Belgium, Canada and Switzerland: Are There Differences in the Contributions of Selected Variables on Self-Reported Property-Related and Violent Delinquency?

Three countries with different sociodemographic characteristics and different school and criminal justice systems are compared using data from Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada with respect to juvenile delinquency as measured by the International Self-Reported Delinquency questionnaire (ISRD-2). Following a brief presentation of descriptive statistics of the different samples, multivariate analyses including basic variables such as gender, age, family composition, immigrant status, school attachment, victimisation, and family and peer relationships make up the core of this study. The contributions of these selected variables are then compared between the participating countries. Between these three countries we find similarities and differences in explaining self-reported property-related and violent delinquency. In the final part of the article, the implications of these findings are discusse

Aerococcus urinae - significance of detection in the paediatric urinary tract: a case series

Aerococcus urinae (A. urinae) is primarily recognized as a common pathogen in the geriatric population, causing urinary tract infection (UTI), sepsis, and endocarditis, predominantly in female patients. In the paediatric population, only a few case reports exist suggesting A. urinae causes malodorous urine in otherwise healthy boys. In this study, we investigated the spectrum of clinical and laboratory presentations of A. urinae detection in children. A retrospective, single-centre, case series including all patients with the detection of A. urinae during a 7-year study period. Patients with detection of A. urinae only in non-urogenital skin swabs were excluded. A total of 40 samples from 33 patients were identified of which 20 patients were included in the final analysis. The median (IQR) age was 6.8 (2.9-9.5) years; 18 (90%) patients were boys. Four patients were diagnosed with a UTI, six had malodorous urine without UTI, three were diagnosed with balanitis and seven showed A. urinae colonization in the urine culture. Urogenital disorders were present in 12 patients. Additional pathogens were detected in 13 patients. Recurrence of detection during our study period was observed in four (20%) patients. Conclusion: Beyond malodorous urine, A. urinae detection is associated with more severe presentations including UTI in the paediatric population. Pre-existing urogenital disorders were frequent, and therefore, a nephro-urological investigation should be considered in all cases of A. urinae detection in the paediatric population. What is Known: • Aerococcus urinae (A. urinae) is known to be a common pathogen in the geriatric population, causing urinary tract infection (UTI), sepsis, and endocarditis, predominantly in female patients. • In the paediatric population, A. urinae is mainly described as a low-grade pathogen. Some case reports describe A. urinae as the cause of extraordinary malodorous urine in otherwise healthy boys. What is New: • Beyond malodorous urine, A. urinae detection is associated with more severe presentations including UTI in the paediatric population. • A. urinae was mainly detected in boys with pre-existing urogenital disorders; therefore, a nephro-urological investigation should be considered in cases of A. urinae detection in the paediatric population. Keywords: CAKUT; Children; Malodorous; Pyelonephritis; Urinary tract infection; Urogenital disorder

La violenza giovanile in Italia e Svizzera: diffusione, caratteristiche e contesto dei comportamenti violenti nei due Paesi

