Estelle Russek-cohen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Estelle Russek-cohen

Encyclopedia of Environmetrics, 2006

ABSTRACT Permutation tests are a class of nonparametric methods for hypothesis testing. These met... more ABSTRACT Permutation tests are a class of nonparametric methods for hypothesis testing. These methods are related to randomization tests.

Clinical trials (London, England), Jan 17, 2016

In October 2014, the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Harmonization endorsed... more In October 2014, the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Harmonization endorsed the formation of an expert working group to develop an addendum to the International Conference on Harmonization E9 guideline ("Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials"). The addendum will focus on two topics involving randomized confirmatory clinical trials: estimands and sensitivity analyses. Both topics are motivated, in part, by the need to improve the precision with which scientific questions of interest are formulated and addressed by clinical trialists and regulators, specifically in the context of post-randomization events such as use of rescue medication or missing data resulting from dropouts. Given the importance of these topics for the statistical and medical community, we articulate the reasons for the planned addendum. The resulting "ICH E9/R1" guideline will include a framework for improved trial planning, conduct, analysis, and interpretation; a dr...

Clinical trials (London, England), Jan 14, 2016

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2015

The self-controlled risk interval design is commonly used to assess the association between an ac... more The self-controlled risk interval design is commonly used to assess the association between an acute exposure and an adverse event of interest, implicitly adjusting for fixed, non-time-varying covariates. Explicit adjustment needs to be made for time-varying covariates, for example, age in young children. It can be performed via either a fixed or random adjustment. The random-adjustment approach can provide valid point and interval estimates but requires access to individual-level data for an unexposed baseline sample. The fixed-adjustment approach does not have this requirement and will provide a valid point estimate but may underestimate the variance. We conducted a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate their performance. We designed the simulation study using empirical data from the Food and Drug Administration-sponsored Mini-Sentinel Post-licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring Rotavirus Vaccines and Intussusception study in children 5-36.9 weeks of age. The time-varying confounder is age. We considered a variety of design parameters including sample size, relative risk, time-varying baseline risks, and risk interval length. The random-adjustment approach has very good performance in almost all considered settings. The fixed-adjustment approach can be used as a good alternative when the number of events used to estimate the time-varying baseline risks is at least the number of events used to estimate the relative risk, which is almost always the case. We successfully identified settings in which the fixed-adjustment approach can be used as a good alternative and provided guidelines on the selection and implementation of appropriate analyses for the self-controlled risk interval design. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

A new plating medium (VV agar) has been developed as an alternative to thiosulfate-citrate-bile s... more A new plating medium (VV agar) has been developed as an alternative to thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar for the isolation of Vibrio vulnificus. Salicin (2% wt/vol) is employed as the source of carbohydrate, with potassium tellurite (0.0005% wt/vol), crystal violet (0.00015% wtlvol), oxgall (0.8% wt/vol), and a pH of 8.6 to inhibit growth of gram-positive and gramnegative organisms other than V. vulnificus. Because strains of V. vulnificus do not strongly ferment salicin in VV agar, a pH indicator has not been included in the medium. Growth of V. vulnificus appears on VV agar as large grey colonies with black centers. Other non-Vibrio strains which grow on the medium produce smaller colonies and fail to take up tellurite. VV agar has proved to be more effective than TCBS agar in inhibiting members of the Enterobacteriaceae as well as gram-positive cocci. Only Vibrio strains capable of utilizing salicin grow well on VV agar. Recovery and growth of V. vulnificus are superior on VV agar, compared with TCBS agar.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

A rapid computational method for maximum likelihood estimation of mostprobable-number values, inc... more A rapid computational method for maximum likelihood estimation of mostprobable-number values, incorporating a modified Newton-Raphson method, is presented. The method offers a much greater reliability for the most-probablenumber estimate of total viable bacteria, i.e., those capable of growth in laboratory media.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

