Abstract Objective The aim of this study is to trace the possible relations between the hygienic status of slicing utensils and the microbiological quality of pastrami. Study Design A total of 75 ...pastrami retail markets were visited in Kayseri, Turkey, where the pastrami (a ready-to-eat meat product) is commonly produced and consumed. Sliced pastrami, the cutting board and knife surface swabs were collected from each pastrami retail point to trace possible sources of contamination. Methods Samples were analysed for the presence of total viable counts (TVC), total coliforms, Escherichia coli , members of Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria spp. In addition, pastrami samples were analysed for sulphite-reducing Clostridium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii. Results When compared with the target values of related literatures, a total of 6 (8%) pastrami samples were found unsatisfactory as a result of TVC (5.3%), Enterobacteriaceae (5.3%), E. coli (2.6%), S. aureus (2.6%), Listeria spp. (2.6%) and Listeria monocytogenes (1.3%) contaminations. No T. gondii positivity was observed among the pastrami samples. None of the cutting board and knife surface swabs were found to harbour TVC level >103 cfu/cm2 , E. coli and L. monocytogenes . For the total coliforms, 7 (9.3%) and 5 (6.6%) of cutting board and knife surface swabs were found to exceed the target value (<2.5 cfu/cm2 ), respectively. No statistically significant correlation was detected between the organisms on pastrami and slicing utensils indicating that pastrami were not cross-contaminated by the contact surfaces. Conclusion More emphasis needs to be placed for training of food handlers and to apply good hygienic practices at the point of pastrami sale. The conditions at retail points must be monitored and inspections should be tightened to protect public health.
The homeostatic balance of hepatic glucose utilization, storage, and production is exquisitely controlled by hormonal signals and hepatic carbon metabolism during fed and fasted states. How the liver ...senses extracellular glucose to cue glucose utilization versus production is not fully understood. We show that the physiologic balance of hepatic glycolysis and gluconeogenesis is regulated by Bcl-2-associated agonist of cell death (BAD), a protein with roles in apoptosis and metabolism. BAD deficiency reprograms hepatic substrate and energy metabolism toward diminished glycolysis, excess fatty acid oxidation, and exaggerated glucose production that escapes suppression by insulin. Genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that BAD’s suppression of gluconeogenesis is actuated by phosphorylation of its BCL-2 homology (BH)-3 domain and subsequent activation of glucokinase. The physiologic relevance of these findings is evident from the ability of a BAD phosphomimic variant to counteract unrestrained gluconeogenesis and improve glycemia in leptin-resistant and high-fat diet models of diabetes and insulin resistance.
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•BAD modulates hepatic glucose output by coordinating glycolysis and gluconeogenesis•BAD is required for the suppression of hepatic glucose production by insulin•The effect of BAD on glucose utilization and production is mediated by glucokinase•Hepatic expression of BAD improves glycemia in models of diabetes and obesity
Besides apoptosis, the BCL-2 family protein BAD has specific functions in glucose metabolism. Giménez-Cassina et al. show that hepatic BAD downregulates gluconeogenesis by activating glucokinase through a phosphorylation-dependent mechanism downstream of insulin. Expression of a BAD phosphomimic variant improves glycemia in mouse models of diabetes and insulin resistance.
The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacies of extracorporeal shock wave therapy and corticosteroid injection for the management of trigger finger. In this prospective randomized clinical ...trial, 40 patients with actively correctable trigger fingers were randomly assigned to extracorporeal shock wave therapy (1000 impulses and 2.1 bar) or injection groups. The effectiveness of the treatment was assessed using cure rates, a visual analogue scale, the frequency of triggering, the severity of triggering, the functional impact of triggering, and the Quick-Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. An intention-to- treat analysis was used in this study. Both groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all outcome measures after treatment. The intention-to-treat analyses showed no between-group differences for cure rates, pain, and functional status at follow-up. We conclude that extracorporeal shock wave therapy could be a non-invasive option for treating trigger finger, especially for those patients who wish to avoid steroid injections.
Level II.
The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective role of vitamin A, C, and E on aflatoxin B1-induced in human lymphocytes using biochemical approaches. The control group received ...dimethyl sulfoxide, the second group of cultures were administered aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) at a dose of 5 μM. The other group of cultures were treated with AFB1+vitamin A (0.5 and 1.0 and 1.5 μM) and AFB1+vitamin C (25, 50, and 100 μM) and AFB1+vitamin E (40, 100, and 200 μM). The results of this experiment show that AFB1 significantly decreased the level of GSH and the activities of superoxide dismutase and GPx and increased level of malondialdehyde. Simultaneous supplementation with vitamin A, C, and E restored these parameters to that of normal range. In conclusion, vitamin A, C, and E exhibited protective effects in human lymphocytes by inhibiting AFB1-induced ROS generation.
