Search

Surveillance data for Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis incidents and isolations from food animals in Great Britain from 1990 to 2005 were analysed to detect any trends and provide the basis for a comparison between phage types (pt) and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns in human beings and animals. During 2001 to 2005 there was a decrease in incidents involving most species except ducks. Only the numbers of incidents involving pts 6, 6a, 9b and 14b (in ducks) and pts 6a and 13a (in mammals) increased significantly during this period, whereas there were 93 per cent fewer incidents involving pt 4 than in 1990 to 2000. After adjustment for pt, the isolates from ducks were more resistant to nalidixic acid, tetracyclines and sulfonamides, and were more likely to be multiresistant than isolates from chickens. Isolates from turkeys tended to be more resistant to sulfonamides than isolates from chickens. pts 1, 5a, 6, 6a and 35 had the highest level of resistance after adjusting for species. During 2001 to 2005 there was an increase in resistance among pts 1, 6 and 7, in most cases involving nalidixic acid.

Objective. Alterations in glutamate homeostasis and Kv1.3 voltage-gated potassium channel function have been independently associated with T cell dysfunction, whereas selective blockade of Kv1.3 channels inhibits T cell activation and improves T cell-mediated manifestations in animal models of autoimmunity. Because low extracellular glutamate concentrations enhance the activity of this channel in normal T cells ex vivo, we undertook this study to examine serum glutamate concentrations and Kv1.3 channel activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. We used high-performance liquid chromatography for glutamate measurements, and we used the whole-cell patch-clamp technique for electrophysiologic studies performed in freshly isolated, noncultured peripheral T cells. Results. Mean +/- SD serum concentrations of glutamate were lower in patients with either clinically quiescent SLE (77 +/- 27 mu M [n = 18]) or active SLE (61 +/- 36 mu M [n = 16]) than in healthy controls (166 +/- 64 mu M [n = 24]) (both P < 0.0001). The intrinsic gating properties of the Kv1.3 channels in lupus T cells were found to be comparable with those in healthy control-derived T cells. Notably, electrophysiologic data from SLE patient-derived T cells exposed to extracellular glutamate concentrations similar to their respective serum levels (50 mu M) demonstrated Kv1.3 current responses enhanced by almost 20% (P < 0.01) compared with those subsequently obtained from the same cell in the presence of glutamate concentrations within control serum levels (200 mu M). Conclusion. Based on the key role of Kv1.3 channel activity in lymphocyte physiology, an enhancing in vivo effect of low serum glutamate concentrations on the functional activity of this channel may contribute to lupus T cell hyperactivity. Studies to further elucidate Kv1.3 responses in SLE, as well as the possible pathogenetic role of this unsuspected metabolic abnormality, may have therapeutic implications for SLE patients.

Recent research has revealed novel actions of thyroid hormone (TH) on the heart which may be of important physiological and therapeutic relevance. TH, apart from its "classical" actions on cardiac contractility and heart rhythm, appears to regulate various intracellular signaling pathways related to stress responses and cardiac remodelling. Accumulating experimental evidence suggests that changes in TH may constitute an important component in the pathophysiology of heart failure. In fact, TH seems to be a "switch" for the fetal cardiac phenotype. Changes in the TH-thyroid hormone receptor axis are also evident in patients with heart failure and associated with impaired cardiac function and increased mortality. More importantly, experimental and clinical studies demonstrate that TH can limit ischaemic injury, attenuate cardiac remodeling and improve cardiac hemodynamics. TH analogs have already been developed and may allow exploitation of the TH-thyroid hormone receptor in clinical practice. At present, the therapeutic potential and efficacy of TH in the treatment of cardiac diseases await evaluation in large clinical trials. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental animals can be differentiated on the basis of their horizontal or vertical activity to high responders (HR) and low responders (LR) upon exposure to a novel environment. These individual differences have been associated with behavioral and neurobiological differences in a number of experimental procedures used for studying sensitivity to psychostimulants, anxiety, depression, and cognitive function. In the present study, we differentiated the rats to HR and LR based on their vertical activity upon exposure to a novel environment. Additionally, we ascertained whether HR and LR rats differ in a battery of tests such as passive avoidance (PA), object recognition (OR), and the water-maze (WM) that provide indices for cognitive function and the forced swim test (FST), an animal model of affective responsivity and antidepressant-like activity. Potential differences in neurochemical indices between the two phenotypes were also examined. HR rats displayed impaired non-spatial object recognition memory, but enhanced spatial performance, as compared to LR rats. FST induced "depressive-like" symptoms in both phenotypes that were differently manifested in HR versus LR rats. Neurochemical findings revealed distinct differences in serotonergic and dopaminergic activity in the striatum and the prefrontal cortex of HR as compared to LR rats. The above results show that HR and LR rats exhibit important differences in a battery of tests related to cognitive performance or affective responsivity, which may be associated with differences in certain neurobiological parameters. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bacterial growth kinetics is considered as a means of differentiation of the two serologically identical serovars, S. gallinarum and S. pullorum. Growth-kinetic parameters were calculated by fitting growth data to the exponential growth equation, using linear-regression analysis. Bacterial populations of S. gallinarum, S. pullorum and S. newport in two media (nutrient broth and selenite broth) were continuously monitored by optical-density measurements. The experiments confirmed differences in the growth of S. gallinarum and S. pullorum when cultured in the selenite broth.

