Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic compounds widely distributed in the environment by bacteria, is a cheap and safe cleaning up method. The present study attempts to isolate and characterize dioxygenase-producing bacteria which are able to degrade phenanthrene and pyrene from refinery soils. It also aims to assess in vitro biodegradation. To do so, two contaminated soil s...

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic compounds widely distributed in the environment by bacteria, is a cheap and safe cleaning up method. The present study attempts to isolate and characterize dioxygenase-producing bacteria which are able to degrade phenanthrene and pyrene from refinery soils. It also aims to assess in vitro biodegradation. To do so, two contaminated soil s...

To look for a possible correlation between the virulence of Rhodococcus equi and its cytokine-inducing capacity, we evaluated intracellular survival and measured cytokine induction by mouse macrophages infected with a virulent strain containing an 85-kb plasmid and expressing VapA (103+), its avirulent plasmid-cured derivative (103-), and heat-killed 103+ (HK). After incubation with similar num...

BACKGROUND Aberrant Ras/Raf/MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways are found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study reports how sorafenib (a multi-kinase inhibitor) and PI-103 (a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor) alone and in combination inhibit the proliferation of the HCC cell line, Huh7. MATERIALS AND METHODS Huh7 proliferation was assayed by 3H-thymidine incorporation and by MTT assay. ...

OBJECTIVES This paper reports on the results of the study aimed at application of ergosterol as an quantitative indicator of fungal bioaerosol present in the indoor air in occupational environment heavily contaminated with organic dust as well as its comparison with the culturable method. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted in the indoor solid waste sorting plant. Using Andersen impa...

To provide optimum protection against classical and El Tor biotypes of Vibrio cholerae O1, a single-dose, oral cholera vaccine was developed by combining two live, attenuated vaccine strains, CVD 103-HgR (classical, Inaba) and CVD 111 (El Tor, Ogawa). The vaccines were formulated in a double-chamber sachet; one chamber contained lyophilized bacteria, and the other contained buffer. A total of 1...

BACKGROUND Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathophysiology of several diseases and has been documented as a contributor to disease in both the human and veterinary literature. One at-risk cell is the erythrocyte, however, the role of oxidative stress in anemia in dogs has not been widely investigated. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVE Anemic dogs will have an alteration in the activity of glutathione...

BACKGROUND The concept of total mesorectal excision has revolutionised rectal cancer surgery. TME reduces the rate of local recurrence and tumour associated mortality. However, in clinical trials only 50% of the removed rectal tumours have an optimal TME quality. PATIENTS During a period of 36 months we performed 103 rectal resections. The majority of patients (76%; 78/103) received an anteri...