Multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis for outbreak studies of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Salmonella enterica </it>subsp. <it>enterica </it>serotype Enteritidis is known as an important and pathogenic clonal group which continues to cause worldwide sporadic cases and outbreaks in humans. Here a new multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) method is reported for highly-discriminative subtyping of <it>Salmonella </it>Enteritidis. Emphasis was given on the most predominant phage types PT4 and PT8. The method comprises multiplex PCR specifically amplifying repeated sequences from nine different loci followed by an automatic fragment size analysis using a multicolor capillary electrophoresis instrument. A total of 240 human, animal, food and environmental isolates of <it>S</it>. Enteritidis including 23 definite phage types were used for development and validation. Furthermore, the MLVA types were compared to the phage types of several isolates from two recent outbreaks to determine the concordance between both methods and to estimate their in vivo stability. The in vitro stability of the two MLVA types specifically for PT4 and PT8 strains were determined by multiple freeze-thaw cycles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seventy-nine different MLVA types were identified in 240 <it>S</it>. Enteritidis strains. The Simpson's diversity index for the MLVA method was 0.919 and Nei diversity values for the nine VNTR loci ranged from 0.07 to 0.65. Twenty-four MLVA types could be assigned to 62 PT4 strains and 21 types to 81 PT8 strains. All outbreak isolates had an indistinguishable outbreak specific MLVA type. The in vitro stability experiments showed no changes of the MLVA type compared to the original isolate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This MLVA method is useful to discriminate <it>S</it>. Enteritidis strains even within a single phage type. It is easy in use, fast, and cheap compared to other high-resolution molecular methods and therefore an important tool for surveillance and outbreak studies for <it>S</it>. Enteritidis.</p

Development of porous coatings enriched with magnesium and zinc obtained by DC plasma electrolytic oxidation

Coatings with developed surface stereometry, being based on a porous system, may be obtained by plasma electrolytic oxidation, PEO (micro arc oxidation, MAO). In this paper, we present novel porous coatings, which may be used, e.g., in micromachine's biocompatible sensors' housing, obtained in electrolytes containing magnesium nitrate hexahydrate Mg(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O and/or zinc nitrate hexahydrate Zn(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O in concentrated phosphoric acid H3PO4 (85% w/w). Complementary techniques are used for coatings' surface characterization, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), for surface imaging as well as for chemical semi-quantitative analysis via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The results have shown that increasing contents of salts (here, 250 g/L Mg(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O and 250 g/L Zn(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) in electrolyte result in increasing of Mg/P and Zn/P ratios, as well as coating thickness. It was also found that by increasing the PEO voltage, the Zn/P and Mg/P ratios increase as well. In addition, the analysis of XPS spectra revealed the existence in 10 nm top of coating magnesium (Mg2+), zinc (Zn2+), titanium (Ti4+), and phosphorus compounds (PO43-, or HPO42-, or H2PO4-, or P2O74-).Web of Science97art. no. 33

Lokalna sieć wsparcia i profilaktyka wobec zjawiska niedostosowania społecznego dzieci i młodzieży na przykładzie miasta Bytom

Niniejsza praca składa się z trzech rozdziałów. Rozdział I zawiera 5 podrozdziałów w których znajduje się przegląd literatury, stanowiącej teoretyczne podstawy problematyki badań, dotyczącej zjawiska niedostosowania społecznego. W pierwszym podrozdziale można odnaleźć definicje, typologie, objawy, przyczyny oraz kryteria diagnostyczne niedostosowania społecznego. W podrozdziale drugim wyszczególnione zostały determinanty zdrowia bio-psycho- społecznego, w kontekście terapii systemowej. Podrozdział trzeci podejmuje zagadnienia związane z profilaktyką i wsparciem społecznym. Warsztat pracy specjalisty- animatora działań profilaktyczno-wspierających to tytuł czwartego podrozdziału, w którym m.in. zostały wymienione dyspozycje osobowościowe dobrego nauczyciela. Ostatni podrozdział przedstawia natomiast, lokalną sieć instytucji i służb społecznych w świetle obowiązującego prawa. Rozdział II poświęcony jest zagadnieniom metodologicznym, które obejmują cztery podrozdziały. W podrozdziale pierwszym zawiera się przedmiot, cel i problemy badawcze. Podrozdział drugi opisuje metody i techniki badań. Charakterystyki terenu i grupy badawczej dokonano w podrozdziale trzecim, zaś organizacja i przebieg badania znajduje się w podrozdziale czwartym. Rozdział III obejmuje opracowanie wyników badań, przeprowadzonych w środowisku rodzinnym respondentów oraz w instytucjach, działających na terenie miasta Bytom. W pierwszym podrozdziale dokonano analizy 30 indywidualnych przypadków rodzin, dotkniętych problemem niedostosowania społecznego, na podstawie wypowiedzi członków rodziny, analizy dokumentów oraz kwestionariusza wsparcia społecznego. W podrozdziale drugim można odnaleźć podsumowanie analizy indywidualnych przypadków. Podrozdział trzeci przedstawia charakterystykę lokalnej sieci wsparcia oraz działalności profilaktycznej prowadzonej na terenie miasta Bytom, na podstawie analizy dokumentów, wywiadów z przedstawicielami placówek oraz ze specjalistami, zajmującymi się bezpośrednio w/w problematyką. W podrozdziale czwartym natomiast zawiera się posumowanie działań 13 instytucji oraz wywiadów przeprowadzonych z 24 specjalistami, pracującymi na rzecz jednostek niedostosowanych społecznie i ich rodzin

