Breeding and larval rearing of the milkfish Chanos chanos (Pisces: Chanidae)

Contribution No. 11 of the Aquaculture Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, P.O. Box 256, Iloilo City 5901, Philippines.Two sexually maturing female milkfish were captured in April 1977 and induced to spawn by means of acetone-dried Pacific salmon pituitary powder. The eggs were fertilized and incubated and the resultant young reared to 74-day old, 11 cm long fingerlings. Newly fertilized eggs averaged 1.16 mm in diameter and each had a narrow perivitelline space containing several cortical granules which disappeared within a few minutes. The yolk was slightly yellowish, devoid of oil globules and very finely granulated. Embryonic development was very similar to that of other pelagic fish eggs and hatching occurred between 35 to 36 hr at a salinity of 32 ppt and a temperature range of 28.4-29.2°C.This study was partially supported through a grant to the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department by the International Development Research Centre of Canada, under Project No. 3-P-74-0146

Genetic, Phenotypic, and Interferon Biomarker Status in ADAR1-Related Neurological Disease

International audienceWe investigated the genetic, phenotypic, and interferon status of 46 patients from 37 families with neurological disease due to mutations in ADAR1. The clinicoradiological phenotype encompassed a spectrum of Aicardi–Goutières syndrome, isolated bilateral striatal necrosis, spastic paraparesis with normal neuroimaging, a progressive spastic dystonic motor disorder, and adult-onset psychological difficulties with intracranial calcification. Homozygous missense mutations were recorded in five families. We observed a p.Pro193Ala variant in the heterozygous state in 22 of 23 families with compound heterozygous mutations. We also ascertained 11 cases from nine families with a p.Gly1007Arg dominant-negative mutation, which occurred de novo in four patients, and was inherited in three families in association with marked phenotypic variability. In 50 of 52 samples from 34 patients, we identified a marked upregulation of type I interferon-stimulated gene transcripts in peripheral blood, with a median interferon score of 16.99 (interquartile range [IQR]: 10.64–25.71) compared with controls (median: 0.93, IQR: 0.57–1.30). Thus, mutations in ADAR1 are associated with a variety of clinically distinct neurological phenotypes presenting from early infancy to adulthood, inherited either as an autosomal recessive or dominant trait. Testing for an interferon signature in blood represents a useful biomarker in this context

Genetic Testing to Inform Epilepsy Treatment Management From an International Study of Clinical Practice

IMPORTANCE: It is currently unknown how often and in which ways a genetic diagnosis given to a patient with epilepsy is associated with clinical management and outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how genetic diagnoses in patients with epilepsy are associated with clinical management and outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients referred for multigene panel testing between March 18, 2016, and August 3, 2020, with outcomes reported between May and November 2020. The study setting included a commercial genetic testing laboratory and multicenter clinical practices. Patients with epilepsy, regardless of sociodemographic features, who received a pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variant were included in the study. Case report forms were completed by all health care professionals. EXPOSURES: Genetic test results. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Clinical management changes after a genetic diagnosis (ie, 1 P/LP variant in autosomal dominant and X-linked diseases; 2 P/LP variants in autosomal recessive diseases) and subsequent patient outcomes as reported by health care professionals on case report forms. RESULTS: Among 418 patients, median (IQR) age at the time of testing was 4 (1-10) years, with an age range of 0 to 52 years, and 53.8% (n = 225) were female individuals. The mean (SD) time from a genetic test order to case report form completion was 595 (368) days (range, 27-1673 days). A genetic diagnosis was associated with changes in clinical management for 208 patients (49.8%) and usually (81.7% of the time) within 3 months of receiving the result. The most common clinical management changes were the addition of a new medication (78 [21.7%]), the initiation of medication (51 [14.2%]), the referral of a patient to a specialist (48 [13.4%]), vigilance for subclinical or extraneurological disease features (46 [12.8%]), and the cessation of a medication (42 [11.7%]). Among 167 patients with follow-up clinical information available (mean [SD] time, 584 [365] days), 125 (74.9%) reported positive outcomes, 108 (64.7%) reported reduction or elimination of seizures, 37 (22.2%) had decreases in the severity of other clinical signs, and 11 (6.6%) had reduced medication adverse effects. A few patients reported worsening of outcomes, including a decline in their condition (20 [12.0%]), increased seizure frequency (6 [3.6%]), and adverse medication effects (3 [1.8%]). No clinical management changes were reported for 178 patients (42.6%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Results of this cross-sectional study suggest that genetic testing of individuals with epilepsy may be materially associated with clinical decision-making and improved patient outcomes

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Impact of International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) strategy on central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in the intensive care units of 15 developing countries

BACKGROUND. The International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) was established in 15 developing countries to reduce infection rates in resource-limited hospitals by focusing on education and feedback of outcome surveillance (infection rates) and process surveillance (adherence to infection control measures). We report a time-sequence analysis of the effectiveness of this approach in reducing rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and associated deaths in 86 intensive care units with a minimum of 6-month INICC membership. METHODS. Pooled CLABSI rates during the first 3 months (baseline) were compared with rates at 6-month intervals during the first 24 months in 53,719 patients (190,905 central line-days). Process surveillance results at baseline were compared with intervention period data. RESULTS. During the first 6 months, CLABSI incidence decreased by 33% (from 14.5 to 9.7 CLABSIs per 1,000 central line-days). Over the first 24 months there was a cumulative reduction from baseline of 54% (from 16.0 to 7.4 CLABSIs per 1,000 central line-days; relative risk, 0.46 [95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.63]; P < .001). The number of deaths in patients with CLABSI decreased by 58%. During the intervention period, hand hygiene adherence improved from 50% to 60% (P < .001); the percentage of intensive care units that used maximal sterile barriers at insertion increased from 45% to 85% (P < .001 ), that adopted chlorhexidine for antisepsis increased from 7% to 27% (P=.018 ), and that sought to remove unneeded catheters increased from 37% to 83% (P=.004); and the duration of central line placement decreased from 4.1 to 3.5 days (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS. Education, performance feedback, and outcome and process surveillance of CLABSI rates significantly improved infection control adherence, reducing the CLABSI incidence by 54% and the number of CLABSI-associated deaths by 58% in INICC hospitals during the first 2 years. © 2010 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved