Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| novel sample preparation method for safe and rapid detection of bacillus anthracis spores in environmental powders and nasal swabs. | bacillus anthracis spores have been used as a biological weapon in the united states. we wanted to develop a safe, rapid method of sample preparation that provided safe dna for the detection of spores in environmental and clinical specimens. our method reproducibly detects b. anthracis in samples containing <10 spores. | 2003 | 12624060 |
| bacillus anthracis virulence in guinea pigs vaccinated with anthrax vaccine adsorbed is linked to plasmid quantities and clonality. | bacillus anthracis is a bacterial pathogen of great importance, both historically and in the present. this study presents data collected from several investigations and indicates that b. anthracis virulence is associated with the clonality and virulence of plasmids pxo1 and pxo2. guinea pigs vaccinated with anthrax vaccine adsorbed were challenged with 20 b. anthracis isolates representative of worldwide genetic diversity. these same isolates were characterized with respect to plasmid copy numbe ... | 2003 | 12624053 |
| best defense against bioterrorism. | 2002 | 12619622 | |
| identification of the immunodominant protein and other proteins of the bacillus anthracis exosporium. | spores of bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, are enclosed by a prominent loose-fitting, balloon-like layer called the exosporium. although the exosporium serves as the source of surface antigens and a primary permeability barrier of the spore, its molecular structure and function are not well characterized. in this study, we identified five major proteins in purified b. anthracis (sterne strain) exosporia. one protein was the recently identified collagen-like glycoprotein bcla, ... | 2003 | 12618454 |
| adverse medical events in british service personnel following anthrax vaccination. | the safety of the uk anthrax vaccine in british service personnel was evaluated by a retrospective cohort study of randomly selected personnel from five royal air force bases by investigating adverse medical events and consultation rates for a period before and after vaccination. vaccination acceptance rate varied from 27 to 89% (p=0.0001). in the vaccinated cohort 11.1% (n=368) reported side-effects. the number of consultations in the year prior to vaccination (p=0.04) and raf base (p=0.0085) w ... | 2003 | 12615429 |
| bioterrorism--a new challenge for public health. | the opening years of the new millennium have presented a new and worrisome possibility to the public, including travellers: the threat of deadly infectious diseases from biological agents being deliberately released. the possibility of bioterrorism had always seemed remote but the recent anthrax attacks by mail have made this threat of immediate relevance. the deliberate use of bacillus anthracis with the intent to harm civilian populations has raised public health concerns about potential expos ... | 2003 | 12615387 |
| smallpox: a potential agent of bioterrorism. | the events of 11 september 2001, in new york city, and subsequent identification of anthrax in the united states postal system, have generated a new sense of awareness for the potential of biological terrorism, if not warfare. among those agents identified by the centers for disease control and prevention as 'class a bioterrorist threats', smallpox is among the most dangerous. the ease of transmission of this agent, the lack of immunity in the population at large to this agent, and rapidity of i ... | 2003 | 12615298 |
| [anthrax in the era of biowarfare]. | the conditions of infection: anthrax is a zoonosis due to bacillus anthracis. human contamination usually results from contact with an infected animal or product, or direct exposure to the bacteria. the latter represents one of the principle agents that can be used in biowarfare by spraying the spores. various possibilities: the inhaled form of the disease, characterised by hemorrhagic necrosis of the mediastinum adenopathies and septic shock, is the form that would probably be observed during a ... | 2003 | 12610473 |
| bacillus anthracis. | the events of 11 september 2001 and the subsequent anthrax outbreaks have shown that the west needs to be prepared for an increasing number of terrorist attacks, which may include the use of biological warfare. bacillus anthracis has long been considered a potential biological warfare agent, and this review will discuss the history of its use as such. it will also cover the biology of this organism and the clinical features of the three disease forms that it can produce: cutaneous, gastrointesti ... | 2003 | 12610093 |
| production of bacillus anthracis protective antigen is dependent on the extracellular chaperone, prsa. | protective antigen (pa) is a component of the bacillus anthracis lethal and edema toxins and the basis of the current anthrax vaccine. in its heptameric form, pa targets host cells and internalizes the enzymatically active components of the toxins, namely lethal and edema factors. pa and other toxin components are secreted from b. anthracis using the sec-dependent secretion pathway. this requires them to be translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane in an unfolded state and then to be folded i ... | 2003 | 12606539 |
