Clinical epidemiology of ciprofloxacin-resistant Proteus mirabilis isolated from urine samples of hospitalised patients

This study investigated the clinical characteristics of ciprofloxacin-resistant Proteus mirabilis isolates from urine samples associated with nosocomial infection or colonisation, and identified the risk-factors for ciprofloxacin resistance. Data for patients with ciprofloxacin-resistant P. mirabilis isolates (n=13) were compared with those for randomly selected patients with ciprofloxacin-susceptible P. mirabilis isolates (n=40) who were matched by temporal occurrence as control patients. The majority of ciprofloxacin-resistant P. mirabilis isolates were multiresistant, and ciprofloxacin resistance was associated significantly with previous use of fluoroquinolones and production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases.     

Rhinoconjunctivitis,bronchial responsiveness,and atopy as determinants for incident non-work-related asthma symptoms in apprentices exposed to high-molecular-weight allergens

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the role of rhinoconjunctivitis (RC), taking into account atopy and the level of bronchial responsiveness to methacholine, on the incidence of respiratory symptoms and in the development and/or worsening of asthma. METHODS: We examined data from a prospective study in 769 students starting exposure to high-molecular-weight occupational allergens and who were serially followed for up to 44 months. RESULTS: The presence of RC symptoms at baseline was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing shortness of breath and wheezing in atopic subjects regardless of PC20 level and in subjects with a PC20 相似文献   

Evoked field potential analysis of dopaminergic mechanisms in the isolated turtle olfactory bulb

Dopaminergic mechanisms were Anatyzed in an isolated preparation of the turtle olfactory bulb. Field potentials were evoked by antidromic or orthodromic stimulation, and the effects determined of pharmacological manipulations of the bathing medium. In the presence of dopamine or a dopamine agonist, apomorphine, there was a reduction of amplitude and delay of onset of the component of the field potentials due to granule cell responses; fluphenazine, a dopamine antagonist, had generally opposite effects. Using paired volleys, it was found that the suppression of the response to the second test volley was reduced in the presence of dopamine or apomorphine, but enhanced in the presence of fluphenazine.The most likely explanation of these results is that exogenous dopamine depresses the response of mitral cells, which in turn decreases the dendrodendritic synaptic excitation of granule cells and reduces their inhibitory feedback onto mitral cells. This suggests that the dopaminergic cells in the bulb may suppress mitral cells by modulating excitable mechanisms in the mitral dendritic membrane, or modulating long-lasting synaptic potentials.     

Pyramidal input to the basal ganglia in the cat

Summary In cats with mesencephalic decerebration sparing the cerebral peduncles and ablation of sensorimotor cortex, changes in firing of single neurons of caudate nucleus (CD), putamen (PU), globus pallidus (GP) and entopeduncular nucleus (EN) were studied following stimulation of the ipsilateral medullary pyramidal tract (MPT). Cells in CD and PU were not extensively influenced by impulses backfired from MPT (14.7% and 18.7%, respectively). Conversely, a larger number of GP cells (28.1%) and especially EN cells (46.9%) exhibited pronounced changes in their firing following MPT stimulation. The MPT-induced effects on CD and PU were either inhibition or excitations, the latter appearing at latencies greater than 11 ms. The responses observed in GP and EN cells were most frequently excitations, some of which appeared with latencies below 5 ms.     

Effectiveness and limits of antimicrobial treatment on seminal leukocyte concentration and related reactive oxygen species production in patients with male accessory gland infection

To evaluate whether bacteriological cure, sperm outcome, spontaneous pregnancy rate and white blood cell (WBC)-related reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were related to the extent of the infection and to an intermittent and repetitive antimicrobial treatment, 122 patients with bacterial [>10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/ml] male accessory gland infections (MAGI) were studied. According to ultrasound criteria, patients had prostatitis (PR, n = 52), prostatovesiculitis (PV, n = 32) or prostatovesiculoepididymitis (PVE, n = 38). Each group was further subdivided into two subsets: one subset (PR, n = 40; PV, n = 20; PVE, n = 25) was given ofloxacin or doxycycline for 14 consecutive days per month for 3 months; the other subset (PR, n = 12; PV, n = 12; PVE, n = 13) received no treatment. The female partners were also treated. All patients were evaluated before, during (1 and 3 months) and after (3 months) treatment. The bacteriological cure rate was the highest (92.5%) after the third antibiotic course in PR, followed by PV (70.4%), and the lowest in PVE (52.0%). At 3 months after therapy discontinuation, some sperm parameters, seminal WBC concentration and ROS generation (assessed in the 45% Percoll fraction) were ameliorated in PR and PV, whereas no improvement occurred in patients with PVE, except for the percentage of coiled tails. Antibiotic treatment in PR and PV patients led to positive effects on sperm output and spontaneous pregnancy rate (40%) by removing pro-oxidant noxae (microbial and/or WBC-related ROS production). The persistent infertility, dyspermia and sperm-derived ROS overproduction in PVE may relate to a significant percentage of antibiotic-independent re-infection and/or to low antioxidative epididymal properties, which persisted following antimicrobial treatment.     

