Bilateral septic arthritis of the knee in a seven-year old sickle cell disease patient: a case report

Background: Septic arthritis is an inflammatory process in the joints associated with isolation of pathogens or a positive Gram stain of the synovial fluid. It is a disease condition with significant complications such as joint destruction and immobility. Individual cases are difficult to manage and frequently necessitate prolonged courses of antibiotics.Aim: The aim of the study was to present our findings with the view towards improving treatment outcomes in similar clinical scenarios.Findings: Septic arthritis in the index patient developed insidiously and was diagnosed after multiple arthrocentesis were performed. It was bilateral and associated with recurrent bouts of fever, joint tenderness reduced mobility and swelling. The predisposing factor in the index patient, a seven year old male was sickle cell disease. Multiple antimicrobial regimens were instituted in the patient with unsatisfactory results. Initial treatment regimens did not appear to be based on bacteriological statistics which resulted in prolonged hospital stay. Culture of the synovial fluid was initially onto brain heart infusion both and subsequently subcultured onto chocolate and MacConkey agar. The isolate recovered was Serratia rubideae which was identified using the Microbact 12A kit. Susceptibility studies showed the isolate to be susceptible to only meropenem. The patient was subsequently placed on meropenem for forty two days and recovered with radiologic and clinical evidence of improvement and thereafter discharged home.Conclusion: Close collaboration between the orthopedic surgeon and microbiologist will help to improve treatment outcomes. The Microbact12A kit is recommended in the routine identification of gram negative pathogens.Keywords: Septic arthritis, sickle cell disease, meropenem, microbact, arthrocentesis, Serratia rubidea

Accidental Father-to-Son HIV-1 Transmission During the Seroconversion Period

A 4-year-old child born to an HIV-1 seronegative mother was diagnosed with HIV-1, the main risk factor being transmission from the child's father who was seroconverting at the time of the child's birth. In the context of a forensic investigation, we aimed to identify the source of infection of the child and date of the transmission event. Samples were collected from the father and child at two time points about 4 years after the child's birth. Partial segments of three HIV-1 genes (gag, pol, and env) were sequenced and maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian methods were used to determine direction and estimate date of transmission. Neutralizing antibodies were determined using a single cycle assay. Bayesian trees displayed a paraphyletic-monophyletic topology in all three genomic regions, with the father's host label at the root, which is consistent with father-to-son transmission. ML trees found similar topologies in gag and pol and a monophyletic-monophyletic topology in env. Analysis of the time of the most recent common ancestor of each HIV-1 gene population indicated that the child was infected shortly after the father. Consistent with the infection history, both father and son developed broad and potent HIV-specific neutralizing antibody responses. In conclusion, the direction of transmission implicated the father as the source of transmission. Transmission occurred during the seroconversion period when the father was unaware of the infection and was likely accidental. This case shows how genetic, phylogenetic, and serological data can contribute for the forensic investigation of HIV transmission.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Power Factor Correction for Thyristor Equipment in Glass Industry

Thyristor power controllers are now widely used in the glass industry for controlling furnace temperature. While offering a number of operational advantages, they operate at lagging power factors which require correction for minimum power cost. Harmonic resonance with the utility feed, however, complicate the use of capacitor banks. The nature of harmonic problems is described and the use of inductors to tune capacitor banks below any possible harmonic frequency is demonstrated.The Information Manager Vol. 8 (1) 2008: pp. 22-2

Pawpaw leaves supplemented with three calcium sources and their effects on the african giant land snail in humid Nigeria

The response of one hundred and thirty-two (132) grower African giant land snail (Archachatina marginata) with a weight range of 231.33-234.00 g and fed fresh pawpaw (Carica papaya) leaf-based diet supplemented with three mineral calcium sources was investigated in a humid tropical environment of Nigeria. The grower snails received either pawpaw leaves alone (T1: control), pawpaw leaf + egg shell (T2), pawpaw leaf + oyster shell (T3) or pawpaw leaf + periwinkle shell (T4). Each treatment groups was replicated 3 times in a Completely Randomized Design. The results showed that pawpaw leaf and calcium intakes differed (p 0.05), shell thickness was significantly different (p < 0.05) varying between 0.15 cm for T1 to 0.27 cm for T3. The study suggests that dietary calcium supplementation in the diets of the African giant land snail will improve the intake of a pawpaw leaf basal diet and mineral calcium, weight gain and feed conversion ratio with the oyster supplemented group performing better

