Extended Spectrum β-Lactamases among Gram-Negative Bacterial Isolates from Clinical Specimens in Three Major Hospitals in Northern Jordan

Background and Objectives. Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production is increasing all over the world, and organisms other than E. coli and K. pneumoniae are acquiring this character. ESBL production is detectable by automation, E-test, double disk diffusion (DDD), and PCR. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of ESBL production among clinical isolates of gram-negative rods, and to evaluate the effectiveness of augmentation of clavunate with Cefotaxime, Ceftazoxime, Aztreonam, Ceftriaxone, and Cefpodoxime in detecting ESBL production. Methods. 472 clinical gram-negative isolates identified by standard methods were tested for ESBL-production by (DDD) method using six cephalosporins and amoxicillin-clavulinate discs. Results. 108/472 (22.9%) of the isolates were ESBL producers, and were prevalent in tertiary care hospitals. 88.2% of E. cloacae, 71.4% of K. pneumoniae, 28.6% of K. oxytoca, 12.5% of C. freundii, 11.1% of A. calcoacceticus, and 10.8% of E. coli were ESBL producers. The DDD test demonstrated some variations in the efficacy of the different cephalosporins in detecting all the ESBL producers. The inclusion of ceftizoxime discs increased the efficacy of the test. It is concluded that ESBL-producing bacteria were prevalent among our hospitalized patients, and involved genera other than Klebsiella and Escherichia, and the inclusion of ceftizoxime increased the efficacy of ESBL detection by the DDD test

درجة تضمين منهاج التربية الوطنية الحياتية للصفين الأول والثاني الأساسيين للمهارات الحياتية من وجهة نظر المعلمين في المدارس الحكومية في مديرية قباطية

The study aimed to identify the degree to which national and life education curriculum for the first and second basic grades includes the life skills from the point of view of teachers in government schools in Qabatia. Furthermore, to determine the differences according to gender and specialization variables. To achieve that, the study conducted on (72) male and female teachers, and (42) items questionnaire was applied for collecting data.The results of the study indicated that the degree to which National and life Education curriculum for the first and second basic grades includes the life skills from the point of view of teachers in government schools in Qabatia was high, as it came with a mean of (3.90) and a weight of (%78), and that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α=0.05) in the degree to which National and life Education curriculum for the first and second basic grades includes the life skills from the point of view of teachers in government schools in Qabatia due to gender and specialization variables. In the light of the results, the researcher recommended providing the means, materials, and techniques to provide an opportunity for teachers of the national and life education curriculum to employ activities appropriately as well as enhancing the student’s personality through the adoption of various programs in schools such as the child friendly school, in addition to employing the interactive national education curriculum in line with the digitization of education

Transfusion transmitted virus and dengue virus among healthy blood donors: A prevalence report from Jordan

Transfusion transmitted virus (TTV) is thought to contribute to non-A non-E hepatitis and other diseases. Dengue virus (DENV) is a serious mosquito-borne pathogen. Reports on TTV and DENV in Jordan and the Middle East and North Africa region are limited. Herein, the prevalence of TTV antigen and anti-DENV IgG antibodies among apparently healthy blood donors from Northern Jordan and the Northern Agwar region of Jordan was investigated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to correlate positivity with possible infection risk factors (age, sex, residence location, and occupation). One hundred ninety apparently healthy blood donors were included in the study (age 18 - 54 years). TTV antigen was detected in 17.9% of the samples. Lower antigen positivity was observed among Agwar residents than non-residents (7.1% vs 24.5%; chi-square test P < 0.001), which was confirmed by regression analysis (odds ratio 0.262 [95% confidence interval 0.086-0.805]; P = 0.019). Antigen positivity did not differ by age, sex, or occupation. Seropositivity for anti-DENV IgG was 17.9%. Seropositivity did not differ by age, sex, or occupation. Higher seropositivity was observed among Agwar residents than non-residents (36.1% vs 9.4%; chi-square test P < 0.001), which was confirmed by regression analysis (odds ratio 5.420 [95% confidence interval 2.377-12.359]; P < 0.001). Overall, low TTV antigen prevalence and DENV seroprevalence were found among blood donors from Northern Jordan and the Northern Agwar region of Jordan

