Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| the metalloproteolytic activity of the anthrax lethal factor is substrate-inhibited. | the anthrax lethal factor (lf) is a zn2+ endopeptidase specific for mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (mapkks), which are cleaved within their n termini. here, the proteolytic activity of lf has been investigated using novel chromogenic mapkk-derived peptide substrates, which allowed us to determine the kinetic parameters of the reaction. lf displayed maximal proteolytic activity at the ph and temperature values of the cell cytosol, which is its site of action. lf undergoes substrate inhi ... | 2003 | 12888555 |
| decontamination by fumigation. | since the terrorist attack on the world trade centre on september 11th 2001, and the subsequent deliberate release of anthrax spores into the postal system of the usa, nhs hospitals and microbiology pathology laboratories have had to consider how they would respond to a release of a hazardous biological agent. this article looks at the procedure of fumigation of a known contaminated area following spillage or handling of a biological agent, and considers the additional problems that would occur ... | 2003 | 12889302 |
| modeling the optimum duration of antibiotic prophylaxis in an anthrax outbreak. | a critical consideration in effective and measured public health responses to an outbreak of inhalational anthrax is the optimum duration of antibiotic prophylaxis. we develop a competing-risks model to address the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis and the incubation period that accounts for the risks of spore germination and spore clearance. the model predicts the incubation period distribution, which is confirmed by empirical data. the optimum duration of antibiotic prophylaxis depends critic ... | 2003 | 12890865 |
| kakadumycins, novel antibiotics from streptomyces sp nrrl 30566, an endophyte of grevillea pteridifolia. | an endophytic streptomycete (nrrl 30566) is described and partially characterized from a fern-leaved grevillea (grevillea pteridifolia) tree growing in the northern territory of australia. this endophytic streptomycete produces, in culture, novel antibiotics - the kakadumycins. methods are outlined for the production and chemical characterization of kakadumycin a and related compounds. this antibiotic is structurally related to a quinoxaline antibiotic, echinomycin. each contains, by virtue of t ... | 2003 | 12892881 |
| deletion mutants of protective antigen that inhibit anthrax toxin both in vitro and in vivo. | the anthrax toxin complex is primarily responsible for most of the symptoms of anthrax. this complex is composed of three proteins, anthrax protective antigen, anthrax edema factor, and anthrax lethal factor. the three proteins act in binary combination of protective antigen plus edema factor (edema toxin) and protective antigen plus lethal factor (lethal toxin) that paralyze the host defenses and eventually kill the host. both edema factor and lethal factor are intracellularly acting proteins t ... | 2003 | 12893241 |
| public health's response to a changed world: september 11, biological terrorism, and the development of an environmental health tracking network. | historically, the importance of public health has often been recognized during or as a result of major tragedy. the attacks that occurred in the united states in 2001 are no exception. these events have raised awareness of our vulnerability and the need for emergency preparedness, the need for a flexible and sustainable public health infrastructure, and the importance of linkages between environmental exposures and health outcomes. the authors encourage the public health community, along with po ... | 2003 | 12893600 |
| anthrax delivers a lethal blow to host immunity. | 2003 | 12894159 | |
| anxiety-related visits to ontario physicians following september 11, 2001. | to determine whether the climate of increased anxiety following the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, and the subsequent anthrax cases led to increased anxiety-related physician visits. | 2003 | 12894617 |
| anthrax refusers: a 2nd infantry division perspective. | the department of defense anthrax vaccination program has been in the news often recently. concerns are cited over the safety and usefulness of the vaccine. this brief report describes some of the characteristics of anthrax vaccine refusers. this report examines the implementation of an anthrax vaccination program in a well-disciplined, forward-deployed army unit facing a hostile enemy with access to anthrax biological warfare stocks. | 2003 | 12901458 |
