Streptococcus agalactiae Serotype IV in Humans and Cattle, Northern Europe

Streptococcus agalactiae is an emerging pathogen of nonpregnant human adults worldwide and a reemerging pathogen of dairy cattle in parts of Europe. To learn more about interspecies transmission of this bacterium, we compared contemporaneously collected isolates from humans and cattle in Finland and Sweden. Multilocus sequence typing identified 5 sequence types (STs) (ST1, 8, 12, 23, and 196) shared across the 2 host species, suggesting possible interspecies transmission. More than 54% of the isolates belonged to those STs. Molecular serotyping and pilus island typing of those isolates did not differentiate between populations isolated from different host species. Isolates from humans and cattle differed in lactose fermentation, which is encoded on the accessory genome and represents an adaptation to the bovine mammary gland. Serotype IV-ST196 isolates were obtained from multiple dairy herds in both countries. Cattle may constitute a previously unknown reservoir of this strain.Peer reviewe

Suomalaiset lämpimät makuuparsipihatot lehmän ja hoitajan näkökulmasta

Lämpimiä makuuparsipihattoja koskevat tutkimukset ovat kahden hankkeen, ”Lypsykarjarakennustentoiminnalliset vaihtoehdot” ja ”Eläinterveydenhuollon kehittämishanke Pohjois-Savossa” (ELKE)yhteystyössä 2004–2006 toteuttama kuusiosainen tutkimussarja, jonka osia ovat: 1) Lypsykarjarakennustentoiminnalliset vaihtoehdot, 2) Navetan rakenteellisten ratkaisujen yhteys lehmien terveyteenlämpimissä makuuparsipihatoissa, 3) Hyvinvointi-indeksit pihattonavetoiden arvioinnissa: indeksienvalidointi ja kehittäminen, 4) Vasikoiden fysikaaliset ympäristöolosuhteet lypsykarjapihatoissa, 5)Lehmien syöntikäyttäytyminen ja sen yhteys navetan rakenteellisiin ratkaisuihin, ja 6) Lehmien syöntikäyttäytyminenja sen yhteys navetan rakenteellisiin ratkaisuihin. Tutkimusten toteuttajatahoina ovatMTT/Vakola, Työtehoseura, Valio, Helsingin yliopiston eläinlääketieteellinen tiedekunta, Savoniaammattikorkeakoulu,ja Kuopion yliopiston soveltavan biotekniikan instituutti

Increased nocturnal arterial pulsation frequencies of obstructive sleep apnoea patients is associated with an increased number of lapses in a psychomotor vigilance task.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadObjectives: Besides hypoxaemia severity, heart rate variability has been linked to cognitive decline in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients. Thus, our aim was to examine whether the frequency domain features of a nocturnal photoplethysmogram (PPG) can be linked to poor performance in the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Methods: PPG signals from 567 suspected OSA patients, extracted from Type 1 diagnostic polysomnography, and corresponding results of PVT were retrospectively examined. The frequency content of complete PPGs was determined, and analyses were conducted separately for men (n=327) and women (n=240). Patients were grouped into PVT performance quartiles based on the number of lapses (reaction times ≥500 ms) and within-test variation in reaction times. The best-performing (Q1) and worst-performing (Q4) quartiles were compared due the lack of clinical thresholds in PVT. Results: We found that the increase in arterial pulsation frequency (APF) in both men and women was associated with a higher number of lapses. Higher APF was also associated with higher within-test variation in men, but not in women. Median APF (β=0.27, p=0.01), time spent under 90% saturation (β=0.05, p<0.01), female sex (β=1.29, p<0.01), older age (β=0.03, p<0.01) and subjective sleepiness (β=0.07, p<0.01) were significant predictors of belonging to Q4 based on lapses. Only female sex (β=0.75, p<0.01) and depression (β=0.91, p<0.02) were significant predictors of belonging to Q4 based on the within-test variation. Conclusions: In conclusion, increased APF in PPG provides a possible polysomnography indicator for deteriorated vigilance especially in male OSA patients. This finding highlights the connection between cardiorespiratory regulation, vigilance and OSA. However, our results indicate substantial sex-dependent differences that warrant further prospective studies.Research Committee of the Kuopio University Hospital Catchment Area for the State Research Funding Academy of Finland Seinajoki Central Hospital Competitive State Research Financing of Expert Responsibility Area of Tampere University Hospital VTR3242 Business Finland Paulo Foundation Paivikki & Sakari Sohlberg Foundation Research Foundation of the Pulmonary Diseases Finnish Cultural Foundation Alfred Kordelin Foundation Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation Respiratory Foundation of Kuopio Regio