High-level cefotaxime-resistant Proteus mirabilis strain isolated from a Tunisian intensive care unit ward: CTX-M-8 extended-spectrum β-lactamase coproduced with a plasmid mediated AmpC lactamase

The aimed of this study was to determine the implication of the biochemical and the molecular mechanism and to describe the properties of an extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) CTX-M-8 which was reported for the first time in Africa. A clinical isolate of Proteus mirabilis FS6449 was isolated from a patient hospitalized at an intensive care unit of the Military Hospital in Tunisia in 2009. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined with the disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines and revealed that this strain was resistant to expanded-spectrum β-lactams. Analysis of P. mirabilis FS6449 by double-disk synergy test yielded a positive result suggesting the production of ESBLs. Sonicate of the isolate hydrolysed cefotaxime and benzylpenicillin. Isoelectric focusing exhibited four β-lactamase bands of isoelectric points (pIs) 5.6, 6, 6.5 and over 7.6. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing experiments revealed the presence of four β-lactamase genes encoding TEM-2, CTX-M-8, TEM-24, and an AmpC enzyme. Among them, the genes encoding TEM-24 and an AmpC enzyme were transferred to the recipient by conjugation experiments.Keywords: Resistance, β-lactamase, Proteus mirabilisAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(21), pp. 3278-328

Biochemical characterization of a cefotaximehydrolysing &#946-lactamase encoded by a conjugative plasmid

During the nosocomials infections occurring in the intensive care unit of the military hospital of Tunis in 2005, the Enterobacter cloacae BW 1150 strain was isolated from a stool culture. This strain was found to have a high level resistance to broad-spectrum -lactams. Resistance profile against thevarious families of antibiotics was determined using the disc diffusion test. The minimal inhibitory concentrations values showed that this strain was resistant to the -lactams such as ampicillin and the extended spectrum cephalosporins (cefotaxime, ceftriaxon and cefpirome). Analysis of this strain by the disk diffusion test revealed synergies between amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMX-CA) and ceftriaxon, ceftazidime and cefotaxime. Cell sonicate of this isolate is very active against cefotaxime and showed aspecific activity (AS) of 7.54 U/mg for the same antibiotic. This activity was inhibited by the sulbactam and the clavulanic acid. Isoelectrofocusing methods revealed that the crude extract of the E. cloacae BW 1150 strain showed 1 - lactamase activity with an isoelectric piont (pI) of about 8. This activity was transferred by conjugation and was highly expressed in the transconjugant

Simulating Non-Stationary Seismic Facies Distribution in a Prograding Shelf Environment

A dense array of high-resolution seismic profiles of the underwater Rhone River deltain the Mediterranean Sea is used as the only input for developing a stochastic model of an analogue of anoil reservoir in a prograding shelf environment. The topographic elevations of the unit boundaries arefirst estimated from the seismic profile sections. The geometry of the envelopes of the seven identifiedstratigraphic units is then estimated by non-stationary geostatistics, after the inference of theirgeneralized covariance by the method of increments. A complete “3D architectural model” is thenproduced by filling the envelopes of the previously estimated sedimentary units with internal faciesdistributions. These facies are first defined by their seismic signature, based on their reflectionconfiguration, continuity and amplitude. The HERESIM geostatistical software is used in a nonstationarymode to analyse and simulate the vertical and the horizontal facies variability. The verticalvariability is quantified for each unit by a vertical proportion curve. The horizontal variability isanalysed by the horizontal facies variograms which measure the autocorrelation of a given facies as afunction of the distance. The remaining model parameters are adjusted to give an optimum match of themodel to the observed seismic data. The model results are used to interpret the deposition, erosion andtectonic mechanisms that have shaped this shelf environment

Heat treatment and kinetics of precipitation of β-Mg17Al12 phase in AZ91 alloy

This study investigated the effect of aging on the precipitation and kinetics of second phase Mg17Al12 in AZ91 magnesium alloy (Mg-9 wt% Al-1 wt% Zn), using X-ray diffraction, microhardness measurements and differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC). With the last instrument, the all samples were heated from room temperature to 400 °C, at heating rates of 10–30 °C/min. The results were supplemented by measuring the average of activation energies, using isothermal treatments by Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) methods and by non-isothermal treatments using Ozawa, Boswell, Kissinger, Mahadevan, Augis and Bennett methods, were around 67.18 and 62.02 kJ/mol. The frequency factor k0 calculated by the isothermal treatment is equal to 1.24 109 s−1. In non-isothermal treatment, the numerical factor m and the Avrami parameter n is estimated to be approximately equal to 3 and 2.79 respectively. This value corresponding that the bulk nucleation with a constant number of nuclei was dominant in three-dimensional (polyhedron) controlled by interface reaction. Keywords: AZ91, DSC, Mg17Al12, Precipitation, Activation energ