| [survival of bacillus anthracis spores in baths using modern technologic tannery processes]. | the influence of skin tannery baths, according as wet-blue, wet-white and plant technology, on b. anthracis spores survival was investigated. as a result of this study there was explained that lime bath do not inactivated of all spores that are present in infected bath. as a result of these experiments the spores were inactivated completely not before pickle bath. | 2003 | 12908413 |
| [experimental infections and colonization of porcine skin samples with b. anthracis]. | in this study there was demonstrated the process of appearance and intensity of colonisation of the swine's skin samples by exposing them on agar plate cultures or immersed in liquid cultures of b. anthracis. the results of research were documented with photos of coloured histological preparations. as a result of the research there was demonstrated the possibility of infection and colonisation of skin consignment by b. anthracis from accidental located skin of died or killed animals because of a ... | 2003 | 12908414 |
| comprehensive aligned sequence construction for automated design of effective probes (cascade-p) using 16s rdna. | motivation: prokaryotic organisms have been identified utilizing the sequence variation of the 16s rrna gene. variations steer the design of dna probes for the detection of taxonomic groups or specific organisms. the long-term goal of our project is to create probe arrays capable of identifying 16s rdna sequences in unknown samples. this necessitated the authentication, categorization and alignment of the >75 000 publicly available '16s' sequences. preferably, the entire process should be comput ... | 2003 | 12912825 |
| application of comparative genomics in the identification and analysis of novel families of membrane-associated receptors in bacteria. | a great diversity of multi-pass membrane receptors, typically with 7 transmembrane (tm) helices, is observed in the eukaryote crown group. so far, they are relatively rare in the prokaryotes, and are restricted to the well-characterized sensory rhodopsins of various phototropic prokaryotes. | 2003 | 12914674 |
| terahertz imaging: t-ray specs. | 2003 | 12917655 | |
| bioterrorism: a new frontier for drug discovery and development. | only a few years ago bioterrorism was considered a remote concern but today it has reached the forefront of the public imagination following recent terrorist attacks around the world. the disaster of september 11 2001, followed by anthrax letters sent via the us postal system, and now the renewed tension in the middle east, have all brought the possibility of bioterrorism a little closer to reality. a number of biological agents could be used in a terrorist attack, including anthrax, botulinum, ... | 2003 | 12917773 |
| [preparation of gene chip probes for bacillus anthracis protective antigen]. | to study the method for rapid preparation of the gene chip probes for bacillus anthracis protective antigen (pag). | 2003 | 12919907 |
| pathology of inhalation anthrax in cynomolgus monkeys (macaca fascicularis). | anthrax is considered a serious biowarfare and bioterrorism threat because of its high lethality, especially by the inhalation route. rhesus macaques (macaca mulatta) are the most commonly used nonhuman primate model of human inhalation anthrax exposure. the nonavailability of rhesus macaques necessitated development of an alternate model for vaccine testing and immunologic studies. this report describes the median lethal dose (ld(50)) and pathology of inhalation anthrax in cynomolgus macaques ( ... | 2003 | 12920249 |
| regulation of the g2/m transition in oocytes of xenopus tropicalis. | the molecular events regulating hormone-induced oocyte activation and meiotic maturation are probably best understood in xenopus laevis. in x. laevis, progesterone activates the g2-arrested oocyte, induces entry into m phase of meiosis i (mi) and resumption of the meiotic cell cycles, and leads to the formation of a mature, fertilizable egg. oocytes of xenopus tropicalis offer several practical advantages over those of x. laevis, including faster and more synchronous meiotic cell cycle progressi ... | 2003 | 12921744 |
| comparison of individual and combination dna vaccines for b. anthracis, ebola virus, marburg virus and venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. | multiagent dna vaccines for highly pathogenic organisms offer an attractive approach for preventing naturally occurring or deliberately introduced diseases. few animal studies have compared the feasibility of combining unrelated gene vaccines. here, we demonstrate that dna vaccines to four dissimilar pathogens that are known biowarfare agents, bacillus anthracis, ebola (ebov), marburg (marv), and venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (veev), can elicit protective immunity in relevant animal model ... | 2003 | 12922144 |