With leanness finding its birthplace in the post war automobile industry and with complex functional shop-floor configurations posing strong impediments to the application of critical lean scheduling and shop-floor control enablers, the lean paradigm was adopted and implemented almost exclusively in repetitive production systems utilising flow-shop layout configurations. This research employs state-of- the-art agent-based simulation to apply lean scheduling principles and techniques on the shop-floor control of job-shops with functional layouts. The modelled system is a dynamic job-shop environment with stochastic order arrivals and processing times employing a variety of dispatching rules. The system's performance under push and global pull constant work-in-progress (CONWIP) control is studied in terms of a number of time, due date and work-in-progress related performance metrics.

Steroids are generally viewed as transcription factors binding to intracellular receptors and activating gene transcription. Rapid cellular effects mediated via non-genomic mechanisms have however been identified and one report showed that injections of estradiol rapidly stimulate chemoinvestigation and mounting behavior in castrated male rats. It is not known whether such effects take place in other species and what are the cellular underlying mechanisms. We show here that a single injection of estradiol (500 μg/kg) rapidly and transiently activates copulatory behavior in castrated male quail pre-treated with a dose of testosterone behaviorally ineffective by itself. The maximal behavioral effect was observed after 15 min. In a second experiment, the brain of all subjects was immediately collected after behavioral tests performed 15 min after injection. The preoptic area - hypothalamus (HPOA), hindbrain, telencephalon and cerebellum were isolated and monoamines measured by HPLC-ED. Estradiol increased levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 5-HIAA/serotonin ratios in the telencephalon and hindbrain independently of whether animals had mated or not. Estradiol also affected these measures in HPOA and cerebellum but this effect was correlated with the level of sexual activity so that significant effects of the treatment only appeared when sexual activity was used as a covariate. Interactions between estradiol effects and sexual activity were also observed for dopamine in the HPOA and for serotonin in the hindbrain and cerebellum. Together, these data demonstrate that a single estradiol injection rapidly activates male sexual behavior in quail and that this behavioral effect is correlated with changes in monoaminergic activity. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clostridium perfringens is a common contaminant of grains and meals used for animal feeding and its presence in feedstuffs has been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne poisoning in farm animals. In order to evaluate a new rapid procedure for C. perfringens isolation and identification, we examined qualitatively 120 duplicate samples of feedstuffs used for farm animal and poultry feeding, using the Lactose-Sulfite broth (LS) proposed for rapid C. perfringens detection and the conventional Cooked Meat Medium (CMM). The results suggest that LS medium is fairly successful in the detection of C. perfringens vegetative cells and spores, despite the presence of the bacterial and fungal flora normally found in animal feedstuffs.

