Effect of individual- and group-level antibiotic exposure on MRSA isolation: a multilevel analysis

Objectives: To observe the relative role of individual and group-level antimicrobial selective pressure on subsequent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolation in a university hospital. Methods: For this purpose, 18 596 patients were included in a retrospective statistical analysis, applying multilevel modelling with discrete time intervals at the lowest level. Individual-level and hospital group variables on antimicrobial exposure and MRSA colonization pressure were collected from computerized databases. Results: The simultaneous hospital group- and individual-level analysis showed individual exposure to fluoroquinolones and collective exposure to penicillins to be associated with MRSA isolation after adjustment for colonization pressure and other potential confounders. Conclusions: These results support efforts to reduce prescriptions of selected antimicrobial drug classes such as fluoroquinolones and show the added value of multilevel analysis for research on the adverse outcomes of antibiotic prescribin

Genome sequence comparisons reveal interspecific hybridizations and admixture in citrus domestication : [W317]

Citrus is the most globally significant tree fruit, but its history of domestication is not well understood. Cultivated citrus types are believed to be direct selections from, or hybrids of, several progenitor species; however, the identities of these species and their contributions to modern cultivars remain unclear and controversial. A collection of different genomes of mandarins, pummelos, and oranges, including a high quality reference sequence from a haploid Clementine mandarin, has been assembled. By comparative analyses we show that these cultivated types were derived from two progenitor species, C. maxima and C. reticulata. Although it was determined that the sequenced cultivated pummelos represent selections from C. maxima, the cultivated mandarins proved to be introgressions of C. maxima into a distinct second population identified as the ancestral wild mandarin species, C. reticulata. Sweet and sour oranges were found to be hybrids between these two species. Sweet orange, the most widely cultivated citrus, arose as the offspring of previously admixed individuals. Sour (or Seville) orange was found to be an F1 hybrid of pure C. maximaand C. reticulata parents, indicating that wild mandarins were at least a part of the early breeding germplasm. Sequence analysis also revealed that at least one Chinese "wild mandarin" actually represents a citrus species distinct from C. reticulata, suggesting the possibility that other unrecognized wild citrus species may be identified. Understanding the phylogeny of cultivated citrus by comparative genome analysis will clarify taxonomic relationships and potentially lead to previously inconceivable opportunities for genetic improvement. (Texte intégral

Use of intranasal mupirocin to prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in intensive care units

INTRODUCTION: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes severe morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine whether intranasal mupirocin prophylaxis is useful to prevent ICU-acquired infections with MRSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a 4-year observational retrospective study in a 15-bed adult medical ICU. During the first 2-year period mupirocin ointment was included in the MRSA control programme; during the second, mupirocin was not used. The main endpoint was the number of endogenous ICU-acquired infections with MRSA. RESULTS: The number of endogenous acquired infections was significantly higher during the second period than during the first (11 versus 1; P = 0.02), although there was no significant difference in the total number of patients infected with MRSA between the two periods. We also observed that nasal MRSA decolonisation was significantly higher in the mupirocin period than in mupirocin-free period (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that intranasal mupirocin can prevent endogenous acquired MRSA infection in an ICU. Further double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled studies are needed to demonstrate its cost-effectiveness and its impact on resistance

Sequencing of diverse mandarin, pummelo and orange genomes reveals complex history of admixture during citrus domestication

Cultivated citrus are selections from, or hybrids of, wild progenitor species whose identities and contributions to citrus domestication remain controversial. Here we sequence and compare citrus genomes-a high-quality reference haploid clementine genome and mandarin, pummelo, sweet-orange and sour-orange genomes-and show that cultivated types derive from two progenitor species. Although cultivated pummelos represent selections from one progenitor species, Citrus maxima, cultivated mandarins are introgressions of C. maxima into the ancestral mandarin species Citrus reticulata. The most widely cultivated citrus, sweet orange, is the offspring of previously admixed individuals, but sour orange is an F1 hybrid of pure C. maxima and C. reticulata parents, thus implying that wild mandarins were part of the early breeding germplasm. A Chinese wild 'mandarin' diverges substantially from C. reticulata, thus suggesting the possibility of other unrecognized wild citrus species. Understanding citrus phylogeny through genome analysis clarifies taxonomic relationships and facilitates sequence-directed genetic improvement. (Résumé d'auteur