| fluorescence resonance energy transfer studies on anthrax lethal toxin. | anthrax lethal toxin is a binary bacterial toxin consisting of two proteins, protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf), that self-assemble on receptor-bearing eukaryotic cells to form toxic, non-covalent complexes. pa(63), a proteolytically activated form of pa, spontaneously oligomerizes to form ring-shaped heptamers that bind lf and translocate it into the cell. site-directed mutagenesis was used to substitute cysteine for each of three residues (n209, e614 and e733) at various levels on ... | 2003 | 12935906 |
| systemic and mucosal antibody responses following retroductal gene transfer to the salivary gland. | gene transfer to salivary glands by retrograde perfusion of the salivary duct has been shown to result in production of the encoded protein. we sought to determine if this technique would be useful for genetic immunization. in studies that compare delivery of dna to either the salivary gland (sg) or muscle (im), mean plasma igg and iga titers obtained following sg delivery were 46- and 86-fold greater, respectively, than those following im delivery. we also tested the hypothesis that sg vaccinat ... | 2003 | 12946312 |
| the host response to anthrax lethal toxin: unexpected observations. | bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is believed to induce disease and death in humans in an endotoxic shock-like manner. a comprehensive study of the effects of anthrax toxin in mice demonstrates that toxin-induced death is mediated not by cytokine release, as previously thought, but by hypoxia-induced liver failure. the study strongly suggests that the therapies developed for treatment of cytokine-mediated septic shock will not be appropriate for the treatment of anthrax. | 2003 | 12952914 |
| bacillus anthracis lethal toxin induces tnf-alpha-independent hypoxia-mediated toxicity in mice. | bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (lt) is the major virulence factor of anthrax and reproduces most of the laboratory manifestations of the disease in animals. we studied lt toxicity in balb/cj and c57bl/6j mice. balb/cj mice became terminally ill earlier and with higher frequency than c57bl/6j mice. timed histopathological analysis identified bone marrow, spleen, and liver as major affected organs in both mouse strains. lt induced extensive hypoxia. crisis was due to extensive liver necrosis acco ... | 2003 | 12952916 |
| morphology of the type strain of bacillus anthracis ey 3169t=atcc 14578t grown either aerobically or anaerobically on agar plates--observation by light and laser microscopes. | growth characteristics including cell-arrangement of the type strain of bacillus anthracis ey 3169t=atcc 14578t grown on agar plates in level 3 laboratory were observed by both light and laser microscopes. small daughter colonies appeared on parent colonies grown on 5% sheep blood or chocolate agar plates after 12 days incubation at room temperature. daughter colonies, stained by wirtz-conklin method, were composed with vegetative cells and spores. growth of daughter colonies might be supported ... | 2003 | 12953842 |
| bacillus anthracis diversity in the far east of russia. | 2003 | 12954974 | |
| phage therapy: a reappraisal of bacteriophages as antibiotics. | the concept of phage therapy to treat bacterial infections was born with the discovery of the bacteriophage almost a century ago. after a chequered history, its current renaissance is fueled by the dangerous appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on a global scale. as a mark of this renewed interest, the unanswered problems of phage therapy are now being addressed, especially for human use. phage therapy in the agricultural, food-processing and fishery industries is already being successful ... | 2003 | 12956433 |
| md simulations of anthrax edema factor: calmodulin complexes with mutations in the edema factor "switch a" region and docking of 3'-deoxy atp into the adenylyl cyclase active site of wild-type and mutant edema factor variants. | bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming infectious bacterium, produces an exotoxin, called the edema factor (ef), that functions in part by disrupting internal signalling pathways. when complexed with human host cell calmodulin (cam), ef becomes an active adenylyl cyclase, producing the internal signal substance cyclic-amp in an uncontrolled fashion. recently, the crystal structures for uncomplexed ef and ef:cam complexes in the presence and absence of a substrate analog (3'-deoxy-atp), were reporte ... | 2003 | 12956602 |
| responding to a bioterrorist attack: environmental investigation of anthrax in new jersey. | a bioterrorism attack using the united states postal system to deliver a hazardous biological agent to specific targets created multiple environmental and occupational exposure risks along the path of the anthrax-containing letters. on october 18, 2001, a suspected case of cutaneous anthrax was confirmed in a postal worker from the trenton processing and distribution center where at least four suspect letters were postmarked. over the next three weeks, a team of investigators collected samples a ... | 2003 | 12959889 |