In Japanese quail as in rats, the expression of male sexual behavior over relatively long time periods (days to weeks) is dependent on the local production of estradiol in the preoptic area via the aromatization of testosterone. On a short-term basis (minutes to hours), central actions of dopamine as well as locally produced estrogens modulate behavioral expression. In rats, a view of and sexual interaction with a female increases dopamine release in the preoptic area. In quail, in vitro brain aromatase activity is rapidly modulated by calcium-dependent phosphorylations that are likely to occur in vivo as a result of changes in neurotransmitter activity. Furthermore, an acute estradiol injection rapidly stimulates copulation in quail, while a single injection of the aromatase inhibitor Vorozole™ rapidly inhibits this behavior. We hypothesized that brain aromatase and dopaminergic activities are regulated in quail in association with the expression of male sexual behavior. Visual access as well as sexual interactions with a female produced a significant decrease in brain aromatase activity that was maximal after 5 min. This expression of sexual behavior also resulted in a significant decrease in dopaminergic as well as serotonergic activity after 1 min, which returned to basal levels after 5 min. These results demonstrate for the first time that aromatase activity is rapidly modulated in vivo in parallel with changes in dopamine activity. Sexual interactions with the female decreased aromatase and dopamine activity. These data challenges established views about the causal relationships among dopamine, estrogen action and male sexual behavior. Copyright © 2005 by The Endocrine Society.

Previous studies have revealed that women with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortions have a limited repertoire of inhibitory KI receptors (inhKIRs) and that the inhKIRs they possess do not have specificity for the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-Cw molecules that would be expressed on trophoblast. We sought to confirm these findings by direct definition of maternal inhKIR and trophoblastic HLA-Cw allotypes on the placental material of spontaneously missed pregnancies. The study included 30 women undergoing vacuum uterine curettage for first-trimester missed pregnancy (group A; n = 15) or for elective termination of normal pregnancy (group C, n = 15). DNA extracted from isolated decidual and trophoblastic cells was used for molecular detection of maternal inhKIRs (2DL1, 2DL2, 2DL3) and fetal HLA-Cw alleles, respectively. The results revealed that in the group of women who experienced abortion, 60% did not have the full repertoire of three inhKIRs (group A vs group C; p = 0.006); that in five of 15 patients (none in the controls), no epitope matching existed between maternal inhKIRs and trophoblastic HLA-Cw alleles (group A vs group C; p = 0.01); and that more cases were found with limited epitope matching (less than three inhKIRs with specificity for fetal HLA-Cw alleles). The results provide additional evidence that in some cases of spontaneous abortions, the women lack the appropriate inhKIRs to interact with the HLA-Cw molecules on trophoblasts and to deliver signals to inhibit natural killer cell activation and protect the embryo. Hum Immunol

Background: Art increased prevalence of autoimmune (Hashimoto’s) thyroiditis in adult patients with vitiligo has been described. This association has scarcely been studied in children. Objective. We sought to assess children and adolescents with vitiligo for autoimmune thyroid disorder and to identify any predisposing factors of this association. Methods: In all, 54 children and adolescents (23 boys, 31 girls; mean age 11.4 years) with known vitiligo were studied by physical examination and laboratory studies. Results: Four patients with vitiligo were already known to have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. in 9 of the remaining 50 patients, autoimmune thyroiditis was revealed at the time of the investigation. Of the 54 patients with vitiligo, 13 (24.1%) had autoimmune thyroiditis as compared with 9.6% of school-aged children from an iodine-replete area of Greece (P = .002). There was no association between thyroiditis and clinical type of vitiligo, age at onset, mean duration of vitiligo, or sex. Conclusions: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is 2.5 times more frequent among children and adolescents with vitiligo than in a healthy age- and sex-matched Population. It usually follows the onset of vitiligo. We propose that children and adolescents with vitiligo should be screened annually for thyroid dysfunction, particularly autoimmune thyroiditis.

Studying the biotope of Lasioderma serricorne (F.) in tobacco stores during 2001 and 2002, we identified the ectoparasitoid Lariophagus distinguendus (F.) which parasitises various beetle species. L. distinguendus is reported for the first time in Greece to parasitise L. serricorne in tobacco stores.

