No abstract

The human body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus, has one of the smallest insect genomes, containing ~10,775 annotated genes (Kirkness et al. 2010). Annotation of detoxification [cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), esterase (Est), and ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABC transporter)] genes revealed that they are dramatically reduced in P. h. humanus compared to other insects except for Apis mellifera. There are 37 P450, 13 GST and 17 Est genes present in P. h. humanus, approximately half of that found in Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae. The number of putatively functional ABC transporter genes in P. h. humanus and A. mellifera are the same (36) but both have fewer than An. gambiae (44) or D. melanogaster (65). The reduction of detoxification genes in P. h. humanus may be due to their simple life history, where they do not encounter a wide variety of xenobiotics. Neuronal component genes are highly conserved across different insect species as expected due to their critical function. Although reduced in number, P. h. humanus still retains at least a minimum repertoire of genes known to confer metabolic or toxicokinetic resistance to xenobiotics (e.g., Cyp3 clade P450s, Delta GSTs, B clade Ests and B/C subfamily ABC transporters), suggestive of its high potential for resistance development.

Changes in the concentrations of biogenic amines (BAs) in fresh beef, pork, and chicken breast and leg were investigated during storage, and the relationship between the content of volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) and BAs was evaluated. As the storage period increased, the levels of putrescine (PUT), cadaverine (CAD) and tyramine (TYM) increased in all the meat samples, except for TYM in beef (p<0.001). The level of BAs in beef, pork and chicken changed but the extent of these changes was different among the kinds of BAs and meats. Measurement of the VBN content was confirmed as a good index for interpreting the specific BAs content in general, such as PUT, CAD, and TYM, as well as evaluating a meat's freshness during storage. However, the kinds of BAs which can be predicted from the VBN content varied in different meats (p<0.05).

This study was undertaken to evaluate various indicators for the prediction of the microbial quality of pork and beef loins during cold storage at 0 and 4 degrees C under aerobic conditions. Fresh loins of beef and pork were packaged aerobically and stored at 0 +/- 1 degrees C for 22 days and at 4 +/- 1 degrees C for 12 days or until the total plate counts (TPCs) for these loins exceeded 10(8) CFU/ml. During storage, samples were taken periodically for the measurement of TPCs, psychrotrophic bacterial counts, amine contents, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) values, thiobarbituric acid values, D-glucose contents, L-lactate contents, pH, and electrical conductivity. Correlation coefficients were ca. 0.90 for all indicators except pH and conductivity. However, VBN and D-glucose contents showed the best correlation with bacterial counts at both temperatures for both beef and pork. Therefore, VBN and D-glucose could potentially be used as indicators in predicting the microbial quality of beef and pork during chilled storage under aerobic conditions.

Little is known about the benefits of preoperative staging chest computed tomography (CT) in patients with asymptomatic breast cancer. We therefore investigated the clinical value of preoperative chest CT in detecting lung and liver metastases by retrospectively reviewing the records of 1,703 patients who underwent preoperative chest CT in a single institution between January 2006 and June 2009. Abnormal CT findings, including suspected metastases and indeterminate nodules in the lung or liver, were found in 266 patients (15.6%). Among these, 26 patients (1.5% of all patients and 9.8% of patients with abnormal CT findings) had true metastases, including 17 in the lungs, 3 in the liver, and 6 in both. True metastases were detected in 1 (0.2%), 0 (0%), and 24 (6.0%) patients with stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of chest CT were 100, 89.1, and 11.3%, respectively, for lung metastasis and 100, 97.6, and 18.4%, respectively, for liver metastasis. All true metastatic lung lesions were all small-sized nodules, ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 cm in largest diameter, and could not be detected on chest X-rays. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the lack of usefulness of routine preoperative chest CT in detecting asymptomatic liver and lung metastasis in patients with early breast cancer. Chest CT, however, upstaged 6.0% of stage III patients to stage IV.