A novel suture method to place and adjust peripheral nerve catheters

We have developed a peripheral nerve catheter, attached to a needle, which works like an adjustable suture. We used in‐plane ultrasound guidance to place 45 catheters close to the femoral, saphenous, sciatic and distal tibial nerves in cadaver legs. We displaced catheters after their initial placement and then attempted to return them to their original positions. We used ultrasound to evaluate the initial and secondary catheter placements and the spread of injectate around the nerves. In 10 cases, we confirmed catheter position by magnetic resonance imaging. We judged 43/45 initial placements successful and 42/43 secondary placements successful by ultrasound, confirmed in 10/10 cases by magnetic resonance imaging

Evidence of Isotopic Fractionation During Vapor Exchange Between the Atmosphere and the Snow Surface in Greenland

Several recent studies from both Greenland and Antarctica have reported significant changes in the water isotopic composition of near‐surface snow between precipitation events. These changes have been linked to isotopic exchange with atmospheric water vapor and sublimation‐induced fractionation, but the processes are poorly constrained by observations. Understanding and quantifying these processes are crucial to both the interpretation of ice core climate proxies and the formulation of isotope‐enabled general circulation models. Here, we present continuous measurements of the water isotopic composition in surface snow and atmospheric vapor together with near‐surface atmospheric turbulence and snow‐air latent and sensible heat fluxes, obtained at the East Greenland Ice‐Core Project drilling site in summer 2016. For two 4‐day‐long time periods, significant diurnal variations in atmospheric water isotopologues are observed. A model is developed to explore the impact of this variability on the surface snow isotopic composition. Our model suggests that the snow isotopic composition in the upper subcentimeter of the snow exhibits a diurnal variation with amplitudes in δ18O and δD of ~2.5‰ and ~13‰, respectively. As comparison, such changes correspond to 10–20% of the magnitude of seasonal changes in interior Greenland snow pack isotopes and of the change across a glacial‐interglacial transition. Importantly, our observation and model results suggest, that sublimation‐induced fractionation needs to be included in simulations of exchanges between the vapor and the snow surface on diurnal timescales during summer cloud‐free conditions in northeast Greenland

Carriage of an ACME II variant may have contributed to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus sequence type 239-like strain replacement in Liverpool hospital, Sydney, Australia

Approximately 39% of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sequence type 239 (ST239)-like bloodstream isolates from Liverpool Hospital (obtained between 1997 and 2008) carry an arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME). Whole-genome sequencing revealed that an ACME II variant is located between orfX and SCCmec III, and based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns and temporal relationships of all ST239-like isolates (n = 360), ACME carriage may have contributed to subpulsotype strain replacement

Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution Associated with Blood Pressure and Self-Reported Hypertension in a Danish Cohort

Background: Short-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with changes in blood pressure (BP) and emergency department visits for hypertension, but little is known about the effects of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution on BP and hypertension

Cross-border outbreak of listeriosis caused by cold-smoked salmon, revealed by integrated surveillance and whole genome sequencing (WGS), Denmark and France, 2015 to 2017

International audienceIn August 2017, an outbreak of six listeriosis cases in Denmark was traced to cold-smoked salmon, using epidemiological investigations and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analyses. Exchange of genome sequences allowed identification in France of a food isolate from a salmon-derived product and a human isolate from 2016 within the same cgMLST cluster as the Danish isolates (L2-SL8-ST8-CT771). The salmon product came from a third European Union country. WGS can rapidly link human cases and food isolates across Europe