Imported Swine Count, May 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, June 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, July 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, August 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, September 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, October 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, November 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, December 2014

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Marqueurs diagnostiques de la carence en fer: lequel choisir [Diagnostic markers of iron deficiency: which should we choose?].

Iron deficiency is generally investigated when faced with anemia, or with symptoms that could be related to iron deficiency without anemia. This simple disorder is easy to treat, provided that the diagnosis is correct. Several biological tests are available, but their interpretation is oftentimes problematic. Pre-analytical factors can interfere with measurements, normal values can change depending on suppliers, and, above all, results from different markers can be contradictory in some clinical situations. The aim of this article is to evaluate how the evolution of scientific knowledge and clinical trials can contribute to a better understanding and greater reliability in the diagnosis of iron deficiency.

Diagnostic potential of neutrophil elastase inhibitor complex in the routine care of critically ill newborn infants.

It has been suggested that determination of the neutrophil elastase alpha1-proteinase inhibitor complex (E-alpha1PI) improves the diagnosis of bacterial infection in newborns. We evaluated the use of E-alpha1PI measurements in 143 newborns, consecutively admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit, employing a new random access assay and a sampling procedure that minimises post-collection artefacts. The 95% range for noninfected newborns was 20-110 microg/l up to the 5th day of life and 20-85 microg/l thereafter. The sensitivity as to the diagnosis of culture-proven bloodstream infection was 80% for E-alpha1PI, 86% for the immature to total neutrophil ratio, 64% for C-reactive protein and 37% for the total white blood cell count. The corresponding specificity amounted to 97%, 85%, 85% and 86%, respectively. E-alpha1PI increases preceded elevations of C-reactive protein by 18 h. Like C-reactive protein, E-alpha1PI levels did not distinguish between bloodstream infection and non-bacterial inflammatory responses. Results of E-alpha1PI became available within 1 h of collection and usually 2-3 h before manual leucocyte counts. CONCLUSION: Determination of neutrophil elastase alpha1-proteinase inhibitor levels yields diagnostic advantages comparable to those of manual differential counts but provide faster turnaround times.

A genomic island present along the bacterial chromosome of the Parachlamydiaceae UWE25, an obligate amoebal endosymbiont, encodes a potentially functional F-like conjugative DNA transfer system.

BACKGROUND: The genome of Protochlamydia amoebophila UWE25, a Parachlamydia-related endosymbiont of free-living amoebae, was recently published, providing the opportunity to search for genomic islands (GIs). RESULTS: On the residual cumulative G+C content curve, a G+C-rich 19-kb region was observed. This sequence is part of a 100-kb chromosome region, containing 100 highly co-oriented ORFs, flanked by two 17-bp direct repeats. Two identical gly-tRNA genes in tandem are present at the proximal end of this genetic element. Several mobility genes encoding transposases and bacteriophage-related proteins are located within this chromosome region. Thus, this region largely fulfills the criteria of GIs. The G+C content analysis shows that several modules compose this GI. Surprisingly, one of them encodes all genes essential for F-like conjugative DNA transfer (traF, traG, traH, traN, traU, traW, and trbC), involved in sex pilus retraction and mating pair stabilization, strongly suggesting that, similarly to the other F-like operons, the parachlamydial tra unit is devoted to DNA transfer. A close relatedness of this tra unit to F-like tra operons involved in conjugative transfer is confirmed by phylogenetic analyses performed on concatenated genes and gene order conservation. These analyses and that of gly-tRNA distribution in 140 GIs suggest a proteobacterial origin of the parachlamydial tra unit. CONCLUSIONS: A GI of the UWE25 chromosome encodes a potentially functional F-like DNA conjugative system. This is the first hint of a putative conjugative system in chlamydiae. Conjugation most probably occurs within free-living amoebae, that may contain hundreds of Parachlamydia bacteria tightly packed in vacuoles. Such a conjugative system might be involved in DNA transfer between internalized bacteria. Since this system is absent from the sequenced genomes of Chlamydiaceae, we hypothesize that it was acquired after the divergence between Parachlamydiaceae and Chlamydiaceae, when the Parachlamydia-related symbiont was an intracellular bacteria. It suggests that this heterologous DNA was acquired from a phylogenetically-distant bacteria sharing an amoebal vacuole. Since Parachlamydiaceae are emerging agents of pneumonia, this GI might be involved in pathogenicity. In future, conjugative systems might be developed as genetic tools for Chlamydiales.

Criteria for the Evaluation and Disposition of Low-Traffic-Count Secondary Roads, HR-139, 1969

The State of Iowa has too many roads. Although ranking thirty-fourth in population, twenty-fifth in area, and twentieth in motor vehicle registration, it ranks seventh in the nation in miles of rural roads. In 1920 when Iowa's rural population was 1,528,000, there were 97,440 miles of secondary roads. In 1960 with rural population down 56 percent to 662,000, there were 91,000 miles of secondary roads--a 7 percent decrease. The question has been asked: "Who are these 'service roads' serving?" This excess mileage tends to dissipate road funds at a critical time of increasing public demand for better and safer roads.

Bacterial diversity of soil under eucalyptus assessed by 16S rDNA sequencing analysis

Studies on the impact of Eucalyptus spp. on Brazilian soils have focused on soil chemical properties and isolating interesting microbial organisms. Few studies have focused on microbial diversity and ecology in Brazil due to limited coverage of traditional cultivation and isolation methods. Molecular microbial ecology methods based on PCR amplified 16S rDNA have enriched the knowledge of soils microbial biodiversity. The objective of this work was to compare and estimate the bacterial diversity of sympatric communities within soils from two areas, a native forest (NFA) and an eucalyptus arboretum (EAA). PCR primers, whose target soil metagenomic 16S rDNA were used to amplify soil DNA, were cloned using pGEM-T and sequenced to determine bacterial diversity. From the NFA soil 134 clones were analyzed, while 116 clones were analyzed from the EAA soil samples. The sequences were compared with those online at the GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed differences between the soil types and high diversity in both communities. Soil from the Eucalyptus spp. arboretum was found to have a greater bacterial diversity than the soil investigated from the native forest area.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry as an alternative to 16S rRNA gene sequencing for identification of difficult-to-identify bacterial strains.

Conventional methods are sometimes insufficient to identify human bacterial pathogens, and alternative techniques, often molecular, are required. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) identified with a valid score 45.9% of 410 clinical isolates from 207 different difficult-to-identify species having required 16S rRNA gene sequencing. MALDI-TOF MS might represent an alternative to 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Genomic islands: tools of bacterial horizontal gene transfer and evolution.

Abstract Bacterial genomes evolve through mutations, rearrangements or horizontal gene transfer. Besides the core genes encoding essential metabolic functions, bacterial genomes also harbour a number of accessory genes acquired by horizontal gene transfer that might be beneficial under certain environmental conditions. The horizontal gene transfer contributes to the diversification and adaptation of microorganisms, thus having an impact on the genome plasticity. A significant part of the horizontal gene transfer is or has been facilitated by genomic islands (GEIs). GEIs are discrete DNA segments, some of which are mobile and others which are not, or are no longer mobile, which differ among closely related strains. A number of GEIs are capable of integration into the chromosome of the host, excision, and transfer to a new host by transformation, conjugation or transduction. GEIs play a crucial role in the evolution of a broad spectrum of bacteria as they are involved in the dissemination of variable genes, including antibiotic resistance and virulence genes leading to generation of hospital 'superbugs', as well as catabolic genes leading to formation of new metabolic pathways. Depending on the composition of gene modules, the same type of GEIs can promote survival of pathogenic as well as environmental bacteria.