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The Molecular Characterisation Of Selected Epidemic Associated Gram Negative Pathogens In Southern Ireland, Mairéad Daly

Theses

This study was undertaken to evaluate various molecular techniques for the analysis of Gram negative bacterial associated epidemics. The first investigation dealt with bovine mastitis outbreaks, where the causative agent was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Epidemiological findings, suggested that all herds were infected from teat wipes that were contaminated with this organism. Initial investigations using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), indicated a possible clonal relationship between all outbreak linked strains, with one exception. This finding was confirmed following pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and ribotype analysis. PCR was again employed to study a rather unusual epidemic, involving Salmonella tel-el-kebir over a …

Vaccination In A Model Of An Epidemic, M. S. Abual-Rub

All Works

Vaccination has been included in a model which describes an epidemic. A traveling wave solution together with an equilibrium and stability analysis have been done to the model.

Environmental Law And International Assistance: The Challenge Of Strengthening Environmental Law In The Developing World, William L. Andreen

Articles

All too often there is a disturbing gap between what governments say and what governments do The same appears to be true for international donors During the past 10 years the developing world has been awash with donorfunded national environmental action plans and national environmental programs national conservation strategies national biodiversity strategies national agricultural programs and national forestry action plans These documents generally recognize that longterm economic development can only be sustained on an ecologically sound base Many also purport to recognize that the policies and strategies that they set forth will remain empty pronouncements unless appropriate laws and institutional …

Isovolumic Regulation In Nervous Tissue: A Novel Mechanism Of Cell Volume Regulation, O. Quesada, R. Franco, K. Hernandez-Fonseca, K. Tuz

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Cell volume regulation is a property present in most animal cell lineages that allows them to recover their original volume after events of swelling or shrinkage. Such events can be caused by changes in external osmolarity or to osmotic gradients generated during normal cell functioning.4,6 The mechanism of cell volume regulation involves transmembrane fluxes of osmotically active solutes in the necessary direction to counteract the net gain or loss of intracellular water.9 The process through which cells recover their normal volume after swelling is named Regulatory Volume Decrease (RVD). This consists of the efflux of inorganic osmolytes, such as K …

Production And Purification Of The Heavy Chain Fragment C Of Botulinum Neurotoxin, Serotype A, Expressed In The Methylotrophic Yeast Pichia Pastoris, Karen J. Potter, Wenhui Zhang, Leonard A. Smith, Michael M. Meagher

Michael Meagher Publications

A recombinant Hc fragment of botulinum neurotoxin, serotype A (rBoNTA(Hc)), has been successfully expressed in a Mutt strain of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris for use as an antigen in a proposed human vaccine. Fermentation employed glycerol batch, glycerol-fed batch, and methanol-fed batch phases to achieve high cell density. Induction times were short to maximize rBoNTA(H_c) production while minimizing proteolytic degradation. Concentration of rBoNTA(H_c) in yeast cell lysates was generally 1-2% of the total protein based on ELISA analysis. The H_c fragment was purified from cell lysates using a multistep ion-exchange (IEC) chromatographic process, including …

Meningeal Worm In Deer From Western Nebraska, David W. Oates, Mauritz C. Sterner, Ed Boyd

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

One hundred seventy-eight whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and 275 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) collected from locker plants in the western 2/3 of Nebraska (USA) in November 1997 were examined for the meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis). Parelaphostrongylus tenuis was identified in 17 (10%) of 168 white-tailed deer and in one (<1%) of 273 mule deer. This is the first naturally occurring infection of P. tenuis recorded in a mule deer.

Molecular And Morphometric Evidence For Separate Species Of Uncinaria (Nematoda: Ancylostomatidae) In California Sea Lions And Northern Fur Seals: Hypothesis Testing Supplants Verification, Steven A. Nadler, Byron J. Adams, Eugene T. Lyons, Robert L. Delong, Sharon R. Melin

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are each believed to host distinct hookworm species (Uncinaria spp.). However, a recent morphometric analysis suggested that a single species parasitizes multiple pinniped hosts, and that the observed differences are host-induced. To explore the systematics of these hookworms and test these competing hypotheses, we obtained nucleotide sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA (D2/D3 28S, D18/D19 28S, and internal transcribed spacer [ITS] regions) from 20 individual hookworms parasitizing California sea lion and northern fur seal pups where their breeding grounds are sympatric. Five individuals from an …

