Investigation of mediastinitis due to coagulase-negative staphylococci after cardiothoracic surgery.

Six cases of coagulase-negative staphylococcal mediastinitis were identified in the latter half of 1999. A new preoperative cleansing solution was suspected by hospital staff to be a factor in the outbreak. We evaluated this possible risk factor along with other known and suspected surgical site infection risk factors in this case-control study

An Emerging Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome in Dogs: Similar to the Human Leptospiral Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome?

Severe pulmonary haemorrhage is a rare necropsy finding in dogs but the leptospiral pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome (LPHS) is a well recognized disease in humans. Here we report a pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome in dogs that closely resembles the human disease. All 15 dogs had massive, pulmonary haemorrhage affecting all lung lobes while haemorrhage in other organs was minimal. Histologically, pulmonary lesions were characterized by acute, alveolar haemorrhage without identifiable vascular lesions. Seven dogs had mild alveolar wall necrosis with hyaline membranes and minimal intraalveolar fibrin. In addition, eight dogs had acute renal tubular necrosis. Six dogs had a clinical diagnosis of leptospirosis based on renal and hepatic failure, positive microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and/or positive blood/urine Leptospira-specific PCR. Leptospira could not be cultured post mortem from the lungs or kidneys. However, Leptospira-specific PCR was positive in lung, liver or kidneys of three dogs. In summary, a novel pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome was identified in dogs but the mechanism of the massive pulmonary erythrocyte extravasation remains elusive. The lack of a consistent post mortem identification of Leptospira spp. in dogs with pulmonary haemorrhage raise questions as to whether additional factors besides Leptospira may cause this as yet unrecognized entity in dogs

Enhanced expression of codon optimized Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis antigens in Lactobacillus salivarius

It is well documented that open reading frames containing high GC content show poor expression in A+T rich hosts. Specifically, G+C-rich codon usage is a limiting factor in heterologous expression of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) proteins using Lactobacillus salivarius. However, re-engineering opening reading frames through synonymous substitutions can offset codon bias and greatly enhance MAP protein production in this host. In this report, we demonstrate that codon-usage manipulation of MAP2121c can enhance the heterologous expression of the major membrane protein (MMP), analogous to the form in which it is produced natively by MAP bacilli. When heterologously over-expressed, antigenic determinants were preserved in synthetic MMP proteins as shown by monoclonal antibody mediated ELISA. Moreover, MMP is a membrane protein in MAP, which is also targeted to the cellular surface of recombinant L. salivarius at levels comparable to MAP. Additionally, we previously engineered MAP3733c (encoding MptD) and show herein that MptD displays the tendency to associate with the cytoplasmic membrane boundary under confocal microscopy and the intracellularly accumulated protein selectively adheres to the MptD-specific bacteriophage fMptD. This work demonstrates there is potential for L. salivarius as a viable antigen delivery vehicle for MAP, which may provide an effective mucosal vaccine against Johne’s disease

Preoxygenation and prevention of desaturation during emergency airway management,”

Patients requiring emergency airway management are at great risk of hypoxemic hypoxia because of primary lung pathology, high metabolic demands, anemia, insufficient respiratory drive, and inability to protect their airway against aspiration. Tracheal intubation is often required before the complete information needed to assess the risk of periprocedural hypoxia is acquired, such as an arterial blood gas level, hemoglobin value, or even a chest radiograph. This article reviews preoxygenation and peri-intubation oxygenation techniques to minimize the risk of critical hypoxia and introduces a risk-stratification approach to emergency tracheal intubation. Techniques reviewed include positioning, preoxygenation and denitrogenation, positive end expiratory pressure devices, and passive apneic oxygenation. [Ann Emerg Med. 2011;xx:xxx.

Preoxygenation and prevention of desaturation during emergency airway management,”

Patients requiring emergency airway management are at great risk of hypoxemic hypoxia because of primary lung pathology, high metabolic demands, anemia, insufficient respiratory drive, and inability to protect their airway against aspiration. Tracheal intubation is often required before the complete information needed to assess the risk of periprocedural hypoxia is acquired, such as an arterial blood gas level, hemoglobin value, or even a chest radiograph. This article reviews preoxygenation and peri-intubation oxygenation techniques to minimize the risk of critical hypoxia and introduces a risk-stratification approach to emergency tracheal intubation. Techniques reviewed include positioning, preoxygenation and denitrogenation, positive end expiratory pressure devices, and passive apneic oxygenation

Human cloning in film: horror, ambivalence, hope

Fictional filmic representations of human cloning have shifted in relation to the 1997 announcement of the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep, and since therapeutic human cloning became a scientific practice in the early twentieth century. The operation and detail of these shifts can be seen through an analysis of the films The Island (2005) and Aeon Flux (2005). These films provide a site for the examination of how these changes in human cloning from fiction to practice, and from horror to hope, have been represented and imagined, and how these distinctions have operated visually in fiction, and in relation to genre

Influence of V5/6-His Tag on the Properties of Gap Junction Channels Composed of Connexin43, Connexin40 or Connexin45

HeLa cells expressing wild-type connexin43, connexin40 or connexin45 and connexins fused with a V5/ 6-His tag to the carboxyl terminus (CT) domain (Cx43-tag, Cx40-tag, Cx45-tag) were used to study connexin expression and the electrical properties of gap junction channels. Immunoblots and immunolabeling indicated that tagged connexins are synthesized and targeted to gap junctions in a similar manner to their wild-type counterparts. Voltageclamp experiments on cell pairs revealed that tagged connexins form functional channels. Comparison of multichannel and single-channel conductances indicates that tagging reduces the number of operational channels, implying interference with hemichannel trafficking, docking and/or channel opening. Tagging provoked connexinspecific effects on multichannel and single-channel properties. The Cx43-tag was most affected and the Cx45-tag, least. The modifications included (1) Vj-sensitive gating of Ij (Vj, gap junction voltage; Ij, gap junction current), (2) contribution and (3) kinetics of Ij deactivation and (4) single-channel conductance. The first three reflect alterations of fast Vj gating. Hence, they may be caused by structural and/or electrical changes on the CT that interact with domains of the amino terminus and cytoplasmic loop. The fourth reflects alterations of the ion-conducting pathway. Conceivably, mutations at sites remote from the channel pore, e.g., 6-His-tagged CT, affect protein conformation and thus modify channel properties indirectly. Hence, V5/6-His tagging of connexins is a useful tool for expression studies in vivo. However, it should not be ignored that it introduces connexin-dependent changes in both expression level and electrophysiological properties