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PubMed2003

Starmerella meliponinorum sp. nov., a novel ascomycetous yeast species associated with stingless bees.

Thirty-two strains of the novel species Starmerella meliponinorum sp. nov. were isolated from various substrates associated with three stingless bee species (tribe Meliponini) in Brazil and one in Costa Rica. The strains were found in garbage pellets (faecal material, discarded pollen or food, etc.), pollen provisions, adult bees, honey and propolis of Tetragonisca angustula, in honey from Melipona quadritasciata and in adults of Melipona rufiventris and Trigona fulviventris. The sequence of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rDNA showed that the novel species belongs to the Starmerella clade and is most closely related to Candida etchellsii, although the two differ in their sequences by 7% base substitutions. S. meliponinorum is homothallic and assimilates few carbon sources. Nitrate is utilized as a sole nitrogen source. The type strain of S. meliponinorum is strain UFMG-01-J26.1T (=CBS 9117T).

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Analytical predictive Bayesian assessment of occupational injury risk: municipal solid waste collectors.

Unlike other waste streams, municipal solid waste (MSW) is collected manually, and MSW collection has recently been found to be among the highest-risk occupations in the United States. However, as for other occupational groups, actual total injury rates, including the great majority of injuries not compensated and those compensated by other insurance, are not known. In this article a predictive Bayesian method of assessing total injury rates from available information without computation is presented, and used to assess the actual numbers of musculoskeletal and dermal injuries requiring clinical care of MSW workers in Florida. Closed-form predictive Bayesian distributions that narrow progressively in response to information, representing both uncertainty and variability, are presented. Available information included workers' compensation (WC) data, worker population data, and safety records for one private and one public collection agency. Subjective input comprised epidemiological and medical judgment based on a review of 165 articles. The number of injuries was assessed at 3,146 annually in Florida, or 54 +/- 18 injuries per 100 workers per year with 95% confidence. Further, WC data indicate that the injury rate is 50% higher for garbage collectors specifically, indicating a rate of approximately 80 per 100 workers. Results, though subject to uncertainty in worker numbers and classification and reporting bias, agreed closely with a survey of 251 MSW collectors, of whom 75% reported being injured (and 70% reported illness) within the past 12 months. The approach is recommended for assessment of total injury rates and, where sufficient information exists, for the more difficult assessment of occupational disease rates.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2006

Changes in bacterial community during fermentative hydrogen and acid production from organic waste by thermophilic anaerobic microflora.

AIMS: Changes in fermentation pattern during the treatment of organic wastes containing solid materials by thermophilic anaerobic microflora were investigated with respect to product formation and bacterial community structure during hydrogen production. METHODS AND RESULTS: Anaerobic microflora enriched from sludge compost was cultivated using artificial garbage slurry in a continuous flow-stirred tank reactor. Product formation varied depending on pH and hydraulic retention time (HRT) applied. Community analysis by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and clone library analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified bacterial 16S rDNA indicated that difference in the fermentative product distribution could be caused by different populations of micro-organisms in the microflora. CONCLUSION: Hydrogen fermentation with acetate/butyrate formation was optimized at <1.0 d HRT at pH 5.0 and 6.0. Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum was the dominant hydrogen-producing micro-organism. Conversely, unidentified organisms became dominant after 4.0 d HRT at pH 7.0 and 8.0, where relatively high-solubilization efficiency of solid materials was observed with no production of hydrogen. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first report describing product formation in the fermentation of solid organic wastes by a mixed population of micro-organisms. Various fermentation patterns including hydrogen fermentation were characterized and evaluated from engineering and microbial aspects.

