Prevalence and Molecular Characterisation of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (Vre) Isolated from Beef

The present study was to isolate VRE from imported beef Tn Malaysia, beef is the major consuming animal originated food and most of the beef is imported from those countries where the use of antibiotics in the feed of animals as a growth promoter was a common practice and was licensed. Out of 150 samples, 17 (11.3%) were positive for VRE. Sixty-seven (67) VRE were isolated from frozen imported beef (48) and burgers (19). The species identified were E. faeclum (35), E. faecalls (22), E. faecalls asaccharolytic variant (3), E. pseudoavlum (3), E. gal/marum (2), E. maldoratus (1) and E. avlum (l). Various plating media and broths were evaluated for the isolation of VRE. Azide Dextrose broth (ADB) with vancomycin concentration of 50 µg/ml for 48 h enrichment and plating on Slanetz and Bartley agar (SBA) with vancomycin concentration of 50 µg/ml was concluded best for isolation of VRE. In the present study antibiotic resistance patterns and the rates of resistance of 67 isolates were evaluated. Itwas observed that all the isolates were multiple resistant and resistant to ten of the sixteen antibiotics tested. All isolates were 100% resistant to streptomycin, vancomycin and teicoplanin. Other isolates were resistant between 94% to 97% to other eight antibiotics. Penicillin, ampicil1in and chloremphenicol showed the least resistance namely, 26.8, 38.8 and 58.2%, respectively. Hemolytic activity on horse blood agar showed that 29 out of 67 isolates (43.3%) were j3-hemolytic indicating to have potency to be pathogenic. The plasmid profiling revealed that 39 (58.2%) out of 67 bear plasmids of the range 1.0 to 35.8 MDa. Using specific PCR, vanA gene was detected among 65 of 67 isolates (97%) which is considered to make these isolates resistant to vancomycin. The molecular epidemiology of E. faecium and E. faecalis using RAPD-PCR technique showed the difference in the genetic relatedness of the strains isolated from frozen imported beef and beef burgers. It showed the genetic relatedness in terms of % similarity from the dendrogram prepared between all the strains taken into study_ RAPD-PCR gave high discriminating results between all the strains. The work clearly reveals that beef can be a vehicle for VRE in Malaysia. The need for intervention to control or eliminate antibiotic resistant Enlerococcu') from foods of animal origin has been made clearer by the results presented in this study

Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from cockles (Anadara granosa): antimicrobial resistance, plasmid profiles and random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis

Antibiotic susceptibility, plasmid profiles and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were used to study strains of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from cockles (Anadara granosa). Thirty-six isolates were analyzed. The prevalent biotypes were 1 (72.2% of the isolates) and 2 (27.8%). Among these, 21 strains of biotype 1 and two strains of biotype 2 contained plasmid DNA bands ranging in size from 1.4 to 9.7 MDa. Thirty-one (83.3%) were found to be resistant to one or more of the antimicrobial agents tested, however no specific correlation between antimicrobial resistance patterns and a single biotype was found. In addition, no particular plasmid profile was predictive of a particular pattern of antibiotic susceptibility. Two primers produced polymorphisms in all strains tested, producing bands ranging from 0.25 to 2.7 kb, indicating a high variability among both biotype 1 and biotype 2 of the V. vulnificus strains investigated. RAPD identity across biotypes was also observed among Vibrio vulnificus strains

Cytonemes and the dispersion of morphogens

Filopodia are cellular protrusions that have been implicated in many types of mechanosensory activities. Morphogens are signaling proteins that regulate the patterned development of embryos and tissues. Both have long histories that date to the beginnings of cell and developmental biology in the early 20(th) century, but recent findings tie specialized filopodia called cytonemes to morphogen movement and morphogen signaling. This review explores the conceptual and experimental background for a model of paracrine signaling in which the exchange of morphogens between cells is directed to sites where cytonemes directly link cells that produce morphogens to cells that receive and respond to them

Clostridium difficile Infection and Patient-Specific Antimicrobial Resistance Testing Reveals a High Metronidazole Resistance Rate