An Interactive Graphical User Interface Module for Soldier Health and Position Tracking System

Soldiers are the backbone of any armed force. They usually lose their lives due to the lack of medical assistance in emergency situations. Furthermore, army bases face problems due to the inability to track soldiers’ locations in the field. Hence, this paper proposes an interactive graphical user interface module (IGUIM) for soldiers’ bioinformatics acquisition and emergency reaction during combat, a global positioning system (GPS) is used to track soldiers’ locations through a device carried by the soldier. Soldiers’ bioinformatics are gathered using health monitoring biosensors, bidirectional communication between the soldiers and the army base is established via a global system for mobile (GSM). The proposed interactive module aims to enumerate the soldiers on the battlefield within a database that easily facilitates health monitoring, position tracking and bidirectional communication with each soldier through their identification number. The proposed IGUIM will increase the rate of soldiers’ survival in emergencies, which contributes to preserving the human resources of the army during combat

Transfusion transmitted virus and dengue virus among healthy blood donors: A prevalence report from Jordan

Transfusion transmitted virus (TTV) is thought to contribute to non-A non-E hepatitis and other diseases. Dengue virus (DENV) is a serious mosquito-borne pathogen. Reports on TTV and DENV in Jordan and the Middle East and North Africa region are limited. Herein, the prevalence of TTV antigen and anti-DENV IgG antibodies among apparently healthy blood donors from Northern Jordan and the Northern Agwar region of Jordan was investigated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to correlate positivity with possible infection risk factors (age, sex, residence location, and occupation). One hundred ninety apparently healthy blood donors were included in the study (age 18 - 54 years). TTV antigen was detected in 17.9% of the samples. Lower antigen positivity was observed among Agwar residents than non-residents (7.1% vs 24.5%; chi-square test P < 0.001), which was confirmed by regression analysis (odds ratio 0.262 [95% confidence interval 0.086-0.805]; P = 0.019). Antigen positivity did not differ by age, sex, or occupation. Seropositivity for anti-DENV IgG was 17.9%. Seropositivity did not differ by age, sex, or occupation. Higher seropositivity was observed among Agwar residents than non-residents (36.1% vs 9.4%; chi-square test P < 0.001), which was confirmed by regression analysis (odds ratio 5.420 [95% confidence interval 2.377-12.359]; P < 0.001). Overall, low TTV antigen prevalence and DENV seroprevalence were found among blood donors from Northern Jordan and the Northern Agwar region of Jordan

Modular cell-based platform for high throughput identification of compounds that inhibit a viral interferon antagonist of choice