The recovery of Vibrio cholerae, Vibriofluvialis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus,... more The recovery of Vibrio cholerae, Vibriofluvialis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus, employing eight strains of each species, was studied by using four brands of thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar prepared according to manufacturers' instructions and following a standardized procedure. A standardized broth inoculum of each strain was placed on duplicate plates of each brand of TCBS agar and also on tryptic soy agar (Difco Laboratories) containing 1% (wt/vol) NaCl, the latter serving as the control. Plates were inoculated in a sequence designed to compensate for bias associated with multiplication of the bacteria during the inoculation procedure. Colony counts and quality of growth were recorded after incubation for 18 h at 35°C. The comparison procedure was repeated four times at weekly intervals. Data were analyzed by using an analysis of variance model. The recovery and quality of growth of each species varied significantly on the different brands of TCBS agar. Significant variability was also identified for some components of the inoculation procedure. Modifications of the inoculation procedure are suggested to minimize sources of variance. A simplified statistical procedure, based on the t test, is described for media quality control for laboratories routinely isolating pathogenic Vibrio spp.

... Singapore Tokyo Page 5. Timothy G. Gregoire David R. Brillinger Peter J. Diggle Estelle Russe... more ... Singapore Tokyo Page 5. Timothy G. Gregoire David R. Brillinger Peter J. Diggle Estelle Russek-Cohen William G. Warren Russell D. Wolfinger (Editors) Modelling Longitudinal and Spatially Correlated Data Springer Page 6. Timothy ...

American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 1985

ABSTRACT The NIOSH method for determining asbestos exposure in the mining environment involves us... more ABSTRACT The NIOSH method for determining asbestos exposure in the mining environment involves using phase contrast microscopy to examine mineral particulates collected on air monitor filters. Particles are classified as asbestiform or non-asbestiform based on their size and length-to-width (aspect) ratio. The procedure works well when only fibers are present. In most non-asbestos mining operations, however, cleavage fragments are the most abundant airborne particulates. In this research, discriminate function analysis was applied to morphological data for airborne amphibole particulates to show that dimensional criteria could distinguish between amphibole asbestos and amphibole -cleavage fragments. The particulates for this research were collected from industrial sites where amosite alone was in use and from mining sites where amphiboles are major rock-forming minerals. The results suggest that cleavage fragments can be differentiated from asbestos fibers based on dimensional criteria alone, but only if the current working definition of a fiber is modified. The data suggest that an appropriate definition of a regulatory fiber would be a particle longer than 5 µm with a width less than 3 µm and an aspect ratio of 20:1 or greater. Adoption of the 20:1 aspect ratio would greatly increase the precision of the NIOSH method. However, a new aspect ratio criterion must be coupled with a lower exposure index in order to prevent an increase in worker exposure to asbestos.

Journal of Dairy Science, 1989

... COHEN,=; EK CASSEL, 2 JL MAJESKIE, a and RA ERDMAN 2 University of Maryland College Park 2074... more ... COHEN,=; EK CASSEL, 2 JL MAJESKIE, a and RA ERDMAN 2 University of Maryland College Park 20742 The objective was to determine if par-ticipants in an intensive dairy cattle re-production workshop learned the desired knowledge and if the DHI management variables ...

Environmental Entomology, 1996

... Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Colonies BARBARA L. THORNE,1 ESTELLE RUSSEK-... more ... Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Colonies BARBARA L. THORNE,1 ESTELLE RUSSEK-COHEN,2 BRIAN T. FORSCHLER,3 NANCY L. BREISCH,1 AND JAMES FA TRANIELLO4 Environ. Entomol. 25(5): 938-951 ...

Journal of food protection, 2001

The objective of this study was to determine if a gentle rinse procedure was equivalent to the co... more The objective of this study was to determine if a gentle rinse procedure was equivalent to the combination of excision and homogenization with a stomacher for the relative removal of various microorganisms from finfish fillets. Fillets of hybrid striped bass and rainbow trout were obtained from local markets and sampled using three methods: rinse (R), excision followed by homogenization in a stomacher (S), and homogenization of fillets following a rinse (RS). Microorganisms were enumerated on selective and nonselective media, and randomly selected colonies from aerobic plate counts were identified using MIDI Sherlock and BIOLOG microbial identification systems. Enrichments and selective media were used for the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Yersinia enterocolitica. This study confirms previous reports that stomaching is superior to rinsing for enumerating total microbial populations from fish fillets. Rinsing was more effective for rainbow trout than for s...

