Comparative Assessment of the Efficacy of Commercial Hand Sanitizers Against Human Norovirus Evaluated by an in vivo Fingerpad Method.

Human noroviruses (hNoV) are the leading cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and contaminated hands play a significant role in the spread of disease. Some hand sanitizers claim to interrupt hNoV transmission, but their antiviral efficacy on human hands is poorly characterized. The purpose of this work was to characterize the efficacy of representative commercial hand sanitizers against hNoV using an in vivo fingerpad method (ASTM E1838-17). Eight products [seven ethanol-based and one benzalkonium chloride (BAK)-based], and a benchmark 60% ethanol solution, were each evaluated on 10 human volunteers using the epidemic GII.4 hNoV strain. Virus titers before and after treatment were evaluated by RT-qPCR preceded by RNase treatment; product efficacy was characterized by log10 reduction (LR) in hNoV genome equivalent copies after treatment. The benchmark treatment produced a 1.7 ± 0.5 LR, compared with Product A (containing 85% ethanol) which produced a 3.3 ± 0.3 LR and was the most efficacious (p < 0.05). Product B (containing 70% ethanol), while less efficacious than Product A (p < 0.05), performed better than the benchmark with a LR of 2.4 ± 0.4. Five of the other ethanol-based products (labeled ethanol concentration ranges of 62-80%) showed similar efficacy to the 60% ethanol benchmark with LR ranging from 1.3 to 2.0 (p > 0.05). Product H (0.1% BAK) was less effective than the benchmark with a LR of 0.3 ± 0.2 (p < 0.05). None of the products screened were able to completely eliminate hNoV (maximum assay resolution 5.0 LR). Product performance was variable and appears driven by overall formulation. There remains a need for more hand sanitizer formulations having greater activity against hNoV, a virus that is comparatively recalcitrant relative to other pathogens of concern in community, healthcare, and food preparation environments.

Movements of blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) off central California with comparisons to similar species.

Olive (Sebastes serranoides), black (Sebastes melanops), and blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) are all common inhabitants of nearshore ecosystems on the West coast of North America and important components of the recreational fishery off California. Acoustic monitoring studies indicate that olive rockfish are highly residential and that black rockfish are capable of long migrations and have less site fidelity; yet little is known about the long-term movements of blue rockfish. External tag-recapture studies indicate that blue rockfish may have intermediate movements relative to these congener nearshore species. To better understand the site fidelity, and daily and seasonal movements of blue rockfish over long (>1-year) time scales, we placed acoustic transmitters into 21 adult blue rockfish (30-41 cm total length) in Carmel Bay, California. Blue rockfish displayed intermediate movement patterns and residency relative to other similar kelp forest rockfish species. Two-thirds of tagged blue rockfish (13 fish) exhibited high residency to the study area (>12 mo). When in residence, mean home range of blue rockfish was 0.23 km2, however as many as 30% of tagged blue rockfish shifted their core home range area during the study. Most shifts in home range occurred during upwelling season, and tagged fish moved up to 3.1 km when in residence. Blue rockfish with short residence times were last detected in the study area in late winter and early spring. Blue rockfish were observed at shallower depths during day than night, likely indicative of diurnal feeding. However, over longer time scales, blue rockfish were detected at deeper depths during upwelling periods and with increased wave heights. Daily and seasonal vertical movements of blue rockfish may be influenced by upwelling conditions and local prey abundance.

Deepwater fish assemblages at Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas Seamount, Costa Rica / Conjuntos de peces de aguas profundas en el Parque Nacional Isla del Coco y el Monte Submarino Las Gemelas, Costa Rica

