ObjectiveEarly detection and early treatment are of vital importance to the successful treatment of various cancers. The development of a novel screening method that is as economical and non-invasive as the faecal occult blood test (FOBT) for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) is needed. A study was undertaken using canine scent detection to determine whether odour material can become an effective tool in CRC screening.DesignExhaled breath and watery stool samples were obtained from patients with CRC and from healthy controls prior to colonoscopy. Each test group consisted of one sample from a patient with CRC and four control samples from volunteers without cancer. These five samples were randomly and separately placed into five boxes. A Labrador retriever specially trained in scent detection of cancer and a handler cooperated in the tests. The dog first smelled a standard breath sample from a patient with CRC, then smelled each sample station and sat down in front of the station in which a cancer scent was detected.Results33 and 37 groups of breath and watery stool samples, respectively, were tested. Among patients with CRC and controls, the sensitivity of canine scent detection of breath samples compared with conventional diagnosis by colonoscopy was 0.91 and the specificity was 0.99. The sensitivity of canine scent detection of stool samples was 0.97 and the specificity was 0.99. The accuracy of canine scent detection was high even for early cancer. Canine scent detection was not confounded by current smoking, benign colorectal disease or inflammatory disease.ConclusionsThis study shows that a specific cancer scent does indeed exist and that cancer-specific chemical compounds may be circulating throughout the body. These odour materials may become effective tools in CRC screening. In the future, studies designed to identify cancer-specific volatile organic compounds will be important for the development of new methods for early detection of CRC.

Based on the evidence from our previous studies that we can evaluate the hydration state of the skin surface quickly and quantitatively in terms of conductance to the high frequency electric current of 3.5 MHz, we have established a simple in vivo function test that furnishes information on the hygroscopic property and water-holding capacity of the stratum corneum in a few minutes. The test procedure consists of electromeasurements before and after application of a droplet of water on the skin for 10 seconds to obtain data on the hygroscopic property of the skin surface and later serial measurements at an interval of 30 seconds for 2 min to evaluate the water-holding capacity. Under usual ambient conditions normal skin surface showed a high rise in conductance just after application of water, which was followed by a rapid fall-off within 30 seconds, thereafter by gradual return to the prehydration levels by 2 min. By this method we have demonstrated that (i) the superficial horny layer of normal skin is much less hygroscopic and less capable of holding water than the corresponding deeper portions and that (ii) scaly skin shows functional defects in both hygroscopicity and water-holding capacity, between which the former normalizes much faster than the latter.

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ABSTRACT. A murine model for short-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (SCAD) deficiency has been identified and characterized in BALBJcByJ mice. These mice have undetectable SCAD activity, severe organic aciduria; excreting ethylmalonic and methylsuccinic acids and Nbutyrylglycine, and develop a fatty liver upon fasting or dietary fat challenge. The mutant mice develop hypoglycemia after an 18-h fast, and have elevated urinary and muscle butyrylcarnitine concentrations. Most of these findings parallel those of human disorders associated with SCAD deficiency and other P-oxidation defects. This mouse model presents important opportunities to investigate the biology of mammalian fatty acid metabolism and the related human diseases. (Pediatr Res 25:38-43, 1989) Abbreviations SCAD, short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase MCAD, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase MCT, medium-chain triglycerides Deficiency of SCAD has been described recently in humans (1-4). The most severe form of this disorder is characterized by patients with episodes of metabolic acidosis, nonketotic hypoglycemia, and short-chain dicarboxylic aciduria. The clinical outcomes range from normalcy to unexpected death in homozygotes. Lately, sudden infant death syndrome and Reye's-like syndrome have been linked to defects in P-oxidation of fatty acids (5-7). Other recent studies have demonstrated that a secondary carnitine deficiency associated with the organic acidemia appears involved in the pathogenesis of the episodic events of these disorders (1,4,8). Overall, these diseases appear complex.We have a program to screen mice for inherited metabolic diseases (9) to develop models for investigating the pathogenesis and treatment of these disorders. In the course of screening mutant mice for organic acidurias using gas chromatographymass spectrometry, we discovered a subline of BALB/c mice (BALB/cByJ) that excreted unusually large concentrations of ethylmalonic and methylsuccinic acids and N-butyrylglycine. Butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase activity and electrophoretic mobility are used as a genetic marker for the Bcd-1 locus on mouse 38chromosome 5 (10). Subsequently, we learned that BALB/cByJ mice were found to have no detectable butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase activity by this marker assay (10). The null allele of these mice was designated Bcd-1" and was distinctly different from the normal activity associated with the Bcd-lb allele of BALB/cJ or BALB/cBy mice. To investigate the enzymatic defect and the resulting metabolic consequences, we performed a series of experiments using BALB/c By (Y) mice as controls and the BALB/ c ByJ (J) mutant mice. MATERIALS AND METHODSMice. BALB/cBy and BALB/cByJ mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory, (Bar Harbor, ME) and propagated at the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX). All mice were maintained on Wayne rodent food no. 8640 (Wayne Pet Food Division, Continental Grain Co., Chicago, IL) and water ad libitum. Heterozygous mice were produced by crossing a Y female with a J male.Biochemistry. Urinary organic acids were ...

