Association between herd management practices and antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella spp. from cull dairy cattle in Central California.

BackgroundIn this study cull dairy cows from six California dairy herds were sampled seasonally over the course of a year. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) Salmonella spp. shed in cull cow feces, and the factors associated with fecal shedding of AMR and multidrug resistant (MDR) Salmonella.MethodsSix dairy farms located in the San Joaquin Valley of California were identified and enrolled as a convenience sample. On each dairy, and once during each of the four seasons, 10 cull cows were randomly selected for fecal sampling on the day of their removal from the herd. In addition, study personnel completed a survey based on responses of the herd manager to questions related to the previous 4 month's herd management and the specific cattle sampled. Fecal samples were submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety laboratory for Salmonella isolation. Antimicrobial resistance was evaluated using broth microdilution method and a gram-negative assay plate following Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines and breakpoint references. All statistical models were survey adjusted for number of animals on sampling day.ResultsA total of 62 Salmonella were isolated from 60 of the 239 fecal samples collected. For 12% (95% confidence interval (CI) [3-20]) of fecal samples a multidrug resistant Salmonella was isolated. The survey-weighted results for the two most common drug classes for which isolates were resistant were tetracycline (39%; 95% CI [27-51]) and ampicillin (18%; 95% CI [9-27]). An important finding was the identification of cephalosporin as the third most common drug class for which isolates were resistant, with ceftriaxone (10%; 95% CI [2-17]) being the most common drug associated with resistance in that class. At the cow-level, reason for culling, prior treatment with antimicrobial drugs as the reason for culling was associated with higher odds of isolating an AMR Salmonella isolate. At the herd-level, percent of animals monthly culled on the farm as well as number of milking cows in the herd were associated with isolation of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella in cull cows.DiscussionSalmonella isolated from fecal samples from cull cows were resistant to important antimicrobials, such as ceftriaxone. The most common drug classes for which isolates were resistant were tetracyclines and beta-lactams, with ampicillin, ceftriaxone and ceftiofur being the three most common drugs within the latter. Cow and herd level factors were associated with isolating antimicrobial resistant Salmonella that should be further investigated for their potential role in promoting occurrence of AMR Salmonella. Our results also highlight the importance of monitoring dairy cattle sent to slaughter for shedding of Salmonella resistant to medically important antimicrobial drugs

Controlled variation of monomer sequence-distribution in the synthesis of aromatic poly(ether ketone)s

The effects of varying the alkali metal cation in the high-temperature nucleophilic synthesis of a semi-crystalline, aromatic poly(ether ketone) have been systematically investigated, and striking variations in the sequence-distributions and thermal characteristics of the resulting polymers were found. Polycondensation of 4,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone with 1,3-bis(4-fluorobenzoyl)benzene in diphenylsulfone as solvent, in the presence of an alkali metal carbonate M2CO3 (M= Li, Na, K, or Rb) as base, affords a range of different polymers that vary in the distribution pattern of 2-ring and 3-ring monomer units along the chain. Lithium carbonate gives an essentially alternating and highly crystalline polymer, but the degree of sequence-randomisation increases progressively as the alkali metal series is descended, with rubidium carbonate giving a fully random and non-thermally-crystallisable polymer. Randomisation during polycondensation is shown to result from reversible cleavage of the ether linkages in the polymer by fluoride ions, and an isolated sample of alternating-sequence polymer is thus converted to a fully randomised material on heating with rubidium fluoride

A second generation genetic map of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) reveals slow genome and chromosome evolution in the Apidae.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.BACKGROUND: The bumblebee Bombus terrestris is an ecologically and economically important pollinator and has become an important biological model system. To study fundamental evolutionary questions at the genomic level, a high resolution genetic linkage map is an essential tool for analyses ranging from quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping to genome assembly and comparative genomics. We here present a saturated linkage map and match it with the Apis mellifera genome using homologous markers. This genome-wide comparison allows insights into structural conservations and rearrangements and thus the evolution on a chromosomal level. RESULTS: The high density linkage map covers ~ 93% of the B. terrestris genome on 18 linkage groups (LGs) and has a length of 2'047 cM with an average marker distance of 4.02 cM. Based on a genome size of ~ 430 Mb, the recombination rate estimate is 4.76 cM/Mb. Sequence homologies of 242 homologous markers allowed to match 15 B. terrestris with A. mellifera LGs, five of them as composites. Comparing marker orders between both genomes we detect over 14% of the genome to be organized in synteny and 21% in rearranged blocks on the same homologous LG. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that, despite the very high recombination rates of both A. mellifera and B. terrestris and a long divergence time of about 100 million years, the genomes' genetic architecture is highly conserved. This reflects a slow genome evolution in these bees. We show that data on genome organization and conserved molecular markers can be used as a powerful tool for comparative genomics and evolutionary studies, opening up new avenues of research in the Apidae

Effects of Fusion between Tactile and Proprioceptive Inputs on Tactile Perception

Tactile perception is typically considered the result of cortical interpretation of afferent signals from a network of mechanical sensors underneath the skin. Yet, tactile illusion studies suggest that tactile perception can be elicited without afferent signals from mechanoceptors. Therefore, the extent that tactile perception arises from isomorphic mapping of tactile afferents onto the somatosensory cortex remains controversial. We tested whether isomorphic mapping of tactile afferent fibers onto the cortex leads directly to tactile perception by examining whether it is independent from proprioceptive input by evaluating the impact of different hand postures on the perception of a tactile illusion across fingertips. Using the Cutaneous Rabbit Effect, a well studied illusion evoking the perception that a stimulus occurs at a location where none has been delivered, we found that hand posture has a significant effect on the perception of the illusion across the fingertips. This finding emphasizes that tactile perception arises from integration of perceived mechanical and proprioceptive input and not purely from tactile interaction with the external environment

