ABSTRACT
AIMS: To test the feasibility of identifying Staphylococcus aureus with a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay that uses a single hot-plate and urea-NaCl reagents. METHODS AND RESULTS: Slides spotted with S. aureus and treated with methanol and lysozyme were incubated with urea-NaCl reagents on a hot-plate with a precise temperature control and identified with specific DNA probes. CONCLUSIONS: Staphylococcus aureus was detected and differentiated from Staphylococcus epidermidis in 1 h with a novel FISH method that used a single hot-plate and in the absence of dimethyl formamide. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: A rapid hot-plate FISH assay with urea-NaCl and without toxic dimethyl formamide might be useful if FISH is run infrequently or where resources are limited.
Subject(s)
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence/methods , Sodium Chloride/chemistry , Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification , Urea/chemistry , DNA Probes , Dimethylformamide , Methanol , Muramidase , Species Specificity , Staphylococcus aureus/geneticsABSTRACT
The dearth of empirical research in the application of biofeedback is discussed. Exp. 1 assessed relationships among biofeedback EMG training, EMG levels, cognitive task performance, and task difficulty. 72 subjects (male or female college students) were administered 1 trial on an iconic memory task with either EMG audio feedback, sham EMG audio feedback, or no feedback. Three levels of task difficulty were used. One 20-min. training session significantly lowered EMG responses, and task performance was inversely related to task difficulty. No relationship between EMG level and task performance was observed. Exp. 2 investigated the effect of increased EMG responses on cognitive task performance for one level of difficulty. One biofeedback training session did not significantly increase frontalis EMG, and there was no relationship between increased EMG and task performance.
Subject(s)
Arousal , Biofeedback, Psychology , Electromyography , Adult , Female , Forehead , Humans , Male , Mental Recall , Muscle Tonus , Pattern Recognition, VisualABSTRACT
Exp. I investigated three recurring problems in electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback research. (1) Pre-knowledge that research involved biofeedback resulted in a selective bias on the part of students asked to volunteer as subjects. (2) EMG readings were not affected by repeated use of the word relax in verbal instructions. (3) The forearm extensor was the only muscle group which showed a statistically significant effect after one 20-min. training session. Exp. II challenged and clarified results of Exp. I and concluded the study with an empirically derived laboratory model for EMG biofeedback research.
