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Rabies is a widespread zoonotic disease responsible for approximately 55,000 human deaths/year. The direct fluorescent antibody test (DFAT) and the mouse inoculation test (MIT) used for rabies diagnosis, have high sensitivity and specificity, but are expensive and time-consuming. These disadvantages and the identification of new strains of the virus encourage the use of new techniques that are rapid, sensitive, specific and economical for the detection and research of the Rabies Virus (RABV). Real-time RT-PCR, phylogeographic analysis, proteomic assays and DNA recombinant technology have been used in research laboratories. Together, these techniques are effective on samples with low virus titers in the study of molecular epidemiology or in the identification of new disease markers, thus improving the performance of biological assays. In this context, modern advances in molecular technology are now beginning to complement more traditional approaches and promise to revolutionize the diagnosis of rabies. This brief review presents some of the recent molecular tools used for RABV analysis, with emphasis on rabies diagnosis and research., (Copyright © 2013 The International Alliance for Biological Standardization. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Industrial waste usually contains complex mixtures of mutagenic chemicals. Spent Pot Liner (SPL) is a complex solid waste from the aluminum industry, which is composed of organics, fluoride salts, inorganic cyanides, metals, and sodium. Due to the toxicity of these compounds, this study sought to use cytogenetics and flow cytometry to assess the effects of SPL on cell cycle parameters and DNA content in meristematic cells of Allium cepa. Three concentrations of leachates from SPL-soil mixtures were used for the study: 0, 10, and 25%. Roots were collected and analyzed after 4, 8, 12, 24, and 36 h of exposure to the above SPL leachates. The results showed an overall mitodepressive effect accompanied by an increased percentage of condensed nuclei and genomic instability as evidenced by the presence of cellular/chromosomal abnormalities. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling revealed nuclei with fragmented DNA, a marker of programmed cell death. This study also addressed the question of reversibility of the effects of SPL and found that 36 h of exposure to 25% SPL seemed to be the point at which the effects on the induction of apoptosis became irreversible., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)