Comparative diffusion assay to assess efficacy of topical antimicrobial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in burns care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Severely burned patients may develop life-threatening nosocomial infections due to <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</it>, which can exhibit a high-level of resistance to antimicrobial drugs and has a propensity to cause nosocomial outbreaks. Antiseptic and topical antimicrobial compounds constitute major resources for burns care but in vitro testing of their activity is not performed in practice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our burn unit, a <it>P. aeruginosa </it>clone multiresistant to antibiotics colonized or infected 26 patients over a 2-year period. This resident clone was characterized by PCR based on ERIC sequences. We investigated the susceptibility of the resident clone to silver sulphadiazine and to the main topical antimicrobial agents currently used in the burn unit. We proposed an optimized diffusion assay used for comparative analysis of <it>P. aeruginosa </it>strains. The resident clone displayed lower susceptibility to silver sulphadiazine and cerium silver sulphadiazine than strains unrelated to the resident clone in the unit or unrelated to the burn unit.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The diffusion assay developed herein detects differences in behaviour against antimicrobials between tested strains and a reference population. The method could be proposed for use in semi-routine practice of medical microbiology.</p

vanA in Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus casseliflavus detected in French cattle.

The goal of this study was to assess the presence of enterococci species presenting van-mediated glycopeptide resistance in French cattle. Fecal samples were collected from healthy and sick animals, and enterococci were screened for vancomycin resistance. Vancomycin resistance was principally encountered in Enterococcus gallinarum and Enterococcus casseliflavus strains. However, glycopeptide resistance was detected in three different species of enterococci (E. faecalis, E. faecium, and E. casseliflavus). Molecular characterization of the genetic support proved that they all presented the prototypic VanA element. Interestingly, the E. casseliflavus strain displayed a remarkable VanB phenotype/vanA-vanC genotype. Transferability, associated resistances, and factors of vanA cotransfer were sought. This study proved that acquired vanA genes can still be detected in food-producing animals more than a decade after the avoparcin ban. Indeed, calves, which are recurrently exposed to antibiotics in France, may allow the re-emergence of glycopeptide resistance through coselection factors, and this might potentially be concerning for human health

La Cappadoce méridionale de la Préhistoire à l'époque byzantine

Il y a environ 25 ans, Olivier Pelon organisait à l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul un colloque destiné à faire l’état des recherches sur la Cappadoce méridionale jusqu’à la fin de l’époque romaine. Un quart de siècle après ce premier colloque, il était intéressant de faire un nouveau point sur l’avancée des recherches dans cette Cappadoce méridionale, de la préhistoire à la période byzantine. Ce nouveau colloque, placé cette fois encore sous l’égide de l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes et intégré à la série des Rencontres d’archéologie de l’IFEA réunit vingt-trois communications. Si les périodes néolithique et chalcolithique ont été particulièrement bien représentées, ce qui témoigne bien de l’importance de cette phase de la préhistoire cappadocienne, liée aux gisements d’obsidienne des Melendiz Dağları, on soulignera en revanche l’absence presque totale du Bronze Ancien. Cette phase est en effet peu représentée dans l’archéologie locale. La même remarque peut s’appliquer au Bronze Moyen. La fin du Bronze Moyen, fort heureusement, est représentée à Porsuk, de même que le Bronze Récent qui bénéficie, depuis peu, tout comme l’Âge du Fer, du démarrage fructueux des fouilles de Kınık Höyük. Enfin, l’Antiquité tardive et Byzance ont pu être représentées, principalement autour de Tyane, ce qui n’avait pas pu être le cas lors du premier colloque. En octobre 2012, quelques semaines avant la tenue de la Rencontre, on apprenait malheureusement le décès brutal et inattendu d’Olivier Pelon, ancien directeur de la mission de Porsuk (jusqu’en 2002) et organisateur de ce premier colloque cappadocien. C’est bien en hommage à sa mémoire que notre Rencontre cappadocienne de 2012 et sa publication ont été naturellement dédiées

New Insights on the Management of Wildlife Diseases Using Multi-State Recapture Models: The Case of Classical Swine Fever in Wild Boar

The understanding of host-parasite systems in wildlife is of increasing interest in relation to the risk of emerging diseases in livestock and humans. In this respect, many efforts have been dedicated to controlling classical swine fever (CSF) in the European Wild Boar. But CSF eradication has not always been achieved even though vaccination has been implemented at a large-scale. Piglets have been assumed to be the main cause of CSF persistence in the wild since they appeared to be more often infected and less often immune than older animals. However, this assumption emerged from laboratory trials or cross-sectional surveys based on the hunting bags.In the present paper we conducted a capture-mark-recapture study in free-ranging wild boar piglets that experienced both CSF infection and vaccination under natural conditions. We used multi-state capture recapture models to estimate the immunization and infection rates, and their variations according to the periods with or without vaccination. According to the model prediction, 80% of the infected piglets did not survive more than two weeks, while the other 20% quickly recovered. The probability of becoming immune did not increase significantly during the summer vaccination sessions, and the proportion of immune piglets was not higher after the autumn vaccination.Given the high lethality of CSF in piglets highlighted in our study, we consider unlikely that piglets could maintain the chain of CSF virus transmission. Our study also revealed the low efficacy of vaccination in piglets in summer and autumn, possibly due to the low palatability of baits to that age class, but also to the competition between baits and alternative food sources. Based on this new information, we discuss the prospects for the improvement of CSF control and the interest of the capture-recapture approach for improving the understanding of wildlife diseases

