Multicenter evaluation of the vitek MS matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry system for identification of gram-positive aerobic bacteria

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) is gaining momentum as a tool for bacterial identification in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Compared with conventional methods, this technology can more readily and conveniently identify a wide range of organisms. Here, we report the findings from a multicenter study to evaluate the Vitek MS v2.0 system (bioMérieux, Inc.) for the identification of aerobic Gram-positive bacteria. A total of 1,146 unique isolates, representing 13 genera and 42 species, were analyzed, and results were compared to those obtained by nucleic acid sequence-based identification as the reference method. For 1,063 of 1,146 isolates (92.8%), the Vitek MS provided a single identification that was accurate to the species level. For an additional 31 isolates (2.7%), multiple possible identifications were provided, all correct at the genus level. Mixed-genus or single-choice incorrect identifications were provided for 18 isolates (1.6%). Although no identification was obtained for 33 isolates (2.9%), there was no specific bacterial species for which the Vitek MS consistently failed to provide identification. In a subset of 463 isolates representing commonly encountered important pathogens, 95% were accurately identified to the species level and there were no misidentifications. Also, in all but one instance, the Vitek MS correctly differentiated Streptococcus pneumoniae from other viridans group streptococci. The findings demonstrate that the Vitek MS system is highly accurate for the identification of Gram-positive aerobic bacteria in the clinical laboratory setting

Heat Resistance Mediated by a New Plasmid Encoded Clp ATPase, ClpK, as a Possible Novel Mechanism for Nosocomial Persistence of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important opportunistic pathogen and a frequent cause of nosocomial infections. We have characterized a K. pneumoniae strain responsible for a series of critical infections in an intensive care unit over a two-year period. The strain was found to be remarkably thermotolerant providing a conceivable explanation of its persistence in the hospital environment. This marked phenotype is mediated by a novel type of Clp ATPase, designated ClpK. The clpK gene is encoded by a conjugative plasmid and we find that the clpK gene alone renders an otherwise sensitive E. coli strain resistant to lethal heat shock. Furthermore, one third of a collection of nosocomial K. pneumoniae isolates carry clpK and exhibit a heat resistant phenotype. The discovery of ClpK as a plasmid encoded factor and its profound impact on thermal stress survival sheds new light on the biological relevance of Clp ATPases in acquired environmental fitness and highlights the challenges of mobile genetic elements in fighting nosocomial infections

Genetic Transformation of an Obligate Anaerobe, P. gingivalis for FMN-Green Fluorescent Protein Expression in Studying Host-Microbe Interaction

The recent introduction of “oxygen-independent” flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-based fluorescent proteins (FbFPs) is of major interest to both eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbial biologists. Accordingly, we demonstrate for the first time that an obligate anaerobe, the successful opportunistic pathogen of the oral cavity, Porphyromonas gingivalis, can be genetically engineered for expression of the non-toxic green FbFP. The resulting transformants are functional for studying dynamic bacterial processes in living host cells. The visualization of the transformed P. gingivalis (PgFbFP) revealed strong fluorescence that reached a maximum emission at 495 nm as determined by fluorescence microscopy and spectrofluorometry. Human primary gingival epithelial cells (GECs) were infected with PgFbFP and the bacterial invasion of host cells was analyzed by a quantitative fluorescence microscopy and antibiotic protection assays. The results showed similar levels of intracellular bacteria for both wild type and PgFbFP strains. In conjunction with organelle specific fluorescent dyes, utilization of the transformed strain provided direct and accurate determination of the live/metabolically active P. gingivalis' trafficking in the GECs over time. Furthermore, the GECs were co-infected with PgFbFP and the ATP-dependent Clp serine protease-deficient mutant (ClpP-) to study the differential fates of the two strains within the same host cells. Quantitative co-localization analyses displayed the intracellular PgFbFP significantly associated with the endoplasmic reticulum network, whereas the majority of ClpP- organisms trafficked into the lysosomes. Hence, we have developed a novel and reliable method to characterize live host cell-microbe interactions and demonstrated the adaptability of FMN-green fluorescent protein for studying persistent host infections induced by obligate anaerobic organisms