Italy and Switzerland participated in 2006 in the Second International Self-Reported Delinquency Survey (ISRD-2) using the same questionnaire. The sample involved more than 9000 pupils (N=5784 in Italy and N=3459 in Switzerland) between 13 and 16 years old. This article compares the involvement in violence against persons and vandalism of youths from both countries and takes into account the socio-economic, family and school contexts, as well as the individual characteristics with the purpose, on the one hand, to identify the variables related to those behaviours and, on the other hand, to check if these relationships are similar in the two countries. Both violence against persons and vandalism are more common in Italy. Multivariate analyses show that in both countries being a male, having a positive attitude towards violence, having a low self-control, living in a disorganized neighbourhood, having a low parental supervision and violence between parents increase the risk of committing violence as well as vandalism. Regarding the differences between both behaviours, the variables being a migrant, being discriminated and having parents addicted to alcohol/drugs increase the risk of committing violent behaviour, but not vandalism. On the contrary, the youth eating daily with their parents and the younger ones commit less vandalism. The relationship between school variables and violent behaviour differs between the two countries; this relationship is stronger in Italy than in Switzerland because of negative attachment to school and school failure. This can be due to such cultural factors as the importance given to the success at school, or to structural factors, such as the Swiss school system.L’Italia e la Svizzera, nel 2006, hanno partecipato all’indagine internazionale sulla delinquenza giovanile denominata Second International Self-Reported Delinquency Survey (ISRD-2), usando un identico questionario. Il campione ha coinvolto più di 9000 studenti (N=5784 in Italia e N=3459 in Svizzera) di età compresa tra i 13 ed i 16 anni. Questo studio confronta il coinvolgimento degli adolescenti di questi due Paesi nei comportamenti violenti (contro la persona e contro le cose), prendendo in considerazione l’influenza di variabili relative al contesto socio-economico, familiare, scolastico ed alle caratteristiche individuali, con lo scopo di identificare le variabili associate con questi comportamenti e di verificare se queste associazioni sono diverse nei due Paesi. I comportamenti violenti contro le persone e il vandalismo sono ammessi con maggior frequenza dagli studenti italiani. Le analisi multivariate dimostrano che essere di genere maschile, avere uno scadente autocontrollo, vivere in un ambiente sociale disorganizzato, avere una scarsa supervisione parentale, avere genitori in conflitto violento tra di loro, avere un atteggiamento positivo nei confronti della violenza aumenta il rischio di commettere atti violenti sia contro le persone, sia contro le cose. Essere immigrato, essere discriminato ed avere genitori che abusano di alcool o di droga aumenta il rischio di commettere atti violenti contro le persone, ma non di vandalismo. Inoltre, gli studenti che pranzano tutti i giorni con i genitori ed i ragazzi più giovani hanno minori probabilità di commettere atti di vandalismo. I rapporti tra le variabili di adattamento scolastico ed i comportamenti violenti differiscono nei due Paesi, in quanto le bocciature e lo scarso attaccamento alla scuola sono più criminogeni in Italia che in Svizzera. Questo diverso rapporto può essere dovuto a fattori culturali, quali la maggior o minor importanza conferita al successo scolastico, o strutturali, quali la diversa organizzazione del sistema scolastico nei due Paesi

Phage Paride can kill dormant, antibiotic-tolerant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by direct lytic replication

Bacteriophages are ubiquitous viral predators that have primarily been studied using fast-growing laboratory cultures of their bacterial hosts. However, microbial life in nature is mostly in a slow- or non-growing, dormant state. Here, we show that diverse phages can infect deep-dormant bacteria and suspend their replication until the host resuscitates ("hibernation"). However, a newly isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage, named Paride, can directly replicate and induce the lysis of deep-dormant hosts. While non-growing bacteria are notoriously tolerant to antibiotic drugs, the combination with Paride enables the carbapenem meropenem to eradicate deep-dormant cultures in vitro and to reduce a resilient bacterial infection of a tissue cage implant in mice. Our work might inspire new treatments for persistent bacterial infections and, more broadly, highlights two viral strategies to infect dormant bacteria (hibernation and direct replication) that will guide future studies on phage-host interactions

Reprogramming within Hours Following Nuclear Transfer into Mouse but not Human Zygotes

Fertilized mouse zygotes can reprogram somatic cells to a pluripotent state. Human zygotes might therefore be useful for producing patient-derived pluripotent stem cells. However, logistical, legal and social considerations have limited the availability of human eggs for research. Here we show that a significant number of normal fertilized eggs (zygotes) can be obtained for reprogramming studies. Using these zygotes, we found that when the zygotic genome was replaced with that of a somatic cell, development progressed normally throughout the cleavage stages, but then arrested before the morula stage. This arrest was associated with a failure to activate transcription in the transferred somatic genome. In contrast to human zygotes, mouse zygotes reprogrammed the somatic cell genome to a pluripotent state within hours after transfer. Our results suggest that there may be a previously unappreciated barrier to successful human nuclear transfer, and that future studies could focus on the requirements for genome activation.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