The work was supported by the Medical Research Council, U.K. (University of St Andrews Doctoral Training Grant to AV and CSA), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PA 815/2-1) to CP, Tenovus Scotland (T15/38) to MN and Wellcome Trust to CP, MN (ISSF) and RER (101788/Z/13/Z)Viral interferon (IFN) antagonists are a diverse class of viral proteins that counteract the host IFN response, which is important for controlling viral infections. Viral IFN antagonists are often multifunctional proteins that perform vital roles in virus replication beyond IFN antagonism. The critical importance of viral IFN antagonists is highlighted by the fact that almost all viruses encode one of these proteins. Inhibition of viral IFN antagonists has the potential to exert pleiotropic antiviral effects and thus this important protein class represents a diverse plethora of novel therapeutic targets. To exploit this, we have successfully developed and executed a novel modular cell-based platform that facilitates the safe and rapid screening for inhibitors of a viral IFN antagonist of choice. The platform is based on two reporter cell-lines that provide a simple method to detect activation of IFN induction or signaling via an eGFP gene placed under the control of the IFNβ or an ISRE-containing promoter, respectively. Expression of a target IFN antagonist in the appropriate reporter cell-line will block the IFN response and hence eGFP expression. We hypothesized that addition of a compound that inhibits IFN antagonist function will release the block imposed on the IFN response and hence restore eGFP expression, providing a measurable parameter for high throughput screening (HTS). We demonstrate assay proof-of-concept by (i) exploiting hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitors to inhibit NS3-4A's capacity to block IFN induction and (ii) successfully executing two HTS targeting viral IFN antagonists that block IFN signaling; NS2 and IE1 from human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) respectively, two clinically important viruses for which vaccine development has thus far been unsuccessful and new antivirals are required. Both screens performed robustly and Z′ Factor scores of >0.6 were achieved. We identified (i) four hit compounds that specifically inhibit RSV NS2's ability to block IFN signaling by mediating STAT2 degradation and exhibit modest antiviral activity and (ii) two hit compounds that interfere with IE1 transcription and significantly impair CMV replication. Overall, we demonstrate assay proof-of-concept as we target viral IFN antagonists from unrelated viruses and demonstrate its suitability for HTS.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Respiratory Infections by HMPV and RSV Are Clinically Indistinguishable but Induce Different Host Response in Aged Individuals

Background: Human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus can cause severe respiratory diseases, especially in infants, young children, and the elderly. So far it remains unclear why infections in the elderly become life threatening despite the presence of neutralizing antibodies in the serum, and to which extent double infections worsen the clinical course. Methods: Young and aged BALB/c-mice were infected with RSV or/and HMPV. Appearance of the mice was observed during course of infection. On day 5 p.i. animals were dispatched by cervical dislocation and levels of TNF-a and NF-kB were determined. Results: The observation of activity, weight and appearance of the different mice showed no differences among the tested groups. Despite this, the immunologic response depends on the animals ’ age and the virus they were infected with. In young animals, NF-kB levels were elevated if infected with HMPV and HMPV/RSV but remained low in RSV infections, whereas in aged animals the opposite was observed: solely RSV-infected animals showed elevated levels of NF-kB. TNF-a was slightly elevated in HMPV-infected young and old animals, but only in young animals this elevation was significant. Conclusions: Contrary to other studies, no weight loss or change in activity despite productive lung infection with the different viruses were observed. This may be due to the weaker anaesthesia or the lesser volume of virus solution used

Respiratory Syncytial Virus NS1 Protein Colocalizes with Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling Protein MAVS following Infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nonstructural protein 1(NS1) attenuates type-I interferon (IFN) production during RSV infection; however the precise role of RSV NS1 protein in orchestrating the early host-virus interaction during infection is poorly understood. Since NS1 constitutes the first RSV gene transcribed and the production of IFN depends upon RLR (RIG-I-like receptor) signaling, we reasoned that NS1 may interfere with this signaling. Herein, we report that NS1 is localized to mitochondria and binds to mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS). Live-cell imaging of rgRSV-infected A549 human epithelial cells showed that RSV replication and transcription occurs in proximity to mitochondria. NS1 localization to mitochondria was directly visualized by confocal microscopy using a cell-permeable chemical probe for His6-NS1. Further, NS1 colocalization with MAVS in A549 cells infected with RSV was shown by confocal laser microscopy and immuno-electron microscopy. NS1 protein is present in the mitochondrial fraction and co-immunoprecipitates with MAVS in total cell lysatesof A549 cells transfected with the plasmid pNS1-Flag. By immunoprecipitation with anti-RIG-I antibody, RSV NS1 was shown to associate with MAVS at an early stage of RSV infection, and to disrupt MAVS interaction with RIG-I (retinoic acid inducible gene) and the downstream IFN antiviral and inflammatory response. Together, these results demonstrate that NS1 binds to MAVS and that this binding inhibits the MAVS-RIG-I interaction required for IFN production