Erratum to: Seasonal trend and clinical presentation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus cereus</Emphasis> bloodstream infection: association with summer and indwelling catheter

Bacillus cereus, an opportunistic pathogen, can cause fatal infection. However, B. cereus bloodstream infections (BSIs) have not been well characterised. From 2008 to 2013, B. cereus isolates from all of the specimens and patients with B. cereus BSIs were identified. Environmental samples were collected to detect B. cereus contamination. We also characterised the clinical presentation of B. cereus BSI through analyses of risk factors for BSI and mortality. A total of 143 clinical B. cereus isolates was detected. Fifty-one patients with nosocomial infections were diagnosed as B. cereus BSI, and 37 had contaminated blood cultures. The number of B. cereus isolates and BSI patients was significantly greater from June to September than from January to April (3.4 vs. 1.0 per month and 1.4 vs. 0.2, respectively). All BSIs were nosocomial and related to central or peripheral vascular catheter. Urinary catheter [odds ratio (OR) 6.93, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.40–20.0] was the independent risk factor associated with BSI patients when compared to patients regarded as contaminated. In-hospital mortality among BSI patients was 20 % and was associated with urinary catheter (OR 12.3, 95 % CI 0.67–225, p=0.045) and higher Charlson index (OR 1.99, 95 % CI 1.26–3.12). The number of B. cereus isolates and BSI increased during summer. Inpatients with indwelling vascular or urinary catheters should be carefully monitored for potential B. cereus BSIs.     

The accumulation of healthy lifestyle behaviors prevents the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in middle-aged and older males

Aim

This study was retrospectively designed to evaluate the influence of healthy lifestyle behaviors on the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) during a 5-year follow-up period in middle-aged and older males.

Methods

The subjects included 252 males without a history of cardiovascular disease, stroke, renal dysfunction and/or dialysis treatment who were not taking any medications. Their lifestyle behaviors were evaluated using a standardized self-administered questionnaire and defined as follows: (1) habitual moderate exercise, (2) daily physical activity, (3) fast walking speed, (4) slow eating speed, (5) no late-night dinner, (6) no bedtime snacking and (7) no skipping breakfast. The participants were divided into four categories, which were classified into quartile distributions according to the number of healthy lifestyle behaviors (7–6, 5, 4 and ≤3 groups).

Results

After 5 years, the incidence of CKD [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m² and/or proteinuria] was observed in 23 subjects (9.1 %). The Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that the cumulative incidence of CKD significantly decreased according to an increase in the number of healthy lifestyle behaviors (log-rank test: p = 0.003). According to a multivariate analysis, habitual moderate exercise [hazard ratio (HR) 0.20, 95 % confidence of interval (CI) 0.06–0.69, p = 0.011] and no bedtime snacking (HR 0.19, 95 % CI 0.08–0.48, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with the incidence of CKD.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the accumulation of healthy lifestyle behaviors, especially those related to habitual moderate exercise and no bedtime snacking, is considered to be important to reduce the risk of CKD.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12199-016-0506-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Fluoroquinolones versus trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the treatment of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundFluoroquinolones are a popular alternative to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections.ObjectivesTo compare the effects of fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole on mortality of S. maltophilia infections.Data sourcesPubMed and EMBASE.Study eligibility criteriaClinical studies reporting mortality outcomes of S. maltophilia infections.ParticipantsPatients with clinical infections caused by S. maltophilia.InterventionsFluoroquinolone monotherapy in comparison with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole monotherapy.MethodsSystematic review with meta-analysis technique.ResultsSeven retrospective cohort and seven case–control studies were included. Three cohort studies were designed to compare the two drugs, whereas others had other purposes. A total of 663 patients were identified, 332 of which were treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (50.1%) and 331 with fluoroquinolones (49.9%). Three cohort studies were designed to compare the effect of the two drugs, whereas the others had other purposes. Levofloxacin was most frequently used among fluoroquinolones (187/331, 56.5%), followed by ciprofloxacin (114/331, 34.4%). The overall mortality rate was 29.6%. Using pooled ORs for the mortality of each study, fluoroquinolone treatment (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.39–0.99) was associated with survival benefit over trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole treatment, with low heterogeneity (I² = 18%). Specific fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.17–1.12) and levofloxacin (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.48–1.26) did not show a significant difference in comparison with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. In the sub-group analyses of adult and bacteraemic patients, significant differences in mortality were not observed between fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.ConclusionsBased on a meta-analysis of non-randomized studies, fluoroquinolones demonstrated comparable effects on mortality of S. maltophilia infection to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, supporting the use of fluoroquinolones in clinical S. maltophilia infections. Although the pooled analysis of overall studies favoured fluoroquinolones over trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, the studies included were observational, and sub-group analyses of certain fluoroquinolone agents did not show statistical differences with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Randomized clinical studies are needed to address these issues.     

