Direct smear microscopy of sputum forms the mainstay of TB diagnosis in resource-limited settings. Stained sputum smear slides can serve as a ready-made resource to transport sputum for molecular drug susceptibility testing. However, bio-safety is a major concern during transport of sputum/stained slides and for laboratory workers engaged in processing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected sputum...

Detailed safety assessment of sodium selenite and bioselenium (bio-Se) was conducted and the results were compared and discussed for the purpose of assessing safety of bio-Se for use in food applications. In this work, acute toxicity studies, micronucleus test, and sperm aberration study in mice, 30-day feeding test of mice, were conducted to evaluate the toxicity of bio-Se obtained from yeast ...

Soon-Gu Kwon, Se-Yeoun Cha, Eun-Ju Choi, Bokyung Kim, Hee-Jong Song and Hyung-Kwan Jang* Department of Infectious Diseases and Avian Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine and Bio-Safety Research Institute, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Bio-Food and Drug Research Center, Konkuk University, Chungju 380-701, Repu...

BACKGROUND Given the recent boom of the cosmetic industry, there is a wealth of new products available to patients and physicians, including soft-tissue fillers. Bio-Alcamid polyacrylamide gel (Polymekon, Milan, Italy) is a filler that has potential to cause adverse reactions. OBSERVATIONS Two patients who had previously been treated with Bio-Alcamid outside of the United States presented wit...

The primal global rift around genetic engineering is between agricultural crops and all other uses – such as pharmaceuticals and medicine. Agricultural crops alone have been segregated into an object of politics and governance termed ̳GMOs‘ (Genetically Modified Organisms). This framing is ensconced in contentious politics, law and trade, whether or not the cultivars are used in food. A second,...