Molecular Systematics Of Mesocestoides Spp. (Cestoda: Mesocestoididae) From Domestic Dogs (Canis Familiaris) And Coyotes (Canis Latrans), Paul R. Crosbie, Steven A. Nadler, Edward G. Platzer, Cynthia Kerner, J. Mariaux, Walter M. Boyce

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The genus Mesocestoides Vaillant, 1863 includes tapeworms of uncertain phylogenetic affinities and with poorly defined life histories. We previously documented 11 cases of peritoneal cestodiasis in dogs (Canis familiaris L.) in western North America caused by metacestodes of Mesocestoides spp. In the current study, DNA sequences were obtained from metacestodes collected from these dogs (n = 10), as well as proglottids from dogs (n = 3) and coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823 [n = 2]), and tetrathyridia representing laboratory isolates of M. corti (n = 3), and these data were analyzed phylogenetically. Two nuclear genetic markers, 18S ribosomal …

Phylogeny Of The Ascaridoidea (Nematoda: Ascaridida) Based On Three Genes And Morphology: Hypotheses Of Structural And Sequence Evolution, Steven A. Nadler, Deborah S. S. Hudspeth

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Ascaridoid nematodes parasitize the gastrointestinal tract of vertebrate definitive hosts and are represented by more than 50 described genera. We used 582 nucleotides (83% of the coding sequence) of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit 2, in combination with published small- and large-subunit nuclear rDNA sequences (2,557 characters) and morphological data (20 characters), to produce a phylogenetic hypothesis for representatives of this superfamily. This combined evidence phylogeny strongly supported clades that, with 1 exception, were consistent with Fagerholm’s 1991 classification. Parsimony mapping of character states on the combined evidence tree was used to develop hypotheses for the evolution of morphological, …

Phylogenetic Relationships Among Species Of Contracaecum Railliet & Henry, 1912 And Phocascaris Høst, 1932 (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea) Based On Nuclear Rdna Sequence Data, Steven A. Nadler, S. D'Amelio, H. P. Fagerholm, B. Berland, L. Paggi

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Nuclear-encoded large-subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were used to infer a phylogenetic hypothesis for 17 taxa (16 nominal species) of the genera Contracaecum and Phocascaris. Phylogenetic trees based on these data have been used to assess the validity of the taxonomic distinction between these genera, which was based on the presence or absence of certain structural features, rather than on explicit hypotheses of evolutionary history. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on parsimony, likelihood, and neighbor-joining analyses of these sequence data strongly support the hypothesis that species of Phocascaris are nested within the clade of Contracaecum species hosted by phocid seals, and are …

Molecular Phylogeny Of Clade Iii Nematodes Reveals Multiple Origins Of Tissue Parasitism, Steven A. Nadler, R. A. Carreno, H. Mejía-Madrid, J. Ullberg, C. Pagan, R. Houston, Jean-Pierre Hugot

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of 113 taxa representing Ascaridida, Rhigonematida, Spirurida and Oxyurida were used to infer a more comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis for representatives of ‘clade III’. The posterior probability of multiple alignment sites was used to exclude or weight characters, yielding datasets that were analysed using maximum parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods. Phylogenetic results were robust to differences among inference methods for most high-level taxonomic groups, but some clades were sensitive to treatments of characters reflecting differences in alignment ambiguity. Taxa representing Camallanoidea, Oxyurida, Physalopteroidea, Raphidascarididae, and Skrjabillanidae were monophyletic in all 9 analyses whereas Ascaridida, Ascarididae, Anisakidae, Cosmocercoidea, …

A Cox2 Molecular Phylogeny Of The Peronosporomycetes, Deborah S.S. Hudspeth, Steven A. Nadler, Michael E.S. Hudspeth

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The evolutionary history of the mitochondrial COX2 locus has been used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among 15 peronosporomycete and a hyphochytriomycete species. This molecular phylogenetic analysis at both the ordinal and generic levels provides strong evidence for the recognition of the Saprolegniomycetidae and the Peronosporomycetidae as natural groups, and for the monophyly of the Saprolegniales, Leptomitales and Pythiales. A three amino acid insertion/deletion event (indel) has been identified as a putative synapomorphy for the Saprolegniales. Parsimony mapping of 12 morphological and biochemical characters on the COX2 molecular phylogeny yields an hypothesis for peronosporomycete ancestral states and shared-derived features.