High‐Performance Polybenzoxazine Derived from Polyfunctional Benzoxazine Composed of an Oligonuclear Phenolic Compound Having a 4,4′‐Dimethylenebiphenyl Linker

A novel polyfunctional benzoxazine monomer, OP‐a , is synthesized from aniline, formaldehyde, and an oligonuclear phenolic compound (OP) with a 4,4′‐dimethylenebiphenyl group as the phenol linker. After thermal curing of OP‐a up to 240 °C, a brown‐colored, transparent polybenzoxazine ( POP‐a ) film is obtained. The mechanical and thermal properties of the POP‐a film are investigated by tensile test, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The POP‐a film is extremely tough compared with a typical polybenzoxazine ( PB‐a ) film. The elongation at break of the POP‐a film is 7.6%, which is surprisingly large for the highly cross‐linked thermoset. The high cross‐link density is suggested from the very high storage modulus (over 1 GPa) above the glass transition temperature (T _g) observed by DMA. The T _g of POP‐a is also improved significantly to T _g = 223 °C, which is approximately 50 °C higher than that of PB‐a . Moreover, TGA reveals that the thermal stability of POP‐a is also enhanced.     

Effect of single-liquid priming agents on adhesive bonding to aluminum oxide of a methacrylic resin

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acidic primers on adhesive bonding to sintered aluminum oxide (alumina). Alumina disks were primed with one of the following materials: Acryl Bond, All Bond 2 Primer B, Alloy Primer, Estenia Opaque Primer, Eye Sight Opaque Primer, M.L. Primer, MR. Bond, and Super-Bond Liquid. Specimens were then bonded with an acrylic resin initiated with partially oxidized tri-n-butylborane (TBBO), and bond strengths were determined. Unprimed specimen was employed as the control. Average bond strength before thermocycling ranged from 20.5 to 41.9 MPa, whereas post-thermocycling bond strength ranged from 0.0 to 40.0 MPa. Of the eight primers, Estenia Opaque Primer and Alloy Primer showed better adhesive performance than the other materials. It could thus be concluded that either Estenia Opaque Primer or Alloy Primer--which contained an adhesive monomer, 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP)--was recommended for bonding alumina with TBBO-initiated resin.     

Association of preoperative radiation effect with tumor angiogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

This study examined the relationship between tumor angiogenesis and the radiation-induced response, evaluated based on pathological changes, in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with preoperative radiation therapy. Forty-one cases of squamous cell carcinoma treated with preoperative radiation therapy were investigated. Tumor angiogenesis was assessed by scoring the intratumor microvessel density (IMVD). Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was also evaluated before and after preoperative radiotherapy. There was no correlation between IMVD in the specimens before therapy and the pathological response to radiation therapy. However, radiation therapy decreased IMVD in the specimens after therapy. A significant association was observed between VEGF expression and resistance to radiation therapy: only 4 of the 21 patients whose tumors exhibited a high level (2 + or 3 + ) of VEGF staining experienced a major (3 + or 4 + ) pathological response to radiation therapy. Furthermore, an increasing level of VEGF expression after radiation therapy was observed in non-effective (0 to 2 + ) response cases. These results suggest that VEGF expression and the induction of this protein are related to radiosensitivity and could be used to predict the effects of preoperative radiation therapy on oral squamous cell carcinoma.     