CXCR4-targeted and MMP-responsive iron oxide nanoparticles for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

MRI offers high spatial resolution with excellent tissue penetration but it has limited sensitivity and the commonly administered contrast agents lack specificity. In this study, two sets of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were synthesized that were designed to selectively undergo copper-free click conjugation upon sensing of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes, thereby leading to a self-assembled superparamagnetic nanocluster network with T2 signal enhancement properties. For this purpose, IONPs with bioorthogonal azide and alkyne surfaces masked by polyethylene glycol (PEG) layers tethered to CXCR4-targeted peptide ligands were synthesized and characterized. The IONPs were tested in vitro and T2 signal enhancements of around 160 % were measured when the IONPs were incubated with cells expressing MMP2/9 and CXCR4. Simultaneous systemic administration of the bioorthogonal IONPs in tumor-bearing mice demonstrated the signal-enhancing ability of these ‘smart’ self-assembling nanomaterials

16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic tree of lactobacillus species from the vagina of healthy Nigerian women

Lactobacilli are ubiquitous in nature and in humans they play a very significant role in the general health maintenance of the host. Identification of lactobacilli has previously been based on culturedependent methods and recently molecular techniques involving gene sequencing are now the &lsquo;gold standard&rsquo;. Scarce information exists in Africa on the real identity of Lactobacillus species, albeit phylogenetic distances among the species present in the human vagina. In this study, 185 vaginal swabs were collected from healthy premenopausal women (18 to 48 years). Bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified using PCR, with group specific Lactobacillus primers, and processed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Phylogenetic tree was constructed with the sequencesof the V2-V3 region of 16S rRNA gene. Results show two distinct divisions among the Lactobacillus species. The study presents a new understanding of the nature of the Lactobacillus vaginal microbiota of women in Nigeria, which may lead to the design of probiotic-lactobacilli for biotherapy

Job Satisfaction and Psychological Health of Long Distance Drivers in Benin City

This cross-sectional analytical study was designed to assess the level of and factors affecting job satisfaction andpsychological health among long distance drivers in Benin City, Edo, Nigeria. A 21-item Job satisfaction questionnaire and the Golberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 28) were used for data collection from 168 consenting drivers. Data was analysed with SPSS version 15. Results showed that an appreciable number of drivers were satisfied with their job (85%). Factors linked with satisfaction included flexibility of periods designated as resting hours (91.6%), company administration and management (84.6%), self- perception of being valued by the company (79.7%), and remuneration (74.1%). Sources of dissatisfaction included lack of training on the job (82%) and frequent  arassment by law enforcement officers (77%). Psychological morbidity was rare. Overall, the drivers showed high level satisfaction towards their job, though there were areas of dissatisfaction that need to be addressed in the interest and safety of passengers and other road users.Keywords: Drivers, Health, Job Satisfaction, Long distance, Psychologica

Guarding curvilinear art galleries with edge or mobile guards via 2-dominance of triangulation graphs

