Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern analysis.

<p>The number on horizontal lines indicates the percentage of homology by the Pearson correlation. BJI: Bone and joint infective strains; NC: Nasal carriage stains. One strain remained resistant to <i>Sma</i>I digestion and was assigned a specific non-restricted profile.</p

Flow cytometric quantification of adhesion to MG63 osteoblasts by <i>S. epidermidis</i>.

<p>Flow cytometry analysis was performed using an FSC/SSC stopping gate with uninfected cells (A1), with a fluorescence intensity marker M set to include <2% of uninfected cells (A2). The results from the original cytogram (1) and the distribution of FL1-positive events (2) of a representative experiment are shown, including the reference strains <i>S. epidermidis</i> NCTC1147 (B) and <i>S. aureus</i> 8325-4 (C).</p

Invasion of human osteoblasts by <i>S. epidermidis</i> clinical isolates.

<p>A. Determination of the optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) for use in osteoblast invasion assays (reference strain NCTC11047). B. Evaluation of the rate at which <i>S. epidermidis</i> strains invade the MG63 osteoblastic cell line for nasal colonization (n = 22) versus orthopedic infection (n = 15) isolates. C. Comparison of the invasion rate in MG63 osteoblastic cells and primary human osteoblasts for <i>S. aureus</i> 8325-4, <i>S. epidermidis</i> NCTC11047, and one randomly chosen <i>S. epidermidis</i> clinical isolate. Data are represented as the means and standard deviations of three replicate cultures from one gentamicin protection assay. NS: Not significant.</p

A species distribution comparison of <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. isolates from the positive blood cultures of patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and adult ICUs, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p

Gentamicin protection assay.

<p>MOI: Multiplicity of infection.</p

A retrospective comparison of the antimicrobial resistance profiles of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible <i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> bloodstream isolates from patients in neonatal intensive care units, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p>b<p>NC, not calculable.</p

Flow diagram of case selection.

<p>(N)ICU, (neonatal) intensive care unit; CoNS, coagulase-negative staphylococci; BC, blood culture. ^aIn NICU infants, a single CoNS-positive blood culture was interpreted as possible bacteremia and included in the analysis. The CoNS-positive results that were excluded were explicitly recorded as a contaminant in the microbiology record. ^bIn adult patients, a single CoNS-positive blood culture was interpreted as a contaminant and excluded from the analysis. ^cRecords were excluded when antimicrobial susceptibility results were not available.</p

Evaluation of biofilm-formation ability of <i>S. epidermidis</i> clinical isolates.

<p>A. Kinetics of early biofilm formation was assayed by the Biofilm Ring Test method for the reference strain NCTC11047 and for infective (n = 15) and colonizing (n = 22) <i>S. epidermidis</i> strains. B. Quantification of mature biofilm formation after 24 and 48 h by the crystal violet staining method for the <i>S. epidermidis</i> reference strain NCTC11047 and 37 clinical isolates.</p

Quantification of <i>S. epidermidis</i> adhesion to MG63 osteoblasts.

<p>After 2 h of co-culture of MG63 osteoblasts with infective and colonizing <i>S. epidermidis</i> strains (n = 3 each) and <i>S. aureus</i> strains at an MOI of 500∶1 and 100∶1, respectively, adhered bacteria were labeled using the membrane-impermeable fluorochrome BODIPY FL vancomycin. The results are presented as the means and standard deviations of the proportion of cells bearing bacteria (A) and of arbitrary fluorescence units (AFUs) (B).</p

A retrospective comparison of the antimicrobial resistance profiles of <i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> bloodstream isolates from patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and adult ICUs, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p