Journal of animal science, 2000

In two experiments, Black Angus bulls were challenged at weaning with GHRH analog and evaluated f... more In two experiments, Black Angus bulls were challenged at weaning with GHRH analog and evaluated for their GH response to determine whether GH response can predict subsequent growth characteristics. The GH response was determined by measuring GH in blood serum collected 0 and 10 min after GHRH injection (Exp. 1: 1.5 microg/100 kg BW human GHRH, n = 34; Exp. 2: 1.5 and 4.5 microg/100 kg BW bovine GHRH [treatments LGHRH and HGHRH, respectively] administered 3 h after a 4.5 microg/100 kg BW "clearance dose" of GHRH, n = 38]. In Exp. 1, GH response did not predict growth or carcass measurements. In Exp. 2, GH response to LGHRH was positively related to ADG (R2 = .18; P = .007) during a 112-d controlled feeding trial. In addition, there was a tendency for bulls with a greater GH response to HGHRH to exhibit greater ADG than animals with a low response. However, GH response to GHRH was not related to changes in hip height (HH) or carcass ultrasound measurements at d 112 of the gr...

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1994

A pathogenic strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was selected for study to elucidate the physio... more A pathogenic strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was selected for study to elucidate the physiology and potential pathogenicity of organisms in the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state in the environment. Studies in our laboratory have shown that S. dysenteriae type 1 survives in laboratory microcosms in the VBNC state for long periods of time, i.e., more than 6 months. VBNC cells of S. dysenteriae type 1 were found to retain cytopathogenicity for cultured HeLa cells. To determine whether VBNC S. dysenteriae type 1 expressed protein after loss of culturability, 35S-labelled methionine was added to suspensions of VBNC cells. Total cellular proteins were extracted and examined by autoradiography. Results indicate that VBNC S. dysenteriae type 1 is capable of both active uptake of methionine and incorporation of methionine into protein. Amino acid uptake and protein synthesis substantiate the viability of cells of S. dysenteriae type 1 in the VBNC state, i.e., although the cells are...

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1986

Sewage effluent and outfall confluence samples were collected at the Barceloneta Regional Treatme... more Sewage effluent and outfall confluence samples were collected at the Barceloneta Regional Treatment Plant in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico; outfall confluence samples at Ocean City, Md., were also collected. Samples from uncontaminated open ocean areas served as clean-water controls. Bacteria were enriched in marine broth 2216 amended with 1 microgram of one of a set of chemicals selected for study per ml: nitrobenzene, dibutyl phthalate, m-cresol, o-cresol, 4-nitroaniline, bis(tributyltin) oxide, and quinone. MICs of the chemicals were determined individually for all isolates. Bacterial isolates were evaluated for resistance to nine different antibiotics and for the presence of plasmid DNA. Treated sewage was found to contain large numbers of bacteria simultaneously possessing antibiotic resistance, chemical resistance, and multiple bands of plasmid DNA. Bacteria resistant to penicillin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, ampicillin, m-cresol, quinone, and bis(tributyltin) oxide were detecte...

Journal of animal science, 1987

Three ruminal-cannulated Holstein cows in early lactation were fed three diets, each containing d... more Three ruminal-cannulated Holstein cows in early lactation were fed three diets, each containing different energy and protein supplements in two consecutive 3 X 3 Latin squares. Each supplement contained a combination of three different feedstuffs (ground corn, soybean meal and wheat mids; corn gluten feed, rolled oats and distiller's dried grains; ground barley, brewer's grains and cottonseed meal). Diets consisted of 30% corn silage, 10% alfalfa hay, 10% alfalfa haylage, 17.7% ground corn plus minerals and vitamins, with the remainder as supplemental feedstuffs individually marked for measurement of ruminal turnover and in situ digestion rates. An extra period at the end of each Latin square was used to measure ruminal turnover and in situ digestion of individual forages. Diet had no effect on dry matter intake or milk yield. Mean fractional turnover (per hour) rate, measured by labeling feedstuffs with cerium, samarium or lanthanum was .044, .048, .049, .043, .047, .046, ....