Acids↗
PubMed2006

A measure of food seeking in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a chromosome 15 genetic disorder, often have a significant preoccupation with food and problem behaviour related to food seeking is often prevalent. METHODS: In the present study, we compared how individuals with PWS responded on a survey regarding the acceptability of food in various locations that varied according to degree of appropriateness for human consumption (e.g. food on a plate, food in a garbage can). For a subgroup of participants, we observed how they actually responded when placed in a room with food items placed in the same locations depicted in the survey. In the first part of the study, three groups (25 typically developing individuals, 7 individuals with intellectual disability (ID), and 19 individuals with PWS) responded to a visual survey to determine the degree of acceptability of food items in various locations (e.g. on a table near a hairbrush, on the floor behind a toy box, in a trash can). In the second part of the study, these food items (popcorn, jelly beans) were placed in the 12 locations described above. Nine individuals diagnosed with PWS (deletion type) and three individuals with ID were given some break time in the room for 15 min. The amount of food consumed, the time spent food seeking, and time spent interacting with materials were measured. RESULTS: Results of the survey indicated that the PWS group differed significantly with regard to how they responded on the survey from the typically developing group, but did not differ significantly from the ID group. Results of the food seeking observations indicated that only three individuals with PWS ate a significant number of items. The three individuals did not differ from the rest of the group according to IQ or compulsivity score; however, they had significantly lower body mass index (BMI) scores and were younger than the other participants. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from the survey indicate that individuals with PWS are able to discriminate the appropriateness of eating items in more or less contaminated areas; however, the amount of time spent seeking food and the amount of food covertly consumed appeared to depend more directly on age and BMI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Medical information on the internet

Caveat lector et viewor - Let the reader and viewer beware! Thus sayeth Silberg et al.1 in their brief account of the apparent incompatibility between freedom of the press and accuracy of medical information. They point out that the problem is too much, rather than too little information. The Internet, where every Tom, Dick and Harry can be their own author, editor and publisher, is widely available to both lay and professional browsers. This has brought about a situation where a multitude of information seekers equipped with one or other search engine, wallow through a morass of material that ranges from first class research data to profound garbage. Without a medical background it is well-nigh impossible for the average person-in-the-street to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Trapping sheep blowflies using bait-bins.

A bait-bin designed to attract and kill sheep blowflies is described. It is composed of a garbage bin plus lid, attractant and insecticide-treated offal. Fly entry holes are covered with differentiator wire to increase selectivity of kill. Placing bait-bins in preferred habitats of blowflies to optimise kill is outlined and temporal insecticide strategies to increase effectiveness of kill and reduce blowfly resistance are suggested. Preliminary data supporting the effectiveness of bait-bins in reducing blowfly numbers and flystrike in combination with good management practices to reduce sheep susceptibility to flystrike in the arid zone of New South Wales are presented and cost-effectiveness of bait-bins is analysed.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Pathogenic fungi in soils of Jabalpur, India.

Results of a preliminary survey of pathogenic fungi in soils collected from forest, riverside and residential garbage soil in Jabalpur, India, are reported. A total of 45 soils samples were examined, of which 39 (87%) were positive for fungi, 66 species of fungi classified in 35 genera were isolated: Chrysosporium (78%), Fusarium (69%), Aspergillus (47%), Microsporum (38%), Gliocladium (16%), Acremonium (11%), Penicillium (11%), Humicola (9%), Scopulariopsis (7%), Paecilomyces (7%), Cladosporium (7%); Chaetomium, Colletotrichum, Cunninghamella, Microascus and Rhizopus (4% each); Absidia, Aphanocladium, Arthrobotrys, Botryotrichum, Candida, Cephaliophora, Cephalosporium, Curvularia, Histoplasma, Mucor, Shanorella, Syncephalastrum, Thermomyces, Trichophyton, Trichothecium and Verticillium (2% each); mycelia sterilia (6%). Acremonium persicinum, Cladosporium trichoides and Shanorella spirotricha are new to India. A new species of Humicola has also been isolated.

Fungi↗
PubMed2005

Lipofuscin and aging: a matter of toxic waste.