Transcriptomic analysis of Citrus clementina mandarin fruits maturation reveals a MADS-box transcription factor that might be involved in the regulation of earliness

Background: Harvest time is a relevant economic trait in citrus, and selection of cultivars with different fruit maturity periods has a remarkable impact in the market share. Generation of early- and late-maturing cultivars is an important target for citrus breeders, therefore, generation of knowledge regarding the genetic mechanisms controlling the ripening process and causing the early and late phenotypes is crucial. In this work we analyze the evolution of the transcriptome during fruit ripening in 3 sport mutations derived from the Fina clementine (Citrus clementina) mandarin: Clemenules (CLE), Arrufatina (ARR) and Hernandina (HER) that differ in their harvesting periods. CLE is considered a mid-season cultivar while ARR and HER are early- and late-ripening mutants, respectively. Results: We used RNA-Seq technology to carry out a time course analysis of the transcriptome of the 3 mutations along the ripening period. The results indicated that in these mutants, earliness and lateness during fruit ripening correlated with the advancement or delay in the expression of a set of genes that may be implicated in the maturation process. A detailed analysis of the transcription factors known to be involved in the regulation of fruit ripening identified a member of the MADS box family whose expression was lower in ARR, the early-ripening mutant, and higher in HER, the late-ripening mutant. The pattern of expression of this gene during the maturation period was basically contrary to those of the ethylene biosynthetic genes, SAM and ACC synthases and ACC oxidase. The gene was present in hemizygous dose in the early-ripening mutant. Conclusions: Our analysis provides new clues about the genetic control of fruit ripening in citrus and allowed the identification of a transcription factor that could be involved in the early phenotype.Financial support was provided by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, INIA, (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad e Innovación, Spain) trough grant # RTA-00071-C06–01

The role of water fittings in intensive care rooms as reservoirs for the colonization of patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

International audienceOBJECTIVE: To assess the role of the water environment in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization of patients in intensive care units in the absence of a recognized outbreak. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective, single-centre study over an 8-week period in two adult ICUs at a university hospital. Environmental samples were taken from the water fittings of rooms once per week, during a 8-week period. Patients were screened weekly for P. aeruginosa carriage. Environmental and humans isolates were genotyped by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: P. aeruginosa was detected in 193 (86.2%) of the 224 U-bend samples and 10 of the 224 samples taken from the tap (4.5%). Seventeen of the 123 patients admitted were colonized with P. aeruginosa. Only one of the 14 patients we were able to evaluate was colonized by a clone present in the water environment of his room before the patient's first positive sample was obtained. CONCLUSION: The role of the water environment in the acquisition of P. aeruginosa by intensive care patients remains unclear, but water fittings seem to play a smaller role in non-epidemic situations than expected by many operational hospital hygiene teams

Genome sequence analysis and comparisons reveal ancestral hybridization and admixture events in the origins of some citrus cultivars : S03O01