The Notion of Addiction in the Local Environment : Diagnosis and Prevention

The research constituting the basis for this article is aimed at gauging the risk of various addictions among the school-aged youth of Bytom, followed by designing of a local scheme of addiction prevention. Analyses presented in this text clearly reinforce the need to approach the phenomena of addiction comprehensively; the said approach would not only investigate the causes, but also propose practical solutions. Both efficient and effective prevention scheme should be developed as inter-institutional co-operation. Thus, the author develops a set of suggested solutions to the problems diagnosed

Ryzyko uzależnienia młodzieży szkolnej od narkotyków : strategie profilaktyczne i interwencyjne podejmowane w środowisku lokalnym

The book addresses an issue of drug abuse, which is becoming a growing social problem in Poland. The socio-economic and political changes in recent years have increased the number of factors detrimental to children and youth. As a result of this, increasingly more young people turn to psychoactive substances. What is particularly alarming is the increasingly younger age of children who begin to use a substance. Hence, the following book is addressed mainly to teachers/educators/parents with an aim to provide them with indispensable knowledge to help them protect children and youth from the hazards and consequences of drug abuse. This monograph presents the latest trends in addiction prophylaxis and interventional strategies to be employed in the event of hazards to life and health with persons under the influence. It also prompts for reflection on the quality, adequacy and efficacy of the prophylactic actions undertaken by specialists. Drug addiction inflicts irreparable harm in every sphere of human life. Its enormous social costs make the intensification of actions aimed to curb substance abuse an urgent social need. As shown by the reports from the NIK (Supreme Chamber of Control), actions were initiated in Poland to create a comprehensive drug abuse profylaxis system for school children and youth at all levels of education. These encompass mainly designing projects to prevent drug abuse at particular administrative levels (including schools) and assigning specific tasks to appropriate authorities, institutions and entities. However, the so far implemented actions have not produced sufficient prophylaxes, and the quality of actions undertaken within the framework of these projects turned out to be inadequate to the scale and significance of the problem. The book consists of three chapters. Chapter one discusses the issues relevant to drug abuse including the causes, ways of prevention and strategies of intervention. It also presents the conception of assimilative prophylaxis, which is a new approach towards work with youth at risk of drug addiction. Chapter two presents the methodological premises for author’s own research, which was conducted according to clearly defined procedures and research strategy. It also analyses the results of studies on premises of Centrum Interwencji Kryzysowej i Przeciwdziałania Uzależnieniom (Centre for Crisis Intervention and Addictions Prevention) in Bytom in 2014. They encompass an analysis of survey data and data obtained from interviews with the addicted persons treated in the above mentioned institution. Chapter three proposes scenarios for classes within the framework of the author’s own project of therapeutic actions based on the conclusions of research and founded in assimilative prophylaxis. This project was implemented in Katolicki Ośrodek Rehabilitacyjno-Wychowawczy „Dom Nadziei” (Catholic Rehabilitation-Education Centre „House of Hope”) in Bytom on a stationary round-the-clock ward for therapy and rehabilitation of youth

Detection of VIM-1-producing Enterobacter cloacae and Salmonella enterica Serovars Infantis and Goldcoast at a breeding pig farm in Germany in 2017 and their molecular relationship to former VIM-1-producing S. Infantis Isolates in German livestock production

In 2011, VIM-1-producing Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis and Escherichia coli were isolated for the first time in four German livestock farms. In 2015/2016, highly related isolates were identified in German pig production. This raised the issue of potential reservoirs for these isolates, the relation of their mobile genetic elements, and potential links between the different affected farms/facilities. In a piglet-producing farm suspicious for being linked to some blaVIM-1 findings in Germany, fecal and environmental samples were examined for the presence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and Salmonella spp. Newly discovered isolates were subjected to Illumina whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and S1 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) hybridization experiments. WGS data of these isolates were compared with those for the previously isolated VIM-1-producing Salmonella Infantis isolates from pigs and poultry. Among 103 samples, one Salmonella Goldcoast isolate, one Salmonella Infantis isolate, and one Enterobacter cloacae isolate carrying the blaVIM-1 gene were detected. Comparative WGS analysis revealed that the blaVIM-1 gene was part of a particular Tn21-like transposable element in all isolates. It was located on IncHI2 (ST1) plasmids of ∼290 to 300 kb with a backbone highly similar (98 to 100%) to that of reference pSE15-SA01028. SNP analysis revealed a close relationship of all VIM-1-positive S. Infantis isolates described since 2011. The findings of this study demonstrate that the occurrence of the blaVIM-1 gene in German livestock is restricted neither to a certain bacterial species nor to a certain Salmonella serovar but is linked to a particular Tn21-like transposable element located on transferable pSE15-SA01028-like IncHI2 (ST1) plasmids, being present in all of the investigated isolates from 2011 to 2017. IMPORTANCE: Carbapenems are considered one of few remaining treatment options against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens in human clinical settings. The occurrence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in livestock and food is a major public health concern. Particularly the occurrence of VIM-1-producing Salmonella Infantis in livestock farms is worrisome, as this zoonotic pathogen is one of the main causes for human salmonellosis in Europe. Investigations on the epidemiology of those carbapenemase-producing isolates and associated mobile genetic elements through an in-depth molecular characterization are indispensable to understand the transmission of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae along the food chain and between different populations to develop strategies to prevent their further spread

ANSYS analysis of stress and strain after cones plastic deformation

The paper deals with study of stress and strain after cones plastic deformation by ANSYS software. There are shown the new results of FEM analysis, what is the base for the further experimental studies.Web of Science22250850

A novel strategy to obtain quantitative data for modelling: Combined enrichment and real-time PCR for enumeration of salmonellae from pig carcasses

The primary sources for the major zoonotic pathogen Salmonella are food-producing animals such as pigs and poultry. For risk assessment and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) concepts, it is essential to produce large amounts of quantitative data, which is currently not achievable with the standard cultural based methods for enumeration of Salmonella