This work verifies the development threshold of the pupal stage of L. serricorne whose larva fed exclusively on dried tobacco leaves. In previous work, using the thermal constant equation, this threshold was found to be 13.8 °C and the thermal constant to range from 89.05 to 94.05 day-degrees (°C). Lower temperatures, 10.5±0.5, 11.5±0.5 and 12.5±0.5 °C, close to this threshold, were tested in the absence of light and at a relative humidity of 65±3% . It was found that no development of either larva or pupa exists below this threshold

This study explored Greek nurses' perceptions of the barriers to research utilization faced in every day practice. The barriers between nurses working in cancer and general hospitals, as well as between those employed at central and provincial hospitals were compared. The study used a cross-sectional design and data were collected using the "Barriers Scale" (Funk et al., 1991a, Applied Nursing Research, 4, 39-45). A convenience sample of 301 nurses was randomly selected from 12 hospitals in Greece. The two key barriers identified were related to the 'availability of research findings'. English language was perceived to range between moderate and major barrier for the vast majority of participants (n=231, 78%). Nurses surveyed indicated the presentation of research findings as the greatest barrier while the characteristics of nurses themselves were perceived as the least important one. No significant differences were found between types of hospitals (cancer/general) and geographical areas (central/provincial). Some differences, however, were observed in relation to specific items of the scale such as feeling isolated from 'research-knowledgeable' colleagues and having insufficient time to implement new ideas. The observations reported here appear to agree with the findings in mainstream literature. The results suggest that more emphasis should be given in research methodology, statistics and critical appraisal skills at all levels of nursing education, and that efforts should be made towards increasing research availability and creating supportive environments for implementation of research findings. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The human Sco2 protein is a cytochrome c oxidase assembly protein that participates in mitochondrial copper pathway, acting downstream of Cox17 protein. In a previous work, we detected mutations in the human SCO2 gene in three unrelated infants with fatal cardioencephalomyopathy and COX deficiency. In this study, full-length processed recombinant wild-type and two mutated forms of hSco2p (w/t-rhSco2p, E140K-rhSco2p, and S225F-rhSco2p) were produced in bacteria as soluble recombinant peptides for the first time and evaluated for differences in their physical state and ability to bind copper. Our data indicate the following: (a) w/t-rhSco2p and S225F-rhSco2p were found to be in a monomeric form in contrast to E140K-rhSco2p that was in a major non-reducible dimer and a minor monomer form; (b) wild-type and mutated rhSco2p exhibited clear differences in their physical conformational state, as shown by circular dichroism and thermal denaturation analyses; (c) copper binding studies showed that E140K-rhSco2p bound markedly less copper while S225F-rhSco2p more than expected as compared to amount of the copper bound with w/t-rhSco2p. rhCox17p served as positive control experiment. These data indicate that S225F and E140K mutations found in the SCO2 gene derived from patients alter the physical conformational state of encoded hSco2p that may disturb the normal copper transport pathway in mitochondria. These findings are valuable for understanding the molecular basis of fatal cardioencephalomyopathy and COX deficiency and for designing appropriate pharmacological interventions.

A medium sized UK based academic publisher own a subsidiary printing business. Presently, Academic Printers (AP) is experiencing production line flow problems reducing the efficiency of the operation. Most of the problems are generated by the imbalanced workflow through the system. By implementing a JIT production planning system it is hoped that some of the production problems can be resolved. Using the simulation software a model was created to investigate the performance of the AP under a variety of operating conditions. Results showed that operating the system with JIT control would not produce economic performance improvements due to constraints applied by the printing process.

