Acoustic Assessment of Beauveria bassiana (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) Effects on Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) Larval Activity and Mortality.

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) is an economically important pest of palm trees in the subtropics. Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), has been shown to be pathogenic against R. ferrugineus in laboratory and field studies. However, because they remain inside the trunks until adulthood, the slowing of feeding and increases in mortality of internally feeding R. ferrugineus larvae over time after B. bassiana treatment has not been established. To explore the potential of acoustic methods to assess treatment effects, sound impulses produced by untreated, 10(4)-, and 10(6)-conidia ml(-1) B. bassiana-treated larvae in palms were recorded for 23 d, after which the palms were dissected and the larvae examined. Analyses were performed to identify trains of impulses with characteristic patterns (bursts) produced frequently by moving and feeding larvae but only rarely (3-8% of the larval rate) by interfering background noise or tree vibrations. The rates of bursts, the counts of larval impulses per burst, and the rates of impulses in bursts decreased significantly over time in both B. bassiana treatments but not in the control. This supports a hypothesis that larvae had briefer movement and feeding bouts as they became weaker after infection, which reduced the counts of larval impulses per burst, the rates of bursts, and the rates of impulses in bursts. There is considerable potential for use of acoustic methods as tools for nondestructive assessment of effects of biological control treatments against internally feeding insect pests.

[Epidemiological information obtained from anti-hepatitis C virus screening in blood donors and candidates for autologous transfusion from 1992 to 1996 in the Alpes-Maritimes region]. / Renseignements épidémiologiques fournis par l'évolution du dépistage des anticorps dirigés contre le virus de l'hépatite C de 1992 à 1996 chez les donneurs de sang et les candidats à une transfusion autologue dans le département des Alpes-Maritimes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the evolution of the frequency of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies from 1992 to 1996 in blood donors and in candidates for autologous transfusion in the Alpes-Maritimes region and to assess risk factors. METHODS: Anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies were assessed by second generation ELISA in 1992 and in the first quarter of 1993, and then by third generation ELISA; in all cases, anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies were confirmed by RIBA test. RESULTS: Since 1992 (when the second generation ELISA test became available), the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies in blood donors in the Alpes-Maritimes region (0.54% in 1992 to 0.20% in 1996) has decreased. Positive ELISA anti-hepatitis C virus was confirmed by RIBA in 53 to 68% of anti-hepatitis C virus blood donations. The percentage of anti-hepatitis C virus donors with ALT above the upper limit (donation exclusion threshold) was between 28 and 56%.The most frequent age interval for new anti-hepatitis C virus positive donors was between 30 and 40 years. Since 1992, a third of the anti-hepatitis C virus blood donors agreed to participate in a medical history questionnaire. One or several risk factors were found in almost all donors. The most frequent source of infection was nosocomial (50%). During the 5 years of the study, the number of candidates for autologous transfusion increased: 717 in 1992 to 1 528 in 1996. The prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus in this older population (mean age: 64 years) decreased progressively (2.9% in 1992 to 1.1% in 1996, P<0, 01) since the prevalence of anti-HBc remained stable, near 12%. Among the 96 subjects found to be anti-hepatitis C virus positive before an autologous transfusion, 49 were transfused before 1990 and 40 had a history of surgery. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus has decreased since 1992 in blood donors and in candidates for autologous transfusion which may suggest that there is better screening in the general population and presenting the spread of hepatitis C virus infection.

[The medical interview motivated by the discovery of markers of viral hepatitis permits the identification, in blood donors, of behavior at risk for HIV infection]. / L'entretien médical motivé par la découverte de marqueurs des hépatites virales permet de révéler, chez les donneurs de sang, des comportements à risque pour l'infection par le VIH.

From December 1988 to September 1989, 973 blood donors, deferred for anti-HBc reactivity, Ag-HBs positivity, elevated ALT, isolated or associated, but negative for anti-HIV, were interviewed in our blood center in the weeks after donation. Among these 973 donors, 53 (5.4%, 46 males, 7 females) were found at risk for HIV infection: intravenous drug abuse: 24 cases; heterosexuality with multiple partners: 17 cases; homosexuality: 8 cases; sexual relations with persons at risk: 4 cases. These 53 donors did not recognize their risk behaviour during the medical talk before donation. 25 out of these 53 donors were seen afterwards and one of them, homosexual man, seroconverted for anti-HIV seven months after the anti HIV negative but anti-HBc positive blood donation. We conclude that, in our experience, director surrogate viral hepatitis markers help to identify donors at risk for HIV infection, and, in one case, earlier in the course of demonstrated HIV infection than the enzyme immunoassays currently licensed.

Biodistribution and excretion of a mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon "dowel" emulsion as determined by 19F NMR.

