Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from dental units waterlines can be divided in two distinct groups, including one displaying phenotypes similar to isolates from cystic fibrosis patients.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays broad genetic diversity, giving it an astonishing capacity to adapt to a variety of environments and to infect a wide range of hosts. While many P. aeruginosa isolates of various origins have been analyzed, isolates from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have received the most attention. Less is known about the genetic and phenotypic diversity of P. aeruginosa isolates that colonize other environments where flourishing biofilms can be found. In the present study, 29 P. aeruginosa isolates from dental unit waterlines and CF patients were collected and their genetic and phenotypes profiles were compared to determine whether environmental and clinical isolates are related. The isolates were first classified using the random amplified polymorphic DNA method. This made it possible to distribute the isolates into one clinical cluster and two environmental clusters. The isolates in the environmental cluster that were genetically closer to the clinical cluster also displayed phenotypes similar to the clinical isolates. The isolates from the second environmental cluster displayed opposite phenotypes, particularly an increased capacity to form biofilms. The isolates in this cluster were also the only ones harboring genes that encoded specific epimerases involved in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharides, which could explain their increased ability to form biofilms. In conclusion, the isolates from the dental unit waterlines could be distributed into two clusters, with some of the environmental isolates resembled the clinical isolates. Keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cluster, RAPD, elastase, biofilm, Dictyostelium discoideum, cell lysi

Phonologic Rehabilitation of Anomia in Aphasia

The single most common feature of aphasia is impairment in ability to name, whether it involves naming seen objects, or producing nouns, verbs and other words conveying meaning in spontaneous language. The traditional treatment approach to this problem is to explicitly train aphasic patients in naming. Controlled studies have shown that this approach may be quite effective. However, typically generalization is very limited, that is, the knowledge gained by the patient tends to be limited to the words actually trained, and there is at best very modest improvement in performance with untrained words (limited mainly to those that are semantically related to the trained words). Because generalization is can be limited with this approach, there currently exists no viable means of training patients on the full corpus of words (perhaps several thousand) they are likely to need in daily life. Two approaches might be taken to solving this problem: 1) develop cost effective means for providing training on several thousand words; and 2) develop alternative training methods, e.g., phonological therapy, that potentially could intrinsically generalize widely. The focus of this proposal is the second of these two approaches. Thus, the primary purpose of this Phase II clinical rehabilitation study was to examine the effect of a phonologic based treatment on confrontation naming by individuals with anomic aphasia. We used a single-subject ABA design replicated across ten participants. The primary research question asked if phonologic treatment would improve confrontation naming. Secondary research questions addressed the impact of treatment on 1) generalization to untrained behaviors such as discourse production; 2) retention effects at 3-months; 3) phonologic production and 4) nonword repetition (potential evidence of phoneme sequence knowledge acquisition)

Principles of aphasia rehabilitation: a consensus between impairment and social participation approaches

Two approaches to aphasia rehabilitation have emerged in the last few decades, one that focuses on restoring language and the other that focuses on the consequences of that impairment. During two meetings in 2003 and 2005, a group of international aphasiologists from six countries evaluated the feasibility of applying a core set of principles across approaches to aphasia rehabilitation. This presentation focuses on the results of the 2005 meeting. A proposed core set of principles was vigorously debated and delegates argued whether a principle must, should or could be applied in aphasia rehabilitation. The aim of this paper is to present the consensus statements from this group together with the background arguments behind each statement

Deep short-read sequencing of chromosome 17 from the mouse strains A/J and CAST/Ei identifies significant germline variation and candidate genes that regulate liver triglyceride levels

Methods for accurate identification of nucleotide and structural variation using de novo short read sequencing of mouse chromosomes are described

Novel study design to assess the utility of the copd assessment test in a primary care setting

The quality of a consultation provided by a physician can have a profound impact on the quality of care and patient engagement in treatment decisions. When the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) was developed, one of its aims was to aid the communication between physician and patient about the impact of COPD. We developed a novel study design to assess this in a primary care consultation. Primary care physicians across five countries in Europe conducted videoed consultations with six standardised COPD patients (played by trained actors) which had patient-specific issues that the physician needed to identify through questioning. Half the physicians saw the patients with the completed CAT, and half without. Independent assessors scored the physicians on their ability to identify and address the patient-specific issues, review standard COPD aspects, their understanding of the case and their overall performance. This novel study design presented many challenges which needed to be addressed to achieve an acceptable level of robustness to assess the utility of the CAT. This paper discusses these challenges and the measures adopted to eliminate or minimise their impact on the study results

Environmental applications of the quartz crystal microbalance

The various publications concerning the Quartz Crystal Microbalance were reviewed and analyzed, focusing on environmental aspects and their implications. Relevant government agencies were contacted in an attempt to discover the current and potential future uses of the Quartz Crystal Microbalance. The Quartz Crystal Microbalance functions on the principle of the piezoelectric effect. The rate of vibration of the crystal depends on the mass of the crystal, and the type of vibration of the crystal is dependent on the placement of the electrodes providing the current on the crystal. The mass of a substance can be measured by bonding the substance to the surface of the quartz crystal and tracking the change in frequency

La formation J'enseigne à distance : un levier pour le développement de la compétence numérique (niveaux préscolaire /primaire)

Dans le contexte de la pandémie de la COVID-19, le système d’éducation québécois est mis à l’épreuve. Les enseignantes à l’éducation préscolaire et au primaire doivent adapter leurs pratiques pour soutenir les apprentissages de leurs élèves à distance alors que beaucoup sont peu outillées pour le faire. Le développement de la formation J’enseigne à distance par l’Université TÉLUQ a permis à des acteurs des milieux de pratique et universitaire de réunir leurs expertises et de réfléchir ensemble aux pratiques favorables à l’enseignement virtuel en contexte de pandémie. Des retombées quant à la compétence numérique ont émergé de ce partenariat. Mots-clés: compétence numérique, enseignantes préscolaire\primaire, pandémie COVID-19, formation à distance, partenaria