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1992

High virus counts were found in water samples collected from the Chesapeake Bay. Viruses were enu... more High virus counts were found in water samples collected from the Chesapeake Bay. Viruses were enumerated by ultracentrifugation of water samples onto grids which were visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Virus counts in September 1990, April 1991, June 1991, August 1991, and October 1991 ranged between 2.6 x 10(6) and 1.4 x 10(8) viruses ml-1 with a mean of 2.5 x 10(7) viruses ml-1. Virus counts were usually at least three times higher than direct bacterial counts in corresponding samples. Virus counts in August and October were significantly higher than at the other sampling times, whereas bacterial counts were significantly lower at that time, yielding mean virus-to-bacterium ratios of 12.6 and 25.6, respectively. From analysis of morphology of the virus particles, it is concluded that a large proportion of the viruses are bacteriophages. The high virus counts obtained in this study suggest that viruses may be an important factor affecting bacterial populations in the C...

Transactions of the ASAE, 2002

... and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC Corresponding author: Pau... more ... and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC Corresponding author: Paul D. Schreuders, Biological Resources Engineering Dept., University of ... The use of a non–starved medium further minimized the growth of thick biofilms (Dewanti and Wong, 1995). ...

The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2003

Exercise through perching has been suggested as a method to reduce the impact of leg problems in ... more Exercise through perching has been suggested as a method to reduce the impact of leg problems in broiler chickens. The goal of this research was to determine the effects of stocking density and perch availability on the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) and the level of bone ash in broiler chickens. The incidence of TD was lowest in birds raised at the higher densities with 20 and 15 birds/m 2 and highest at stocking densities of 10 birds/m 2 . This pattern was positively correlated with the perching frequency of chickens, as observed at the different experimental densities and reported previously. Except for controls, which had no TD lesions compared to birds with access to perches, TD incidence was lowest in pens with horizontal perches and highest in pens with a combination of horizontal and sloping perches. These differences were not statistically significant. Percentage bone ash was lower in birds with TD than in normal birds (P < 0.05). Bone ash was not affected by stocking density or perch treatment. TD incidence was similar for both sexes; however, percentage bone ash was significantly lower in males than in females (P < 0.02). These results suggest that TD and faster growth rate in males may have a negative impact on bone mineralization in broiler chickens. However, it is unclear from our results whether providing broilers with access to perches can actually improve bone mineralization or prevent TD.

Transfusion, 2014

Bacterial sepsis is a complication attributed to room temperature (RT)-stored platelets (PLTs) in... more Bacterial sepsis is a complication attributed to room temperature (RT)-stored platelets (PLTs) in transfusion medicine. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as new therapeutic agents against microbes. We had previously demonstrated bactericidal activity of select synthetic AMPs against six types of bacteria in stored PLTs. In this report, we tested these AMPs for their potential antibody response and interference with the recovery and survival of human PLTs in an animal model. Two separate studies were conducted to evaluate the safety of the synthetic AMPs. 1) Two AMPs (PD3 and PD4), derived from thrombin-induced human PLT microbicidal protein, and four repeats of arginine-tryptophan (RW), containing two to five repeats (RW2-RW5), were tested in rabbits for potential antibody response. 2) RT-stored human PLTs treated for 2 hours with each of the six AMPs individually or with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) alone were infused into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice to evaluate their in vivo recovery and survival by flow cytometry. Except for PD3, which showed a weak immune response, all other peptides did not induce any detectable antibodies in rabbits. Furthermore, all six AMPs tested did not significantly affect the in vivo recovery and survival of human PLTs in SCID mice compared to PBS alone-treated PLTs. Preclinical evaluation studies reported here demonstrate that the selected AMPs used in the study did not adversely affect the human PLT recovery and survival in the SCID mouse model, suggesting further study of AMPs toward addressing the bacterial contamination of PLTs.

