation method. The second step is the pretreatment on the images; images of aphids will be segmented by using OSTU threshold method after the effect of random illumination is eliminated by single image difference method. The last step of the method is aphids’ recognition and counting according to area feature of aphids after extracting contours of aphids by contour detection method. At last, the result of the experiment proves that the effect of random illumination can be effectively eliminated by using single image difference method. The counting accuracy in greenhouse is above 95%, while it can reach 92.5% outside. Thus, it can be seen that the counting software designed in this paper can realize exact enumeration of aphids under complicated illumination which can be used widely. The design method proposed in this paper can provide basis for precision spray according to its effective detection insects.

Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, verotoxigenic Escherichia coli, and Escherichia coli prevalence, enumeration, and subtypes on retail chicken breasts with and without skin.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Angela; Odumeru, Joseph; Lee, Susan; Pollari, Frank

2012-01-01

This study examined the prevalence, counts, and subtypes of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), and E. coli on raw retail chicken breast with the skin on versus the skin off. From January to December 2007, 187 raw skin-on chicken breasts and 131 skin-off chicken breasts were collected from randomly selected retail grocery stores in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Campylobacter isolates were recovered from a higher proportion of the skin-off chicken breasts, 55 (42%) of 131, than of the skin-on chicken breasts tested, 55 (29%) of 187 (P = 0.023). There was no difference in the proportion of Salmonella isolates recovered from the two meat types (P = 0.715): 40 (31%) of 131 skin-off chicken breasts versus 61 (33%) of 187 skin-on chicken breasts. L. monocytogenes isolates were recovered from a statistically lower proportion of the skin-off chicken breasts, 15 (15%) of 99, than of the skin-on chicken breasts, 64 (34%) of 187 (P = 0.001). There was no difference in the proportion of E. coli isolates recovered from the skin-off chicken breasts, 33 (33%) of 99, than from the skin-on chicken breasts, 77 (41%) of 187 (P = 0.204). VTEC was detected on a single skin-off chicken breast. Campylobacter jejuni was the most frequent species isolated on both types of chicken meat: skin-on, 48 (87%) of 55, and skin-off, 51 (94%) of 54. Salmonella serotypes Kentucky and Heidelberg and L. monocytogenes serotype 1/2a were the most frequently detected serotypes from both skin-off and skin-on chicken breasts. Although there appeared to be a trend toward higher enumeration values of these pathogens and E. coli on the skin-on chicken, the differences did not exceed 1 log. This study suggested that skin-off chicken breast may represent a higher risk of consumer exposure to Campylobacter, a similar risk for Salmonella, VTEC, and E. coli, and a lower risk for L. monocytogenes than skin-on chicken breast.

Procedures for Decomposing a Redox Reaction into Half-Reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Fishtik, Ilie; Berka, Ladislav H.

2005-01-01

A simple algorithm for a complete enumeration of the possible ways a redox reaction (RR) might be uniquely decomposed into half-reactions (HRs) using the response reactions (RERs) formalism is presented. A complete enumeration of the possible ways a RR may be decomposed into HRs is equivalent to a complete enumeration of stoichiometrically…

Urban heat island effect on cicada densities in metropolitan Seoul

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Hoa Q. Nguyen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background Urban heat island (UHI effect, the ubiquitous consequence of urbanization, is considered to play a major role in population expansion of numerous insects. Cryptotympana atrata and Hyalessa fuscata are the most abundant cicada species in the Korean Peninsula, where their population densities are higher in urban than in rural areas. We predicted a positive relationship between the UHI intensities and population densities of these two cicada species in metropolitan Seoul. Methods To test this prediction, enumeration surveys of cicada exuviae densities were conducted in 36 localities located within and in the vicinity of metropolitan Seoul. Samples were collected in two consecutive periods from July to August 2015. The abundance of each species was estimated by two resource-weighted densities, one based on the total geographic area, and the other on the total number of trees. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify factors critical for the prevalence of cicada species in the urban habitat. Results C. atrata and H. fuscata were major constituents of cicada species composition collected across all localities. Minimum temperature and sampling period were significant factors contributing to the variation in densities of both species, whereas other environmental factors related to urbanization were not significant. More cicada exuviae were collected in the second rather than in the first samplings, which matched the phenological pattern of cicadas in metropolitan Seoul. Cicada population densities increased measurably with the increase in temperature. Age of residential complex also exhibited a significantly positive correlation to H. fuscata densities, but not to C. atrata densities. Discussion Effects of temperature on cicada densities have been discerned from other environmental factors, as cicada densities increased measurably in tandem with elevated temperature. Several mechanisms may contribute to the abundance of

Automated Diatom Analysis Applied to Traditional Light Microscopy: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Z. H. L.; Bishop, I.; Spaulding, S. A.; Nelson, H.; Mahoney, C.

2017-12-01

Diatom identification and enumeration by high resolution light microscopy is required for many areas of research and water quality assessment. Such analyses, however, are both expertise and labor-intensive. These challenges motivate the need for an automated process to efficiently and accurately identify and enumerate diatoms. Improvements in particle analysis software have increased the likelihood that diatom enumeration can be automated. VisualSpreadsheet software provides a possible solution for automated particle analysis of high-resolution light microscope diatom images. We applied the software, independent of its complementary FlowCam hardware, to automated analysis of light microscope images containing diatoms. Through numerous trials, we arrived at threshold settings to correctly segment 67% of the total possible diatom valves and fragments from broad fields of view. (183 light microscope images were examined containing 255 diatom particles. Of the 255 diatom particles present, 216 diatoms valves and fragments of valves were processed, with 170 properly analyzed and focused upon by the software). Manual analysis of the images yielded 255 particles in 400 seconds, whereas the software yielded a total of 216 particles in 68 seconds, thus highlighting that the software has an approximate five-fold efficiency advantage in particle analysis time. As in past efforts, incomplete or incorrect recognition was found for images with multiple valves in contact or valves with little contrast. The software has potential to be an effective tool in assisting taxonomists with diatom enumeration by completing a large portion of analyses. Benefits and limitations of the approach are presented to allow for development of future work in image analysis and automated enumeration of traditional light microscope images containing diatoms.

An integer batch scheduling model considering learning, forgetting, and deterioration effects for a single machine to minimize total inventory holding cost

Science.gov (United States)

Yusriski, R.; Sukoyo; Samadhi, T. M. A. A.; Halim, A. H.

2018-03-01

This research deals with a single machine batch scheduling model considering the influenced of learning, forgetting, and machine deterioration effects. The objective of the model is to minimize total inventory holding cost, and the decision variables are the number of batches (N), batch sizes (Q[i], i = 1, 2, .., N) and the sequence of processing the resulting batches. The parts to be processed are received at the right time and the right quantities, and all completed parts must be delivered at a common due date. We propose a heuristic procedure based on the Lagrange method to solve the problem. The effectiveness of the procedure is evaluated by comparing the resulting solution to the optimal solution obtained from the enumeration procedure using the integer composition technique and shows that the average effectiveness is 94%.

Antimicrobial effects of Coleus amboinicus, Lour folium infusum towards Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Devi Rianti

2006-03-01

Full Text Available A laboratory experimental study conducted on antimicrobial effects of Coleus amboinicus, Lour folium Infusum towards Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans. Effective concentration of Coleus amboinicus, Lour to decrease the quantities Candida albicans and S. mutans colonies is expected to be found out in this study. This study was using Coleus Amboinicus, Lour folium infusum with 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%, 20%, and 22.5% concentrations. Sterilized aquadest used as a control. Candida albicans and S. mutans quantities was enumerated by counting the amount of Candida albicans and S. mutans growth in the Sabouraud ,s dextrose agar and Tryptone and yeast Agar media, using Colony Forming Unit per milliliter (CFU/ ml unit. Data analysis was using a One-Way ANOVA and LSD with 5% degree of significance. The result showed 22.5% concentration of CAL folium infusum was the most effective in decreasing the quantity Candida albicans and S. mutans colonies.

Assessment of the application of an automated electronic milk analyzer for the enumeration of total bacteria in raw goat milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsahoi, L; Gao, A; Fabri, M; Odumeru, J A

2011-07-01

Automated electronic milk analyzers for rapid enumeration of total bacteria counts (TBC) are widely used for raw milk testing by many analytical laboratories worldwide. In Ontario, Canada, Bactoscan flow cytometry (BsnFC; Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark) is the official anchor method for TBC in raw cow milk. Penalties are levied at the BsnFC equivalent level of 50,000 cfu/mL, the standard plate count (SPC) regulatory limit. This study was conducted to assess the BsnFC for TBC in raw goat milk, to determine the mathematical relationship between the SPC and BsnFC methods, and to identify probable reasons for the difference in the SPC:BsnFC equivalents for goat and cow milks. Test procedures were conducted according to International Dairy Federation Bulletin guidelines. Approximately 115 farm bulk tank milk samples per month were tested for inhibitor residues, SPC, BsnFC, psychrotrophic bacteria count, composition (fat, protein, lactose, lactose and other solids, and freezing point), and somatic cell count from March 2009 to February 2010. Data analysis of the results for the samples tested indicated that the BsnFC method would be a good alternative to the SPC method, providing accurate and more precise results with a faster turnaround time. Although a linear regression model showed good correlation and prediction, tests for linearity indicated that the relationship was linear only beyond log 4.1 SPC. The logistic growth curve best modeled the relationship between the SPC and BsnFC for the entire sample population. The BsnFC equivalent to the SPC 50,000 cfu/mL regulatory limit was estimated to be 321,000 individual bacteria count (ibc)/mL. This estimate differs considerably from the BsnFC equivalent for cow milk (121,000 ibc/mL). Because of the low frequency of bulk tank milk pickups at goat farms, 78.5% of the samples had their oldest milking in the tank to be 6.5 to 9.0 d old when tested, compared with the cow milk samples, which had their oldest milking at 4 d

An investigation of oxygen limitation in microcosm models in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Addition of hydrogen peroxide every four days and tilling were effected in some ... Enumeration of total heterotrophic bacteria, total hydrocarbon-utilizing ... was estimated to be about 30 percentage points above anaerobic bioremediation.

Biological Methods and Manual Development

Science.gov (United States)

EPA scientists conduct research to develop and evaluate analytical methods for the identification, enumeration, evaluation of aquatic organisms exposed to environmental stressors and to correlate exposures with effects on chemical and biological indicators

Effectiveness of sanitizing products on controlling selected pathogen surrogates on retail deli slicers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeater, Michael C; Kirsch, Katie R; Taylor, T Matthew; Mitchell, Jeff; Osburn, Wesley N

2015-04-01

The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the efficacy of quaternary ammonium chloride-based wet foam (WF) and dry foam (DF) sanitizer systems (600 ppm) for reducing Listeria innocua (a nonpathogenic surrogate of Listeria monocytogenes) or a 100.0 μg/ml rifampin-resistant Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 (a nonpathogenic surrogate of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium) on niche and transfer point areas of an unwashed retail deli slicer as compared with traditional chlorine (Cl(-)) treatment (200 ppm) and (ii) to compare sanitizer surface contact times (10 and 15 min) for pathogen surrogate control. Turkey frankfurter slurries inoculated with L. innocua or Salmonella Typhimurium were used to inoculate seven high-risk sites on a commercial slicer. After 30 min of bacterial attachment, slicers were dry wiped to remove excess food matter, followed by a randomly assigned sanitizer treatment. Surviving pathogen surrogate cells were enumerated on modified Oxford's agar not containing antimicrobic supplement (L. innocua) or on tryptic soy agar supplemented with 100 μg/ml rifampin (Salmonella Typhimurium LT2). Replicate-specific L. innocua and Salmonella Typhimurium reductions were calculated as log CFU per square centimeter of control minus log CFU per square centimeter of enumerated survivors for each site. For both organisms, all sanitizer treatments differed from each other, with Cl(-) producing the least reduction and WF the greatest reduction. A significant (P < 0.05) site-by-treatment interaction was observed. The results of the study indicate that quaternary ammonium chloride sanitizers (600 ppm) applied by both WF and DF were more effective at reducing L. innocua and Salmonella Typhimurium than a traditional Cl sanitizer (200 ppm) on unwashed slicer surfaces.

Enumerating matroids of fixed rank

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pendavingh, R.; van der Pol, J.

2017-01-01

It has been conjectured that asymptotically almost all matroids are sparse paving, i.e. that~s(n)∼m(n)s(n)∼m(n), where m(n)m(n) denotes the number of matroids on a fixed groundset of size nn, and s(n)s(n) the number of sparse paving matroids. In an earlier paper, we showed that

CLEVER: Clique-Enumerating Variant Finder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marschall, T.; Costa, I.; Canzar, S.; bauer, m; Klau, G.W.; Schliep, A.; Schönhuth, A.

2012-01-01

Motivation: Next-generation sequencing techniques have facilitated a large-scale analysis of human genetic variation. Despite the advances in sequencing speed, the computational discovery of structural variants is not yet standard. It is likely that many variants have remained undiscovered in most

Primary Carcinosarcoma of Ovary an Unusual Tumor Case Report ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

radiotherapy and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone.[2]. These tumors are .... stage of disease.[6]. The adverse prognostic factors as enumerated by various ... The effect of epithelial and stromal tumor components on. FIGO stages III and IV ...

Prostate extracellular vesicles in patient plasma as a liquid biopsy platform for prostate cancer using nanoscale flow cytometry

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Zahrani, Ali A.; Pardhan, Siddika; Brett, Sabine I.; Guo, Qiu Q.; Yang, Jun; Wolf, Philipp; Power, Nicholas E.; Durfee, Paul N.; MacMillan, Connor D.; Townson, Jason L.; Brinker, Jeffrey C.; Fleshner, Neil E.; Izawa, Jonathan I.; Chambers, Ann F.; Chin, Joseph L.; Leong, Hon S.

2016-01-01

Background Extracellular vesicles released by prostate cancer present in seminal fluid, urine, and blood may represent a non-invasive means to identify and prioritize patients with intermediate risk and high risk of prostate cancer. We hypothesize that enumeration of circulating prostate microparticles (PMPs), a type of extracellular vesicle (EV), can identify patients with Gleason Score≥4+4 prostate cancer (PCa) in a manner independent of PSA. Patients and Methods Plasmas from healthy volunteers, benign prostatic hyperplasia patients, and PCa patients with various Gleason score patterns were analyzed for PMPs. We used nanoscale flow cytometry to enumerate PMPs which were defined as submicron events (100-1000nm) immunoreactive to anti-PSMA mAb when compared to isotype control labeled samples. Levels of PMPs (counts/μL of plasma) were also compared to CellSearch CTC Subclasses in various PCa metastatic disease subtypes (treatment naïve, castration resistant prostate cancer) and in serially collected plasma sets from patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Results PMP levels in plasma as enumerated by nanoscale flow cytometry are effective in distinguishing PCa patients with Gleason Score≥8 disease, a high-risk prognostic factor, from patients with Gleason Score≤7 PCa, which carries an intermediate risk of PCa recurrence. PMP levels were independent of PSA and significantly decreased after surgical resection of the prostate, demonstrating its prognostic potential for clinical follow-up. CTC subclasses did not decrease after prostatectomy and were not effective in distinguishing localized PCa patients from metastatic PCa patients. Conclusions PMP enumeration was able to identify patients with Gleason Score ≥8 PCa but not patients with Gleason Score 4+3 PCa, but offers greater confidence than CTC counts in identifying patients with metastatic prostate cancer. CTC Subclass analysis was also not effective for post-prostatectomy follow up and for

The effect of octylglucoside and sodium cholate in Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesion to soft contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Lívia; Rodrigues, Diana; Lira, Madalena; Oliveira, Rosario; Real Oliveira, M Elisabete C D; Vilar, Eva Yebra-Pimentel; Azeredo, Joana

2007-05-01

In this study, the effect of the natural surfactants octylglucoside and sodium cholate in inhibiting Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesion to conventional and silicone-hydrogel contact lenses (CL) was assessed. Hydrophobicity was also evaluated to conditioned and nonconditioned CL. The inhibiting effect of the tested surfactants was determined through "in vitro" adhesion studies to conditioned and nonconditioned CL followed by image acquisition and cell enumeration. Hydrophobicity was evaluated through contact angle measurements using the advancing type technique on air. Sodium cholate exhibits a very low capability to inhibit microbial adhesion. Conversely, octylglucoside effectively inhibited microbial adhesion in both types of lenses. This surfactant exhibited an even greater performance than a multipurpose lens care solution used as control. Octylglucoside was the only tested surfactant able to lower the hydrophobicity of all CL, which can explain its high performance. The results obtained in this study point out the potential of octylglucoside as a conditioning agent to prevent microbial colonization.

Antimicrobial effect of sour pomegranate sauce on Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Kışla, Duygu; Karabıyıklı, Şeniz

2013-05-01

Pomegranate sauce is one of the most popular pomegranate products produced in Turkey. This study was conducted to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of both traditional and commercial sour pomegranate sauce samples on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (ATCC 43895). The initial microflora of the pomegranate sauce samples was determined by performing the enumerations of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeast and mold, S. aureus, E. coli, and the determination of Salmonella spp. MIC tests were applied to the neutralized and the original (unneutralized) sour pomegranate sauce samples in order to put forth the inhibition effect depending on low pH value. It was found that inhibitory effect of the traditional and the commercial samples, except one sample, on pathogens was not only due to the acidity of the products. The results of MIC tests indicated that although both traditional and commercial samples showed a considerable inhibitory effect on test microorganisms, the traditional pomegranate sauce samples were more effective than the commercial ones. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Personnel photographic film dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keirim-Markus, I.B.

1981-01-01

Technology of personnel photographic film dosimetry (PPD) based on the photographic effect of ionizing radiation is described briefly. Kinds of roentgen films used in PPD method are enumerated, compositions of a developer and fixing agents for these films are given [ru

More ties than we thought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Hirsch

2015-05-01

Full Text Available We extend the existing enumeration of neck tie-knots to include tie-knots with a textured front, tied with the narrow end of a tie. These tie-knots have gained popularity in recent years, based on reconstructions of a costume detail from The Matrix Reloaded, and are explicitly ruled out in the enumeration by Fink & Mao (2000. We show that the relaxed tie-knot description language that comprehensively describes these extended tie-knot classes is context free. It has a regular sub-language that covers all the knots that originally inspired the work. From the full language, we enumerate 266,682 distinct tie-knots that seem tie-able with a normal neck-tie. Out of these 266,682, we also enumerate 24,882 tie-knots that belong to the regular sub-language.

Visual versus mechanised leucocyte differential counts: costing and evaluation of traditional and Hemalog D methods.

OpenAIRE

Hudson, M J; Green, A E

1980-01-01

Visual differential counts were examined for efficiency, cost effectiveness, and staff acceptability within our laboratory. A comparison with the Hemalog D system was attempted. The advantages and disadvantages of each system are enumerated and discussed in the context of a large general hospital.

Visual versus mechanised leucocyte differential counts: costing and evaluation of traditional and Hemalog D methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, M J; Green, A E

1980-11-01

Visual differential counts were examined for efficiency, cost effectiveness, and staff acceptability within our laboratory. A comparison with the Hemalog D system was attempted. The advantages and disadvantages of each system are enumerated and discussed in the context of a large general hospital.

A periodic table of effective field theories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheung, Clifford [Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics,California Institute of Technology,Pasadena, CA (United States); Kampf, Karol; Novotny, Jiri [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics,Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University,Prague (Czech Republic); Shen, Chia-Hsien [Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics,California Institute of Technology,Pasadena, CA (United States); Trnka, Jaroslav [Center for Quantum Mathematics and Physics (QMAP),Department of Physics, University of California,Davis, CA (United States)

2017-02-06

We systematically explore the space of scalar effective field theories (EFTs) consistent with a Lorentz invariant and local S-matrix. To do so we define an EFT classification based on four parameters characterizing 1) the number of derivatives per interaction, 2) the soft properties of amplitudes, 3) the leading valency of the interactions, and 4) the spacetime dimension. Carving out the allowed space of EFTs, we prove that exceptional EFTs like the non-linear sigma model, Dirac-Born-Infeld theory, and the special Galileon lie precisely on the boundary of allowed theory space. Using on-shell momentum shifts and recursion relations, we prove that EFTs with arbitrarily soft behavior are forbidden and EFTs with leading valency much greater than the spacetime dimension cannot have enhanced soft behavior. We then enumerate all single scalar EFTs in d<6 and verify that they correspond to known theories in the literature. Our results suggest that the exceptional theories are the natural EFT analogs of gauge theory and gravity because they are one-parameter theories whose interactions are strictly dictated by properties of the S-matrix.

Report on achievements of research and development of a technology to apply human senses to measurements in fiscal 1994. 3. Appended data; 1994 nendo ningen kankaku keisoku oyo gijutsu no kenkyu kaihatsu. 3. Fuzoku shiryohen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-01

From among the achievements of research and development of a technology to apply human senses to measurements in fiscal 1994, candidates considered to fall under the know-how were picked up. Those enumerated in composite measurement of physiological functions to measure stresses are the skin impedance and continuous blood pressure measuring device, and in contact-free skin temperature measurement, the procedure for data communication and image processing inside the devices. The method for making thermopile elements for tympanum temperature sensor proto-model, element output amplification circuit, and thermister output conversion circuit were enumerated in the living organism activity and living organism rhythm measurements. Development of a nonrestraint accelerated pulse meter was also described. The method for recording parameter file names in impulse response measurement by using audio signals was enumerated in the composite acoustic environment presenting, evaluating and improving methods. The warm heat comfort evaluating method by using a human body thermal model, and the sense volume estimating method by using skin temperatures were also enumerated. The stress measurement and the stress relaxing technology using scent were also described. The space-type human interface adapted to human senses, and comfort meter development were also enumerated. (NEDO)

ENUMERATION OF Bacillus cereus IN “FUBÁ” OF CORN (Zea mays. L. ENUMERAÇÃO DE Bacillus cereus EM FUBÁ DE MILHO (Zea mays L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albenones José de Mesquita

2007-09-01

Full Text Available

A hundred (100 samples of “fubá” were examined, in relation to the incidence of Bacillus cereus, obtained by different technological processes (common “fubá” and previously cooked “fubá” and sold in the retail market in Goiânia - GO. The results of the examination showed that 23% of the samples was contaminated, of this percentual, 39.1% of the contaminations occurred in samples of previously cooked “fubá” and 60.9% in samples of common “fubá”. This in relation of the two products clearly showed the more accurate technological process that the previously cooked “fubá” was brought under. It was also observed that the totality of the analyzed samples showed enumerations below the limit established by the Brazilian microbiologic standard that establishes a limit of 10³ cells of Bacillus cereus for a gram of the food.

Foram examinadas 100 amostras de fubá de milho, em relação à incidência de Bacillus cereus, obtidas através de processamentos tecnológicos diferentes (fubá comum e fubá pré-cozido e comercializadas no mercado varejista de Goiânia - GO. Os resultados revelaram que 23% das amostras estavam contaminadas, deste percentual, 39,1% das contaminações ocorreram em amostras de fubá pré-cozido e 60,9%, em amostras de fubá comum. Esta considerável diferença, observada em termos percentuais em relação aos dois produtos evidenciou o processamento tecnológico mais rigoroso a que foi submetido o fubá pré-cozido. Observou-se, também, que a totalidade das amostras analisadas apresentou enumerações abaixo do limite estabelecido pelo padrão microbiológico brasileiro que determina um limite de 10³ células de B. cereus por gama do alimento.

An Integer Batch Scheduling Model for a Single Machine with Simultaneous Learning and Deterioration Effects to Minimize Total Actual Flow Time

Science.gov (United States)

Yusriski, R.; Sukoyo; Samadhi, T. M. A. A.; Halim, A. H.

2016-02-01

In the manufacturing industry, several identical parts can be processed in batches, and setup time is needed between two consecutive batches. Since the processing times of batches are not always fixed during a scheduling period due to learning and deterioration effects, this research deals with batch scheduling problems with simultaneous learning and deterioration effects. The objective is to minimize total actual flow time, defined as a time interval between the arrival of all parts at the shop and their common due date. The decision variables are the number of batches, integer batch sizes, and the sequence of the resulting batches. This research proposes a heuristic algorithm based on the Lagrange Relaxation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is determined by comparing the resulting solutions of the algorithm to the respective optimal solution obtained from the enumeration method. Numerical experience results show that the average of difference among the solutions is 0.05%.

An Integer Batch Scheduling Model for a Single Machine with Simultaneous Learning and Deterioration Effects to Minimize Total Actual Flow Time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yusriski, R; Sukoyo; Samadhi, T M A A; Halim, A H

2016-01-01

In the manufacturing industry, several identical parts can be processed in batches, and setup time is needed between two consecutive batches. Since the processing times of batches are not always fixed during a scheduling period due to learning and deterioration effects, this research deals with batch scheduling problems with simultaneous learning and deterioration effects. The objective is to minimize total actual flow time, defined as a time interval between the arrival of all parts at the shop and their common due date. The decision variables are the number of batches, integer batch sizes, and the sequence of the resulting batches. This research proposes a heuristic algorithm based on the Lagrange Relaxation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is determined by comparing the resulting solutions of the algorithm to the respective optimal solution obtained from the enumeration method. Numerical experience results show that the average of difference among the solutions is 0.05%. (paper)

Quantification of diatoms in biofilms: Standardisation of methods

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Patil, J.S.; Anil, A.C.

of the difficulty in sampling and enumeration. Scraping or brushing are the traditional methods used for removal of diatoms from biofilms developed on solid substrata. The method of removal is the most critical step in enumerating the biofilm diatom community...

Unique Path Partitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bessenrodt, Christine; Olsson, Jørn Børling; Sellers, James A.

2013-01-01

We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions.......We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions....

Enumeration of diagonally colored Young diagrams

OpenAIRE

Gyenge, Ádám

2015-01-01

In this note we give a new proof of a closed formula for the multivariable generating series of diagonally colored Young diagrams. This series also describes the Euler characteristics of certain Nakajima quiver varieties. Our proof is a direct combinatorial argument, based on Andrews' work on generalized Frobenius partitions. We also obtain representations of these series in some particular cases as infinite products.

Detection and enumeration of methanotrophs in acidic Sphagnum peat by 16S rRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization, including the use of newly developed oligonucleotide probes for Methylocella palustris.

Science.gov (United States)

Dedysh, S N; Derakshani, M; Liesack, W

2001-10-01

Two 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes, Mcell-1026 and Mcell-181, were developed for specific detection of the acidophilic methanotroph Methylocella palustris using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The fluorescence signal of probe Mcell-181 was enhanced by its combined application with the oligonucleotide helper probe H158. Mcell-1026 and Mcell-181, as well as 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes with reported group specificity for either type I methanotrophs (probes M-84 and M-705) or the Methylosinus/Methylocystis group of type II methanotrophs (probes MA-221 and M-450), were used in FISH to determine the abundance of distinct methanotroph groups in a Sphagnum peat sample of pH 4.2. M. palustris was enumerated at greater than 10(6) cells per g of peat (wet weight), while the detectable population size of type I methanotrophs was three orders of magnitude below the population level of M. palustris. The cell counts with probe MA-221 suggested that only 10(4) type II methanotrophs per g of peat (wet weight) were present, while the use of probe M-450 revealed more than 10(6) type II methanotroph cells per g of the same samples. This discrepancy was due to the fact that probe M-450 targets almost all currently known strains of Methylosinus and Methylocystis, whereas probe MA-221, originally described as group specific, does not detect a large proportion of Methylocystis strains. The total number of methanotrophic bacteria detected by FISH was 3.0 (+/-0.2) x 10(6) cells per g (wet weight) of peat. This was about 0.8% of the total bacterial cell number. Thus, our study clearly suggests that M. palustris and a defined population of Methylocystis spp. were the predominant methanotrophs detectable by FISH in an acidic Sphagnum peat bog.

The Elements of Language Curriculum: A Systematic Approach to Program Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James Dean

A systematic approach to second language curriculum development is outlined, enumerating the phases and activities involved in developing and implementing a sound and effective language program. The first chapter describes a system whereby all language teaching activities can be classified into approaches, syllabuses, techniques, exercises, or…

Bibliography of publications, 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This issue is the bibliography of the publication by the staffs of the Radiation Effects Research Institute (RERF) in 1990. Titles in original and English language with author names are enumerated. Indexes by research areas and by author name are also attached. (J.P.N.) 126 refs

Monomer-Polymer Chemistry and the Impregnation Process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stannett, V. [North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)

1968-10-15

A brief outline of early polymerization techniques is followed by a description of polymerization process chemistry, impregnation and polymerization methods and criteria for the choice of monomer. General considerations, including the effects of polymerization inhibitors, swelling agents, radiation dose rate and sample thickness, are enumerated. (author)

Application of propidium monoazide quantitative real-time PCR to quantify the viability of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Yuyu; Wang, Zhaoxia; Bao, Qiuhua; Zhang, Heping

2016-12-01

In this study, a combination of propidium monoazide (PMA) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to develop a method to determine the viability of cells of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus ND02 (L. bulgaricus) that may have entered into a viable but nonculturable state. This can happen due to its susceptibility to cold shock during lyophilization and storage. Propidium monoazide concentration, PMA incubation time, and light exposure time were optimized to fully exploit the PMA-qPCR approach to accurately assess the total number of living L. bulgaricus ND02. Although PMA has little influence on living cells, when concentrations of PMA were higher than 30μg/mL the number of PCR-positive living bacteria decreased from 10 6 to 10 5 cfu/mL in comparison with qPCR enumeration. Mixtures of living and dead cells were used as method verification samples for enumeration by PMA-qPCR, demonstrating that this method was feasible and effective for distinguishing living cells of L. bulgaricus when mixed with a known number of dead cells. We suggest that several conditions need to be studied further before PMA-qPCR methods can be accurately used to distinguish living from dead cells for enumeration under more realistic sampling situations. However, this research provides a rapid way to enumerate living cells of L. bulgaricus and could be used to optimize selection of cryoprotectants in the lyophilization process and develop technologies for high cell density cultivation and optimal freeze-drying processes. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Potential of irradiation technology for improved shellfish sanitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mallett, J.C.; Beghian, L.E.; Metcalf, T.G.; Kaylor, J.D.

1991-01-01

Ionizing radiation is shown capable of serving as an effective sanitizing treatment improving the sanitary quality of shellfish and providing an increased margin of safety for shellfish consumers. 60Co irradiation of the hard-shelled clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, and the oyster, Crassostrea virginica, significantly reduced virus carriage numbers without unduly affecting shellfish survival rates or desirable organoleptic qualities. A D10 value of 2 kGy was determined for depletion of hepatitis A virus in clams and oysters as measured by in situ hybridization fluorescent foci and cytopathology enumeration methods. A D10 value of 2.4 kGy was determined for depletion of rotavirus SA11 in clams and oysters as measured by a plaque forming unit enumeration method. Study results showed ionizing radiation capable of providing an extra, highly effective safeguard of shellfish sanitary quality when combined with traditional depuration treatment. Data drawn from other studies is introduced which shows D10 values as low as 1.0 kGy effectively eliminate Vibrio cholerae, and V. parahemolyticus, from shellfish

How Metastrategic Considerations Influence the Selection of Frequency Estimation Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Norman R.

2008-01-01

Prior research indicates that enumeration-based frequency estimation strategies become increasingly common as memory for relevant event instances improves and that moderate levels of context memory are associated with moderate rates of enumeration [Brown, N. R. (1995). Estimation strategies and the judgment of event frequency. Journal of…

Impact of oil contamination and biostimulation on the diversity of indigenous bacterial communities in soil microcosms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evans, FF; Rosado, AS; Sebastian, GV; Casella, R; Machado, PLOA; Holmstrom, C; Kjelleberg, S; van Elsas, JD; Seldin, L

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of oil contamination and biostimulation (soil pH raise, and nitrogen, phosphate and sulphur addition) on the diversity of a bacterial community of an acidic Cambisol under Atlantic Forest. The experiment was based on the enumeration of bacterial

Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper takes a look at Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women. The risk factors, screening, therapy and diagnosis, some forms of modern treatment were mentioned and described, their effects on victims enumerated and possible remedies spelt out for the management, reduction or eradication of the ...

Schur rings and non-symmetric association schemes on 64 vertices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Leif Kjær

2010-01-01

In this paper we enumerate essentially all non-symmetric association schemes with three classes, less than 96 vertices and with a regular group of automorphisms. The enumeration is based on a computer search in Schur rings. The most interesting cases have 64 vertices. In one primitive case and in...