| lessons the anthrax scare taught us. | 2003 | 12599831 | |
| expression and purification of the bacillus anthracis protective antigen domain 4. | the protective antigen (pa) of bacillus anthracis plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of the anthrax disease. the fourth domain of pa (pa-d4) is responsible for initial binding of the anthrax toxin to the cellular receptor, and thus, is an attractive target for structure-based drug therapies. a synthetic gene for pa-d4 has been prepared by recursive pcr. pa-d4 has been expressed as a fusion protein in escherichia coli. pa-d4 has been purified to near homogeneity and its identity has been ve ... | 2003 | 12597893 |
| venezuelan equine encephalitis virus-vectored vaccines protect mice against anthrax spore challenge. | anthrax, a disease usually associated with herbivores, is caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis. the current vaccine licensed for human use requires a six-dose primary series and yearly boosters and causes reactogenicity in up to 30% of vaccine recipients. a minimally reactogenic vaccine requiring fewer inoculations is warranted. venezuelan equine encephalitis (vee) virus has been configured for use as a vaccine vector for a wide variety of immunogens. the vee vaccine vector is composed of ... | 2003 | 12595467 |
| biodefence on the research agenda. | 2003 | 12594484 | |
| robert koch. | this article traces the origins of bacteriological research, with particular attention to the role of robert koch, and his postulates, on infectious agents. by chronologically following koch's work on anthrax, germ photography and tuberculosis, it shows how the visual representation of germs transformed laboratory research in medical science. | 2003 | 12593975 |
| in vino veritas. | 2001 | 12593708 | |
| polymorphism in the collagen-like region of the bacillus anthracis bcla protein leads to variation in exosporium filament length. | we recently identified a bacillus anthracis glycoprotein which is a structural constituent of the exosporium filaments (p. sylvestre, e. couture-tosi, and m. mock, mol. microbiol. 45:169-178, 2002). this bacillus collagen-like protein (bcla) contains an internal collagen-like region (clr) of gxx repeats which includes a large proportion of gpt triplets. here, we report that the polymorphic marker ceb-bams13, for which there are nine alleles (p. le flèche et al., bmc microbiol. 1:2, 2001), maps w ... | 2003 | 12591872 |
| radiologic manifestations of potential bioterrorist agents of infection. | 2003 | 12591655 | |
| emergency. anthrax. | 2001 | 12585066 | |
| anthrax and the voice of reason. | 2001 | 12585054 | |
| [sacer ignis, quam pustulam vocant pastores: anthrax--cultural historical traces of a zoonosis]. | the knowledge of anthrax as a disease and its importance as a zoonosis in the greco-roman world is revealed through a selection of classical texts and mythological sources, taking into account evidence of reworking and reuse of these texts up until the nineteenth century. the numerous names given to the disease throughout history and their linguistic origins will also be examined in this paper. the narrative of the epizoonoses in noricum in virgil's georgics; taken by several to represent a desc ... | 2003 | 12583342 |
| a plasmid-encoded regulator couples the synthesis of toxins and surface structures in bacillus anthracis. | transcription of the major bacillus anthracis virulence genes is triggered by co2, a signal believed to reflect the host environment. a 180 kb plasmid, pxo1, carries the anthrax toxin genes and the genes responsible for their regulation, pagr and atxa; the latter encodes a major trans-activator. it has long been known that pxo1 genes have major effects on the physiology of b. anthracis, probably through regulatory cross-talk between plasmid and chromosomal genes. accordingly, we found that the c ... | 2003 | 12581349 |
| effects of sterilizing gamma irradiation on bloodspot newborn screening tests and whole blood cyclosporine and tacrolimus measurements. | sterilizing irradiation of the us mail has been proposed as a method to prevent delivery of viable anthrax spores. because newborn screening samples (bloodspots) and cyclosporine and tacrolimus specimens (whole blood) are delivered routinely through the mail, we studied whether sterilizing gamma irradiation could affect these test results. specimens were exposed to 18 kgy gamma irradiation (100 hours x 18,000 rad/h), a "kill dose" for bacillus pumilus spore strips. irradiation had no significant ... | 2003 | 12580001 |
| anthrax: the precautionary principle goes postal. | 2002 | 12576531 | |
| pcr assay to detect bacillus anthracis spores in heat-treated specimens. | recent interest in anthrax is due to its potential use in bioterrorism and as a biowarfare agent against civilian populations. the development of rapid and sensitive techniques to detect anthrax spores in suspicious specimens is the most important aim for public health. with a view to preventing exposure of laboratory workers to viable bacillus anthracis spores, this study evaluated the suitability of pcr assays for detecting anthrax spores previously inactivated at 121 degrees c for 45 min. the ... | 2003 | 12574311 |