An intelligent Data Delivery Service for and beyond the ATLAS experiment

The intelligent Data Delivery Service (iDDS) has been developed to cope with the huge increase of computing and storage resource usage in the coming LHC data taking. iDDS has been designed to intelligently orchestrate workflow and data management systems, decoupling data pre-processing, delivery, and main processing in various workflows. It is an experiment-agnostic service around a workflow-oriented structure to work with existing and emerging use cases in ATLAS and other experiments. Here we will present the motivation for iDDS, its design schema and architecture, use cases and current status, and plans for the future.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Three-dimensional printing of patient-specific surgical plates in head and neck reconstruction: A prospective pilot study

Background Surgical plates have been extensively used in head and neck reconstruction and conventional plates are mass-produced with universal configurations. To overcome disadvantages of conventional surgical plates, we have been exploring patient-specific surgical plates using the three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. We hypothesized that the application of 3D-printed patient-specific surgical plates in head and neck reconstruction is feasible, safe and precise. Methods We are conducting a prospective clinical trial to assess the feasibility, safety and accuracy of applying 3D-printed patient-specific surgical plates in head and neck reconstruction. The primary endpoint was the intraoperative success rate. Secondary endpoints included the incidence and severity of postoperative adverse events within six months postoperatively. The accuracy of surgical outcomes was also explored by comparing the planned and final positions of the maxilla, mandible and grafted bone segments. Results From December 2016 to October 2017, ten patients were enrolled and underwent head and neck reconstruction using 3D-printed patient-specific surgical plates. The patient-specific surgical plates adapted to bone surface precisely and no plate-bending was performed. The intraoperative success rate was 100%. The average follow-up period was 6.5 months. No major adverse events were observed. The mean absolute distance deviation of integral mandible or maxilla was 1.40 ± 0.63 mm, which showed a high accuracy of reconstruction. Conclusions The 3D printing of patient-specific surgical plates could be effective in head and neck reconstruction. Surgical procedures were simplified. The precise jaw reconstruction was achieved with high accuracy. Long-term results with a larger sample size are warranted to support a final conclusion. The study protocol has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov with a No. of NCT03057223

A Systematic Approach for Making 3D-Printed Patient-Specific Implants for Craniomaxillofacial Reconstruction

Craniomaxillofacial reconstruction implants, which are extensively used in head and neck surgery, are conventionally made in standardized forms. During surgery, the implant must be bended manually to match the anatomy of the individual bones. The bending process is time-consuming, especially for inexperienced surgeons. Moreover, repetitive bending may induce undesirable internal stress concentration, resulting in fatigue under masticatory loading in vivo and causing various complications such as implant fracture, screw loosening, and bone resorption. There have been reports on the use of patient-specific 3D-printed implants for craniomaxillofacial reconstruction, although few reports have considered implant quality. In this paper, we present a systematic approach for making 3D-printed patient-specific surgical implants for craniomaxillofacial reconstruction. The approach consists of three parts: First, an easy-to-use design module is developed using Solidworks® software, which helps surgeons to design the implants and the axillary fixtures for surgery. Design engineers can then carry out the detailed design and use finite-element modeling (FEM) to optimize the design. Second, the fabrication process is carried out in three steps: ① testing the quality of the powder; ② setting up the appropriate process parameters and running the 3D printing process; and ③ conducting post-processing treatments (i.e., heat and surface treatments) to ensure the quality and performance of the implant. Third, the operation begins after the final checking of the implant and sterilization. After the surgery, postoperative rehabilitation follow-up can be carried out using our patient tracking software. Following this systematic approach, we have successfully conducted a total of 41 surgical cases. 3D-printed patient-specific implants have a number of advantages; in particular, their use reduces surgery time and shortens patient recovery time. Moreover, the presented approach helps to ensure implant quality

The effectiveness of early lens extraction with intraocular lens implantation for the treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma (EAGLE) : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Controlled release from zein matrices: Interplay of drug hydrophobicity and pH

Purpose: In earlier studies, the corn protein zein is found to be suitable as a sustained release agent, yet the range of drugs for which zein has been studied remains small. Here, zein is used as a sole excipient for drugs differing in hydrophobicity and isoelectric point: indomethacin, paracetamol and ranitidine. Methods: Caplets were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) and injection moulding (IM). Each of the three model drugs were tested on two drug loadings in various dissolution media. The physical state of the drug, microstructure and hydration behaviour were investigated to build up understanding for the release behaviour from zein based matrix for drug delivery. Results: Drug crystallinity of the caplets increases with drug hydrophobicity. For ranitidine and indomethacin, swelling rates, swelling capacity and release rates were pH dependent as a consequence of the presence of charged groups on the drug molecules. Both hydration rates and release rates could be approached by existing models. Conclusion: Both the drug state as pH dependant electrostatic interactions are hypothesised to influence release kinetics. Both factors can potentially be used factors influencing release kinetics release, thereby broadening the horizon for zein as a tuneable release agent