The deepwater faunas of oceanic islands and seamounts of the Eastern Tropical Pacific are poorly known. From 11-22 September 2009 we conducted an exploration of the deepwater areas of the Isla del Coco Marine Conservation Area, Costa Rica and a nearby seamount using a manned submersible. The goal of the exploration was to characterize the habitats and biota, and conduct quantitative surveys of the deepwater portions of Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas Seamount, located about 50km southwest of Isla del Coco. We completed a total of 22 submersible dives, spanning more than 80hr underwater, and collected a total of 36hr of video. We surveyed habitats from 50-402m and observed more than 45 species of fishes, some of which have not yet been described and are likely new to science. The diversity of fish species in deep water at Isla del Coco National Park was lower than the diversity of fishes in shallow water, and eight species groups accounted for more than 95% of the total fish biomass. The combined density of all fish species was higher at Las Gemelas Seamount (253 fishes/100m²) than at Isla del Coco National Park (138 fishes/100m²). The combined density of fishes in habitats comprised primarily of bedrock or large boulders outcrops was more than three times as high at Las Gemelas Seamount as it was at Isla del Coco National Park. This discrepancy was caused by the extremely high concentration of Anthiinae fishes in rocky habitats at Las Gemelas Seamount. Densities of fishes in the other habitats were similar between the two sites. Similarly, when estimates of fish density were plotted by slope categories the density was much greater on steep slopes, which were usually comprised of rock habitats. Also, the density of fishes was greatest on high rugosity habitats. Results of these submersible surveys indicate that seamounts in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean may be an important source of biodiversity and that more quantitative surveys are needed to characterize the fauna of the region.

Las faunas de aguas profundas de islas oceánicas del Pacífico Tropical Oriental se conocen poco y de los montes submarinos nada. Del 11 al 22 de septiembre de 2009 llevamos a cabo una exploración de zonas profundos del Área de Conservación Marina Isla del Coco utilizando un submarino tripulado. El objetivo del estudio fue caracterizar los hábitats y las comunidades, y cuantificar las poblaciones de peces de profundidad en la Isla del Coco y los montes submarinos Las Gemelas, situados a 50km al suroeste de la Isla del Coco. Realizamos 22 inmersiones con el submarino, con más de 80 horas de observación submarina, y filmamos 30 horas de video. Investigamos hábitats entre 50-402m de profundidad y observamos más de 45 especies de peces, algunas de las cuales son especies nuevas para la ciencia. La diversidad de peces profundos en la Isla del Coco fue menor que en aguas someras, y ocho grupos de especies representaron más del 95% de la biomasa total de peces. La densidad combinada de peces fue 253 peces/100m² en Las Gemelas y 138 peces/100m² en la Isla del Coco.

Characterization of deepwater invertebrates at Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas Seamount, Costa Rica / Caracterización de invertebrados de aguas profundas en el Parque Nacional Isla del Coco y Monte Submarino Las Gemelas, Costa Rica

The deepwater faunas of oceanic islands and seamounts of the Eastern Tropical Pacific are poorly known. From 11-22 September 2009, we conducted an exploration of the deepwater areas around Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas Seamount, located about 50km southwest of Isla del Coco, Costa Rica using a manned submersible to survey the seafloor habitats. The goal of the exploration was to characterize the habitats and biota, and conduct quantitative surveys of the deepwater portions of Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas. We completed a total of 22 successful submersible dives, spanning more than 80hr underwater, and collected a total of 36hr of video. With respect to invertebrates, our objectives were to gather quantitative information on species composition, density, distribution and habitat associations as well as to compare the invertebrate communities between the two sites. A total of 7 172 invertebrates were counted from analysis of the video collected on this project. Larger organisms were counted and placed into 27 taxonomic groups to characterize the deepwater invertebrate fauna of Las Gemelas Seamount and Isla del Coco National Park. The Shannon-Weiner Index for biodiversity (H’) was calculated to be 0.14 ± 0.02 for Isla del Coco and 0.07 ± 0.03 for Las Gemelas surveys. Although richness was fairly equal between the two sites, evenness was greater at Isla del Coco (J = 0.04 ± 0.006) when compared to Las Gemelas (J = 0.02 ± 0.01). This lower level of evenness in the community at Las Gemelas was a result of high densities of a few dominant species groups, specifically sea urchins and black corals. We also evaluated invertebrate percent cover at both Isla del Coco and Las Gemelas Seamount with respect to habitat type, slope and rugosity. Results indicated that highly rugose habitats contained the highest frequencies of all invertebrates at both sites, with the exception of glass sponges and polychaetes at Isla del Coco, which were found in greater quantities at intermediate levels of rugosity. Information obtained from these submersible surveys indicate that seamounts in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean may be an important source of biodiversity and that more quantitative surveys are needed to characterize the fauna of the region.

