Development of a monoclonal antibody-based co-agglutination test to detect enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from diarrheic neonatal calves

Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains were collected from young diarrheic calves in farms and field. Strains that expressed the K99 (F5) antigen were identified by agglutination tests using reference antibodies to K99 antigen and electron microscopy. The K99 antigen from a selected field strain (SAR-14) was heat-extracted and fractionated on a Sepharose CL-4B column. Further purification was carried out by sodium deoxycholate treatment and/or ion-exchange chromatography. Monoclonal antibodies to purified K99 antigen were produced by the hybridoma technique, and a specific clone, NEK99-5.6.12, was selected for propagation in tissue culture. The antibodies, thus obtained, were affinity-purified, characterized and coated onto Giemsa-stained Cowan-I strain of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The antibody-coated S. aureus were used in a co-agglutination test to detect K99+ E. coli isolated from feces of diarrheic calves. The specificity of the test was validated against reference monoclonal antibodies used in co-agglutination tests, as well as in ELISA. Specificity of the monoclonal antibodies was also tested against various Gram negative bacteria. The developed antibodies specifically detected purified K99 antigen in immunoblots, as well as K99+ E. coli in ELISA and co-agglutination tests. The co-agglutination test was specific and convenient for large-scale screening of K99+ E. coli isolates

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences

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Not AvailableAn experiment in which there are two or more than two factors, each factor is a mixture of its components is called multifactor mixture experiment. Two methods of construction of multifactor mixture experiments have been developed. First method uses the algorithmic construction of efficient designs in less number of design points in comparison to existing designs obtained as a Kronecker product of single factor mixture designs. In the second method, Kronecker sum of matrices has been utilized for construction of multifactor designs where all the factors have same number of components. It has been illustrated with data that the designs developed allow the fitting of second order model.Not Availabl

Miniature pressure sensor based on suspended MWCNT

Conventional pressure sensors rely on diaphragms with large surface areas, which deform in response to pressure. Down scalability of these devices is one of the major challenges of the technology along with reducing the overall actuation voltage and achieving ultra-high sensitivity. We present a sensitive miniature pressure sensor based on the change in the physisorbed gases with the pressure of the surrounding air. The sensor consists of a suspended individual multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) clamped on Au electrodes by electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID) of Pt. The variation in the surrounding pressure is shown to be tracked by monitoring the change in the resistivity, hence resistance, of the MWCNT bridge structure due to the change in percentage of oxygen and humidity in the surrounding medium with pressure. The experimental data reveal the practicability and simplicity of the proposed pressure sensor. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Evolution of Microstructures During Austempering of Ductile Irons Alloyed with Manganese and Copper

The influences of relatively high manganese (0.45 through 1.0 wt pct) and copper (0.56 through 1.13 wt pct) contents on microstructure development and phase transformation in three austempered ductile irons have been studied. The experimental ductile irons alloyed with copper and manganese are found to be practically free from intercellular manganese segregation. This suggests that the positive segregation of manganese is largely neutralized by the negative segregation of copper when these alloying elements are added in appropriate proportions. The drop in unreacted austenite volume (UAV) with increasing austempering temperature and time is quite significant in irons alloyed with copper and manganese. The ausferrite morphology also undergoes a transition from lenticular to feathery appearance of increasing coarseness with the increasing austempering temperature and time. SEM micrographs of the austempered samples from the base alloy containing manganese only, as well as copper plus manganese-alloyed irons, clearly reveal the presence of some martensite along with retained austenite and ferrite. X-ray diffraction analysis also confirms the presence of these phases. SEM examination further reveals the presence of twinned martensite in the copper plus manganese-alloyed samples. The possibility of strain-induced transformation of austenite to martensite during austempering heat treatment is suggested

Immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome : Secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE database

The aim of this study was to describe data on epidemiology, ventilatory management, and outcome of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in immunocompromised patients. Methods: We performed a post hoc analysis on the cohort of immunocompromised patients enrolled in the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) study. The LUNG SAFE study was an international, prospective study including hypoxemic patients in 459 ICUs from 50 countries across 5 continents. Results: Of 2813 patients with ARDS, 584 (20.8%) were immunocompromised, 38.9% of whom had an unspecified cause. Pneumonia, nonpulmonary sepsis, and noncardiogenic shock were their most common risk factors for ARDS. Hospital mortality was higher in immunocompromised than in immunocompetent patients (52.4% vs 36.2%; p < 0.0001), despite similar severity of ARDS. Decisions regarding limiting life-sustaining measures were significantly more frequent in immunocompromised patients (27.1% vs 18.6%; p < 0.0001). Use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) as first-line treatment was higher in immunocompromised patients (20.9% vs 15.9%; p = 0.0048), and immunodeficiency remained independently associated with the use of NIV after adjustment for confounders. Forty-eight percent of the patients treated with NIV were intubated, and their mortality was not different from that of the patients invasively ventilated ab initio. Conclusions: Immunosuppression is frequent in patients with ARDS, and infections are the main risk factors for ARDS in these immunocompromised patients. Their management differs from that of immunocompetent patients, particularly the greater use of NIV as first-line ventilation strategy. Compared with immunocompetent subjects, they have higher mortality regardless of ARDS severity as well as a higher frequency of limitation of life-sustaining measures. Nonetheless, nearly half of these patients survive to hospital discharge. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013