AbstractIn this paper we consider the problem of monitoring an art gallery modeled as a polygon, the edges of which are arcs of curves, with edge or mobile guards. Our focus is on piecewise-convex polygons, i.e., polygons that are locally convex, except possibly at the vertices, and their edges are convex arcs.We transform the problem of monitoring a piecewise-convex polygon to the problem of 2-dominating a properly defined triangulation graph with edges or diagonals, where 2-dominance requires that every triangle in the triangulation graph has at least two of its vertices in its 2-dominating set. We show that: (1) ⌊n+13⌋ diagonal guards are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, and (2) ⌊2n+15⌋ edge guards are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, in order to 2-dominate a triangulation graph. Furthermore, we show how to compute: (1) a diagonal 2-dominating set of size ⌊n+13⌋ in linear time and space, (2) an edge 2-dominating set of size ⌊2n+15⌋ in O(n2) time and O(n) space, and (3) an edge 2-dominating set of size ⌊3n7⌋ in O(n) time and space.Based on the above-mentioned results, we prove that, for piecewise-convex polygons, we can compute: (1) a mobile guard set of size ⌊n+13⌋ in O(nlogn) time, (2) an edge guard set of size ⌊2n+15⌋ in O(n2) time, and (3) an edge guard set of size ⌊3n7⌋ in O(nlogn) time. All space requirements are linear. Finally, we show that ⌊n3⌋ mobile or ⌈n3⌉ edge guards are sometimes necessary.When restricting our attention to monotone piecewise-convex polygons, the bounds mentioned above drop: ⌈n+14⌉ edge or mobile guards are always sufficient and sometimes necessary; such an edge or mobile guard set, of size at most ⌈n+14⌉, can be computed in O(n) time and space

Repeatability of quantitative18F-FLT uptake measurements in solid tumors: an individual patient data multi-center meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: 3'-deoxy-3'-[18F]fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) positron emission tomography (PET) provides a non-invasive method to assess cellular proliferation and response to antitumor therapy. Quantitative18F-FLT uptake metrics are being used for evaluation of proliferative response in investigational setting, however multi-center repeatability needs to be established. The aim of this study was to determine the repeatability of18F-FLT tumor uptake metrics by re-analyzing individual patient data from previously published reports using the same tumor segmentation method and repeatability metrics across cohorts. METHODS: A systematic search in PubMed, EMBASE.com and the Cochrane Library from inception-October 2016 yielded five18F-FLT repeatability cohorts in solid tumors.18F-FLT avid lesions were delineated using a 50% isocontour adapted for local background on test and retest scans. SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak, proliferative volume and total lesion uptake (TLU) were calculated. Repeatability was assessed using the repeatability coefficient (RC = 1.96 × SD of test-retest differences), linear regression analysis, and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). The impact of different lesion selection criteria was also evaluated. RESULTS: Images from four cohorts containing 30 patients with 52 lesions were obtained and analyzed (ten in breast cancer, nine in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and 33 in non-small cell lung cancer patients). A good correlation was found between test-retest data for all18F-FLT uptake metrics (R2 ≥ 0.93; ICC ≥ 0.96). Best repeatability was found for SUVpeak(RC: 23.1%), without significant differences in RC between different SUV metrics. Repeatability of proliferative volume (RC: 36.0%) and TLU (RC: 36.4%) was worse than SUV. Lesion selection methods based on SUVmax ≥ 4.0 improved the repeatability of volumetric metrics (RC: 26-28%), but did not affect the repeatability of SUV metrics. CONCLUSIONS: In multi-center studies, differences ≥ 25% in18F-FLT SUV metrics likely represent a true change in tumor uptake. Larger differences are required for FLT metrics comprising volume estimates when no lesion selection criteria are applied

Bacterial biodiversity drives the evolution of CRISPR-based phage resistance

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record About half of all bacteria carry genes for CRISPR–Cas adaptive immune systems, which provide immunological memory by inserting short DNA sequences from phage and other parasitic DNA elements into CRISPR loci on the host genome. Whereas CRISPR loci evolve rapidly in natural environments, bacterial species typically evolve phage resistance by the mutation or loss of phage receptors under laboratory conditions. Here we report how this discrepancy may in part be explained by differences in the biotic complexity of in vitro and natural environments. Specifically, by using the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its phage DMS3vir, we show that coexistence with other human pathogens amplifies the fitness trade-offs associated with the mutation of phage receptors, and therefore tips the balance in favour of the evolution of CRISPR-based resistance. We also demonstrate that this has important knock-on effects for the virulence of P. aeruginosa, which became attenuated only if the bacteria evolved surface-based resistance. Our data reveal that the biotic complexity of microbial communities in natural environments is an important driver of the evolution of CRISPR–Cas adaptive immunity, with key implications for bacterial fitness and virulence.European CommissionNatural Environment Research Council (NERC