Inter- and intra-laboratory variability of CD4 cell counts in Swaziland

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2012-06-01

Jun 1, 2012 ... The gold standard technique for CD4 enumeration is flow cytometry.3,4 Biological and analytical (laboratory) variations are known to affect CD4 enumeration; biological factors can that influence CD4 results include haemodilution in pregnancy, seasonal and diurnal variations (lowest at approximately 12: ...

Exploring Chemical Space for Drug Discovery Using the Chemical Universe Database

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Herein we review our recent efforts in searching for bioactive ligands by enumeration and virtual screening of the unknown chemical space of small molecules. Enumeration from first principles shows that almost all small molecules (>99.9%) have never been synthesized and are still available to be prepared and tested. We discuss open access sources of molecules, the classification and representation of chemical space using molecular quantum numbers (MQN), its exhaustive enumeration in form of the chemical universe generated databases (GDB), and examples of using these databases for prospective drug discovery. MQN-searchable GDB, PubChem, and DrugBank are freely accessible at www.gdb.unibe.ch. PMID:23019491

Printed and Mimeographed Issues Obtainable from Flora Malesiana Foundation, Rijksherbarium, Leiden

NARCIS (Netherlands)

NN,

1967-01-01

Index to the Enumeration of the Orchidaceae of Sumatra, by J.J. Smith. At the Rijksherbarium there was a handwritten copy compiled by the late Dr. J.J. Smith of his important enumeration of Sumatran Orchids, published in Fedde, Repertorium 32 (1933) 130-386, which was obviously for reasons of

Polymer in a pore: Effect of confinement on the free energy barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sanjiv; Kumar, Sanjay

2018-06-01

We investigate the transfer of a polymer chain from cis- side to trans- side through two types of pores: cone-shaped channel and flat-channel. Using the exact enumeration technique, we obtain the free energy landscapes of a polymer chain for such systems. We have also calculated the free-energy barrier of a polymer chain attached to the edge of the pore. The model system allows us to calculate the force required to pull polymer from the pore and stall-force to confine polymer within the pore.

The Effectiveness of Policy Interventions for School Bullying: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, William

2017-01-01

Objective Bullying threatens the mental and educational well-being of students. Although anti-bullying policies are prevalent, little is known about their effectiveness. This systematic review evaluates the methodological characteristics and summarizes substantive findings of studies examining the effectiveness of school bullying policies. Method Searches of 11 bibliographic databases yielded 489 studies completed since January 1, 1995. Following duplicate removal and double-independent screening based on a priori inclusion criteria, 21 studies were included for review. Results Substantially more educators perceive anti-bullying policies to be effective rather than ineffective. Whereas several studies show that the presence or quality of policies is associated with lower rates of bullying among students, other studies found no such associations between policy presence or quality and reductions in bullying. Consistent across studies, this review found that schools with anti-bullying policies that enumerated protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity were associated with better protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students. Specifically, LGBTQ students in schools with such policies reported less harassment and more frequent and effective intervention by school personnel. Findings are mixed regarding the relationship between having an anti-bullying policy and educators’ responsiveness to general bullying. Conclusions Anti-bullying policies might be effective at reducing bullying if their content is based on evidence and sound theory and if they are implemented with a high level of fidelity. More research is needed to improve on limitations among extant studies. PMID:28344750

EVALUATION METHOD FOR PARASITIC EFFECTS OF THE ELECTRO-OPTICAL MODULATOR IN A FIBER OPTIC GYROSCOPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Volkovskiy

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Subject of Research.The paper proposes an original method for studying the parasitic effects in the electro-optic modulator of the fiber optic gyroscope. Proposed method is based on the usage of a special waveform phase modulation signal. Method. The essence of the proposed method lies in modification of serrodyne modulation signal, thereby providing a periodic displacement of the phase difference signal to the maximum of the interference curve. In this case, the intensity level reflects the influence of parasitic effects with the degree of manifestation being determined by the sequence of voltage control signals applied to the modulator. Enumeration of combinations of control signals and the corresponding intensity levels gives the possibility to observe an empirical dependence of the parasitic effects and use it later for compensation. Main Results. The efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated by the program model of the fiber optic gyroscope. The results of the method application on a production sample of the device were obtained. Comparison with the results of direct estimate of the parasitic intensity modulation effect testifies to the effectiveness of the proposed method. Practical Relevance. The method can be used as a diagnostic tool to quantify the influence of parasitic effects in the electro-optic modulator of the fiber optic gyroscope as well as for their subsequent compensation.

Sampling solution traces for the problem of sorting permutations by signed reversals

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Traditional algorithms to solve the problem of sorting by signed reversals output just one optimal solution while the space of all optimal solutions can be huge. A so-called trace represents a group of solutions which share the same set of reversals that must be applied to sort the original permutation following a partial ordering. By using traces, we therefore can represent the set of optimal solutions in a more compact way. Algorithms for enumerating the complete set of traces of solutions were developed. However, due to their exponential complexity, their practical use is limited to small permutations. A partial enumeration of traces is a sampling of the complete set of traces and can be an alternative for the study of distinct evolutionary scenarios of big permutations. Ideally, the sampling should be done uniformly from the space of all optimal solutions. This is however conjectured to be ♯P-complete. Results We propose and evaluate three algorithms for producing a sampling of the complete set of traces that instead can be shown in practice to preserve some of the characteristics of the space of all solutions. The first algorithm (RA) performs the construction of traces through a random selection of reversals on the list of optimal 1-sequences. The second algorithm (DFALT) consists in a slight modification of an algorithm that performs the complete enumeration of traces. Finally, the third algorithm (SWA) is based on a sliding window strategy to improve the enumeration of traces. All proposed algorithms were able to enumerate traces for permutations with up to 200 elements. Conclusions We analysed the distribution of the enumerated traces with respect to their height and average reversal length. Various works indicate that the reversal length can be an important aspect in genome rearrangements. The algorithms RA and SWA show a tendency to lose traces with high average reversal length. Such traces are however rare, and qualitatively our results

Current Sterilization Protocols-An Orthodontic Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abraham Vinod Korath

2010-01-01

Part I of this article focuses on the working principles of various methods of sterilization with an appraisalof their effects on orthodontic instruments. Additionally,contributory factors of instrument damage is enumerated to emphasis the importance of adhering to precise protocols and manufacturer recommendations as well as in alleviating some misconceptions about sterilization induced instrument damage.

Quadratic Poisson brackets compatible with an algebra structure

OpenAIRE

Balinsky, A. A.; Burman, Yu.

1994-01-01

Quadratic Poisson brackets on a vector space equipped with a bilinear multiplication are studied. A notion of a bracket compatible with the multiplication is introduced and an effective criterion of such compatibility is given. Among compatible brackets, a subclass of coboundary brackets is described, and such brackets are enumerated in a number of examples.

Enumeration of Antibacterial Activity of Few Medicinal Plants by Bioassay Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Uma Reddy

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The present study was aimed to investigate the antibacterial activity of some common locally available plants, in order to estimate the biological potential of these herbs. The alcoholic extract of Tagetes erecta L (Asteraceae, Argemone mexicana L (Papavaraceae, Datura stramonium L. (Solanaceae and Tylophora indica (Burm.f. Merr. (Asclepiadaceae were evaluated for antibacterial activity using broth dilution bioassay method. It is clear from the results that, the extracts of these plants acts as a good source of antibiotics against various bacterial pathogens tested and exhibited broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. These plant extracts were shown to be moderate to maximum inhibitory effect against different bacterial forms such as Salmonella typhii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, where as, mild to moderate activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. The results of these studies revealed most valuable information and also support the continued sustainable use of these plants in traditional systems of medicine.

The effect of feeding Bt MON810 maize to pigs for 110 days on intestinal microbiota.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan G Buzoianu

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of feeding Bt MON810 maize to pigs for 110 days on the intestinal microbiota. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Forty male pigs (∼40 days old were blocked by weight and litter ancestry and assigned to one of four treatments; 1 Isogenic maize-based diet for 110 days (Isogenic; 2 Bt maize-based diet (MON810 for 110 days (Bt; 3 Isogenic maize-based diet for 30 days followed by a Bt maize-based diet for 80 days (Isogenic/Bt; 4 Bt maize-based diet for 30 days followed by an isogenic maize-based diet for 80 days (Bt/Isogenic. Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus and total anaerobes were enumerated in the feces using culture-based methods on days 0, 30, 60 and 100 of the study and in ileal and cecal digesta on day 110. No differences were found between treatments for any of these counts at any time point. The relative abundance of cecal bacteria was also determined using high-throughput 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. No differences were observed in any bacterial taxa between treatments, with the exception of the genus Holdemania which was more abundant in the cecum of pigs fed the isogenic/Bt treatment compared to pigs fed the Bt treatment (0.012 vs 0.003%; P≤0.05. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Feeding pigs a Bt maize-based diet for 110 days did not affect counts of any of the culturable bacteria enumerated in the feces, ileum or cecum. Neither did it influence the composition of the cecal microbiota, with the exception of a minor increase in the genus Holdemania. As the role of Holdemania in the intestine is still under investigation and no health abnormalities were observed, this change is not likely to be of clinical significance. These results indicate that feeding Bt maize to pigs in the context of its influence on the porcine intestinal microbiota is safe.

Enhanced Methodologies to Enumerate Persons Experiencing Homelessness in a Large Urban Area.

Science.gov (United States)

Troisi, Catherine L; D'Andrea, Ritalinda; Grier, Gary; Williams, Stephen

2015-10-01

Homelessness is a public health problem, and persons experiencing homelessness are a vulnerable population. Estimates of the number of persons experiencing homelessness inform funding allocations and services planning and directly determine the ability of a community to intervene effectively in homelessness. The point-in-time (PIT) count presents a logistical problem in large urban areas, particularly those covering a vast geographical area. Working together, academia, local government, and community organizations improved the methodology for the count. Specific enhancements include use of incident command system (ICS), increased number of staging areas/teams, specialized outreach and Special Weapons and Tactics teams, and day-after surveying to collect demographic information. This collaboration and enhanced methodology resulted in a more accurate estimate of the number of persons experiencing homelessness and allowed comparison of findings for 4 years. While initial results showed an increase due to improved counting, the number of persons experiencing homelessness counted for the subsequent years showed significant decrease during the same time period as a "housing first" campaign was implemented. The collaboration also built capacity in each sector: The health department used ICS as a training opportunity; the academics enhanced their community health efforts; the service sector was taught and implemented more rigorous quantitative methods; and the community was exposed to public health as a pragmatic and effective discipline. Improvements made to increase the reliability of the PIT count can be adapted for use in other jurisdictions, leading to improved counts and better evaluation of progress in ending homelessness. © The Author(s) 2015.

A Survey and Perception of Farmers on Okra ( Abelmoschus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

They were mostly males (91.7%), married (65%), in the age bracket of 30 to 39 years (45.8%), with formal education (67.5%) and majority had farming experience of 31 to 40 years (38.3%). The farmers ... A proper enumeration of disease incidence in relation to agroecology is key to the design of effective control measures.

Human Elephant Conflict in the Waza-Logone Region of Northern Cameroon: An Assessment of Management Effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tchamba, MN.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available An investigation into the current level of humanelephant conflicts in the Waza Logone region was carried out during the 2005 rainy season to assess the effectiveness of conflict management. This was done by talking mainly to wildlife authorities, the local agricultural service, the local communities and consulting sequential reports from the nearest enumerators. The number of villages affected was declining in the dry season compared to the rainy season crop raiding. However, general pattern indicates a decline in the number of villages impacted by elephants since the 1992 to 1993 surveys, but comparatively more damaging as shown by the estimated costs. Therefore, the improve in ecological management of the Waza National Park and its elephant population has had a positive impact in the number of villages crop raided but has not definitely resolved the conflicts between man and elephant. Other approaches are needed to buttress the effort been undertaken in the region to date.

Social Security Administration Data for Enumeration Accuracy

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — This dataset provides data at the national level from federal fiscal year 2006 onwards for the accuracy of the assignment of Social Security numbers (SSN) based on...

Enumeration, Isolation and Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

For each mobile phone, two sterile swabs moistened with normal saline were ... antibiotics. MATERIALS AND METHODS ... 28 isolates comprising of four genera of E. coli. 7(25.0%), S. ... personal mobile phones in some locations within Kano ... clothing, food and/or hands of the users (Uabol- .... Journal of Food Protection,.

Sausage mode stability boundaries: enumeration and verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambers, F.W.

1980-01-01

An axially symmetric sausage mode instability has been observed using particle simulation codes to propagate beams with a high degree of current neutralization. In this report the stability boundaries in terms of the magnitude and location of the return current are delineated for beams with square, Gaussian, and Bennett radial current profiles using the theoretical analysis of others. For the case in which the return current is held fixed as the beam propagates, a detailed comparison is made between the theoretical predictions and the results of the RINGFAST single disk particle simulation code. Agreement between theory and code results is good although the code results do show a slightly larger than predicted unstable region

On the asymptotic enumeration of LEGO structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abrahamsen, Mikkel; Eilers, Søren

2011-01-01

We investigate experimentally the growth regimes of the number of LEGO structures that can be constructed contiguously from n blocks of equal shape and color.......We investigate experimentally the growth regimes of the number of LEGO structures that can be constructed contiguously from n blocks of equal shape and color....

A REVOLUTION IN MOLD IDENTIFICATION AND ENUMERATION

Science.gov (United States)

More than 100 assay were developed to identify and quantify indoor molds using quantitiative PCR (QPCR) assays. This technology incorporates fluorigenic 5' nuclease (TaqMan�) chemistry directed at the nuclear ribosomal RNA operon internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 or ITS2...

Detection and enumeration of F-specific bacteriophages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooijman KA; Bahar M; Havelaar AH; MGB

2000-01-01

Tijdens het EU-project 'Bacteriofagen in zwemwater' (januari 1996 - juni 1999) werd onderzoek uitgevoerd ten behoeve van de optimalisatie van de methode voor de detectie en enumeratie van F-specifieke (RNA) fagen in water. Er werd gekeken of verdere optimalisatie van de procedure zoals

Effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis (Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate) survival under combinations of pH and NaCl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Yohan; Kim, Jae-Hun; Byun, Myung-Woo; Choi, Kyoung-Hee; Lee, Ju-Woon

2010-01-01

This study evaluated the effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis (Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate; potential bioterrorism agent) survival under different levels of NaCl and pH. B. thailandensis in Luria Bertani broth supplemented with NaCl (0-3%), and pH-adjusted to 4-7 was treated with gamma irradiation (0-0.5 kGy). Surviving cell counts of bacteria were then enumerated on tryptic soy agar. Data for the cell counts were also used to calculate D 10 values (the dose required to reduce 1 log CFU/mL of B. thailandensis). Cell counts of B. thailandensis were decreased (P 10 values ranged from 0.04 to 0.07 kGy, regardless of NaCl and pH level. These results indicate that low doses of gamma irradiation should be a useful treatment in decreasing the potential bioterrorism bacteria, which may possibly infect humans through foods.

Assessment of the efficiency of ColiSure™ for coliforms Escherichia coli enumeration in pasteurizad milk / Avaliação do desempenho do ColiSure™ na enumeração de coliformes totais e Escherichia coli em leite pasteurizado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elsa Helena Walter de Santana

2000-12-01

Full Text Available In the dairy industry the coliforms detection can he used as indicative of hygiene production of the raw milk and the contamination after-pasteurization. The traditional methods for the enumeration of the total and faecal coliforms are laborious and needs an incubation time of 96 hours. Rapid methods for detection of these microorganisms have been developed and among them the ColsSuroit is a rapid method that gives results in 24 hours and involves defined substrates for simultaneous determination of total conforms and E. coli in water based in specific enzymatic reactions of these microorganisms. The objective of this study was to evaluate its utilization in milk. Ninety-five samples of pasteurized milk were collected from the markets in Londrina city, Parana and analyzed by the Most Probable Number (NMP enumeration using the Brilliant Green Bile Lactose Broth (BGBL and ColiSure™. There was a correlation of 0.80 betwee-n the mediums when the incubation time was 43 hours for total conforms. The low down occurrence of E. coffin the analyzed samples made impossible to comparate the performance of methods for this microorganism. Compfementary analysis showed a greater sensibility and especifity of the ColiSure™ in comparation with the BGBL. The CofiSure™ can be indicated as a substitute for the traditional method, with the advantage to be faster and easier.Na indústria láctea a detecção de microrganismos do grupo coliformes é utilizada como indicativo da higiene na produção do leite e de contaminação pós-pasteurizaçüo. Os métodos tradicionais para a enumeração de coliformes totais e fecais são trabalhosos, com tempo de incubação longo, de até 96 horas. Métodos rápidos para a detecção destes microrganismos têm sido desenvolvidos na área de microbiologia de alimentos. O ColiSure™ é um método rápido, que fornece resultados simultaneamente para a presença ou a ausência de coliformes totais e Escherichia coli em �

Protective effect of milk constituents and sublethal injuries limiting process effectiveness during PEF inactivation of Lb. rhamnosus.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, H; Schulz, A; Karapetkov, N; Knorr, D

2009-08-31

The inactivation of Lb. rhamnosus by pulsed electric field treatment (PEF) was studied in different fractions of raw milk and Ringer solution in order to evaluate the protective effect of nutrient rich media in comparison to aqueous buffer solutions. Apart from monitoring of culturability, analysis of the physiological fitness of Lb. rhamnosus was conducted aiming to identify sublethally damaged cells. Therefore, flow cytometry and a selective medium plating technique were used and compared to each other. The goal of the study was to apply three different parameters describing the physiological fitness of the model organism Lb. rhamnosus after PEF treatment such as culturability, membrane permeability and metabolic activity depending on treatment media and parameters. A concentration dependent protective effect of the milk protein fraction could be shown and allocated to micellar casein as the major milk protein. Increasing the concentration of whey proteins up to 2% showed a similar impact on limiting the PEF inactivation of Lb. rhamnosus. The evaluation of physiological fitness of cells was based on a determination of structural and functional characteristics by rapid cellular staining using carboxyfluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide. This approach showed good accordance to the conventional selective medium plating technique for the enumeration of sublethally-injured bacteria but flow cytometry provided additional information for the characterisation of this fraction. The extent of occurrence of dead, sublethal and vital fractions of cells was found dependent on the PEF treatment parameters such as electrical field strength and energy input as well as the different milk fractions used as treatment media.

The Four Day School Week. Research Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Muir, Mike

2013-01-01

Can four-day school weeks help districts save money? How do districts overcome the barriers of moving to a four-day week? What is the effect of a four-day week on students, staff and the community? This paper enumerates the benefits for students and teachers of four-day school weeks. Recommendations for implementation of a four-day week are also…

Systems approach for design control at Monitored Retrievable Storage Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, P.N.; Williams, J.R.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the systems approach in establishing design control for the Monitored Retrievable Storage Project design development. Key elements in design control are enumerated and systems engineering aspects are detailed. Application of lessons learned from the Yucca Mountain Project experience is addressed. An integrated approach combining quality assurance and systems engineering requirements is suggested to practice effective design control

Computational sensing of herpes simplex virus using a cost-effective on-chip microscope

KAUST Repository

Ray, Aniruddha

2017-07-03

Caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV), herpes is a viral infection that is one of the most widespread diseases worldwide. Here we present a computational sensing technique for specific detection of HSV using both viral immuno-specificity and the physical size range of the viruses. This label-free approach involves a compact and cost-effective holographic on-chip microscope and a surface-functionalized glass substrate prepared to specifically capture the target viruses. To enhance the optical signatures of individual viruses and increase their signal-to-noise ratio, self-assembled polyethylene glycol based nanolenses are rapidly formed around each virus particle captured on the substrate using a portable interface. Holographic shadows of specifically captured viruses that are surrounded by these self-assembled nanolenses are then reconstructed, and the phase image is used for automated quantification of the size of each particle within our large field-of-view, ~30 mm2. The combination of viral immuno-specificity due to surface functionalization and the physical size measurements enabled by holographic imaging is used to sensitively detect and enumerate HSV particles using our compact and cost-effective platform. This computational sensing technique can find numerous uses in global health related applications in resource-limited environments.

Effects of co-composting of lincomycin mycelia dregs with furfural slag on lincomycin degradation, maturity and microbial communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Shengtao; Guo, Xiali; Lu, Aqian; Guo, Xiaoying; Wang, Yan; Sun, Guoping; Guo, Weiwei; Ren, Chaobin; Wang, Lianzhong

2018-05-26

This paper investigated the effect of co-composting of lincomycin mycelia dregs (LMDs) with furfural slag on the degradation of lincomycin, maturity and microbial communities. Results showed that after 66 days composting, the concentration of lincomycin was removed above 99%. The final pH, C/N and germination index (GI) all met the national standards in maturity. Enumeration of total cultivable microbes showed the composting process was not inhibited by the addition of LMDs. Microbial diversity suggested that co-composting was beneficial to increase the abundance and diversity of bacterial communities for LMDs' treatment. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) indicated the bacteria communities were strongly affected by residual lincomycin, with lincomycin reduced greatly, microbial communities of T and CK became similar at the end of composting. The potential bacteria to degrade lincomycin were Anaerococcus, Peptostreptococcus, and Lactobacillus. Based on these results, this research indicated that the co-composting was a feasible treatment for LMDs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combination therapy of ifenprodil with piroxicam may be an effective therapeutic intervention in cerebral stroke: a hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Pallab; Pandey, Anand Kumar; Paul, Sudip; Patnaik, Ranjana

2012-10-01

Owing to the intricate and multifaceted pathology of cerebral stroke, multiple drug therapy had long been suggested for effective stroke treatment. Therefore, the development of a potential new combination of drug is necessitated which can bring about desirable improved neuroprotection targeting different pathways against ischemic stroke. In this context, we hypothesize the combination effect of Piroxicam, a Non steroidal anti inflammatory drug with Ifenprodil, a NR2b selective NMDAR antagonist in animal model of cerebral ischemia. A few past studies have enumerated the neuroprotective roles of Piroxicam and Ifenprodil administered in singlet against cerebral ischemia in animal model, hence we hypothesized that by using Piroxicam and Ifenprodil in combination would provide additive neuroprotection than either of the agents used alone. In this article, we discuss our hypothesis regarding the possibility of Piroxicam and Ifenprodil as a potent combination which may have a positive therapeutic role in treatment of cerebral ischemia through its anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative characteristics of Piroxicam with Ifenprodil which has been proved to have neuroprotective, anticonvulsant and antinociceptive effects and has potentials for the treatment of several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson's disease alcoholism and drug addiction. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Silver colloidal nanoparticles: antifungal effect against adhered cells and biofilms of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata.

Science.gov (United States)

Monteiro, D R; Gorup, L F; Silva, S; Negri, M; de Camargo, E R; Oliveira, R; Barbosa, D B; Henriques, M

2011-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of silver nanoparticles (SN) against Candida albicans and Candida glabrata adhered cells and biofilms. SN (average diameter 5 nm) were synthesized by silver nitrate reduction with sodium citrate and stabilized with ammonia. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests were performed for C. albicans (n = 2) and C. glabrata (n = 2) grown in suspension following the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute microbroth dilution method. SN were applied to adhered cells (2 h) or biofilms (48 h) and after 24 h of contact their effect was assessed by enumeration of colony forming units (CFUs) and quantification of total biomass (by crystal violet staining). The MIC results showed that SN were fungicidal against all strains tested at very low concentrations (0.4-3.3 μg ml(-1)). Furthermore, SN were more effective in reducing biofilm biomass when applied to adhered cells (2 h) than to pre-formed biofilms (48 h), with the exception of C. glabrata ATCC, which in both cases showed a reduction ∼90%. Regarding cell viability, SN were highly effective on adhered C. glabrata and respective biofilms. On C. albicans the effect was not so evident but there was also a reduction in the number of viable biofilm cells. In summary, SN may have the potential to be an effective alternative to conventional antifungal agents for future therapies in Candida-associated denture stomatitis.

LHCb

CERN Multimedia

Frank, M; Neufeld, N; Ruf, T; Batista lopes, J C; Martinelli, M; Perazzini, S; Stagni, F; Dorigo, M; Di canto, A; Nolte, N S; Battista, V; Birnkraut, A; Uwer, U; Zhelezov, A; Han, X; Kolpin, M; Le gac, R; Wormser, G H M; Barsuk, S; Maurice, E A; Renaudin, V; Benayoun, M C; Polci, F; Watson, N; Souza covacich, D; Barlow, R J; Pastore, A; Lax, I; Peco, G; Bortolotti, D; Vilaca pinheiro soares, M; Leflat, A; Krokovnyi, P; Gibson, V; Ward, D R; Doherty, F; Longstaff, I R; Dean, C T; Traill, M T; Fiorini, M; Campana, P; Saputi, A; Ciambrone, P; Michielin, E; Morello, M J; Carboni, G; Van veghel, M; Raven, G H; Witek, M; Ossowska, A; Fiutowski, T A; Dzhelyadin, R; Stenyakin, O; Popov, A; Wang, J; Artuso, M; Rudolph, M S; Batsukh, B; Mendes gandelman, M; Garrido beltran, L; Rosello canal, M D M; Luengo alvarez, S; Picatoste olloqui, E; Sanchez gonzalo, D; Wilson, F F; Nandakumar, R; Wark, H M; Hecker, M; Kochenda, L; Petrolini, A; Saitta, B; Belin, S; Calvi, M; Pessina, G E; Shao, B; Zeng, M; Sun, J; Kechadi, M T; Zheng, Y; Lyu, X; Polukhina, N; Gromov, S; Seco miguelez, M A; Vazquez regueiro, P; Fernandez prieto, A; Buytaert, J; Camilleri, L L; Lindner, R; Corti, G; Ponce, S; Coco, V; Schwemmer, R A; Ravonel salzgeber, M; Gruber, L; Seyfert, P; Stahl, S; De aguiar francisco, O A; Chrzaszcz, M J; Voneki, B; Masson, G A; Rodrigues cavalcante, A B; Marino, P; Vollhardt, A; Zhukov, V; Haas, T; Leroy, O; Mancinelli, G; Hachon, F; Stocchi, A; Lisovskyi, V; Naik, P P; Richards, S E; John, M; Nandi, A K; Palano, A; Iarocci, E; Sciubba, A; Auriemma, G; Shapoval, I; Philippov, S; Petrov, A; Basiladze, S; Kozachuk, A; Berdiouguine, A; Weisser, C N; Graziani, G; Anderlini, L; Evans, H M; Garsed, P J; Eklund, L M; Alexander, M T; Tellarini, G; Capon, G; Bloise, C; Santimaria, M; Lucchesi, D; Bedeschi, F; Van beuzekom, M G; Berkien, A; Giubega, L; Koliiev, S; Volkov, V; Sokoloff, M D; Pappenheimer, C A; Da silva, C L; Blusk, S R; Ely, S E; Wilkinson, M K; Marangotto, D; Santana rangel, M; Camboni, A; Orellana martin, D; Niess, V; Franek, B; Loveridge, P; Hutchcroft, D E; Shears, T G; Smith, A N; Whitley, M D A; Marshall, P J; Sutcliffe, W L; Sagidova, N; Vznuzdaev, M; Aidala, C A; Sun, Y; Fontana, M; Mazza, R; Cheng, J; Huang, Y; Luo, Y; Hushchyn, M; Hess, M; Perez trigo, E; Borsato, M; Crocombe, A C; Needham, M D; Petrucci, S; Jacobsson, R; Khanji, B; Mathe, Z; Rauschmayr, N; Pearce, A; Byczynski, W; Frei, R; Nakada, T; Nguyen mau, C; Pinard, A; Schulte, S; Bernet, R; Serra, N; Bezshyiko, I; Wang, Y; Kirn, T; Guth, A; Kruse, F; Bauer, C; Dembinski, H P; Braun, S A; Piucci, A; Kecke, M; Minard, M; Aslanides, E; Barrand, G C; Lefrancois, J; Chamont, D; Usachov, A; Billoir, P; Del buono, L; Ben haim, E; Bertholet, E; Plews, J P; Velthuis, J J; Dalseno, J P; Borghi, S; Appleby, R B; Hombach, C; Sarpis, G; Capriotti, L; Hilton, M; Pullen, H L; Galli, D; Garibaldi, F; Shatalov, P; Nikitin, N; Williams, J M; Boettcher, T J; Smith, J W; Williams, I; Spradlin, P M; Calabrese, R; Neri, I; Skiba, I; Bencivenni, G; Lanfranchi, G; Simi, G; Ceelie, L; Van petten, O R; Pellegrino, A; Roeland, E; Dendek, A M; Obraztsov, V; Stone, S L; Olejnik, L; Petruzzo, M; Hicheur, A; Silva de oliveira, L G; Lebsir, B; Golutvin, A; Humair, T; Moise, R; Bartolini, M; Gao, Y; Liu, X; Zhu, X; Milanes carreno, D A; Rodriguez lopez, J A; Borisyak, M; Szymanski, M P; Krasilnikova, I; Meinert, N; Adeva andany, B; Hernando morata, J A; Sanmartin sedes, B; Millard, E J; Webster, J; Correa dos reis, A; Gomes dos santos neto, A; Brarda, L; D'ambrosio, C; Ferro-luzzi, M; Gys, T; Schopper, A; Teubert, F; Wyllie, K; Couturier, B; Kristic, R; Fournier, C; Haen, C D; Ciezarek, G M; Durante, P; Lupton, O J; Pais, P R; Kirsebom, V S; Straumann, U D; Mueller, K; Buonaura, A; Spaan, B; Albrecht, J; Ekelhof, R J; Shires, A; Schlupp, M; Demmer, M; Muller, J; Schmelzer, T; Lindemann, T; Bachmann, S; Cachemiche, J; De abreu barbosa coelho, J; Tou, D Y; Calladine, R B; Pomery, G J; Bhasin, S; De capua, S; Burr, C M; Topp-joergensen, S; Bjorn, M; Patrignani, C; Vagnoni, V M; Kandybei, S; Shekhtman, L; Jones, C R; Cliff, H V; Sirendi, M; Tully, A M; Soler jermyn, P F; Luppi, E; Vecchi, S; De simone, P; Rotondo, M; Satta, A; Merk, M; Jans, E; Krzemien, W J; Merkin, M; Vasilyev, A; Durham, J M; Poliakova, M; Merli, A; Souza de paula, B; Pinto eboli, O J; Vilasis cardona, J; Ajaltouni, Z; Quintana, B J; Casse, G; Hennessy, K P; Rinnert, K; Dornan, P J; Patel, M; Savidge, T E; Baker, S K; Spiridenkov, E; Makarenkov, G; Filimonov, A; Stepanova, M; Jawahery, A; Parker, W C; Belloli, N; Gong, G; Zhang, W; Gan, Y; Ruiz vidal, J; Raab, N V; Huang, W; Cai, H; Bian, L; Waldi, R G; Gershon, T J; Playfer, S M; Gizdov, K; Marques de miranda, J; De bediaga hickman, I A; Marujo da silva, F; Silveira mizher, A J; Dijkstra, H; Van herwijnen, E; Forty, R; Gaspar, C; Hatch, M; Jost, B; Piedigrossi, D; Alessio, F; Vazquez gomez, R; Johnson, D; Pisani, F; Tran, M; Repond, J; Macko, V; Yu, J; Heister, A; Tekampe, T; Hofmann, W; Schmelling, M T; Rummel, C; Machefert, F; Fleuret, F D; Bossu, F; Lazzeroni, C; Zarebski, K A; Saunders, D M; Mcnab, I A; Maguire, K S; Dutta, D; Pinci, D; Shevchenko, O; Gushchin, E; Nogay, A; Belyaev, I; Semennikov, A; Danilina, A; Gorelov, I V; Haines, S C; Delaney, B; Bozzi, C; Sciascia, B; Fantechi, R; Groep, D L; Onderwater, C; Glab, S M; Idzik, M A; Firlej, M; Guzik, Z; Maciuc, F; Pirghie, A; Pugatch, V; Okhrimenko, O; Belous, K; Ostankov, A; Meadows, B; Niu, N; Salazar de paula, L; Polycarpo macedo, E; Lefevre, R P; Websdale, D M; Maev, E; Mattioli, K R; Hamilton, B K; Lai, A; Liu, B; Jiang, F; Cang, J; Vagner, A; Saborido silva, J J; Muheim, F; Collins, P; Schneider, T H; Granado cardoso, L A; Valat, S J; Dordei, F; Karacson, M; Schneider, O P; Haefeli, G J; Hopchev, P H; Maurin, B E; Redi, F L; Stefko, P; Wang, Z; Schael, S; Knopf, J M; D'argent, P; Pietrzyk, B; Drancourt, C; T'jampens, S; Duval, P; Cogan, J; Beigbeder-beau, C; Slater, M W; Farley, N; Williams, T; Adinolfi, M; Prouve, C; Parkes, C J; Gronbech, P D; Hancock, T H; Rollings, A P; Zucchelli, S; Bocci, V; Satriano, C; Golubkov, D; Kvaratskheliya, T; Egorychev, V; Bondar, A; Eydelman, S; Kuzmin, A; Krokovny, P; Veltri, M; Bettler, M O; Schiller, M T; Felici, G; Morandin, M; Doets, M; Schimmel, A; Kraan, M J; Vink, W; Vitkovskiy, A; Szumlak, T; Straticiuc, M; Guz, Y; Artamonov, A; Rodrigues figueiredo, E M; Xing, Z; Beiter, A; Lopes, H J; Gascon, D; Casajus ramo, A; Trenado garcia, J; Golobardes ribe, E; Alfonso albero, A; Deschamps, O; Cooke, P A; Wormald, M; Stefkova, S; Tilley, M J; Newcombe, R; Levitskaya, O; Golovtcov, V; Semenchuk, G; Roth, J D; Dean, W; Matteuzzi, C; Martinez vidal, F; Henry, L; Garcia martin, L M; Qin, J; Xu, Q; Didenko, S; Gallas torreira, A A; Chobanova, V G; Ramos pernas, M; Poluektov, A; Latham, T E; Blake, T; Eisenhardt, S; Cattaneo, M; Chadaj, B; Charpentier, P; Closier, J; Jamet, O; Lacarrere, D; Schmidt, B; Clemencic, M; Thomas, E P C; Schindler, H; Faerber, C; Matev, R I; Colombo, T; Muller, D; Bay, A; Gonzalez, R; Girard, O G; Atzeni, M; Xiao, D; Mueller, V; Hansmann-menzemer, S; Nikodem, T; Leverington, B D; Ghez, P; Xu, Z; Tsaregorodtsev, A; Serrano, J; Schune, M; Jouvin, M; Robbe, P A; Duarte, O; Balagura, V; Vom bruch, D; Rademacker, J H; Kariuki, J M; Lafferty, G D; Gersabeck, M; Harnew, N; Malde, S S; Gruberg cazon, B R; Marconi, U; Valenti, G; Carbone, A; Betti, F; Santacesaria, R; Kravchuk, L; Maltsev, T; Gobel burlamaqui de mello, C; Wotton, S; Garra tico, J; Baldini, W; Tomassetti, L; Andreotti, M; Siddi, B G; Palutan, M; Tagnani, D; Busetto, G; Walsh, J J; Punzi, G; Santovetti, E; Berbee, E M; Lesiak, T; Wiechczynski, J P; Baszczyk, M K; Muryn, B; Ukleja, A; Batozskaya, V; Cojocariu, L N; Shapkin, M; Romanovskiy, V; Luchinskii, A; Huard, Z C; Otalora goicochea, J M; Graciani diaz, R; Grauges pous, E; Coquereau, S; Monteil, S; Chanal, H P; Cogneras, E R D; Vert, P; Puech, G; Easo, S; Bowcock, T; Egede, U; Neustroev, P; Kashchuk, A; Petrov, G; Fontanelli, F; Cadeddu, S; Cogoni, V; De oyanguren campos, M A; Mcnulty, R C; Ratnikov, F; He, J; Li, P; Baryshnikov, F; Shmanin, E; Viemann, H M; Santamarina rios, C; Mathad, A; Loh, D J; Costa sobral, C M; Cowan, G A; Smith, I T; Kos antunes maciel, A; Santana, R; Pepe-altarelli, M; Dumps, R; Frei, C M; Roy, L; De bruyn, K A M; Tolk, S; Brodski, M; Sciuccati, A; Fernandez declara, P; Blanc, F H; Graverini, E; Mukherjee, M; Yin, H; Voss, H H; Moch, M; Decamp, D L; Arnau romeu, J; Breton, D R; Charlet, D M; Amhis, Y S; Buchanan, E; Hidalgo charman, R; Harris, F J; Hill, D; Hadavizadeh, T B; De serio, M; Martellotti, G; Dovbnya, A; Kutuzov, V; Zhivaeva, L; Bogdanova, G; Vorobyev, V; Kaminer, I E; Bizzeti, A; Passaleva, G; Lovell, G H; Smeaton, J G; Pappalardo, L L; Anelli, M; Amerio, S; Lupato, A; Sluijk, T; Munneke, B; Mulder, M; Dufour, L; Dorosz, P A; Melnychuk, D; Grecu, A T; Pirghie, C; Yushchenko, O; Likhoded, A; Soldatov, M; Schreiner, H F; Mountain, R J; Skwarnicki, T; Kelsey, M J; Venkateswaran, A; Yao, Y; Neri, N; Amato, S F; Calvo gomez, M G; Gonzalez bano, C; Henrard, P; Perret, P; Magne, M M; Maratas, J; Gazzoni, G; Ricciardi, S; Gamet, R; Noor, A; Liles, M M; Pritchard, A A; Cunliffe, S T; Alkhazov, G; Trofimov, V; Shapkin, G; Smirenin, Y; Yang, Z; Cardini, A; Brundu, D; Gong, H; Yang, Z; Mazorra de cos, J; Sanchez mayordomo, C; Evangelho vieira, D; Pazos alvarez, A; Kreps, M; Clarke, P; Gabriel, E P M

