The seasonal variations in the total ash, crude proteins, mannitol, laminarin and alginic acid contents are given for monthly samples of the Laminariaceae,L. cloustoni, L. digitataandL. saccharinafrom November 1946 to October 1948, samples ofL. digitataandL. saccharinahaving been taken at different localities to determine the effect, if any, of the degree of exposure on the chemical composition.The results agree favourably with those of the first 2 years examined and indicate that, with only a few exceptions, results might be reproducible in the corresponding season of any year, and it should be possible, therefore, to predict the approximate composition in subsequent years.As before, the marked seasonal variations in chemical constitution occur in the fronds, where the bulk, if not all, of the photosynthesis occurs. The stipes undergo some variation parallel to that in the fronds, but within narrower limits, while laminarin is absent throughout the year.

Background: While smear positive patients with tuberculosis (TB) are considered more infectious than smear negative patients, the latter can also transmit TB. Methods: In a molecular epidemiology study of 791 patients in the Greater Vancouver regional district, the number of episodes of TB transmission from two groups of smear negative clustered patients by RFLP (assumed to be involved in recent transmission) was estimated after assessing for potential bias. Group 1 (n = 79) included patients with pulmonary TB or pulmonary + extrapulmonary disease (PTB or PTB+EPTB); group 2 (n = 129) included all patients in group 1 + extrapulmonary cases alone. Results: In the total sample the mean (SD) age was 51 (21) years, 54.3% were male, and 17.0% of patients were clustered. Compared with smear negative patients, smear positive patients were more likely to be in a cluster (OR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.6) and to have had a history of ethanol abuse (OR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.0 to 6.7), diabetes mellitus (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 7.0), injection drug use (OR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 8.3), and to have had a previous hospital admission (OR = 8.5, 95% CI 5.1 to 14.0). The proportion of episodes of transmission from smear negative clustered patients ranged from 17.3% to 22.2% in group 1 and from 25% to 41% in group 2. Conclusion: In Greater Vancouver, smear negative cases appear responsible for at least one sixth of culture positive episodes of TB transmission.

We assessed the ability of an in-house database, consisting of 111 hsp65 sequences from putative and valid Mycobacterium species or described groups, to identify 689 mycobacterial clinical isolates from 35 species or groups. A preliminary assessment indicated that hsp65 sequencing confirmed the identification of 79.4% of the isolates from the 32 species examined, including all Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates, all isolates from 13 other species, and 95.6% of all M. avium-M. intracellulare complex isolates. Identification discrepancies were most frequently encountered with isolates submitted as M. chelonae, M. fortuitum, M. gordonae, M. scrofulaceum, and M. terrae. Reexamination of isolates with discrepant identifications confirmed that hsp65 identifications were correct in a further 40 isolates. This brought the overall agreement between hsp65 sequencing and the other identification methods to 85.2%. The remaining 102 isolates had sequence matches below our acceptance criterion, had nondifferential sequence matches between two or more species, were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing as a putative taxonomic group not contained in our database, or were identified by hsp65 and 16S rRNA gene sequencing as a species not in our biochemical test database or had conflicting identifications. Therefore, to incorporate the unconfirmed isolates it was necessary to create 29 additional entries in our hsp65 identification database: 18 associated with valid species, 7 indicating unique sequences not associated with valid or putative species or groups, and 4 associated with unique, but currently described taxonomic groups. Confidence in the hsp65 sequence identification of a clinical isolate is best when sequence matches of 100% occur, but our data indicate that correct identifications can be confidently made when unambiguous matches exceeding 97% occur, but are dependent on the completeness of the database. Our study indicates that for hsp65 sequencing to be an effective means for identifying mycobacteria a comprehensive database must be constructed. hsp65 sequencing has the advantage of being more rapid and less expensive than biochemical test panels, uses a single set of reagents to identify both rapid-and slow-growing mycobacteria, and can provide a more definitive identification. (56) described, using separate gene regions, the successful identification of mycobacteria by using restriction digest analysis of amplified hsp65 fragments (hsp65 PRA). The technique, as described by Telenti et al., has been frequently investigated as a means of identifying mycobacteria and, although hsp65 PRA is an accepted means of identifying mycobacteria, it does have functional limitations, some of which have been addressed (3,6,10,11,13,15,19,39,40,43,49,55,69,71). Kapur et al. (23), recognizing the limitations of hsp65 PRA and the potential advantage of generating direct unambiguous data, were the first to sequence the hsp65 amplicon generated by the Telenti primers as a means for identifying mycobacteria. This technique has sin...

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