| bioterrorism: an overview. | bioterrorism has reached the forefront of the public imagination following recent events across the world. the disaster of 11 september 2001, followed by anthrax letters sent via the us postal system and now renewed tension over iraq have all brought the possibility of bioterrorism closer. a number of biological agents could be used in a terrorist attack, including anthrax, plague, smallpox and botulinum toxin. the serious diseases that these agents produce have been brought under control in the ... | 2002 | 12572959 |
| anthrax alert? | 2002 | 12572214 | |
| uv resistance of bacillus anthracis spores revisited: validation of bacillus subtilis spores as uv surrogates for spores of b. anthracis sterne. | recent bioterrorism concerns have prompted renewed efforts towards understanding the biology of bacterial spore resistance to radiation with a special emphasis on the spores of bacillus anthracis. a review of the literature revealed that b. anthracis sterne spores may be three to four times more resistant to 254-nm-wavelength uv than are spores of commonly used indicator strains of bacillus subtilis. to test this notion, b. anthracis sterne spores were purified and their uv inactivation kinetics ... | 2003 | 12571068 |
| biological activity and synthetic metodologies for the preparation of fluoroquinolones, a class of potent antibacterial agents. | in this present review we report different synthetic methodologies for the preparation of fluoroquinolones and their biological properties. the appearance of the fluoroquinolones, a new class of antibacterial agents (based on nalidixic acid, 4-quinolone-3-carboxylates), in early 1980's, gave a new impulse for the international competition to synthesize more effective drugs. fluoroquinolones have a broad spectrum of activity against gram-positive, gram-negative and mycobacterial organisms as well ... | 2003 | 12570719 |
| a risk analysis approach to selecting respiratory protection against airborne pathogens used for bioterrorism. | the authors present a quantitative risk analysis approach to estimating infection risk due to airborne pathogens exhibiting relatively large infectious dose values. the method is applied to hypothetical scenarios involving airborne spores of bacillus anthracis. the method combines the estimated parameters for exposure intensity, the pathogen dose-response relationship, and respirator penetration values (if respiratory protection is used). because knowledge of the true parameter values will be un ... | 2003 | 12570401 |
| anthrax toxin rafts into cells. | anthrax toxin binds to a plasma membrane receptor and after endocytosis exerts its deadly effects on the cell. until now, however, the mechanism of initial toxin uptake was unknown. in this issue, abrami et al. (2003) demonstrate that toxin oligomerization clusters the anthrax receptor into lipid rafts and this complex is internalized via the clathrin-dependent pathway. | 2003 | 12566425 |
| meeting the challenge of bioterrorism: lessons learned from west nile virus and anthrax. | hospital emergency departments (eds) and ambulatory clinics may be the first to recognize illness related to a bioterrorist event. every health-care institution must develop a weapons-of-mass- destruction (wmd) preparedness plan as part of its all-hazards disaster planning. as part of an all-hazards disaster plan, wmd preparedness should use the incident-command model to insure the required chain of command for effectively coordinating activities between hospital departments and external agencie ... | 2003 | 12563588 |
| identification and characterization of the gerh operon of bacillus anthracis endospores: a differential role for purine nucleosides in germination. | we identified a tri-cistronic operon, gerh, in bacillus anthracis that is important for endospore germination triggered by two distinct germination response pathways termed inosine-his and purine-ala. together, the two pathways allow b. anthracis endospores a broader recognition of purines and amino acids that may be important for host-mediated germination. | 2003 | 12562819 |
| proteomic analysis of the spore coats of bacillus subtilis and bacillus anthracis. | the outermost proteinaceous layer of bacterial spores, called the coat, is critical for spore survival, germination, and, for pathogenic spores, disease. to identify novel spore coat proteins, we have carried out a preliminary proteomic analysis of bacillus subtilis and bacillus anthracis spores, using a combination of standard sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separation and improved two-dimensional electrophoretic separations, followed by matrix-assisted laser desorptio ... | 2003 | 12562816 |
| anthrax of the eyelid in a turkish girl. | 2003 | 12558861 | |
| cutaneous anthrax associated with facial palsy. | 2003 | 12558641 | |
| vaccines and bioterrorism: smallpox and anthrax. | because of the success of vaccination and the ring strategy in eradicating smallpox from the world, smallpox vaccine has not been recommended for the united states civilian populations for decades. given the low but possible threat of bioterrorism, smallpox vaccination is now recommended for those teams investigating potential smallpox cases and for selected personnel of acute-care hospitals who would be needed to care for victims in the event of a terrorist attack. treatment and post-exposure p ... | 2003 | 12556279 |
