A comparison of the availability and affordability of a market basket in two communities in the Chicago area

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to characterise the food landscape of an inner city African American neighbourhood and its mixed-race suburban neighbour. Detailed analysis focuses on the relationship between community store mix and price, availability and produce quality. DESIGN: A market basket study was completed by members of the Chicago Food Systems Collaborative. The US Department of Agriculture's standard market basket survey and methodology were used. Additional items and analyses were added in consultation with community members. SETTING: Austin is a lower-middle-class African American community of 117,500 on the western edge of Chicago. Oak Park, which borders Austin, is an upper-middle-income suburb of 52,500 with a mixed racial profile.Subjects: A market basket survey of every retail food store in Austin and Oak Park was completed. A total of 134 were included. RESULTS: Results indicate that Austin has many grocery stores and few supermarkets. Many Austin groceries stores carry produce that is usually competitively priced, but often of unacceptable quality. Supermarkets had the best selection. Prices were lowest at discount supermarkets. Prices of packaged items were higher at independent stores than at chain supermarkets, but fresh items were cheaper. CONCLUSIONS: Food access is related more to store type than number. In this study, item availability and produce quality varied greatly between store types. Price differences were complicated and varied by store type and food category. This has consequences in terms of food purchasing decisions and dietary quality that public health professionals should acknowledge.     

The first reported case of rabbit hemorrhagic disease in Canada

In March 2011, rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) was suspected in a 1-year-old male neutered lop-eared rabbit that had acute onset liver failure. Gross pathology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, partial nucleic acid sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the major capsid protein (VP60) and animal inoculation studies all supported this diagnosis making it the first confirmed case of RHD in Canada.     

Validation of real-time polymerase chain reaction tests for diagnosing feline immunodeficiency virus infection in domestic cats using Bayesian latent class models

The objectives of the current study were to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of three real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for diagnosis of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in domestic cats, both individually and when interpreted in series with one of two serological tests, separately in populations of cats at low and high risk of being infected with FIV. One PCR test targeted the pol gene and two targeted the gag gene of FIV. For comparison, sensitivities and specificities of the individual serological tests (IDEXX SNAP(?) test and AGEN Simplify(?) test) were also estimated. The study populations consisted of domestic cats thought to be not vaccinated against FIV. Low-risk (males aged 4 years or less and females; n=128) and high-risk (males over 4 years; n=128) cats were selected from those where blood samples were submitted to a commercial clinical pathology service. Bayesian latent class models were used to obtain posterior probability distributions for sensitivity and specificity for each test, based on prior distributions obtained from three experts. Medians of the posterior sensitivity distributions for the PCR tests based on the pol gene and two regions of the gag gene tests ranged from 0.85 to 0.89, compared to 0.89-0.97 for the two serological tests. The medians of posterior specificity distributions for these PCR tests were 0.94-0.96, and 0.95-0.97 for the serological tests. In contrast, the PCR based on one region of the gag gene had lower median sensitivity. Sensitivities of combinations of these serological and PCR tests interpreted in series were low; medians of posterior sensitivity distributions ranged from 0.75 to 0.83. Relative to the low-risk population, median sensitivities in the high-risk population were lower for all tests other than the AGEN Simplify(?) test; specificities were similar in both populations. We conclude that the sensitivities of the two PCR tests based on the pol gene and two regions of the gag gene, respectively, in non-vaccinated cats are probably lower than the sensitivities of the two serological tests we assessed. We do not recommend screening cats whose FIV vaccination status is uncertain with one of these serological tests and then testing positives with one of these PCR tests because in non-vaccinates, the sensitivities of combinations of these serological and PCR tests interpreted in series are low. Assessment of the validity of these PCR assays in FIV-vaccinated cats is required.     

Whole Grains and Digestive Health

Whole grains contain all parts of the grain: the endosperm, germ, and bran. Whole grains are rich in fermentable carbohydrates that reach the gut: dietary fiber, resistant starch, and oligosaccharides. Most research that supports the importance of grains to gut health was conducted with isolated fiber fractions, rather than whole grains. Whole grains are an important source of dietary fiber and grain fibers such as wheat, oats, barley, and rye increase stool weight, speed intestinal transit, get fermented to short chain fatty acids, and modify the gut microflora. Wheat bran is particularly effective in increasing stool weight; wheat bran increases stool weight by a ratio of 5:1. In contrast, many novel fibers that are easily incorporated into beverages and foods increase stool weight only on a ratio of 1:1. In vitro fermentation studies with whole grains have been published. Carbohydrates of oat bran (rich in β‐glucan) were consumed by bacteria faster than those of rye and wheat brans (rich in arabinoxylan). Grain fibers were fermented more slowly than inulin, causing less gas production. Wheat is particularly high in fructo‐oligosaccharides, while wheat germ is high in raffinose oligosaccharides. Some in vivo studies show the prebiotic potential of whole grains. Whole grain breakfast cereal was more effective than wheat bran breakfast cereal as a prebiotic, increasing fecal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in human subjects. Wheat bran consumption increased stool frequency. Thus, the gut enhancing effects of cereal fibers are well known. Limited data exist that whole grains alter gut health.     

Comparison of antigen detection and quantitative PCR in the detection of chlamydial infection in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

The gold standard method for detecting chlamydial infection in domestic and wild animals is PCR, but the technique is not suited to testing animals in the field when a rapid diagnosis is frequently required. The objective of this study was to compare the results of a commercially available enzyme immunoassay test for Chlamydia against a quantitative Chlamydia pecorum-specific PCR performed on swabs collected from the conjunctival sac, nasal cavity and urogenital sinuses of naturally infected koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus).The level of agreement for positive results between the two assays was low (43.2%). The immunoassay detection cut-off was determined as approximately 400 C. pecorum copies, indicating that the test was sufficiently sensitive to be used for the rapid diagnosis of active chlamydial infections.     

Physiologic and biochemical measurements and response to noxious stimulation at various concentrations of MS‐222 in Koi (Cyprinus carpio)

ObjectiveTo evaluate the physiological effect and response to noxious stimulation at five concentrations of MS-222 in koi (Cyprinus carpio).Study designProspective experimental study.AnimalsTwenty-one healthy adult unknown sex koi fish weighing mean 450 ± SD 120 g.MethodsEach fish was exposed to five different concentrations of MS-222 (50, 70, 110, 150 and 190 mg L^?1) in a random sequence during the same anaesthetic event. For each concentration of MS-222, vital functions such as heart rate (HR) (via Doppler) and opercular rate (OpR) were recorded after a standardized induction period. Response to two noxious stimuli in the form of haemostat clamp pressure applied on the tail and the lip was evaluated, and blood was drawn to measure biochemical and blood gas values.ResultsDecrease in response to noxious stimulation with an increase of MS-222 concentration both for the lip (p = 0.0027) and the tail (p < 0.0001) stimulus was observed. Biochemical values were unaffected by the concentration of MS-222 with the exception of lactate concentration which was weakly correlated with the duration of anaesthesia (r = 0.31, p < 0.001) and the number of times the fish was clamped or bled prior to sampling (r = 0.23, p < 0.001). Opercular rate decreased with the increase in anaesthetic concentration, and HR was not affected.Conclusions and clinical relevanceOur results indicated a decrease in response to stimulus and a decrease in OpR that were associated with increased concentrations of MS-222. This may assist in establishing anaesthetic protocols using MS-222 in fish and supports the use of supramaximal pressure stimuli to teleost fish under variable MS-222 concentrations as a model for future studies.