On the basis of these results, we suggest that baPWV in children is largely influenced by age and gender, and that baPWV gradually increased with age in both genders.

A total of 118 meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 140 meticillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates from different patients in the same time period were comprehensively searched using a multiplex PCR for the classical and recently described superantigenic toxin gene family comprising the staphylococcal enterotoxin genes sea to ser and the toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 gene, tst-1. Both MRSA and MSSA isolates carried a number of superantigenic toxin genes, but the MRSA isolates harboured more superantigenic toxin genes than the MSSA isolates. The most frequent genotype of the MRSA isolates was sec, sell and tst-1 together with the gene combination seg, sei, selm, seln and selo, which was found strictly in combination in 69.5 % of the isolates tested. In contrast, possession of the sec, sell and tst-1 genes in MSSA isolates was significantly less than in MRSA (2.1 vs 77.1 %, respectively), although they also often contained the combination genes (25.0 %). This notable higher prevalence in MRSA isolates indicated that possession of the sec, sell and tst-1 genes in particular appeared to be a habitual feature of MRSA. Moreover, these were mainly due to the fixed combinations of the mobile genetic elements type I nSa4 encoding sec, sell and tst-1, and type I nSab encoding seg, sei, selm, seln and selo. Analysis of the relationship between toxin genotypes and the toxin gene-encoding profiles of mobile genetic elements has a possible role in determining superantigenic toxin genotypes in S. aureus. INTRODUCTIONStaphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of human disease in the hospital setting, as well as in the community, accounting for a wide range of diseases from superficial skin infections to life-threatening conditions, such as bacteraemia, endocarditis, pneumonia and toxic shock syndrome (Hallin et al., 2007;Lowy, 1998). Infections with S. aureus are especially difficult to treat because of evolved resistance to antimicrobial drugs. The emergence of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains and other antimicrobial agents has become a major concern, especially in the hospital environment, because of increased mortality due to systemic MRSA infections (Klein et al., 2007). Meticillin resistance is conferred by carriage of the mecA gene (Beck et al., 1986;Katayama et al., 2000), which is carried by a mobile exogenous genetic element known as the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) (Archer et al., 1996;Wu et al., 1996). Analysis of the natural population dynamics and expansion of pathogenic clones of S. aureus has provided evidence that essentially any S. aureus genotype carried by humans can transform into a life-threatening human pathogen, but that certain clones are more virulent than others (Melles et al., 2004).Many S. aureus strains, especially MRSA, produce one or more specific staphylococcal exotoxins, including staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), enterotoxin-like superantigens and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1). These toxins have been classified as members of the pyrog...

Liquid crystal “Blue Phases” (BP) have evolved, in the last years, from a scientific curiosity to emerging materials for new photonic and display applications. They possess attractive features over standard nematic liquid crystals, like submillisecond switching times and polarization- independent optical response. However, BPs still present a number of technical issues that prevent their use in practical applications: their phases are only found in limited temperature ranges, thus requiring stabilization of the layers; stabilized BP layers are inhomogeneous and not uniformly oriented, which worsen the optical performance of the devices. It would be essential for practical uses to obtain perfectly aligned and oriented monodomain BP layers, where the alignment and orientation of the cubic lattice are organized in a single 3D structure. In this work we have obtained virtually perfect monodomain BP layers and used them in devices for polarization independent phase modulation. We demonstrate that, under applied voltage, well aligned and oriented layers generate smoother and higher values of the phase shift than inhomogeneous layers, while preserving polarization independency. All BP devices were successfully stabilized in BPI phase, maintaining the layer monodomain homogeneity at room temperature, covering the entire area of the devices with a unique BP phase.

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