Decrypting magnetic fabrics (AMS, AARM, AIRM) through the analysis of mineral shape fabrics and distribution anisotropy

The fieldwork was supported by the DIPS project (grant no. 240467) and the MIMES project (grant no. 244155) funded by the Norwegian Research Council awarded to O.G. O.P.'s position was funded from Y-TEC.Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of magnetic remanence (AARM and AIRM) are efficient and versatile techniques to indirectly determine rock fabrics. Yet, deciphering the source of a magnetic fabric remains a crucial and challenging step, notably in the presence of ferrimagnetic phases. Here we use X-ray micro-computed tomography to directly compare mineral shape-preferred orientation and spatial distribution fabrics to AMS, AARM and AIRM fabrics from five hypabyssal trachyandesite samples. Magnetite grains in the trachyandesite are euhedral with a mean aspect ratio of 1.44 (0.24 s.d., long/short axis), and > 50% of the magnetite grains occur in clusters, and they are therefore prone to interact magnetically. Amphibole grains are prolate with magnetite in breakdown rims. We identified three components of the petrofabric that influence the AMS of the analyzed samples: the magnetite and the amphibole shape fabrics and the magnetite spatial distribution. Depending on their relative strength, orientation and shape, these three components interfere either constructively or destructively to produce the AMS fabric. If the three components are coaxial, the result is a relatively strongly anisotropic AMS fabric (P’ = 1.079). If shape fabrics and/or magnetite distribution are non-coaxial, the resulting AMS is weakly anisotropic (P’ = 1.012). This study thus reports quantitative petrofabric data that show the effect of magnetite distribution anisotropy on magnetic fabrics in igneous rocks, which has so far only been predicted by experimental and theoretical models. Our results have first-order implications for the interpretation of petrofabrics using magnetic methods.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Cation insertion to break the activity/stability relationship for highly active oxygen evolution reaction catalyst

The production of hydrogen at a large scale by the environmentally-friendly electrolysis process is currently hampered by the slow kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We report a solid electrocatalyst α-Li2IrO3 which upon oxidation/delithiation chemically reacts with water to form a hydrated birnessite phase, the OER activity of which is five times greater than its non-reacted counterpart. This reaction enlists a bulk redox process during which hydrated potassium ions from the alkaline electrolyte are inserted into the structure while water is oxidized and oxygen evolved. This singular charge balance process for which the electrocatalyst is solid but the reaction is homogeneous in nature allows stabilizing the surface of the catalyst while ensuring stable OER performances, thus breaking the activity/stability tradeoff normally encountered for OER catalysts

