Detecting Mutations in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Pyrazinamidase Gene pncA to Improve Infection Control and Decrease Drug Resistance Rates in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection.

Hospital infection control measures are crucial to tuberculosis (TB) control strategies within settings caring for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, as these patients are at heightened risk of developing TB. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a potent drug that effectively sterilizes persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli. However, PZA resistance associated with mutations in the nicotinamidase/pyrazinamidase coding gene, pncA, is increasing. A total of 794 patient isolates obtained from four sites in Lima, Peru, underwent spoligotyping and drug resistance testing. In one of these sites, the HIV unit of Hospital Dos de Mayo (HDM), an isolation ward for HIV/TB coinfected patients opened during the study as an infection control intervention: circulating genotypes and drug resistance pre- and postintervention were compared. All other sites cared for HIV-negative outpatients: genotypes and drug resistance rates from these sites were compared with those from HDM. HDM patients showed high concordance between multidrug resistance, PZA resistance according to the Wayne method, the two most common genotypes (spoligotype international type [SIT] 42 of the Latino American-Mediterranean (LAM)-9 clade and SIT 53 of the T1 clade), and the two most common pncA mutations (G145A and A403C). These associations were absent among community isolates. The infection control intervention was associated with 58-92% reductions in TB caused by SIT 42 or SIT 53 genotypes (odds ratio [OR] = 0.420, P = 0.003); multidrug-resistant TB (OR = 0.349, P < 0.001); and PZA-resistant TB (OR = 0.076, P < 0.001). In conclusion, pncA mutation typing, with resistance testing and spoligotyping, was useful in identifying a nosocomial TB outbreak and demonstrating its resolution after implementation of infection control measures

Ultrasonic methods for measuring liquid viscosity and volume percent of solids

This report describes two ultrasonic techniques under development at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in support of the tank-waste transport effort undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy in treating low-level nuclear waste. The techniques are intended to provide continuous on-line measurements of waste viscosity and volume percent of solids in a waste transport line. The ultrasonic technique being developed for waste-viscosity measurement is based on the patented ANL viscometer. Focus of the viscometer development in this project is on improving measurement accuracy, stability, and range, particularly in the low-viscosity range (<30 cP). A prototype instrument has been designed and tested in the laboratory. Better than 1% accuracy in liquid density measurement can be obtained by using either a polyetherimide or polystyrene wedge. To measure low viscosities, a thin-wedge design has been developed and shows good sensitivity down to 5 cP. The technique for measuring volume percent of solids is based on ultrasonic wave scattering and phase velocity variation. This report covers a survey of multiple scattering theories and other phenomenological approaches. A theoretical model leading to development of an ultrasonic instrument for measuring volume percent of solids is proposed, and preliminary measurement data are presented

Ultrasonic wave propagation in multilayered piezoelectric substrates

Due to the increasing demand for higher operating frequency, lower attenuation, and stronger piezoelectricity, use of the layered structure has become necessary. Theoretical studies are carried out for ultrasonic waves propagating in the multilayered piezoelectric substrates. Each layer processes up to as low as monoclinic symmetry with various thickness and orientation. A plane acoustic wave is assumed to be incident, at varied frequency and incidence angle, from a fluid upon a multilayered substrate. Simple analytical expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients are derived from which all propagation characteristics are identified. Such expressions contain, as a by-product, the secular equation for the propagation of free harmonic waves on the multilayered piezoelectric substrates. Solutions are obtained for the individual layers which relate the field variables at the upper layer surfaces. The response of the total system proceeds by satisfying appropriate interfacial conditions across the layers. Based on the boundary conditions, two cases, {open_quotes}shorted{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}free{close_quotes}, are derived from which a so-called piezoelectric coupling factor is calculated to show the piezoelectric efficiency. Our results are rather general and show that the phase velocity is a function of frequency, layer thickness, and orientation

An ultrasonic instrument for measuring density and viscosity of tank waste

An estimated 381,000 m{sup 3}/1.1 x 10{sup 9} Ci of radioactive waste are stored in high-level waste tanks at the Hanford Savannah River, Idaho Nuclear Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, and West Valley facilities. This nuclear waste has created one of the most complex waste management and cleanup problems that face the United States. Release of radioactive materials into the environment from underground waste tanks requires immediate cleanup and waste retrieval. Hydraulic mobilization with mixer pumps will be used to retrieve waste slurries and salt cakes from storage tanks. To ensure that transport lines in the hydraulic system will not become plugged, the physical properties of the slurries must be monitored. Characterization of a slurry flow requires reliable measurement of slurry density, mass flow, viscosity, and volume percent of solids. Such measurements are preferably made with on-line nonintrusive sensors that can provide continuous real-time monitoring. With the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM-50), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is developing an ultrasonic instrument for in-line monitoring of physical properties of radioactive tank waste