La fauna de aguas profundas de islas oceánicas y de montes submarinos del Pacífico Tropical Oriental son muy poco conocidas. Para caracterizar las faunas de aguas profundas del Parque Nacional Isla del Coco y el Monte Submarino Las Gemelas, Costa Rica, llevamos a cabo un estudio cuantitativo de los hábitats y su fauna. Se tomaron videos de transectos desde un sumergible entre 50 y 402m de profundidad del 11 al 22 de setiembre 2009. Se recolectó información cuantitativa de la composición de especies de invertebrados, densidad, distribución y hábitats asociados en ambas localidades y se comparó. Se contaron 7,172 invertebrados en los videos analizados, y se ubicaron en 27 categorías taxonómicas. El Índice de Shannon-Weiner (H’) fue de 0.14 ± 0.02 para la Isla del Coco y 0.07 ± 0.03 para Las Gemelas. La riqueza fue parecida en ambos sitios pero la equitabilidad fue mayor en la Isla del Coco (J = 0.04 ± 0.006) comparado con Las Gemelas (J = 0.02 ± 0.01). Este menor nivel de equitabilidad en Las gemelas de debió a la alta densidad de unos pocos grupos dominantes, específicamente erizos de mar y coral negro. También evaluamos el porcentaje de cobertura de los invertebrados con respecto a tipo de hábitat, pendiente y rugosidad del sustrato. Los resultados indican que hábitats con alta rugosidad contiene más invertebrados en ambos sitios, excepto la esponjas silíceas y los poliquetos en la Isla del Coco, que se encontraron en mayor cantidad en niveles intermedios de rugosidad. La información obtenida con este estudio indican que los montes submarinos en el Pacífico Tropical Oriental pueden ser una fuente importante de biodiversidad y que se necesitan más estudios cuantitativos para caracterizar la fauna de la región.

Conversational fluency and executive function in adolescents with conduct disorder.

BACKGROUND: EF impairments are known to occur among adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) but their influence on communication ability is not well-understood. The purpose of this study was to relate scores on a clinical EF questionnaire to performance on a communication task. Extemporaneous conversation was chosen as the target task, because it places a high demand on EFs and it is a critical medium for adolescent social development. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The participants were 18 incarcerated adolescents with conduct disorder (I-CD), 12 incarcerated adolescents without CD (I-NCD), and 26 typically developing (TD) non-incarcerated adolescents. Participants completed the Self-Report form of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and extemporaneous conversations. RESULTS: The I-CD and I-NCD groups produced four times more dysfluencies in conversation than the TD group. There was also a significant group effect on BRIEF subscores for executive memory (TD vs. I-CD), but not for planning and organization. Fluency data correlated significantly with BRIEF scores for executive memory, and the combination of fluency and BRIEF data accounted for 65% of the variance in group membership between TD adolescents and their incarcerated peers, regardless of CD diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: BRIEF scores seem to be related to performance on communication tasks relevant for adolescents in daily living. Our results also revealed very high dysfluency rates among incarcerated juveniles. The EF and conversation measures differentiated incarcerated vs. non-incarcerated juveniles, but were less sensitive to CD.

Inhibition of neoplastic transformation of benzo[alpha]pyrene-treated BALB/c 3T3 murine cells by a phytochemical extract of passionfruit juice.

The phytochemical composition of passionfruit juice (PFJ) was hypothesized to have valuable anti-cancer activity, and this was tested in a BALB/c 3T3 neoplastic transformation model. A higher concentration of PFJ compared with a lower concentration was effective in reducing the number, size, and invasiveness of transformed foci. When incubated with another mammalian cell line, the MOLT-4, PFJ was unable to alter the cell cycle kinetics while at the same time was successful in inducing the activity of caspase-3, an enzyme that commits the cell to apoptosis. This suggests that phytochemicals found in PFJ were able to produce the changes in transformed foci due to apoptotic mechanisms rather than by a reduction in cell proliferation. These beneficial results were achieved at levels that could theoretically be attained in the plasma after consumption of the juice.