Channel sounding and indoor radio channel characteristics in the W-band

This work presents directional radio channel measurements in the W-band using a commercial versatile channel sounder based on a vector network analyzer (VNA), capable of measuring scattering parameters from 75 to 500 GHz with frequency converters. The commercial setup has been modified by increasing the distance for one of the converters using precision coaxial cables and avoiding the use of amplifiers. Firstly, initial distance-dependent single-input single-output (SISO) measurements of indoor radio channels are presented to assess the validity of the setup in the 75 110 GHz frequency band with highly directive horn antennas. Then, single-input multiple-output (SIMO) radio channels were measured at 94 GHz using one directional and one omnidirectional antenna mounted on two positioners. Initial channel characterization is presented comprising root mean square (rms) delay spread, rms angular spread, K-factor, and path loss in an indoor environment at 94 GHz.This work was supported by MINECO, Spain (TEC2013-47360-C3-2-P TEC2013-47360-C3-3-P) and by European FEDER funds.Martínez Inglés, M.; Gaillot, D.; Pascual-García, J.; Molina-García-Pardo, JM.; Rodriguez Rodriguez, JV.; Rubio Arjona, L.; Juan Llacer, L. (2016). Channel sounding and indoor radio channel characteristics in the W-band. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking. 30:1-8. doi:10.1186/s13638-016-0530-7S1830D Zico, Ultra-wideband and 60 GHz communications for biomedical applications. Springer. http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-8896-5 .L Jofre, J Romeu, S Capdevila, J Abril, E Nova, M Alonso, The “challenging” world of Terahertz radiation and imaging. Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), 2011, pp. 3470–3475M Kawase, “Non-destructive evaluation method of pharmaceutical tablet by terahertz-time-domain spectroscopy: application to sound-alike medicines”, J. Infrared Millimeter Terahertz Waves, 34(9), 566–571KD Anderson, 94 GHz propagation in the evaporation duct. IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. 38(5), 746–753 (1990)K Aydin, Y-M Lure, Millimeter wave scattering and propagation in rain: a computational study at 94 and 140 GHz for oblate spheroidal and spherical raindrops. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 29(1), 593–601 (1991)C Gloaguen, An experiment for propagation studies at 94 GHz. Eighth Int. Conf. Antennas Propagation 1, 406–409 (1993)A Kajiwara, “Indoor propagation measurements at 94 GHz,” personal, indoor and mobile radio communications, 1995. Sixth IEEE Int. Symp PIMRC’95. Wireless Merging Inf. Superhighway 3, 1026 (1995)J Helminger, J Detlefsen, H Groll, Propagation properties of an indoor-channel at 94 GHz. Int. Conf. Microw Millimeter Wave Technol.Proc 98, 9–14 (1998)R Piesiewicz, R Geise, M Jacob, J Jemai, T Kurner, “Indoor channel measurements of point-to-point ultra broadband short range links between 75 GHz and 110 GHz”, in International Symposium Antennas and Propagation Society, 2008, pp. 1–4A Brizzi, A Pellegrini, Y Hao, “Experimental characterization of the propagation on the human torso at W band”, in Radio Science Meeting (Joint with AP-S Symposium), USNC-URSI, 2013, p. 39K Haneda, J Järveläinen, A Karttunen, M Kyro, J Putkonen, Indoor short-range radio propagation measurements At 60 and 70 GHz, in EuCAP 2014, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2014, pp. 1–4S Promwong, J Takada, Free space link budget estimation scheme for ultra wideband impulse radio with imperfect antennas. IEICE Electronics Express 1(7), 188–192 (2004)NL Johnson, S Kotz, N Balakrishnan, Continuous univariate distributions, vol. 1 (Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken, 1993)A Richter, Estimation of radio channel parameters: models and algorithms (Dr.-Ing. dissertation, TU Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany, 2005

Bacterial contamination of inanimate surfaces and equipment in the intensive care unit

Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections are a challenging health problem worldwide, especially when caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. In ICUs, inanimate surfaces and equipment (e.g., bedrails, stethoscopes, medical charts, ultrasound machine) may be contaminated by bacteria, including MDR isolates. Cross-transmission of microorganisms from inanimate surfaces may have a significant role for ICU-acquired colonization and infections. Contamination may result from healthcare workers' hands or by direct patient shedding of bacteria which are able to survive up to several months on dry surfaces. A higher environmental contamination has been reported around infected patients than around patients who are only colonized and, in this last group, a correlation has been observed between frequency of environmental contamination and culture-positive body sites. Healthcare workers not only contaminate their hands after direct patient contact but also after touching inanimate surfaces and equipment in the patient zone (the patient and his/her immediate surroundings). Inadequate hand hygiene before and after entering a patient zone may result in cross-transmission of pathogens and patient colonization or infection. A number of equipment items and commonly used objects in ICU carry bacteria which, in most cases, show the same antibiotic susceptibility profiles of those isolated from patients. The aim of this review is to provide an updated evidence about contamination of inanimate surfaces and equipment in ICU in light of the concept of patient zone and the possible implications for bacterial pathogen cross-transmission to critically ill patients