Since its inception, the International Citrus Genome Consortium (ICGC) has pursued development of freely available genomics resources and tools for the benefit of the citrus research community; these efforts were conducted by citrus scientists in concert with researchers from some of the world's major genome sequencing centers and corporations. An early ICGC goal was to produce a full-length genome assembly. Two reference genome sequences were made publicly available in January 2011, from a 'Clemenules' clementine-derived haploid and diploid 'Ridge Pineapple' sweet orange, produced using Sanger and 454 sequencing technologies respectively. Subsequent work has proceeded to improve the assemblies and their annotation; a brief summary of their characteristics and status of the assemblies will be presented. As sequencing technology has evolved and costs have dramatically decreased, other citrus genomes have been sequenced (the diploid 'Clemenules', 'Ponkan', 'Willowleaf', 'W. Murcott' mandarins; 'Siamese Sweet' and 'Chandler' pummelo; and sour orange, among others). A comparative analysis of these genomes has made it possible to describe the genomic contributions from ancestral outbred populations to major cultivar types, and to propose likely underlying models. The results confirmed previous reports that clementine arose from a hybridization event between 'Willowleaf' mandarin and sweet orange. Further, introgressions of Citrus reticulata and Citrus maxima germplasm, long implicated in its ancestry, clearly defined the segmented mosaic genome of sweet orange, through the ancient admixture of these species. Finally, sour orange was found to be a direct hybrid of a pummelo and mandarin. Interestingly, although the two pummelos sequenced appear to have their derivations from a single wild species (C. maxima), the mandarins sequenced reveal ancestral admixture of C. maxima with C. reticulata. Implications and future directions for collaborative research will be discussed. (Texte intégral

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in rehabilitation and chronic-care-facilities: what is the best strategy?

BACKGROUND: The risk associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been decreasing for several years in intensive care departments, but is now increasing in rehabilitation and chronic-care-facilities (R-CCF). The aim of this study was to use published data and our own experience to discuss the roles of screening for MRSA carriers, the type of isolation to be implemented and the efficiency of chemical decolonization. DISCUSSION: Screening identifies over 90% of patients colonised with MRSA upon admission to R-CCF versus only 50% for intensive care units. Only totally dependent patients acquire MRSA. Thus, strict geographical isolation, as opposed to "social reinsertion", is clearly of no value. However, this should not lead to the abandoning of isolation, which remains essential during the administration of care. The use of chemicals to decolonize the nose and healthy skin appeared to be of some value and the application of this procedure could make technical isolation unnecessary in a non-negligible proportion of cases. SUMMARY: Given the increase in morbidity associated with MRSA observed in numerous hospitals, the emergence of a community-acquired disease associated with these strains and the evolution of glycopeptide-resistant strains, the voluntary application of a strategy combining screening, technical isolation and chemical decolonization in R-CCF appears to be an urgent matter of priority

COSMIC: An Ethernet-based Commensal, Multimode Digital Backend on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The primary goal of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is to gain an understanding of the prevalence of technologically advanced beings (organic or inorganic) in the Galaxy. One way to approach this is to look for technosignatures: remotely detectable indicators of technology, such as temporal or spectral electromagnetic emissions consistent with an artificial source. With the new Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster (COSMIC) digital backend on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), we aim to conduct a search for technosignatures that is significantly more comprehensive, more sensitive, and more efficient than previously attempted. The COSMIC system is currently operational on the VLA, recording data, and designed with the flexibility to provide user-requested modes. This paper describes the hardware system design, the current software pipeline, and plans for future development.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in A

University of Oregon Department of Art MFA

34 pagesThe Department of Art at the University of Oregon is pleased to present our 2019 MFA Thesis Exhibition at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland, Oregon. Marking the culmination of three years of rigorous studio investigation and critical discourse, the ten artists in this exhibition engage a wide breadth of art making practices that build on and challenge the histories of painting, sculpture, photography, print media, craft and digital practices. The exhibition is the outcome of the expansive work undertaken by our graduates and their intellectual curiosity in looking deeply at the conditions prevalent and pressing in our world today. With dramatic shifts in practice over the past three years, this cohort of artists have created a tight-knit community through the exchange of ideas formed by extensive conversations with our nationally and internationally recognized faculty, visiting artists, critics and curators. For this catalog, we bring our MFA Graduates together with the PHD and MA students in the History of Art and Architecture Department to produce written reflections on the creative processes and concepts behind the works of our ten graduating artists. This collaborative initiative, made possible through the stellar organization of Professor Jenny Lin, highlights what we hope to accomplish in our academic and artistic life – gather together around contexts that matter and build connections that expand our subject positions. So, it is with great pride that we celebrate the final work created by our 2019 MFA graduates at the University of Oregon and we look forward to watching and cheering their creative endeavors yet to come