Projection systems and terminal localization of dorsal column afferents: an autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase study in the rat

Projection systems from the gracile nucleus and the cuneate nuclear complex to their terminal sites in the mesencephalon, diencephalon, and cerebellum were examined by means of anterograde autoradiography and retrograde horseradish peroxidase methods. Three projection systems emerge from the dorsal column nuclei, decussate via internal arcuate fibers, and form the contralateral medial lemniscus (ML). At the obex, some fibers split off the ML and course dorsolaterally, forming an ascending lateral system which fits the "lemniscal adjunct channel" (LAC) concept of Graybiel ('72). The ML continues rostrally as the "main lemniscal line channel" (MLLC). At the inferior colliculus, some LAC fibers terminate in the pontine nuclei, parabrachial, dorsal reticular nuclei, and the external and ventral medial part of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. More rostrally at the level of the superior colliculus, terminal fields are found in the medial nucleus of the medial geniculate body, the suprageniculate, pretectal, and mesencephalic reticular nuclei, marking the end of the LAC. In the diencephalon, gracile fibers leave the MLLC and form a crescentlike terminal field along the extreme lateral border of the ventral posterior lateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus. Cuneate MLLC fibers terminate in a bandlike formation in the VPL medial to the gracile termination. The third fiber system, the cuneocerebellar projection, emerges from the cuneate, the external cuneate nuclei, and the "cellular bridge" and immediately enters the ipsilateral inferior cerebellar peduncle. Upon entering the cerebellum, the major fiber component remains ipsilateral and terminates as vertical bands in vermal and paravermal lobules, and lobules I through IVa. The posterior cerebellar lobe contains terminal bands in lobules VII-IX, the copula pyramidis, and the paramedian lobule. It is concluded that the dorsolateral fiber system conforms to Graybiel's LAC. It is more divergent and probably less modality specific, whereas the medial lemniscal system conforms to the MLLC, which is said to be modality specific, less divergent, and locked to specific sensory-motor response characteristics. The topography of cerebellar terminal bands indicates that there is sensory-motor representation from all parts of the body to all parts of the cerebellum, at least in the rat.     

Cluster analysis of antibiotic susceptibility patterns of clinical isolates as a tool in nosocomial infection surveillance

Hospital infections represent a major epidemiological problem. The first step in the detection of nosocomial infections consists in assessing the probability that two or more isolates from different patients are similar or different. Many methods are available for typing purposes. Among these, antibiotic susceptibility patterns do not need extra cost or extra work and are available on line every moment they are needed. A mathematical technique of elaboration is proposed for disk zone sizes, in order to assess the probability of two or more clinical isolates to be the same strain. Antibiograms performed according to Kirby-Bauer are evaluated detecting zone sizes by a computer controlled device and then submitted to cluster analysis. Similarity of strains is reported in a dendrogram, in which strains are successively fused. Strains that share a common susceptibility pattern are considered a cluster . At last, epidemiological maps are constructed for each group of strains, in which all the isolates are reported, ordered for patients, plotted on the day the specimen was collected, drawn in a different shape according to the source of specimen, and shadowed by the pattern of its cluster. This method of reporting data directly allows to detect cross infections among patients and can be used as a first typing step before other more expensive procedures.Corresponding author.     

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults after Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection,Japan

In Japan, a 51-year-old man had minimally symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome was diagnosed ≈5 weeks later; characteristics included severe inflammation, cardiac dysfunction, and IgG positivity. Clinicians should obtain detailed history and examine IgG levels for cases of inflammatory disease with unexplained cardiac decompensation.     

Risk for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Healthcare Workers,Turin, Italy

We measured severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein subunits S1/S2 antibodies by using capillary electrophoresis and a chemiluminescence immunoassay for 5,444 active healthcare workers in Italy. Seroprevalence was 6.9% and higher among participants having contact with patients. Seroconversion was not observed in 37/213 previously infected participants.