Detection and identification of Staphylococcus aureus in raw milk by hybridization to oligonucleotide microarray

Staphylococcus aureus causes foodborne diseases if consumed in contaminated milk products. Rapid detection and characterization of foodborne pathogen S. aureus is crucial for epidemiological investigations and food safety surveillance. It is still a challenge to detect and identify bacterial pathogens quickly and accurately according to the samples. In this study, we have amplified 16S rRNA of S. aureus by specific primers, designed oligonucleotide probes, detected the sensitivity and specificity of the microarray assay, and also identified S. aureus in the raw milk samples by hybridization. The S. aureus and 2 control pathogens (Streptococcus suis in pigs and Shigella) were used for specificity of the microarray assay. Based upon the hybridization results, universal probes for bacterial pathogens, S. aureus probe, Staphylococcus spp. probe, nucleic acid fixture positive controls and positive experimental control showed positive signals with targeted S. aureus. The samples werediluted from 101 to 106 cfu per ml for evaluating the sensitivity of the microarray assay. The levels were as high as 103 cfu per ml, all of the samples showed positive signals. This method for rapid and effectivedetection and identification of S. aureus in raw milk demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity

Changes in the US burden of chronic kidney disease from 2002 to 2016: An analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study

Introduction: Over the past 15 years, changes in demographic, social, and epidemiologic trends occurred in the United States. These changes likely contributed to changes in chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology. Objective: To describe the change in burden of CKD at the US state level from 2002 to 2016. Design, Setting, and Participants: This systematic analysis used data and methodologies from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study in the United States. Data on CKD from 2002 to 2016 were examined at the state level. Main Outcomes and Measures: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and death due to CKD. Results: In this analysis of data from individuals in the United States, from 2002 to 2016, CKD DALYs increased by 52.6%, from 1 269 049 DALYs (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 1 154 521-1 387 008) to 1 935 954 DALYs (95% UI, 1 747 356-2 124 795). Death due to CKD increased by 58.3%, from 52 127 deaths (95% UI, 51 082-53 076) to 82 539 deaths (95% UI, 80 298-84 652). All states exhibited increases in CKD burden, but the rate of change (2002-2016) and the burden in 2016 varied by state. States in the southern United States (including Mississippi and Louisiana) exhibited more than twice the burden seen in other states (eg, the age-standardized CKD DALY rate in Vermont was 321 [95% UI, 281-363] per 100 000 population, whereas the rate in Mississippi was 697 [95% UI, 620-779] per 100 000 population). In the United States, the increase in CKD DALYs was attributable to increased risk exposure (40.3%), aging (32.3%), and population growth (27.4%). Age-standardized CKD DALY rates increased by 18.6% where increases in metabolic, and to a lesser extent dietary, risk factors contributed 93.8% and 5.3% of this change, respectively. Chronic kidney disease due to diabetes was the primary contributor for the 26.8% increased probability of death due to CKD among the population aged 20 to 54 years; among the population aged 55 to 89 years, the probability of death due to CKD increased by 25.6% and was driven by CKD due to diabetes and decreased probability of death from causes other than CKD. Improvement in sociodemographic development was coupled with an increase in age-standardized CKD DALY rates that occurred at a faster pace than that of other noncommunicable diseases in the United States. Conclusions and Relevance: Our findings revealed that between 2002 and 2016, the burden of CKD in the United States appeared to be increasing and variable among states. These changes may be associated with increased risk exposure and demographic expansion leading to increased probability of death due to CKD, especially among young adults. The findings suggest that an effort to target the reduction of CKD through greater attention to metabolic and dietary risks, especially among younger adults, is necessary

Computational investigation of static multipole polarizabilities and sum rules for ground-state hydrogen-like ions

High precision multipole polarizabilities, $\alpha_{\ell}$ for $\ell \le 4$ of the $1s$ ground state of the hydrogen isoelectronic series are obtained from the Dirac equation using the B-spline method with Notre Dame boundary conditions. Compact analytic expressions for the polarizabilities as a function of $Z$ with a relative accuracy of 10$^{-6}$ up to $Z = 100$ are determined by fitting to the calculated polarizabilities. The oscillator strengths satisfy the sum rules $\sum_i f^{(\ell)}_{0i} = 0$ for all multipoles from $\ell = 1$ to $\ell = 4$. The dispersion coefficients for the long-range H-H and H-He$^+$ interactions are given.Comment: 8 figures, 8 table

Can antiferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist in the high-field paramagnetic superconductor Nd(O,F)FeAs?