Induction of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes from Peripheral Blood of Human Histocompatibility Antigen (HLA)-A31+ Gastric Cancer Patients by in vitro Stimulation with Antigenic Peptide of Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma

Antigenic peptides have been used as a cancer vaccine in melanoma patients and have led to a drastic regression of metastatic tumors. However, few antigens have been identified in non-melanoma tumors. We recently purified a new natural antigenic peptide, designated F4.2, by biochemical elution from a human gastric signet cell carcinoma cell line and showed that it is recognized by an autologous human histocompatibility antigen (HLA)-A31-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clone. Here we describe in vitro induction of F4.2-specific CTLs from peripheral blood T lymphocytes of HLA-A31⁺ gastric cancer patients. The T cells of seven HLA-A31⁺ patients with gastric cancers were stimulated in vitro by F4.2-pulsed autologous dendritic cells which had been induced from peripheral blood of each patient by incubation in the presence of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4. We tested the cytotoxicity of the T cells against F4.2-loaded C1R-A *31012 by a 6-h ⁵¹Cr release assay after 3 stimulations with F4.2-pulsed dendritic cells. F4.2-specific cytotoxicity was detectable in the stimulated T cells from two of the seven HLA-A31⁺ patients. Further, both F4.2-specific CTLs also lysed the gastric cancer cell line, HST-2, from which F4.2 was derived. These results suggest that F4.2 peptide may be useful as an HLA-A31-restricted peptide vaccine in certain patients with gastric cancer.     

Effectiveness of polymerization of a prosthetic composite using three polymerization systems.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Although properties of laboratory-polymerized composite materials are influenced by the type of polymerizing unit, little information is available regarding the comparison between use of a high-intensity light source and application of secondary heat treatment. PURPOSE: This study examined properties of a prosthetic veneering composite polymerized with 3 polymerizing systems to evaluate the effects of varying polymerization modes on hardness, solubility, and depth of cure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A composite material designed for a prosthetic veneer (Conquest Crown and Bridge) was polymerized using 3 methods: (1) exposure in the proprietary photopolymerizing unit with 2 halogen lamps (Cure-Lite Plus), followed by heating in an oven (Conquest Automatic Curing Unit); (2) exposure in a photopolymerizing unit with a xenon stroboscopic light source (Dentacolor XS); and (3) exposure in a photopolymerizing unit with 2 metal halide lamps (Hyper LII). Knoop hardness, water solubility, and depth of cure were determined for groups of 5 specimens, according to standardized testing methods. Data were compared using analysis of variance and the Duncan new multiple range test (P <.05). RESULT: The hardness number generated with the metal halide unit was statistically greater than those produced by the other 2 methods, and material component released into water was minimal when the material was exposed with the metal halide unit (P <.05). Among the 3 photopolymerizing units, the metal halide unit consistently exhibited the greatest depth of cure. CONCLUSION: Certain properties generated with the use of the high-intensity polymerizing unit exceeded those obtained from a proprietary system that requires a postheat treatment.     

Early diagnosis of central nervous system aspergillosis using polymerase chain reaction, latex agglutination test, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

To investigate the usefulness of examination of cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) in the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) aspergillosis, we examined five patients with either brain abscesses or cerebral infarctions and 11 control patients. CSF samples were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EIA), latex agglutination test (LA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Cultures of CSF samples were negative in all the patients, but PCR, EIA and LA were positive in five, four and four patients with CNS aspergillosis, respectively. None of these tests were positive in the control patients. CSF examination may be beneficial in the diagnosis of CNS aspergillosis.