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Biomedical subjects

A Mars

Publications and source records attributed to A Mars.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Assessment of diagnostics and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Brachyspira species using a ring test.

There is no ring test for quality assessment available in Europe for diagnostics and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the fastidious, anaerobic bacteria of the genus Brachyspira. Therefore, an international ring test for Brachyspira spp. was performed once a year during 2002-2004. Two sets of coded samples were prepared and distributed on each occasion. One set comprised six swabs dipped in pig faeces spiked with Brachyspira spp. intended for diagnostics. The other set comprised two pure strains intended only for susceptibility testing. All methods used were in-house methods. The species used were Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, Brachyspira pilosicoli, Brachyspira innocens, Brachyspira murdochii and Brachyspira intermedia. In most cases, the correct Brachyspira spp. were detected. However, the results showed that Brachyspira spp. could be difficult to identify, especially if two Brachyspira spp. were mixed or if the concentration of Brachyspira in faeces was low. Additionally, some laboratories reported Brachyspira growth in control samples that were not seeded with any spirochaetes. The lowest detection level was 10(2) bacteria/ml faeces for both B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli. The susceptibility tests performed showed that disc diffusion was not recommendable for Brachyspira spp. Extended antimicrobial dilution series gave most congruent results. The diversity of the results highlights the importance of ring tests for a high quality of diagnostics and antimicrobial susceptibility tests for Brachyspira spp. This is the first ring test described for Brachyspira spp.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Prevalence of autism in a United States population: the Brick Township, New Jersey, investigation.

OBJECTIVE: This study determined the prevalence of autism for a defined community, Brick Township, New Jersey, using current diagnostic and epidemiologic methods. METHODS: The target population was children who were 3 to 10 years of age in 1998, who were residents of Brick Township at any point during that year, and who had an autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder was defined as autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger disorder. The study used 4 sources for active case finding: special education records, records from local clinicians providing diagnosis or treatment for developmental or behavioral disabilities, lists of children from community parent groups, and families who volunteered for participation in the study in response to media attention. The autism diagnosis was verified (or ruled out) for 71% of the children through clinical assessment. The assessment included medical and developmental history, physical and neurologic evaluation, assessment of intellectual and behavioral functioning, and administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic. RESULTS: The prevalence of all autism spectrum disorders combined was 6.7 cases per 1000 children. The prevalence for children whose condition met full diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder was 4.0 cases per 1000 children, and the prevalence for PDD-NOS and Asperger disorder was 2.7 cases per 1000 children. Characteristics of children with autism in this study were similar to those in previous studies of autism. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of autism in Brick Township seems to be higher than that in other studies, particularly studies conducted in the United States, but within the range of a few recent studies in smaller populations that used more thorough case-finding methods.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1995

Novel insertion sequence-like element IS982 in lactococci.

A novel insertion sequence-like (IS) element, designated IS982, was found on the lactose plasmid, pSK11L, from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SK11 and was located between the origin of replication and the oligopeptide transport gene cluster. The 1003-base pair (bp) IS982 was flanked by 18-bp perfect inverted repeats. IS982 contained an open reading frame encoding a putative transposase of 296 amino acids. An almost identical IS-like element (99% DNA sequence identity) was cloned and partially sequenced from the chromosome of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris Wg2 with 17-bp perfect inverted repeats. Southern analysis indicated that in 12 lactococcal strains examined, IS982 was present with copy numbers ranging from 1 to at least 20. IS982 displayed sequence homology to the putative IS element RSBst-alpha from Bacillus stearothermophilus CU21, IS982 and RSBst-alpha were not related to other known insertion sequences and may represent a new family of IS elements.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Alterations of acidic and neutral glycopeptides during the post-natal growth period of the mouse.

We have examined the electrophoretic pattern of mannose-labelled glycopeptides derived from liver, pancreas, heart, brain, lung and kidney. The various organs were removed from white Swiss mice of 4-5, 20 and 40 days of age as well as from adult animals. Our data demonstrated that each organ had a characteristic ratio of acidic to neutral glycopeptides and that this ratio, in some cases, was substantially modified as the animal grew, consistent with the hypothesis that these changes might play an important role in the development and physiological function of organs.

Aging↗