| a dually active anthrax vaccine that confers protection against both bacilli and toxins. | systemic anthrax is caused by unimpeded bacillar replication and toxin secretion. we developed a dually active anthrax vaccine (daav) that confers simultaneous protection against both bacilli and toxins. daav was constructed by conjugating capsular poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid (pga) to protective antigen (pa), converting the weakly immunogenic pga to a potent immunogen, and synergistically enhancing the humoral response to pa. pga-specific antibodies bound to encapsulated bacilli and promoted the ... | 2003 | 12960361 |
| a devastating case of severe cutaneous anthrax in a sicilian shepherd. | 2003 | 12960892 | |
| an enzymatic electrochemiluminescence assay for the lethal factor of anthrax. | the lethal factor (lf) of anthrax toxin is the toxic component of the exotoxin (lethal toxin) secreted by toxic strains of bacillus anthracis. the lethal factor is a zinc-dependent metalloprotease that specifically cleaves the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (mapkk) family of enzymes. we took advantage of this substrate specificity to develop an electrochemiluminescence (ecl) peptide cleavage assay. the ecl assay uses the stable ruthenium (ru) metal chelate that, in the presence of tripr ... | 2003 | 12963063 |
| a pcr-based anthrax detector. | 2003 | 12964729 | |
| accuracy of screening for inhalational anthrax after a bioterrorist attack. | bioterrorism using anthrax claimed five lives in the united states in 2001 and remains a potential public health threat. in the aftermath of a large-scale anthrax attack, mass screening to identify early inhalational anthrax may improve both the management of individual cases and the efficiency of health resource utilization. | 2003 | 12965942 |
| a triage algorithm for inhalational anthrax. | 2003 | 12965947 | |
| summaries for patients. screening for inhalational anthrax after a bioterrorist attack. | 2003 | 12965957 | |
| detecting bioterror attacks by screening blood donors: a best-case analysis. | to assess whether screening blood donors could provide early warning of a bioterror attack, we combined stochastic models of blood donation and the workings of blood tests with an epidemic model to derive the probability distribution of the time to detect an attack under assumptions favorable to blood donor screening. comparing the attack detection delay to the incubation times of the most feared bioterror agents shows that even under such optimistic conditions, victims of a bioterror attack wou ... | 2003 | 12967486 |
| nonhemolytic, nonmotile gram-positive rods indicative of bacillus anthracis. | we report a 40-year-old female patient who was admitted to the hospital because of a left ovarian mass torsion. a nonhemolytic, nonmotile bacillus, suspicious of bacillus anthracis, was isolated from a blood culture. we discuss the evaluation that led to the final identification of the bacterium as b. megaterium. | 2003 | 12967505 |
| identifying and subtyping species of dangerous pathogens by automated ribotyping. | an investigation of dangerous bacterial pathogens was conducted to determine the usefulness of automated rrna operon ribotyping (riboprinter system) to identify species. a total of 26 isolates comprising bacillus anthracis, brucella spp., burkholderia mallei, francisella tularensis, and yersinia pestis were tested using restriction endonucleases ecori, psti, pvuii and asei. the main problem was that the system's database-relying on ecori as restriction enzyme-does not contain the essential dange ... | 2003 | 12967744 |
| rapid and effective detection of anthrax spores in soil by pcr. | to detect bacillus anthracis dna from soil using rapid and simple procedures. | 2003 | 12969286 |
| control and prevention of emerging zoonoses. | emerging and re-emerging zoonoses are zoonotic diseases caused by either totally new or partially new agents or by microorganisms previously known but now occurring in places or in species where the disease was previously unknown. zoonotic diseases account for the majority of all emerging infectious diseases. several factors have led to the emergence of these infections, including human demographics, the industrialization of food production, globalization, international travel and commerce, land ... | 2003 | 12970860 |
| a poor experience with anthrax. | 2003 | 12973260 | |