2002-01-01

The LHCb detector is designed to study CP violation and other rare phenomena in decays of hadrons with heavy flavours, in particular $ \\rm B_s$ mesons. Interest in CP violation comes not only from elementary particle physics but also from cosmology, in order to explain the dominance of matter over antimatter observed in our universe, which could be regarded as the largest CP violation effect ever seen. The LHCb experiment will improve significantly results from earlier experiments both quantitatively and qualitatively, by exploiting the large number of different kinds of b hadrons produced at LHC. This is done by constructing a detector which has \\begin{enumerate} \\item Good trigger efficiencies for b-hadron final states with only hadrons, as well as those containing leptons. \\item Capability of identifying kaons and pions in a momentum range of $\\sim 1$ to above 100 GeV/$c$. \\item Excellent decay time and mass resolution. \\end{enumerate} The LHCb spectrometer shown in the figure consists of the following det...

Gamma irradiation and heat treatment for sterilization of Mushroom Spent Compost (MSC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosnani Abdul Rashid; Hassan Hamdani Mutaat; Foziah Ali; Zainab Harun; Hoe, P.C.K.; Mohd Meswan Maskom; Khairuddin Abdul Rahim

2016-01-01

Mushroom spent compost (MSC) refers to substrate residue from mushroom cultivation. MSC can be used as a material to improve soil properties for farming. MSC is also suitable as a carrier or substrate to hold beneficial microorganisms in bio fertilizer products. The carrier for bio fertilizer products must be sterilized completely before inoculating with bacteria inoculum. In this study, the effects of gamma irradiation and heat on sterilization of MSC were evaluated by microbial enumeration technique. The MSC was packed into polyethylene bags. The packed MSC were irradiated at different doses of 0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 kGy, and heat sterilized at different autoclaving time of 0 (control), 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes, separately. The irradiated and autoclaved samples were enumerated for viable colonies. The results showed that MSC was completely sterilized by gamma irradiation at the dose of 30 kGy whilst sterilization by heat required 30 minute autoclaving time. (author)

Circulating Tumor Cell Analysis: Technical and Statistical Considerations for Application to the Clinic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison L. Allan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Solid cancers are a leading cause of death worldwide, primarily due to the failure of effective clinical detection and treatment of metastatic disease in distant sites. There is growing evidence that the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs in the blood of cancer patients may be an important indicator of the potential for metastatic disease and poor prognosis. Technological advances have now facilitated the enumeration and characterization of CTCs using methods such as PCR, flow cytometry, image-based immunologic approaches, immunomagnetic techniques, and microchip technology. However, the rare nature of these cells requires that very sensitive and robust detection/enumeration methods be developed and validated in order to implement CTC analysis for widespread use in the clinic. This review will focus on the important technical and statistical considerations that must be taken into account when designing and implementing CTC assays, as well as the subsequent interpretation of these results for the purposes of clinical decision making.

A flow cytometric method for assessing viability of intraerythrocytic hemoparasites.

Science.gov (United States)

Wyatt, C R; Goff, W; Davis, W C

1991-06-24

We have developed a rapid, reliable method of evaluating growth and viability of intraerythrocytic protozoan hemoparasites. The assay involves the selective uptake and metabolic conversion of hydroethidine to ethidium by live parasites present in intact erythrocytes. The red fluorescence imparted by ethidium intercalated into the DNA of the parasite permits the use of flow cytometry to distinguish infected erythrocytes with viable parasites from uninfected erythrocytes and erythrocytes containing dead parasites. Comparison of the fluorochromasia technique of enumerating the number and viability of hemoparasites in cultured erythrocytes with enumeration in Giemsa-stained films and uptake of [3H]hypoxanthine demonstrated the fluorochromasia technique yields comparable results. Studies with the hemoparasite, Babesia bovis, have shown the fluorochromasia technique can also be used to monitor the effect of parasiticidal drugs on parasites in vitro. The cumulative studies with the fluorochromasia assay suggest the assay will also prove useful in investigations focused on analysis of the immune response to hemoparasites and growth in vitro.

Cryogenic regenerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kush, P.; Joshi, S.C.; Thirumaleshwar, M.

1986-01-01

Importance of regenerators in cryogenic refrigerators is highlighted. Design aspects of regenerator are reviewed and the factors involved in the selection of regenerator material are enumerated. Various methods used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient and regenerator effectiveness are mentioned. Variation of effectiveness with various parameters is calculated by a computer programme using the ideal, Ackermann and Tipler formulae. Results are presented in graphical form. Listing of the computer programme is given in the Appendix. (author)

Report on achievements in fiscal 1998. Surveys on development of an at-home welfare device system to rationalize energy use. (Sapporo City); 1998 nendo energy shiyo gorika zaitaku fukushi kiki system kaihatsu chosa (Sapporo) saiitaku kenkyu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

Daily, weekly and annual changes in energy use at care-taking sites were studied with the following six assignments enumerated: (1) studies on energy use amount in residential houses in the Hokkaido district, (2) discussions on improving energy conservation and efficiency in electric room heating systems and road heating, (3) evaluation on indoor air environment and discussions on effectiveness of air cleaning devices and ventilation systems, (4) surveys and studies on rational snow disposal methods for houses for physically handicapped and elderly persons and on housing patterns, and (6) surveys on effects of room warming environment in energy saving type houses on body feeling of elderly persons. Development of at-home welfare device systems utilizing energy more effectively was studied with the following five assignments enumerated: (1) surveys on energy consumption evaluation of at-home welfare devices, (2) surveys on developing a method to simulate energy consumption by analyzing utilization of the at-home welfare devices, (3) surveys on energy consumption and pleasantness associated with movement from a living section using the welfare devices to outdoor, (4) surveys on a garage utilizing a home elevator and around the garage, and (5) surveys on temperature setting and energy consumption when humidity in the garage is adjusted. (NEDO)

Permutations avoiding an increasing number of length-increasing forbidden subsequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Barcucci

2000-12-01

Full Text Available A permutation π is said to be τ-avoiding if it does not contain any subsequence having all the same pairwise comparisons as τ. This paper concerns the characterization and enumeration of permutations which avoid a set F j of subsequences increasing both in number and in length at the same time. Let F j be the set of subsequences of the form σ(j+1(j+2, σ being any permutation on {1,...,j}. For j=1 the only subsequence in F 1 is 123 and the 123-avoiding permutations are enumerated by the Catalan numbers; for j=2 the subsequences in F 2 are 1234 2134 and the (1234,2134 avoiding permutations are enumerated by the Schröder numbers; for each other value of j greater than 2 the subsequences in F j are j! and their length is (j+2 the permutations avoiding these j! subsequences are enumerated by a number sequence {a n } such that C n ≤ a n ≤ n!, C n being the n th Catalan number. For each j we determine the generating function of permutations avoiding the subsequences in F j according to the length, to the number of left minima and of non-inversions.

Turn-Based War Chess Model and Its Search Algorithm per Turn

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Nan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available War chess gaming has so far received insufficient attention but is a significant component of turn-based strategy games (TBS and is studied in this paper. First, a common game model is proposed through various existing war chess types. Based on the model, we propose a theory frame involving combinational optimization on the one hand and game tree search on the other hand. We also discuss a key problem, namely, that the number of the branching factors of each turn in the game tree is huge. Then, we propose two algorithms for searching in one turn to solve the problem: (1 enumeration by order; (2 enumeration by recursion. The main difference between these two is the permutation method used: the former uses the dictionary sequence method, while the latter uses the recursive permutation method. Finally, we prove that both of these algorithms are optimal, and we analyze the difference between their efficiencies. An important factor is the total time taken for the unit to expand until it achieves its reachable position. The factor, which is the total number of expansions that each unit makes in its reachable position, is set. The conclusion proposed is in terms of this factor: Enumeration by recursion is better than enumeration by order in all situations.

Engineering of radioimmunoassay (RIA) IP10.1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hari Nurcahyadi

2010-01-01

Engineering of Radioimmunoassay (RIA) IP10.1 is an innovative by PRPN - BATAN in 2010. Innovations made to the device IP10.1 RIA is the sample changer system, sample changer system on the device RIA IP10.1 applied 2 linear axis system (X, Z) with AC servo motor. In the RIA IP10.1 also use 5 pieces of the detector, so the enumeration process 50 (Fifty) sample is expected to be faster. Like its predecessor, The whole enumeration, data collection procedures and mechanisms operating within this system is entirely controlled by a PC via an electronic module. Electronics module consists of a high voltage module, amplifier and signal processor module, the module enumerators, low-voltage module, the module driver motor controller and a USB interface. The data acquisition and communication system using a USB port with the computer. (author)

Strategy to discover diverse optimal molecules in the small molecule universe.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupakheti, Chetan; Virshup, Aaron; Yang, Weitao; Beratan, David N

2015-03-23

The small molecule universe (SMU) is defined as a set of over 10(60) synthetically feasible organic molecules with molecular weight less than ∼500 Da. Exhaustive enumerations and evaluation of all SMU molecules for the purpose of discovering favorable structures is impossible. We take a stochastic approach and extend the ACSESS framework ( Virshup et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013 , 135 , 7296 - 7303 ) to develop diversity oriented molecular libraries that can generate a set of compounds that is representative of the small molecule universe and that also biases the library toward favorable physical property values. We show that the approach is efficient compared to exhaustive enumeration and to existing evolutionary algorithms for generating such libraries by testing in the NKp fitness landscape model and in the fully enumerated GDB-9 chemical universe containing 3 × 10(5) molecules.

OCURRENCE OF Campylobacter sp IN BROILER FLOCKSAND CORRESPONDING CARCASSES OCORRÊNCIA DE Campylobacter sp EM LOTES DE FRANGOS DE CORTE E NAS CARCAÇAS CORRESPONDENTES

OpenAIRE

Hamilton Luiz de Souza Moraes; Carlos Tadeu Pippi Salle; Laura Beatriz Rodrigues; Luciana Ruschel dos Santos; Suzete Lora Kuana; Vladimir Pinheiro do Nascimento

2008-01-01

The aim of the present study was to assess the dissemination and levels of Campylobacter contamination in broiler flocks and related carcasses. Twenty-two flocks aged 3 weeks or older were assessed, and 110 cecal droppings and 96 carcasses (38 carcasses after defeathering and 58 after the last chilling operation) were enumerated. Bolton selective enrichment broth was used for enumeration of the organism. Additionally, the carcasses wer...

Evoluzione dell'edificato residenziale in rapporto alla pericolosità sismica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juri Corradi

2015-12-01

The comparison between various types of information was carry out using GIS software, in particular "overlay" functions allows us to assign to each enumeration area the level of seismic hazard. Moreover, the use of microdata at the enumeration area level, it allows the calculation of the vulnerability indicators, grouped by time of construction and by population density, in seismic hazard classes at the municipal level.

External Microflora of a Marine Wood-Boring Isopod

OpenAIRE

Boyle, Paul J.; Mitchell, Ralph

1981-01-01

Bacteria associated with the marine wood-boring isopod Limnoria lignorum were enumerated by acridine orange epifluorescence microscopy and by plate counts on several media; the plate-viable bacteria were isolated and identified. Similar procedures were followed to enumerate and identify bacteria associated with the wood substrate from which the isopods were collected and with the surrounding water from the isopod habitat. Approximately 1.4 × 107 bacterial cells were associated with each indiv...

Radiation hazards and protection of patient in diagnostic radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Y.C.; Haldar, P.K.

1980-01-01

Biological radiation effects such as somatic certainty effects, somatic stochastic effects and genetic effects are described. Diagnostic radiology, therefore, involves risk to the patient in case of undesirable exposures and in particular to the fetus. Gonad doses in diagnostic radiology which may lead to genetic effects have been found to vary within a wide range. To avoid somatic certainty and to keep genetic effects to a minimum, some suggestions are enumerated. They deal with the choice of technique, proper positioning, use of calibrated equipment and use of techniques like xerography, ultrasonography, thermography etc. (M.G.B.)

USSR and Eastern Europe Scientific Abstracts, Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences. Number 73

Science.gov (United States)

1977-06-09

head of the plant- breeding nursery of the Prinemanskiy Sovkhoz [Abstract] The Prinemanskiy Teaching Farm, Grodnyy Agricultural Institute, cultivates...contrast microscopy, ophthalmology , oncology and surgery are enumerated. A large portion of the article is devoted to a description of the effect of... Prevalence of deaths from MI, in a comparison of men and women, is more expressed with athero- sclerosis, especially in the young and mature ages

A program to research emittance growth in bends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohn, C.L.

1995-01-01

A research program to explore the phenomenon of emittance growth in bends due to noninertial space-charge effects has been defined and initiated. The program combines theoretical, numerical, and experimental investigations. This paper summarizes the motivation of the work and highlights CEBAF's need for immediate results. The program's key elements, some of which qualitatively differ from the standard approach used to investigate the production and effects of coherent synchrotron radiation in synchrotrons and storage rings, are enumerated and discussed. 1 fig

[Participatory observation in the 1995 count of population and housing. An anthropological experience].

Science.gov (United States)

Mindek, D

1996-01-01

"The experience of an anthropologist who participated as enumerator in [Mexico's] Conteo de Poblacion y Vivienda 1995 is analyzed in this paper. The author describes briefly the methodology...for each stage of the enumeration; she systematically points [out] the circumstances and reasons that determine why the different groups involved in the process do not follow the rules. She [examines] the questions that the informers usually avoid answering, or the ones they answer hardly and imprecisely." (EXCERPT)

Application of preservatives for residual fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorozpe y Munoz, Tomas

2000-01-01

Due to the high costs of the combust oils (fuel oil 6) used in generators of vapor and in other treatments, makes important consider the use of preservatives that improve the operation of the units from the operative point of view and of environmental control. The author enumerates several of the problems of corrosion, of efficiency in the combustion and of thermal efficiency; in a same way it enumerates several useful preservatives, to be used in residual fuel

La enseñanza de enumeración en 1º de educación infantil mediante material manipulativo como recurso didáctico

OpenAIRE

García-Huertas, Raúl

2017-01-01

The main objective of this work is to present and to base a didactic proposal to teach the enumeration in children of first of Kindergarten through the use of manipulative materials with the purpose of teaching to enumerate of correct form to our students. The work is divided into three main parts that are the theoretical framework, the field study and the didactic proposal. The theoretical framework section presents the current educational legislation at both state and autonom...

Ranking beta sheet topologies with applications to protein structure prediction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fonseca, Rasmus; Helles, Glennie; Winter, Pawel

2011-01-01

One reason why ab initio protein structure predictors do not perform very well is their inability to reliably identify long-range interactions between amino acids. To achieve reliable long-range interactions, all potential pairings of ß-strands (ß-topologies) of a given protein are enumerated......, including the native ß-topology. Two very different ß-topology scoring methods from the literature are then used to rank all potential ß-topologies. This has not previously been attempted for any scoring method. The main result of this paper is a justification that one of the scoring methods, in particular......, consistently top-ranks native ß-topologies. Since the number of potential ß-topologies grows exponentially with the number of ß-strands, it is unrealistic to expect that all potential ß-topologies can be enumerated for large proteins. The second result of this paper is an enumeration scheme of a subset of ß-topologies...

The Pi-0-2-Completeness of most of the Properties of Rewriting You Care About (and Productivity)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Jakob Grue

2009-01-01

Most of the standard pleasant properties of term rewriting systems are undecidable; to wit: local confluence, confluence, normalization, termination, and completeness. Mere undecidability is insufficient to rule out a number of possibly useful properties: For instance, if the set of normalizing...... term rewriting systems were recursively enumerable, there would be a program yielding “yes” in finite time if applied to any normalizing term rewriting system. The contribution of this paper is to show (the uniform version of) each member of the list of properties above (as well as the property...... of being a productive specification of a stream) complete for the class $\\Pi^0_2$. Thus, there is neither a program that can enumerate the set of rewriting systems enjoying any one of the properties, nor is there a program enumerating the set of systems that do not. For normalization and termination we...

Epifluorescence and atomic force microscopy: Two innovative applications for studying phage-host interactions in Lactobacillus helveticus.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Miriam; Scaltriti, Erika; Fornasari, Maria Emanuela; Rivetti, Claudio; Grolli, Stefano; Giraffa, Giorgio; Ramoni, Roberto; Carminati, Domenico

2012-01-01

Bacteriophages attacking lactic acid bacteria (LAB) still represent a crucial problem in industrial dairy fermentations. The consequences of a phage infection against LAB can lead to fermentation delay, alteration of the product quality and, in most severe cases, the product loss. Phage particles enumeration and phage-host interactions are normally evaluated by conventional plaque count assays, but, in many cases, these methods can be unsuccessful. Bacteriophages of Lactobacillus helveticus, a LAB species widely used as dairy starter or probiotic cultures, are often unable to form lysis plaques, thus impairing their enumeration by plate assay. In this study, we used epifluorescence microscopy to enumerate L. helveticus phage particles from phage-infected cultures and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to visualize both phages and bacteria during the different stages of the lytic cycle. Preliminary, we tested the sensitivity of phage counting by epifluorescence microscopy. To this end, phage particles of ΦAQ113, a lytic phage of L. helveticus isolated from a whey starter culture, were stained by SYBR Green I and enumerated by epifluorescence microscopy. Values obtained by the microscopic method were 10 times higher than plate counts, with a lowest sensitivity limit of ≥6log phage/ml. The interaction of phage ΦAQ113 with its host cell L. helveticus Lh1405 was imaged by AFM after 0, 2 and 5h from phage-host adsorption. The lytic cycle was followed by epifluorescence microscopy counting and the concomitant cell wall changes were visualized by AFM imaging. Our results showed that these two methods can be combined for a reliable phage enumeration and for studying phage and host morphology during infection processes, thus giving a complete overview of phage-host interactions in L. helveticus strains involved in dairy productions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison and Recovery of Escherichia coli and Thermotolerant Coliforms in Water with a Chromogenic Medium Incubated at 41 and 44.5°C

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Jose L.; Soriano, Adela; Carbajo, Oscar; Amoros, Inmaculada; Garelick, Hemda

1999-01-01

This study compared the performance of a commercial chromogenic medium, CHROMagarECC (CECC), and CECC supplemented with sodium pyruvate (CECCP) with the membrane filtration lauryl sulfate-based medium (mLSA) for enumeration of Escherichia coli and non-E. coli thermotolerant coliforms (KEC). To establish that we could recover the maximum KEC and E. coli population, we compared two incubation temperature regimens, 41 and 44.5°C. Statistical analysis by the Fisher test of data did not demonstrate any statistically significant differences (P = 0.05) in the enumeration of E. coli for the different media (CECC and CECCP) and incubation temperatures. Variance analysis of data performed on KEC counts showed significant differences (P = 0.01) between KEC counts at 41 and 44.5°C on both CECC and CECCP. Analysis of variance demonstrated statistically significant differences (P = 0.05) in the enumeration of total thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) on CECC and CECCP compared with mLSA. Target colonies were confirmed to be E. coli at a rate of 91.5% and KEC of likely fecal origin at a rate of 77.4% when using CECCP incubated at 41°C. The results of this study showed that CECCP agar incubated at 41°C is efficient for the simultaneous enumeration of E. coli and KEC from river and marine waters. PMID:10427079

Monitoring sulfide and sulfate-reducing bacteria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanner, R.S.

1995-12-31

Simple yet precise and accurate methods for monitoring sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfide remain useful for the study of bacterial souring and corrosion. Test kits are available to measure sulfide in field samples. A more precise methylene blue sulfide assay for both field and laboratory studies is described here. Improved media, compared to that in API RP-38, for enumeration of SRB have been formulated. One of these, API-RST, contained cysteine (1.1 mM) as a reducing agent, which may be a confounding source of sulfide. While cysteine was required for rapid enumeration of SRB from environmental samples, the concentration of cysteine in medium could be reduced to 0.4 mM. It was also determined that elevated levels of yeast extract (>1 g/liter) could interfere with enumeration of SRB from environmental samples. The API-RST medium was modified to a RST-11 medium. Other changes in medium composition, in addition to reduction of cysteine, included reduction of the concentration of phosphate from 3.4 mM to 2.2 mM, reduction of the concentration of ferrous iron from 0.8 mM to 0.5 mM and preparation of a stock mineral solution to ease medium preparation. SRB from environmental samples could be enumerated in a week in this medium.

Microbiological and physicochemical characterization of dry-cured Halal goat meat. Effect of salting time and addition of olive oil and paprika covering.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherroud, Sanâa; Cachaldora, Aida; Fonseca, Sonia; Laglaoui, Amin; Carballo, Javier; Franco, Inmaculada

2014-10-01

The objective of this work was to define a simple technological process for dry-cured Halal goat meat elaboration. The aims of this study were to analyze physicochemical parameters and to enumerate the microbial population at the end of the different manufacturing processes (two salting times and the addition of olive oil and paprika covering) on 36 units of meat product. A total of 532 strains were isolated from several selective culture media and then identified using classical and molecular methods. In general, salt effect and the addition of olive oil and paprika were significant for all the studied microbial groups as well as on NaCl content and water activity. Molecular analysis proves that staphylococci, especially Staphylococcus xylosus and Staphylococcus equorum, were the most common naturally occurring microbiota. The best manufacturing process would be obtained with a longer salting time and the addition of the olive oil and paprika covering. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Occurrence and enumeration of Campylobacter spp. during the processing of Chilean broilers.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueroa, Guillermo; Troncoso, Miriam; López, Cristián; Rivas, Patricia; Toro, Magaly

2009-05-15

Thermotolerant Campylobacter is among the more prevalent bacterial pathogens that cause foodborne diseases. This study aimed at evaluating the occurrence of thermotolerant Campylobacter contamination in chicken carcasses and processing plant stations (chilling water, scalding water, defeathering machinery, evisceration machine, and transport crates) in two of the Chilean main slaughterhouses. In addition, the isolation rates of thermotolerant Campylobacter during evisceration and following chiller processing were compared. The overall slaughterhouse contamination with thermotolerant Campylobacter was 54%. Differences were evident when the results from each plant were compared (plant A and plant B was 72% and 36%, respectively). The sampling points with the greatest contamination rates in both plants were after evisceration (90% and 54%, for plants A and B respectively). The decrease of thermotolerant Campylobacter contamination after chilling was significant (2 and 1.6 logs for plant A and B respectively P < 0.05). Our findings indicate that chilling process has a limited effect in the final products Campylobacter contamination because poultry enter the slaughter processing with high counts of contamination. This may represent a health risk to consumers, if proper cooking practices are not employed. The levels and frequencies of Campylobacter found during the processing of Chilean poultry appear to be similar to those reported elsewhere in the world.

Occurrence and enumeration of Campylobacter spp. during the processing of Chilean broilers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rivas Patricia

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Thermotolerant Campylobacter is among the more prevalent bacterial pathogens that cause foodborne diseases. This study aimed at evaluating the occurrence of thermotolerant Campylobacter contamination in chicken carcasses and processing plant stations (chilling water, scalding water, defeathering machinery, evisceration machine, and transport crates in two of the Chilean main slaughterhouses. In addition, the isolation rates of thermotolerant Campylobacter during evisceration and following chiller processing were compared. Results The overall slaughterhouse contamination with thermotolerant Campylobacter was 54%. Differences were evident when the results from each plant were compared (plant A and plant B was 72% and 36%, respectively. The sampling points with the greatest contamination rates in both plants were after evisceration (90% and 54%, for plants A and B respectively. The decrease of thermotolerant Campylobacter contamination after chilling was significant (2 and 1.6 logs for plant A and B respectively P Conclusion Our findings indicate that chilling process has a limited effect in the final products Campylobacter contamination because poultry enter the slaughter processing with high counts of contamination. This may represent a health risk to consumers, if proper cooking practices are not employed. The levels and frequencies of Campylobacter found during the processing of Chilean poultry appear to be similar to those reported elsewhere in the world.

A systematic effective operator analysis of semi-annihilating dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Yi; Spray, Andrew

2017-01-01

Semi-annihilation is a generic feature of dark matter theories stabilized by symmetries larger than a ℤ 2 . It contributes to thermal freeze out, but is irrelevant for direct and collider searches. This allows semi-annihilating dark matter to avoid those limits in a natural way. We use an effective operator approach to make the first model-independent study of the associated phenomenology. We enumerate all possible operators that contribute to 2→2 semi-annihilation up to dimension 6, plus leading terms at dimension 7. We find that when the only light states charged under the dark symmetry are dark matter, the model space is highly constrained. Only fifteen operators exist, and just two for single-component dark sectors. If there can be additional light, unstable “dark partner” states the possible phenomenology greatly increases, at the cost of additional model dependence in the dark partner decay modes. We also derive the irreducible constraints on models with single-component dark matter from cosmic ray searches and astrophysical observations. We find that for semi-annihilation to electrons and light quarks, the thermal relic cross sections can be excluded for dark matter masses up to 100 GeV. However, significant model space for semi-annihilating dark matter remains.

Effects of reinforcement ratio and arrangement on the structural behavior of a nuclear building under aircraft impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thai, Duc-Kien; Kim, Seung-Eock; Lee, Hyuk-Kee

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Numerical analysis of RC nuclear building model under aircraft impact was conducted. • The analysis result shows similar behavior as compared to the Riera function. • The effects of reinforcement ratio and arrangement were enumerated. • The appropriate number of layer of longitudinal rebar was recommended. - Abstract: This study presents the effectiveness of the rebar ratio and the arrangement of reinforced concrete (RC) structures on the structural behavior of nuclear buildings under aircraft impact using a finite element (FE) approach. A simplified model of a fictitious nuclear building using RC structures was fully modeled. The aircraft model of a Boeing 767-400 was used for impact simulation and was developed and verified with a conventional impact force–time history curve. The IRIS Punching test was used to validate the damage prediction capabilities of the RC wall under impact loading. With regard to the different rebar ratios and rebar arrangements of a nuclear RC building, the structural behavior of a building under aircraft impact was investigated. The structural behavior investigated included plastic deformation, displacement, energy dissipation, perforation/penetration depth and scabbing area. The results showed that the rebar ratio has a significant effect on withstanding aircraft impact and reducing local damage. With four layers of rebar, the RC wall absorbed and dissipated the impact energy more than once with only two layers of rebar for the same rebar ratio

Komunikacja perswazyjna a reklama

OpenAIRE

Paluchowski, Władysław Jacek

1994-01-01

The author, departing from a general model of a message, enumerates factors of persuasive communication influencing its effectiveness, describes typical objectives of advertising and manners of generating desired consumer behaviour. The author also presents technical problems of transmission, traps on the way to the practical use of persuasive communication, and further he draws a hierarchy of advertising results. Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinanso...