On-Loom, Real-Time, Noncontact Detection of Fabric Defects by Ultrasonic Imaging

The textile industries of developed nations, such as the United States and the countries of western Europe, are now facing enormous competition from imported fabrics important that the textile manufactures, as well as the machine manufactures, to manufacture a machine with high output, less waste, and individual-machine automation. One of the most labor-intensive tasks in textile production is the inspection and identification of fabric defects. Although visual inspection can identify most defects, an automated or semiautomated inspection system will be more reliable, eliminate potential human errors, improve quality control, reduce waste and energy consumption, and lower operating costs. Currently, an optic/visual system is commercially available, but it is an off-loom system and is very expensive. Other techniques, for example, ultrasonic, millimeter wave, capacitance, and photo-diode, have been studied. At Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), we developed a nonvisual, noncontact fabric-inspection system that can detects defects in real-time on the loom[1]. The system is compact, rugged, and low cost, requires minimal maintenance, is not sensitive to fabric color and vibration, and can easily be adapted to current loom configurations. Unlike other available techniques, the ANL ultrasonic system is not affected by vibration generated by the weaving machine

Proteome Profiling of Breast Tumors by Gel Electrophoresis and Nanoscale Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

We have conducted proteome-wide analysis of fresh surgery specimens derived from breast cancer patients, using an approach that integrates size-based intact protein fractionation, nanoscale liquid separation of peptides, electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics. Through this approach, we have acquired a large amount of peptide fragmentation spectra from size-resolved fractions of the proteomes of several breast tumors, tissue peripheral to the tumor, and samples from patients undergoing noncancer surgery. Label-free quantitation was used to generate protein abundance maps for each proteome and perform comparative analyses. The mass spectrometry data revealed distinct qualitative and quantitative patterns distinguishing the tumors from healthy tissue as well as differences between metastatic and non-metastatic human breast cancers including many established and potential novel candidate protein biomarkers. Selected proteins were evaluated by Western blotting using tumors grouped according to histological grade, size, and receptor expression but differing in nodal status. Immunohistochemical analysis of a wide panel of breast tumors was conducted to assess expression in different types of breast cancers and the cellular distribution of the candidate proteins. These experiments provided further insights and an independent validation of the data obtained by mass spectrometry and revealed the potential of this approach for establishing multimodal markers for early metastasis, therapy outcomes, prognosis, and diagnosis in the future. © 2008 American Chemical Society

A Spectro-photometric Search for Galaxy Clusters in SDSS

Recent large-scale galaxy spectroscopic surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), enable us to execute a systematic, relatively-unbiased search for galaxy clusters. Such surveys make it possible to measure the 3-d distribution of galaxies but are hampered by the incompleteness problem due to fiber collisions. In this study we aim to develop a density measuring technique that alleviates the problem and derives densities more accurately by adding additional cluster member galaxies that follow optical color-magnitude relations for the given redshift. The new density measured with both spectroscopic and photometric data shows a good agreement with apparent information on cluster images and is supported by follow-up observations. By adopting this new method, a total of 924 $robust$ galaxy clusters are found from the SDSS DR5 database in the redshift range $0.05<z<0.1$, of which 212 are new. Local maximum-density galaxies successfully represent cluster centers. We provide the cluster catalogue including a number of cluster parameters.Comment: Web-page address has been revised and minor corrections are don

Waveguide-Based Ultrasonic and Far-Field Electromagnetic Sensors for Downhole Reservoir Characterization.

This report summarizes the first year research and development effort leading to development of high-temperature sensors for enhanced geothermal systems. It covers evaluation of ultrasonic and electromagnetic (EM) techniques applied to temperature measurement and flow characterization. On temperature measurement, we have evaluated both microwave radiometry and ultrasonic techniques for temperature gradient and profile measurements. Different antenna designs are evaluated and array loop antenna design is selected for further development. We have also evaluated ultrasonic techniques for total flow characterization, which includes using speed of sound to determine flow temperature, measuring acoustic impedance to estimate fluid density, and using cross-correlation technique to determine the mass flow rate. Method to estimate the flow enthalpy is briefly discussed. At end, the need and proposed techniques to characterize the porosity and permeability of a hot dry rock resource are presented