| mutations in capillary morphogenesis gene-2 result in the allelic disorders juvenile hyaline fibromatosis and infantile systemic hyalinosis. | juvenile hyaline fibromatosis (jhf) and infantile systemic hyalinosis (ish) are autosomal recessive syndromes of unknown etiology characterized by multiple, recurring subcutaneous tumors, gingival hypertrophy, joint contractures, osteolysis, and osteoporosis. both are believed to be allelic disorders; ish is distinguished from jhf by its more severe phenotype, which includes hyaline deposits in multiple organs, recurrent infections, and death within the first 2 years of life. using the previousl ... | 2003 | 12973667 |
| biodefense: medicine in the time of bioterrorism. | 2003 | 12973895 | |
| [confronting bioterrorism: epidemiologic, clinical, and preventive aspects of smallpox]. | the worldwide eradication of smallpox, a major achievement in public health, is currently threatened by the risk of bioterrorism. the debate on the destruction of the variola virus in the two reference laboratories of the world health organization has dramatically switched to the preservation of the remaining virus after the september 2001 terrorist events in the u.s. along with the intentional release of bacillus anthracis in the u.s. the risk of intentional release of variola virus constitutes ... | 2003 | 12974047 |
| automated syndromic surveillance for the 2002 winter olympics. | the 2002 olympic winter games were held in utah from february 8 to march 16, 2002. following the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001, and the anthrax release in october 2001, the need for bioterrorism surveillance during the games was paramount. a team of informaticists and public health specialists from utah and pittsburgh implemented the real-time outbreak and disease surveillance (rods) system in utah for the games in just seven weeks. the strategies and challenges of implementing such a ... | 2003 | 12925547 |
| anthrax: a review for the medical officer. | 2003 | 12929516 | |
| bioterrorism: preparing for the unthinkable. | terrorism is not a new concept but our need to prepare for the effects of bioterrorism has achieved a particular urgency. the use of biological agents provides a new set of challenges to professional caregivers, emergency personnel and governments. these agents are generally not readily identified through the senses, have delayed effects and have the power to generate fear and panic. they are also intended to demonstrate that governments and other organisations are not able to protect their citi ... | 2003 | 12929520 |
| [clinical course of pyoinflammatory diseases of the maxillofacial area similar to anthrax manifestations]. | 2003 | 12931428 | |
| bioterrorism: pivotal clinical issues. consensus review of the society of infectious diseases pharmacists. | to discuss specific facts regarding use as a bioweapon, epidemiology, microbiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, antimicrobial therapy, immunization, and isolation precautions for five most likely agents of bioterrorism; to review and provide recommendations for health care clinicians on the management of these bioterrorism agents; and to share information on the pharmacist's role in preparedness and response. | 2003 | 12627924 |
| how do we keep going? personal and professional meaning after 9-11. | 2003 | 12630185 | |
| serious adverse events among participants in the centers for disease control and prevention's anthrax vaccine and antimicrobial availability program for persons at risk for bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax. | on 20 december 2001, the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) initiated the anthrax vaccine and antibiotic availability program (hereafter, the "program") under an investigational new drug application with the us food and drug administration. this program provided options for additional preventive treatment for persons at risk for inhalation anthrax as a result of recent bioterrorism attacks who had concluded or were concluding a 60-day course of antimicrobial prophylaxis. participan ... | 2003 | 13130401 |
| smallpox vaccine: contraindications, administration, and adverse reactions. | since the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, and the anthrax exposures in the following weeks, concern that smallpox could be used as a biologic weapon has increased. public health departments and the u.s. military have begun the process of vaccinating soldiers and civilian first-responders. smallpox vaccination carries some serious risks: approximately one in 1 million primary vaccinees and one in 4 million revaccinees will die from adverse vaccine reactions. the most serious side effects ... | 2003 | 13678138 |
| why there hasn't been an anthrax outbreak. | 2003 | 12465606 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| law sends laboratories into pathogen panic. | 2003 | 12511920 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| searching for bacillus anthracis in suspect powders: a french experience. | 2003 | 12517916 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| reply: cutaneous anthrax of the eyelid. | 2003 | 12545123 | |
