No change in avilamycin (Surmax® Premix) minimum inhibitory concentration for Clostridium perfringens isolates recovered from poultry up to 7 years post-approval in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium perfringens, the causative agent of necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens, has an enormous economic impact on global broiler production. The non-medically important antibiotic avilamycin was approved in Canada in 2014 to prevent and control NE in broiler chickens. OBJECTIVES: To compare avilamycin susceptibility in C. perfringens isolates collected pre- and 7 years post-avilamycin approval in Canada and determine the avilamycin resistance mutation frequency rate in C. perfringens. METHODS: The MICs of avilamycin were determined for 89 strains of C. perfringens recovered from clinically relevant NE field cases pre-avilamycin approval between 2003 and 2013 (n = 50) and post-avilamycin approval between 2014 and 2021 (n = 39) across Canada. For determining the mutant prevention concentration (MPC) of avilamycin for C. perfringens strains, a strain with avilamycin MIC of 1 mg/L was randomly selected. RESULTS: MIC studies showed no difference in avilamycin susceptibility in pre-avilamycin and post-avilamycin isolates (MIC50/90: pre-avilamycin approval 2/2 mg/L and post-avilamycin approval 1/2 mg/L). The MPC was 8 × MIC (8 mg/L) for the selected strain. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the susceptibility of C. perfringens strains to avilamycin was not impacted by its continued use in the 7 years following its approval in Canada. Avilamycin, a non-medically important antibiotic, poses no threat to human health regarding cross-resistance or co-selection of other medically important antibiotics. These factors make avilamycin an appropriate choice for continued use in broiler chickens to prevent and control NE without increased antimicrobial resistance concerns.

Public health and law collaboration: the Philadelphia Lead Court study.

OBJECTIVES: We determined whether Philadelphia Lead Court is effective in enforcing lead hazard remediation in the homes of children with elevated blood lead levels. METHODS: We created a deidentified data set for properties with an initial failed home inspection (IFHI) for lead hazards from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2008, and compared compliance rates within the first year and time to compliance for lead hazard remediation between 1998 and 2002 (precourt period) and between 2003 and 2008 (court period). We evaluated predictors of time to compliance. RESULTS: Within 1 year of the IFHI, 6.6% of the precourt and 76.8% of the court cases achieved compliance (P < .001) for the 3764 homes with data. Four years after the IFHI, 18% had attained compliance in the precourt period compared with 83.1% for the court period (P < .001). A proportional hazard analysis found that compliance was 8 times more likely in the court than the precourt period (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Lead court was more effective than precourt enforcement strategies. Most properties were remediated within 1 year of the IFHI, and time to compliance was significantly reduced. This model court could be replicated in other cities with similar enforcement problems.

Philadelphia's Lead Court is making a difference.

The Philadelphia Lead Court (PLC) was created as an innovative law enforcement strategy to compel property owners to comply with city health codes to remediate their properties of lead hazards, which had led to elevated blood lead levels and lead poisoning in resident children. This study presents a detailed account of and analyzes the opinions of fifteen key informants drawn from the Philadelphia health and law departments and judicial system that staff and run the PLC in response to a fifteen-question structured survey. Main themes reviewed include the effectiveness of the PLC as compared with precourt law enforcement strategies and within the context of a specialized court, the use of fines, the impact of grant funding for remediation work, the major advantages and disadvantages of the PLC, and suggested changes to improve court function, followed by key recommendations. The article concludes that our informants found that the PLC has been very effective and successful. This model could be replicated by other cities with similar health code enforcement challenges.

Surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds in the European Union in 2007.

Surveillance of wild birds for avian influenza viruses has been compulsory in the European Union (EU) since 2005, primarily as a means of detecting H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus and of monitoring the circulation of low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) virus H5 and H7 strains. In 2007, 79,392 wild birds were tested throughout the EU. H5N1 HPAI was detected in 329 birds from four Member States (MS); affected birds were almost entirely of the orders Podicipediformes (grebes) and Anseriformes (waterfowl) during the summer months. LPAI was detected in 1485 wild birds among 21 MS. A total of 1250 birds were positive for influenza A but were not discriminated any further; LPAI H5 was detected in 105 birds, exclusively of the order Anseriformes. LPAI H7 was detected in seven birds. LPAI of other subtypes was found in 123 birds. Epidemiologic evidence and phylogenetic analysis of H5N1 viruses indicate that H5N1 did not appear to persist in the EU from 2006 but was reintroduced, probably from the Middle East.

Structure-property relationships in porous 3D nanostructures: epoxy-cross-linked silica aerogels produced using ethanol as the solvent.

Cross-linking silica aerogels with organic groups has been shown to improve the strength over un-cross-linked aerogels by as much as 2 orders of magnitude. Previous cross-linking chemistry has been developed using solvents specifically chosen to dissolve the monomers and accommodate the reaction temperature. Because the process of making the aerogels requires so much solvent, it is of interest to consider less toxic solvents such as ethanol to increase safety and enhance scale up. To this end, two different epoxy precursors with suitable solubility in ethanol were evaluated as cross-linkers for silica gels prepared from (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and tetraethylorthosilicate. In addition, 1,6-bis(trimethoxysilyl)hexane (BTMSH) was used as an additive in the underlying silica structure to add flexibility to the aerogels. It was found that the ethanol-derived aerogels exhibited more shrinkage than those prepared from other solvents but that including BTMSH in the aerogels significantly reduced this shrinkage. Inclusion of BTMSH also imparted the ability of the aerogel monoliths to recover elastically when compressed up to 50% strain. In addition, optimized cross-linked aerogels prepared in this study have mechanical properties comparable to those using other more undesirable solvents and cross-linkers.

Mass fatality incidents: are California dentists ready to respond?

The role of dentists in identifying victims of mass disasters is well documented. The organization of dentists who are trained in identification procedures at a local, state, or federal level may be a valuable resource in the event of a mass disaster in California. This article explores the organization of dentists available to assist in a mass disaster at the state and federal level.

Forensic odontology: a global activity.

Forensic odontology is an important and expanding field of dentistry. The application of these forensic techniques in identification, criminal justice and dental liability are being practiced worldwide. In some mass disaster events, notably large commercial aircraft crashes, the traumatic forces are such that fragmentation and conflagration result in only the most durable of human tissues-dentition survive and become a potential source of identification.

Syntheses, Spectra, and Structures of (Diphosphine)platinum(II) Carbonate Complexes.

A variety of (diphosphine)platinum(II) carbonate complexes, (LL)Pt(CO(3)), are readily prepared from the corresponding (diphosphine)platinum dichlorides by treatment with silver carbonate in dichoromethane solution provided that water is present. This reaction also permits facile preparation of analogous (13)C-labeled complexes. The carbonate ligands in these complexes have been characterized by IR and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Alternative preparative routes involve conversion of the precursor dichlorides to the corresponding dialkoxides or diphenoxides, followed by treatment with water and carbon dioxide. Various reaction intermediates have been spectroscopically observed in the latter syntheses. Two crystalline modifications of (Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)CH(2)PPh(2))Pt(CO(3)), one with and one without a dichloromethane of solvation, have been studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystal data for PtP(2)O(3)C(28)H(26): P2(1)/c, Z = 4, T = 200 K, a = 10.362(8) Å, b = 14.743(6) Å, c = 19.183(10) Å, beta = 122.69(6) degrees. Crystal data for PtP(2)O(3)C(28)H(26).CH(2)Cl(2): P2(1)/c, Z = 4, T approximately 298 K, a = 11.744(2) Å, b = 15.526(3) Å, c = 15.866(3) Å, beta = 101.58(1) degrees.