A Case Study of Zoonotic <i>Chlamydia abortus</i> Infection: Diagnostic Challenges From Clinical and Microbiological Perspectives

Chlamydia abortus is the most common causative agent of abortion in small ruminants, but it is poorly recognized as a human pathogen. In most published case studies, diagnosis remained difficult and often resulted in delayed initiation of therapy. In this case study of severe C abortus infection in a pregnant farmer from Switzerland, we highlight the clinical and microbiological diagnostic challenges and provide evidence of a zoonotic epidemiological link

Diagnostic challenges within the Bacillus cereus-group: finding the beast without teeth

The Bacillus cereus-group (B. cereus sensu lato) includes common, usually avirulent species, often considered contaminants of patient samples in routine microbiological diagnostics, as well as the highly virulent B. anthracis. Here we describe 16 isolates from 15 patients, identified as B. cereus-group using a MALDI-TOF MS standard database. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis identified five of the isolates as B. anthracis species not carrying the typical virulence plasmids pXO1 and pXO2, four isolates as B. paranthracis, three as B. cereus sensu stricto, two as B. thuringiensis, one as B. mobilis, and one isolate represents a previously undefined species of Bacillus (B. basilensis sp. nov.). More detailed analysis using alternative MALDI-TOF MS databases, biochemical phenotyping, and diagnostic PCRs, gave further conflicting species results. These cases highlight the difficulties in identifying avirulent B. anthracis within the B. cereus-group using standard methods. WGS and alternative MALDI-TOF MS databases offer more accurate species identification, but so far are not routinely applied. We discuss the diagnostic resolution and discrepancies of various identification methods

Interseasonal RSV infections in Switzerland - rapid establishment of a clinician-led national reporting system (RSV EpiCH).

In anticipation of an interseasonal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) epidemic, a clinician-led reporting system was rapidly established to capture RSV infections in Swiss hospitals, starting in January 2021. Here, we present details of the reporting system and first results to June 2021. An unusual epidemiology was observed with an interseasonal surge of RSV infections associated with COVID-19-related non-pharmacological interventions. These data allowed real-time adjustment of RSV prophylaxis guidelines and consequently underscore the need for and continuation of systematic nationwide RSV surveillance

Personalized therapy for mycophenolate:Consensus report by the international association of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology

When mycophenolic acid (MPA) was originally marketed for immunosuppressive therapy, fixed doses were recommended by the manufacturer. Awareness of the potential for a more personalized dosing has led to development of methods to estimate MPA area under the curve based on the measurement of drug concentrations in only a few samples. This approach is feasible in the clinical routine and has proven successful in terms of correlation with outcome. However, the search for superior correlates has continued, and numerous studies in search of biomarkers that could better predict the perfect dosage for the individual patient have been published. As it was considered timely for an updated and comprehensive presentation of consensus on the status for personalized treatment with MPA, this report was prepared following an initiative from members of the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT). Topics included are the criteria for analytics, methods to estimate exposure including pharmacometrics, the potential influence of pharmacogenetics, development of biomarkers, and the practical aspects of implementation of target concentration intervention. For selected topics with sufficient evidence, such as the application of limited sampling strategies for MPA area under the curve, graded recommendations on target ranges are presented. To provide a comprehensive review, this report also includes updates on the status of potential biomarkers including those which may be promising but with a low level of evidence. In view of the fact that there are very few new immunosuppressive drugs under development for the transplant field, it is likely that MPA will continue to be prescribed on a large scale in the upcoming years. Discontinuation of therapy due to adverse effects is relatively common, increasing the risk for late rejections, which may contribute to graft loss. Therefore, the continued search for innovative methods to better personalize MPA dosage is warranted.</p