Lipofuscin is membrane-bound cellular waste that can be neither degraded nor ejected from the cell but can only be diluted through cell division and subsequent growth. The fate of postmitotic cells is to accumulate lipofuscin, which as an "aging pigment" has been considered a reliable biomarker for the age of cells such as neurons and, by extension, their hosts. In the aging human brain, deposits of lipofuscin are not uniformly distributed but are concentrated in specific regions of functional interest. The prevailing thought is that the major source of lipofuscin is incomplete lysosomal degradation of damaged mitochondria. Accumulating evidence suggests that lipofuscin is not benign but can impair the functioning of seemingly unrelated cellular systems, including the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway. A damaging feedback loop of lysosomal and proteasomal inhibition may occur as lipofuscin accumulates, leading to what has been appropriately named a "garbage catastrophe." Reversing this catastrophe presents a formidable challenge.

Aging↗
PubMed1979

Biodegradation of polystyrene, poly(metnyl methacrylate), and phenol formaldehyde.

The biodegradation of three synthetic 14C-labeled polymers, poly(methyl methacrylate), phenol formaldehyde, and polystyrene, was studied with 17 species of fungi in axenic cultures, five groups of soil invertebrates, and a variety of mixed microbial communities including sludges, soils, manures, garbages, and decaying plastics. Extremely low decomposition rates were found. The addition of cellulose and mineral failed to increase decomposition rates significantly.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Antibiotic resistance and population structure in Escherichia coli from free-ranging African yellow baboons.

Two collections of Escherichia coli from human hosts and one from free-ranging African yellow baboons were examined for the ability to utilize various sugars (biotype) and for resistance to antibiotics. The frequency of antibiotic resistance in the E. coli flora of baboons that feed regularly in village garbage dumps was found to be no greater than that in baboons not associated with human habitation. The frequency of antibiotic resistance in E. coli isolated from baboons is similar to that in E. coli isolated from humans before the widespread use of antibiotics but significantly lower than that in recent isolates from humans. The biotype data indicate that the amount and distribution of genetic variation in the E. coli among free-ranging baboon troops are similar to those in isolates from humans. However, E. coli isolates from baboons are able to utilize a greater variety of sugars as their sole carbon source, possibly because of a greater variety of sugars in the baboon diet.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Identification of Naegleria fowleri in domestic water sources by nested PCR.

The free-living amoeboflagellate Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rapidly fatal disease of the central nervous system. In the United States, the disease is generally acquired while swimming and diving in freshwater lakes and ponds. In addition to swimming, exposure to N. fowleri and the associated disease can occur by total submersion in bathwater or small backyard wading pools. In the present study, swipe samples and residual pipe water from homes in Arizona were examined for N. fowleri by nested PCR due to the death of two previously healthy children from PAM. Since neither child had a history of swimming in a freshwater lake or pond prior to the onset of disease symptoms, the domestic water supply was the suspected source of infection. Of 19 samples collected from bathroom and kitchen pipes and sink traps, 17 samples were positive for N. fowleri by PCR. A sample from a Micro-Wynd II filter was obtained by passing water from bathtubs through the filter. Organisms attached to the filter also tested positive by PCR. The two samples that tested negative for N. fowleri were one that was obtained from a kitchen sink trap and a swipe sample from the garbage disposal of one home.

Amebiasis↗
PubMed1967

Comparison of Fluorescent Antibody with Cultural Technique for Isolation of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli from Swine.

In an investigation of hogs as possible reservoirs of human strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EEC), 92 six-month-old grain- and garbage-fed hogs were examined on the farm and again at the packing plant. Of the 331 specimens obtained by swabbing the rectum, cecum, and edible meat carcass of these hogs, 125 were presumptively positive for EEC when screened by the fluorescent-antibody (FA) technique. These "presumptive positive" specimens then underwent extensive bacteriological examination and complete serological typing. The FA technique proved to be an easier, simpler, and more economical procedure than culture when a large number of specimens were examined for possible EEC serogroups. It was found especially valuable for identification of multiple serogroups of EEC within a single specimen. It also appeared to be more sensitive than cultural examination, since results were not dependent on the presence of large numbers of organisms in the specimen, or even on their viability. However, the FA technique was found to be less specific than culture because of cross-reactivity with antigenically related Enterobacteriaceae when fluorescein-labeled antisera were used. Therefore, any specimen found positive on FA examination should be considered as presumptive positive until confirmed by bacteriological examination and complete serological study.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Social and physical health of homeless adults previously treated for mental health problems.

