| 1. |
- Anniballi, F., et al.
(författare)
-
Management of animal botulism outbreaks : From clinical suspicion to practical countermeasures to prevent or minimize outbreaks
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Biosecurity and bioterrorism. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1538-7135 .- 1557-850X. ; 11:SUPPL. 1, s. S191-S199
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Botulism is a severe neuroparalytic disease that affects humans, all warm-blooded animals, and some fishes. The disease is caused by exposure to toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum and other botulinum toxin-producing clostridia. Botulism in animals represents a severe environmental and economic concern because of its high mortality rate. Moreover, meat or other products from affected animals entering the food chain may result in a public health problem. To this end, early diagnosis is crucial to define and apply appropriate veterinary public health measures. Clinical diagnosis is based on clinical findings eliminating other causes of neuromuscular disorders and on the absence of internal lesions observed during postmortem examination. Since clinical signs alone are often insufficient to make a definitive diagnosis, laboratory confirmation is required. Botulinum antitoxin administration and supportive therapies are used to treat sick animals. Once the diagnosis has been made, euthanasia is frequently advisable. Vaccine administration is subject to health authorities' permission, and it is restricted to a small number of animal species. Several measures can be adopted to prevent or minimize outbreaks. In this article we outline all phases of management of animal botulism outbreaks occurring in wet wild birds, poultry, cattle, horses, and fur farm animals. © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
|
|
| 2. |
- Carlén, A, et al.
(författare)
-
Surface characteristics and in vitro biofilm formation on glass ionomer and composite resin
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Biomaterials. - 0142-9612 .- 1878-5905. ; 22, s. 481-487
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the initial stages of dental plaque formation, early colonizing bacteria bind to receptor structures in the pellicle, a proteinaceous film formed instantly after cleaning of the tooth surface. Dental restorative materials with surface characteristics different from the tooth might affect pellicle formation and the ability of bacteria to colonize the oral cavity. in this study (i) roughness and chemical composition of glass ionomer and composite resin surfaces before and after polishing, and (ii) the adsorption of salivary proteins and bacterial adherence to the pellicle-coated surfaces were examined. Compared with unpolished composite resin, unpolished glass ionomer had higher surface roughness, contained more inorganic, positively charged components, collected more proteins, and promoted better bacterial adherence. Polishing had the most pronounced effect on the composite resin, giving an enlarged and a rougher surface with a more inorganic character. Polishing the composite resin also led to increased biofilm formation
|
|
| 3. |
- Heredia-Martinez, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Plasma Nitrate and Nitrite Kinetics after Single Intake of Beetroot Juice in Adult Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis and in Healthy Volunteers : A Randomized, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Nutrients. - : MDPI. - 2072-6643. ; 14:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nitric oxide (NO) contributes to maintaining normal cardiovascular and renal function. NO is generally formed enzymatically by NO synthase in the vascular endothelium. NO bioactivity can also be attributed to dietary intake of inorganic nitrate, which is abundant in our diet, especially in green leafy vegetables and beets. Ingested nitrate is reduced to nitrite by oral commensal bacteria and further to NO systemically. Previous studies have shown that dialysis, by means of removing nitrate and nitrite from the body, can reduce NO bioactivity. Hence, dietary intervention approaches aimed to boost the nitrate–nitrite–NO pathway may be of benefit in dialysis patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the kinetics of plasma nitrate and nitrite after a single intake of nitrate-rich concentrated beetroot juice (BJ) in adult hemodialysis (HD) patients and in healthy volunteers (HV). Eight HD patients and seven HV participated in this single center, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Each participant received a sequential single administration of active BJ (70 mL 400 mg nitrate) and placebo BJ (70 mL 0 mg nitrate) in a random order separated by a washout period of seven days. For the kinetic analysis, blood samples were collected at different time-points before and up to 44 h after BJ intake. Compared with placebo, active BJ significantly increased plasma nitrate and nitrite levels both in HD patients and HV. The area under the curve and the maximal concentration of plasma nitrate, but not of nitrite, were significantly higher in HD patients as compared with HV. In both groups, active BJ ingestion did not affect blood pressure or plasma potassium levels. Both BJs were well tolerated in all participants with no adverse events reported. Our data provide useful information in planning dietary nitrate supplementation efficacy studies in patients with reduced NO bioactivity. © 2022 by the authors.
|
|
| 4. |
- Ludwig, Frank, et al.
