Fingerprinting of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis by ribotyping

Objective: To carry out an epidemiologic evaluation of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis outbreaks in households and small communities by means of rRNA gene restriction pattern analysis (ribotyping).
Method: One hundred Enteritidis isolates dating from 1989 to 1994 which could be allocated epidemiologically to different sources or to small community outbreaks were investigated with ribotyping, a fingerprinting method in which bacterial DNA is hybridized with the biotin-labeled plasmid pKK 3535 containing a ribosomal RNA operon of Escherichia coli to determine the ribosomal RNA gene restriction patterns.
Results: Four different ribotyping patterns were found with the restriction endonuclease Sma I and nine with Sph I. Ribotypes of isolates which could be allocated epidemiologically to a common source usually corresponded. Almost 60% of the Enteritidis infections had the ribotyping pattern Sph I-A. In contrast, this pattern was not found in any of the five Enteritidis strains isolated in 1989. The suspicion that Enteritidis phage type 4 infections are caused by consumption of insufficiently heated eggs is supported by the fact that the ribotyping pattern Sph 1-A was found in isolates from eggs and from human specimens.
Conclusions: As patterns Sph I-A and Sma I-J appeared in 58% and 75% of the isolates, respectively, ribotyping cannot be used for the differentiation between various outbreaks with these two patterns. In cases where the Enteritidis strains showed less frequent patterns, ribotyping seems to be a practical tool for the identification of infection chains. In addition newly appearing ribotyping patterns can give information about the epidemiologic development of Enteritidis infection.     

Assessing the effect of visual and tactile distractors on the perception of auditory apparent motion

In this study we investigated the effect of the directional congruency of tactile, visual, or bimodal visuotactile apparent motion distractors on the perception of auditory apparent motion. Participants had to judge the direction in which an auditory apparent motion stream moved (left-to-right or right-to-left) while trying to ignore one of a range of distractor stimuli, including unimodal tactile or visual, bimodal visuotactile, and crossmodal (i.e., composed of one visual and one tactile stimulus) distractors. Significant crossmodal dynamic capture effects (i.e., better performance when the target and distractor stimuli moved in the same direction rather than in opposite directions) were demonstrated in all conditions. Bimodal distractors elicited more crossmodal dynamic capture than unimodal distractors, thus providing the first empirical demonstration of the effect of information presented simultaneously in two irrelevant sensory modalities on the perception of motion in a third (target) sensory modality. The results of a second experiment demonstrated that the capture effect reported in the crossmodal distractor condition was most probably attributable to the combined effect of the individual static distractors (i.e., to ventriloquism) rather than to any emergent property of crossmodal apparent motion.     

Predicting infection in localized intraabdominal fluid collections: value of pH and pO2 measurements

PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of pH, pO2, and the subjective opinion of the radiologist compared with bacterial culture in accurate diagnoses of bacterial infection in intraabdominal fluid collections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospectively, 79 patients who were suspected of having an intraabdominal fluid collection underwent diagnostic fluid aspiration. The aspirate was cultured and measured for pH and pO2. A pH < or = 7.1 and a PO2 < or = 49 mm Hg were threshold values used to separate infected from sterile fluid collections. RESULTS: pH alone had a 92% sensitivity and 79% specificity, whereas PO2 alone had a 51% sensitivity and 79% specificity. pH or pO2 combined yielded a 92% sensitivity and 60% specificity. The radiologist's opinion produced a 83% sensitivity and 92% specificity. pH and the radiologist's opinion combined produced a 78% sensitivity and 96% specificity. pH or the radiologist's opinion combined had a 95% sensitivity and a 63% specificity. CONCLUSION: pH is the most sensitive indicator of infection and the radiologist's opinion is the most specific. We recommend proceeding to drainage if the radiologist believes the collection to be infected and performing pH analysis if not. If the pH < or = 7.04, proceed to drainage. If neither of the above criteria are met, drainage could be delayed, pending the results of culture.     

Expression and characterization of Gag protein of HIV-1（CN） in Pichia pastoris

To express the core protein of HIV-1 of Chinese prevalent strain （HIV-1 （CN）） in Pichia pastoris, the fulllength gag gene was inserted into the secretory expression vector pHILS1. Linearized recombinant plasmid pHILGAG by Sail was electrotransformed into the yeast strain GS115, and the yeast transformants were identified by PCR. To induce the interest protein to be expressed, the PCR positive transformants were inoculated in the medium of BMGY and BMMY, mRNA of the strain was detected by RT-PCR, and the expressed protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, Western blotting and thin layer scanning. mRNA （1.3 kb） was amplified by RT-PCR. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis showed that the molecular mass of the expressed protein was 55 kD, which was similar to the expected value, and the expressed protein could react with McAb to HIV-1 p24. Thin layer scanning analysis demonstrated that the whole amount of the expressed protein was approximately 13 % of the soluble protein in the supernatant. The recombinant yeast had good genetic stability. The optimal expression conditions of the engineering yeast were as follows： BMMY medium, 80-90% of dissolved oxygen, 1% methanol, and 3-day-cultivation course. Gag proteins were expressed under the optimal expression condition and purified via gel filtration chromatography. The purity of the interest protein was up to 85 %. After the purified proteins were inoculated into BALB/c mice, the anti-HIV-1 antibodies in the immunized mice could be detected by Western blotting.     

Genotypic characterization of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Peru.

