Botulism food poisoning is caused primarily by ingestion of the Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). The 1300 amino acid BoNT forms a progenitor toxin (PTX) that, when associated with a number of other proteins, increases its oral toxicity by protecting it from the low pH of the stomach and from intestinal proteases. One of these associated proteins, HA1, has also been suggested to be invol...

Genetic Recombination in the 1918 “Spanish Flu” Virus Influenza viral sequences have been obtained from preserved tissues of victims of the “Spanish flu” pandemic that killed over 20 million people from 1918 to 1919 (1, 2). Phylogenetic analysis of hemagglutinin (HA) gene sequences has indicated that the 1918 Spanish flu virus was more closely related to the human lineage than to the swine or a...

Long-term field experiments are needed to fully realize positive and negative impacts of conservation tillage and poultry litter application. A study was initiated on a Decatur silt loam soil at the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center, Belle Mina, AL, USA in 1996 to evaluate cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) performance with long-term poultry litter (PL) application under different till...

Three feed additives were tested to improve the growth and health of pigs chronically challenged with aflatoxin (AF) and deoxynivalenol (DON). Gilts (n = 225, 8.8 ± 0.4 kg) were allotted to five treatments: CON (uncontaminated control); MT (contaminated with 150 µg/kg AF and 1100 µg/kg DON); A (MT + a clay additive); B (MT + a clay and dried yeast additive); and C (MT + a clay and yeast culture...

The effect of orally supplemented melatonin (MT) at 1 mg/kg bw for 4 weeks on feeding behavior of non-diabetic and diabetic male Wistar rats has been studied by computerized meal pattern analysis. Exogenous MT has a satiating effect in non-diabetic rats, but not in diabetic animals. The changes in feeding behavior induced by MT in non-diabetic animals are related to changes in meal frequency, s...

High anthropogenic pressures (pollution, exploration of natural resources, building, etc.) in the marine environment demand human monitoring. In recent decades European environmental monitoring programs have become more and more sophisticated and comprehensive, culminating with the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC9) In order to assess the spatial distribution and temporal trends of po...

objective: influenza virus a (h1n1) is an important subtype of the influenza respiratory viruses, which has important worldwide implications. hemagglutinin (ha), an important viral antigen, is responsible for binding to human cell receptors leading to an onset of the disease process. considering the critical role of viral attachment, this study focuses on the extraction and cloning of ha and it...

OBJECTIVE Early results of a randomised trial showed reduced fibrosis due to recurrent HCV hepatitis with tacrolimus triple therapy (TT) versus monotherapy (MT) following transplantation for HCV cirrhosis. We evaluated the clinical outcomes after a median 8 years of follow-up, including differences in fibrosis assessed by collagen proportionate area (CPA). DESIGN 103 consecutive liver transpl...

To comparably investigate hemotoxic potentials of CdCl2, cadmium-saturated metallothioneins-I (Cd-MT-I) and -II (Cd-MT-II), rats received single intravenous injections of one of those dissolved in saline with equivalent concentrations of Cd (0, 0.1, 0.3 and 1.0 mg Cd/kg body weight), and blood for hematological examinations was sampled at 1 and 5 days (Days 1 and 5) after the administrations. T...

The application of microbial products as natural biocontrol agents for inducing systemic resistance against plant viral infections represents a promising strategy sustainable and eco-friendly agricultural applications. Under greenhouse conditions, the efficacy culture filtrate Bacillus subtilis strain HA1 (Acc# OM286889) protecting tomato plants from Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection was ass...