Improving vaccine risk/benefit communication with an immunization education package: a pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) requires that physicians distribute the appropriate Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) at each immunization visit and discuss the risks/benefits of every vaccine given. In a national study, 31% of pediatricians reported not using the VIS and 56% indicated that time was a barrier to vaccine risk/benefit communication. Parents, however, indicated they want their primary providers to personally tell them about risks/benefits. OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of an Immunization Education Package (IEP) intervention to improve compliance with the federal mandate and to improve physician/parent vaccine risk/benefit communication. SETTING: Two multi-physician private pediatric practices in Shreveport, La. DESIGN: A before-after trial with comparison of 130 pre-intervention and 78 post-intervention visits. Research assistants recorded content and duration of immunization discussions during well-baby visits during which immunizations were scheduled. Clinic staffs were masked as to variables recorded. INTERVENTION: The IEP was a multifaceted intervention, involving a practice-based in-service and distribution and discussion of ready-to-use materials including an exam room poster entitled "7 Questions Parents Need To Ask About Baby Shots." RESULTS: Patients were 90% white and 96% privately insured. Pre and post results revealed a significant increase in VIS distribution (33% vs 91%, P <.001) and physician and nurse initiation of verbal teaching about the vaccine (65% vs 100%, 32% vs 72%, respectively; P <.001 for both), and parent initiation of questions (0% vs 32%, P <.001). A significant increase was found in the discussion of 6 of 8 major immunization IEP topics: contraindications, common side effects, treatment of common side effects, severe side effects, management of severe side effects, and schedule of the next vaccination. These vaccine communication improvements were made with a very small (20-s) increase in physician time. In post-intervention focus groups, provider staff endorsed the IEP method. CONCLUSIONS: This IEP was a feasible way to facilitate compliance with the NCVIA. A significant amount of additional information was provided to parents with only a slight increase in time.

The Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibitor l-NAME (Nω-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester) Does Not Produce Discriminative Stimulus Effects Similar to Ethanol.

N-methyl-d-waspartate (NMDA) antagonists substitute for the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol, indicating that a component of ethanol's behavioral activity is produced via blockade of NMDA receptor/channel function. Recently, it has been reported that ethanol inhibits NMDA-stimulated nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in cortical neurons, thereby decreasing the formation of nitric oxide (NO) in the brain. These findings suggest that some of the behavioral effects of ethanol may be mediated by inactivation of NOS. The present study examined the role of NO formation in mediating the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol. To address this hypothesis, an NOS inhibitor, Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) and an NMDA competitive antagonist, (d)-4-(3-phosphonoprop-2-enyl)piperazine-2-carboxylic acid (CPPene), were administered to two groups of rats trained to discriminate 1.5 g/kg of ethanol (n= 6) or 2.0 gkg (n= 7) of ethanol from water. After training, dose ranges of CPPene (3 to 17 mg/kg, ip) and l-NAME (100 to 780 mg/kg, ip) were tested for ethanol-like effects. l-NAME was also tested under a range of pretreatment times (20,60,90, and 120 min). An additional group of rats trained to discriminate 2.0 g/kg (n = 7) of ethanol from water was also tested with CPPene (10 mg/kg, ip) and l-NAME (100 and 300 mg/kg, ip) to verify data gathered from the original 2.0 gkg of ethanol group tested with l-NAME after a 20-minute pretreatment. Although overall, 17 of 20 animals trained to discriminate ethanol from water exhibited complete substitution of CPPene for ethanol, l-NAME, without affecting response rates, did not consistently substitute for either 1.5 g/kg or 20 g/kg of ethanol. These results indicate that inhibition of NO formation is less effective than direct NMDA receptor antagonism in producing ethand-like discriminative stimulus effects.