SETTING: Twenty-nine epidemiological unrelated and mostly multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains from Peruvian patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the molecular genetics of MDR-TB strains recovered in a Latin American country. DESIGN: Antimicrobial agent susceptibility testing, major genetic group designation, IS6110 fingerprinting, spoligotyping, and automated deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing of regions of the katG, rpoB, embB, gyrA, and pncA genes with mutations commonly associated with drug resistance. RESULTS: Nineteen isolates were found to be multidrug-resistant by susceptibility testing. IS6110 typing showed that virtually all isolates were unique and therefore had independently acquired drug resistance. Seventy-nine percent of isoniazid-resistant strains had a Ser315Thr amino acid change in KatG. Ninety-five percent of rifampin-resistant isolates had amino acid replacements in the rifampin-resistance determining region of RpoB. Six of 11 ethambutol-resistant strains had EmbB alterations. Eleven pyrazinamide-resistant strains had distinct mutations in pncA. CONCLUSION: Virtually all organisms evolved drug resistance independently. The types of drug resistance-associated mutations identified were very similar to changes occurring in isolates from other areas of the world. Nucleotide sequence-based strategies for rapid detection of drug resistance-conferring mutants will be applicable to organisms recovered in Peru, and potentially other areas of Latin America.     

Comparative strategies and success of sympatric and allopatric Fasciola hepatica infecting Galba truncatula of different susceptibilities

Allopatric infections of French Galba truncatula with an Argentinean isolate of Fasciola hepatica were carried out to determine the infectivity of foreign miracidia in three snail populations differing by their susceptibility to French miracidia (two highly and one poorly susceptible populations). Sympatric infections of G. truncatula with French miracidia were used as controls. Compared to sympatric infections of G. truncatula, snail survival at day 30 post-infection in allopatric groups was significantly lower in a highly susceptible population and significantly greater in the other two. Prevalence in snails infected with the allopatric isolate was significantly lower (16.4–34.5 % instead of 58.6–72.1 %), whereas their patent period was significantly longer (a mean of 69.9–85.9 days instead of 6.4–20.7 days). The mean number of metacercariae was also higher in allopatric groups (236.5–897.3 per cercariae-shedding snail instead of 70.7–222.1). Owing to longer patent periods, the Argentinean isolate of F. hepatica was less pathogenic for these snails. The lower prevalence of infection, the longer patent period and the higher number of metacercariae noted in allopatric groups might be the consequence of an adaptive mechanism used by this digenean introduced to the New World to infect new populations of unusual intermediate hosts.     

Acute effect of Snus on physical performance and perceived cognitive load on amateur footballers

Smokeless tobacco (Snus) is a substance that contains nicotine, which has been placed on World Anti‐Doping Agency's 2014 Monitoring Program. A proliferation of nicotine use in sport has been observed in recent years, but little is known regarding its effects, especially on football players' performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of Snus on physical performance, heart rate variability, subjective activation, mental fatigue, and perceived readiness before a physical test in non‐smoker, non‐Snus user, amateur football players. Participants were administered either Snus or placebo 40 min prior to a fitness test battery (handgrip test, countermovement jump, agility test, and Yo‐Yo intermittent recovery test). Results showed that Snus intake (compared with placebo) increased perceived mental fatigue level and mental load, and reduced perceived readiness level and heart rate variability. No significant differences between the two experimental conditions were found in either performance in the physical tests or perceived physical fatigue levels. In light of these results, Snus could not be considered an ergogenic substance. On the contrary, based on the extant evidence linking mental load and fatigue with physical performance, we argue that the observed negative effects on mental fatigue, perceived readiness, and heart rate variability should be considered.     

Relationship Between Peer Victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Among Primary School Children

Peer victimization is a common stressor experienced by children. Although peer victimization has been studied extensively, few studies have examined the potential link between peer victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and no studies of which we are aware have examined this link among children in primary school. The paucity of studies examining the link between PTSD and peer victimization in primary school is surprising because peer victimization occurs more frequently and is more likely to be physical among 7‐ and 8‐year‐old children. This study assessed the relationship between peer victimization and PTSD in a sample of 358 elementary school children (ages 6–11 years). Results indicated that peer victimization accounted for 14.1% of PTSD symptom severity among boys and 10.1% among girls. Additionally, we found gender differences in the types of peer victimization that were most associated with PTSD symptom severity (d = 0.38). The long‐term developmental consequences that may be associated with peer victimization‐linked PTSD symptomatology are discussed.     

Outcomes of a Peritoneal Dialysis Program in Remote Communities Within Colombia

♦ Background and Objective: Colombia is a country of diverse geographic regions, some with mountainous terrain that can make access to urban areas difficult for individuals who live in remote areas. In 2005, a program was initiated to establish remote peritoneal dialysis (PD) centers in Colombia to improve access to PD for patients with end-stage renal disease who face geographic or financial access barriers.♦ Patients and Methods: The present study was a multi-center cohort observational study of prevalent home PD patients who were at least 18 years of age and were being managed by one of nine established remote PD centers in Colombia over a 2-year period. Data were collected from clinical records, databases, and patient interviews. Patient survival, incidence of peritonitis, and rate of withdrawal from PD therapy were assessed.♦ Results: A total of 345 patients were eligible for the study. The majority (87.8%) of patients lived on one to two times a minimum monthly salary (equivalent to US$243 – US$486). On average, patients traveled 1.2 hours and 4.3 hours from their home to their remote PD center or an urban reference renal clinic, respectively. The incidence rate of peritonitis was 2.54 episodes per 100 patient-months of therapy. A bivariate analysis showed a significantly higher risk of peritonitis in patients who were living on less than one times a monthly minimum salary (p < 0.05) or who had a dirt, cement, or unfinished wood floor (p < 0.05). The 1-year and 2-year patient survival rates were 92.44% and 81.55%, respectively. The 1-year and 2-year technique survival rates were 97.27% and 89.78%, respectively.♦ Conclusions: With the support of remote PD centers that mitigate geographic and financial barriers to healthcare, home PD therapy is a safe and appropriate treatment option for patients who live in remote areas in Colombia.