We screened 41 patients with undiagnosed encephalomyopathies and cytochrome c oxidase (COX) deficiency for mutations in two COX assembly genes, SURF-1 and SCO2; 6 patients had mutations in SURF-1 and 3 had mutations in SCO2. All of the mutations in SURF-1 were small-scale rearrangements (deletions/insertions); 3 patients were homozygotes and the other 3 were compound heterozygotes. All patients with SCO2 mutations were compound heterozygotes for nonsense or missense mutations. All of the patients with mutations in SURF-1 had Leigh syndrome, whereas the 3 patients with SCO2 mutations had a combination of encephalopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the neuropathology did not show the typical features of Leigh syndrome. In patients with SCO2 mutations, onset was earlier and the clinical course and progression to death more rapid than in patients with SURF-1 mutations. In addition, biochemical and morphological studies showed that the COX deficiency was more severe in patients with SCO2 mutations. Immunohistochemical studies suggested that SURF-1 mutations result in similarly reduced levels of mitochondrial-encoded and nuclear-encoded COX subunits, whereas SCO2 mutations affected mitochondrial-encoded subunits to a greater degree. We conclude that patients with mutations in SURF-1 and SCO2 genes have distinct phenotypes despite the common biochemical defect of COX activity.

Mammalian cytochrome c oxidase (COX) catalyses the transfer of reducing equivalents from cytochrome c to molecular oxygen and pumps protons across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes three COX subunits (I-III) and nuclear DNA (nDNA) encodes ten. In addition, ancillary proteins are required for the correct assembly and function of COX (refs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Although pathogenic mutations in mtDNA-encoded COX subunits have been described, no mutations in the nDNA-encoded subunits have been uncovered in any mendelian-inherited COX deficiency disorder. In yeast, two related COX assembly genes, SCO1 and SCO2 (for synthesis of cytochrome c oxidase), enable subunits I and II to be incorporated into the holoprotein. Here we have identified mutations in the human homologue, SCO2, in three unrelated infants with a newly recognized fatal cardioencephalomyopathy and COX deficiency. Immunohistochemical studies implied that the enzymatic deficiency, which was most severe in cardiac and skeletal muscle, was due to the loss of mtDNA-encoded COX subunits. The clinical phenotype caused by mutations in human SCO2 differs from that caused by mutations in SURF1, the only other known COX assembly gene associated with a human disease, Leigh syndrome.

The use of adriamycin (ADR) in cancer chemotherapy has been limited due to its cumulative cardiovascular toxicity. Earlier observations that ADR interacts with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and suppresses its enzyme activity led us to investigate ADR's action on the cardiovascular functions and heart mitochondrial morphology in Balb-c mice i.p. treated with ADR for several weeks. At various times during treatment, the animals were assessed for cardiovascular functions by electrocardiography and for heart tissue damage by electron microscopy. In parallel, total RNA was extracted from samples of dissected heart and analyzed by Northern blot hybridization to determine the steady-state level of three RNA transcripts encoded by the COXII, COXIII, and COXIV genes. Similarly, samples obtained from the liver of the same animals were analyzed for comparative studies. Our results indicated that 1) treatment of mice with ADR caused cardiovascular arrhythmias characterized by bradycardia, extension of ventricular depolarization time (tQRS), and failure of QRS at high concentrations (10-14 mg/kg body weight cumulative dose); 2) the heart mitochondria underwent swelling, fusion, dissolution, and/or disruption of mitochondrial cristae after several weeks of treatment. Such abnormalities were not observed in the mitochondria of liver tissue; and 3) among the three genes of COX enzyme examined, only COXII gene expression was suppressed by ADR treatment, mainly after 8 weeks in both heart and liver. Knowing that heart mitochondria represent almost 40% of heart muscle by weight, we conclude that the deteriorating effects of ADR on cardiovascular function involve mitochondrial structural and functional impairment.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of histological examination of the placenta during routine post-mortem examination of foetal, perinatal and early neonatal deaths with particular reference to the cause of death. Three hundred (300) placentas were examinated over a period of three years (1988-1991). The clinical history, autopsy examination and placental histological examination were taken into account to determine the cause of death. Autopsy findings revealed the cause of death in only 33 cases (12.9%). In contrast, placental examination allowed us to determine the cause of death in 123 cases (48.4%) especially in abortions (54.4%). The most frequent abnormalities found were vascular insufficiency in intrauterine deaths (16.47%) and acute chorioamnionitis with foetal involvement in abortions (31.4%). Fifty six (56) cases with diagnoses of acute chorioamnionitis, chronic villitis of unknown aetiology and erythroblastosis were classified in the highrisk group for a subsequent pregnancy. Routine histological examination of the placenta following a perinatal death constitutes a necessary complement to autopsy examination, as it provides essential information for the cause of death and therefore helps in planning and more effective prenatal monitoring of a future pregnancy.

