A longitudinal study on the persistence of Livestock Associated-MRSA in swine herds

In recent years, a new type of MRSA, now called livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA), belonging to the clonal complex (CC) 398, has globally emerged in swine world wide. Aim of this study was to gain more insight into the persistence of LA-MRSA in different types of pig farms over a period of two years. To investigate this, 15 MRSA-positive herds from a previous study were selected; an additional pig farm was selected because this one was found to be positive with a human MRSA-strain. Starting in September 2009, five dust samples were collected every two months. Samples were analysed for MRSA and spa-typing was done to confirm that MRSA isolates belonged to CC398 and to gain insight into persistence of strains within a farm. Three herds were positive on all sampling occasions and were consistently contaminated with LA-MRSA. In the remaining herds, occasionally no positive dust samples were found at some sampling moments. The predominating spa -types were t011 and t108. A maximum of 5 different spa-types were found in two herds, with 3 different spa-types present in one sampling, indicating multiple introductions. These results show that LA-MRSA remains present on a pig farm over a long period. Most likely, transmission within the herd occurs after initial introduction, and an endemic situation seems to be the endpoint. The relatively low sensitivity of dust sampling compared to sampling of animals, the small sample size and lack of strict standardization of dust sampling might explain occasional negative samplings in overall positive herds. However, a true change of a positive MRSA-status to a negative status, followed by re-introduction cannot be ruled out in our study design

How new is New Frank Talk? Steve Biko's philosophy of Black Consciousness in the post-aparthed context

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.The main aim of this thesis is to examine the usage and modification of the philosophy of Black Consciousness in post-1994 South Africa. The usage and modification is examined through an intertextual analysis, which investigates what notions of Black Consciousness are used by New Frank Talk, how these notions are used and what manner they are modified in a post-1994 context. The analysis consists of an examination of seven New Frank Talk essays published since 2009

Introduction

his introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. This book presents several consistent participatory observations made in criminal courts within the Netherlands. It aims at providing decision makers within sentencing (including execution) an overview of the contemplations and discussions related to the quality of forensic assessment in general, and to several specific psycholegal factors such as mental disorder, criminal responsibility and risk, which would be good to take notice of in making a legal decision possibly based upon such assessment. As forensic assessment is intended to improve the quality of the decision at hand, the question may rise how difference of opinion is, or may be dealt with, in practice by the decision-making body. The book focuses on what legal or policy requirements are in place for forensic assessment, as well as what ethical or disciplinary requirements exist regarding these evaluations

Comparative analysis

This chapter describes similarities and differences, through collecting and arranging relevant bits of information and shows that the division of competencies between federal and regional authorities in sentencing matters is different between the countries for all three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. In Germany for example, criminal liability and (the imposition of) sentences are regulated on the federate level, while the execution of sentences is regulated on the regional level. In Canada, the division is somewhat similar, with regions having authority over prisons, hospitals, and asylums, and the administration of courts of criminal jurisdiction. In the US, in cases with multiple evaluators, depending on the jurisdiction and types of case, laws may either prohibit or permit consultation between the experts, but of course this is less common in adversarial proceedings. In Sweden, the time pressure is equally felt, posing a risk for the quality of assessment, which benefits from discussions and focused analysis