Encyclopedia of Environmetrics, 2006

ABSTRACT Permutation tests are a class of nonparametric methods for hypothesis testing. These met... more ABSTRACT Permutation tests are a class of nonparametric methods for hypothesis testing. These methods are related to randomization tests.

Clinical trials (London, England), Jan 17, 2016

In October 2014, the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Harmonization endorsed... more In October 2014, the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Harmonization endorsed the formation of an expert working group to develop an addendum to the International Conference on Harmonization E9 guideline ("Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials"). The addendum will focus on two topics involving randomized confirmatory clinical trials: estimands and sensitivity analyses. Both topics are motivated, in part, by the need to improve the precision with which scientific questions of interest are formulated and addressed by clinical trialists and regulators, specifically in the context of post-randomization events such as use of rescue medication or missing data resulting from dropouts. Given the importance of these topics for the statistical and medical community, we articulate the reasons for the planned addendum. The resulting "ICH E9/R1" guideline will include a framework for improved trial planning, conduct, analysis, and interpretation; a dr...

Clinical trials (London, England), Jan 14, 2016

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2015

The self-controlled risk interval design is commonly used to assess the association between an ac... more The self-controlled risk interval design is commonly used to assess the association between an acute exposure and an adverse event of interest, implicitly adjusting for fixed, non-time-varying covariates. Explicit adjustment needs to be made for time-varying covariates, for example, age in young children. It can be performed via either a fixed or random adjustment. The random-adjustment approach can provide valid point and interval estimates but requires access to individual-level data for an unexposed baseline sample. The fixed-adjustment approach does not have this requirement and will provide a valid point estimate but may underestimate the variance. We conducted a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate their performance. We designed the simulation study using empirical data from the Food and Drug Administration-sponsored Mini-Sentinel Post-licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring Rotavirus Vaccines and Intussusception study in children 5-36.9 weeks of age. The time-varying confounder is age. We considered a variety of design parameters including sample size, relative risk, time-varying baseline risks, and risk interval length. The random-adjustment approach has very good performance in almost all considered settings. The fixed-adjustment approach can be used as a good alternative when the number of events used to estimate the time-varying baseline risks is at least the number of events used to estimate the relative risk, which is almost always the case. We successfully identified settings in which the fixed-adjustment approach can be used as a good alternative and provided guidelines on the selection and implementation of appropriate analyses for the self-controlled risk interval design. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Sons, Ltd.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

A new plating medium (VV agar) has been developed as an alternative to thiosulfate-citrate-bile s... more A new plating medium (VV agar) has been developed as an alternative to thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar for the isolation of Vibrio vulnificus. Salicin (2% wt/vol) is employed as the source of carbohydrate, with potassium tellurite (0.0005% wt/vol), crystal violet (0.00015% wtlvol), oxgall (0.8% wt/vol), and a pH of 8.6 to inhibit growth of gram-positive and gramnegative organisms other than V. vulnificus. Because strains of V. vulnificus do not strongly ferment salicin in VV agar, a pH indicator has not been included in the medium. Growth of V. vulnificus appears on VV agar as large grey colonies with black centers. Other non-Vibrio strains which grow on the medium produce smaller colonies and fail to take up tellurite. VV agar has proved to be more effective than TCBS agar in inhibiting members of the Enterobacteriaceae as well as gram-positive cocci. Only Vibrio strains capable of utilizing salicin grow well on VV agar. Recovery and growth of V. vulnificus are superior on VV agar, compared with TCBS agar.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

A rapid computational method for maximum likelihood estimation of mostprobable-number values, inc... more A rapid computational method for maximum likelihood estimation of mostprobable-number values, incorporating a modified Newton-Raphson method, is presented. The method offers a much greater reliability for the most-probablenumber estimate of total viable bacteria, i.e., those capable of growth in laboratory media.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