(författare)
-
Magnetic, Structural, and Particle Size Analysis of Single- and Multi-Core Magnetic Nanoparticles
- 2014
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. - 0018-9464 .- 1941-0069. ; 50:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have measured and analyzed three different commercial magnetic nanoparticle systems, both multi-core and single-core in nature, with the particle (core) size ranging from 20 to 100 nm. Complementary analysis methods and same characterization techniques were carried out in different labs and the results are compared with each other. The presented results primarily focus on determining the particle size-both the hydrodynamic size and the individual magnetic core size-as well as magnetic and structural properties. The used analysis methods include transmission electron microscopy, static and dynamic magnetization measurements, and Mossbauer spectroscopy. We show that particle (hydrodynamic and core) size parameters can be determined from different analysis techniques and the individual analysis results agree reasonably well. However, in order to compare size parameters precisely determined from different methods and models, it is crucial to establish standardized analysis methods and models to extract reliable parameters from the data.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Röding, Magnus, 1984, et al.
(författare)
-
Three-dimensional reconstruction of porous polymer films from FIB-SEM nanotomography data using random forests
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Journal of Microscopy. - : Wiley. - 1365-2818 .- 0022-2720. ; 281:1, s. 76-86
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Combined focused ion beam and scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) tomography is a well-established technique for high resolution imaging and reconstruction of the microstructure of a wide range of materials. Segmentation of FIB-SEM data is complicated due to a number of factors; the most prominent is that for porous materials, the scanning electron microscope image slices contain information not only from the planar cross-section of the material but also from underlying, exposed subsurface pores. In this work, we develop a segmentation method for FIB-SEM data from ethyl cellulose porous films made from ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends. These materials are used for coating pharmaceutical oral dosage forms (tablets or pellets) to control drug release. We study three samples of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose with different volume fractions where the hydroxypropyl cellulose phase has been leached out, resulting in a porous material. The data are segmented using scale-space features and a random forest classifier. We demonstrate good agreement with manual segmentations. The method enables quantitative characterization and subsequent optimization of material structure for controlled release applications. Although the methodology is demonstrated on porous polymer films, it is applicable to other soft porous materials imaged by FIB-SEM. We make the data and software used publicly available to facilitate further development of FIB-SEM segmentation methods. Lay Description For imaging of very fine structures in materials, the resolution limits of, e.g. X-ray computed tomography quickly become a bottleneck. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides a way out, but it is essentially a two-dimensional imaging technique. One manner in which to extend it to three dimensions is to use a focused ion beam (FIB) combined with a scanning electron microscopy and acquire tomography data. In FIB-SEM tomography, ions are used to perform serial sectioning and the electron beam is used to image the cross section surface. This is a well-established method for a wide range of materials. However, image analysis of FIB-SEM data is complicated for a variety of reasons, in particular for porous media. In this work, we analyse FIB-SEM data from ethyl cellulose porous films made from ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends. These films are used as coatings for controlled drug release. The aim is to perform image segmentation, i.e. to identify which parts of the image data constitute the pores and the solid, respectively. Manual segmentation, i.e. when a trained operator manually identifies areas constituting pores and solid, is too time-consuming to do in full for our very large data sets. However, by performing manual segmentation on a set of small, random regions of the data, we can train a machine learning algorithm to perform automatic segmentation on the entire data sets. The method yields good agreement with the manual segmentations and yields porosities of the entire data sets in very good agreement with expected values. The method facilitates understanding and quantitative characterization of the geometrical structure of the materials, and ultimately understanding of how to tailor the drug release.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Bjurhager, Ingela, et al.
(författare)
-
Ultrastructure and Mechanical Properties of Populus Wood with Reduced Lignin Content Caused by Transgenic Down-Regulation of Cinnamate 4-Hydroxylase
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Biomacromolecules. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1525-7797 .- 1526-4602. ; 11:9, s. 2359-2365
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several key enzymes in lignin biosynthesis of Populus have been down-regulated by transgenie approaches to investigate their role in wood lignification and to explore their potential for lignin modification. Cinnamate 4-hydroxylase is an enzyme in the early phenylpropanoid pathway that has not yet been functionally analyzed in Populus. This study shows that down-regulation of cinnamate 4-hydroxylase reduced Klason lignin content by 30% with no significant change in syringyl to guaiacyl ratio. The lignin reduction resulted in ultrastructural differences of the wood and a 10% decrease in wood density. Mechanical properties investigated by tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis showed a decrease in stiffness, which could be explained by the lower density. The study demonstrates that a large modification in lignin content only has minor influences on tensile properties of wood in its axial direction and highlights the usefulness of wood modified beyond its natural variation by transgene technology in exploring the impact of wood biopolymer composition and ultrastructure on its material properties.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
