9 research outputs found
Sensitive and fast identification of bacteria in blood samples by immunoaffinity mass spectrometry for quick BSI diagnosis
Bloodstream infections rank among the most serious causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients, partly due to the long period (up to one week) required for clinical diagnosis. In this work, we have developed a sensitive method to quickly and accurately identify bacteria in human blood samples by combining optimized matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MS) and efficient immunoaffinity enrichment/separation. A library of bacteria reference mass spectra at different cell numbers was firstly built. Due to a reduced sample spot size, the reference spectra could be obtained from as few as 10 to 10(2) intact bacterial cells. Bacteria in human blood samples were then extracted using antibodies-modified magnetic beads for MS fingerprinting. By comparing the sample spectra with the reference spectra based on a cosine correlation, bacteria with concentrations as low as 500 cells per mL in blood serum and 8000 cells per mL in whole blood were identified. The proposed method was further applied to positive clinical blood cultures (BCs) provided by a local hospital, where Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were identified. Because of the method's high sensitivity, the BC time required for diagnosis can be greatly reduced. As a proof of concept, whole blood spiked with a low initial concentration (10(2) or 10(3) cells per mL) of bacteria was cultured in commercial BC bottles and analysed by the developed method after different BC times. Bacteria were successfully identified after 4 hours of BC. Therefore, an entire diagnostic process could be accurately accomplished within half a day using the newly developed method, which could facilitate the timely determination of appropriate anti-bacterial therapy and decrease the risk of mortality from bloodstream infections
The Effect of Thermal Relaxations on the Crack Initiation Resistance of Rotomoulded Linear Low Density Polyethylenes,
Muscle Mass and Training Status Do Not Affect the Maximum Number of Repetitions in Different Upper-Body Resistance Exercises
From the LHC to Future Colliders
Discoveries at the LHC will soon set the physics agenda for future colliders.
This report of a CERN Theory Institute includes the summaries of Working Groups
that reviewed the physics goals and prospects of LHC running with 10 to 300/fb
of integrated luminosity, of the proposed sLHC luminosity upgrade, of the ILC,
of CLIC, of the LHeC and of a muon collider. The four Working Groups considered
possible scenarios for the first 10/fb of data at the LHC in which (i) a state
with properties that are compatible with a Higgs boson is discovered, (ii) no
such state is discovered either because the Higgs properties are such that it
is difficult to detect or because no Higgs boson exists, (iii) a missing-energy
signal beyond the Standard Model is discovered as in some supersymmetric
models, and (iv) some other exotic signature of new physics is discovered. In
the contexts of these scenarios, the Working Groups reviewed the capabilities
of the future colliders to study in more detail whatever new physics may be
discovered by the LHC. Their reports provide the particle physics community
with some tools for reviewing the scientific priorities for future colliders
after the LHC produces its first harvest of new physics from multi-TeV
collisions.Comment: 98 pages, CERN Theory Institute Summary Repor