The recovery of Vibrio cholerae, Vibriofluvialis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus,... more The recovery of Vibrio cholerae, Vibriofluvialis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus, employing eight strains of each species, was studied by using four brands of thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar prepared according to manufacturers' instructions and following a standardized procedure. A standardized broth inoculum of each strain was placed on duplicate plates of each brand of TCBS agar and also on tryptic soy agar (Difco Laboratories) containing 1% (wt/vol) NaCl, the latter serving as the control. Plates were inoculated in a sequence designed to compensate for bias associated with multiplication of the bacteria during the inoculation procedure. Colony counts and quality of growth were recorded after incubation for 18 h at 35°C. The comparison procedure was repeated four times at weekly intervals. Data were analyzed by using an analysis of variance model. The recovery and quality of growth of each species varied significantly on the different brands of TCBS agar. Significant variability was also identified for some components of the inoculation procedure. Modifications of the inoculation procedure are suggested to minimize sources of variance. A simplified statistical procedure, based on the t test, is described for media quality control for laboratories routinely isolating pathogenic Vibrio spp.

... Singapore Tokyo Page 5. Timothy G. Gregoire David R. Brillinger Peter J. Diggle Estelle Russe... more ... Singapore Tokyo Page 5. Timothy G. Gregoire David R. Brillinger Peter J. Diggle Estelle Russek-Cohen William G. Warren Russell D. Wolfinger (Editors) Modelling Longitudinal and Spatially Correlated Data Springer Page 6. Timothy ...

American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 1985

ABSTRACT The NIOSH method for determining asbestos exposure in the mining environment involves us... more ABSTRACT The NIOSH method for determining asbestos exposure in the mining environment involves using phase contrast microscopy to examine mineral particulates collected on air monitor filters. Particles are classified as asbestiform or non-asbestiform based on their size and length-to-width (aspect) ratio. The procedure works well when only fibers are present. In most non-asbestos mining operations, however, cleavage fragments are the most abundant airborne particulates. In this research, discriminate function analysis was applied to morphological data for airborne amphibole particulates to show that dimensional criteria could distinguish between amphibole asbestos and amphibole -cleavage fragments. The particulates for this research were collected from industrial sites where amosite alone was in use and from mining sites where amphiboles are major rock-forming minerals. The results suggest that cleavage fragments can be differentiated from asbestos fibers based on dimensional criteria alone, but only if the current working definition of a fiber is modified. The data suggest that an appropriate definition of a regulatory fiber would be a particle longer than 5 µm with a width less than 3 µm and an aspect ratio of 20:1 or greater. Adoption of the 20:1 aspect ratio would greatly increase the precision of the NIOSH method. However, a new aspect ratio criterion must be coupled with a lower exposure index in order to prevent an increase in worker exposure to asbestos.

Journal of Dairy Science, 1989

... COHEN,=; EK CASSEL, 2 JL MAJESKIE, a and RA ERDMAN 2 University of Maryland College Park 2074... more ... COHEN,=; EK CASSEL, 2 JL MAJESKIE, a and RA ERDMAN 2 University of Maryland College Park 20742 The objective was to determine if par-ticipants in an intensive dairy cattle re-production workshop learned the desired knowledge and if the DHI management variables ...

Environmental Entomology, 1996

... Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Colonies BARBARA L. THORNE,1 ESTELLE RUSSEK-... more ... Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Colonies BARBARA L. THORNE,1 ESTELLE RUSSEK-COHEN,2 BRIAN T. FORSCHLER,3 NANCY L. BREISCH,1 AND JAMES FA TRANIELLO4 Environ. Entomol. 25(5): 938-951 ...

Journal of food protection, 2001

The objective of this study was to determine if a gentle rinse procedure was equivalent to the co... more The objective of this study was to determine if a gentle rinse procedure was equivalent to the combination of excision and homogenization with a stomacher for the relative removal of various microorganisms from finfish fillets. Fillets of hybrid striped bass and rainbow trout were obtained from local markets and sampled using three methods: rinse (R), excision followed by homogenization in a stomacher (S), and homogenization of fillets following a rinse (RS). Microorganisms were enumerated on selective and nonselective media, and randomly selected colonies from aerobic plate counts were identified using MIDI Sherlock and BIOLOG microbial identification systems. Enrichments and selective media were used for the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Yersinia enterocolitica. This study confirms previous reports that stomaching is superior to rinsing for enumerating total microbial populations from fish fillets. Rinsing was more effective for rainbow trout than for s...

