Single rooms may help to prevent nosocomial bloodstream infection and cross-transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in intensive care units

OBJECTIVE: Nosocomial infections remain a major problem in intensive care units. Several authorities have recommended housing patients in single rooms to prevent cross-transmission of potential pathogens, but this issue is currently debated. The aim of the present study was to compare the rate of nosocomial cross-contamination between patients hosted in single rooms versus bay rooms. DESIGN: Prospective observational data acquisition over 2.5 years. SETTING: A 14-bed medico-surgical ICU, composed of six single-bed rooms plus a six-bed and a two-bed bay room served by the same staff. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: All patients admitted from 1 July 2002 to 31 December 2004. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in admitted patients was 1.1% and acquisition rate 2.4%. The incidence density of MRSA acquisition was 4.1 [95% CI 2.7-6.3]/1,000 patient-days in bay rooms versus 1.3 [0.5-3.4]/1,000 patient-days in single rooms (p<0.001). Pseudomonas spp. acquisition rate was 3.9 [2.5-6.1]/1,000 patient-days in bay rooms versus 0.7 [0.2-2.4]/1,000 patient-days in single rooms (p<0.001), and Candida spp. colonization was 38.4 [33.3-44.1]/1,000 patient-days in bay rooms versus 13.8 [10.2-18.6]/1,000 patient-days (p<0.001). By multivariate analysis, the relative risk of MRSA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida spp. acquisition in single rooms or cubicles versus bay rooms was 0.65, 0.61 and 0.75 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that in an institution where MRSA is not hyperendemic, infection control measures may be more effective to prevent cross-transmission of microorganisms in patients housed in single rooms

Model-independent study for a quintessence model of dark energy: Analysis and Observational constraints

In this paper, a well-motivated parametrization of the Hubble parameter ($H$% ) is revisited that renders two models of dark energy showing some intriguing features of the late-time accelerating Universe. A general quintessence field is considered as a source of dark energy. We have obtained tighter constraints using recently updated cosmic observational datasets for the considered models. The two models described here show a nice fit to the considered uncorrelated Hubble datasets, Standard candles, Gamma Ray Bursts, Quasars, and uncorrelated Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations datasets. Using the constrained values of the model parameters, we have discussed some features of the late-time accelerating models and obtained the present value of the deceleration parameter ($q_{0}$), the present value of the Hubble parameter ($H_{0}$) and the transition redshift ($z_{t}$) from deceleration to acceleration. The current value of the deceleration parameter for both models is consistent with the Planck 2018 results. The evolution of the geometrical and physical parameters is discussed through graphical representations for both models with some diagnostic analysis. The statistical analysis performed here shows greater results and overall, the outcomes of this investigation are superior to those previously found.Comment: 22 pages, 26 figure

The Avian Transcription Factor c-Rel is Expressed in Lymphocyte Precursor Cells and Antigen-Presenting Cells During Thymus Development

Transcription factors of the Rel/NF-κB family are widely involved in the immune system. In this study, we investigate the in vivo expression of the avian protein c-Rel in the T-cell lineage during thymus development. The majority of thymocytes do not express the c-Rel protein. However, lymphocyte precursor cells that colonize the thymus express the c-Rel protein shortly after their homing in the organ and before they begin to differentiate, c-Rel is also detected in different subsets of,antigen-presenting cells such as epithelial cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages. In vitro studies have shown that Rel/NF-κB proteins are sequestered in an inactive form in the cytoplasm by interaction with the IκBα inhibitory protein. By immunocytochemistry, we show that in vivo c-Rel is localized in the cytoplasm of antigen-presenting cells but in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of lymphocyte precursor cells. The cytoplasmic localization of c-Rel in antigen-presenting cells correlates with a high expression of IκBα, whereas the nuclear localization of c-Rel in lymphocyte precursor cells correlates with a much lower expression of IκBα. These results suggest that c-Rel might be constitutively activated in lymphocyte precursor cells

