Control of endemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—recent advances and future challenges

Although the exact burden of disease caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains largely unknown, most experts agree that MRSA infections are an important clinical and public health problem. Thousands of reports have been published during the last four decades concerning epidemiological and microbiological aspects of MRSA, but uncertainty remains about the best approach to prevent and control this worldwide plague, especially endemic MRSA. Epidemiological methods, e.g., risk scores for targeted screening upon admission, rapid molecular tests and pre-emptive isolation of high-risk patients, new decontamination regimens and restriction of certain antibiotic classes, are all promising approaches that may decrease MRSA cross-transmission; however, further evidence is needed before these strategies can be implemented on a wide scale. Control of community MRSA is an additional challenge for the future, requiring improved surveillance and contact tracing, as well as education and treatment of both infected cases and colonised contacts. This review summarises recent advances and studies that address these issues. Overall, it seems that there is no level of MRSA prevalence for which active control measures are no longer warranted.     

Conditional estimation of sensitivity and specificity from a phase 2 biomarker study allowing early termination for futility

Development of a disease screening biomarker involves several phases. In phase 2 its sensitivity and specificity is compared with established thresholds for minimally acceptable performance. Since we anticipate that most candidate markers will not prove to be useful and availability of specimens and funding is limited, early termination of a study is appropriate, if accumulating data indicate that the marker is inadequate. Yet, for markers that complete phase 2, we seek estimates of sensitivity and specificity to proceed with the design of subsequent phase 3 studies. We suggest early stopping criteria and estimation procedures that adjust for bias caused by the early termination option. An important aspect of our approach is to focus on properties of estimates conditional on reaching full study enrollment. We propose the conditional‐UMVUE and contrast it with other estimates, including naïve estimators, the well‐studied unconditional‐UMVUE and the mean and median Whitehead‐adjusted estimators. The conditional‐UMVUE appears to be a very good choice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of self-management training in Type 2 diabetes: a randomized, prospective trial.

AIMS: The efficacy of three education programmes for Type 2 diabetic patients was tested in a randomized trial. A didactic-oriented training programme (treatment A) was compared with a self-management-oriented programme delivered in group sessions (treatment B). The latter programme was compared with a more individualized approach (treatment C). METHODS: One hundred and eighty-one Type 2 diabetic patients (age 55.6 +/- 6.3 years, diabetes duration 6.6 +/- 6.2 years, HbA(1c) 7.8 +/- 1.6%, female 49.7%) took part. Efficacy was assessed 3 months (t1) after baseline (t0) and at a follow-up 15 months (t2) after baseline. RESULTS: The fall in HbA(1c) in treatment B at t1 was sustained at t2 (t0 8.1 +/- 1.8%, t1 7.3 +/- 1.7%, t2 7.4 +/- 1.9%). In treatment A, HbA(1c) was unchanged throughout (t0 7.6 +/- 1.5%, t1 7.5 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.7 +/- 1.7%; treatment A vs. treatment B; P < 0.05). With the more individualized approach of treatment C, there was a fall in HbA(1c) at t1, but this was not sustained at t2 (t0 7.8 +/- 1.6%, t1 7.1 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.6 +/- 1.6%; treatment B vs. treatment C; P = 0.73). There were also significant benefits in treatment B subjects compared with treatment A in further medical (body mass index and fasting blood glucose), psychological (control, irritability and hunger dependency of eating behaviour, and trait anxiety) and behavioural (exercise) variables. There were no significant benefits of the more individualized treatment C compared with group treatment B. No significant differences were found regarding triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein, diabetes-related knowledge, negative well-being, urine or blood glucose levels or foot care. CONCLUSION: Self-management training had a significantly higher medium-term efficacy than didactic diabetes education. The group sessions were more effective than a more individualized approach.     

聚苯醚热固性改性及其性能研究

通过溴化聚苯醚和格利雅试剂反应，将不饱和基团烯丙基引入聚苯醚中实现其热固性改性，由^1H-NMR和FTIR进行结构表征。确定了烯丙化聚苯醚的固化工艺，并对其固化产物性能进行测试。结果表明：按合成新工艺制备的热固性聚苯醚，其固化产物具有优异的介电性能(低介电常数、低介电损耗因子)，良好的耐溶剂性能和低吸湿性。     

中国尖音库蚊组的分类志要

尖音库蚊类群与医学关系密切,但分类鉴定时有混淆。本文系统报告我国尖音库蚊组的组下分类,将已知的8种和2亚种,根据雄蚊尾器特征,分为三个亚组,即尖音库蚊亚组、迷走库蚊亚组和希氏库蚊亚组。并附有种的鉴别特征和检索。     

Students teaching students: a medical school peer tutorial programme

A peer tutorial programme which is available to all first- and second-year medical students has been in operation at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine since 1972. A retrospective study of the classes of 1982, 1983 and 1984 was undertaken to assess the participation levels in the tutorial programme and to compare the participation level to available performance parameters. The analysis revealed that 54% of the first-year classes and 22% of the second-year classes participated in the peer tutorial programme. X2 analysis of the data demonstrated that the relationship between participation in the tutorial programme and performance on examinations reached statistical significance. The results suggested that an open peer tutorial programme responded to the needs, both cognitive and affective, of medical students.     

细胞标记用大粒径羧化彩色高分子微球的研制

制备一种普通光学显微镜下可见的细胞标记用大粒径彩色高分子微球。以苯乙烯及丙烯酰胺为原料，在体系中加入电解质，有机溶剂及油溶性染料，采用无乳化剂乳液聚合法制备彩色高分子微球，并通过酰肼化和羧化两步反应在微球表现衍生出羧基。     

沙市城区连续10年应用微生物制剂控制蚊虫的效果评价

目的：观察10年来主要应用苏云金杆菌以色列变种地方株（B．t－187）控制蚊虫的效果。方法：按WHO推荐的方法，在实验室进行生物测定，以确定B．t－187乳剂使用浓度，然后进行现场灭蚊效果观察。结果：使用效价为380～460国际单位，剂量为1～2ml／m2的B．t－187乳剂能有效控制蚊约和成蚊密度，成蚊平均相对叮咬密度比处理前下降89．4％，并降低了蚊虫的季节性高峰。结论：该生物制剂对按蚊、库蚊、伊蚊幼虫的毒杀效果颇佳，蚊幼尚无产生抗性的迹象。     

The Process in Psychological Debriefings

Critical Incident Stress Debriefings have become an intervention method used in various cultures, countries and groups following critical incidents. Although the structure of such meetings has been adequately described, utilization of the group processes involved has received less attention. A model, process debriefing (PD), based on experiences from Europe, is presented. Some differences between the current CISD process in the United States and the Europe based model are outlined. Various factors that impact the process of debriefings are discussed with a special emphasis on leadership, and implications of these group process variables for psychological debriefing are presented. It is emphasized that the continued exploration and discussion of process issues is critical to advance the understanding of the critical elements of debriefing.     

残杀威对舰艇蜚蠊的抗性调查与防制研究

目的：观察残杀威对德国小蠊的药效。方法：采用果酱瓶药膜法和现场试验评价效果。结果残杀威对德国小蠊敏感品系的平均KT50为13．86min，现场品系8个调查点的KT50为11．25—38．02min，对抗氯菊酯品系KT50为16．06-23．37min，72h死亡率均为100％；现场试验，4周后的杀灭率仍达90．58％。结论：残杀威对德国小蠊现场品系为一般击倒；对抗氯菊酯品系尚未形成交互抗性，其水乳剂防制舰艇蜚蠊效果满意。