Journal of animal science, 2000

In two experiments, Black Angus bulls were challenged at weaning with GHRH analog and evaluated f... more In two experiments, Black Angus bulls were challenged at weaning with GHRH analog and evaluated for their GH response to determine whether GH response can predict subsequent growth characteristics. The GH response was determined by measuring GH in blood serum collected 0 and 10 min after GHRH injection (Exp. 1: 1.5 microg/100 kg BW human GHRH, n = 34; Exp. 2: 1.5 and 4.5 microg/100 kg BW bovine GHRH [treatments LGHRH and HGHRH, respectively] administered 3 h after a 4.5 microg/100 kg BW "clearance dose" of GHRH, n = 38]. In Exp. 1, GH response did not predict growth or carcass measurements. In Exp. 2, GH response to LGHRH was positively related to ADG (R2 = .18; P = .007) during a 112-d controlled feeding trial. In addition, there was a tendency for bulls with a greater GH response to HGHRH to exhibit greater ADG than animals with a low response. However, GH response to GHRH was not related to changes in hip height (HH) or carcass ultrasound measurements at d 112 of the gr...

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1994

A pathogenic strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was selected for study to elucidate the physio... more A pathogenic strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was selected for study to elucidate the physiology and potential pathogenicity of organisms in the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state in the environment. Studies in our laboratory have shown that S. dysenteriae type 1 survives in laboratory microcosms in the VBNC state for long periods of time, i.e., more than 6 months. VBNC cells of S. dysenteriae type 1 were found to retain cytopathogenicity for cultured HeLa cells. To determine whether VBNC S. dysenteriae type 1 expressed protein after loss of culturability, 35S-labelled methionine was added to suspensions of VBNC cells. Total cellular proteins were extracted and examined by autoradiography. Results indicate that VBNC S. dysenteriae type 1 is capable of both active uptake of methionine and incorporation of methionine into protein. Amino acid uptake and protein synthesis substantiate the viability of cells of S. dysenteriae type 1 in the VBNC state, i.e., although the cells are...

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1986

Sewage effluent and outfall confluence samples were collected at the Barceloneta Regional Treatme... more Sewage effluent and outfall confluence samples were collected at the Barceloneta Regional Treatment Plant in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico; outfall confluence samples at Ocean City, Md., were also collected. Samples from uncontaminated open ocean areas served as clean-water controls. Bacteria were enriched in marine broth 2216 amended with 1 microgram of one of a set of chemicals selected for study per ml: nitrobenzene, dibutyl phthalate, m-cresol, o-cresol, 4-nitroaniline, bis(tributyltin) oxide, and quinone. MICs of the chemicals were determined individually for all isolates. Bacterial isolates were evaluated for resistance to nine different antibiotics and for the presence of plasmid DNA. Treated sewage was found to contain large numbers of bacteria simultaneously possessing antibiotic resistance, chemical resistance, and multiple bands of plasmid DNA. Bacteria resistant to penicillin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, ampicillin, m-cresol, quinone, and bis(tributyltin) oxide were detecte...

Journal of animal science, 1987

Three ruminal-cannulated Holstein cows in early lactation were fed three diets, each containing d... more Three ruminal-cannulated Holstein cows in early lactation were fed three diets, each containing different energy and protein supplements in two consecutive 3 X 3 Latin squares. Each supplement contained a combination of three different feedstuffs (ground corn, soybean meal and wheat mids; corn gluten feed, rolled oats and distiller's dried grains; ground barley, brewer's grains and cottonseed meal). Diets consisted of 30% corn silage, 10% alfalfa hay, 10% alfalfa haylage, 17.7% ground corn plus minerals and vitamins, with the remainder as supplemental feedstuffs individually marked for measurement of ruminal turnover and in situ digestion rates. An extra period at the end of each Latin square was used to measure ruminal turnover and in situ digestion of individual forages. Diet had no effect on dry matter intake or milk yield. Mean fractional turnover (per hour) rate, measured by labeling feedstuffs with cerium, samarium or lanthanum was .044, .048, .049, .043, .047, .046, ....

