Environmental influences on the preferences of wild female house mice for males of differing t-complex genotypes

Twenty-five percent of wild house mice are heterozygous (+/t) for a deleterious, recessive mutation at the t complex. In previous studies we have demonstrated that wild female house mice can discriminate +/+ from +/t males and show strong preferences for the odors of males who do not carry t mutations. In the present study we examine the extent to which preferences of +/+ female mice are influenced by the genotype of their parents and or littermates. Our data indicate that when +/+ females are reared by two +/+ parents, they exhibit strong preferences for the odors of +/+ males. In contrast, when a +/+ female is reared by one +/+ and one +/t parent she shows no preference for males of either genotype. A second experiment using mice carrying recombinant chromosomes indicates that the genes responsible for the parental (or family) odor cue are not the deleterious t mutations per se but rather other genes linked to these mutations.This work was funded by a grant from the Research Council of Rutgers University.     

Antibiotic use in German university hospitals 1998-2000 (Project INTERUNI-II)

In a pilot study we established a hospital antibiotic use database from which estimates for antibiotic consumption in German hospitals (expressed as defined daily doses per 100 patient days, DDD/100) can be retrieved for both benchmarking and antibiotic use and resistance research purposes. Data from eight university hospitals (1998-2000) showed a mean antibiotic use density of 60.1 DDD/100 in the surgical and 79.3 DDD/100 in the medical services. Antibiotic use was higher in the intensive care units (surgery: 146 DDD/100, medicine: 187 DDD/100) than in haematology-oncology services (110.8 DDD/100) or in other surgical (51.6 DDD/100) and medical (66 DDD/100) service areas. There were major differences in the use of specific antibacterial drug classes between service areas. The established database allows detailed analysis in antibacterial drug use and can be linked to bacterial resistance surveillance databases.     

Endoscopic debridement and fibrin glue injection of a chronic Morel-Lavallée lesion of the knee in a professional soccer player: A case report and literature review

A Morel-Lavallée lesion is a post-traumatic closed degloving injury of soft tissue. The lesion is due to a shearing trauma with separation of subcutaneous tissue from underlying fascia. When conservative treatment fails, surgical treatment is imperative. Commonly, open drainage and debridement is performed. This case report describes a Morel-Lavallée lesion of the knee in a professional soccer player who was successfully treated with endoscopic debridement and fibrin glue injection after failure of conservative management. This method achieves the goal of an open surgical debridement without exposing patients to an increased morbidity.     

Female discrimination of male odors correlated with male genotype at the T locus: A response to T-locus or H-2-locus variability?

Female house mice (Mus musculus), derived from several populations of wild-caught mice, were tested for their ability to discriminate between males whose genotype at the T locus was +/+ and those whose genotype was +/t, using odor cues alone. Females spent more time near the odors or +/+ males than near the odors of +/t males. This preference was independent of the T-locus genotype of the female and the particular type of t allele carried by either the male or the female. A female's preference, however, did appear to be related to the genotype of her parents. Females with one +/t parent were more likely to prefer +/t males than were females whose parents were both +/+. In a second experiment 18 females were tested with odors from soiled bedding of recombinant males whose genotype varied at the T locus but who were similar at the H-2 locus. As a control, these 18 females were also tested with bedding of wild-derived +/+ and +/t^{w semilethal} males. Females tested with recombinant males preferred odors of males not carrying lethal t alleles over those of males carrying two lethal t alleles, indicating that T-locus variability, not H-2-locus variability, is responsible for odor differences between +/+ and +/t males. Female responses to odors of recombinanat males did not differ from those to odors of +/+ and +/t^{w semilethal} males. Responses of mice to odor differences associated with T-locus variability may have evolved independently of responses to odor variability associated with the H-2 locus.This work was supported by NIH Grant HD 15997-01.     

Modified guidelines impact on antibiotic use and costs: duration of treatment for pneumonia in a neurosurgical ICU is reduced

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of an intervention to reduce the duration of antibiotic treatment for pneumonia in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (ICU). The usage of antibiotics and the resultant costs were examined using interrupted time series analysis while resistance and device-associated infection rates are also described. METHODS: In January 2004, revised guidelines for the use of antibiotics were implemented. As a consequence of this, the duration of antibiotic therapy for nosocomial pneumonia was reduced from 14 to 7 days, while for community-acquired pneumonia the period fell from 10 to 5 days. The effect on the antibiotic use density [AD; expressed as defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 patient days (pd)] was calculated by segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series for the 24 months prior to (2002 and 2003) and after the intervention (2004 and 2005). RESULTS: The intervention was associated with a significant decrease in total AD from 949.8 to 626.7 DDD/1000 pd after the intervention. This was mainly due to reduced consumption of second-generation cephalosporins (-100.6 DDD/1000 pd), imidazoles (- 100.3 DDD/1000 pd), carbapenems (-33.3 DDD/1000 pd), penicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitor (-33.5 DDD/1000 pd) and glycopeptides (-30.2 DDD/1000 pd). Glycopeptide reduction might be associated with a significant decrease in the proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (8.4% before and 2.9% after the intervention). Similarly, total antibiotic costs/pd (Euro) showed a significant decrease from 13.16 Euro/pd before to 7.31 euro/pd after the intervention. This is a saving of 5.85 Euro/pd. The incidence of patients dying with pneumonia did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The most conservative estimate of segmented regression analysis over a 48 month period showed that halving the duration of treatment for pneumonia results in a reduction of over 30% in antibiotic consumption and costs. Because respiratory infections are most common in ICU patients, interventions targeting a reduction in the duration of treatment of pneumonia might be extremely worthwhile.     

Responses of male mice to odors of females: Effects of T- and H-2-locus genotype

Male wild house mice (Mus musculus) were given a choice of odors of females whose T-locus genotype was +/ + or +/t. Males showed strong preferences for the odors of +/ + females. However, when males were tested with odors of recombinant females whose genotype differed at the T locus but which carried similar haplotypes at the H-2 locus, the preference for odors of +/+ females was not manifested. Consequently, differences in female odor production that are responsible for male odor preference are not due specifically to the female genotype at the T locus.This work was partially supported by NIH Grant HD R01 1997 and a BRSG Grant from Rutgers University.     

Analysis of a genetic recognition system in wild house mice

Wild female house mice have strong preferences for odors of male mice whose t-complex genotype is +/+ rather than for males carrying deleterious mutations (+/t) at the t complex. In this review of a large number of studies examining the basis for this preference, we suggest the following: first, preferences of +/+ females are greatly influenced by environmental factors and probably do not have a large genetic component: second, preferences of +/t females are less dependent upon environmental factors and hence may have a strong genetic component: third, the lethal factors within the t complex are involved in both the production of the cue by males and the expression of the preference in females: and fourth, there may be a second gene or genes within the t complex involved in the expression of female preference.