Int J Antimicrob Agents

Daunomycin and other structurally related anthracyclines can cause myelosuppression and cardiomyopathy. We explored the possible mechanism(s) by which daunomycin (DAU) interacts with target sites in neoplastic hemopoietic cells and heart tissue. We observed that [3H(G)]DAU interacts selectively with mitochondrial hemoproteins isolated from K-562 cells and rat and bovine heart and forms relatively stable protein complexes. Isolation, purification, and chromatographic analysis of the mitochondrial components complexed with [3H(G)]DAU revealed that one of the major components involved is cytochrome c oxidase (COX). Both DAU and ADR caused a dose-dependent inhibition of COX activity in vitro, an event prevented by exogenous hemin. The interaction of DAU with COX appears to occur via more than one site, one of which at least appears to be the prosthetic group of heme. Therefore, mitochondrial COX, a pivotal mitochondrial enzyme for cell respiration, may serve as a potential target site for DAU and other related anthracyclines.

The behaviour of Salmonella enteritidis during the Feta cheese making process was investigated. Two lots of pasteurized whole ewe's milk were inoculated to contain 10(6) cfu/ml of S. enteritidis (strain AS1 and AS2) and were processed into Feta cheese following standard procedures. All samples were examined for S. enteritidis both quantitatively and qualitatively, while moisture, fat, water activity and pH were also measured. S. enteritidis was enumerated in duplicate samples by surface plating on SS agar. Selected salmonella-like colonies were identified biochemically and serologically. The enumerations have shown that S. enteritidis was initially entrapped in the curd. Then the growth of S. enteritidis gradually decreased and no Salmonellae were quantitatively enumerated after the 23rd day. However S. enteritidis was detected qualitatively in samples taken until the 38th day.

Increased peripheral NK cells in aborting women are considered as a predictor of immunological miscarriages. Here, we investigated the diagnostic value of the NK count at the time of abortion. Peripheral NK cells were counted by flow cytometry in 44 women undergoing therapeutic termination of first trimester missed pregnancy (A = 24) or elective abortion (B = 20). Histology of the extracted material was performed and immunological lesions (villitis, intervillositis, vascular thrombosis, increased fibrinoid necrosis) were recorded. Twenty first trimester pregnant women (C1) and 20 nonpregnant women (C2) served as controls. In 20 women of groups A and B (A1 = 10, B2 = 10) count was repeated after 5 days. At abortion time, the NK percentage and number did not differ between groups A and B (18.18%, 360 versus 15.61%, 374), but there was a statistically significant difference between A and C1 (18.18% versus 13.6%, P

A simple ion exchange procedure has been developed for the separation of chromium from the other chemical elements in biological tissues. This procedure combined with neutron activation analysis has been applied successfully to the determination of chromium in a reference biological material. The precision was ±11%, the accuracy 3% and the sensitivity found was 10 ng with only 20 hrs irradiation at 2.8·1013 n·cm−2·sec−1 flux The main steps of the procedure are: wetdigestion of the irradiated tissue, oxidation to chromium (VI), fixation onto an anion resin in sulfate form, washing of the resin with 1N H2SO4, collection of chromium by reductive elution for counting and finally determination of the chemical yield by reactivation.

Cataract is a very common disease of the eye lens known since ancient times. Different mechanisms are responsible for the biogenesis of cataract but most scientists agree with the theory that cataract formation can be attributed to metabolism disorders in the lens. Instrumental neutron activation analysis has been applied in this work for the determination of the following trace elements: antimony, cobalt, iron, rubidium, selenium and zinc in human lenses with mature cataract. The results are statistically treated and correlated with age and sex of patients. Based on these findings, the concentration of elements studied does not have any correlation with the age and/or sex of the patients, i.e. when the lens becomes totally opaque.