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1992

High virus counts were found in water samples collected from the Chesapeake Bay. Viruses were enu... more High virus counts were found in water samples collected from the Chesapeake Bay. Viruses were enumerated by ultracentrifugation of water samples onto grids which were visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Virus counts in September 1990, April 1991, June 1991, August 1991, and October 1991 ranged between 2.6 x 10(6) and 1.4 x 10(8) viruses ml-1 with a mean of 2.5 x 10(7) viruses ml-1. Virus counts were usually at least three times higher than direct bacterial counts in corresponding samples. Virus counts in August and October were significantly higher than at the other sampling times, whereas bacterial counts were significantly lower at that time, yielding mean virus-to-bacterium ratios of 12.6 and 25.6, respectively. From analysis of morphology of the virus particles, it is concluded that a large proportion of the viruses are bacteriophages. The high virus counts obtained in this study suggest that viruses may be an important factor affecting bacterial populations in the C...

Transactions of the ASAE, 2002

... and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC Corresponding author: Pau... more ... and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC Corresponding author: Paul D. Schreuders, Biological Resources Engineering Dept., University of ... The use of a non–starved medium further minimized the growth of thick biofilms (Dewanti and Wong, 1995). ...

The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2003

Exercise through perching has been suggested as a method to reduce the impact of leg problems in ... more Exercise through perching has been suggested as a method to reduce the impact of leg problems in broiler chickens. The goal of this research was to determine the effects of stocking density and perch availability on the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) and the level of bone ash in broiler chickens. The incidence of TD was lowest in birds raised at the higher densities with 20 and 15 birds/m 2 and highest at stocking densities of 10 birds/m 2 . This pattern was positively correlated with the perching frequency of chickens, as observed at the different experimental densities and reported previously. Except for controls, which had no TD lesions compared to birds with access to perches, TD incidence was lowest in pens with horizontal perches and highest in pens with a combination of horizontal and sloping perches. These differences were not statistically significant. Percentage bone ash was lower in birds with TD than in normal birds (P < 0.05). Bone ash was not affected by stocking density or perch treatment. TD incidence was similar for both sexes; however, percentage bone ash was significantly lower in males than in females (P < 0.02). These results suggest that TD and faster growth rate in males may have a negative impact on bone mineralization in broiler chickens. However, it is unclear from our results whether providing broilers with access to perches can actually improve bone mineralization or prevent TD.

Transfusion, 2014

Bacterial sepsis is a complication attributed to room temperature (RT)-stored platelets (PLTs) in... more Bacterial sepsis is a complication attributed to room temperature (RT)-stored platelets (PLTs) in transfusion medicine. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as new therapeutic agents against microbes. We had previously demonstrated bactericidal activity of select synthetic AMPs against six types of bacteria in stored PLTs. In this report, we tested these AMPs for their potential antibody response and interference with the recovery and survival of human PLTs in an animal model. Two separate studies were conducted to evaluate the safety of the synthetic AMPs. 1) Two AMPs (PD3 and PD4), derived from thrombin-induced human PLT microbicidal protein, and four repeats of arginine-tryptophan (RW), containing two to five repeats (RW2-RW5), were tested in rabbits for potential antibody response. 2) RT-stored human PLTs treated for 2 hours with each of the six AMPs individually or with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) alone were infused into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice to evaluate their in vivo recovery and survival by flow cytometry. Except for PD3, which showed a weak immune response, all other peptides did not induce any detectable antibodies in rabbits. Furthermore, all six AMPs tested did not significantly affect the in vivo recovery and survival of human PLTs in SCID mice compared to PBS alone-treated PLTs. Preclinical evaluation studies reported here demonstrate that the selected AMPs used in the study did not adversely affect the human PLT recovery and survival in the SCID mouse model, suggesting further study of AMPs toward addressing the bacterial contamination of PLTs.