Genomic dissection of the 1994 Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak in a French neonatal intensive care unit

Background: Cronobacter sakazakii is a member of the genus Cronobacter that has frequently been isolated from powdered infant formula (PIF) and linked with rare but fatal neonatal infections such as meningitis and necrotising enterocolitis. The Cronobacter MLST scheme has reported over 400 sequence types and 42 clonal complexes; however C. sakazakii clonal complex 4 (CC4) has been linked strongly with neonatal infections, especially meningitis. There have been a number of reported Cronobacter outbreaks over the last three decades. The largest outbreak of C. sakazakii was in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in France (1994) that lasted over 3 months and claimed the lives of three neonates. The present study used whole genome sequencing data of 26 isolates obtained from this outbreak to reveal their relatedness. This study is first of its kind to use whole genome sequencing data to analyse a Cronobacter outbreak. Methods: Whole genome sequencing data was generated for 26 C. sakazakii isolates on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The whole genome phylogeny was determined using Mugsy and RaxML. SNP calls were determined using SMALT and SAMtools, and filtered using VCFtools. Results: The whole genome phylogeny suggested 3 distant clusters of C. sakazakii isolates were associated with the outbreak. SNP typing and phylogeny indicate the source of the C. sakazakii could have been from extrinsic contamination of reconstituted infant formula from the NICU environment and personnel. This pool of strains would have contributed to the prolonged duration of the outbreak, which was up to 3 months. Furthermore 3 neonates were co-infected with C. sakazakii from two different genotype clusters. Conclusion: The genomic investigation revealed the outbreak consisted of an heterogeneous population of C. sakazakii isolates. The source of the outbreak was not identified, but probably was due to environmental and personnel reservoirs resulting in extrinsic contamination of the neonatal feeds. It also indicated that C. sakazakii isolates from different genotype clusters have the ability to co-infect neonates

Draft genome sequence of "Candidatus Cronobacter colletis" NCTC 14934T, a new species in the genus Cronobacter

Members of the Cronobacter genus are associated with serious infections in neonates. This is the first report of the draft genome sequence for the newly proposed species Cronobacter colletis

Draft genome sequences of three newly identified species in the genus Cronobacter, C. helveticus LMG23732T, C. pulveris LMG24059, and C. zurichensis LMG23730T

Cronobacter helveticus, Cronobacter pulveris, and Cronobacter zurichensis are newly described species in the Cronobacter genus, which is associated with serious infections of neonates. This is the first report of draft genome sequences for these species

Draft genome sequence of the earliest Cronobacter sakazakii sequence type 4 strain, NCIMB 8272

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as sequence type 4 (ST4) is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis and persistence in powdered infant formula. For genome sequencing of the earliest deposited culture collection strain of Cronobacter sakazakii ST4, we used the strain NCIMB 8272, originally isolated from milk powder in 1950

Draft genome sequence of a meningitic isolate of Cronobacter sakazakii clonal complex 4, strain 8399

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as clonal complex 4 (CC4), composed of nine sequence types, is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis. To date, only closely related C. sakazakii sequence type 4 (ST4) strains have been sequenced. C. sakazakii strain 8399, isolated from a case of neonatal meningitis, was sequenced as the first non-ST4 C. sakazakii strain

Assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) awareness and practices in manufacturing sector of Pakistan

Globalization and mass communication have significantly influenced the socio-economic growth of countries and organizations are under immense pressure to develop their businesses in a more socially responsible way. Consequently, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a business development concept. CSR acknowledgement is low in south Asian countries both at state and corporate levels. Pakistan, being a developing country, is no exception and the manufacturing sector, which is the third largest contributing sector to the economy, is facing the challenge of corporate social compliance. This study explores the awareness level amongst employees in the manufacturing sector and also evaluates the practices of CSR activities in these organizations. The study is mainly focused on the textile and automobile sectors and shows greater CSR awareness in the automobile sector than the textile sector; however, there are many organizations where the concept of CSR is unknown. The findings of this research will help organizations in enhancing understanding of CSR amongst employees and will also allow manufacturing industries to improve their implementation against identified weak areas. Increased levels of social compliance will ultimately help organizations in promoting their businesses in the global market

Coming into the Anthropocene

This essay reviews Professor Jonathan Cannon’s Environment in the Balance. Cannon’s book admirably analyzes the Supreme Court’s uptake of, or refusal of, the key commitments of the environmental-law revolution of the early 1970s. In some areas the Court has adapted old doctrines, such as Standing and Commerce, to accommodate ecological insights; in other areas, such as Property, it has used older doctrines to restrain the transformative effects of environmental law. After surveying Cannon’s argument, this review diagnoses the historical moment that has made the ideological division that Cannon surveys especially salient: a time of stalled legislation, political deadlock, and highly contested regulatory and judicial interpretation. This analysis, however, does not limit the interest of Cannon’s analysis to this political moment. Rather, Cannon’s integration of legal and cultural analysis has great promise for the Anthropocene, the dawning era when human decisions and values will be among the most important forces shaping the planet. In the future, it will be necessary to think of environmental law as both reflecting and producing ideas of the value and meaning of the natural world. Cannon’s analysis is an excellent starting point for an Anthropocene approach

Lean manufacturing culture: The role of human perceptions of standardized work

The final publication is available at IOS Press through http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-902-7-523.Lean implementation and its sustainability are strongly coupled with organizational culture and consequently the culture defines success. Organizational culture is strongly linked with organizational dynamics. Work standardization is one of the lean tools whose role in terms of organizational performance improvement has been claimed in the literature; however, its implications in terms of employee's perceptions are still controversial. This study aims at investigating the effect of position on employee's perception about the standardized work. Four textile manufacturing companies in Pakistan were selected for the purpose of data collection, where the implementation level of the tool and organizational maturity towards lean adoption were initially measured. A questionnaire was administered to 326 employees from these organizations. The overall data sample was divided into two categories (white-collar and blue-collar). Data analysis was by F-tests (for identifying significance levels) and separate regression analyses (for identifying variables associated with negative perceptions of employees). A significant difference was found between white-collar employees, who were generally positive about the standardization of work, and the blue-collar employees that had negative perceptions. Moreover, the study concluded that positive perceptions about standardized work are directly linked with job satisfaction and inversely linked with job stress

(In)finiteness of Spherically Symmetric Static Perfect Fluids

This work is concerned with the finiteness problem for static, spherically symmetric perfect fluids in both Newtonian Gravity and General Relativity. We derive criteria on the barotropic equation of state guaranteeing that the corresponding perfect fluid solutions possess finite/infinite extent. In the Newtonian case, for the large class of monotonic equations of state, and in General Relativity we improve earlier results