Elaeophorosis In Red Deer From Spain, Mónica Santín-Durán, J. M. Alunda, J. M. San Miguel, Eric P. Hoberg, C. De La Fuente

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Elaeophorosis, caused by Elaeophora elaphi, was observed in red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Toledo Province (Spain) for the first time. Adult specimens of Elaeophora elaphi were found in the hepatic vessels of nine of 151 red deer between October 1994 and September 1995; intensity of infection was two to 18 nematodes per host. Adult nematodes were only found during the period from fall through early spring. No differences were present between sex or age groups. Parasites were not found in a limited sample from fallow deer (Dama dama). Blood samples were negative for the presence of …

Relationships Of Nematodirus Species And Nematodirus Battus Isolates (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) Based On Nuclear Ribosomal Dna Sequences, Steven A. Nadler, Eric P. Hoberg, Deborah S.S. Hudspeth, Lora G. Rickard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Nuclear ribosomal sequence data from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2), 5.8S subunit, and regions of the 18S and 28S genes were used to investigate sequence diversity among geographic samples of Nematodirus battus, and to infer phylogenetic relationships among Nematodirus species. Phylogenetic analysis of these data yielded strong support for relationships among species, depicting Nematodirus helvetianus and Nematodirus spathiger as sister-taxa and a clade of these two species and Nematodirus filicollis. This tree is consistent with caprine bovids as ancestral hosts, with a subsequent host shift to Bovinae in N. helvetianus. Eleven of fourteen N. battus sequences …

Prevalence Of Food Allergy In Asthmatic Patients, Bahaa A. Aba-Alkhail, Fathi M. El-Gamal

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to assess the role of clinical sensitivity to food on the pattern of bronchial asthma. METHODS: A total of 1341 patients with asthma were included in the present study. The clinical sensitivity to food and its relation to respiratory symptoms were assessed cross-sectionally (using detailed questionnaires), and longitudinally during their regular visits to the asthma clinic using diet diary. Total IgE was determined for a subsample of the patients (No = 392). RESULTS: The prevalence of clinical sensitivity to food was 29%; about 2 thirds of the patients had high total IgE level. Asthmatic patients …

Drug Addiction, Nasem A. Qureshi, Bahaa Abalkhail

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Micronutrient And Iron Supplementation And Effective Anti-Malarial Treatment Synergistically Improve Childhood Anaemia, H. Ekvall, Zul Premji, A. Bjorkman

Pathology, East Africa

The control of childhood anaemia in malaria holoendemic areas is a major public health challenge for which an optimal strategy remains to be determined. Malaria prevention may compromise the development of partial immunity. Regular micronutrient supplementation has been suggested as an alternative but its effectiveness remains unsettled. We therefore conducted a randomised placebo-controlled intervention trial with 207 Tanzanian children aged 5 months to 3 years on the efficacy of supervised supplementation of low-dose micronutrients including iron (Poly Vi-Sol with iron) three times per week, with an average attendance of ≥ 90%. The mean haemoglobin (Hb) level increased by 8 g/l …

Biosystematics And Evolution Of The Triatominae = Biossistemática E Evolução De Triatomíneos, Christopher J. Schofield

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Abstract

In this paper we summarize the systematics of the 130 currently recognized species of Triatominae and the key features of their evolutionary background. There is increasing evidence that the subfamily has polyphyletic origins, with the various tribes and species groups probably arising from different reduviid lineages in relatively recent times.

Resumo

Neste trabalho resume-se a sistemática das 130 espécies de triatomíneos atualmente reconhecidas, com os elementos principais de sua evolução. Existem evidências crescentes para a origem polifilética da subfamília. As diferentes tribos e grupos de espécies que a compõem teriam surgido recentemente, a partir de diferentes linhagens de reduviídeos.