| a miniature biochip system for detection of aerosolized bacillus globigii spores. | the feasibility of using a novel detection scheme for the analysis of biological warfare agents is demonstrated using bacillus globigii spores, a surrogate species for bacillus anthracis. in this paper, a sensitive and selective enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a novel fluorogenic alkaline phosphatase substrate (dimethylacridinone phosphate) is combined with a compact biochip detection system, which includes a miniature diode laser for excitation. detection of aerosolized spores was achie ... | 2003 | 12553762 |
| anthrax toxin triggers endocytosis of its receptor via a lipid raft-mediated clathrin-dependent process. | the protective antigen (pa) of the anthrax toxin binds to a cell surface receptor and thereby allows lethal factor (lf) to be taken up and exert its toxic effect in the cytoplasm. here, we report that clustering of the anthrax toxin receptor (atr) with heptameric pa or with an antibody sandwich causes its association to specialized cholesterol and glycosphingolipid-rich microdomains of the plasma membrane (lipid rafts). we find that although endocytosis of atr is slow, clustering it into rafts e ... | 2003 | 12551953 |
| figs--the earliest known ancient drug for cutaneous anthrax. | anthrax is an often fatal bacterial infection, occurring in cutaneous, inhalational, gastrointestinal, and meningeal forms. evaluation of anthrax treatment from ancient history may help healthcare providers to handle this serious disease more efficiently. | 2003 | 12549964 |
| [old and new prescriptions for infectious diseases and the newest recipes for biomedical products in plants]. | the three antiviral vaccines discovered in the 18th century (smallpox), 19th century (rabies), and 20th century (polio) share a common feature: none would ever be licensed today for human vaccination. yet jenner's smallpox vaccine led to the eradication of smallpox, pasteur's rabies vaccine represented the first successful post-exposure treatment of people bitten by rabid animals, and polio vaccine administered since its discovery in 1950 is leading to the eradication of polio (in the years 2004 ... | 2002 | 12549429 |
| [cloning of parasporal body protein gene resembling to s-layer protein genes from bacillus thuringiensis ctc strain]. | bacillus ctc strain was identified as bacillus thuringiensis subsp. finitimus (serotype h2) and pasteur institute confirmed this identification. the parasporal body formed by ctc strain is oval shaped, and consists of 100 kd protein. the determination of the n-terminal amino acid sequence showed this protein shares 93% similarity to that of b. anthracis s-layer proteins. the restriction map covering the related protein gene (ctc) was deduced according to southern hybridization. the dna fragments ... | 2001 | 12549017 |
| news in brief. | 2002 | 12546833 | |
| more over anthrax. | 2002 | 12546026 | |
| reply: cutaneous anthrax of the eyelid. | 2003 | 12545123 | |
| time series modeling for syndromic surveillance. | emergency department (ed) based syndromic surveillance systems identify abnormally high visit rates that may be an early signal of a bioterrorist attack. for example, an anthrax outbreak might first be detectable as an unusual increase in the number of patients reporting to the ed with respiratory symptoms. reliably identifying these abnormal visit patterns requires a good understanding of the normal patterns of healthcare usage. unfortunately, systematic methods for determining the expected num ... | 2003 | 12542838 |
| novel aspects of calmodulin target recognition and activation. | several crystal and nmr structures of calmodulin (cam) in complex with fragments derived from cam-regulated proteins have been reported recently and reveal novel ways for cam to interact with its targets. this review will discuss and compare features of the interaction between cam and its target domains derived from the plasma membrane ca2+-pump, the ca2+-activated k+-channel, the ca2+/cam-dependent kinase kinase and the anthrax exotoxin. unexpected aspects of cam/target interaction observed in ... | 2003 | 12542690 |
| anthrax toxins and the host: a story of intimacy. | although the dramatic events of the year 2001 have revitalized the interest in anthrax, research on bacillus anthracis and its major virulence factors is one of the oldest theme in microbiology and started with the early works of robert koch and louis pasteur. the anthrax toxins are central to anthrax pathogenesis. they were discovered in the mid-1950s and since then there has been an enormous amount of work to elucidate both the molecular and physiopathological details of their mode of action. ... | 2003 | 12542467 |
| use of a promoter trap system in bacillus anthracis and bacillus subtilis for the development of recombinant protective antigen-based vaccines. | we have recently reported bacillus anthracis attenuated live vaccine strains efficiently expressing recombinant protective antigen (rpa) and have shown a direct correlation between the level of rpa secreted by these cells and efficacy (s. cohen, i. mendelson, z. altboum, d. kobiler, e. elhanany, t. bino, m. leitner, i. inbar, h. rosenberg, y. gozes, r. barak, m. fisher, c. kronman, b. velan, and a. shafferman, infect. immun. 68:4549-4558, 2000). to isolate more potent bacillus promoters for a fu ... | 2003 | 12540560 |