Enumeration of RNA complexes via random matrix theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Jørgen E; Chekhov, Leonid O; Penner, Robert C; Reidys, Christian M; Sułkowski, Piotr

2013-04-01

In the present article, we review a derivation of the numbers of RNA complexes of an arbitrary topology. These numbers are encoded in the free energy of the Hermitian matrix model with potential V(x)=x2/2-stx/(1-tx), where s and t are respective generating parameters for the number of RNA molecules and hydrogen bonds in a given complex. The free energies of this matrix model are computed using the so-called topological recursion, which is a powerful new formalism arising from random matrix theory. These numbers of RNA complexes also have profound meaning in mathematics: they provide the number of chord diagrams of fixed genus with specified numbers of backbones and chords as well as the number of cells in Riemann's moduli spaces for bordered surfaces of fixed topological type.

Enumeration of RNA complexes via random matrix theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jørgen E; Chekhov, Leonid O.; Penner, Robert C

2013-01-01

molecules and hydrogen bonds in a given complex. The free energies of this matrix model are computed using the so-called topological recursion, which is a powerful new formalism arising from random matrix theory. These numbers of RNA complexes also have profound meaning in mathematics: they provide......In the present article, we review a derivation of the numbers of RNA complexes of an arbitrary topology. These numbers are encoded in the free energy of the Hermitian matrix model with potential V(x)=x(2)/2 - stx/(1 - tx), where s and t are respective generating parameters for the number of RNA...

A combinatorial enumeration problem of RNA secondary structures

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use

2011-12-21

Dec 21, 2011 ... connection between Discrete Mathematics and Compu- tational Molecular Biology (Chen et al, 2005; Hofacker et ... in Computational Molecular Biology. An RNA molecule is described by its sequences of bases ... Here, a mathematical definition of secondary structure is given (Stein and Waterman 1978).

Rapid detection, characterization, and enumeration of foodborne pathogens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoorfar, Jeffrey

2011-01-01

. The present review discusses the reasons for the increasing interest in rapid methods; current developments in the field, the research needs, and the future trends. The advent of biotechnology has introduced new technologies that led to the emergence of rapid diagnostic methods and altered food testing...... of rapid methods is for fast screening of large number of samples, where most of them are expected to be test-negative, leading to faster product release for sale. This has been the main strength of rapid methods such as real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Enrichment PCR, where a primary culture...... of pathogen in a contaminated product. Another key issue is automation, where the key drivers are miniaturization and multiple testing, which mean that not only one instrument is flexible enough to test for many pathogens but also many pathogens can be detected with one test. The review is mainly based...

Comparison of enumeration techniques for the investigation of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study was aimed at assessing techniques, which would provide an accurate indication of the planktonic bacterial pollution load in the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa. Sampling of sites started in June 2004 and continued for a period of 1 year until June 2005. The most probable number (MPN) technique was ...

Enumeration of Triangles in a Divisor Cayley Graph

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bheema

Department of Mathematics, J.B.Womens Engg. College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2. Department of Applied Mathematics, Y.V.University, Kadapa, Andhra ...... some arithmetic grpahs,Ph.D Thesis, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, ...

An Implicit Enumeration Algorithm with Binary-Valued Constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

1986-03-01

problems is the National Basketball Association ( NBA -) schedul- ing problems developed by Bean (1980), as discussed in detail in the Appendix. These...fY! X F L- %n~ P ’ % -C-10 K7 K: K7 -L- -7".i - W. , W V APPENDIX The NBA Scheduling Problem §A.1 Formulation The National Basketball Association...16 2.2 4.9 40.2 15.14 §6.2.3 NBA Scheduling Problem The last set of testing problems involves the NBA scheduling problem. A detailed description of

enumeration, isolation and identification of bacteria and fungi

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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bioremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum products and possibly other oil polluted ... further processing. .... Table 3: Total fungi count in soil contaminated, amended soil samples (5%, 10%) ..... and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 4,.

Challenges of population census enumeration in Africa: an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A salient feature of the current literature on development planning in Africa is the growing recognition of the cardinal role of population as a factor in determining the level, pattern and rate of development. In this respect, what is most significant is the recognition accorded to the inter-relationships between population ...

Maximization of submodular functions : Theory and enumeration algorithms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goldengorin, B.

2009-01-01

Submodular functions are powerful tools to model and solve either to optimality or approximately many operational research problems including problems defined on graphs. After reviewing some long-standing theoretical results about the structure of local and global maxima of submodular functions,

Time-reversal of electromagnetic scattering for small scatterer classification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J Torquil; Berryman, James G

2012-01-01

Time-reversal operators, or the alternatively labelled, but equivalent, multistatic response matrix methods, are used to show how to determine the number of scatterers present in an electromagnetic scattering scenario that might be typical of UneXploded Ordinance (UXO) detection, classification and removal applications. Because the nature of the target UXO application differs from that of many other common inversion problems, emphasis is placed here on classification and enumeration rather than on detailed imaging. The main technical issues necessarily revolve around showing that it is possible to find a sufficient number of constraints via multiple measurements (i.e. using several distinct views at the target site) to solve the enumeration problem. The main results show that five measurements with antenna pairs are generally adequate to solve the classification and enumeration problems. However, these results also demonstrate a need for decreasing noise levels in the multistatic matrix as the number n of scatterers increases for the intended practical applications of the method. (paper)

The effects of pH in profile of lipid and ester accumulation of arthrospira platensis (spirulina) as a potential source of biodiesel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reyes, Patrick A.; Ybañez, Manolito G. Jr.; Avilla, Ruel A.

2013-01-01

This study aimed to produce biodiesel (ester-based fuel) using the extracts of microalgae Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina). Specifically, the research focused in determining effect of pH in culturing the Spirulina and its lipid accumulation; determining the constituents present in the lipid extracts; and determining the methyl esters in the transesterified lipids. The best pH condition in culturing the algal sample was found to be at pH 10 to 11. Analysis of the extracted lipid samples revealed that pH condition in culturing medium has a significant effect on the lipid accumulation in Spirulina. Perkin Elmer Claurus 500 GC-MS system elucidated that the constituents present in the experimental samples were esterified lipids. The esters were derived from butanoic, hexadeanoic and octadecanoic acid. About 19 free fatty acids out of 23 determined compounds present were from the controlled sample which suggests that these were main precursors of the esters found in the sample were butyl, allyl nonyl, propyl tetradecyl, methylpropyl, allyl dodecyl, hexyl pentadecyl, dodecyl propyl, heptyl esters with the parent chain of fatty acids enumerated above. These showed that pH manipulations could be used as a direct transesterification of fatty acids in producing biodiesels. (author)

Effect of freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil on house dust mites in soft toys.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chin-Fu; Wu, Francis Fu-Sheng; Chen, Chi-Ying; Crane, Julian; Siebers, Rob

2011-09-01

Soft toys are a major source of house dust mites (HDM) and HDM allergens, and sleeping with soft toys is a significant risk factor for HDM sensitization. We studied three techniques to eliminate HDM from soft toys, namely freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil. Thirty-six toys (12 in each treatment group) were enumerated for live HDM by the heat escape method before and after freezing overnight, hot tumble drying for 1 h and washing in 0.2% to 0.4% eucalyptus oil. Freezing, hot tumble drying and washing with eucalyptus oil resulted in significant reductions in live HDM, an average reduction of 95.1%, 89.1% and 95.1%, respectively. Additionally, washing with eucalyptus oil resulted in a significant reduction in HDM allergens as well from a geometric mean of 9.12 μg/g to 0.37 μg/g (p = 0.033). These three HDM elimination techniques give parents of infants effective and acceptable methods of limiting HDM exposure. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

On the complex analysis of the reliability, safety, and economic efficiency of atomic electric power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emel'yanov, I.Ya.; Klemin, A.I.; Polyakov, E.F.

1977-01-01

The problem is posed of effectively increasing the engineering performance of nuclear electric power stations (APS). The principal components of the engineering performance of modern large APS are considered: economic efficiency, radiation safety, reliability, and their interrelationship. A nomenclature is proposed for the quantitative indices which most completely characterize the enumerated properties and are convenient for the analysis of the engineering performance. The urgent problem of developing a methodology for the complex analysis and optimization of the principal performance components is considered; this methodology is designed to increase the efficiency of the work on high-performance competitive APS. The principle of complex optimization of the reliability, safety, and economic-efficiency indices is formulated; specific recommendations are made for the practical realization of this principle. The structure of the complex quantiative analysis of the enumerated performance components is given. The urgency and promise of the complex approach to solving the problem of APS optimization is demonstrated, i.e., the solution of the problem of creating optimally reliable, fairly safe, and maximally economically efficient stations

Impact of an equality constraint on the class-specific residual variances in regression mixtures: A Monte Carlo simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minjung; Lamont, Andrea E; Jaki, Thomas; Feaster, Daniel; Howe, George; Van Horn, M Lee

2016-06-01

Regression mixture models are a novel approach to modeling the heterogeneous effects of predictors on an outcome. In the model-building process, often residual variances are disregarded and simplifying assumptions are made without thorough examination of the consequences. In this simulation study, we investigated the impact of an equality constraint on the residual variances across latent classes. We examined the consequences of constraining the residual variances on class enumeration (finding the true number of latent classes) and on the parameter estimates, under a number of different simulation conditions meant to reflect the types of heterogeneity likely to exist in applied analyses. The results showed that bias in class enumeration increased as the difference in residual variances between the classes increased. Also, an inappropriate equality constraint on the residual variances greatly impacted on the estimated class sizes and showed the potential to greatly affect the parameter estimates in each class. These results suggest that it is important to make assumptions about residual variances with care and to carefully report what assumptions are made.

Is action video gaming related to sustained attention of adolescents?

Science.gov (United States)

Trisolini, Daniela Carmen; Petilli, Marco Alessandro; Daini, Roberta

2018-05-01

Over the past few years, an increasing number of studies have shown that playing action video games can have positive effects on tasks that involve attention and visuo-spatial cognition (e.g., visual search, enumeration tasks, tracking multiple objects). Although playing action video games can improve several cognitive functions, the intensive interaction with the exciting, challenging, intrinsically stimulating and perceptually appealing game environments may adversely affect other functions, including the ability to maintain attention when the level of stimulation is not as intense. This study investigated whether a relationship existed between action video gaming and sustained attention performance in a sample of 45 Italian teenagers. After completing a questionnaire about their video game habits, participants were divided into Action Video Game Player (AVGP) and Non-Action Video Game Player (NAVGP) groups and underwent cognitive tests. The results confirm previous findings of studies of AVGPs as they had significantly enhanced performance for instantly enumerating a set of items. Nevertheless, we found that the drop in performance over time, typical of a sustained attention task, was significantly greater in the AVGP compared with the NAVGP group. This result is consistent with our hypothesis and demonstrates a negative effect of playing action video games.

Enhanced bactericidal effect of enterocin A in combination with thyme essential oils against L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghrairi, Taoufik; Hani, Khaled

2015-04-01

The combined effects of enterocin A with Thymus vulgaris essential oils (EOs) against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were investigated in vitro by enumeration of surviving populations of testing pathogens and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination. Enterocin A was purified to homogeneity by RP-HPLC from the culture fluid of Enterococcus strain and thyme EOs were extracted from local Thymus vulgaris plants. The major constituent of thyme EOs oils determined by GC-MS was thymol (78.4 %). Combination of enterocin A with thyme EOs showed an enhanced bactericidal effect against Listeria monocytogenes. Checkerboard assay and isobologram construction displayed a synergistic interaction between these compounds against Listeria (FIC index enterocin A has fallen fivefold (from 4.57 to 0.9 μg/ml), while the MIC of thyme EOs decreased threefold (from 3.6 to 1.2 μg/ml). Treatments with enterocin A alone did not affect the growth of the enteric pathogen E. coli O157:H7. However, the addition of thyme EOs and enterocin A yielded a synergistic antimicrobial effect against E. coli (MIC thyme EOs decrease from 2.2 to 0.71 μg/ml). This is the first report on the combined effect of enterocin A and thyme EOs against food pathogen bacteria. This combination could be useful in food bio-preservation.

Accurate live and dead bacterial cell enumeration using flow cytometry (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Ou, Fang; McGoverin, Cushla; Swift, Simon; Vanholsbeeck, Frédérique

2017-03-01

Flow cytometry (FCM) is based on the detection of scattered light and fluorescence to identify cells with particular characteristics of interest. However most FCM cannot precisely control the flow through its interrogation point and hence the volume and concentration of the sample cannot be immediately obtained. The easiest, most reliable and inexpensive way of obtaining absolute counts with FCM is by using reference beads. We investigated a method of using FCM with reference beads to measure live and dead bacterial concentration over the range of 106 to 108 cells/mL and ratio varying from 0 to 100%. We believe we are the first to use this method for such a large cell concentration range while also establishing the effect of varying the live/dead bacteria ratios. Escherichia coli solutions with differing ratios of live:dead cells were stained with fluorescent dyes SYTO 9 and propidium iodide (PI), which label live and dead cells, respectively. Samples were measured using a LSR II Flow Cytometer (BD Biosciences); using 488 nm excitation with 20 mW power. Both SYTO 9 and PI fluorescence were collected and threshold was set to side scatter. Traditional culture-based plate count was done in parallel to the FCM analysis. The concentration of live bacteria from FCM was compared to that obtained by plate counts. Preliminary results show that the concentration of live bacteria obtained by FCM and plate counts correlate well with each other and indicates this may be extended to a wider concentration range or for studying other cell characteristics.

Effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis (Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate) survival under combinations of pH and NaCl

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Yohan; Kim, Jae-Hun; Byun, Myung-Woo [Team for Radiation Food Science and Biotechnology, Advanced Radiation Technology Institute, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup, Jeollabuk 580-185 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Kyoung-Hee [Department of Oral Microbiology, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeollabuk 570-749 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Ju-Woon, E-mail: sjwlee@kaeri.re.k [Team for Radiation Food Science and Biotechnology, Advanced Radiation Technology Institute, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup, Jeollabuk 580-185 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-04-15

This study evaluated the effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis (Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate; potential bioterrorism agent) survival under different levels of NaCl and pH. B. thailandensis in Luria Bertani broth supplemented with NaCl (0-3%), and pH-adjusted to 4-7 was treated with gamma irradiation (0-0.5 kGy). Surviving cell counts of bacteria were then enumerated on tryptic soy agar. Data for the cell counts were also used to calculate D{sub 10} values (the dose required to reduce 1 log CFU/mL of B. thailandensis). Cell counts of B. thailandensis were decreased (P<0.05) as irradiation dose increased, and no differences (P>=0.05) in cell counts of the bacteria were observed among different levels of NaCl and pH. D{sub 10} values ranged from 0.04 to 0.07 kGy, regardless of NaCl and pH level. These results indicate that low doses of gamma irradiation should be a useful treatment in decreasing the potential bioterrorism bacteria, which may possibly infect humans through foods.

Effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis ( Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate) survival under combinations of pH and NaCl

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Yohan; Kim, Jae-Hun; Byun, Myung-Woo; Choi, Kyoung-Hee; Lee, Ju-Woon

2010-04-01

This study evaluated the effect of gamma irradiation on Burkholderia thailandensis ( Burkholderia pseudomallei surrogate; potential bioterrorism agent) survival under different levels of NaCl and pH. B. thailandensis in Luria Bertani broth supplemented with NaCl (0-3%), and pH-adjusted to 4-7 was treated with gamma irradiation (0-0.5 kGy). Surviving cell counts of bacteria were then enumerated on tryptic soy agar. Data for the cell counts were also used to calculate D10 values (the dose required to reduce 1 log CFU/mL of B. thailandensis). Cell counts of B. thailandensis were decreased ( P<0.05) as irradiation dose increased, and no differences ( P≥0.05) in cell counts of the bacteria were observed among different levels of NaCl and pH. D10 values ranged from 0.04 to 0.07 kGy, regardless of NaCl and pH level. These results indicate that low doses of gamma irradiation should be a useful treatment in decreasing the potential bioterrorism bacteria, which may possibly infect humans through foods.

Estimation of the size of the female sex worker population in Rwanda using three different methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutagoma, Mwumvaneza; Kayitesi, Catherine; Gwiza, Aimé; Ruton, Hinda; Koleros, Andrew; Gupta, Neil; Balisanga, Helene; Riedel, David J; Nsanzimana, Sabin

2015-10-01

HIV prevalence is disproportionately high among female sex workers compared to the general population. Many African countries lack useful data on the size of female sex worker populations to inform national HIV programmes. A female sex worker size estimation exercise using three different venue-based methodologies was conducted among female sex workers in all provinces of Rwanda in August 2010. The female sex worker national population size was estimated using capture-recapture and enumeration methods, and the multiplier method was used to estimate the size of the female sex worker population in Kigali. A structured questionnaire was also used to supplement the data. The estimated number of female sex workers by the capture-recapture method was 3205 (95% confidence interval: 2998-3412). The female sex worker size was estimated at 3348 using the enumeration method. In Kigali, the female sex worker size was estimated at 2253 (95% confidence interval: 1916-2524) using the multiplier method. Nearly 80% of all female sex workers in Rwanda were found to be based in the capital, Kigali. This study provided a first-time estimate of the female sex worker population size in Rwanda using capture-recapture, enumeration, and multiplier methods. The capture-recapture and enumeration methods provided similar estimates of female sex worker in Rwanda. Combination of such size estimation methods is feasible and productive in low-resource settings and should be considered vital to inform national HIV programmes. © The Author(s) 2015.

Updates on genome-wide association findings in eating disorders and future application to precision medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Breithaupt, Lauren; Hubel, Christopher; Bulik, Cynthia M

2018-02-22

Heterogeneity, frequent diagnostic fluctuation across presentations, and global concerns with the absence of effective treatments all encourage science that moves the field toward individualized or precision medicine in eating disorders. We review recent advances in psychiatric genetics focusing on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in eating disorders and enumerate the prospects and challenges of a genomics-driven approach towards personalized intervention. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

A program to research emittance growth in bends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohn, C.L.

1996-01-01

A research program to explore the phenomenon of emittance growth in bends due to noninertial space-charge effects has been defined and initiated. The program combines theoretical, numerical, and experimental investigations. This paper summarizes the motivation of the work and highlights CEBAF close-quote s need for immediate results. The program close-quote s key elements, some of which qualitatively differ from the standard approach used to investigate the production and effects of coherent synchrotron radiation in synchrotrons and storage rings, are enumerated and discussed. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Do surveys with paper and electronic devices differ in quality and cost? Experience from the Rufiji Health and demographic surveillance system in Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukasa, Oscar; Mushi, Hildegalda P; Maire, Nicolas; Ross, Amanda; de Savigny, Don

2017-01-01

Data entry at the point of collection using mobile electronic devices may make data-handling processes more efficient and cost-effective, but there is little literature to document and quantify gains, especially for longitudinal surveillance systems. To examine the potential of mobile electronic devices compared with paper-based tools in health data collection. Using data from 961 households from the Rufiji Household and Demographic Survey in Tanzania, the quality and costs of data collected on paper forms and electronic devices were compared. We also documented, using qualitative approaches, field workers, whom we called 'enumerators', and households' members on the use of both methods. Existing administrative records were combined with logistics expenditure measured directly from comparison households to approximate annual costs per 1,000 households surveyed. Errors were detected in 17% (166) of households for the paper records and 2% (15) for the electronic records (p electronic surveys (58%, 95% CI: 29%, 87%). Errors in electronic surveys were more likely to be related to completeness (32%, 95% CI 12%, 56%) than in paper surveys (11%, 95% CI: 7%, 17%).The median duration of the interviews ('enumeration'), per household was 9.4 minutes (90% central range 6.4, 12.2) for paper and 8.3 (6.1, 12.0) for electronic surveys (p = 0.001). Surveys using electronic tools, compared with paper-based tools, were less costly by 28% for recurrent and 19% for total costs. Although there were technical problems with electronic devices, there was good acceptance of both methods by enumerators and members of the community. Our findings support the use of mobile electronic devices for large-scale longitudinal surveys in resource-limited settings.

Impact of Roadway Stormwater Runoff on Microbial Contamination in the Receiving Stream.

Science.gov (United States)

Wyckoff, Kristen N; Chen, Si; Steinman, Andrew J; He, Qiang

2017-09-01

Stormwater runoff from roadways has increasingly become a regulatory concern for water pollution control. Recent work has suggested roadway stormwater runoff as a potential source of microbial pollutants. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of roadway runoff on the microbiological quality of receiving streams. Microbiological quality of roadway stormwater runoff and the receiving stream was monitored during storm events with both cultivation-dependent fecal bacteria enumeration and cultivation-independent high-throughput sequencing techniques. Enumeration of total coliforms as a measure of fecal microbial pollution found consistently lower total coliform counts in roadway runoff than those in the stream water, suggesting that roadway runoff was not a major contributor of microbial pollutants to the receiving stream. Further characterization of the microbial community in the stormwater samples by 16S ribosomal RNA gene-based high-throughput amplicon sequencing revealed significant differences in the microbial composition of stormwater runoff from the roadways and the receiving stream. The differences in microbial composition between the roadway runoff and stream water demonstrate that roadway runoff did not appear to have a major influence on the stream in terms of microbiological quality. Thus, results from both fecal bacteria enumeration and high-throughput amplicon sequencing techniques were consistent that roadway stormwater runoff was not the primary contributor of microbial loading to the stream. Further studies of additional watersheds with distinct characteristics are needed to validate these findings. Understanding gained in this study could support the development of more effective strategies for stormwater management in sensitive watersheds. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Diversity and field status of lianas in Tripura, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalawmkima Darlong

2014-12-01

Full Text Available A checklist of lianas in Tripura, India was prepared which enumerates about 60 species of lianas in the state. In this present paper, diversity of lianas in Tripura was analyzed by field exploration from October 2010 to February 2013.  Out of the total 60 species enumerated, 34 species are provided with their phenology and places of occurrence . Field photographs are also given to facilitate their easy identification. Other 26 species could not be traced in the field and are represented only by herbarium specimens.  

Algorithms for solving the single-sink fixed-charge transportation problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klose, Andreas

2006-01-01

The single-sink fixed-charge transportation problem is an important subproblem of the fixed-charge transportation problem. Just a few methods have been proposed in the literature to solve this problem. In this paper, solution approaches based on dynamic programming and implicit enumeration...... are revisited. It is shown how the problem size as well as the search space of a recently published dynamic programming method can be reduced by exploiting reduced cost information. Additionally, a further implicit enumeration approach relying on solution concepts for the binary knapsack problem is introduced...

Rapid white blood cell detection for peritonitis diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tsung-Feng; Mei, Zhe; Chiu, Yu-Jui; Cho, Sung Hwan; Lo, Yu-Hwa

2013-03-01

A point-of-care and home-care lab-on-a-chip (LoC) system that integrates a microfluidic spiral device as a concentrator with an optical-coding device as a cell enumerator is demonstrated. The LoC system enumerates white blood cells from dialysis effluent of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis. The preliminary results show that the white blood cell counts from our system agree well with the results from commercial flow cytometers. The LoC system can potentially bring significant benefits to end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients that are on peritoneal dialysis (PD).

Modeling reliability measurement of interface on information system: Towards the forensic of rules

Science.gov (United States)

Nasution, M. K. M.; Sitompul, Darwin; Harahap, Marwan

2018-02-01

Today almost all machines depend on the software. As a software and hardware system depends also on the rules that are the procedures for its use. If the procedure or program can be reliably characterized by involving the concept of graph, logic, and probability, then regulatory strength can also be measured accordingly. Therefore, this paper initiates an enumeration model to measure the reliability of interfaces based on the case of information systems supported by the rules of use by the relevant agencies. An enumeration model is obtained based on software reliability calculation.

Effect of coffee filtrate, methylglyoxal, glyoxal, and caffeine on Salmonella typhimurium and S. enteritidis survival in ground chicken breasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Maletta, Anne B; Were, Lilian M

2012-02-01

The antimicrobial effect of roasted coffee filtrate (CF) and dicarbonyls on Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis in raw ground chicken breast meat (GCB) was investigated. Coffee was brewed and filtered before addition to GCB. Coffee filtrate with and without added caffeine, methylglyoxal, and/or glyoxal was added to GCB and then inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis. Ground chicken samples were stomached with peptone water at days 1, 3, 5, and 7, plated on XLD agar with a TSA overlay, and Salmonella survivors were enumerated. CF alone gave less than a 1 Log reduction in all runs compared to control GCB with no treatment. Methylglyoxal (2.28 mg/g GCB) had the greatest antimicrobial effect against Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis in GCB with average Log reductions of 2.27 to 3.23, respectively, over the 7 d duration of the experiment compared to control GCB with no treatment. A 1 Log reduction was observed in GCB with CF, 0.93 mg glyoxal, and 1 mg caffeine/g chicken compared to the control and GCB with only CF. Heat-produced coffee compounds could potentially reduce Salmonella in retail ground chicken and chicken products. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Spice: discovery of phenotype-determining component interplays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Zhengzhang

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A latent behavior of a biological cell is complex. Deriving the underlying simplicity, or the fundamental rules governing this behavior has been the Holy Grail of systems biology. Data-driven prediction of the system components and their component interplays that are responsible for the target system’s phenotype is a key and challenging step in this endeavor. Results The proposed approach, which we call System Phenotype-related Interplaying Components Enumerator (Spice, iteratively enumerates statistically significant system components that are hypothesized (1 to play an important role in defining the specificity of the target system’s phenotype(s; (2 to exhibit a functionally coherent behavior, namely, act in a coordinated manner to perform the phenotype-specific function; and (3 to improve the predictive skill of the system’s phenotype(s when used collectively in the ensemble of predictive models. Spice can be applied to both instance-based data and network-based data. When validated, Spice effectively identified system components related to three target phenotypes: biohydrogen production, motility, and cancer. Manual results curation agreed with the known phenotype-related system components reported in literature. Additionally, using the identified system components as discriminatory features improved the prediction accuracy by 10% on the phenotype-classification task when compared to a number of state-of-the-art methods applied to eight benchmark microarray data sets. Conclusion We formulate a problem—enumeration of phenotype-determining system component interplays—and propose an effective methodology (Spice to address this problem. Spice improved identification of cancer-related groups of genes from various microarray data sets and detected groups of genes associated with microbial biohydrogen production and motility, many of which were reported in literature. Spice also improved the predictive skill of the

Quantificação de coliformes, Staphylococcus aureus e mesófilos presentes em diferentes etapas da produção de queijo frescal de leite de cabra em laticínios Enumeration of coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus and aerobic mesofilic bacteria throughout the manufacture process of a goat unripened cheese produced in a dairy plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simone Ulrich Picoli

2006-03-01

Full Text Available O objetivo do presente estudo foi acompanhar a produção de queijo frescal de leite de cabra, avaliando a qualidade higiênica do processamento pela quantificação de coliformes, S. aureus e mesófilos totais. A produção de três diferentes lotes de queijo foi acompanhada, sendo coletadas amostras de várias etapas do processamento. Além disso, amostras de queijo pertencente ao lote acompanhado foram coletadas na prateleira de um estabelecimento comercial durante seu período de validade. Os suabes coletados foram semeados em ágar sangue ovino; as amostras de água foram submetidas à Colimetria; as demais amostras foram submetidas à contagem de S. aureus, coliformes e mesófilos totais por meio de protocolos de rotina. Verificou-se que, apesar da pasteurização ter diminuído consideravelmente as populações microbianas presentes no leite cru, a falta de sanificação adequada de um equipamento que entrava em contato com o leite cru e que dá acesso ao tanque de coagulação, resultou na recontaminação da matéria-prima. Ao final do processamento, o queijo encontrava-se dentro dos padrões exigidos pela legislação, contudo a elevada contagem de mesófilos totais sugere que sejam melhoradas as medidas de sanitização durante o processamento, a fim de garantir a qualidade higiênica e uma maior vida de prateleira ao queijo produzido.The aim of this study was to evaluate the hygienic conditions throughout the manufacture process of a goat unripened cheese, using the enumeration of coliforms, S. aureus and aerobic mesofilic bacteria as indicators. The production of three different lots of cheese was followed, being collected samples throughout the processing steps. Furthermore, samples of cheese belonging to the same sampled lot were collected in the shelf of a commercial establishment throughout the shelf life period. Swabs were streaked onto blood agar plates; water samples were submitted to colimetric assays; all other samples were

The Effect of Culture Type on the Length of Persian Proverbs Compared to their English Equivalents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Mohammadian

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The interrelation of culture and language is to the extent that many classifications of culture are based on linguistic factors. In this article, high and low context cultures division is assessed on English and Persian as they belong to different cultural types. Forty Persian proverbs are contrasted with their equivalents in English to investigate whether there is a difference in the number of word forms used in each. In order to avoid linguistic differences which are effective in enumerating word forms, the second lines in linguistic glosses provided for Persian proverbs including a one to one correspondence of each word in English are used to count word forms. Results show that 70 percent of the Persian proverbs in the data are longer than their English counterparts. This shows that relative length of proverbs can be a distinguishing factor reflecting cultural types. The results not only confirm the applicability of this cultural division in the field of proverbs, but also a matter of tendency rather than a dichotomy in belonging to a high or low context culture is proposed. At the end, there are suggestions for further relevant investigations.

[The hazards of hospitals and selected public buildings of Legionella pneumophila].

Science.gov (United States)

Sikora, Agnieszka; Kozioł-Montewka, Maria; Wójtowicz-Bobin, Małgorzata; Gładysz, Iwona; Dobosz, Paulina

2013-11-01

The registered infection and outbreaks of epidemic tend to monitor potential reservoirs of Legionella infection. According to the Act of 29 March 2007 on the requirements for the quality of water intended for human consumption are required to test for the presence and number of Legionella in the water system of hospitals. In case of detection of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 (SG 1) or increased above normal number other serogroups of bacteria it is necessary to eradicate these bacteria from the water system. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of contamination of the water supply system of selected public buildings and analyze the effectiveness of disinfection methods for the elimination of L. pneumophila in hot water systems. The materials for this study were hot and cold water samples which were collected from the water supply system of 23 different objects. Enumeration of Legionella bacteria in water samples was determined by membrane filtration (FM) and/or by surface inoculation methods according to the standards: PN-ISO 11731: 2002: "The quality of the water. Detection and enumeration of Legionella" and PN-EN ISO 11731-2: 2008: "Water quality--Detection and enumeration of Legionella--Part 2: Methodology of membrane filtration for water with a small number of bacteria". L. pneumophila was present in 164 samples of hot water, which accounted for 76.99%. In all tested water samples L. pneumophila SG 2-14 strains were detected. The most virulent strain--L. pneumophila SG 1 was not detected. In examined 23 objects in 12 of L. pneumophila exceed acceptable levels > 100 CFU/100 ml. The presence of L. pneumophila SG 2-14 demonstrated in all examined objects, indicating the risk of infection, and the need for permanent monitoring of the water system supply. The thermal disinfection is the most common, inexpensive, and effective method of control of L. pneumophila used in examined objects, but does not eliminate bacterial biofilm. Disinfection using the filters

Large Acceptance Measurement of Photons and Charged Particles in Heavy Ion Reactions

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

% WA98 \\\\ \\\\ The aim of the experiment is the high statistics study of photons and neutral hadrons, as well as of charged particles, and their correlations in Pb~-~Pb collisions. The photons are measured by: \\begin{enumerate}[-] \\item a 10~000 module LEADGLASS SPECTROMETER yielding high precision data on $ \\pi ^0 $ and $ \\eta $ at midrapidity (with transverse momenta 0.3 GeV/c $>$ p$ _{T} $ $>$ 4.5 GeV/c for $\\pi ^0 $ and 1.5~GeV/c~$>$~p$ _{T}~$ $>$~4.0~GeV/c for $ \\eta $ covering the $^{\\prime\\prime}$thermal$^{\\prime\\prime}$ as well as the $^{\\prime\\prime}$hard scattering$^{\\prime\\prime}$ regime beyond 3~GeV/c) and determination of the thermal and direct photon to $ \\pi ^0 $ ratio. \\item a pad preshower PHOTON MULTIPLICITY DETECTOR which, by comparing with the charged particle multiplicity measurement allows to determine the photon enrichment in an event or event class. \\end{enumerate}\\\\ \\\\The charged particle setup contains:\\\\ \\\\\\begin{enumerate}[-] \\item a 4000 element SILICON PAD DETECTOR and a 4-inch SIL...

