Molecular typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by restriction fragment length polymorphisms.

OBJECTIVE--To characterise Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates by restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in ribosomal RNA genes. DESIGN--Generation of RFLP patterns by HincII restriction of rRNA genes followed by hybridisation with a non-radioactive labelled broad spectrum 16 + 23S rRNA gene probe. This typing method was developed and compared with MAb based serotyping. SPECIMENS--Forty three randomly collected isolates from Bangkok (27 isolates) and Singapore (16 isolates) were studied. RESULTS--The RFLP patterns generated were reproducible and highly discriminatory between strains. Analysis of RFLPs produced by HincII restriction of rRNA genes established 9 patterns amongst the 43 isolates examined. Strains present within a common serovar could be further subdivided by RFLP typing. Identical RFLP patterns were found in some strains that belonged to various serovars. CONCLUSION--RFLP typing based on heterogeneities of rRNA gene restriction patterns could be advantageously used to complement monoclonal antibody based serotyping for further subdivision of serovars. Higher sensitivity of this combined approach would enable better differentiation of strains in epidemiological studies

Central Serous Chorioretinopathy, Corticosteroids, and Uveitis

Any patient with a diagnosis of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) should be questioned to determine any recent corticosteroid use, as the poor visual outcome may be due to unrecognized corticosteroid use. Atypical forms of CSCR may be misdiagnosed as an inflammatory serous retinal detachment, mainly Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. CSCR that develops in association with preexisting uveitis could be a challenging diagnosis as it might be misinterpreted as a worsening of the primary inflammatory condition. Failure to differentiate CSCR from retinal or choroidal inflammatory diseases may result in inappropriate use of corticosteroids, leading to exacerbation of the condition and permanent visual loss. Discontinuation of corticosteroids should be the first step in the treatment of CSCR associated with corticosteroid therapy, and the use of immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs may be required to control systemic or ocular inflammatory disease. The prognosis is usually favorable, but persistent visual loss may occur

The role of cognitive inhibition in different components of arithmetic

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Research has established that executive functions, the skills required to monitor and control thought and action, are related to achievement in mathematics. Until recently research has focused on working memory, but studies are beginning to show that inhibition skills—the ability to suppress distracting information and unwanted responses—are also important for mathematics. However, these studies employed general mathematics tests and therefore are unable to pinpoint how inhibition skills relate to specific components of mathematics. We explored how inhibition skills are related to overall achievement as well as factual, procedural and conceptual knowledge in 209 participants aged 11–12, 13–14 and adults. General mathematics achievement was more strongly related to inhibition measured in numerical compared with non-numerical contexts. Inhibition skills were related to conceptual knowledge in older participants, but procedural skills in younger participants. These differing relationships can shed light on the mechanisms by which inhibition is involved in mathematics