| clinical features that discriminate inhalational anthrax from other acute respiratory illnesses. | inhalational anthrax (ia) is a rapidly progressive disease that frequently results in sepsis and death, and prompt recognition is critical. to distinguish ia from other causes of acute respiratory illness, patients who had ia were compared with patients in an ambulatory clinic who had influenza-like illness (ili) and with hospitalized patients who had community-acquired pneumonia (cap) at the initial health care visit. compared with patients who had ili, patients who had ia were more likely to h ... | 2003 | 12539075 |
| dna hybridization detection with water-soluble conjugated polymers and chromophore-labeled single-stranded dna. | a sensor is provided that detects single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ssdna) with a specific base sequence. the ssdna sequence sensor comprises an aqueous solution containing a cationic water-soluble conjugated polymer [in this case, poly(9,9-bis(6'-n,n,n-trimethylammonium)-hexyl)-fluorene phenylene), 1] with a ssdna labeled with a dye (in this case, fluorescein). the emission of light from the sensor solution with the wavelength characteristic of the probe oligonucleotide indicates the prese ... | 2003 | 12537486 |
| beta-lactamase genes of the penicillin-susceptible bacillus anthracis sterne strain. | susceptibility to penicillin and other beta-lactam-containing compounds is a common trait of bacillus anthracis. beta-lactam agents, particularly penicillin, have been used worldwide to treat anthrax in humans. nonetheless, surveys of clinical and soil-derived strains reveal penicillin g resistance in 2 to 16% of isolates tested. bacterial resistance to beta-lactam agents is often mediated by production of one or more types of beta-lactamases that hydrolyze the beta-lactam ring, inactivating the ... | 2003 | 12533457 |
| neurological aspects of biological and chemical terrorism: a review for neurologists. | the centers for disease control and prevention urge physicians to become familiar with chemical and biological weapons. preparedness among neurologists is especially important because several of these agents affect the nervous system. this article reviews 4 agents that have a history of military or terrorist use: cyanide poisons, organophosphate poisons, botulinum toxin, and anthrax. cyanide and organophosphate poisons are characterized by dose-dependent impairment of neurological function with ... | 2003 | 12533084 |
| [bioterrorism--also a challenge for forensic medicine?]. | in view of current events the question is discussed to what extent the risk of bioterrorism may be an issue relevant for forensic medicine also in germany, although at present there seems to be no concrete threat. the cases which became known so far were either false alarms or foolish pranks (copycats), which have to be, and are indeed, prosecuted by the state (section 126 german criminal code). reference is also made to the measures of disinfection recommended by the robert koch institute. | 2002 | 12532679 |
| [remarks about anthrax]. | 2002 | 12532652 | |
| risk communication is a key to dealing effectively with bioterrorism. | 2002 | 12530776 | |
| letter to the editor from cicmanec. on the risk of mortality to primates exposed to anthrax spores. | 2002 | 12530775 | |
| [carbuncle in humans and animals: modern aspects of an ancient disease]. | carbuncle, very remarkable disease in the past for its spreading, recently seems to be forgotten as risk for general population and exposed workers too, among them we remember especially veterinary physicians, breeders, tanners, etc. world epidemiological data aren't exact, but a lot of researchers in vary countries confirm that this is a present problem in many areas. therefore it's indispensable to know correct diffusion of this disease, to fight it and other zoonosis in some environments and ... | 2002 | 12528336 |
| year in review 2002. | the year opened on a somber note, with the nation still struggling to cope with the aftermath of the sept. 11, 2001, attacks and subsequent anthrax scare. the healthcare industry was scrambling to be ready for any future attacks and pondering the best preparedness measures. meanwhile, compliance and quality of care simmered on the back burner, along with soaring malpractice insurance costs and growing budget deficits in the states. and debate over provider reimbursement rates, staffing shortages ... | 2002 | 12528237 |
| anthrax toxin receptor proteins. | anthrax toxin is a key virulence factor for bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. here we discuss what is known about the anthrax toxin receptor (atr), the cellular receptor for anthrax toxin, and how this information is being used to develop treatments for anthrax as well as to understand aspects of cancer. atr was identified recently as a type i transmembrane protein with unknown function that contains an extracellular integrin-like inserted (i) domain. the atr i domain contains ... | 2003 | 12527323 |
| programming the assembly of two- and three-dimensional architectures with dna and nanoscale inorganic building blocks. | the use of biochemical molecular recognition principles for the assembly of nanoscale inorganic building blocks into macroscopic functional materials constitutes a new frontier in science. this article details efforts pertaining to the use of sequence-specific dna hybridization events and novel inorganic surface coordination chemistry to control the formation of both two- and three-dimensional functional architectures. | 2000 | 12526483 |