A depth-first search algorithm to compute elementary flux modes by linear programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Quek, Lake-Ee; Nielsen, Lars K

2014-07-30

The decomposition of complex metabolic networks into elementary flux modes (EFMs) provides a useful framework for exploring reaction interactions systematically. Generating a complete set of EFMs for large-scale models, however, is near impossible. Even for moderately-sized models (linear programming (LP) to enumerate EFMs in an exhaustive fashion. Constraints can be introduced to directly generate a subset of EFMs satisfying the set of constraints. The depth-first search algorithm has a constant memory overhead. Using flux constraints, a large LP problem can be massively divided and parallelized into independent sub-jobs for deployment into computing clusters. Since the sub-jobs do not overlap, the approach scales to utilize all available computing nodes with minimal coordination overhead or memory limitations. The speed of the algorithm was comparable to efmtool, a mainstream Double Description method, when enumerating all EFMs; the attrition power gained from performing flux feasibility tests offsets the increased computational demand of running an LP solver. Unlike the Double Description method, the algorithm enables accelerated enumeration of all EFMs satisfying a set of constraints.

Design of focused and restrained subsets from extremely large virtual libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamois, Eric A; Lin, Chien T; Waldman, Marvin

2003-11-01

With the current and ever-growing offering of reagents along with the vast palette of organic reactions, virtual libraries accessible to combinatorial chemists can reach sizes of billions of compounds or more. Extracting practical size subsets for experimentation has remained an essential step in the design of combinatorial libraries. A typical approach to computational library design involves enumeration of structures and properties for the entire virtual library, which may be unpractical for such large libraries. This study describes a new approach termed as on the fly optimization (OTFO) where descriptors are computed as needed within the subset optimization cycle and without intermediate enumeration of structures. Results reported herein highlight the advantages of coupling an ultra-fast descriptor calculation engine to subset optimization capabilities. We also show that enumeration of properties for the entire virtual library may not only be unpractical but also wasteful. Successful design of focused and restrained subsets can be achieved while sampling only a small fraction of the virtual library. We also investigate the stability of the method and compare results obtained from simulated annealing (SA) and genetic algorithms (GA).

In vivo formation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks after computed tomography examinations

OpenAIRE

Löbrich, Markus; Rief, Nicole; Kühne, Martin; Heckmann, Martina; Fleckenstein, Jochen; Rübe, Christian; Uder, Michael

2005-01-01

Ionizing radiation can lead to a variety of deleterious effects in humans, most importantly to the induction of cancer. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are among the most significant genetic lesions introduced by ionizing radiation that can initiate carcinogenesis. We have enumerated γ-H2AX foci as a measure for DSBs in lymphocytes from individuals undergoing computed tomography examination of the thorax and/or the abdomen. The number of DSBs induced by computed tomography examination was fou...

Rapid Quantification of Viable Campylobacter Bacteria on Chicken Carcasses, Using Real-Time PCR and Propidium Monoazide Treatment, as a Tool for Quantitative Risk Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Josefsen, Mathilde Hartmann; Löfström, Charlotta; Hansen, Tina Beck

2010-01-01

A number of intervention strategies against Campylobacter contaminated poultry focus on post-slaughter reduction of the number of cells, emphasizing the need for rapid and reliable quantitative detection of only viable Campylobacter. We present a new and rapid quantitative approach for enumeration...... method does not detect DNA from dead Campylobacter, but recognises the infectious potential of the VBNC state, and is thereby able to assess the effect of control strategies, and provide trustworthy data for risk assessment....

Effects of the Operation of Hungry Horse Dam on the Kokanee Fishery in the Flathead River System, 1984 Annual Progress Report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fraley, John J.

1984-12-01

This study assessed the effects of the operation of Hungry Horse Dam on the kokanee fishery in the Flathead River system. This report covers the 1983-84 field season concerning the effects of Hungry Horse operations on kokanee abundance and reproductive success in the upper Flathead River system. This report also addresses the projected recovery of the main stem kokanee run under the flow regime recommended by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration in 1982. An estimated 58,775 kokanee reached spawning grounds in the Flathead River System in 1983. The 1983 spawning run was composed of 92% age III + fish, as compared to an average of 80% from 1972-1983. A total of 6883 kokanee redds were enumerated in the main stem Flathead River in 1983. A total of 2366 man-days of angling pressure was estimated during the 1983 kokanee lure fishery in the Flathead River system. Estimated numbers of fry emigrating from McDonald Creek, the Whitefish River and Brenneman's Slough were 13,100,000, 66,254 and 37,198, yielding egg to fry survival rates of 76%, 10.4% and 19.2%.

Bleaching response of Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae): determination by flow cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Co Sin; Yeo, Yin Sheng Wilson; Sin, Tsai Min

2012-10-01

Coral bleaching is of increasing concern to reef management and stakeholders. Thus far, quantification of coral bleaching tends to be heavily reliant on the enumeration of zooxanthellae, with less emphasis on assessment of photosynthetic or physiological condition, these being often assessed separately by techniques such as liquid chromatography. Traditional methods of enumeration using microscopy are time consuming, subjected to low precision and great observer error. In this study, we presented a method for the distinction of physoiological condition and rapid enumeration of zooxanthellae using flow cytometry (FCM). Microscopy verified that healthy looking/live versus damaged/dead zooxanthellae could be reliably and objectively distinguished and counted by FCM on the basis of red and green fluorescence and light scatter. Excellent correlations were also determined between FCM and microscopy estimates of cell concentrations of fresh zooxanthellae isolates from Pocillopora damicornis. The relative intensities of chlorophyll and β-carotene fluorescences were shown to be important in understanding the results of increased cell counts in freshly isolated zooxanthellae experimentally exposed to high temperatures (34, 36, and 38°C) over 24 h, with ambient temperature (29°C) used as controls. The ability to simultaneously identify and enumerate subpopulations of different physiological states in the same sample provides an enormous advantage in not just determining bleaching responses, but elucidating adaptive response and mechanisms for tolerance. Therefore, this approach might provide a rapid, convenient, and reproducible methodology for climate change studies and reef management programs. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Differential effects of chronic monocyte depletion on macrophage populations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volkman, A.; Chang, N.C.; Strausbauch, P.H.; Morahan, P.S.

1983-01-01

The administration of the bone-seeking isotope, 89 Sr, to mice results in severe monocytopenia without any apparent effect on the numbers of resident peritoneal macrophages (M luminal diameter). An explanation for this dichotomy was sought by determining whether the residual blood monocytes were still an effective source of M luminal diameter after 89 Sr treatment. Stem cell enumeration showed that a 90% fall in bone marrow macrophage colony-forming cells after 89 Sr was accompanied by a 10-fold rise in splenic M-CFC. Splenectomy performed before 89 Sr treatment, however, resulted in little additional monocytopenia and had no affect on the numbers of resident peritoneal M luminal diameter even when sampling was extended to 31 days, an interval beyond the accepted half-time for peritoneal M luminal diameter. Intraperitoneal injections of thioglycollate or Corynebacterium parvum elicited few or no monocyte-M luminal diameter during respective intervals of 4 and 7 days. Elicitation with thioglycollate was attempted in tritiated thymidine-labeled mice 26 days after 89 Sr. Four days later only a 2-fold increase in labeled peritoneal M luminal diameter was found in the 89 Sr-treated mice compared with a 150-fold increase in the controls. Studies of the ectoenzymes 5'-nucleotidase, alkaline phosphodiesterase I, and leucine aminopeptidase in such elicitation experiments suggested that the observed changes in activities reflected the direct stimulation of resident M luminal diameter rather than monocyte immigration. Overall, the results indicate that treatment with 89 Sr distinguishes two large populations of M luminal diameter on the basis of their dependence on bone marrow. M luminal diameter of inflammation reflect the monocytopenia and are severely and rapidly depleted by such treatment

The Effect of Service Compact (SERVICOM on Service Delivery in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jude Kennedy Emejulu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined the effect of service compact (Servicom Service delivery in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi. Questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were used in the collection of data. The hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics. The study discovered among other things that with the inauguration of the SERVICOM Charter by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi identified key areas that required re-evaluation and attention based on the submissions of every service unit and department, after an analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT of each of the service areas. A pre-SERVICOM Charter workshop which was supervised by the Federal Government was held in the various institutions nationwide to enable care providers enumerate their current service capacity and identify their impediments. In the light of the foregoing, some of the recommendations proffered are that the SERVICOM Charter project should be sustained and supervision and control of the SERVICOM Charter project should be intensified in order to ensure that the Nigerian factor of service-fatigue would not supervene in care delivery in the near future.

Rapid quantification of viable Legionella in nuclear cooling tower waters using filter cultivation, fluorescent in situ hybridization and solid-phase cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Baudart, J; Guillaume, C; Mercier, A; Lebaron, P; Binet, M

2015-05-01

To develop a rapid and sensitive method to quantify viable Legionella spp. in cooling tower water samples. A rapid, culture-based method capable of quantifying as few as 600 Legionella microcolonies per litre within 2 days in industrial waters was developed. The method combines a short cultivation step of microcolonies on GVPC agar plate, specific detection of Legionella cells by a fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) approach, and a sensitive enumeration using a solid-phase cytometer. Following optimization of the cultivation conditions, the qualitative and quantitative performance of the method was assessed and the method was applied to 262 nuclear power plant cooling water samples. The performance of this method was in accordance with the culture method (NF-T 90-431) for Legionella enumeration. The rapid detection of viable Legionella in water is a major concern to the effective monitoring of this pathogenic bacterium in the main water sources involved in the transmission of legionellosis infection (Legionnaires' disease). The new method proposed here appears to be a robust, efficient and innovative means for rapidly quantifying cultivable Legionella in cooling tower water samples within 48 h. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Effects of a larval mosquito biopesticide and Culex larvae on a freshwater nanophytoplankton (Selenastrum capricornatum) under axenic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Duguma, Dagne; Ortiz, Sara L; Lin, Youjian; Wilson, P Chris; Walton, William E

2017-06-01

The effects of microbial biopesticides used for mosquito control on autotrophic microorganisms such as nanophytoplankton are equivocal. We examined impacts of mosquito biopesticides and mosquito larvae on primary producers in two independent experiments. In the first experiment, we examined the effects of a commonly used microbial biopesticide formulation (VectoMax ® CG) on a unicellular microalga, Selenastrum capricornatum Printz, under axenic laboratory conditions. The biopesticide treatments included two concentrations (0.008 and 0.016 g liter -1 ) of VectoMax ® CG and two controls (one untreated and another with autoclaved 0.016 g VectoMax ® CG liter -1 ) in replicated axenic experimental microcosms. Spectrophotometric analysis of chlorophyll a (proxy for algal biomass) and direct enumeration of algal cells following the treatments revealed no significant effects of the microbial biopesticide on algal population growth during the four-week study. In the second experiment, we tested the effects of different densities of Culex larvae on the population of S. capricornatum. Effects of mosquito larvae feeding on S. capricornatum were significant with a curvilinear relationship between larval density and algal abundance in the water column. Together, these studies demonstrated a lack of direct cytological/toxicological effects of Bacillus-based microbial pesticides on freshwater primary production and support the hypothesis that the reduction in algal primary production previously reported when Bti products were applied to aquatic environments was likely independent of the Bacillus-based larvicidal toxins. Instead, it was likely mediated by microbial interactions in the water column and the trophic cascade effects that resulted from the removal of larval mosquitoes. These studies suggest that mosquito larvae independent of pesticide application can influence primary production. Our method of evaluating biopesticides against small photoautotrophs can be very useful

[Killing effect of polymorphonuclear neutrophils on Trichomonas vaginalis].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jian-Ling; Gao, Xing-Zheng; Qu, Ming

2008-10-30

To study the killing effect of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) on Trichomonas vaginalis. The vaginal secretion from a patient with vaginitis was incubated in the liver infusion liquid medium to get T. vaginalis. One ml serum was collected from the patient and heated for 30 min at 56 degrees C to inactivate complement in serum, and was absorbed three times with the parasites at 0 degree C to make the serum free of antibodies. PMNs were separated from the patient's blood and purified with density gradient centrifugation and polymer accelerating sedimentation. NBT and safranin O were used to stain the sample. The interaction between PMNs and the parasites was observed under microscope. 300 trichomonads and 3x10(4) PMNs were incubated for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 minutes under the conditions of aerobic or anaerobic, with superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) or without SOD and CAT, and with complement or without complement. They were then inoculated in solid medium for another five days under the anaerobic condition, and surviving organisms were enumerated. PMNs were observed to surround and kill a single trichomonad. In the petri-dish containing PMNs, the surviving rate of the parasites in anaerobic condition was 85%, only 3% in aerobic condition (P<0.01). SOD and CAT reduced the killing effect of PMNs, with a surviving rate of 98% and 94% respectively after 60 min incubation. Without SOD and CAT, the surviving rate is only 2% (P<0.05). PMNs in the serum without antibodies killed all the parasites, while the complement-inactivated serum fail to kill them. The trichomonacidal activity of PMNs relies on the presence of oxygen and complement in the serum of patient.

Media lacking nrmen fluid for enumeration of rumen bacteria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ed and mineral solution B and sodium bicarbonate (Table. 1) were added aseptically to the sterile medium using a sy- ringe. The dilution medium had a similar composition, ex- cept that carbohydrates and vitamins were omitted and 13070. (v/v) of each of Minerals A and Band 0,18% agar were used. A pump incorporating a ...

General enumeration of RNA secondary structures based on new ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Crick base pairs between AU and GC. Based on the new representation, this paper also computes the number of various types of constrained secondary structures taking the minimum stack length 1 and minimum size m for each bonding loop as ...

Decennial Censuses: Historical Data on Enumerator Productivity Are Limited

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2001-01-01

... it. These factors-used to calculate productivity-are some of the largest drivers of census costs, and the Bureau developed its budget for the 2000 Census using a model that contained key assumptions...

Topological classification and enumeration of RNA structures by genus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Joergen Ellegard; Penner, Robert C.; Reidys, Christian

2013-01-01

To an RNA pseudoknot structure is naturally associated a topological surface, which has its associated genus, and structures can thus be classified by the genus. Based on earlier work of Harer-Zagier, we compute the generating function for the number of those structures of fixed genus and minimum...

General enumeration of RNA secondary structures based on new ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

akpobome

coding, transferring and retrieving genetic information, and in directing cell metabolism. The nucleic acid includes DNA and RNA molecule. RNA molecule is a single-stranded nucleic acid of four different kinds of nucleotides. The four nucleotides only differ by one part, called bases. Hence, one usually identifies nucleotides.

Enumeration of n-fold tanget hyperplanes to a surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vainsencher, I.

1993-08-01

For each 1 ≤ n ≤ 6 we present formulas for the number of n-nodal curves in an n-dimensional linear systems on a smooth, projective surface. The method yields in particular the numbers of rational curves in the system of hyperplane sections of a generic K3-surface imbedded in P n by a complete system of curves of genus n as well as the number 17,601,000 of rational (singular) plane quintic curves in a generic quintic threefold. (author). 23 refs

Immunophenotypic enumeration of CD4 T-lymphocyte values in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

McRoy

lymphocytes play a central role in regulation of immune response.[2] These ..... influence of sex hormones on lymphocyte subpopulations. ... Friedland GH. Early treatment for HIV-The Time. Has Come. N Engl J Med 1990;322:1000-1002. 7. Gebo KA, Gallant JE, Keruly JC, Moore RD. Absolute CD4 vs. CD4 percentage for ...

Enumeration of thraustochytrids (Heterotrophic microorganisms) from the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Raghukumar, S.

The number of thraustochytrids in seawater has been estimated in several samples from the Arabian Sea by concentrating the sample on a glass-fibre filter and plating on a nutrient medium. The number ranged from 1 to 69 liter in the oceanic water...

Métodos alternativos para contagem de micro-organismos em carcaças suínas Alternative methods for the enumeration of microorganisms in swine carcasses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristhiane Stecanella de Oliveira Cattani

2013-06-01

programs check for contamination in raw materials and final products to ensure the safety of consumer products; for this reason, the use of alternative methods instead of the conventional methods used in routine diagnostic laboratories is necessary to obtain reliable results in the shortest time possible. Samples of pig carcasses were collected in a slaughterhouse with Federal Inspection in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Mesophilic micro-organisms, Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli were evaluated and tests performed by alternative methods, TEMPO®, Petrifilm™, and the conventional method of counting micro-organisms in Petri dishes. After statistical analysis, the Pearson correlation coefficient (r showed a strong correlation up to 0.70 between the methodologies used for the enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae and mesophilic micro-organisms, show a moderate correlation between 0.30 to 0.70, for the diagnosis of Escherichia coli. The use of alternative methods to replace the conventional method can be recommended for diagnosis of Escherichiacoli, Enterobacteriaceae and mesophilic micro-organisms, because there was consistency between the results and the speed was increased by the alternative methodologies benefiting the pork industry.

Configurational entropy of polar glass formers and the effect of electric field on glass transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matyushov, Dmitry V., E-mail: dmitrym@asu.edu [Department of Physics and School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871504, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)

2016-07-21

A model of low-temperature polar liquids is constructed that accounts for the configurational heat capacity, entropy, and the effect of a strong electric field on the glass transition. The model is based on the Padé-truncated perturbation expansions of the liquid state theory. Depending on parameters, it accommodates an ideal glass transition of vanishing configurational entropy and its avoidance, with a square-root divergent enumeration function at the point of its termination. A composite density-temperature parameter ρ{sup γ}/T, often used to represent combined pressure and temperature data, follows from the model. The theory is in good agreement with the experimental data for excess (over the crystal state) thermodynamics of molecular glass formers. We suggest that the Kauzmann entropy crisis might be a signature of vanishing configurational entropy of a subset of degrees of freedom, multipolar rotations in our model. This scenario has observable consequences: (i) a dynamical crossover of the relaxation time and (ii) the fragility index defined by the ratio of the excess heat capacity and excess entropy at the glass transition. The Kauzmann temperature of vanishing configurational entropy and the corresponding glass transition temperature shift upward when the electric field is applied. The temperature shift scales quadratically with the field strength.

Configurational entropy of polar glass formers and the effect of electric field on glass transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Matyushov, Dmitry V

2016-07-21

A model of low-temperature polar liquids is constructed that accounts for the configurational heat capacity, entropy, and the effect of a strong electric field on the glass transition. The model is based on the Padé-truncated perturbation expansions of the liquid state theory. Depending on parameters, it accommodates an ideal glass transition of vanishing configurational entropy and its avoidance, with a square-root divergent enumeration function at the point of its termination. A composite density-temperature parameter ρ(γ)/T, often used to represent combined pressure and temperature data, follows from the model. The theory is in good agreement with the experimental data for excess (over the crystal state) thermodynamics of molecular glass formers. We suggest that the Kauzmann entropy crisis might be a signature of vanishing configurational entropy of a subset of degrees of freedom, multipolar rotations in our model. This scenario has observable consequences: (i) a dynamical crossover of the relaxation time and (ii) the fragility index defined by the ratio of the excess heat capacity and excess entropy at the glass transition. The Kauzmann temperature of vanishing configurational entropy and the corresponding glass transition temperature shift upward when the electric field is applied. The temperature shift scales quadratically with the field strength.

Effect of gamma irradiation in presence of ascorbic acid on microbial composition and TBARS concentration of ground beef coated with an edible active coating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacroix, M.; Ouattara, B.; Saucier, L.; Giroux, M.; Smoragiewicz, W.

2004-01-01

The present study was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of gamma irradiation in presence of ascorbic acid on the microbiological characteristics and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) concentration of ground beef coated with an edible coating, crosslinked by gamma irradiation. The medium fat ground beef patties (23% fat ) were divided into two separate treatment groups: (i) control (ground beef without additive), (ii) ground beef with 0.5% (w/w) ascorbic acid. Meat samples were irradiated at doses of 0, 1, 2, and 3 kGy and stored at 4±2 deg. C. The content of TBARS was evaluated. After 7 days of storage, Enterobacteriaceae, presumptive Staphylococcus aureus, presumptive Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta and lactic acid bacteria were enumerated. Results showed that lactic acid bacteria and Br. thermosphacta were more resistant to irradiation than Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas. The content in TBARS was stabilized during post-irradiation storage for samples containing ascorbic acid. Shelf life extension periods estimated on the basis of a limit level of 6 log CFU/g for APCs were 4, 7, and 10 days for samples irradiated at 1, 2, and 3 kGy, respectively. However, the incorporation of ascorbic acid in ground beef did not improve significantly (p>0.05) the inhibitory effect of gamma irradiation

Effect of gamma irradiation in presence of ascorbic acid on microbial composition and TBARS concentration of ground beef coated with an edible active coating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lacroix, M. E-mail: monique.lacroix@inrs-iaf.uquebec.ca; Ouattara, B.; Saucier, L.; Giroux, M.; Smoragiewicz, W

2004-10-01

The present study was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of gamma irradiation in presence of ascorbic acid on the microbiological characteristics and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) concentration of ground beef coated with an edible coating, crosslinked by gamma irradiation. The medium fat ground beef patties (23% fat ) were divided into two separate treatment groups: (i) control (ground beef without additive), (ii) ground beef with 0.5% (w/w) ascorbic acid. Meat samples were irradiated at doses of 0, 1, 2, and 3 kGy and stored at 4{+-}2 deg. C. The content of TBARS was evaluated. After 7 days of storage, Enterobacteriaceae, presumptive Staphylococcus aureus, presumptive Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta and lactic acid bacteria were enumerated. Results showed that lactic acid bacteria and Br. thermosphacta were more resistant to irradiation than Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas. The content in TBARS was stabilized during post-irradiation storage for samples containing ascorbic acid. Shelf life extension periods estimated on the basis of a limit level of 6 log CFU/g for APCs were 4, 7, and 10 days for samples irradiated at 1, 2, and 3 kGy, respectively. However, the incorporation of ascorbic acid in ground beef did not improve significantly (p>0.05) the inhibitory effect of gamma irradiation.

Circulating Tumor Cell Count Correlates with Colorectal Neoplasm Progression and Is a Prognostic Marker for Distant Metastasis in Non-Metastatic Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Wen-Sy; Chen, Jinn-Shiun; Shao, Hung-Jen; Wu, Jen-Chia; Lai-Ming, Jr.; Lu, Si-Hong; Hung, Tsung-Fu; Chiu, Yen-Chi; You, Jeng-Fu; Hsieh, Pao-Shiu; Yeh, Chien-Yuh; Hung, Hsin-Yuan; Chiang, Sum-Fu; Lin, Geng-Ping; Tang, Reiping; Chang, Ying-Chih

2016-04-01

Enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been proven as a prognostic marker for metastatic colorectal cancer (m-CRC) patients. However, the currently available techniques for capturing and enumerating CTCs lack of required sensitivity to be applicable as a prognostic marker for non-metastatic patients as CTCs are even more rare. We have developed a microfluidic device utilizing antibody-conjugated non-fouling coating to eliminate nonspecific binding and to promote the multivalent binding of target cells. We then established the correlation of CTC counts and neoplasm progression through applying this platform to capture and enumerate CTCs in 2 mL of peripheral blood from healthy (n = 27), benign (n = 21), non-metastatic (n = 95), and m-CRC (n = 15) patients. The results showed that the CTC counts progressed from 0, 1, 5, to 36. Importantly, after 2-year follow-up on the non-metastatic CRC patients, we found that those who had ≥5 CTCs were 8 times more likely to develop distant metastasis within one year after curable surgery than those who had marker for the non-metastatic CRC patients who are at high risk of early recurrence.

Visualizing aquatic bacteria by light and transmission electron microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Thiago P; Noyma, Natália P; Duque, Thabata L A; Gamalier, Juliana P; Vidal, Luciana O; Lobão, Lúcia M; Chiarini-Garcia, Hélio; Roland, Fábio; Melo, Rossana C N

2014-01-01

The understanding of the functional role of aquatic bacteria in microbial food webs is largely dependent on methods applied to the direct visualization and enumeration of these organisms. While the ultrastructure of aquatic bacteria is still poorly known, routine observation of aquatic bacteria by light microscopy requires staining with fluorochromes, followed by filtration and direct counting on filter surfaces. Here, we used a new strategy to visualize and enumerate aquatic bacteria by light microscopy. By spinning water samples from varied tropical ecosystems in a cytocentrifuge, we found that bacteria firmly adhere to regular slides, can be stained by fluorochoromes with no background formation and fast enumerated. Significant correlations were found between the cytocentrifugation and filter-based methods. Moreover, preparations through cytocentrifugation were more adequate for bacterial viability evaluation than filter-based preparations. Transmission electron microscopic analyses revealed a morphological diversity of bacteria with different internal and external structures, such as large variation in the cell envelope and capsule thickness, and presence or not of thylakoid membranes. Our results demonstrate that aquatic bacteria represent an ultrastructurally diverse population and open avenues for easy handling/quantification and better visualization of bacteria by light microscopy without the need of filter membranes.

Assessing the effect of knowledge sharing on Employees\\' Psychological Empowerment by Clarifying Mediating Role of organizational memory and learning collaborative electronic in National Library and Archives of I.R of Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davood Feiz

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays knowledge has been enumerated as a valuable and important source in libraries. Knowledge sharing among employees is necessary for libraries’ survive and goal achievement. On the other hand, empowerment people with high moral are an important factor in the libraries’ survival and life. In other words, the importance of human resources is far from the new technology and material and financial resources. As a result, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of knowledge sharing on psychological empowerment with regard to organizational memory and learning electronic participation the role of the mediator. The research data were gathered from four areas named at organizing; communicating; education and logistic by questioner. Construct validity and cronbach's alpha coefficient were used for assessing the validity and reliability respectively. To hypotheses test, structural equation modeling and Lisrel software were used. The results show that knowledge sharing has a directly significant impact on psychological empowerment. While knowledge sharing has an indirect impact on psychological empowerment, this impact via organizational memory and electronic participation learning is far greater than its direct impact. The results also show that organizational memory has not any effect on the psychological empowerment.

Effects of feminine hygiene products on the vaginal mucosal biome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raina N. Fichorova

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Over-the-counter (OTC feminine hygiene products come with little warning about possible side effects. This study evaluates in-vitro their effects on Lactobacillus crispatus, which is dominant in the normal vaginal microbiota and helps maintain a healthy mucosal barrier essential for normal reproductive function and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and gynecologic cancer. Methods: A feminine moisturizer (Vagisil, personal lubricant, and douche were purchased OTC. A topical spermicide (nonoxynol-9 known to alter the vaginal immune barrier was used as a control. L. crispatus was incubated with each product for 2 and 24h and then seeded on agar for colony forming units (CFU. Human vaginal epithelial cells were exposed to products in the presence or absence of L. crispatus for 24h, followed by epithelium-associated CFU enumeration. Interleukin-8 was immunoassayed and ANOVA was used for statistical evaluation. Results: Nonoxynol-9 and Vagisil suppressed Lactobacillus growth at 2h and killed all bacteria at 24h. The lubricant decreased bacterial growth insignificantly at 2h but killed all at 24h. The douche did not have a significant effect. At full strength, all products suppressed epithelial viability and all, except the douche, suppressed epithelial-associated CFU. When applied at non-toxic dose in the absence of bacteria, the douche and moisturizer induced an increase of IL-8, suggesting a potential to initiate inflammatory reaction. In the presence of L. crispatus, the proinflammatory effects of the douche and moisturizer were countered, and IL-8 production was inhibited in the presence of the other products. Conclusion: Some OTC vaginal products may be harmful to L. crispatus and alter the vaginal immune environment. Illustrated through these results, L. crispatus is essential in the preservation of the function of vaginal epithelial cells in the presence of some feminine hygiene products. More research should be invested

Effect of lime juice on Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Salmonella enterica inactivation during the preparation of the raw fish dish ceviche.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathurand, Prateek; Schaffner, Donald W

2013-06-01

Ceviche is a raw fish dish common in Peru and other Latin American counties. The most characteristic feature of ceviche is the use of lime juice for marinating or "cooking" the raw fish. Confirmed cases of cholera in Peru, New Jersey, and Florida have been associated with ceviche. Although the effect of organic acids on pathogenic bacteria has been well characterized, few data exist on the effect of these acids in seafood systems. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of lime juice marination on pathogens likely to be present in ceviche. Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillet pieces were inoculated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Salmonella enterica (>7 log CFU/g) and incubated at 25 and 4°C for 30 or 120 min in the presence of fresh lime juice at concentrations typical for the preparation of ceviche. Similar levels of cells were also inoculated into fresh lime juice without tilapia. Surviving cells were enumerated on selective (xylose lysine Tergitol 4 and thiosulfate-bile-citrate-sucrose) and nonselective (tryptic soy agar) media. V. parahaemolyticus levels were reduced to below detection limits (∼5-log reduction) under all conditions studied. Salmonella strains on tilapia were much more resistant to inactivation and were only slightly reduced (∼1- to 2-log reduction). Salmonella and V. parahaemolyticus inoculated directly into lime juice without tilapia were all reduced to below detection limits (∼5-log reduction). A typical ceviche recipe reduces V. parahaemolyticus risk significantly but is less effective for control of S. enterica.

Evaluación mediante enumeración de estados de la confiabilidad del Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande de Chile (SING State enumeration approach in reliability assessment of the Chilean far north power system (SING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Fuentes Morales

2011-08-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se presenta una evaluación de la confiabilidad del SING* chilen, mediante el método probabilístico analítico enumeración de estados que permite determinar el índice de indisponibilidad del sistema de transmisión y el factor de sobrecosto asociado. Esta evaluación posibilita un análisis comparativo con el índice de indisponibilidad y el factor de sobrecosto asociado que el agente regulador chileno, CNE**, entrega para este sistema en los informes técnicos de precios de nudo. De esta manera, los resultados propuestos sugieren una solución a las reiteradas observaciones que realizan las empresas eléctricas del SING en los informes técnicos de precios de nudo, con respecto a los criterios utilizados para modelar y determinar la indisponibilidad de transmisión y los sobrecostos asociados. La evaluación de la confiabilidad se realiza abordando al SING en forma compuesta, es decir, considerando tanto las instalaciones de generación como de transmisión en conjunto. * SING: Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande. Sistema de transmisión de energía eléctrica de alto voltaje del norte de Chile. ** CNE: Comisión Nacional de Energía. Organismo gubernamental chileno que fiscaliza los sistemas de transmisión de energía eléctrica.This paper presents a reliability evaluation of the Chilean SING* by means of an analytical and probabilistic method for the enumeration of states, which permits to determine the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor. This evaluation allows a comparative analysis between the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor, the CNE**, provides in its technical reports of local the nodal price. Hereby, the proposed results suggest a solution for continuous observations made by SING electric companies in the technical reports of nodal price, with respect to the criteria used for modeling and determining the unavailability of transmition and associated overcharge

Effect of ionising radiation on shelf life and potency of herbal raw materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rama Bhat, P.; Prajna, P.S.; Sanjeev, Ganesh; Padyana, Subramanya; Maurya, D.K.

2013-01-01

Medicinal herbs are involving from fringe to mainstream use with a greater number of people seeking remedies and health approaches free from side effects caused by synthetic chemicals. Unfortunately, the number of reports of people experiencing negative effects, caused by the use of herbal drugs, has also been increasing. There may be various reasons for such problems, poor quality of herbal medicines due to insufficient attention being paid to the quality assurance and control of these products. Plants are associated with their own microflora, in addition to that soil and air act as main inoculum source for causing contamination in crude herbs along with other field practices like harvesting, handling and packing. The study was aimed to determine the type, level of bacterial and fungal load and feasibility of electron beam irradiation to hygenise the commonly used herbal raw materials using electron beam radiation with three different dosages viz., 8 kGy, 12 kGy, 15 kGy. Irradiated and control samples were analysed for microbial load and biochemical compositions. In present study, microbial load was proportionately reduced with increase in dosage compared to non-irradiated samples. Results indicated that non-irradiated samples were highly contaminated with microbial load. E. coli and Staphylococcus spp. were predominant among the bacterial contaminants at varying levels. The fungi enumerated from raw materials includes species of Penicillium, Rhizopus, Mucor and Aspergillus. Minimum variation was recorded in the carbohydrate, protein, phenolic, tannin and ascorbic acid content of the herb samples with irradiation treatment. (author)

Climate effects on phytoplankton floral composition in Chesapeake Bay

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, L. W.; Adolf, J. E.; Mallonee, M. E.; Miller, W. D.; Gallegos, C. L.; Perry, E. S.; Johnson, J. M.; Sellner, K. G.; Paerl, H. W.