A total of 529 homeless adults in Los Angeles County were surveyed to determine the relationship between their previous use of mental health services and their physical health status, utilization of medical services, personal habits affecting health, experience of injury and victimization, and perceived needs. Homeless adults with a previous psychiatric hospitalization were more likely to have experienced serious physical symptoms during the previous month than those who had used only outpatient mental health services or who had never used mental health services. They reported more reasons for not obtaining needed medical care, were more likely to obtained food from garbage cans, and had the least adequate personal hygiene. However, they did not differ from the other groups on most measures of nutrition, social relations, and financial status. The most frequently expressed needs of the homeless were for improved social relations, employment, shelter, and money.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Estimating the public preferences for solid waste management programmes using choice experiments in Macao.

This paper reports on the potential to apply the choice experiment method to understand the public's preferences for solid waste management programmes in Macao. A random sample survey of 260 respondents in Macao was conducted during the summer in 2004. The survey data was analysed using conditional multinomial logit models. The study results indicate that Macao residents prefer: (1) waste segregation and recycling at source; (2) noise reduction during waste collection and transportation and (3) lower garbage fees. The study concludes that choice experiment is a reliable tool in the analysis of respondents' preferences for developing a suitable solid waste management programme in Macao.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

ATSDR evaluation of health effects of chemicals. IV. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): understanding a complex problem.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, or other organic substances, such as tobacco and charbroiled meat. There are more than 100 PAHs. PAHs generally occur as complex mixtures (for example, as part of products such as soot), not as single compounds. PAHs are found throughout the environment in the air, water, and soil. As part of its mandate, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) prepares toxicological profiles on hazardous chemicals, including PAHs (ATSDR, 1995), found at facilities on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) National Priorities List (NPL) and which pose the most significant potential threat to human health, as determined by ATSDR and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These profiles include information on health effects of chemicals from different routes and durations of exposure, their potential for exposure, regulations and advisories, and the adequacy of the existing database. Assessing the health effects of PAHs is a major challenge because environmental exposures to these chemicals are usually to complex mixtures of PAHs with other chemicals. The biological consequences of human exposure to mixtures of PAHs depend on the toxicity, carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic, of the individual components of the mixture, the types of interactions among them, and confounding factors that are not thoroughly understood. Also identified are components of exposure and health effects research needed on PAHs that will allow estimation of realistic human health risks posed by exposures to PAHs. The exposure assessment component of research should focus on (1) development of reliable analytical methods for the determination of bioavailable PAHs following ingestion, (2) estimation of bioavailable PAHs from environmental media, particularly the determination of particle-bound PAHs, (3) data on ambient levels of PAHs metabolites in tissues/fluids of control populations, and (4) the need for a critical evaluation of current levels of PAHs found in environmental media including data from hazardous waste sites. The health effects component should focus on obtaining information on (1) the health effects of mixtures of PAHs particularly their noncarcinogenic effects in humans, and (2) their toxicokinetics. This report provides excerpts from the toxicological profile of PAHs (ATSDR, 1995) that contains more detailed information.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

The 2004 Aschoff/Pittendrigh lecture: Theory of the origin of the pineal gland--a tale of conflict and resolution.