| biothreat agent monitoring using a flow-through polymerase chain reaction instrument. | extract: the 2001 anthrax letter mailings highlighted critical shortfalls in the usa's capabilities for dealing with the threats of bioterrorism: the lack of effective, reliable, low-cost detection systems for use by state and local authorities. during the few months after the letters were received, 17,000 false alarms and hoaxes were reported, and americans everywhere were terrified to open their mail. over 200,000 samples were processed by the center for disease control (cdc) and others. in a ... | 2003 | 20705035 |
| bioterrorism - health emergency preparedness and response. | health emergency planning for preparedness and response against acts of terrorism, including the malfeasant threat or actual release of biological agents designed to harm others, has assumed a higher level of concern for most western nations, including canada, following the explosive attacks in the united states on september 11, 2001. these terrorist attacks were followed by an outbreak of anthrax infections. the bacillus anthracis spores in these attacks were dispersed by using regular postal s ... | 2003 | 20019925 |
| repeatability and pattern recognition of bacterial fatty acid profiles generated by direct mass spectrometric analysis of in situ thermal hydrolysis/methylation of whole cells. | direct ci mass spectrometry profiling of fatty acid methyl esters (fames) from in situ thermal hydrolysis/methylation (thm) of whole bacterial cells with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (tmah) has been demonstrated as a potential method for real time and fieldable detection/identification of microorganisms. bacillus anthracis (ames), yersinia pestis (nair. kenya), vibrio cholerae (e1 tor), brucella melitensis (abortus wild) and francisella tularensis (lvs vaccine) were profiled by this method duri ... | 2003 | 18968943 |
| anthrax of the lower eyelid. | because cutaneous anthrax, caused by bacillus anthracis, is rare in developed countries, sporadic cases of anthrax may easily be overlooked because the diagnosis is often difficult to make. lower eyelid involvement of anthrax is rare in clinical practice. a 40-year-old woman with a history of contact with animals was evaluated and treated for a left lower eyelid lesion with a black eschar on it. a diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax had been made and intravenous penicillin had been given by the depar ... | 2003 | 24009441 |
| anthrax - biological threat in the 21(st) century. | 2002 | 22969310 | |
| more over anthrax. | 2002 | 12546026 | |
| news in brief. | 2002 | 12546833 | |
| [biological warfare. i. anthrax, plague, tularemia]. | 2002 | 12522911 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [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 |
| [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 |
| [risk management and risk communication from a laboratory point of view]. | 2002 | 12516023 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| the reality of the modern bioterrorism response. | 2002 | 12504495 | |
| 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 |
| the tools of the trade: weapons of mass destruction. | 2002 | 12487040 | |
| antimicrobial therapy for bacillus anthracis-induced polymicrobial infection in (60)co gamma-irradiated mice. | challenge with both nonlethal ionizing radiation and toxigenic bacillus anthracis spores increases the rate of mortality from a mixed bacterial infection. if biological weapons, such as b. anthracis spores, and nuclear weapons were used together, casualties could be more severe than they would be from the use of either weapon alone. we previously discovered that a polymicrobial infection developed in b6d2f(1)/j mice after nonlethal (7-gy) (60)co gamma irradiation and intratracheal challenge with ... | 2002 | 12384351 |
| open-market innovation. | companies in many industries are feeling immense pressure to improve their ability to innovate. even in these tough economic times, executives have pushed innovation initiatives to the top of their priority lists, but they know that the best ideas aren't always coming out of their own r&d labs. that's why a growing number of companies are exploring the idea of open-market innovation--an approach that uses tools such as licensing, joint ventures, and strategic alliances to bring the benefits of f ... | 2002 | 12389463 |
| 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 |
| breakthrough of the year. bioterrorism: the calm after the storm. | 2002 | 12493879 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| inflammatory causes of gastroparesis: report of five cases. | 2002 | 12498282 | |
| sterilization of mail by means of an electron beam accelerator. | 2002 | 12469598 |