Earlier studies on ideological congruence mostly rely on public opinion surveys to measure voter ideology, while politicians' ideology is measured by instruments such as roll call votes, expert ...surveys, and legislative texts. One crucial problem with such approaches is that the tools used to measure the elites' ideology are not identical to those used to measure the voters' ideology. The rapid growth of social media use offers a unique opportunity to directly examine the ideological overlap of elites and the electorate on a common platform using a common technique. This study examines over four million Twitter posts by legislative candidates from four major Turkish parties and their supporters between 2012 and 2016. After applying machine-learning algorithms to clean non-political content from the data, we employ Wordfish text scaling technique to extract the policy positions and compare the party positions to those of other parties and to those of their supporters.
We demonstrate a rice leaf-like hierarchically textured polymer fiber array for anisotropic non-wetting surfaces. To provide superhydrophobicity in addition to the anisotropic behavior, fiber ...surfaces are spray coated with organically modified silica nanoparticles. The resulting micro/nano hierarchically structured fiber surfaces demonstrate anisotropic non-wetting properties. We designed various fiber architectures for droplet transportation, mixing, and guiding exploiting the scalability of the fiber texture during thermal drawing; optional nanoparticle surface modification; and inherent flexibility of the fibers.
Purpose
The aim of the study was to analyse the patellofemoral alignment in the sagittal plane following tibial fracture surgery with intramedullary nailing and its relationship to parapatellar ...muscle status.
Methods
The patellofemoral MRI results of 27 patients (15 males and 12 females) treated with locked intramedullary nailing following tibia shaft fracture were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 41.8 (±15) years. The patella–patellar tendon angle (P-PT) and the distance between the inferior patellar pole and the tibial tubercle (DP-TT) were evaluated for both the operated extremity and the contralateral normal side. MRI assessment of the infrapatellar fat pad, quadriceps, sartorius, gracilis, semi-membranosus muscles and biceps muscles was also carried out. The correlation between the changes in skeletal muscle mass, the volume of the infrapatellar fat pad and the alterations in the DP-TT distances and P-PT angles were analysed.
Results
The quadriceps muscle cross-sectional diameter had a mean of 157.2 mm
2
(115.6/319.5) in the operated extremity, and it was 193 mm
2
(77.6/282.2) in the non-operated normal side (
p
= 0.001). For the Gracilis muscle, the mean was 84.4 mm
2
(19.7/171) at the operated extremity and 75.7 mm
2
(26.9/238.2) on the normal side (
p
= 0.05). The cross-sectional areas of the semi-membranosus, sartorius and biceps muscles in the operated and non-operated extremity were not noticeably different (n.s). The P-PT angle was 153° (129.7/156.4) in the operated extremity and 145.7° (137.6/163.4) in the non-operated normal extremity (
p
< 0.05). While DP-TT distance was 11.4 mm (9.4/20.4) in the operated extremity, it was 14.1 mm (7.3/17.1) in the non-operated extremity (
p
= 0.001). The correlation analyses revealed that the quadriceps hypotrophy negatively correlated (
r
= −0.4,
p
= 0.02) with the P-PT angle but positively correlated with the increase in gracilis muscle volume (
r
= 0.4,
p
= 0.03).
Conclusion
This study revealed that patellofemoral joint kinematics in the operated extremity was diminished in the sagittal plane correlating with the quadriceps muscle volume loss and gracilis muscle hypertrophy. The modalities focused on both preventing and treating the hypotrophy of the quadriceps muscle following the surgical treatment of tibial fracture, which may help to overcome this quite common pathology.
A new monomer (DTAT) was synthesized via linking 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) on anthracene. The polymer, P(DTAT) was electrosynthesized by anodic oxidation of the corresponding monomer in 0.1
M ...LiClO
4 acetonitrile (ACN) solution. The optical properties, the absorption spectra and the kinetics, were examined. Spectroelectrochemical analysis showed that P(DTAT) has an electronic band gap (due to π–π* transition) of 1.57
eV at 776
nm.
Copolymers of DTAT with EDOT were prepared in ACN/LiClO
4 (0.1
M) solvent–electrolyte couple by varying applied potential. The incorporation of an EDOT into the full conjugated backbone, DTAT, affects its optical behavior resulting in different colors; a claret red neutral state, gray and red intermediate states and a blue oxidized state.
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