A theory is presented that explains the evolution of the pinealocyte from the common ancestral photoreceptor of both the pinealocyte and retinal photoreceptor. Central to the hypothesis is the previously unrecognized conflict between the two chemistries that define these cells-melatonin synthesis and retinoid recycling. At the core of the conflict is the formation of adducts composed of two molecules of retinaldehyde and one molecule of serotonin, analogous to formation in the retina of the toxic bis-retinyl ethanolamine (A2E). The hypothesis argues that early in chordate evolution, at a point before the genes required for melatonin synthesis were acquired, retinaldehyde--which is essential for photon capture--was depleted by reacting with naturally occurring arylalkylamines (tyramine, serotonin, tryptamine, phenylethylamine) and xenobiotic arylalkylamines. This generated toxic bis-retinyl arylalkylamines (A2AAs). The acquisition of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) prevented this by N-acetylating the arylalkylamines. Hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase enhanced detoxification in the primitive photoreceptor by increasing the lipid solubility of serotonin and bis-retinyl serotonin. After the serotonin --> melatonin pathway was established, the next step leading toward the pinealocyte was the evolution of a daily rhythm in melatonin and the capacity to recognize it as a signal of darkness. The shift in melatonin from metabolic garbage to information developed a pressure to improve the reliability of the melatonin signal, which in turn led to higher levels of serotonin in the photodetector. This generated the conflict between serotonin and retinaldehyde, which was resolved by the cellular segregation of the two chemistries. The result, in primates, is a pineal gland that does not detect light and a retinal photodetector that does not make melatonin. High levels of AANAT in the latter tissue might serve the same function AANAT had when first acquired- prevention of A2AA formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Dangerous mixture of household detergents in an old-style toilet: a case report with simulation experiments of the working environment and warning of potential hazard relevant to the general environment.

A housewife cleaned toilet porcelain connected directly to a sewage storage tank with a mixture of cleaning agents; sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions. She complained of insomnia on the night after cleaning and suffered from severe metabolic acidosis with extremely low blood pH, PCO2 and bicarbonate values. She recovered from the acidosis after bicarbonate transfusion, plasmapheresis and plasma exchange. Permanent blindness ensued, however, from the third day after the event. These clinical symptoms suggested that the toxic substances responsible were chloramine and methyl chloride. Their generation was confirmed by in-vitro experiments, mixing NaOCl, HCl and pooled urine from normal people. In the simulation, the methyl chloride level far exceeded (100,000 ppm) the maximal allowable concentration recommended (ca 400 ppm) by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Chloramine's toxic actions were confirmed using purified enzyme assay, and the inhibition of carbonic anhydrase and aldehyde dehydrogenase and the enhancement of superoxide dismutase activity were confirmed in neutral pH. The patient's clinical symptoms suggested that insomnia and permanent blindness seemed to be partly ascribable to chronic repetitive exposure to methyl chloride; catching a cold, drug intake and alcohol intake, in addition, precipitated the patient's visual loss. The possibility of this kind of intoxication with such a mixture of agents may lie latent in any situation where sewage or garbage are exposed to the open air.

Acidosis↗
PubMed1995

Hepatitis B sero-prevalence and risk factors among school-age children in a low socioeconomic community, Bangkok.

A cross-sectional study of 165 school-age children who had no history of HBV vaccination was carried out in a low socioeconomic community of Din-Daeng, Bangkok. Blood specimens were collected for determination of HBV seromarkers (HBsAg, Anti-HBs and Anti-HBc) by EIA commercial kits. The results showed that the prevalence of HBV seromarkers was 24.85%, the HBsAg carrier rate was 3.64%, the anti-HBs positive rate was 15.15%, and the prevalence of only anti-HBc was 6.06%. To investigate factors associated with the positivity of HBV seromarkers, children were divided into two groups--the first group consisted of 41 children with HBV seromarkers and the second consisted of 124 children without HBV seromarkers. The study variables between the two groups were compared and analysed. The results revealed that factors associated with HBV positivity were (a) child factors: child's age, child's sex, ear piercing in female, sharing blade during haircutting, contact wound from other persons, using wares with other persons, searching things in garbage, and (b) family factors: older parent, low education in parent, low family income per month, low parent's knowledge and attitude about HBV infection and vaccination, (P < 0.05). After using stepwise regression analysis, the factor of ear piercing in female was only one significant variable.

Adolescent↗