Clostridium difficile (CD) infection (CDI) causes marked morbidity and mortality, accounting for large healthcare expenditures annually. Current CDI treatment guidelines focus on clinical markers of patient severity to determine the preferred antibiotic regimen of metronidazole versus vancomycin. The antimicrobial resistance patterns for patients with CD are currently unknown.The aim of this study was to define the antimicrobial resistance patterns for CD.This study included all patients with stools sent for CD testing to a private laboratory (DRG Laboratory, Alpharetta, Georgia) in a 6-month period from across the USA. Patient data was de-identified, with only age, gender, and zip-code available per laboratory protocol. All samples underwent PCR testing followed by hybridization for CD toxin regions A and B. Only patients with CD-positive PCR were analyzed. Antimicrobial resistance testing using stool genomic DNA evaluated presence of imidazole- and vancomycin-resistant genes using multiplex PCR gene detection.Of 2743, 288 (10.5%) stool samples were positive for CD. Six were excluded per protocol. Of 282, 193 (69.4%) were women, and average age was 49.4 ± 18.7 years. Of 282, 62 were PCR positive for toxins A and B, 160 for toxin A positive alone, and 60 for toxin B positive alone. Antimicrobial resistance testing revealed 134/282 (47.5%) patients resistant to imidazole, 17 (6.1%) resistant to vancomycin, and 9 (3.2%) resistant to imidazole and vancomycin.CD-positive patients with presence of imidazole-resistant genes from stool DNA extract was a common phenomenon, while vancomycin resistance was uncommon. Similar to treatment of other infections, antimicrobial resistance testing should play a role in CDI clinical decision-making algorithms to enable more expedited and cost-effective delivery of patient care

Characterization of Vibrio vulni¢cus isolated from cockles (Anadara granosa): antimicrobial resistance, plasmid pro¢les and random ampli¢cation of polymorphic DNA analysis

Antibiotic susceptibility, plasmid profiles and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were used to study strains of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from cockles (Anadara granosa). Thirty-six isolates were analyzed. The prevalent biotypes were 1 (72.2% of the isolates) and 2 (27.8%). Among these, 21 strains of biotype 1 and two strains of biotype 2 contained plasmid DNA bands ranging in size from 1.4 to 9.7 MDa. Thirty-one (83.3%) were found to be resistant to one or more of the antimicrobial agents tested, however no specific correlation between antimicrobial resistance patterns and a single biotype was found. In addition, no particular plasmid profile was predictive of a particular pattern of antibiotic susceptibility. Two primers produced polymorphisms in all strains tested, producing bands ranging from 0.25 to 2.7 kb, indicating a high variability among both biotype 1 and biotype 2 of the V. vulnificus strains investigated. RAPD identity across biotypes was also observed among Vibrio vulnificus strains

Controle de qualidade de monitores de diagnóstico por imagem e iluminância nos espaços de pós-processamento em serviços de imagiologia

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a qualidade dos monitores de diagnóstico e tratamento de imagem digital em radiologia convencional (raios X) com base nos níveis de luminância. Fez-se a medição da iluminância dos postos de trabalho onde estavam os monitores. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: A medição da luminância foi realizada usando-se um detector Unfors Xi Light em cinco instituições, com 23 monitores primários e 22 secundários, sendo 6 usados em urgência, seguindo o método descrito no relatório TG18 da American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). O instrumento de medida utilizado foi o Delta Ohm HD 9221 luximeter. RESULTADOS: Para as recomendações da AAPM, tanto monitores primários como secundários cumpriram, no geral, os níveis de tolerância. No caso dos níveis de iluminância, nos locais de trabalho dos monitores primários encontravam-se ligeiramente acima do intervalo recomendado. Quanto às recomendações do The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), os monitores que respeitaram os níveis recomendados estavam em minoria, embora as diferenças não fossem significativas. CONCLUSÃO: Em geral, os resultados foram satisfatórios, embora os monitores não fossem adequados para atingir as recomendações exigentes do RCR. Os níveis de referência entre os monitores primários e secundários deveriam aproximar-se, de modo a garantir a qualidade de imagem. Os monitores para visualização e diagnóstico de imagens médicas devem ser regularmente avaliados para manter um sistema com a qualidade exigida, dada a função que desempenham

Effect of Viewing Angle on Luminance and Contrast for a Five-Million-Pixel Monochrome Display and a Nine-Million-Pixel Color Liquid Crystal Display

Digital imaging systems used in radiology rely on electronic display devices to present images to human observers. Active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) continue to improve and are beginning to be considered for diagnostic image display. In spite of recent progress, AMLCDs are characterized by a change in luminance and contrast response with changes in viewing direction. In this article, we characterize high pixel density AMLCDs (a five-million-pixel monochrome display and a nine-million-pixel color display) in terms of the effect of viewing angle on their luminance and contrast response. We measured angular luminance profiles using a custom-made computer-controlled goniometric instrument and a conoscopic Fourier-optics instrument. We show the angular luminance response as a function of viewing angle, as well as the departure of the measured contrast from the desired response. Our findings indicate small differences between the five-million-pixel (5 MP) and the nine-million-pixel (9 MP) AMLCDs. The 9 MP shows lower variance in contrast with changes in viewing angle, whereas the 5 MP provides a slightly better GSDF compliance for off-normal viewing