| potent antitumor activity of a urokinase-activated engineered anthrax toxin. | the acquisition of cell-surface urokinase plasminogen activator activity is a hallmark of malignancy. we generated an engineered anthrax toxin that is activated by cell-surface urokinase in vivo and displays limited toxicity to normal tissue but broad and potent tumoricidal activity. native anthrax toxin protective antigen, when administered with a chimeric anthrax toxin lethal factor, pseudomonas exotoxin fusion protein, was extremely toxic to mice, causing rapid and fatal organ damage. replaci ... | 2003 | 12525700 |
| genome-wide analysis of synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in mycobacterium tuberculosis complex organisms: resolution of genetic relationships among closely related microbial strains. | several human pathogens (e.g., bacillus anthracis, yersinia pestis, bordetella pertussis, plasmodium falciparum, and mycobacterium tuberculosis) have very restricted unselected allelic variation in structural genes, which hinders study of the genetic relationships among strains and strain-trait correlations. to address this problem in a representative pathogen, 432 m. tuberculosis complex strains from global sources were genotyped on the basis of 230 synonymous (silent) single nucleotide polymor ... | 2002 | 12524330 |
| [biological warfare. i. anthrax, plague, tularemia]. | 2002 | 12522911 | |
| anthrax lethal factor proteolysis and inactivation of mapk kinase. | anthrax lethal toxin produced by the bacterium bacillus anthracis is the major cause of death in animals infected with anthrax. one component of this toxin, lethal factor (lf), inactivates members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase or mek family through proteolysis of their nh(2) termini. however, neither the substrate requirements for lf cleavage nor the mechanism by which proteolysis inactivates mek have been demonstrated. by means of deletion mutant analysis and site-directed muta ... | 2003 | 12522135 |
| searching for bacillus anthracis in suspect powders: a french experience. | 2003 | 12517916 | |
| vaccines for category a bioterrorism diseases. | vaccination programmes are very successful as a preventive strategy against many infectious diseases which have had a major impact on human morbidity and mortality. one of these diseases, smallpox, has been eliminated as a natural infection. the recent concern about biological attacks has turned attention to the use of an immunisation programme to prevent infection with what are considered the most significant potentially harmful biowarfare pathogens. this review puts into perspective the availa ... | 2002 | 12517267 |
| [risk management and risk communication from a laboratory point of view]. | 2002 | 12516023 | |
| [consequences and challenges due to bioterrorist attacks]. | ever since the terrorist attacks of 11 september 2001 and the cases of inhalational anthrax and other types of anthrax caused by attacks with anthrax spores, responsible authorities and experts must reckon with bioterrorist attacks conducted with much greater criminal "drive" and greater financial resources than had been imagined so far. this consideration triggered cautionary measures in germany and europe as briefly summarised here. for more detailed information please refer to internet (www.r ... | 2002 | 12516022 |
| [cutaneous palpebral anthrax]. | the interest for anthrax is permanent because of its difficult diagnosis, its severe prognosis, and the possibility of its dissemination during biological war and bioterrorism. cutaneous anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacillus anthracis. palpebral localizations are rare, raising problems of differential diagnosis. the case of a 21-year-old male with palpebral anthrax is presented. the diagnosis was established by the progression of the palpebral lesions (serohemorrhagic vesicle, blac ... | 2002 | 12515941 |
| prophylaxis against anthrax. | the paper presents fundamental knowledge concerning bacillus anthracis and its potential terrorist misuse. the basic clinical forms are resumed with emphasis on inhalation infection from inspiration of b. anthracis spores. the ava vaccine licensed in the united states, primary vaccination, protective efficacy of the vaccine, and adverse events are characterised. stress is laid on pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis of anthrax. | 2002 | 12515043 |
| a field investigation of bacillus anthracis contamination of u.s. department of agriculture and other washington, d.c., buildings during the anthrax attack of october 2001. | in response to a bioterrorism attack in the washington, d.c., area in october 2001, a mobile laboratory (ml) was set up in the city to conduct rapid molecular tests on environmental samples for the presence of bacillus anthracis spores and to route samples for further culture analysis. the ml contained class i laminar-flow hoods, a portable autoclave, two portable real-time pcr devices (ruggedized advanced pathogen identification device [rapid]), and miscellaneous supplies and equipment to proce ... | 2003 | 12514046 |
