Retrospective analysis of antimicrobial resistance and bacterial spectrum of infection in Gabon, Central Africa

Background: Physicians depend on reliable information on the local epidemiology of infection and antibiotic resistance rates to guide empiric treatment in critically ill patients. As these data are scarce for Central Africa, we performed a retrospective analysis of microbiological findings from a secondary care hospital in Gabon. Methods: Microbiological reports from 2009 to 2012 were used to assess the non-susceptibility rates of the three most common isolates from six major types of infections (bloodstream, ear-eye-nose-throat, surgical site, skin and soft tissue, urinary tract and wound infection). Results: A high diversity of pathogens was found, but Staphylococcus aureus was predominant in the majority of infections. Overall, the three most prevalent pathogens in children were S. aureus (33.7%), Streptococcus pyogenes (8.1%) and Escherichia coli (4.5%) and in adults S. aureus (23.5%), E. coli (15.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.4%). In total, 5.8% (n = 19) of all S. aureus isolates were methicillin resistant. The proportion of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae was 15.4% (n = 78), 49.4% of all K. pneumoniae were ESBL-producer (n = 42). Conclusion: The high diversity of potential pathogens and high resistance rates in Gram-negative bacteria challenge a rational empiric use of antibiotics. Countrywide continuous sentinel surveillance is therefore urgently needed.<br

Treatment of knee prosthesis infections: evaluation of 15 patients over a 5-year period

Our objective was to evaluate different treatment alternatives for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) infection and to compare outcomes depending on adherence to a current treatment algorithm. All patients treated for a first episode of TKA infection between January 2000 and July 2005 were included. Patient records were reviewed and data were extracted retrospectively. Fifteen patients were followed up for a median of 25 months. The cure rate in patients with two-stage exchange of knee prosthesis was higher than in patients who had débridement without implant removal (100 vs 37%, p = 0.03). Cure rates were not different between these two surgical approaches in ten patients who were treated according to a current treatment algorithm. Success rates for treatment of TKA infections varied considerably with the treatment strategy chosen. Our results support the use of existing algorithms to select patients who are eligible for débridement with retention of the prosthesis or need two-stage exchange of knee implants

Finanzmärkte, Unternehmungen, Informationen: Ergebnisse des Projektes im Wintersemester 2015/2016

Der vorliegende Beitrag der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Schriften ist ein Sammelband, der die Beiträge der Studierenden des 2. Fachsemesters im Masterstudiengang General Management aus dem Wintersemester 2015/2016 umfasst. Die Einzelbeiträge wurden in einer zwei Monate dauernden Projektarbeit im Herbst 2015 erarbeitet und im Januar 2016 präsentiert. Der diesjährige Themenschwerpunkt lag auf dem Bereich "Banken", jedoch fanden auch andere Bereiche Eingang in das Spektrum der Arbeiten. Das Besondere dieser Ausarbeitungen liegt darin, dass sie in Form eines journalistischen Artikels aufgebaut sind und die Autoren die Aufgabe hatten, eine auch für Nichtfachleute geeignete Form der Darstellung zu finden. Besonderer Wert wurde auch auf einen gut lesbaren Schreibstil und die Vielfalt der Gestaltungsformen gelegt. Die Arbeiten liegen hier in der Originalversion vor und wurden nicht redigiert. Die Fakten wurden nach bestem Wissen ermittelt, jedoch besteht kein Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit

Real-Time LightCycler PCR for Detection and Discrimination of Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis

Real-time PCR assays based on the LightCycler technology were developed for individual (simplex PCR) and simultaneous (duplex PCR) detection and discrimination of Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis in clinical samples. The assays were evaluated with 113 specimens from patients with and without symptoms of pertussis. Results were compared to those from conventional culture and TaqMan real-time PCR. The analytical sensitivity ranged from 0.1 to 10 CFU for B. pertussis and B. parapertussis, and intra- and interassay variations were less than 7%. Results were available within 2 h. With the simplex format, 21 of 100 samples from patients with clinical symptoms of pertussis were positive for B. pertussis and/or B. parapertussis. With the duplex format, 18 of 100 samples were positive. LightCycler PCR increased the diagnostic sensitivity over that of culture by 2.0-fold (duplex PCR) (P = 0.08) to 2.3-fold (simplex PCR) (P = 0.02). Our data suggest that duplex PCR in this format showed good analytical sensitivity but lost some sensitivity on clinical samples compared with the simplex format