2015-09-01

Long-term data on floral composition of phytoplankton are presented to document seasonal and inter-annual variability in Chesapeake Bay related to climate effects on hydrology. Source data consist of the abundances of major taxonomic groups of phytoplankton derived from algal photopigments (1995-2004) and cell counts (1985-2007). Algal photopigments were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and analyzed using the software CHEMTAX to determine the proportions of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) in major taxonomic groups. Cell counts determined microscopically provided species identifications, enumeration, and dimensions used to obtain proportions of cell volume (CV), plasma volume (PV), and carbon (C) in the same taxonomic groups. We drew upon these two independent data sets to take advantage of the unique strengths of each method, using comparable quantitative measures to express floral composition for the main stem bay. Spatial and temporal variability of floral composition was quantified using data aggregated by season, year, and salinity zone. Both time-series were sufficiently long to encompass the drought-flood cycle with commensurate effects on inputs of freshwater and solutes. Diatoms emerged as the predominant taxonomic group, with significant contributions by dinoflagellates, cryptophytes, and cyanobacteria, depending on salinity zone and season. Our analyses revealed increased abundance of diatoms in wet years compared to long-term average (LTA) or dry years. Results are presented in the context of long-term nutrient over-enrichment of the bay, punctuated by inter-annual variability of freshwater flow that strongly affects nutrient loading, chl-a, and floral composition. Statistical analyses generated flow-adjusted diatom abundance and showed significant trends late in the time series, suggesting current and future decreases of nutrient inputs may lead to a reduction of the proportion of biomass comprised by diatoms in an increasingly diverse

Knowledge management and informatics considerations for comparative effectiveness research: a case-driven exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Embi, Peter J; Hebert, Courtney; Gordillo, Gayle; Kelleher, Kelly; Payne, Philip R O

2013-08-01

As clinical data are increasingly collected and stored electronically, their potential use for comparative effectiveness research (CER) grows. Despite this promise, challenges face those wishing to leverage such data. In this paper we aim to enumerate some of the knowledge management and informatics issues common to such data reuse. After reviewing the current state of knowledge regarding biomedical informatics challenges and best practices related to CER, we then present 2 research projects at our institution. We analyze these and highlight several common themes and challenges related to the conduct of CER studies. Finally, we represent these emergent themes. The informatics challenges commonly encountered by those conducting CER studies include issues related to data information and knowledge management (eg, data reuse, data preparation) as well as those related to people and organizational issues (eg, sociotechnical factors and organizational factors). Examples of these are described in further detail and a formal framework for describing these findings is presented. Significant challenges face researchers attempting to use often diverse and heterogeneous datasets for CER. These challenges must be understood in order to be dealt with successfully and can often be overcome with the appropriate use of informatics best practices. Many research and policy questions remain to be answered in order to realize the full potential of the increasingly electronic clinical data available for such research.

The application of bacteriophages as novel indicators of viral pathogens in wastewater treatment systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Edgard; Ebdon, James; Taylor, Huw

2018-02-01

Many wastewater treatment technologies have been shown to remove bacterial pathogens more effectively than viral pathogens and, in aquatic environments, levels of traditional faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) do not appear to correlate consistently with levels of human viral pathogens. There is, therefore, a need for novel viral indicators of faecal pollution and surrogates of viral pathogens, especially given the increasing importance of indirect and direct wastewater reuse. Potential candidates include bacteriophages (phages) and the study described here sought to elucidate the relationship between three groups of phages (somatic coliphages (SOMPH), F-RNA coliphages (F-RNAPH) and human-specific phages infecting B. fragilis (Bf124PH) - enumeration using double layer agar technique) and viral pathogens (human adenovirus (HuAdV) and norovirus (NoV) - enumeration using molecular methods) through full-scale municipal wastewater treatment processes. FIB (faecal coliforms (FC) and intestinal enterococci (ENT) - enumeration using membrane filtration) were also monitored. Samples were collected every fortnight, during a twelve-month period, at each stage of four full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in southern England (two activated sludge (AS) and two trickling filter (TF) plants) (n = 360 samples). FIB and SOMPH were consistently found in all samples tested, whereas F-RNAPH, Bf124PH and HuAdV were less frequently detected, especially following AS treatment. The detection rate of NoV was low and consequently discussion of this group of viruses is limited. Concentrations of SOMPH and FIB were statistically higher (p value F-RNAPH, Bf124PH and HuAdV in raw wastewater. FIB were more effectively removed than phages in both systems. Removal rates of HuAdV were similar to those of phages at the secondary treatment stage of both systems. In TF systems, HuAdV were removed at the same rate as F-RNAPH, but at lower rates than SOMPH and Bf124PH. The findings suggest that

PRELIMINARY REVISIONS OF SOME GENERA OF MALAYSIAN PAPILIONACEAE II

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MS van Meeuwen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The revisions or notes have been prepared by Miss M. S. van Meeuwen, except for those of Pseudarthria and Sophora by C. G. G. J. van Steenis, and Tephrosia by J. Stemmerik. In Alysicarpus 4 species are distinguished in Malaysia; a key, synonymy, and discussion are given.Lourea Desv., being a homonym, has, according to Dr. Bakhuizen van den Brink, to be replaced by Christia; a key and discussion is given of 4 Malaysian species; 5 new combinations are proposed. Under Desmodium the variability of D. heterocarpon (L. DC. and its full synonymy are discussed; one new variety is proposed; an enumeration of specimens of both varieties is given. D. ormooarpoides DC. and D. zonatum Miq. are two sharply distinct species which have been confused in the past; a key, synonyms, discussion, and enumeration of specimens ;; j are provided. The discrimination of D. sequax Wall, and D. viegaphyllum Zoll. is discussed and their synonymy given; specimens have been enumerated. Distribution is given of D. scorpiurus (Sw. Desv. and D. tor-tuosum (Sw.   DC. Psoraleai is revised for Malaysia where 4 species are recorded and keyed out; a fifth species must remain dubious, as the type could not be traced in the Paris Herbarium. Of Pseudarthria only one species occurs in Malaysia; its synonymy and distribution is given.Sophora longipes Merr.; an endemic species from the Philippines, is recorded for Timor. Of Tephro&ia maculata M. & P., from Papua, the synonymy is given and specimens enumerated; T. brachystachys Laut. & K. Seh. is reduced. Notes and distribution are given of T. zollingeri Backer. For T. mollie . Val., a later homonym, the new name T. papuana is proposed.

Development of numerical processing in children with typical and dyscalculic arithmetic skills—a longitudinal study

Science.gov (United States)

Landerl, Karin

2013-01-01

Numerical processing has been demonstrated to be closely associated with arithmetic skills, however, our knowledge on the development of the relevant cognitive mechanisms is limited. The present longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of numerical processing in 42 children with age-adequate arithmetic development and 41 children with dyscalculia over a 2-year period from beginning of Grade 2, when children were 7; 6 years old, to beginning of Grade 4. A battery of numerical processing tasks (dot enumeration, non-symbolic and symbolic comparison of one- and two-digit numbers, physical comparison, number line estimation) was given five times during the study (beginning and middle of each school year). Efficiency of numerical processing was a very good indicator of development in numerical processing while within-task effects remained largely constant and showed low long-term stability before middle of Grade 3. Children with dyscalculia showed less efficient numerical processing reflected in specifically prolonged response times. Importantly, they showed consistently larger slopes for dot enumeration in the subitizing range, an untypically large compatibility effect when processing two-digit numbers, and they were consistently less accurate in placing numbers on a number line. Thus, we were able to identify parameters that can be used in future research to characterize numerical processing in typical and dyscalculic development. These parameters can also be helpful for identification of children who struggle in their numerical development. PMID:23898310

Development of numerical processing in children with typical and dyscalculic arithmetic skills – a longitudinal study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin eLanderl

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Numerical processing has been demonstrated to be closely associated with arithmetic skills, however, our knowledge on the development of the relevant cognitive mechanisms is limited. The present longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of numerical processing in 42 children with age-adequate arithmetic development and 41 children with dyscalculia over a two-year period from beginning of Grade 2, when children were 7;6 years old, to beginning of Grade 4. A battery of numerical processing tasks (dot enumeration, non-symbolic and symbolic comparison of one- and two-digit numbers, physical comparison, number line estimation was given five times during the study (beginning and middle of each school year. Efficiency of numerical processing was a very good indicator of development in numerical processing while within-task effects remained largely constant and showed low long-term stability before middle of Grade 3. Children with dyscalculia showed less efficient numerical processing reflected in specifically prolonged response times. Importantly, they showed consistently larger slopes for dot enumeration in the subitizing range, an untypically large compatibility effect when processing two-digit numbers, and they were consistently less accurate in placing numbers on a number line. Thus, we were able to identify parameters that can be used in future research to characterize numerical processing in typical and dyscalculic development. These parameters can also be helpful for identification of children who struggle in their numerical development.

Effect of complexing agent TEA: The structural, morphological, topographical and optical properties of FexSx nano thin films deposited by SILAR technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manikandan, K.; Mani, P.; Surendra Dilip, C.; Valli, S.; Fermi Hilbert Inbaraj, P.; Joseph Prince, J.

2014-01-01

Iron sulfide thin films (Fe x S x ) (x = 0.05 M, 0.10 M, 0.15 M, 0.20 M and 0.25 M) were deposited by SILAR method from equimolar and equivolume aqueous solutions of ferrous nitrate and sodium sulfide with the addition of complexing agent TEA. The structural, morphological and optical characteristics of the films were derived from X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV–vis spectral techniques. The mixed characteristics (crystalline and amorphous) of the deposited films and the increasing crystalline qualities with the concentrations were understood from the XRD analysis. The grain sizes and roughness of the films were decreases with the increasing concentration and also at the higher concentration films are shown by the same images presence of hexagonal like crystallite structure. The influence of complexing agent TEA on the surface roughness and morphological properties are confirmed by the atomic force microscope (AFM) results. The effect of increasing substrate concentration on the absorption and transmission measurements and its impact on the optical band-gap energy were enumerated from the UV–vis analysis.

Effects of temperature and fertilization on total vs. active bacterial communities exposed to crude and diesel oil pollution in NW Mediterranean Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez-Blanco, Arturo; Antoine, Virginie [UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7621, Laboratoire ARAGO, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France); CNRS, UMR 7621, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie Biologique de Banyuls, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France); Pelletier, Emilien [Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski (ISMER), Universite du Quebec a Rimouski, 310 allee des Ursulines, Rimouski, Canada G5L 3A1 (Canada); Delille, Daniel [UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7621, Laboratoire ARAGO, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France); CNRS, UMR 7621, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie Biologique de Banyuls, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France); Ghiglione, Jean-Francois, E-mail: ghiglione@obs-banyuls.f [UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7621, Laboratoire ARAGO, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France); CNRS, UMR 7621, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie Biologique de Banyuls, Avenue Fontaule, BP44, F-66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer (France)

2010-03-15

The dynamics of total and active microbial communities were studied in seawater microcosms amended with crude or diesel oil at different temperatures (25, 10 and 4 deg. C) in the presence/absence of organic fertilization (Inipol EAP 22). Total and hydrocarbon-degrading microbes were enumerated by fluorescence microscopy and Most Probable Number (MPN) method, respectively. Total (16S rDNA-based) vs. active (16S rRNA) bacterial community structure was monitored by Capillary-Electrophoresis Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (CE-SSCP) fingerprinting. Hydrocarbons were analyzed after 12 weeks of incubation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Total and hydrocarbon-degrading microbial counts were highly influenced by fertilization while no important differences were observed between temperatures. Higher biodegradation levels were observed in fertilized microcosms. Temperature and fertilization induced changes in structure of total bacterial communities. However, fertilization showed a more important effect on active bacterial structure. The calculation of Simpson's diversity index showed similar trends among temperatures whereas fertilization reduced diversity index of both total and active bacterial communities. - Nutrient availability was the most important factor influencing microbial oil biodegradation in coastal waters of the North-western Mediterranean Sea.

The therapeutic effects of Cannabis and cannabinoids: An update from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Donald I

2018-03-01

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine conducted a rapid turn-around comprehensive review of recent medical literature on The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids. The 16-member committee adopted the key features of a systematic review process, conducting an extensive search of relevant databases and considered 10,000 recent abstracts to determine their relevance. Primacy was given to recently published systematic reviews and primary research that studied one of the committee's 11 prioritized health endpoints- therapeutic effects; cancer incidence; cardiometabolic risk; respiratory disease; immune function; injury and death; prenatal, perinatal and postnatal outcomes; psychosocial outcomes; mental health; problem Cannabis use; and Cannabis use and abuse of other substances. The committee developed standard language to categorize the weight of evidence regarding whether Cannabis or cannabinoids use for therapeutic purposes are an effective or ineffective treatment for the prioritized health endpoints of interest. In the Therapeutics chapter reviewed here, the report concluded that there was conclusive or substantial evidence that Cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of pain in adults; chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. Moderate evidence was found for secondary sleep disturbances. The evidence supporting improvement in appetite, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy and a variety of neurodegenerative disorders was described as limited, insufficient or absent. A chapter of the NASEM report enumerated multiple barriers to conducting research on Cannabis in the US that may explain the paucity of positive therapeutic benefits in the published literature to date. Copyright © 2018 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring quadrangulations

KAUST Repository

Peng, Chi-Han; Barton, Michael; Jiang, Caigui; Wonka, Peter

2014-01-01

Here we presented a framework to explore quad mesh topologies. The core of our work is a systematic enumeration algorithm that can generate all possible quadrangular meshes inside a defined boundary with an upper limit of v3-v5 pairs. The algorithm is orders of magnitude more efficient than previous work. The combination of topological enumeration and shape-space exploration demonstrates that mesh topology has a powerful influence on geometry. The Fig. 18. A gallery of different quadrilateral meshes for a Shuriken. The quadrilaterals of the model were colored in a postprocess. Topological variations have distinctive, interesting patterns of mesh lines. © 2014 ACM 0730-0301/2014/01-ART3 15.00.

The pre-treatment of water in a reverse osmosis system. Its significant importance in the design and management of the process; Pretratamiento del agua en un sistema de osmosis inversa. Su significada importancia dentro del diseno y gestion del proceso

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pujadas, A.

2001-07-01

The practical application of reverse osmosis technology is really easy and facilities should function without serious problems. The real difficulty is presented by the pre-treatment and conditioning of water before entering the membrane system. The present article enumerates the series of most habitual problems presented by medium or low-saline water for its correct treatment in a reverse osmosis system, also enumerating the most habitual pre-treatments for overcoming them. The conclusion of all of this is that it is necessary to haven a good laboratory available, one that allows for a complete analysis of the water to be treated and a system for tracking the systems once they are in operation. (Author)

Circulating Tumor Cells in Prostate Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Brian; Rochefort, Holly; Goldkorn, Amir

2013-01-01

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can provide a non-invasive, repeatable snapshot of an individual patient’s tumor. In prostate cancer, CTC enumeration has been extensively studied and validated as a prognostic tool and has received FDA clearance for use in monitoring advanced disease. More recently, CTC analysis has been shifting from enumeration to more sophisticated molecular characterization of captured cells, which serve as a “liquid biopsy” of the tumor, reflecting molecular changes in an individual’s malignancy over time. Here we will review the main CTC studies in advanced and localized prostate cancer, highlighting the important gains as well as the challenges posed by various approaches, and their implications for advancing prostate cancer management

Exploring quadrangulations

KAUST Repository

Peng, Chi-Han

2014-02-04

Here we presented a framework to explore quad mesh topologies. The core of our work is a systematic enumeration algorithm that can generate all possible quadrangular meshes inside a defined boundary with an upper limit of v3-v5 pairs. The algorithm is orders of magnitude more efficient than previous work. The combination of topological enumeration and shape-space exploration demonstrates that mesh topology has a powerful influence on geometry. The Fig. 18. A gallery of different quadrilateral meshes for a Shuriken. The quadrilaterals of the model were colored in a postprocess. Topological variations have distinctive, interesting patterns of mesh lines. © 2014 ACM 0730-0301/2014/01-ART3 15.00.

Recent Advances in the Molecular Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lowes, Lori E. [London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON N6A 4L6 (Canada); Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1 (Canada); Department of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 4L6 (Canada); Allan, Alison L., E-mail: alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca [London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON N6A 4L6 (Canada); Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1 (Canada); Department of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 4L6 (Canada); Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON N6C 2R5 (Canada)

2014-03-13

Although circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were first observed over a century ago, lack of sensitive methodology precluded detailed study of these cells until recently. However, technological advances have now facilitated the identification, enumeration, and characterization of CTCs using a variety of methods. The majority of evidence supporting the use of CTCs in clinical decision-making has been related to enumeration using the CellSearch{sup ®} system and correlation with prognosis. Growing evidence also suggests that CTC monitoring can provide an early indication of patient treatment response based on comparison of CTC levels before and after therapy. However, perhaps the greatest potential that CTCs hold for oncology lies at the level of molecular characterization. Clinical treatment decisions may be more effective if they are based on molecular characteristics of metastatic cells rather than on those of the primary tumor alone. Molecular characterization of CTCs (which can be repeatedly isolated in a minimally invasive fashion) provides the opportunity for a “real-time liquid biopsy” that allows assessment of genetic drift, investigation of molecular disease evolution, and identification of actionable genomic characteristics. This review focuses on recent advances in this area, including approaches involving immunophenotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), multiplex RT-PCR, microarray, and genomic sequencing.

Recent Advances in the Molecular Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowes, Lori E.; Allan, Alison L.

2014-01-01

Although circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were first observed over a century ago, lack of sensitive methodology precluded detailed study of these cells until recently. However, technological advances have now facilitated the identification, enumeration, and characterization of CTCs using a variety of methods. The majority of evidence supporting the use of CTCs in clinical decision-making has been related to enumeration using the CellSearch ® system and correlation with prognosis. Growing evidence also suggests that CTC monitoring can provide an early indication of patient treatment response based on comparison of CTC levels before and after therapy. However, perhaps the greatest potential that CTCs hold for oncology lies at the level of molecular characterization. Clinical treatment decisions may be more effective if they are based on molecular characteristics of metastatic cells rather than on those of the primary tumor alone. Molecular characterization of CTCs (which can be repeatedly isolated in a minimally invasive fashion) provides the opportunity for a “real-time liquid biopsy” that allows assessment of genetic drift, investigation of molecular disease evolution, and identification of actionable genomic characteristics. This review focuses on recent advances in this area, including approaches involving immunophenotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), multiplex RT-PCR, microarray, and genomic sequencing

Irradiation-assisted stress-corrosion cracking in austenitic alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Was, G.S.; Andresen, P.L.

1992-01-01

Irradiation-assisted stress-corrosion cracking (IASCC) in austentic alloys is a complicated phenomenon that poses a difficult problem for designers and operators of nuclear plants. Because IASCC accelerates the deterioration of various reactor components, it is imperative that it be understood and modeled to maintain reactor safety. Unfortunately, the costs and dangers of gathering data on radiation effects are high, and the phenomenon itself is so complex that it is difficult to enumerate all of the causes. This article reviews current knowledge of IASCC and describes the goals of ongoing work

Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cockell, Charles S.; Voytek, Mary A.; Gronstal, Aaaron L

2012-01-01

the 35 million-year-old Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA, with robust contamination control. Microbial enumerations displayed a logarithmic downward decline, but the different gradient, when compared to previously studied sites, and the scatter of the data are consistent with a microbiota influenced......Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from...

Combinatorial reasoning an introduction to the art of counting

CERN Document Server

DeTemple, Duane

2014-01-01

Written by well-known scholars in the field, this book introduces combinatorics alongside modern techniques, showcases the interdisciplinary aspects of the topic, and illustrates how to problem solve with a multitude of exercises throughout. The authors' approach is very reader-friendly and avoids the ""scholarly tone"" found in many books on this topic. Combinatorial Reasoning: An Introduction to the Art of Counting: Focuses on enumeration and combinatorial thinking as a way to develop a variety of effective approaches to solving counting problemsIncludes brief summaries of basic concepts f

Characterizing T Cells in SCID Patients Presenting with Reactive or Residual T Lymphocytes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atar Lev

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID may present with residual circulating T cells. While all cells are functionally deficient, resulting in high susceptibility to infections, only some of these cells are causing autoimmune symptoms. Methods. Here we compared T-cell functions including the number of circulating CD3+ T cells, in vitro responses to mitogens, T-cell receptor (TCR repertoire, TCR excision circles (TREC levels, and regulatory T cells (Tregs enumeration in several immunodeficinecy subtypes, clinically presenting with nonreactive residual cells (MHC-II deficiency or reactive cells. The latter includes patients with autoreactive clonal expanded T cell and patients with alloreactive transplacentally maternal T cells. Results. MHC-II deficient patients had slightly reduced T-cell function, normal TRECs, TCR repertoires, and normal Tregs enumeration. In contrast, patients with reactive T cells exhibited poor T-cell differentiation and activity. While the autoreactive cells displayed significantly reduced Tregs numbers, the alloreactive transplacentally acquired maternal lymphocytes had high functional Tregs. Conclusion. SCID patients presenting with circulating T cells show different patterns of T-cell activity and regulatory T cells enumeration that dictates the immunodeficient and autoimmune manifestations. We suggest that a high-tolerance capacity of the alloreactive transplacentally acquired maternal lymphocytes represents a toleration advantage, yet still associated with severe immunodeficiency.

The Commingled Division of Visual Attention.

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Yuechuan Sun

Full Text Available Many critical activities require visual attention to be distributed simultaneously among distinct tasks where the attended foci are not spatially separated. In our two experiments, participants performed a large number of trials where both a primary task (enumeration of spots and a secondary task (reporting the presence/absence or identity of a distinctive shape required the division of visual attention. The spots and the shape were commingled spatially and the shape appeared unpredictably on a relatively small fraction of the trials. The secondary task stimulus (the shape was reported in inverse proportion to the attentional load imposed by the primary task (enumeration of spots. When the shape did appear, performance on the primary task (enumeration suffered relative to when the shape was absent; both speed and accuracy were compromised. When the secondary task required identification in addition to detection, reaction times increased by about 200 percent. These results are broadly compatible with biased competition models of perceptual processing. An important area of application, where the commingled division of visual attention is required, is the augmented reality head-up display (AR-HUD. This innovation has the potential to make operating vehicles safer but our data suggest that there are significant concerns regarding driver distraction.

The role of fingers in number processing in young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lafay, Anne; Thevenot, Catherine; Castel, Caroline; Fayol, Michel

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between finger counting and numerical processing in 4-7-year-old children. Children were assessed on a variety of numerical tasks and we examined the correlations between their rates of success and their frequency of finger use in a counting task. We showed that children's performance on finger pattern comparison and identification tasks did not correlate with the frequency of finger use. However, this last variable correlated with the percentages of correct responses in an enumeration task (i.e., Give-N task), even when the age of children was entered as a covariate in the analysis. Despite this correlation, we showed that some children who never used their fingers in the counting task were able to perform optimally in the enumeration task. Overall, our results support the conclusion that finger counting is useful but not necessary to develop accurate symbolic numerical skills. Moreover, our results suggest that the use of fingers in a counting task is related to the ability of children in a dynamic enumeration task but not to static tasks involving recognition or comparison of finger patterns. Therefore, it could be that the link between fingers and numbers remain circumscribed to counting tasks and do not extent to static finger montring situations.

Temporal brain dynamics of multiple object processing: the flexibility of individuation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronica Mazza

Full Text Available The ability to process concurrently multiple visual objects is fundamental for a coherent perception of the world. A core component of this ability is the simultaneous individuation of multiple objects. Many studies have addressed the mechanism of object individuation but it remains unknown whether the visual system mandatorily individuates all relevant elements in the visual field, or whether object indexing depends on task demands. We used a neural measure of visual selection, the N2pc component, to evaluate the flexibility of multiple object individuation. In three ERP experiments, participants saw a variable number of target elements among homogenous distracters and performed either an enumeration task (Experiment 1 or a detection task, reporting whether at least one (Experiment 2 or a specified number of target elements (Experiment 3 was present. While in the enumeration task the N2pc response increased as a function of the number of targets, no such modulation was found in Experiment 2, indicating that individuation of multiple targets is not mandatory. However, a modulation of the N2pc similar to the enumeration task was visible in Experiment 3, further highlighting that object individuation is a flexible mechanism that binds indexes to object properties and locations as needed for further object processing.

Risk assessment in the recovery of food for social solidarity purposes: preliminary data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesna Milicevic

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The most recent study, conducted by Politecnico of Milan, on food surplus management in Italy shows that in the Italian food supply chain the food surplus is around 5.5 million tons/year, and the amount of food wasted is around 5.1 million tons/year. During 2015, the charitable organizations (COs belonging to the Italian Food Bank Network, active in recovering and distributing food for social solidarity’s purposes, reused 381,345 tons of food from 2292 donors. The main supplying sources of the Banco Alimentare Network are: food industries, organized large-scale retail trade and collective catering service. The aim of this study was to analyze several aspects of the food surplus recovery thanks to the collaboration with the Banco Alimentare Foundation Onlus and Caritas Italiana. In particular, two main features were analyzed in the food recovery chain: the microbiological profiles of specific food categories recovered from catering service with the aim to evaluate their conformity in relation to food safety and process criteria. For this purpose 11 samples were analyzed in four different moments: T0, same day of the collection; T1, after four hours of storage at 4°C; T2, 24 hours from the collection (storage at 4°C; T3, after four days at frozen storage (-18°C. For all samples several microbiological parameters were investigated: enumeration of mesophilic aerobic bacteria (AFNOR 3M 01/1-09/89, enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae (AFNOR 3M 01/06-09/97, enumeration of E. coli (AFNOR 3M 01/08-06/01, enumeration of coagulase-positive Staphylococci AFNOR 3M 01/9-04/03 A, enumeration of Bacillus cereus (UNI EN ISO 7932:2005, research of Salmonella spp. [UNI EN ISO 6579 (2008b], and research of Listeria monocytogenes [AFNOR BRD 07/4-09/98 (AFNOR, 2010a]. Furthermore, the volunteer’s knowledge on the correct hygienic procedures during the recovery was evaluated by the 71 questionnaires with the aim to prevent foodborne diseases. The results show

Risk Assessment in the Recovery of Food for Social Solidarity Purposes: Preliminary Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Milicevic, Vesna; Colavita, Giampaolo; Castrica, Marta; Ratti, Sabrina; Baldi, Antonella; Balzaretti, Claudia M

2016-09-20

The most recent study, conducted by Politecnico of Milan, on food surplus management in Italy shows that in the Italian food supply chain the food surplus is around 5.5 million tons/year, and the amount of food wasted is around 5.1 million tons/year. During 2015, the charitable organizations (COs) belonging to the Italian Food Bank Network, active in recovering and distributing food for social solidarity's purposes, reused 381,345 tons of food from 2292 donors. The main supplying sources of the Banco Alimentare Network are: food industries, organized large-scale retail trade and collective catering service. The aim of this study was to analyze several aspects of the food surplus recovery thanks to the collaboration with the Banco Alimentare Foundation Onlus and Caritas Italiana. In particular, two main features were analyzed in the food recovery chain: the microbiological profiles of specific food categories recovered from catering service with the aim to evaluate their conformity in relation to food safety and process criteria. For this purpose 11 samples were analyzed in four different moments: T0, same day of the collection; T1, after four hours of storage at 4°C; T2, 24 hours from the collection (storage at 4°C); T3, after four days at frozen storage (-18°C). For all samples several microbiological parameters were investigated: enumeration of mesophilic aerobic bacteria (AFNOR 3M 01/1-09/89), enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae (AFNOR 3M 01/06-09/97), enumeration of E. coli (AFNOR 3M 01/08-06/01), enumeration of coagulase-positive Staphylococci AFNOR 3M 01/9-04/03 A), enumeration of Bacillus cereus (UNI EN ISO 7932:2005), research of Salmonella spp. [UNI EN ISO 6579 (2008b)], and research of Listeria monocytogenes [AFNOR BRD 07/4-09/98 (AFNOR, 2010a)]. Furthermore, the volunteer's knowledge on the correct hygienic procedures during the recovery was evaluated by the 71 questionnaires with the aim to prevent foodborne diseases. The results show that the recovery

Long-Term Field Study Reveals Subtle Effects of the Invasive Alga Sargassum muticum upon the Epibiota of Zostera marina.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stacey DeAmicis

Full Text Available Invasive species can alter coastal ecosystems both directly, e.g. through competition for substratum and nutrients, and indirectly. Indirect effects may be mediated by creation of dissimilar or inimical habitats, changes in predator and/or prey assemblages, alterations in associated biota, and perturbations of water movement and thermal regimes. Previous studies have shown that invasive algae can modify native habitat architecture, disrupt intricately linked food webs and alter epibiotic assemblages. In the UK, the seagrass Zostera marina supports a diverse epibiotic assemblage, influencing key factors such as sediment dynamics, depositional regime and trophic linkages. Increasing encroachment of the invasive alga Sargassum muticum into seagrass meadows changes the physical and chemical characteristics of the local environment and creates the potential for changes in the epibionts associated with the seagrass blades, threatening the integrity of the seagrass ecosystem. We investigated the effects of S. muticum invasion upon the epibiota of Z. marina in a drowned river valley in SW England seasonally from spring to autumn over four years in an in-situ manipulative experiment, comparing permanent quadrats with and without artificially introduced S. muticum. Epibiota were weighed, identified to the most detailed operational taxonomic unit (OTU possible, and unitary organisms were enumerated. Multivariate PERMANOVA+ analysis revealed significant differences in epibiont assemblages between Sargassum treatments. Linear mixed effects models indicated that differences in epibiota assemblage composition were not reflected as significant differences in mean biomass per sample, or number of epibiont OTUs per sample. We conclude that S. muticum invasion into Z. marina meadows may significantly alter the species composition and abundance distribution of epibiotic assemblages found on the blades of the seagrass. Thus S. muticum invasion could have more wide

Lee weight enumerators of self-dual codes and theta functions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asch, van A.G.; Martens, F.J.L.

2008-01-01

The theory of modular forms, in particular theta functions, and coding theory are in a remarkable way connected. The connection is established by defining a suitable lattice corresponding to the given code, and considering its theta function. First we define some special theta functions, and

How to -Count - An Exposition of Polya's Theory of Enumeration ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

other faces green. That is why Mr. A is so confused! Trial and error is not the best way to solve this problem. We want to find a general method. Consider the set of all possible coloured cubes (in this case, these are 26 in number). The rotational symmetries transform the cube and, evidently, we would consider two colouring.

Detection and enumeration of Coliforms and Escherichia coli in water

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Water samples from eighteen different sources in Nairobi were analyzed for coliform and E. coli content using three microbiological techniques, namely: Multiple tube or Most Probable Number (MPN) technique, Defined Substrate Technique (DST) or Colilert technique and Petrifilm(TM) Plate Count Techniques. All the three ...

Non-Binary Protograph-Based LDPC Codes: Analysis,Enumerators and Designs

OpenAIRE

Sun, Yizeng

2013-01-01

Non-binary LDPC codes can outperform binary LDPC codes using sum-product algorithm with higher computation complexity. Non-binary LDPC codes based on protographs have the advantage of simple hardware architecture. In the first part of this thesis, we will use EXIT chart analysis to compute the thresholds of different protographs over GF(q). Based on threshold computation, some non-binary protograph-based LDPC codes are designed and their frame error rates are compared with binary LDPC codes. ...

Enumerating set partitions according to the number of descents of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

) according to the number of descents of size or more, where ≥ 1 is fixed. An explicit expression in terms of Stirling numbers of the second kind may be given for the total number of such descents in all the members of (,). We also ...

Fibre optic microarrays for the detection and enumeration of harmful ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a serious threat to coastal resources, causing impacts ranging from the contamination of seafood products with potent toxins to mortalities of wild and farmed fish and other marine animals. As the threat from HABs has expanded, new approaches have become necessary, including ...

77 FR 36419 - Feasibility of Enumerating “Specially Designed” Components

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-19

...) ``chemical warfare (CW) agents;'' or (4) specific ``riot control agents'' listed in ECCN 1A004.a.4. 2. ECCN... and decontamination equipment therefor, designed or modified for defense against'' (1) ``biological...) ``[r]adioactive materials `adapted for use in war;' '' or (3) ``[c]hemical warfare (CW) agents.'' 3...

The Hurwitz Enumeration Problem of Branched Covers and Hodge Integrals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Yun S.