| bacillus anthracis diverges from related clades of the bacillus cereus group in 16s-23s ribosomal dna intergenic transcribed spacers containing trna genes. | mung bean nuclease treatment of 16s-23s ribosomal dna intergenic transcribed spacers (its) amplified from several strains of the six species of the bacillus cereus group showed that b. anthracis davis te702 and b. mycoides g2 have other intermediate fragments in addition to the 220- and 550-bp homoduplex fragments typical of the b. cereus group. long and intermediate homoduplex its fragments from strains davis te702 and g2 and from another 19 strains of the six species were sequenced. two main t ... | 2003 | 12513974 |
| anthrax attacks and practice patterns: a learning opportunity for health care systems. | sudden and unexpected events directly influencing clinical practice patterns are uncommon. after the first report of bioterrorism-related anthrax, the authors studied retrospectively 13 months of anthrax-related antibiotic prescription rates for veterans affairs outpatients in one urban area where no cases of anthrax were reported. during the 26 days after the first anthrax report, the rate of acute respiratory illnesses treated with fluoroquinolones was 62.8 per 10,000 outpatient visits, an inc ... | 2002 | 12512463 |
| law sends laboratories into pathogen panic. | 2003 | 12511920 | |
| the reality of the modern bioterrorism response. | 2002 | 12504495 | |
| cell-cycle responses to dna damage in g2. | cellular reproduction, at its basic level, is simply the passing of genetic information from a single parent cell into two daughter cells. as the cellular genome encodes all the information that defines a cell, it is crucial that the genome be accurately replicated. furthermore, the duplicated genome must be properly segregated so that each daughter cell contains the exact same information as the parent cell. the processes by which this occurs is known as the cell cycle. the failure of either du ... | 2003 | 12503848 |
| inflammatory causes of gastroparesis: report of five cases. | 2002 | 12498282 | |
| nine-analyte detection using an array-based biosensor. | a fluorescence-based multianalyte immunosensor has been developed for simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. while the standard 6 x 6 format of the array sensor has been used to analyze six samples for six different analytes, this same format has the potential to allow a single sample to be tested for 36 different agents. the method described herein demonstrates proof of principle that the number of analytes detectable using a single array can be increased simply by using complementary mixtu ... | 2002 | 12498211 |
| responding to the threat of bioterrorism: a microbial ecology perspective--the case of anthrax. | anthrax is a disease of herbivores caused by the gram-positive bacterium bacillus anthracis. it can affect cattle, sheep, swine, horses and various species of wildlife. the routes for the spread among wildlife are reviewed. there are three kinds of human anthrax--inhalation, cutaneous, and intestinal anthrax--which differ in their routes of infection and outcomes. in the united states, confirmation of cases is made by the isolation of b. anthracis and by biochemical tests. vaccination is not rec ... | 2002 | 12497181 |
| a brief guide to anthrax. | anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by bacillus anthracis. the organism is found in soil and is directly transmissible to humans via skin abrasions or by inhalation or ingestion of airborne spores. this article provides an overview of the history, microbiology and epidemiology of anthrax, and the various types of the disease. the article also discusses diagnosis and treatment as well as vaccination and infection control issues. in light of recent publicity over the use of anthrax as a ... | 2002 | 12494835 |
| bioterrorism preparedness for local health departments. | bioterrorism preparedness has not traditionally been an everyday concern of local public health departments. the likely first responders to a biological bioterrorism event will be local public health personnel. the events of september 11, 2001, and the anthrax crisis that followed tested the capabilities of the public health system and demonstrated its fragility. little federal funding has trickled down to local health departments, and they have not been included in planning or training for biot ... | 2002 | 12494741 |
| breakthrough of the year. bioterrorism: the calm after the storm. | 2002 | 12493879 | |
| robert koch: nobel laureate and controversial figure in tuberculin research. | tuberculosis has been a major cause of death for centuries. likewise, anthrax has posed a deadly threat to both farm animals and humans and today poses a threat as a weapon of biological warfare. cholera, which wreaked havoc in the east and threatened to enter europe, also posed a deadly threat. the causes of these diseases remained mysteries for centuries. nobel laureate robert koch (1843-1910), often called the founder of medical bacteriology, is credited with discovering the tubercle bacillus ... | 2002 | 12491235 |
| identification of bacillus anthracis by a simple protective antigen-specific mab dot-elisa. | a simple protective antigen (pa)-reactive mab dot-elisa was standardized for confirmation of toxin-producing strains of bacillus anthracis. twenty-seven clinical isolates were collected from patients clinically suspected of having anthrax. pa was elaborated from these isolates using casamino acids medium and the culture medium was boiled to kill the cells. pa in boiled culture supernatants was detected using a dot-elisa. of the 27 clinical isolates tested, pa was detected in 24 isolates. this wa ... | 2003 | 12488565 |
