SNP Analysis of Caries and Initial Caries in Finnish Adolescents

Background. Dental caries is the most common infection in the world and is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors are largely known, but the role of genetic factors is quite unknown. The aim was to investigate the genetic background of caries in Finnish adolescents. Materials and Methods. This study was carried out at the Kotka Health Center in Eastern Finland. 94 participants aged 15-17 years gave approval for the saliva and DNA analyses. However, one was excluded in DNA analysis; thus, the overall number of participants in analysis was 93. Caries status was recorded clinically and from bite-wing X-rays to all 94 participants. Genomic DNA was extracted by genomic QIAamp (R) DNA Blood Mini Kit and genotyped for polymorphisms. The results were analyzed using additive and logistic regression models. Results. No significant associations between caries and the genes studied were found. However, SNPs in DDX39B and MPO showed association tendencies but were not statistically significant after false discovery rate (FDR) analysis. SNPs in VDR, LTA, and MMP3 were not statistically significant with initial caries lesions after FDR analysis. Conclusion. The present study could not demonstrate statistically significant associations between caries and the genes studied. Further studies with larger populations are needed.Peer reviewe

Characterization of Salmonella Typhimurium isolates from domestically acquired infections in Finland by phage typing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, PFGE and MLVA

Background: Salmonella enterica spp. enterica serotype Typhimurium (STM) is the most common agent of domestically acquired salmonellosis in Finland. Subtyping methods which allow the characterization of STM are essential for effective laboratory-based STM surveillance and for recognition of outbreaks. This study describes the diversity of Finnish STM isolates using phage typing, antimicrobial susceptible testing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), and compares the discriminatory power and the concordance of these methods. Results: A total of 375 sporadic STM isolates were analysed. The isolates were divided into 31 definite phage (DT) types, dominated by DT1 (47 % of the isolates), U277 (9 % of the isolates) and DT104 (8 % of the isolates). Of all the isolates, 62 % were susceptible to all the 12 antimicrobials tested and 11 % were multidrug resistant. Subtyping resulted in 83 different XbaI-PFGE profiles and 111 MLVA types. The three most common XbaI-PFGE profiles (STYM1, STYM7 and STYM8) and one MLVA profile with three single locus variants accounted for 56 % and 49 % of the STM isolates, respectively. The studied isolates showed a genetic similarity of more than 70 % by XbaI-PFGE. In MLVA, 71 % of the isolates lacked STTR6 and 77 % missed STTR10p loci. Nevertheless, the calculated Simpson's diversity index for XbaI-PFGE was 0.829 (95 % CI 0.792-0.865) and for MLVA 0.867 (95 % CI 0.835-0.898). However, the discriminatory power of the 5-loci MLVA varied among the phage types. The highest concordance of the results was found between XbaI-PFGE and phage typing (adjusted Wallace coefficient was 0.833 and adjusted Rand coefficient was 0.627). Conclusions: In general, the calculated discriminatory power was higher for genotyping methods (MLVA and XbaI-PFGE) than for phenotyping methods (phage typing). Overall, comparable diversity indices were calculated for PFGE and MLVA (both DI > 0.8). However, MLVA was phage type dependent providing better discrimination of the most common phage types. Furthermore, 5-loci MLVA was a less laborious method and easier to interpret than XbaI-PFGE. Thus, the laboratory-based surveillance of the Finnish human STM infections has been conducted with a combination of phage typing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and 5-loci MLVA since January 2014.Peer reviewe

Assessment of blood cultures and antibiotic susceptibility testing for bacterial sepsis diagnosis and utilization of results by clinicians in Benin: A qualitative study

ObjectivesWe assessed the current status of blood culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) practices in clinical laboratories in Benin, and how the laboratory results are used by physicians to prescribe antibiotics.MethodsThe qualitative study covered twenty-five clinical laboratories with a bacteriology unit and associated hospitals and pharmacies. Altogether 159 laboratory staff, physicians and pharmacists were interviewed about their perceptions of the state of laboratory diagnostics related to sepsis and the use of antibiotics. Face-to-face interviews based on structured questionnaires were supported by direct observations when visiting five laboratories in across the country.ResultsOnly 6 laboratories (24%) conducted blood cultures, half of them with a maximum of 10 samples per month. The most common gram-negative bacteria isolated from blood cultures were: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi while the most common gram-positives were Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. None of the laboratories listed Klebsiella pneumoniae among the three most common bacteria isolated from blood cultures, although other evidence indicates that it is the most common cause of sepsis in Benin. Due to limited testing capacity, physicians most commonly use empirical antibiotic therapy.ConclusionsMore resources are needed to develop laboratory testing capacity, technical skills in bacterial identification, AST, quality assurance, and communication of results must be strengthened