2001-04-11

We use algebraic methods to compute the simple Hurwitz numbers for arbitrary source and target Riemann surfaces. For an elliptic curve target, we reproduce the results previously obtained by string theorists. Motivated by the Gromov-Witten potentials, we find a general generating function for the simple Hurwitz numbers in terms of the representation theory of the symmetric group S{sub n}. We also find a generating function for Hodge integrals on the moduli space {bar M}{sub g,2} of Riemann surfaces with two marked points, similar to that found by Faber and Pandharipande for the case of one marked point.

77 FR 4542 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Special Census Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-30

..., campgrounds, hotels or motels. SC-1 (SUPP), Continuation Form for Enumerator Questionnaires--This interview... respondents other than their time. Respondents Obligation: Voluntary. Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section...

New Insights on the Ecology of Free-living, Heterotrophic Nanoflagellates Based on the Use of Molecular Biological Approaches

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lim, Lin

1997-01-01

Nanoplanktonic protists comprise a diverse assemblage of flagellate species. Current methods for identifying small protists do not readily permit identification and enumeration of nanoplanktonic flagellates in cultures or field samples...

FlowCam: Quantification and Classification of Phytoplankton by Imaging Flow Cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Poulton, Nicole J

2016-01-01

The ability to enumerate, classify, and determine biomass of phytoplankton from environmental samples is essential for determining ecosystem function and their role in the aquatic community and microbial food web. Traditional micro-phytoplankton quantification methods using microscopic techniques require preservation and are slow, tedious and very laborious. The availability of more automated imaging microscopy platforms has revolutionized the way particles and cells are detected within their natural environment. The ability to examine cells unaltered and without preservation is key to providing more accurate cell concentration estimates and overall phytoplankton biomass. The FlowCam(®) is an imaging cytometry tool that was originally developed for use in aquatic sciences and provides a more rapid and unbiased method for enumerating and classifying phytoplankton within diverse aquatic environments.

The Antibiofilm Effect of Ginkgo biloba Extract Against Salmonella and Listeria Isolates from Poultry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yan; Park, Keun Cheol; Choi, Beom Geun; Park, Jin Hwa; Yoon, Ki Sun

2016-05-01

Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. are common foodborne pathogens in poultry and have caused a large number of outbreaks worldwide. Biofilm formation is common in the food industry and is also a mechanism of antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial effect and mechanism of Ginkgo biloba extract against the biofilm formation of Salmonella and Listeria isolates from poultry at retail markets. Bacteria detection, isolation, and enumeration were carried out on 27 chicken and 29 ducks at retail markets. The effects of temperature and G. biloba extract against biofilm formation of Salmonella and Listeria isolates were measured using the crystal violet assay and swimming and swarming motilities. The monitoring results of Salmonella and Listeria in 56 poultry carcasses at retail markets in Korea showed that the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in poultry was low (5.4%), but the prevalence of Listeria spp (78.6%) was high. L. innocua was the predominant serotype (80%) in the isolated Listeria species. Temperature, strain, and surface affected the biofilm formation of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. L. innocua showed the best biofilm formation ability on a 96-well plate, while Salmonella Enteritidis formed the most biofilm on a glass slide. Biofilm formation abilities of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were increased with the increase of temperature. G. biloba extract at 75 μg/mL significantly inhibited biofilm formation of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp (p Listeria, but not L. monocytogenes. The findings of this study provided the basis for the application of G. biloba extract as a food additive to promote the quality and safety of poultry products.

The impact of preapheresis white blood cell count on autologous peripheral blood stem cell collection efficiency and HSC infusion side effect rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakashita, Araci M; Kondo, Andrea T; Yokoyama, Ana Paula H; Lira, Sanny M C; Bub, Carolina B; Souza, Aline M; Cipolletta, Andrea N F; Alvarez, Kelen C; Hamerschlak, Nelson; Kutner, Jose M; Chiattone, Carlos S

2018-01-19

Autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell (PBSC) collection efficiency (CE) is reportedly affected by the patient's blood properties; however, studies to identify factors correlated with CE have shown inconsistent results. Additionally, variables such as stem cell graft granulocyte content and patient age, sex, and underlying disease, may be associated with hematopietic stem cell (HSC) infusion-related adverse reactions. In this study, we evaluated the correlation of preleukapheresis PB granulocyte count and PBSC harvest variables with CD34 + collection yield and efficiency, and thawed HSC infusion side effect occurrence. We evaluated data from 361 patients who had undergone autologous PBSC transplant. Large volume leukapheresis was the method for PBSC collection. Complete Blood Count and CD34 + cell enumeration were performed in the preapheresis PB and the apheresis product sample. The PBSC grafts were submitted to non-controlled rate freezing after addition of 5% DMSO plus 6% hidroxyethylstarch as a cryoprotectant solution. The cryopreserved graft was thawed in a 37°C water bath and then infused without further manipulation. The CD34 + yield was associated with preapheresis PB CD34 + count and immature granulocyte count. The PBSC CE was negatively correlated with preapheresis white blood cell (WBC), immature granulocyte and granulocyte count. The leukapheresis product total nucleated cell (TNC) and granulocyte content was correlated with the thawed graft infusion side effect occurrence. This study has shown that preapheresis PB WBC and granulocyte counts were associated with leukapheresis CE. Additionally, the leukapheresis product TNC and granulocyte content was correlated with thawed graft infusion side effect occurrence. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

National Provider Identifier Standard - Data Dissemination

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The National Plan and Provider Enumeration System, NPPES, downloadable file, also referred to as the NPI Downloadable File, contains FOIA disclosable NPPES health...

THE PHYSICAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF INTIMATE PARTNER

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Population based studies on the problem are rare in Ethiopia. ... METHODS: - This community based cross-sectional study was conducted among ... enumerators using Amharic version of the structured WHO domestic violence questionnaire.

PROSCARA Inc. in-situ burning summary paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-06-01

In-situ burning as a viable response tactic in the event of an oil spill, was discussed. Key factors which influence a decision to use burning were enumerated, including a detailed analysis of the environmental effects of in-situ burning on soils. The critical parameters were time, soil heating and extent of oil penetration into the soil. It was noted that on water-saturated and frozen soil in-situ burning had no adverse effects. The advantages and disadvantages of in-situ burning vis-a-vis conventional mechanical recovery were discussed. Factors that do, and factors that do not support decisions in favour of in-situ burning were listed. 4 refs., 2 tabs

Effect of complexing agent TEA: The structural, morphological, topographical and optical properties of Fe{sub x}S{sub x} nano thin films deposited by SILAR technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manikandan, K., E-mail: 1984manikandan@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Anna University BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu (India); Mani, P. [Department of Physics, Anna University BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu (India); Surendra Dilip, C. [Department of Chemistry, Anna University BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu (India); Valli, S. [Department of Physics, M.I.E.T. Arts and Science College, Tiruchirappalli 620 007, Tamilnadu (India); Fermi Hilbert Inbaraj, P.; Joseph Prince, J. [Department of Physics, Anna University BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu (India)

2014-01-01

Iron sulfide thin films (Fe{sub x}S{sub x}) (x = 0.05 M, 0.10 M, 0.15 M, 0.20 M and 0.25 M) were deposited by SILAR method from equimolar and equivolume aqueous solutions of ferrous nitrate and sodium sulfide with the addition of complexing agent TEA. The structural, morphological and optical characteristics of the films were derived from X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV–vis spectral techniques. The mixed characteristics (crystalline and amorphous) of the deposited films and the increasing crystalline qualities with the concentrations were understood from the XRD analysis. The grain sizes and roughness of the films were decreases with the increasing concentration and also at the higher concentration films are shown by the same images presence of hexagonal like crystallite structure. The influence of complexing agent TEA on the surface roughness and morphological properties are confirmed by the atomic force microscope (AFM) results. The effect of increasing substrate concentration on the absorption and transmission measurements and its impact on the optical band-gap energy were enumerated from the UV–vis analysis.

Carbadox has both temporary and lasting effects on the swine gut microbiota

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torey eLooft

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Antibiotics are used in livestock and poultry production to treat and prevent disease as well as to promote animal growth. Carbadox is an in-feed antibiotic that is widely used in swine production to prevent dysentery and to improve feed efficiency. The goal of this study was to characterize the effects of carbadox and its withdrawal on the swine gut microbiota. Six pigs (initially 3-weeks old received feed containing carbadox and six received unamended feed. After 3-weeks of continuous carbadox administration, all pigs were switched to a maintenance diet without carbadox. DNA was extracted from feces (n=142 taken before, during, and following (6-week withdrawal carbadox treatment. Phylotype analysis using 16S rRNA sequences showed the gradual development of the non-medicated swine gut microbiota over the 8-week study, and that the carbadox-treated pigs had significant differences in bacterial membership relative to non-medicated pigs. Enumeration of fecal Escherichia coli showed that a diet change concurrent with carbadox withdrawal was associated with an increase in the E. coli in the non-medicated pigs, suggesting that carbadox pretreatment prevented an increase of E. coli populations. In-feed carbadox caused striking effects within four days of administration, with significant alterations in both community structure and bacterial membership, notably a large relative increase in Prevotella populations in medicated pigs. Digital PCR was used to show that the absolute abundance of Prevotella was unchanged between the medicated and non-medicated pigs despite the relative increase shown in the phylotype analysis. Carbadox therefore caused a decrease in the abundance of other gut bacteria but did not affect the absolute abundance of Prevotella. The pending regulation on antibiotics used in animal production underscores the importance of understanding how they modulate the microbiota and impact animal health, which will inform the search for

Thraustochytrid and fungal component of marine detritus. 1. Field studies on decomposition of the brown alga Sargassum cinereum J. Ag.

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sathe-Pathak, V.; Raghukumar, S.; Raghukumar, C.; Sharma, S.

Thraustochytrid protists and fungi were isolated and enumerated in culture from detritus of the brown alga Sargassum cinereum. Both groups occurred epi- and endobiontically in the detritus. The thraustochytrid Labyrinthuloides minuta occurred...

Dibenzodioxines polychlorées et dibenzofurannes polychlorés

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Boddington, Martin John

1990-01-01

... et de diffuser une liste des substances d'interet prioritaire qui enumere les substances - y compris les produits chimiques, les groupes de produits chimiques, les effluents et les residus - susceptibles d'etre...

jfewr ©2017 - jfewr Publications

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Chima Uzor Darl

2017-03-01

Mar 1, 2017 ... monoculture plantations using the seedling emergence method while tree species enumeration ... biodiversity restoration. ... constituted forest reserves covering a total land .... was used to assess the composition of the soil.

Benthic grab data from October 1994 in the Lower Bay of New York/New Jersey Harbor

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Benthic grab samples were collected using a Shipek grab at pre-determined locations in the harbor. Taxonomic enumerations and biological community parameters were...

The role of fingers in number processing in young children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne eLafay

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between finger counting and numerical processing in 4- to 7-year-old children. Children were assessed on a variety of numerical tasks and we examined the correlations between their rates of success and their frequency of finger use in a counting task. We showed that children’s performance on finger pattern comparison and identification tasks did not correlate with the frequency of finger use. However, this last variable correlated with the percentages of correct responses in an enumeration task (i.e., Give-N task, even when the age of children was entered as a covariate in the analysis. Despite this correlation, we showed that some children who never used their fingers in the counting task were able to perform optimally in the enumeration task. Overall, our results support the conclusion that finger counting is useful but not necessary to develop accurate symbolic numerical skills. Moreover, our results suggest that the use of fingers in a counting task is related to the ability of children in a dynamic enumeration task but not to static tasks involving recognition or comparison of finger patterns. Therefore, it could be that the link between fingers and numbers remain circumscribed to counting tasks and do not extent to static finger montring situations.

1998 research cooperation project. Research cooperation on environment-compatible type water resource effective-utilization system; 1998 nendo kankyo taiogata mizushigen yuko riyo system ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

For the purpose of securing water stably and preventing water pollution in the Philippines, R and D were carried out on a wastewater treatment and water reclamation and reuse system which is easy to operate and maintain and low in cost through the research cooperation between the Philippine Industrial Technology Development Institute and Japan. According to the survey result of statistical data concerning water pollution load structure by industrial wastewater classified by the industry in the Philippines, enumerated are the food manufacturing industry, paper pulp manufacturing industry, and the textile dyeing industry as those greatly affecting water pollution in BOD exhaust and wastewater, etc. Consequently, with Ram Food Product Co. of vegetable processing and Solid Mill Co., of textile dyeing as plants to be studied, a wastewater treatment test was performed in a laboratory scale. From the result of the test, the pilot plant was basically designed to have 'anaerobic + aerobic treatment + tertiary treatment' for the treatment process, with an one-tank type UASB method used as the anaerobic treatment, with a sand filtration + activated charcoal treatment as the tertiary treatment, and with the cost effectiveness for water reuse set to be examined. (NEDO)

Microbiological aspects of an in situ model to study effects of antimicrobial agents on dental plaque ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Giertsen, E; Guggenheim, B; Thurnheer, T; Gmür, R

2000-10-01

This study validates an in situ model for ecological studies of dental plaque exposed to various antimicrobial agents with different modes of action on plaque bacteria. Eleven subjects wore two acrylic appliances, each containing two bovine enamel discs, during two 1-wk test periods. Using a split-mouth crossover design, the appliances were dipped twice daily for 1 min into water (control; treatment A), fluoride (26.3 mM NaF; B), zinc acetate (20.0 mM; C), or fluoride plus zinc acetate (D). Four of the subjects used also chlorhexidine diacetate (2.2 mM; E) and chlorhexidine plus fluoride (F). At the end of each period, plaque was collected from the discs, after which the microbiota were analyzed by culture, automated quantitative immunofluorescence, and a viability fluorescence stain. As compared to control, treatments B, C, and D resulted in a significant reduction of individual taxa as detected by immunofluorescence, whereas similar bacterial viability and total bacterial numbers were observed. In contrast, chlorhexidine significantly reduced bacterial viability, total cell numbers, and the abundance of most of the enumerated taxa. We conclude that this in situ model is well suited to study effects of antimicrobial agents on dental plaque ecology. Combined with viability testing, immunofluorescence is obviously superior to culture in detecting taxa-specific shifts caused by antimicrobial agents.

Supplementary Material for: Detection of antibiotic resistance in probiotics of dietary supplements

KAUST Repository

Wong, Aloysius Tze; Ngu, Davey; Dan, Lydia; Ooi, Amanda Siok Lee; Lim, Renee

2015-01-01

, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin antibiotics. Additionally, we also report a discrepancy between the enumerated viable bacteria amounts and the claims of the manufacturers. Conclusions This short report has highlighted the present of antibiotic resistance

Multi-modal trip planning system : Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

This report evaluates the Multi-Modal Trip Planner System (MMTPS) implemented by the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) against the specific functional objectives enumerated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in it...

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Rapid Ecological Assessments of Fish Belt Transect Surveys (BLT) in the Pacific Ocean from 2000-09-09 to 2009-05-05 (NCEI Accession 0162462)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Belt transects (BLT) are a non-invasive underwater-survey method that enumerates the diverse components of diurnally active shallow-water reef fish assemblages. At...

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Rapid Ecological Assessments of Fish Belt Transect Surveys (BLT) at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2000 to 2009

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Belt transects (BLT) is one of the non-invasive underwater-survey methods to enumerate the diverse components of diurnally active shallow-water reef fish...

Into the Twilight Zone: How Does WIPL-D Perform in Quasistatics?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sihvola, Ari; Sarkar, Tapan; Kolundzija, Branko

2005-01-01

.... In particular, the problem of the static polarizability of a dielectric sphere is calculated. This is done by enumerating the monostatic radar cross section of the object and taking the low-frequency limit...

The Characterization Of The Kinetics Of Chlamydia Muridarum Infection In Defined Regions Of The Murine Genital Tract

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Eskildsen, Ilea

2008-01-01

..., and disease pathogenesis. A mouse model of genital Chlamydia muridarum infection is generally employed in such studies, with most studies relying upon the enumeration of bacterial numbers from vaginal swab material to assess...

Misuse Case Driven Development of Secure Information Sharing for Coalition Environment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Baek, Seung S

2007-01-01

.... This thesis uses misuse cases to identify such misuses of a sharing system. We show that an appropriate distributed role-based access control model imposed upon information brokers can prevent enumerate misuse cases...

Maslow's theory and its application to librarianship

OpenAIRE

Sridhar, M. S.

1981-01-01

Explains the basis for Maslow’s theory, enumerates Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, describes implications of the theory and finally presents application of Maslow’s theory to librarianship with suitable examples and illustrations.

African Journal of Biotechnology - Vol 12, No 14 (2013)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Polyamines, peroxidase and proteins involved in the senescence process · EMAIL FREE ... General enumeration of RNA secondary structures based on new arc ... DNA fingerprinting of spore-forming bacterial isolates, using Bacillus cereus ...

Thermal management of electronics: A review of literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anandan Sundaram Shanmuga

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Due to rapid growth in semiconductor technology, there is a continuous increase of the system power and the shrinkage of size. This resulted in inevitable challenges in the field of thermal management of electronics to maintain the desirable operating temperature. The present paper reviews the literature dealing with various aspects of cooling methods. Included are papers on experimental work on analyzing cooling technique and its stability, numerical modeling, natural convection, and advanced cooling methods. The issues of thermal management of electronics, development of new effective cooling schemes by using advanced materials and manufacturing methods are also enumerated in this paper. .

Presurgical nasoalveolar molding therapy in cleft lip and palate individuals: Case series and review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narayan H Gandedkar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The nasoalveolar molding (NAM therapy is advocated to reduce the severity of alveolar cleft and nasal deformity. NAM therapy has demonstrated to be an effective method for reducing cleft and improve nose anatomy. This paper presents a case report of three cleft lip and palate individuals treated with NAM therapy. Furthermore, the paper highlights the advantages of NAM therapy along with an enumeration of literature suggesting in favor of NAM therapy and otherwise. Regardless of controversies and divergent views involved with NAM therapy, the immediate success of NAM therapy facilitating primary lip repair surgery cannot be under-emphasized.

Lactic Acid and Probiotic Bacteria from Fermented and Probiotic Dairy Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.K.L. Karna

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Lactic acid and probiotic bacteria were enumerated and isolated from commercially available yoghurt andprobiotic milk products. Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus were enumerated and isolated usingMRS agar incubated anaerobically at 37oC for 72 hrs. M17 agar was used for the enumeration andisolation of Streptococcus thermophilus incubated aerobically at 37oC for 48 hrs. MRS agar and modifiedMRS agar (MRS + L-cysteine + LiCl + Na propionate were used for the enumeration and isolation ofprobiotic bacteria. Both were incubated anaerobically at 37oC for 72 hrs. Morphological, physiologicaland biochemical reactions were used to characterize the isolates.Str. thermophilus counts ranged from 2.6 x 1011 to 2.9 x 1020 CFU/g with Fruit Yoghurt (FY having thehighest count and Yoghurt Natural (YN with the lowest count. Highest Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp.bulgaricus count was obtained in Duo Yoghurt (DY, 1.1 x 109 and lowest in Yoghurt Drink (YD, 8.0 x 107CFU/g. The highest probiotic bacterial count of 2.3 x 108 was obtained in Yakult (YK and Neslac (Nesshowed the lowest, 1.6 x 102 CFU/g. The viable counts of all the products examined met the prescribedminimum viable count of 105 to 106CFU/g for the claimed health benefits for the consumer except forChamyto Plain (CP, Nes and Nan-2 (Nan.Morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics showed that the following genera andspecies were present Pediococcus acidilactici (YN, P. pentosaceus (FY, Lactobacillus delbrueckiidelbrueckii and L. brevis in Non Fat High Calcium Yoghurt (NC, L. acidophilus and L. delbrueckiidelbrueckii (DY, YD, P. damnosus and P. pentosaceus in Chamyto Orange (CO, L. delbrueckii bulgaricus,L. acidophilus, and L. delbrueckii delbrueckii (CP, L. para. paracasei (YK and Bifidobacterium ssp.(Nes and Nan.Of the 28 isolates characterized in this study, 15 were Lactobacillus (5 species, 5 werePediococcus (3 species, 6 were Bifidobacterium (species not identified, and 2 were

The Effects of Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain on Fetal Macrosomia Among American Indian/Alaska Native Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Rockhill, Karilynn; Dorfman, Haley; Srinath, Meghna; Hogue, Carol

2015-11-01

The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population is a high-risk group across many health indicators, including fetal macrosomia. We aimed to investigate the effects of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on macrosomia and explore possible racial and geographical variations among AI/AN women. This retrospective cohort study was conducted from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in eight states (2004-2011) among live, singleton, term births to AI/AN women 20 years or older. Prevalence of macrosomia (birth weight ≥ 4000 g) by select characteristics were estimated; differences were assessed with Chi-squares. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for effects on macrosomia of BMI and GWG (enumerating the pounds women deviated from the Institute of Medicine guidelines for GWG) controlling for other factors in the total sample and stratified by race and state of residence. The prevalence of macrosomia was 14 %, ranging from 8 to 21 % (Utah-Alaska). Among AI/AN women, 30 % were obese prepregnancy and 50 % had excess GWG. Significant independent effects were found for macrosomia of prepregnancy overweight (aOR 1.27; 95 % Confidence Interval 1.01-1.59), obesity (aOR 1.63; 1.29-2.07), and excess GWG (aOR 1.16; 1.13-1.20 per five pounds gained beyond appropriate). Adjusted estimates varied between race and state. Prepregnancy BMI and GWG are independent factors for macrosomia among AI/AN women. Future research should prioritize development, testing, and implementation of weight management programs, which account for variations among AI/AN women, both before and during pregnancy for BMI regulation and GWG control.

Effect of Tidal Cycling Rate on the Distribution and Abundance of Nitrogen-Oxidizing Bacteria in a Bench-Scale Fill-and-Drain Bioreactor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph M. Battistelli

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Most domestic wastewater can be effectively treated for secondary uses by engineered biological systems. These systems rely on microbial activity to reduce nitrogen (N content of the reclaimed water. Such systems often employ a tidal-flow process to minimize space requirements for the coupling of aerobic and anaerobic metabolic processes. In this study, laboratory-scale tidal-flow treatment systems were studied to determine how the frequency and duration of tidal cycling may impact reactor performance. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and epifluorescence microscopy were used to enumerate the key functional groups of bacteria responsible for nitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox, and N-removal efficiency was calculated via a mass-balance approach. When water was cycled (i.e., reactors were filled and drained at high frequencies (16–24 cycles day−1, nitrate accumulated in the columns—presumably due to inadequate periods of anoxia that limited denitrification. At lower frequencies, such as 4 cycles day−1, nearly complete N removal was achieved (80–90%. These fill-and-drain systems enriched heavily for nitrifiers, with relatively few anammox-capable organisms. The microbial community produced was robust, surviving well through short (up to 3 h anaerobic periods and frequent system-wide perturbation.

Evaluation of immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects and phytochemical screening of Alternanthera tenella Colla (Amaranthaceae aqueous extracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla de Agostino Biella

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Alternanthera tenella Colla extracts are used in Brazilian traditional folk medicine to treat a variety of infectious diseases as well as inflammation and fever. In this work, the immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and potential toxic effects of cold (CAE and hot (HAE aqueous extracts of A. tenella were investigated in vivo. In addition, we analyzed the phytochemical properties of both extracts. BALB/c mice were immunized in vivo with sheep red blood cells and concomitantly inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p. with each extract (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg. Specific antibody-producing cells were enumerated using plaque-forming cell assays (PFC and anti-SRBC IgG and IgM serum levels were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Body and lymphoid organ weights were determined after treatments in order to evaluate toxic effects. Carrageenan-induced paw edema was employed to investigate anti-inflammatory activity in mice inoculated i.p. with CAE or HAE (200 or 400 mg/kg. Phytochemical screening was performed using spectrometric and chromatographic approaches and revealed that CAE possessed higher tannin and flavonoid levels than HAE. PFC numbers were increased after treatment with CAE (100 mg/kg four days after immunization, as were the serum antibody titers after four and seven days, suggesting immunostimulatory activity through modulation of B lymphocyte functions. Body and organ weights did not show major changes, suggesting that extracts administered to mice did not induce significant toxicity. Both extracts had significant anti-inflammatory activity in the paw edema assay. These results suggested that aqueous extracts from A. tenella contained several chemical compounds that possess positive and/or negative modulator effects on the immune system, which appeared to correlate with tannin and flavonoid levels in those extracts. In summary, these studies provide important insight into the biological activities of A. tenella.

Membrane Bioreactor-Based Wastewater Treatment Plant in Saudi Arabia: Reduction of Viral Diversity, Load, and Infectious Capacity

KAUST Repository

Jumat, Muhammad; Hasan, Nur; Subramanian, Poorani; Heberling, Colin; Colwell, Rita; Hong, Pei-Ying

2017-01-01

(AdV) and Enteroviruses (EV) were enumerated using digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) and assessed for infectivity using fluorescence-based infection assays. MBR treatment was successful in reducing viral diversity. Plant viruses remained

12 CFR 611.515 - Information statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., and the territory to be served. (3) A statement enumerating the potential advantages and disadvantages..., allowance for loan losses, and current year-to-date chargeoffs. (F) The amount and nature of start-up costs...

ORIGINAL ARTICLES South African national household survey of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

used to create a master sample of 1 000 census enumerator ... HIV test results were correctly matched with behavioural data. The results showed ..... Feared a breach of confidentiality ... Objected to providing personal/ confidential information.

Rapid on-site monitoring of Legionella pneumophila in cooling tower water using a portable microfluidic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Nobuyasu; Tokunaga, Yusuke; Goto, Satoko; Fujii, Yudai; Banno, Fumiya; Edagawa, Akiko

2017-06-08

Legionnaires' disease, predominantly caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, has increased in prevalence worldwide. The most common mode of transmission of Legionella is inhalation of contaminated aerosols, such as those generated by cooling towers. Simple, rapid and accurate methods to enumerate L. pneumophila are required to prevent the spread of this organism. Here, we applied a microfluidic device for on-chip fluorescent staining and semi-automated counting of L. pneumophila in cooling tower water. We also constructed a portable system for rapid on-site monitoring and used it to enumerate target bacterial cells rapidly flowing in the microchannel. A fluorescently-labelled polyclonal antibody was used for the selective detection of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 in the samples. The counts of L. pneumophila in cooling tower water obtained using the system and fluorescence microscopy were similar. The detection limit of the system was 10 4  cells/ml, but lower numbers of L. pneumophila cells (10 1 to 10 3  cells/ml) could be detected following concentration of 0.5-3 L of the water sample by filtration. Our technique is rapid to perform (1.5 h), semi-automated (on-chip staining and counting), and portable for on-site measurement, and it may therefore be effective in the initial screening of Legionella contamination in freshwater.

Assessing toxic levels of hydrocarbons on microbial degrader communities in vadose zone fill soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoenberg, T.H.; Long, S.C.

1995-01-01

Authentic fill samples were collected from the vadose zone at a highway travel plaza. The contamination at the site is a combination of gasoline, diesel, and waste oil resulting from leaking underground storage tanks. Microbial assessments including plate counts and specific-degrader enumerations were performed to establish the presence of degrader microbial communities, and thus bioremediation potential. Contaminant levels were estimated in samples by quantifying headspace VOCs in collection jars. Physical soil characteristics including soil grain size distribution and moisture content were measured to evaluate the potential ecological variables that would affect implementation of a bioremediation technology. Toxicity screening using the Microtox trademark acute toxicity assay was used to compare the level of toxicity present among samples. These analyses were used to assess the potential for using in situ bioventing remediation to clean-up the leaking underground storage tank spill study site. High contaminant levels appear to have exerted a toxic effect and resulted in smaller total microbial community sizes in highly contaminated areas (thousands of ppmv) of the site. Microtox trademark EC50 results generally corroborated with the trends of the enumeration experiments. Microbial characterization results indicate that in situ bioremediation would be possible at the study site. Soil heterogeneity appears to pose the greatest challenges to the design and implementation of bioremediation at this site

Determination of microbiological and chemical properties of probiotic boza and its consumer acceptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Arslan, Sultan; Durak, Atike N; Erbas, Mustafa; Tanriverdi, Emel; Gulcan, Ummugulsum

2015-01-01

The aim of research was producing boza as a probiotic product with certificated probiotic starter cultures (Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 and Bifidobacterium bifidum BB-12 and Saccharomyces boulardii). Analysis were done in boza samples taken in fermentation and storage. Probiotic and non-probiotic bacteria were enumerated with pour plate technique and yeast enumerated spread plate technique. Sugar, organic acid and Water soluble vitamin content were determined by using of HPLC. Sensory analyses were done by two different types of panels, once comprised of trained panelists and the other of consumers. Shelf life was determined according the results of sensory analysis. It was determinated that S. boulardii and L acidophilius counts increased nearly 0.5 log unit during of boza fermentation. Lactic, acetic, citric, butyric and succinic acid as organic acids and thiamin, niacin, B6 and pantothenic acid as water soluble vitamin evaluated in boza samples. Shelf life of the probiotic boza determined as 12 days at +4°C fridge storage temperature. The boza samples had a probiotic effect because it had viable microorganisms more than 10(6) cfu/ml which was defined enough for functional foods. All boza samples had lower pH value than 4.5, so it is evaluated that boza is a safety food as its low pH preventing pathogen growth.

Logical obstacles in learning planetary motion

Science.gov (United States)

Dileep, V.; Sathe, D. V.

Daniel Schaffer wrote now-a-days scientists and particularly theoretical physicists are not held in unquestioned esteem in his editorial This became the starting point of my presentation which was dedicated to the memory of Abdus Salam 1 Had he survived to witness the IYP he would have become surprised on knowing that Frank Wilczek had maximum trouble in learning classical mechanics 2 These facts require us to restudy learning O level physics from the logical point of view - in order to attract promising young students to take up challenges of physics and astronomy of the 21 st century Newton s laws of motion are known for more than 300 years and so there should not be any problems in learning and teaching these laws now in the 21 st century But findings of educators reported in the last 30 years show that there are some serious and global problems I have shown that there are some logical obstacles which make adverse effect on the comprehension of circular motion and related topics 3 In this presentation relevant aspects are discussed References begin enumerate item D V Sathe August 2001 Chemical Education International http www iupac org publications cei vol2 0201x0026 html item Frank Wilczek October 2004 Physics Today p 11 item D V Sathe December 2001 COSPAR Info Bulletin 152 p 53 end enumerate

Crystal engineering using a "turtlebug" algorithm: A de novo approach to the design of binodal metal-organic frameworks

KAUST Repository

McColm, Gregory L.

2011-09-07

A new series of computer programs that enumerate three-dimensional periodic embedded nets (i.e., representing crystals) is based on an algorithm that can theoretically enumerate all possible structures for all possible periodic topologies. Unlike extant programs, this algorithm employs algebraic and combinatorial machinery developed during the 1980s in combinatorial and geometric group theory and ancillary fields. This algorithm was validated by a demonstration program that found all strictly binodal periodic edge-transitive 3,4-, 3,6-, 4,4-, and 4,6-coordinated nets listed in the RCSR database. These programs could be used in two ways: to suggest new ways for targeting known nets, and to provide blueprints for new chemically feasible nets. They rely on a discrete version of "turtle geometry" adapted for these nets. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Understanding virtual water flows: A multiregion input-output case study of Victoria

Science.gov (United States)

Lenzen, Manfred

2009-09-01

This article explains and interprets virtual water flows from the well-established perspective of input-output analysis. Using a case study of the Australian state of Victoria, it demonstrates that input-output analysis can enumerate virtual water flows without systematic and unknown truncation errors, an issue which has been largely absent from the virtual water literature. Whereas a simplified flow analysis from a producer perspective would portray Victoria as a net virtual water importer, enumerating the water embodiments across the full supply chain using input-output analysis shows Victoria as a significant net virtual water exporter. This study has succeeded in informing government policy in Australia, which is an encouraging sign that input-output analysis will be able to contribute much value to other national and international applications.

Computing Preferred Extensions for Argumentation Systems with Sets of Attacking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Søren Holbech; Parsons, Simon

2006-01-01

The hitherto most abstract, and hence general, argumentation system, is the one described by Dung in a paper from 1995. This framework does not allow for joint attacks on arguments, but in a recent paper we adapted it to support such attacks, and proved that this adapted framework enjoyed the same...... formal properties as that of Dung. One problem posed by Dung's original framework, which was neglected for some time, is how to compute preferred extensions of the argumentation systems. However, in 2001, in a paper by Doutre and Mengin, a procedure was given for enumerating preferred extensions...... for these systems. In this paper we propose a method for enumerating preferred extensions of the potentially more complex systems, where joint attacks are allowed. The method is inspired by the one given by Doutre and Mengin....