| sensitizing anthrax lethal toxin-resistant macrophages to lethal toxin-induced killing by tumor necrosis factor-alpha. | macrophages from different inbred mouse strains exhibit striking differences in their sensitivity to anthrax lethal toxin (letx)-induced cytolysis. although letx-induced cytolysis of macrophages plays an important role in the outcome of anthrax infection, the sensitivity of macrophages in vitro does not correlate with in vivo susceptibility to infection of bacillus anthracis. this divergence suggests that additional factors other than letx are involved in the cytolysis of letx-resistant macropha ... | 2003 | 12488448 |
| the tools of the trade: weapons of mass destruction. | 2002 | 12487040 | |
| physiological calcium concentrations regulate calmodulin binding and catalysis of adenylyl cyclase exotoxins. | edema factor (ef) and cyaa are calmodulin (cam)-activated adenylyl cyclase exotoxins involved in the pathogenesis of anthrax and whooping cough, respectively. using spectroscopic, enzyme kinetic and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy analyses, we show that low ca(2+) concentrations increase the affinity of cam for ef and cyaa causing their activation, but higher ca(2+) concentrations directly inhibit catalysis. both events occur in a physiologically relevant range of ca(2+) concentrations. d ... | 2002 | 12485993 |
| exchange characteristics of calcium ions bound to anthrax protective antigen. | protective antigen (pa), the receptor-binding moiety of anthrax toxin, contains two calcium atoms buried within domain 1(') (amino acid residues 168-258). we showed that these ions are stably bound and exchange with free 45ca(2+) only slowly (t(1/2) approximately 4.0 h). dissociation is the rate-limiting step. pa(63), the heptameric prepore form of pa, showed a slightly higher exchange rate than the monomeric intact protein. exchange by this form was retarded by binding of the enzymatic moieties ... | 2003 | 12480521 |
| development of vaccines for bio-warfare agents. | there is a recognized need for the development of new vaccines (as well as other biologicals and drugs) to counteract the effects of a potential bio-terrorist or bio-warfare event in the u.s. domestic population and military forces. regulation of products to protect against potential bio-warfare agents poses unique challenges since the usual measures of efficacy that require exposure to natural disease may not currently be possible, for epidemiological and ethical reasons. to help to address thi ... | 2002 | 12477312 |
| from the centers for disease control and prevention. use of anthrax vaccine in response to terrorism: supplemental recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices. | 2002 | 12476914 | |
| dna sequence conservation between the bacillus anthracis pxo2 plasmid and genomic sequence from closely related bacteria. | complete sequencing and annotation of the 96.2 kb bacillus anthracis plasmid, pxo2, predicted 85 open reading frames (orfs). bacillus cereus and bacillus thuringiensis isolates that ranged in genomic similarity to b. anthracis, as determined by amplified fragment length polymorphism (aflp) analysis, were examined by pcr for the presence of sequences similar to 47 pxo2 orfs. | 2002 | 12473162 |
| secondary aerosolization of viable bacillus anthracis spores in a contaminated us senate office. | bioterrorist attacks involving letters and mail-handling systems in washington, dc, resulted in bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spore contamination in the hart senate office building and other facilities in the us capitol's vicinity. | 2002 | 12472327 |
| bioterrorism talk. | 2002 | 12469681 | |
| anthrax: what every coder should know. | 2002 | 12469669 | |
| sterilization of mail by means of an electron beam accelerator. | 2002 | 12469598 | |
| cell surface tumor endothelium marker 8 cytoplasmic tail-independent anthrax toxin binding, proteolytic processing, oligomer formation, and internalization. | the interaction of anthrax toxin protective antigen (pa) and target cells was assessed, and the importance of the cytosolic domain of tumor endothelium marker 8 (tem8) in its function as a cellular receptor for pa was evaluated. pa binding and proteolytic processing on the chinese hamster ovary cell surface occurred rapidly, with both processes nearly reaching steady state in 5 min. remarkably, the resulting pa63 fragment was present on the cell surface only as an oligomer, and furthermore, the ... | 2003 | 12468536 |
| why there hasn't been an anthrax outbreak. | 2003 | 12465606 | |
| national pharmaceutical stockpile drill analysis using xml data collection on wireless java phones. | this study describes an informatics effort to track subjects through a national pharmaceutical stockpile (nps) distribution drill. the drill took place in seattle on 1/24/2002. washington and the state department of health are among the first in the nation to stage a nps drill testing the distribution of medications to mock patients, thereby testing the treatment capacity of the plan given a post-anthrax exposure scenario. the goal of the public health informatics group at the university of wash ... | 2002 | 12463848 |
| response to dr halsey & avec: analyze both forests and trees. | 2002 | 12462140 |