Recognition Of Treponematoses In Post Repatriation X Ray And Cd Rom Nebraska Record, Karl J. Reinhard, Bruce Rothschild, Christine Rothschild, Larry Martin

Karl Reinhard Publications

Repatriation has compromised the opportunity to directly examine skeletons and to apply new diagnostic criteria and techniques. Pre-repatriation approaches to non-metric data acquisition, must make a number of assumptions: ( I ) Phenomena must be correctly identitied and segregated; (2) Criteria for severity must be specific to the phenomena studied; and (3) As criteria for disease rewgnition may change with time, it is valuable only as long as the raw data is also recorded. As part of data preservation, x-rays and CD-ROM images were recorded for skeletons trom Nebraska sites undergoing repatriation. This report concentrates on four of them 250K …

The Role Of Mummy Studies In Paleoparasitology, Adauto Araujo, Karl J. Reinhard, Luiz Fernando Ferreira

Karl Reinhard Publications

Paieoparasitology has advance during the past decade to the status of a statistically based science focused on problems of disease ecology and geographic distribution of parasitism. For most of its development, paleoparasitology has focused on the analysis of coprolites and latrine sediments. During the past few years, mummies have been increasingly included in paleoparasitology studies. We evaluate in this paper the interpretive value of mummies relative to other sources of paleoparasitological data.

EI estudio de la paleoparasitologia ha logrado transformarse, en esta ultima decada, en una ciencia basada en la estadistica, enfocada a temas tales como la ecologia de enfermedades …

Archaeoparasitology, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The field devoted to the identification of parasite remains in the archaeological record and the reconstruction of past human-parasite interactions. Parasitic disease has always been a major problem. Recent summaries of the prevalence of parasitic diseases in the world today show that there are 4.5 billion infections with all species of parasitic worm, 1 billion infections with giant intestinal roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), 750,000,000 infections with whipworms (Trichuris trichiura), 900,000,000 infections with hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus), 657,000,000 infections with filarial worms, 200,000,000 with blood flukes (schistosome species), and 489,000,000 infections with malaria. These infections cause between 1,590,000 to 3,130,000 …

Coprolite Analysis: The Analysis Of Ancient Human Feces For Dietary Data, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Although archaeological fieldwork is hot and dirty, the most “earthy” side of the discipline is the laboratory analysis of coprolites. Each coprolite contains the remains of one to several actual meals eaten in prehistory, and analysis of many coprolites provides a picture of ancient diet that is unique in accuracy.

The term coprolite originally referred to fossilized feces in paleontological context. In archaeology, the term broadened to refer to any formed fecal mass, including mineralized, desiccated, or frozen feces and even the intestinal contents of mummies. Coprolites contain the remains of animals (parasites) that lived in the humans, the foods …

Paleopharmacology, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

An emerging field devoted to the exploration of the archaeological record for evidence of medicinal plants.

In the future, archaeology will have a role in pharmaceutical research. In the late twentieth century, much of the world’s pharmaceutical research has been based on ethnographic documentation of tribally recognized medicinal plants. Once the active chemical compounds in the plants are identified, they are either extracted or synthesized for commercial use. The American film Medicine Man depicts this approach. As shown in the film, such pharmacological research is threatened by declining tribal populations with loss of traditional herbal knowledge coupled with declining biodiversity. …

The Systematics Of The Genus Trichinella With A Key To Species, K. D. Murrell, J. Ralph Lichtenfels, Dante S. Zarlenga, E. Pozio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The authors review the major biological, biochemical, and molecular characters that are used to distinguish the seven Trichinella species (T. spiralis, T. nativa, T. britovi, T. pseudospiralis, T. murrelli, T. nelsoni, T. papuae) and three genotypes whose taxonomic status is yet uncertain (T-6, T-8, T-9). A comparison of host specificity, morphology, reproductive abilities, nurse cell development and freeze resistance is presented, along with useful biochemical and molecular markers. Finally, this information is used to construct a diagnostic key for the species. A phylogenetic classification of the species is needed.

