BACKGROUND Beach sand can harbor fecal indicator organisms and pathogens, but enteric illness risk associated with sand contact remains unclear. METHODS In 2007, visitors at 2 recreational marine beaches were asked on the day of their visit about sand contact. Ten to 12 days later, participants answered questions about health symptoms since the visit. F+ coliphage, Enterococcus, Bacteroidales...

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can differentiate into notochordal cell (NC)-like cells when cultured in the presence of natural porcine nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue matrix. The method promises massive production of high-quality, functional cells to treat degenerative intervertebral discs (IVDs). Based on our previous work, we further examined the effect of cell-NP matrix contact ...

The social behavior of 3T3 cells and their polynoma virus-transformed derivative (Py3T3 cells) was examined by time-lapse cinemicrography in order to determine what factors are responsible for the marked differences in the patterns formed by the two cell lines in culture. Contrary to expectations, both cell types have been found to exhibit contact inhibition of cell locomotion. Therefore, the t...

The purpose of this study is to develop strategies to facilitate nerve regeneration using a synergistic combination of guidance cues. We are investigating the cellular mechanisms of development using adult rat hippocampal progenitor cells (AHPCs) and have demonstrated that manipulating a combination of physical, chemical and biological cues can lead to oriented growth and alignment of astrocyte...

(Bordes 2003; Zilhão & d’Errico 1999; 2003; Conard & Bolus 2003), a wealth of ethnographic and historic examples of culture contact demonstrate cultural proc­ esses which undermine the current chronostratigraph­ ic arguments used to assess the Bow Wave Model. For instance, d’Errico and colleagues (1998, S11–12) argue that differences in the techniques of manufacturing bone tools and personal or...

BACKGROUND Patients who are hospitalized and infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria are usually placed in contact isolation, which requires hospital personnel to gown and glove before patient examination. Contact isolation with active culture surveillance appears beneficial in preventing the spread of drug-resistant infections; however, contact isolation may impede the ability to examine pa...

The Peruvian National Tuberculosis Control Program issued guidelines in 2006 specifying criteria for culture and drug-susceptibility testing (DST), including district-level rapid DST. All patients referred for culture and DST in 2 districts of Lima, Peru, during January 2005-November 2008 were monitored prospectively. Of 1,846 patients, 1,241 (67.2%) had complete DST results for isoniazid and r...

BACKGROUND A significant number of studies on pig farms and wild boars worldwide, demonstrate the endemic presence of Chlamydia suis in pigs. However, the zoonotic potential of this pathogen, phylogenetically closely related to Chlamydia trachomatis, is still uninvestigated. Therefore, this study aims to examine the zoonotic transmission in a Belgian pig abattoir. METHODS Presence of Chlamydi...

Simulated extracapsular cataract extractions on cadaver eyes were performed which demonstrated that the cells of the anterior capsule remain largely intact and that only a small amount of cortical lens matter remains postoperatively. Human lens epithelial cells from normal and cataractous lenses were grown in culture. There was no appreciable difference in growth rate between cells from normal ...

Typically, production of induced pluripotent stem cells requires direct contact with feeder cells. However, once the stem cells have reached the appropriate maturation point, it is difficult to separate them from feeder cells, which must be irradiated with γ-rays or treated with the antibiotic mitomycin-C. We used a microporous poly-membrane-based indirect contact co-culture system with m...