Bounds on absolutely maximally entangled states from shadow inequalities, and the quantum MacWilliams identity

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Felix; Eltschka, Christopher; Siewert, Jens; Gühne, Otfried

2018-04-01

A pure multipartite quantum state is called absolutely maximally entangled (AME), if all reductions obtained by tracing out at least half of its parties are maximally mixed. Maximal entanglement is then present across every bipartition. The existence of such states is in many cases unclear. With the help of the weight enumerator machinery known from quantum error correction and the shadow inequalities, we obtain new bounds on the existence of AME states in dimensions larger than two. To complete the treatment on the weight enumerator machinery, the quantum MacWilliams identity is derived in the Bloch representation. Finally, we consider AME states whose subsystems have different local dimensions, and present an example for a 2×3×3×3 system that shows maximal entanglement across every bipartition.

Crystal engineering using a "turtlebug" algorithm: A de novo approach to the design of binodal metal-organic frameworks

KAUST Repository

McColm, Gregory L.; Clark, W. Edwin; Eddaoudi, Mohamed; Wojtas, Łukasz; Zaworotko, Michael J.

2011-01-01

A new series of computer programs that enumerate three-dimensional periodic embedded nets (i.e., representing crystals) is based on an algorithm that can theoretically enumerate all possible structures for all possible periodic topologies. Unlike extant programs, this algorithm employs algebraic and combinatorial machinery developed during the 1980s in combinatorial and geometric group theory and ancillary fields. This algorithm was validated by a demonstration program that found all strictly binodal periodic edge-transitive 3,4-, 3,6-, 4,4-, and 4,6-coordinated nets listed in the RCSR database. These programs could be used in two ways: to suggest new ways for targeting known nets, and to provide blueprints for new chemically feasible nets. They rely on a discrete version of "turtle geometry" adapted for these nets. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

The Importance of Bacterial Culture to Food Microbiology in the Age of Genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Alexander

2017-01-01

Culture-based and genomics methods provide different insights into the nature and behavior of bacteria. Maximizing the usefulness of both approaches requires recognizing their limitations and employing them appropriately. Genomic analysis excels at identifying bacteria and establishing the relatedness of isolates. Culture-based methods remain necessary for detection and enumeration, to determine viability, and to validate phenotype predictions made on the bias of genomic analysis. The purpose of this short paper is to discuss the application of culture-based analysis and genomics to the questions food microbiologists routinely need to ask regarding bacteria to ensure the safety of food and its economic production and distribution. To address these issues appropriate tools are required for the detection and enumeration of specific bacterial populations and the characterization of isolates for, identification, phylogenetics, and phenotype prediction.

Comparative Evaluation of Anaerobic Bacterial Communities Associated with Roots of Submerged Macrophytes Growing in Marine or Brackish Water Sediments

Science.gov (United States)

Sediment microbial communities are important for seagrass growth and carbon cycling, however relatively few studies have addressed the composition of prokaryotic communities in seagrass bed sediments. Selective media were used enumerate culturable anaerobic bacteria associated ...

Effects of alternative dietary substrates on competition between human colonic bacteria in an anaerobic fermentor system.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Sylvia H; Scott, Karen P; Ramsay, Alan G; Harmsen, Hermie J M; Welling, Gjalt W; Stewart, Colin S; Flint, Harry J

2003-02-01

Duplicate anaerobic fermentor systems were used to examine changes in a community of human fecal bacteria supplied with different carbohydrate energy sources. A panel of group-specific fluorescent in situ hybridization probes targeting 16S rRNA sequences revealed that the fermentors supported growth of a greater proportion of Bacteroides and a lower proportion of gram-positive anaerobes related to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Ruminococcus flavefaciens-Ruminococcus bromii, Eubacterium rectale-Clostridium coccoides, and Eubacterium cylindroides than the proportions in the starting fecal inoculum. Nevertheless, certain substrates, such as dahlia inulin, caused a pronounced increase in the number of bacteria related to R. flavefaciens-R. bromii and E. cylindroides. The ability of three strictly anaerobic, gram-positive bacteria to compete with the complete human fecal flora was tested in the same experiment by using selective plating to enumerate the introduced strains. The Roseburia-related strain A2-183(F) was able to grow on all substrates despite the fact that it was unable to utilize complex carbohydrates in pure culture, and it was assumed that this organism survived by cross-feeding. In contrast, Roseburia intestinalis L1-82(R) and Eubacterium sp. strain A2-194(R) survived less well despite the fact that they were able to utilize polysaccharides in pure culture, except that A2-194(R) was stimulated 100-fold by inulin. These results suggest that many low-G+C-content gram-positive obligate anaerobes may be selected against during in vitro incubation, although several groups were stimulated by inulin. Thus, considerable caution is necessary when workers attempt to predict the in vivo effects of probiotics and prebiotics from their effects in vitro.

Transformational Development of Reactive Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Zuck, Lenore D

2002-01-01

This is the final technical report tor the project. It presents an enumeration of the research results of the effort, including a list of papers published and a brief summary of the content or the papers...

Multiobjective optimal allocation problem with probabilistic non ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

The probabilistic non-linear cost constraint is converted into equivalent deterministic .... Further, in a survey the costs for enumerating a character in various strata are not known exactly, rather these are being ...... Naval Research Logistics, Vol.

[Use of Adobe Photoshop software in medical criminology].

Science.gov (United States)

Nikitin, S A; Demidov, I V

2000-01-01

Describes the method of comparative analysis of various objects in practical medical criminology and making of high-quality photographs with the use of Adobe Photoshop software. Options of the software needed for expert evaluations are enumerated.

Effect of prebiotics on the fecal microbiota of elderly volunteers after dietary supplementation of Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyangale, Edna P; Farmer, Sean; Keller, David; Chernoff, David; Gibson, Glenn R

2014-12-01

In advancing age, gut populations of beneficial microbes, notably Bifidobacterium spp., show a marked decline. This contributes to an environment less capable of maintaining homoeostasis. This in vitro investigation studied the possible synergistic effects of probiotic supplementation in modulating the gut microbiota enabling prebiotic therapy to in elderly persons. Single stage batch culture anaerobic fermenters were used and inoculated with fecal microbiota obtained from volunteers after taking a 28 day treatment of Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 (GanedenBC30 (BC30)) or a placebo. The response to prebiotic supplements fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and galactooligosaccharides (GOS) in the fermenters was assessed. Bacterial enumeration was carried out using fluorescent in situ hybridisation and organic acids measured by gas chromatography. Baseline populations of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Clostridium lituseburense and Bacillus spp. were significantly higher in those having consumed BC30 compared to the placebo. Both prebiotics increased populations of several purportedly beneficial bacterial groups in both sets of volunteers. Samples from volunteers having ingested the BC30 also increased populations of C. lituseburense, Eubacterium rectale and F. prausnitzii more so than in persons who had consumed the placebo, this also resulted in significantly higher concentrations of butyrate, acetate and propionate. This shows that consumption of BC30 and subsequent use of prebiotics resulted in elevated populations of beneficial genres of bacteria as well as organic acid production. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative Study of Crude Oil Contamination Effect on Industrial and Forest Soil Microbial Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasrin Ansari

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Petroleum hydrocarbons are widespread pollutant that enters to soil by some pathwayssuch as: Transportation of crude oil, conservation of oil compounds, crude oil spill and treatment process on refineries. Oil pollution has some ecological effect on soil that disturbed composition and diversity of microbial community. Also this pollution has some effects on microbial activity and enzymes of soil. Forests ecosystems may be polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons via different ways such as transportation and spill of crude oil from resource of petroleum storage. Industrial soil defined as the soils that located in industrial area such as petrochemical plant, mine, chemical factories and etc. These soils always contaminated to many pollutant such as: oil, diesel and heavy metals. These pollutants have some effects on the texture of the soil and microbial community. The aim of this research is to understand the effect of oil pollution on two different soils. Material and Methods: In order to evaluate the effect of crude oil on soil microbial community, two different soil samples were collected from industrial and forest soils. Six microcosms were designed in this experiment. Indeed each soil sample examined inthree microcosms asunpolluted microcosm, polluted microcosm, and polluted microcosm with nutrient supply of Nitrogen and PhosphorusSome factors were assayed in each microcosm during 120 days of experiment. The included study factors were: total heterotrophic bacteria, total crude oil degrading bacteria, dehydrogenase enzyme and crude oil biodegradation. For enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria nutrient agar medium was used. In this method serial dilutions were done from each soil and spread on nutrient agar medium then different colonies were counted. For enumeration of degrading bacteria Bushnel-Hass (BH medium were used. The composition of this medium was (g/lit: 1 gr KH2PO4, 1gr K2HPO4, 0.2 gr MgSO4.7H2O, 0.02 gr CaCl2, 1 gr NH4

Effectively Tackling Reinsurance Problems by Using Evolutionary and Swarm Intelligence Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sancho Salcedo-Sanz

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper is focused on solving different hard optimization problems that arise in the field of insurance and, more specifically, in reinsurance problems. In this area, the complexity of the models and assumptions considered in the definition of the reinsurance rules and conditions produces hard black-box optimization problems (problems in which the objective function does not have an algebraic expression, but it is the output of a system (usually a computer program, which must be solved in order to obtain the optimal output of the reinsurance. The application of traditional optimization approaches is not possible in this kind of mathematical problem, so new computational paradigms must be applied to solve these problems. In this paper, we show the performance of two evolutionary and swarm intelligence techniques (evolutionary programming and particle swarm optimization. We provide an analysis in three black-box optimization problems in reinsurance, where the proposed approaches exhibit an excellent behavior, finding the optimal solution within a fraction of the computational cost used by inspection or enumeration methods.

A novel method of generating and remembering international morse codes

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Charyulu, R.J.K.

untethered communications have been advanced, despite as S.O.S International Morse Code will be at rescue as an emergency tool, when all other modes fail The details of hte method and actual codes have been enumerated....

Fulltext PDF

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

This book follows its pig, sheep, cattle and horse precur- sors, maintaining the ... bringing it into line with laboratory mice and the domesticated ungulates, a very .... canine model in human genetics' that enumerates various specific disorders ...

Allogeneic Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Harvest

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Allogeneic Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Harvest. Mobilization protocol. G-CSF 10 mcg/Kg / day for 5 days. Pheresis. Cobe Spectra; Haemonetics mcs+. Enumeration. CD34 counts; Cfu-GM assays.

HAN Attack Surface and the Open Smart Energy Gateway Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Searle, Justin [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); McParland, Chuck [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2012-11-01

This paper attempts to provide, on a non-proprietary basis, insight into the major design elements of both smart meters and the larger AMI systems within which they operate and, within this context, enumerate known security issues.

Overview and status of the SIMMER testing program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, J.H.

1979-01-01

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory has undertaken an extensive experiment analysis program to test the results of SIMMER Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) accident calculations. Initially, we will test the postdisassembly work-energy partition problem. The SIMMER-calculated order-of-magnitude reduction of available kinetic energy following a severe hypothetical core-disruptive accident (HCDA) can be attributed to (1) purely fluid-dynamic effects; and (2) rate-controlled effects, such as phase transitions and heat transfer. We have chosen to test separately each class of mitigator. In this paper we review the experiments initially chosen for testing of each class of mitigator and report on the status of the analyses. We enumerate several problems in SIMMER that experiment analysis has disclosed. Finally, needs for future experiments are discussed

The effect of different concentrations of water soluble azadirachtin (neem metabolite) on Streptococcus mutans compared with chlorhexidine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kankariya, Amit R; Patel, Alok R; Kunte, Sanket S

2016-01-01

Despite advances in the development of anticaries chemotherapy, the newer agents are unable to control the initiation of dental caries. Research and development of natural antibacterial agents that are safe for the host as well as specific for oral pathogens is awaited. Neem tree extracts have been used for thousands of years for maintaining overall well-being. Chewing neem sticks in the morning is the most common indigenous method of cleaning the mouth in rural population. This has generated the interest of the dentists for the use of neem for controlling dental diseases. This study aims to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative effect of different concentrations of water soluble azadirachtin (neem metabolite) on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) against chlorhexidine. Plaque was collected from 30 children aged 8-12 years reporting to the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Bharti Vidyapeeth Dental College, Pune and transported to the laboratory. After incubation of the plates the inhibitory zones were noted and the diameter of the zone of inhibition was measured and recorded to check the inhibition of growth of S. mutans. For testing the bacterial survival, the biofilms were prepared and colony forming units (CFU) was enumerated using a digital colony counter. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test. The results show that there was no statistically significant difference in the inhibition of S. mutans between 40% concentration of water soluble azadirachtin and chlorhexidine. This study concluded that 40% water soluble azadirachtin is as effective as 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthrinse in reducing the S. mutans count in dental plaque. Hence, a water soluble formulation of azadirachtin may provide the maximum benefit to mankind to prevent dental caries.

Enumeration and characterization of microorganisms associated with the uranium ore deposit at Cigar Lake, Canada. Informal report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francis, A.J.; Joshi-Tope, G.; Gillow, J.B.; Dodge, C.J.

1994-03-01

The high-grade uranium deposit at Cigar Lake, Canada, is being investigated as a natural analog for the disposal of nuclear fuel waste. Geochemical aspects of the site have been studied in detail, but the microbial ecology has not been fully investigated. Microbial populations in an ore sample and in groundwater samples from the vicinity of the ore zone were examined to determine their effect on uranium mobility. Counts of the total number of bacteria and of respiring bacteria were obtained by direct microscopy, and the viable aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were assessed as colony forming units (CFUs) by the dilution plating technique. In addition, the population distribution of denitrifiers, fermenters, iron- and sulfur-oxidizers, iron- and sulfate-reducers, and methanogens was determined by the most probable number (MPN) technique

Application of detecting cerebrospinal fluid circulating tumor cells in the diagnosis of meningeal metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rong JIANG

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Objective To observe a new technology for the detection and enumeration of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF circulating tumor cells (CTCs in the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC with meningeal metastasis (MM.  Methods Five cases of NSCLC with MM that were diagnosed by CSF cytology were selected, and 20 ml CSF samples were obtained by lumbar puncture for every patient. The tumor marker immunostaining-fluorescence in situ hybridization (TM-iFISH technology was adapted to detect enrichment and enumeration of circulating tumor cells in 7.50 ml CSF samples; CSF cytology was checked in 10 ml CSF samples; CSF tumor markers were detected in 2.50 ml CSF samples. All of 5 cases were examined by MRI enhancement scan.  Results TM-iFISH detection found circulating tumor cells numbers ranging 18-1823/7.50 ml. Only 2 cases of patients with CSF cytology examination showed the tumor cells. The results of CSF tumor markers in all samples were higher than normal serum tumor markers detection results. The enhanced MRI scan of 5 cases revealed typical signs of MM.  Conclusions The TM-iFISH test showed certain advantages in the detection of malignant tumor cells in CSF. This technology may be a new method of detection and enumeration of tumor cells in CSF, but more studies are needed to prove its sensitivity and specificity. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.08.011

Rapid assessment of viable but non-culturable Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 in commercial formulations using Flow cytometry

Science.gov (United States)

Majeed, Muhammed; Majeed, Shaheen; Nagabhushanam, Kalyanam; Punnapuzha, Ardra; Philip, Sheena

2018-01-01

Accurate enumeration of bacterial count in probiotic formulation is imperative to ensure that the product adheres to regulatory standards and citation in consumer product label. Standard methods like plate count, can enumerate only replicating bacterial population under selected culture conditions. Viable but non culturable bacteria (VBNC) retain characteristics of living cells and can regain cultivability by a process known as resuscitation. This is a protective mechanism adapted by bacteria to evade stressful environmental conditions. B. coagulans MTCC 5856(LactoSpore®) is a probiotic endospore which can survive for decades in hostile environments without dividing. In the present study, we explored the use of flow cytometry to enumerate the viable count of B. coagulans MTCC 5856 under acidic and alkaline conditions, high temperature and in commercial formulations like compressed tablets and capsules. Flow cytometry (FCM) was comparable to plate count method when the spores were counted at physiological conditions. We show that VBNC state is induced in B. coagulans MTCC 5856by high temperature and acidic pH. The cells get resuscitated under physiological conditions and FCM was sensitive to detect the VBNC spores. Flow cytometry showed excellent ability to assess the viable spore count in commercial probiotic formulations of B. coagulans MTCC 5856. The results establish Flow cytometry as a reliable method to count viable bacteria in commercial probiotic preparations. Sporulation as well as existence as VBNC could contribute to the extreme stability of B. coagulans MTCC 5856. PMID:29474436

Rapid assessment of viable but non-culturable Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 in commercial formulations using Flow cytometry.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammed Majeed

Full Text Available Accurate enumeration of bacterial count in probiotic formulation is imperative to ensure that the product adheres to regulatory standards and citation in consumer product label. Standard methods like plate count, can enumerate only replicating bacterial population under selected culture conditions. Viable but non culturable bacteria (VBNC retain characteristics of living cells and can regain cultivability by a process known as resuscitation. This is a protective mechanism adapted by bacteria to evade stressful environmental conditions. B. coagulans MTCC 5856(LactoSpore® is a probiotic endospore which can survive for decades in hostile environments without dividing. In the present study, we explored the use of flow cytometry to enumerate the viable count of B. coagulans MTCC 5856 under acidic and alkaline conditions, high temperature and in commercial formulations like compressed tablets and capsules. Flow cytometry (FCM was comparable to plate count method when the spores were counted at physiological conditions. We show that VBNC state is induced in B. coagulans MTCC 5856by high temperature and acidic pH. The cells get resuscitated under physiological conditions and FCM was sensitive to detect the VBNC spores. Flow cytometry showed excellent ability to assess the viable spore count in commercial probiotic formulations of B. coagulans MTCC 5856. The results establish Flow cytometry as a reliable method to count viable bacteria in commercial probiotic preparations. Sporulation as well as existence as VBNC could contribute to the extreme stability of B. coagulans MTCC 5856.

Rapid assessment of viable but non-culturable Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 in commercial formulations using Flow cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Majeed, Muhammed; Majeed, Shaheen; Nagabhushanam, Kalyanam; Punnapuzha, Ardra; Philip, Sheena; Mundkur, Lakshmi

2018-01-01

Accurate enumeration of bacterial count in probiotic formulation is imperative to ensure that the product adheres to regulatory standards and citation in consumer product label. Standard methods like plate count, can enumerate only replicating bacterial population under selected culture conditions. Viable but non culturable bacteria (VBNC) retain characteristics of living cells and can regain cultivability by a process known as resuscitation. This is a protective mechanism adapted by bacteria to evade stressful environmental conditions. B. coagulans MTCC 5856(LactoSpore®) is a probiotic endospore which can survive for decades in hostile environments without dividing. In the present study, we explored the use of flow cytometry to enumerate the viable count of B. coagulans MTCC 5856 under acidic and alkaline conditions, high temperature and in commercial formulations like compressed tablets and capsules. Flow cytometry (FCM) was comparable to plate count method when the spores were counted at physiological conditions. We show that VBNC state is induced in B. coagulans MTCC 5856by high temperature and acidic pH. The cells get resuscitated under physiological conditions and FCM was sensitive to detect the VBNC spores. Flow cytometry showed excellent ability to assess the viable spore count in commercial probiotic formulations of B. coagulans MTCC 5856. The results establish Flow cytometry as a reliable method to count viable bacteria in commercial probiotic preparations. Sporulation as well as existence as VBNC could contribute to the extreme stability of B. coagulans MTCC 5856.

Microbiological Quality of Food Contact Surfaces in A Hospital Kitchen in Shiraz, Iran, 2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ali Baghapour

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The consumption of healthy food is considered as an essential need to devoid the physical, chemical, and biological hazards. The importance of this issue is more conspicuous in places such as hospitals where people with somehow compromised immune systems are under treatment. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of food contact surfaces in a kitchen in one of the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In the present study, samples were taken from 48 food contact surfaces according to ISO 18593:2004(E and placed into the bags containing diluting solution; they were then transferred to the laboratory for microbial analysis in the cold chain. The microbial analysis was carried out according to ISO 4833-1:2013 and BS ISO 4832:2006 for enumeration of total bacterial count and coliform. Results: Based on the results presented here, 39.6% and 85.7% of the samples showed acceptable contamination with regard to the enumeration of total bacterial and coliform count. Besides, 18.2% and 72.7 % of work surfaces groups (cutting board, table, and hand showed acceptable contamination with regard to the enumeration of total bacterial count and coliform in comparison to the standards. Furthermore, 45.9% and 89.2% of other surfaces showed acceptable total bacterial and coliform count, respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that safe management of the kitchen, education of the staff and also improvement of the equipment used are necessary.

Comparison of certain microbial counting methods which are ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2009-12-15

Dec 15, 2009 ... tinuous food analyses. For example, the ... plate method for the enumeration of E. coli in foods. How- ... Although its preservation for 48 h is recommended in certain ..... Innovative Fungicide For Leather Industry: Essential Oil of.

Nitrate and sulfate reducers-retrievable number of bacteria and their activities in Indian waters

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

LokaBharathi, P.A.; Nair, S.; Chandramohan, D.

Culturable heterotrophic, nitrate reducing and sulfate reducing bacteria (HB, NRB and SRB) were enumerated from 25, 50, 100 and 200 m depths at 15 stations and their potential activities viz. Nitrate reducing (NRA) and Sulfate reducing (SRA) were...

GraMi: Generalized Frequent Pattern Mining in a Single Large Graph

KAUST Repository

Saeedy, Mohammed El; Kalnis, Panos

2011-01-01

resolution phase as a constraint satisfaction problem, in order to avoid the costly enumeration of all instances of each pattern in the graph. The authors also implemented CGRAMI, a version that supports structural and semantic constraints; and AGRAMI

A preliminary study of anaerobic thiosulfate-oxidising bacteria as denitrifiers in the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

LokaBharathi, P.A.; Chandramohan, D.; Nair, S.

Bacteria which oxidize thiosulfate and reduce nitrate (TONRB) and bacteria which oxidize thiosulfate and denitrify (TODB) sampled at 5-, 100-, 200-and 300-m depths were enumerated in agar shake cultures by colony counting and by applying MPN...

GLOBAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES VOL 8, NO

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ada

for an efficiently functioning service, and an enumeration of related ... some people believe that quality does not fit in with how government .... determine the poor work habits of Nigerian civil servants are .... SERVICOM Book, 2006: 7). Specific ...

Escherichia coli and Cronobacter sakazakii in 'Tommy Atkins' minimally processed mangos: Survival, growth and effect of UV-C and electrolyzed water.

Science.gov (United States)

Santo, David; Graça, Ana; Nunes, Carla; Quintas, Célia

2018-04-01

These studies were aimed at assessing the growing capacity of Escherichia coli and Cronobacter sakazakii and the effectiveness of Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation, acidic electrolyzed (AEW) and neutral electrolyzed (NEW) waters in the inhibition of these bacteria on minimally processed 'Tommy Atkins' mangoes (MPM). The fruits were contaminated by dip inoculation and kept 10 days at 4, 8, 12 and 20 °C while enumerating bacteria. Contaminated mangoes were disinfected using UV-C (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 kJ/m 2 ), AEW, NEW and sodium hypochlorite (SH) and the microorganisms were monitored. None of the enterobacteria grew at 4, 8 and 12 °C regardless of having persisted during the 10-day period. At 20 °C, E. coli and C. sakazakii grew, after adaption phases of 48 h and 24 h, to values of 8.7 and 8.5 log cfu/g at day eight, respectively. E. coli showed the highest reduction counts on the MPM washed with NEW and SH (2.2 log cfu/g). UV-C was more effective in reducing C. sakazakii (2.4-2.6 log cfu/g), when compared to AEW, NEW and SH (1.2-1.8 log cfu/g). The efficacy of decontamination technologies depends on microorganisms, highlighting the importance of preventing contamination at the primary production and of combining different methods to increase the safety of fresh-cut fruits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High Energy $\

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

This experiment is a high statistics exposure of BEBC filled with hydrogen to both @n and &bar.@n beams. The principal physics aims are : \\item a) The study of the production of charmed mesons and baryons using fully constrained events. \\end{enumerate} b) The study of neutral current interactions on the free proton. \\item c) Measurement of the cross-sections for production of exclusive final state N* and @D resonances. \\item d) Studies of hadronic final states in charged and neutral current reactions. \\item e) Measurement of inclusive charged current cross-sections and structure functions. \\end{enumerate}\\\\ \\\\ The neutrino flux is determined by monitoring the flux of muons in the neutrino shield. The Internal Picket Fence and External Muon Identifier of BEBC are essential parts of the experiment. High resolution cameras are used to search for visible decays of short-lived particles.

Tracking by flow cytometry antigen-specific follicular helper T cells in wild-type animals after protein vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakarov, Svetoslav; Fazilleau, Nicolas

2015-01-01

Flow cytometry is a valuable technology used in immunology to characterize and enumerate the different cell subpopulations specific for a nonself-antigen in the context of an ongoing immune response. Among them, follicular helper T cells are the cognate regulators of B cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. Thus, tracking them is of high interest especially in the context of protein vaccination. For this purpose, transgenic antigen-receptor mouse models have been largely used. It is now clear that transgenic models are not always the best means to study the dynamics of the immune response since they can modify the response. In this chapter, we describe how to track endogenous antigen-specific follicular helper T cells by flow cytometry after protein vaccination in nonmodified wild-type animals, which ultimately provides a comprehensive way to enumerate, characterize, and isolate these particular cells in vivo.

Error Floor Analysis of Coded Slotted ALOHA over Packet Erasure Channels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ivanov, Mikhail; Graell i Amat, Alexandre; Brannstrom, F.

2014-01-01

We present a framework for the analysis of the error floor of coded slotted ALOHA (CSA) for finite frame lengths over the packet erasure channel. The error floor is caused by stopping sets in the corresponding bipartite graph, whose enumeration is, in general, not a trivial problem. We therefore ...... identify the most dominant stopping sets for the distributions of practical interest. The derived analytical expressions allow us to accurately predict the error floor at low to moderate channel loads and characterize the unequal error protection inherent in CSA.......We present a framework for the analysis of the error floor of coded slotted ALOHA (CSA) for finite frame lengths over the packet erasure channel. The error floor is caused by stopping sets in the corresponding bipartite graph, whose enumeration is, in general, not a trivial problem. We therefore...

Computing Gröbner fans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fukuda, K.; Jensen, Anders Nedergaard; Thomas, R.R.

2005-01-01

This paper presents algorithms for computing the Gröbner fan of an arbitrary polynomial ideal. The computation involves enumeration of all reduced Gröbner bases of the ideal. Our algorithms are based on a uniform definition of the Gröbner fan that applies to both homogeneous and non......-homogeneous ideals and a proof that this object is a polyhedral complex. We show that the cells of a Gröbner fan can easily be oriented acyclically and with a unique sink, allowing their enumeration by the memory-less reverse search procedure. The significance of this follows from the fact that Gröbner fans...... are not always normal fans of polyhedra in which case reverse search applies automatically. Computational results using our implementation of these algorithms in the software package Gfan are included....

75 FR 16337 - Standards for Business Practices for Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... pipeline business practices and electronic communications to incorporate by reference into its regulations... enumerated exceptions. This rule upgrades the Commission's current business practice and communication... business practices and electronic communications) \\1\\ to incorporate by reference the most recent version...

Capacity for DNA-barcode based taxonomy in support of Great Lakes biological monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Enumerating organisms collected via nets and sediment grabs is a mainstay of aquatic ecology. Since morphological taxonomy can require considerable resources and expertise, DNA barcode-based identification of mixed-organism samples offers a valuable tool in support of biological...

The human subthalamic nucleus - knowledge for the understanding of Parkinson’s disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heida, Tjitske; Marani, Enrico

2010-01-01

The human subthalamic nucleus differs from those of experimental animals, especially rat. In this overview cytological, developmental, and connective discrepancies are enumerated. The main theme is the lack of neuroanatomical prove for the cortico-subthalamic connection in humans. Moreover

Anti-leishmanial and cytotoxic activities of extracts from three ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

150 mg/kg against intracellular amastigotes in albino mice was 97.02 % (95 % CI = 96.14 - 98.10) .... (Reichert, New York, U.S.A), and enumerating ... mice. Development of lesion was measured weekly with dial micrometer during the infection.

The Role of Mesonic Degrees of Freedom in Scattering of Hardrons on Nuclei

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed-Hansen, O.

1978-01-01

The Glauber multiple scattering is reviewed, its experimental success described and its essential approximations enumerated. A simple harmonic oscillator model of mesonic degrees of freedom is constructed and Glauber scattering evaluated. The difficulties in fitting experimental amplitude data va...

Examination of the behaviour of escherichia coli in biofilms established in laboratory- scale units receiving chlorinated and chloraminated water

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Momba, MNB

1999-09-01

Full Text Available Groundwater was treated with chlorine and chloramine to study the incorporation and survival of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in developing biofilms in laboratory-scale units. Membrane filter and standard spread plate procedure were used to enumerate...

06 Keraan 03.pmd

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Owner

of his B. A. Honours degree in the Department of Arabic Studies at the ..... we have attained great benefits, the blessings of which cannot be enumerated ..... The question of tafakkur (meditation) and the notion that the attributes of Allah.

Greek-English Word Processing on the Macintosh.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusten, Jeffrey

1986-01-01

Discusses the complete Greek-English word processing system of the Apple Macintosh computer. Describes the features of its operating system, shows how the Greek fonts look and work, and enumerates both the advantages and drawbacks of the Macintosh. (SED)

Ethno – Medico – Botany of Chenchus of Mahaboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, T. Dharmachandra; Pullaiah, T.

1999-01-01

The present paper deals with the ethno-medico-botany of Chenchus of Mahaboobnagar district, Andhra Pradesh. About fourty four plants are enumerated with knowledge of the tribals for their medicinal uses in curing different diseases and ailments. PMID:22556915

The impact of screening-test negative samples not enumerated by MPN

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corbellini, Luis Gustavo; Ribeiro Duarte, Ana Sofia; de Knegt, Leonardo

2015-01-01

that includes false negative results from the screening, and a third that considers the entire data set. The relative sensitivity of the screening test was also calculated assuming as gold standard samples with confirmed Salmonella. Salmonella was confirmed by a reference laboratory in 29 samples either...

Oocyte batch development and enumeration in the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. FERRERI

2016-09-01

Full Text Available An alternative method to the traditional hydrated oocyte (HO method has been evaluated for the Sicilian anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus. The method is based on the processing of ovarian whole mount images and the identification of the spawning batch in oocyte size frequency distributions and shows the advantage that it can be applied to various oocyte stages rather than strictly to the HO stage. Despite the peculiar elliptical shape of anchovy oocytes, this image analysis technique was fully successful since the yolked stage appeared to perform equally to the HO stage for anchovy batch fecundity measurements.

A novel PCR-based method to enumerate Salmonella in animal feed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Löfström, Charlotta; Andersson, Gunnar; Häggblom, Per

2010-01-01

and pellets) only three gave results that differed between the PCR and MSRV methods. Ct values for naturally contaminated samples were higher compared to samples artificially contaminated with low numbers (approx. 2 CFU/25 g feed) of stressed Salmonella. To allow quantification of low numbers of Salmonella...

50 CFR 224.101 - Enumeration of endangered marine and anadromous species.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Creek Captive Broodstock Program, and the Noyo River Fish Station egg-take Program coho hatchery.... Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), Cook Inlet distinct population segment; Blue whale (Balaenoptera...

Exceptional suffering? Enumeration and vernacular accounting in the HIV-positive experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Benton, Adia

2012-01-01

Drawing on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Freetown, Sierra Leone, I highlight the recursive relationship between Sierra Leone as an exemplary setting and HIV as an exceptional disease. Through this relationship, I examine how HIV-positive individuals rely on both enumerative knowledge (seroprevalence rates) and vernacular accounting (NGO narratives of vulnerability) to communicate the uniqueness of their experience as HIV sufferers and to demarcate the boundaries of their status. Various observers' enumerative and vernacular accounts of Sierra Leone's decade-long civil conflict, coupled with global health accounts of HIV as exceptional, reveal the calculus of power through which global health projects operate. The contradictions between the exemplary and the exceptional-and the accompanying tension between quantitative and qualitative facts-are mutually constituted in performances and claims made by HIV-positive individuals themselves.