United States Department of the Army

About: United States Department of the Army is a government organization based out in Arlington, Virginia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Poison control & Population. The organization has 32668 authors who have published 42453 publications receiving 947075 citations. The organization is also known as: DA & U.S. Department of the Army.

Efficacy of the Ryu nonstaining KOH technique for rapidly determining gram reactions of food-borne and waterborne bacteria and yeasts.

Abstract: A simple and rapid (< 60 s) nonstaining technique with 3% potassium hydroxide to determine Gram reactions was tested with 495 food-borne and waterborne bacteria and yeasts. In KOH, suspensions of gram-negative bacteria become viscous and string out. Gram-positive bacteria are not affected. There was 100% correlation between the KOH string test results and gram-positive and gram-negative strains.

Rift Valley fever virus (family Bunyaviridae, genus Phlebovirus). Isolations from Diptera collected during an inter-epizootic period in Kenya

Abstract: A total of 134 876 Diptera collected in Kenya during a 3-year period were tested in 3383 pools for Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus. Nineteen pools of unengorged mosquitoes were found positive for RVF. All isolations were made from specimens collected at or near the naturally or artificially flooded grassland depressions that serve as the developmental sites for the immature stages of many mosquito species. The isolation of virus from adult male and female A. lineatopennis which had been reared from field-collected larvae and pupae suggests that transovarial transmission of the virus occurs in this species.

Binary Bacterial Toxins: Biochemistry, Biology, and Applications of Common Clostridium and Bacillus Proteins

Abstract: Certain pathogenic species of Bacillus and Clostridium have developed unique methods for intoxicating cells that employ the classic enzymatic “A-B” paradigm for protein toxins. The binary toxins produced by B. anthracis, B. cereus, C. botulinum, C. difficile, C. perfringens, and C. spiroforme consist of components not physically associated in solution that are linked to various diseases in humans, animals, or insects. The “B” components are synthesized as precursors that are subsequently activated by serine-type proteases on the targeted cell surface and/or in solution. Following release of a 20-kDa N-terminal peptide, the activated “B” components form homoheptameric rings that subsequently dock with an “A” component(s) on the cell surface. By following an acidified endosomal route and translocation into the cytosol, “A” molecules disable a cell (and host organism) via disruption of the actin cytoskeleton, increasing intracellular levels of cyclic AMP, or inactivation of signaling pathways linked to mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases. Recently, B. anthracis has gleaned much notoriety as a biowarfare/bioterrorism agent, and of primary interest has been the edema and lethal toxins, their role in anthrax, as well as the development of efficacious vaccines and therapeutics targeting these virulence factors and ultimately B. anthracis. This review comprehensively surveys the literature and discusses the similarities, as well as distinct differences, between each Clostridium and Bacillus binary toxin in terms of their biochemistry, biology, genetics, structure, and applications in science and medicine. The information may foster future studies that aid novel vaccine and drug development, as well as a better understanding of a conserved intoxication process utilized by various gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria.

Maximum permissible exposures for ocular safety (ANSI 2000), with emphasis on ophthalmic devices.

Abstract: After discussing the rationale and assumptions of the ANSI Z136.1-2000 Standard for protection of the human eye from laser exposure, we present the concise formulation of the exposure limits expressed as maximum permissible radiant exposure (in J/cm2) for light overfilling the pupil. We then translate the Standard to a form that is more practical for typical ophthalmic devices or in vision research situations, implementing the special qualifications of the Standard. The safety limits are then expressed as radiant power (watts) entering the pupil of the eye. Exposure by repetitive pulses is also addressed, as this is frequently employed in ophthalmic applications. Examples are given that will familiarize potential users with this format.

Unconstrained correlation filters

Abstract: A mathematical analysis of the distortion tolerance in correlation filters is presented. A good measure for distortion performance is shown to be a generalization of the minimum average correlation energy criterion. To optimize the filter's performance, we remove the usual hard constraints on the outputs in the synthetic discriminant function formulation. The resulting filters exhibit superior distortion tolerance while retaining the attractive features of their predecessors such as the minimum average correlation energy filter and the minimum variance synthetic discriminant function filter. The proposed theory also unifies several existing approaches and examines the relationship between different formulations. The proposed filter design algorithm requires only simple statistical parameters and the inversion of diagonal matrices, which makes it attractive from a computational standpoint. Several properties of these filters are discussed with illustrative examples.