InSAR as a tool for monitoring hydropower projects: A review

This paper provides a review of using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a microwave remote sensing technique, for deformation monitoring of hydroelectric power projects, a critical infrastructure that requires consistent and reliable monitoring. Almost all major dams around the world were built for the generation of hydropower. InSAR can enhance dam safety by providing timely settlement measurements at high spatial-resolution. This paper provides a holistic view of different InSAR deformation monitoring techniques such as Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR), Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBInSAR), Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR), Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MTInSAR), Quasi-Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (QPSInSAR) and Small BAseline Subset (SBAS). PSInSAR, GBInSAR, MTInSAR, and DInSAR techniques were quite commonly used for deformation studies. These studies demonstrate the advantage of InSAR-based techniques over other conventional methods, which are laborious, costly, and sometimes unachievable. InSAR technology is also favoured for its capability to provide monitoring data at all times of day or night, in all-weather conditions, and particularly for wide areas with mm-scale precision. However, the method also has some disadvantages, such as the maximum deformation rate that can be monitored, and the location for monitoring cannot be dictated. Through this review, we aim to popularize InSAR technology to monitor the deformation of dams, which can also be used as an early warning method to prevent any unprecedented catastrophe. This study also discusses some case studies from southern India to demonstrate the capabilities of InSAR to indirectly monitor dam health

Abces amibien cerebral: a propos de trois cas avec revue de la litterature

Introduction L’abcès amibien cérébral est une infection rare mais mortelle. Depuis son identification en 1965, peu de cas ont été observés dans le monde entier.Matériel et méthode Les objectifs de cette étude étaient de caractériser les aspects cliniques, radiologiques, histologique, pronostic ainsi que thérapeutique de cette pathologie avec une revue de la littérature. Nous rapportons trois cas d’abcès amibien cérébral qui ont été admis dans notre service entre 2010 et 2013.Résultats Il s’agit de deux hommes et une femme, âgés respectivement de 33, 43 et 56 ans qui ont été opérés. Le diagnostic a été confirmé par les examens histologique et sérologique. Nous n’avons observé aucune mortalité.Conclusion Il s’agit d’une atteinte sporadique mais représente un problème de santé publique et dont le pronostic est habituellement sombre.Mots clés : amibiase; abcès cérébral; IRM ; TDM; examen histologiqu

Isolation, synthesis and optimization of cyclopropanation process of 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol

The synthesis of 4-((2,2-dichlorocyclopropyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol 2 have been accomplished by using cyclopropanation process and Reponse Surface Methodology [1,2]. This methodology was used to determine the optimal conditions for the cyclopropanation reaction of eugenol 1. The reaction time (X1) and the ratio of the reaction mixture’s solvent (X2) were the two investigated factors. The statistical analysis of this study indicates that both of these factors had significant effects on the cyclopropanation yield. The central composite design showed that polynomial regression models were in good agreement with the experimental results of the coefficient determination (0.95) of product 2 yield. The optimal conditions were 17.44 and 5.78 hours. In such condition, the predicted yield of the product 2 was 43.96%. Keywords: Eugenol; 4-((2,2-dichlorocyclopropyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol; Central composite design; Optimization experiment

A Logical Verification Methodology for Service-Oriented Computing

We introduce a logical verification methodology for checking behavioural properties of service-oriented computing systems. Service properties are described by means of SocL, a branching-time temporal logic that we have specifically designed to express in an effective way distinctive aspects of services, such as, e.g., acceptance of a request, provision of a response, and correlation among service requests and responses. Our approach allows service properties to be expressed in such a way that they can be independent of service domains and specifications. We show an instantiation of our general methodology that uses the formal language COWS to conveniently specify services and the expressly developed software tool CMC to assist the user in the task of verifying SocL formulae over service specifications. We demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of our methodology by means of the specification and the analysis of a case study in the automotive domain

Sigref – A Symbolic Bisimulation Tool Box

We present a uniform signature-based approach to compute the most popular bisimulations. Our approach is implemented symbolically using BDDs, which enables the handling of very large transition systems. Signatures for the bisimulations are built up from a few generic building blocks, which naturally correspond to efficient BDD operations. Thus, the definition of an appropriate signature is the key for a rapid development of algorithms for other types of bisimulation. We provide experimental evidence of the viability of this approach by presenting computational results for many bisimulations on real-world instances. The experiments show cases where our framework can handle state spaces efficiently that are far too large to handle for any tool that requires an explicit state space description. This work was partly supported by the German Research Council (DFG) as part of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center “Automatic Verification and Analysis of Complex Systems” (SFB/TR 14 AVACS). See www.avacs.org for more information

The ocean sampling day consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits