Enterococcus cecorum septicemia in a malnourished adult patient

Enterococcus cecorum, a species typically isolated from chicken, pigs, calves, horses, ducks, cats, dogs, and canaries, was isolated from the blood of a patient with severe septicemia. The isolate was identified by conventional biochemical tests. Identity asEnterococcus cecorum was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis of whole cell protein. This is the first report of the isolation ofEnterococcus cecorum in a clinical settin

Comparative genomics among members of the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex

Background: Today, only one streptococcal species, i.e. Streptococcus thermophilus is recognized as food-grade. Interestingly, other streptococci like Streptococcus macedonicus and Streptococcus infantarius belonging to the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex (SBSEC) are also found in food matrices. However, these species are phylogenetically related to Streptococcus gallolyticus and Streptococcus pasteurianus that have been linked to endocarditis, bacteremia and colon cancer. Objectives: To compare the available genomes of the members of the SBSEC in order to shed light onto their evolution and phylogenetic relation and to assess in silico their pathogenic potential. Methods: Comparative genomics analysis including full chromosome and CDS alignments, whole genome phylogeny and evaluation of gene content (e.g. core genome, singletons, etc.) was performed with appropriate bioinformatics tools. Conclusions: Despite the fact that the four species of the SBSEC were found tightly related based on whole genome phylogeny, there were two different patterns of evolution among them. Streptococcus pasteurianus, S. macedonicus and S. infantarius seem to have undergone a reductive evolution process that resulted in significantly diminished genome sizes and increased percentages of potential pseudogenes when compared to S. gallolyticus. In addition, S. pasteurianus, S. macedonicus and S. infantarius seem to have lost several genes previously linked to the ability of S. gallolyticus to survive in the gastrointestinal tract of herbivores and to its pathogenicity. Our findings indicate differences in the ecological niche and the pathogenic potential among the four species

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia in primary care: a study protocol

BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) frequently occur in patients with dementia. To date, prospective studies on the course of NPS have been conducted in patients with dementia in clinical centers or psychiatric services. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the course of NPS in patients with dementia and caregiver distress in primary care. We also aim to detect determinants of both the course of NPS in patients with dementia and informal caregiver distress in primary care. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a prospective observational study on the course of NPS in patients with dementia in primary care. Thirty-seven general practitioners (GPs) in 18 general practices were selected based on their interest in participating in this study. We will retrieve electronic medical files of patients with dementia from these general practices. Patients and caregivers will be followed for 18 months during the period January 2012 to December 2013. Patient characteristics will be collected at baseline. Time to death or institutionalization will be measured. Co-morbidity will be assessed using the Charlson index. Psychotropic drug use and primary and secondary outcome measures will be measured at 3 assessments, baseline, 9 and 18 months. The primary outcome measures are the Neuropsychiatric Inventory score for patients with dementia and the Sense of Competence score for informal caregivers. In addition to descriptive analyses frequency parameters will be computed. Univariate analysis will be performed to identify determinants of the course of NPS and informal caregiver distress. All determinants will then be tested in a multivariate regression analysis to determine their unique contribution to the course of NPS and caregiver distress. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide data on the course of NPS, which is clinically important for prognosis. The data will help GPs and other professionals in planning follow-up visits and in the timing for offering psycho-education, psychosocial interventions and the provision of care. In addition, these data will enlarge health professionals’ awareness of NPS in their patients with dementia

Detection of Helicobacter pylori in bile of cats

Lymphocytic cholangitis (LC) in cats is a biliary disease of unknown etiology. Helicobacter spp. were recently implicated in human primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Because of the similarities between PSC/PBC with LC, we hypothesized that Helicobacter spp. are involved in feline LC. A PCR with Helicobacter genus-specific 16S rRNA primers was performed on DNA isolated from feline bile samples. Four of the 15 (26%) LC samples were positive, whereas only 8/51 (16%) of non-LC samples were PCR positive (p=0.44). Sequence analysis of the amplicons revealed a 100% identity with the Helicobacter pylori specific DNA fragments. Our data suggest an etiological role of H. pylori in feline LC and that cats are a potential zoonotic reservoir

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Bradyrhizobia nodulating the leguminous tree Acacia albida

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Prosodic modulation in the babble of cochlear implanted and normally hearing infants: a perceptual study using a visual analogue scale

This study investigates prosodic modulation in the spontaneous canonical babble of congenitally deaf infants with cochlear implants (CI) and normally hearing (NH) infants. Research has shown that the acoustic cues to prominence are less modulated in CI babble. However acoustic measurements of individual cues to prominence give incomplete information about prosodic modulation. In the present study, raters are asked to judge prominence since they simultaneously take into account all prosodic cues. Disyllabic utterances produced by CI and NH infants were presented to naive adult raters who had to indicate the degree and direction of prosodic modulation between syllables on a visual analogue scale. The results show that the babble of infants with CI is rated as having less prosodic modulation. Moreover, segmentally more variegated babble is rated as having more prosodic modulation. Raters do not perceive the babble to be predominantly trochaic, which indicates that the predominant stress pattern of Dutch is not yet apparent in the children’s productions