The Sudden Dominance of blaCTX–M Harbouring Plasmids in Shigella spp. Circulating in Southern Vietnam

Shigellosis is a disease caused by bacteria belonging to Shigella spp. and is a leading cause of bacterial gastrointestinal infections in infants in unindustrialized countries. The Shigellae are dynamic and capable of rapid change when placed under selective pressure in a human population. Extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs) are enzymes capable of degrading cephalosporins (a group of antimicrobial agents) and the genes that encode them are common in pathogenic E. coli and other related organisms in industrialized countries. In southern Vietnam, we have isolated multiple cephalosporin-resistant Shigella that express ESBLs. Furthermore, over two years these strains have replaced strains isolated from patients with shigellosis that cannot express ESBLs. Our work describes the genes responsible for this characteristic and we investigate one of the elements carrying one of these genes. These finding have implications for treatment of shigellosis and support the growing necessity for vaccine development. Our findings also may be pertinent for other countries undergoing a similar economic transition to Vietnam's and the corresponding effect on bacterial populations

Laser coupling to reduced-scale targets at NIF Early Light

Deposition of maximum laser energy into a small, high-Z enclosure in a short laser pulse creates a hot environment. Such targets were recently included in an experimental campaign using the first four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility [J. A. Paisner, E. M. Campbell, and W. J. Hogan, Fusion Technology 26, 755 (1994)], under construction at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These targets demonstrate good laser coupling, reaching a radiation temperature of 340 eV. In addition, the Raman backscatter spectrum contains features consistent with Brillouin backscatter of Raman forward scatter [A. B. Langdon and D. E. Hinkel, Physical Review Letters 89, 015003 (2002)]. Also, NIF Early Light diagnostics indicate that 20% of the direct backscatter from these reduced-scale targets is in the polarization orthogonal to that of the incident light

Temporal coherent control induced by wave packet interferences in one and two photon atomic transitions

International audienceThe interaction of a sequence of two identical ultrashort laser pulses with an atomic system results in quantum interferences as in Ramsey fringes experiments. These interferences allow achievement of temporal coherent control of the excitation probability. We present the results of a temporal coherent control experiment on two different atomic systems: one-photon absorption in K (4s-4p) and two-photon absorption in Cs (6s-7d). In K, the quantum interferences between the two excitation paths associated with the laser pulses are revealed through rapid oscillations of the excitation probability as a function of the time delay between the two pulses. These oscillations take place at the transition frequency (period T = 2.56 fs). The interferences are modulated by beats (at about 580 fs) resulting from the doublet structure of the excited state (4p (P-2(1/2), P-2(3/2))). Three complementary interpretations of this experiment are presented: in terms of beats of quantum interferences, of variation in the spectrum intensity, and of wave packet interferences. Whenever the two laser pulses are temporally overlapped, optical interferences are superimposed on to the quantum interferences. The distinction between these two types of interference lis clearly revealed in the two-photon excitation scheme performed on Cs (6s-7d (D-2(3/2), D-2(5/2))) because quantum interferences occur at twice the frequency of the optical interferences