A New Eimeria Sp. From The Plumbeous Central American Caecilian, Dermophis Mexicanus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) From Volcán, Tajumulco, Department Of San Marcos, Guatemala, Ingrid M. Asmundsson, Jonathan A. Campbell, Donald W. Duszynski

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Fresh fecal samples from 5 caecilians (Dermophis mexicanus) were collected and examined for coccidia in the summer of 1998. The caecilians were collected in the Department of San Marcos, Guatemala. Two of the 5 (40%) specimens of caecilians contained an Eimeria species that is described here as new. This represents the first coccidia described from a gymnophionian host. Sporulated oocysts are spheroidal to subspheroidal, 19.5 × 17.7 (16–23 × 15–21) μm, micropyle and oocyst residuum are absent, and 3 (or more) polar granules are always present. Sporocysts are ovoidal, 11.0 × 7.2 (10–12 × 6–9); a Stieda body …

Coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) Of The Mammalian Order Insectivora, Donald W. Duszynski, Steve J. Upton

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The coccidia (protistan phylum Apicomplexa Levine, 1970) comprise a large group of obligate intracellular parasites commonly found in all classes of vertebrate hosts and in some invertebrates. This review focuses on those species within the Eimeriidae because they are among the most prevalent and speciose of all parasite groups, and there is no taxonomic summation currently available for those species that infect insectivores. All published species descriptions in the genera Cyclospora, Eimeria and Isospora that infect insectivores are reviewed and evaluated. Some of the named species are invalid, either because rules concerning the naming of new species (International …

Life Cycle Of Calyptospora Funduli (Apicomplexa: Calyptosporidae), John W. Fournie, Wolfgang K. Vogelbein, Robin M. Overstreet, William E. Hawkins

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The taxonomic status of the extraintestinal piscine coccidium Calyptospora funduli is based in part on its requirement of an intermediate host (the daggerblade grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio). In the present study, grass shrimp fed livers of Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) infected with sporulated oocysts of C. funduli exhibited numerous sporozoites suspended in the intestinal contents when fresh squash preparations were examined by light microscopy. Using this method, sporozoites were not seen in intestinal epithelial cells of the grass shrimp or in any other cell types. Ultrastructural examination, however, revealed sporozoites in the cytoplasm of the gut basal …

Six New Host Records And An Updated List Of Wild Hosts For Neobenedenia Melleni (Maccallum) (Monogenea: Capsalidae), Stephen A. Bullard, George W. Benz, Robin M. Overstreet, Ernest H. Williams Jr., Jay Hemdal

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Six new host records and an updated list of wild hosts for Neobenedenia melleni (MacCallum) (Monogenea: Capsalidae) are provided. We report specimens of N. melleni from the skin of a whitefin sharksucker (Echeneis neucratoides Zuieuw [Echeneidae]) caught off Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; from the skin of a mosquitofish (Gambusia xanthosoma Greenfield [Poeciliidae)) caught in Little Salt Creek, Grand Cayman Island, British West Indies; from a freshwater immersion bath of red grouper (Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) [Serranidae] caught in the Gulf of Mexico off Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.; from the skin of a garden eel (Heteroconger hassi (Klausewitz and Eibl-Eibesfeldt) …

Reproductive Biology Of Cobia, Rachycentron Canadum, From Coastal Waters Of The Southern United States, Nancy J. Brown-Peterson, Robin M. Overstreet, Jeffrey M. Lotz, James S. Franks, Karen M. Burns

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Reproductive biology of the cobia, Rachycentron canadum, is described from four coastal areas in the southern United States. Samples were obtained from recreational fishermen between December 1995 and November 1997 from the southeastern United States (Morehead City, NC, to Cape Canaveral, FL), the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Ft. Myers to Crystal River, FL), the north-central Gulf of Mexico (Destin, FL, to Chandeleur Islands, LA) and the western Gulf of Mexico (Port Aransas, TX). Histological evidence of spawning occurred from April through September in all areas. Some female cobia (17-32%) throughout the Gulf of Mexico had spent or regressed ovaries …

Syncoelium Vermilionensis Sp. N., (Hemiuroidea: Syncoeliidae) And New Records For Members Of Azygiidae, Ptychogonimidae, And Syncoeliidae Parasitizing Elasmobranchs In The Gulf Of California, Stephen S. Curran, Robin M. Overstreet

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

During July-September 1993 and May 1996, a survey of the metazoan parasites of 817 elasmobranchs from the Gulf of California, representing 42 species, was conducted at 14 sites along the western portion of the Gulf of California. Elasmobranchs were obtained from local commercial fishers. In this paper, we report all digeneans collected during the survey, excluding the gorgoderids, which will be presented in a subsequent paper. Four species from three hemiuroid families were collected, none of which was known previously from the Gulf of California. Syncoelium vermilionensis sp. n. (Syncoeliidae), a species that differs most notably from its congeners by …