Assessment of blood cultures and antibiotic susceptibility testing for bacterial sepsis diagnosis and utilization of results by clinicians in Benin: A qualitative study

ObjectivesWe assessed the current status of blood culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) practices in clinical laboratories in Benin, and how the laboratory results are used by physicians to prescribe antibiotics.MethodsThe qualitative study covered twenty-five clinical laboratories with a bacteriology unit and associated hospitals and pharmacies. Altogether 159 laboratory staff, physicians and pharmacists were interviewed about their perceptions of the state of laboratory diagnostics related to sepsis and the use of antibiotics. Face-to-face interviews based on structured questionnaires were supported by direct observations when visiting five laboratories in across the country.ResultsOnly 6 laboratories (24%) conducted blood cultures, half of them with a maximum of 10 samples per month. The most common gram-negative bacteria isolated from blood cultures were: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi while the most common gram-positives were Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. None of the laboratories listed Klebsiella pneumoniae among the three most common bacteria isolated from blood cultures, although other evidence indicates that it is the most common cause of sepsis in Benin. Due to limited testing capacity, physicians most commonly use empirical antibiotic therapy.ConclusionsMore resources are needed to develop laboratory testing capacity, technical skills in bacterial identification, AST, quality assurance, and communication of results must be strengthened.Peer reviewe

How can we develop communication in small groups?

Yhteistoiminnalliset oppimismenetelmät, kuten pienryhmäkeskustelut tai ryhmissä suoritettavat harjoitustyöt, ovat keskeinen osa korkeakouluopetusta. Tässä työssä tarkastelemme pienryhmissä tapahtuvaa oppimista erityisesti siihen liittyvän kommunikaation kannalta. Esittelemme alan peruskäsitteitä sekä kirjallisuudessa kuvattuja käytännön tapoja rakentaa opetukseen vuorovaikutusta edellyttäviä ja sitä tukevia elementtejä. Näitä ovat esimerkiksi tutkivat oppimismenetelmät, ryhmien ohjattua vaihtelua ja/tai sarjallisuutta sisältävät keskustelumenetelmät ja opiskelijoiden toimiminen vertaistuutoreina. Pohdimme tällaisten menetelmien käytännön soveltamista oman opetuksemme eli Helsingin yliopiston mikrobiologian, farmasian ja eläinlääketieteellisen anatomian oppiaineissa annettavan pienryhmäopetuksen viitekehyksessä ja selvitämme niitä keinoja, joilla voimme opettajina auttaa opiskelijoita parantamaan ryhmien kommunikaatiota. Laadukasta ryhmässä oppimista edistää opiskelijoiden sitoutuminen tutkivan keskustelun periaatteisiin, joihin kuuluu mm. tietojen jakaminen, asioiden kyseenalaistaminen ja perustelu, vastuun jakaminen ja osallistumaan rohkaisevan ilmapiirin luominen. Opettajan taholta tärkeitä toimia ovat ryhmässä ja vertaisopettajina toimivien opiskelijoiden riittävä valmentaminen tehtäviinsä, vuorovaikutuksen strukturointi ja ryhmätehtävien suunnittelu siten, että tehtävien suorittaminen edellyttää tasapuolista ja vuorovaikutteista osallistumista. Ryhmää ohjaavan opettajan on syytä kiinnittää huomiota myös omiin viestintätapoihinsa: ollakseen tehokasta opettajan apu on tärkeä sitoa opiskelijoiden omaan ajatteluun ja tehtävänratkaisustrategiaan. Suoritimme pienimuotoisen työparien keskinäisen ja ryhmien välisen kommunikaation perustasoa kartoittavan tutkimuksen ympäristömikrobiologian laboratoriokurssilla. Tutkimus toteutettiin palautekyselyn muodossa internetpohjaisen Presemo-työkalun välityksellä. Tulosten tarkastelussa kommunikaation kehittämiskohteina nousi esille mm. kommunikaatio eri äidinkieltä puhuvien opiskelijoiden välillä ja työryhmien välinen työn koordinointi.Non peer reviewe

Clinical isolates of Yersinia enterocolitica Biotype 1A represent two phylogenetic lineages with differing pathogenicity-related properties

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Multilocus Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat Analysis, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns in Discrimination of Sporadic and Outbreak-Related Strains of Yersinia enterocolitica

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Prevalence and characterization of Salmonella enterica from the feces of cattle, poultry, swine and hedgehogs in Burkina Faso and their comparison to human Salmonella isolates

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