The oxidic and sulphided state of a series of FNiMo/γ-Al2O3 catalysts containing constant MoO3 and NiO loadings (11.5% and 7.3%, respectively) and various amounts of F−, 0.0–2.0%, introduced after the deposition of the Mo(VI) and Ni(II) were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray powder analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, nitric oxide adsorption, B.E.T. and pore-volume distribution measurements. The results were correlated with the catalytic hydrodesulphurization activity of the specimens, performed in the temperature range 255–325°C using a differential fixed-bed reactor operating under atmospheric pressure. Concerning the oxidic precursor state, the formation of the following species takes place: (i) a supported molybdate phase in which a fraction of the supported Ni(II) has been incorporated in octahedral sites; (ii) α-NiMoO4 and (iii) NiAl2O4. The relative concentrations of these phases are independent of the fluoride content. Low fluoride concentration (≤ 0.8%) has little effect on the texture of the solids. Further increase in the concentration of the modifier results in a marked decrease in the specific surface area which can be partly attributed to the breaking of the inner walls of the relatively thin pores and the creation of larger ones in the range 15–50A. The XPS spectra of the oxide precursors showed that fluorination does not change the structure of the supported phase. No AlF3 was detected. The surface coverage of the active phase was estimated in the sulphided state by the total amount of nitric oxide chemisorbed (per m2 of the catalyst) at 25°C. This decreases slightly up to 0.3 wt% F− and then increases linearly with the fluoride content. The XPS spectra of the sulphided specimens showed that fluorination inhibits the extent of sulphidation and/or reduction of Mo(VI) and the sulphidation of Ni(II) as well. The intensity of both effects increased with the fluoride content. The intrinsic hydrodesulphurization activity was found to increase with the fluoride content. The variation in the activity with the surface coverage of the active phase in the sulphided state showed that the promoting action of F− is mainly due to the fact that these ions increase the surface coverage of the supported Mo and Ni and, therefore, the number of active sites per unit surface area of catalyst. The increase in the surface coverage was attributed to both the increase in the dispersion and the decrease in the specific surface area.

A simple neutron activation method has been developed for the determination of europium in biological tissues and applied in the analysis of marine organism samples with ±9% precision at the nanogram level. The method is based on the separation, by ion-exchange, of the rare earth group from dry or ashed irradiated tissues and subsequent determination of152mEu, by γ-spectrometry using a lithium drifted germanium detector.152mEu, separated almost completely from other than rare earth elements, with better than 98% chemical yield, is counted on the 121.8 keV photopeak which then is practically free from any other γ-ray energy interfering in this counting.

In this work the biokinetics of 51CrO2 4 ‐ in the edible mollusc Venus Verrucosa were studied. Laboratory uptake experiments, using two groups of Venus verrucosa, were performed, in aquaria containing sea water with Na2 51CrO2 4 ‐, in concentrations of 40 and 80 μCi/201 respectively. The distribution pattern of 51CrO2 4 ‐ in the body of V. verrucosa was studied. The biological half time of 51CrO2 4 ‐ was also found (Tb1/2 = 41.8d). The concentration factors for 51CrO2 4 ‐ were found to be low (k∼2) for both concentrations used. From the accumulated whole body radioactivity 59.0% was found in the shell. In the internal tissues viscera and gills display the greater ability to accumulate 51Cr in its hexavalent state.

The zinc content in otoliths of the mackerel (Scomber japonicus colias) has been determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Six groups each of twelve specimens of the same age selected from three areas of the Aegean sea have been analysed. The zinc content was found to be a linear function of the age and body length.

The locomotor activity, the two-way conditioned avoidance response, the norepinephrine and dopamine brain levels, were simultaneously studied in rats, under the influence of Diazepam alone or in combination with infrasound environment. Diazepam decreased the spontaneous activity and facilitated the retention of an avoidance behaviour of rats subjected to four shuttle box sessions. These effects were reversed when Diazepam was administered to rats exposed to infrasound environment. The norepinephrine and dopamine levels, determined in whole brain homogenate, were slightly affected in both cases. © 1980.

Trachea, bursa of Fabricius, and small intestine of broilers 5 to 50 days of age from 10 flocks with varying levels of morbidity and mortality were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. Cryptosporidial oocysts were found in 24.2% of the examined birds.