Parental military deployment as risk factor for children’s mental health: a meta-analytical review

Abstract There is evidence that military service increases the risk of psychosocial burden for not only service members but also their spouses and children. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess the association between military deployment of (at least one) parent and impact on children’s mental health. For this meta-analytic review, publications were systematically searched and assessed for eligibility based on predefined inclusion criteria (studies between 2001 until 2017 involving children with at least one parent working in military services). Measurements were determined by total problem scores of the children as well as symptoms of anxiety/depression, hyperactivity/inattention, and aggressive behavior. Meta-analyses aggregated the effect sizes in random-effect models and were calculated separately for the relation between parental deployment and civilian/normative data and for the relation between parental deployment and non-deployment. Age of the children was used as moderator variable to explore any potential source of heterogeneity between studies. Parental military deployment was associated with problems in children and adolescents compared to civilian/normative samples. Significant effect sizes reached from small to moderate values; the largest effect sizes were found for overall problems and specifically for anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior. Within the military group, children of deployed parents showed more problem behavior than children of non-deployed parents, but effect sizes were small. Age of the children had no moderating effect. The results emphasize that children of military members, especially with a deployed parent, should be assessed for emotional and behavioral problems

Influence of metabolic status and genetic merit for fertility on proteomic composition of bovine oviduct fluid†

The oviduct plays a crucial role in fertilization and early embryo development providing the microenvironment for oocyte, spermatozoa, and early embryo. Since dairy cow fertility declined steadily over the last decades, reasons for early embryonic loss have gained increasing interest. Analyzing two animal models, this study aimed to investigate the impact of genetic predisposition for fertility and of metabolic stress on the protein composition of oviduct fluid. A metabolic model comprised maiden Holstein heifers and postpartum lactating (Lact) and non-lactating (Dry) cows, while a genetic model consisted of heifers from the Montbeliarde breed and Holstein heifers with low- and high-fertility index. In a holistic proteomic analysis of oviduct fluid from all groups using nano-liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry analysis and label-free quantification, we were able to identify 1976 proteins, among which 143 showed abundance alterations in the pairwise comparisons within both models. Most differentially abundant proteins were revealed between low fertility Holstein and Montbeliarde (52) in the genetic model and between lactating and maiden Holstein (19) in the metabolic model, demonstrating a substantial effect of genetic predisposition for fertility and metabolic stress on the oviduct fluid proteome. Functional classification of affected proteins revealed actin binding, translation, and immune system processes as prominent gene ontology (GO) clusters. Notably, Actin-related protein 2/3 complex subunit 1B and the three immune system-related proteins SERPIND1 protein, immunoglobulin kappa locus protein, and Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein were affected in both models, suggesting that abundance changes of immune-related proteins in oviduct fluid play an important role for early embryonic loss

Protein variability in cerebrospinal fluid and its possible implications for neurological protein biomarker research.

Cerebrospinal fluid is investigated in biomarker studies for various neurological disorders of the central nervous system due to its proximity to the brain. Currently, only a limited number of biomarkers have been validated in independent studies. The high variability in the protein composition and protein abundance of cerebrospinal fluid between as well as within individuals might be an important reason for this phenomenon. To evaluate this possibility, we investigated the inter- and intraindividual variability in the cerebrospinal fluid proteome globally, with a specific focus on disease biomarkers described in the literature. Cerebrospinal fluid from a longitudinal study group including 12 healthy control subjects was analyzed by label-free quantification (LFQ) via LC-MS/MS. Data were quantified via MaxQuant. Then, the intra- and interindividual variability and the reference change value were calculated for every protein. We identified and quantified 791 proteins, and 216 of these proteins were abundant in all samples and were selected for further analysis. For these proteins, we found an interindividual coefficient of variation of up to 101.5% and an intraindividual coefficient of variation of up to 29.3%. Remarkably, these values were comparably high for both proteins that were published as disease biomarkers and other proteins. Our results support the hypothesis that natural variability greatly impacts cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers because high variability can lead to unreliable results. Thus, we suggest controlling the variability of each protein to distinguish between good and bad biomarker candidates, e.g., by utilizing reference change values to improve the process of evaluating potential biomarkers in future studies