To investigate the biodistribution, possible metabolism and excretion of mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon "dowel" molecules used as stabilizers of fluorocarbon emulsions, we have prepared a 25% w/v emulsion of such a molecule, and quantitatively evaluated, by means of 19F NMR, its behavior in the blood and reticuloendothelial system (RES) of rats. C6F13CH = CHC10H21 (F6H10E) was emulsified using egg yolk phospholipids (EYP). The emulsion (F6H10E/EYP: 25/6% w/v) was injected intravenously into 33 Sprague Dawley female rats at a 3.6 g/kg body weight dose of F6H10E. The animals were sacrificed at regular intervals of time. 24 hours after the injection, 70% of the injected dose was located in the liver, 17% in the spleen, 4% in the lungs, 2% in the kidneys and 2% in the blood. The half-time retention of the dowel molecule in the liver was estimated to be 25 +/- 5 days. None of the 33 treated animals died prior to the planned sacrifice date. The dowel molecule F6H10E proved to be well tolerated, and excreted reasonably fast, without metabolism. This appears to warrant the use of such molecules as stabilizers in injectable fluorocarbon emulsions destined to serve as oxygen carriers, contrast agents or drug delivery systems.

Use of Lymphoblastoid Namalva Cell Cultures in a Toxicity Test. Application to the Monitoring of Detoxification Procedures for Fluorocarbons to be used as Intravascular Oxygen-Carriers.

Cultures of lymphoblastoid Namalva cells have been used to check the absence of toxic impurities in fluorocarbons destined for biomedical applications. The test comprises the measurement of growth rate and viability in the presence of the fluorocarbon, and of growth after reseeding. It was used to establish a procedure for the detoxification of a family of fluorocarbons by evaluating the effect on toxicity of a series of individual or combined treatments. A convenient, rapid and industrially feasible procedure was developed which includes washing with 10 % aqueous KOH, shaking with charcoal and filtration over alumina.

Perfluoroalkylated surfactants: relationships between structure and acute toxicity in mice.

New single chain neutral, and single and double chain zwitterionic perfluoroalkylated surfactants or co-surfactants have been evaluated for in vivo applications. A study of the relationship between structure and acute toxicity in mice is presented. Acute toxicity evaluations i.v. in mice indicate the following trends (increasing tolerance): zwitterionic single-chain less than neutral single-chain less than zwitterionic double-chain and, where the polar head is concerned, single-chain compounds: phosphocholine less than phosphoramidate less than trehalose approximately sucrose less than maltose less than xylitol.

Biodistribution of mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon dowel molecules used as stabilizers of fluorocarbon emulsions: a quantitative study by fluorine nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

19F NMR spectroscopy was used to determine quantitatively the organ distribution and organ retention time in rats of the mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon dowel molecule C6F13CH = CHC10H21 (F6H10E), which stabilizes highly concentrated injectable fluorocarbon emulsions destined for in vivo oxygen transport and delivery. The only fluorine resonances detected in the 19F NMR spectra of the organs analyzed were those of the F6H10E dowel itself, indicating that metabolites, if present, have very low concentrations (< 10(-4) M, limit of our assay). The F6H10E content in the liver peaked 1 day after administration (7 days for the spleen). At a dose of 3.6 g/kg body weight, the half-life of F6H10E in the liver was 25 +/- 5 days.

Prolonged shelf stability and biocompatibility of a concentrated injectable fluorocarbon emulsion.

A four-year-old 100% w/v concentrated emulsion of perfluorooctylbromide (PFOB, perflubron) stored at 5 degrees C, when submitted to the close-to-total exchange-perfusion test in conscious rats (Hct 3-5%) still resulted in 75% survival. Particle size and size distribution, viscosity, pH were still in the acceptable range.

Lack of influence of hepatitis G virus infection on alcohol-related hepatic lesions.

BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to analyse the prevalence and histologic impact of hepatitis G virus (HGV), a newly discovered virus, in alcoholic patients, a population known to be at risk for viral hepatitis. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-nine consecutive alcoholics admitted to our liver unit (106 men and 33 women; mean age, 47.1 +/- 10.9 years) were included in the study. All patients had consumed more than 60 g of ethanol per day for at least 1 year. One hundred healthy blood donors constituted a control group. Antibodies to HGV E2 protein and HGV-RNA testing by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers derived from the NS5 coding region were performed in all serum samples. RESULTS: A significantly higher seroprevalence of anti-E2 antibodies was observed in alcoholic patients than in healthy blood donors (41 (29.5%) versus 8 (8%); P < 0.0001). Moreover, the prevalence of HGV-RNA was significantly higher in alcoholic patients (13 (9.3%) versus 1 (1%); P = 0.01). HGV-RNA and anti-HGV antibodies were never detected simultaneously. HGV viraemia was not associated with an increased risk of cirrhosis or hepatocarcinoma in alcoholic subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our study reports a high prevalence of HGV in alcoholic patients. HGV infection does not modify or aggravate the course of alcoholic liver disease.