We studied the influence of different pretreatment regimens (Chlorimipramine-Cmi, electroconvulsive shock-ECS, and Cmi+ECS all regimens being applied for either 2 or 15 days) on the open field behaviour, on the striatal and on the prefrontal dopamine-PFC DA turnover in rats injected with either apomorphine-AP 25 μg/kg (stimulating presynaptic DA receptors), AP 200 μg/kg (stimulating postsynaptic DA receptors), or vehicle (control). In the controls, AP 25 μg/kg reduced the locomotor activity and the striatal, but not the PFC DA turnover. AP 200 μg/kg increased the locomotor activity and reduced the striatal but not the PFC DA turnover. Short-term pretreatment: ECS and Cmi+ECS prevented the decrease of striatal DA turnover after AP 25 μg/kg. No other influence of any pretreatment on behaviour or DA-turnover became significant. Long-term pretreatment: Chronic Cmi: marginally increased the open field behaviour and marginally decreased the PFC DA turnover; significantly increased the effect of AP (200 μg/kg) on striatal DA turnover and the effect of AP (25 and 200 μg/kg) on PFC DA turnover. Repeated ECS: decreased locomotion and rearing and increased PFC DA turnover; increased the effect of AP (200 μg/kg) on locomotion and on striatal DA turnover; decreased the effect of AP (25 and 200 μg/kg) on PFC DA turnover. Chronic Cmi+ECS: decreased locomotion and rearing and marginally decreased PFC DA turnover; increased the effect of AP on hyperlocomotion and on striatal DA turnover. No other influence of any chronic pretreatment on behaviour or on DA turnover became significant. The data support the view that chronic AD therapies increase DAergic functions related to postsynaptic rather than to presynaptic structures. It is suggested that the different effects of chronic Cmi and repeated ECS on AP-evoked PFC DA turnover help to understand the different influences exerted by both treatments on rats' behaviour. © 1985 Springer-Verlag.

The behaviour of Salmonella enteritidis during the Feta cheese making process was investigated. Two lots of pasteurized whole ewe's milk were inoculated to contain 10(6) cfu/ml of S. enteritidis (strain AS1 and AS2) and were processed into Feta cheese following standard procedures. All samples were examined for S. enteritidis both quantitatively and qualitatively, while moisture, fat, water activity and pH were also measured. S. enteritidis was enumerated in duplicate samples by surface plating on SS agar. Selected salmonella-like colonies were identified biochemically and serologically. The enumerations have shown that S. enteritidis was initially entrapped in the curd. Then the growth of S. enteritidis gradually decreased and no Salmonellae were quantitatively enumerated after the 23rd day. However S. enteritidis was detected qualitatively in samples taken until the 38th day. Zentralbl Mikrobiol

Although simplified design methods for piled raft foundations have been proposed to allow for the group effect and soil–pile–raft interaction, most of them are concentrated on one type of loading, rendering the applicability of these methods limited to cases under such loads. In the case of a combined pile raft foundation (CPRF), the structural loads are carried partly by the piles and partly by the raft as a function of the foundation settlement, rendering the CPRF a complex soil–structure interaction issue. Despite the recent development of computational resources and advances in numerical expertise, a detailed three-dimensional (3-D) numerical analysis, accounting for soil nonlinearities, nonlinear behavior of the interfaces between the soil, piles, and raft under various combinations of loadings remains impractical. The objective of this paper is to provide a rather simplified and straightforward design methodology for pile foundations under combined loadings. To achieve this goal, previous research works on the group effect under axial and lateral loading have been evaluated and the piles–raft interaction effect has been considered. The proposed procedure is fully compatible with structural software codes and can be straightforwardly applied to the design of the structural members, as it is able to effectively solve a CPRF under the numerous combinations of loadings required by most design codes.

Trachea, bursa of Fabricius, and small intestine of broilers 5 to 50 days of age from 10 flocks with varying levels of morbidity and mortality were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. Cryptosporidial oocysts were found in 24.2% of the examined birds. Avian Dis