We present measurements of the temperature and field dependencies of the magnetization M(T,H) of Nd(O0.89F0.11)FeAs at fields up to 33T, which show that superconductivity with the critical temperature Tc ~ 51K cannot coexist with antiferromagnetic ordering. Although M(T,H) at 55 < T < 140K exhibits a clear Curie-Weiss temperature dependence corresponding to the Neel temperature TN ~ 11-12K, the behavior of M(T,H) below Tc is only consistent with either paramagnetism of weakly interacting magnetic moments or a spin glass state. We suggest that the anomalous magnetic behavior of an unusual high-field paramagnetic superconductor Nd(O1-xFx)FeAs is mostly determined by the magnetic Nd ions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Experimental Free-Space Distribution of Entangled Photon Pairs over a Noisy Ground Atmosphere of 13km

We report free-space distribution of entangled photon pairs over a noisy ground atmosphere of 13km. It is shown that the desired entanglement can still survive after the two entangled photons have passed through the noisy ground atmosphere. This is confirmed by observing a space-like separated violation of Bell inequality of $2.45 \pm 0.09$. On this basis, we exploit the distributed entangled photon source to demonstrate the BB84 quantum cryptography scheme. The distribution distance of entangled photon pairs achieved in the experiment is for the first time well beyond the effective thickness of the aerosphere, hence presenting a significant step towards satellite-based global quantum communication.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Hybrid exciton-polaritons in a bad microcavity containing the organic and inorganic quantum wells

We study the hybrid exciton-polaritons in a bad microcavity containing the organic and inorganic quantum wells. The corresponding polariton states are given. The analytical solution and the numerical result of the stationary spectrum for the cavity field are finishedComment: 3 pages, 1 figure. appear in Communications in Theoretical Physic

Branching ratio and CP asymmetry of Bs→π+π−B_s \to \pi^+ \pi^- decays in the perturbative QCD approach

In this paper, we calculate the decay rate and CP asymmetry of the $B_s \to \pi^+\pi^-$ decay in perturbative QCD approach with Sudakov resummation. Since none of the quarks in final states is the same as those of the initial $B_s$ meson, this decay can occur only via annihilation diagrams in the standard model. Besides the current-current operators, the contributions from the QCD and electroweak penguin operators are also taken into account. We find that (a) the branching ratio is about $4 \times 10^{-7}$; (b) the penguin diagrams dominate the total contribution; and (c) the direct CP asymmetry is small in size: no more than $3$; but the mixing-induced CP asymmetry can be as large as ten percent testable in the near future LHC-b experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures included, RevTe

Comparison of performance achievement award recognition with primary stroke center certification for acute ischemic stroke care.

BackgroundHospital certification and recognition programs represent 2 independent but commonly used systems to distinguish hospitals, yet they have not been directly compared. This study assessed acute ischemic stroke quality of care measure conformity by hospitals receiving Primary Stroke Center (PSC) certification and those receiving the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Performance Achievement Award (PAA) recognition.Methods and resultsThe patient and hospital characteristics as well as performance/quality measures for acute ischemic stroke from 1356 hospitals participating in the GWTG-Stroke Program 2010-2012 were compared. Hospitals were classified as PAA+/PSC+ (hospitals n = 410, patients n = 169,302), PAA+/PSC- (n = 415, n = 129,454), PAA-/PSC+ (n = 88, n = 26,386), and PAA-/PSC- (n = 443, n = 75,565). A comprehensive set of stroke measures were compared with adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics. Patient characteristics were similar by PAA and PSC status but PAA-/PSC- hospitals were more likely to be smaller and nonteaching. Measure conformity was highest for PAA+/PSC+ and PAA+/PSC- hospitals, intermediate for PAA-/PSC+ hospitals, and lowest for PAA-/PSC- hospitals (all-or-none care measure 91.2%, 91.2%, 84.3%, and 76.9%, respectively). After adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics, PAA+/PSC+, PAA+/PSC-, and PAA-/PSC+ hospitals had 3.15 (95% CIs 2.86 to 3.47); 3.23 (2.93 to 3.56) and 1.72 (1.47 to 2.00), higher odds for providing all indicated stroke performance measures to patients compared with PAA-/PSC- hospitals.ConclusionsWhile both PSC certification and GWTG-Stroke PAA recognition identified hospitals providing higher conformity with care measures for patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke, PAA recognition was a more robust identifier of hospitals with better performance