Applying FAIR Principles to plant phenotypic data management in GnpIS

GnpIS is a data repository for plant phenomics that stores whole field and greenhouse experimental data including environment measures. It allows long-term access to datasets following the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, by using a flexible and original approach. It is based on a generic and ontology driven data model and an innovative software architecture that uncouples data integration, storage, and querying. It takes advantage of international standards including the Crop Ontology, MIAPPE, and the Breeding API. GnpIS allows handling data for a wide range of species and experiment types, including multiannual perennial plants experimental network or annual plant trials with either raw data, i.e., direct measures, or computed traits. It also ensures the integration and the interoperability among phenotyping datasets and with genotyping data. This is achieved through a careful curation and annotation of the key resources conducted in close collaboration with the communities providing data. Our repository follows the Open Science data publication principles by ensuring citability of each dataset. Finally, GnpIS compliance with international standards enables its interoperability with other data repositories hence allowing data links between phenotype and other data types. GnpIS can therefore contribute to emerging international federations of information systems

A simple and efficient method to search for selected primary transcripts: non-coding and antisense RNAs in the human pathogen Enterococcus faecalis

Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal bacterium and a major opportunistic human pathogen. In this study, we combined in silico predictions with a novel 5′RACE-derivative method coined ‘5′tagRACE’, to perform the first search for non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) encoded on the E. faecalis chromosome. We used the 5′tagRACE to simultaneously probe and characterize primary transcripts, and demonstrate here the simplicity, the reliability and the sensitivity of the method. The 5′tagRACE is complementary to tiling arrays or RNA-sequencing methods, and is also directly applicable to deep RNA sequencing and should significantly improve functional studies of bacterial RNA landscapes. From 45 selected loci of the E. faecalis chromosome, we discovered and mapped 29 novel ncRNAs, 10 putative novel mRNAs and 16 antisense transcriptional organizations. We describe in more detail the oxygen-dependent expression of one ncRNA located in an E. faecalis pathogenicity island, the existence of an ncRNA that is antisense to the ncRNA modulator of the RNA polymerase, SsrS and provide evidences for the functional interplay between two distinct toxin–antitoxin modules

La politique française de protection des paysages et sites naturels. Réflexion sur l'efficacité de la loi de 1930 sur le classement des sites / French policy for the protection of landscapes and natural sites : thoughts on the efficiency of the 1930 law on landscape classification

Over recent years, the 1930 law on the protection of sites and landscapes has evolved considerably. Emphasis has shifted from the small scale study of natural sites and monuments to that of larger landscape units. An overall analysis of 2 100 classified sites and a more detailed analysis of 80 sample sites using correlation, regression and multivariate analysis demonstrates this chronological evolution. It also allows the creation of a typology based on natural, anthropological and administrative parameters. The analysis of specific cases enables a number of recommendations to be made. These concern improving knowledge (through the creation of a data bank and reference system) and optimising the subsequent management of landscape protection by the division of management responsibilities and an improved system of management.La Loi de 1930 sur la protection des sites et paysages a subi depuis quelques années une évolution considérable, l'accent passant des "sites et monuments naturels" étudiés à grande échelle, à des ensembles paysagers plus amples. Une analyse globale des 2 100 sites classés et une analyse plus fine portant sur 80 sites choisis par échantillonnage et traités par régressions et corrélations puis par anlyse multivariée, permet de mettre en évidence cette évolution chronologique et d'établir une typologie prenant en compte les paramètres naturels, anthropiques et admnistratifs. L'analyse de cas concrets permet de formuler quelques recommandations visant à une amélioration de la "gestion amont" par amélioration de la connaissance (établissement d'une banque de données et d'un état de référence) et optimisation de la "gestion aval" par le partage des responsabilités en matière de gestion et l'obtention de meilleurs moyens de gestion.Chardigny Françoise, Lebreton Philippe. La politique française de protection des paysages et sites naturels. Réflexion sur l'efficacité de la loi de 1930 sur le classement des sites / French policy for the protection of landscapes and natural sites : thoughts on the efficiency of the 1930 law on landscape classification. In: Revue de géographie de Lyon, vol. 69, n°4, 1994. Paysage : Le mot et la chose. pp. 287-304