The occurrence and dissemination of methicillin and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus in samples from patients and health professionals of a university hospital in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil

Introduction Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have been responsible for many nosocomial outbreaks. Within hospitals, colonized employees often act as reservoirs for the spread of this organism. This study collected clinical samples of 91 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), hemodialysis/nephrology service and surgical clinic, and biological samples from the nasal cavities of 120 professionals working in those environments, of a University Hospital in Recife, in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The main objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and dissemination of methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus spp. Methods The isolates obtained were tested for susceptibility to oxacillin and vancomycin and detection of the mecA gene. In addition, the isolates were evaluated for the presence of clones by ribotyping-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results MRSA occurrence, as detected by the presence of the mecA gene, was more prevalent among nursing technicians; 48.1% (13/27) and 40.7% (11/27) of the isolates were from health professionals of the surgical clinic. In patients, the most frequent occurrence of mecA-positive isolates was among the samples from catheter tips (33.3%; 3/9), obtained mostly from the hemodialysis/nephrology service. Eight vancomycin-resistant strains were found among the MRSA isolates through vancomycin screening. Based on the amplification patterns, 17 ribotypes were identified, with some distributed between patients and professionals. Conclusions Despite the great diversity of clones, which makes it difficult to trace the source of the infection, knowledge of the molecular and phenotypic profiles of Staphylococcus samples can contribute towards guiding therapeutic approaches in the treatment and control of nosocomial infections

Brazilian kefir-fermented sheep's milk, a source of antimicrobial and antioxidant peptides

Fermented milks are a source of bioactive peptides and may be considered as functional foods. Among these, sheep's milk fermented with kefir has not been widely studied and its most relevant properties need to be more thoroughly characterized. This research study is set out to investigate and evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of peptides from fermented sheep's milk in Brazil when produced by using kefir. For this, the chemical and microbiological composition of the sheep's milk before and after the fermentation was evaluated. The changes in the fermented milk and the peptides extracted before the fermentation and in the fermented milk during its shelf life were verified. The antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the peptides from the fermented milk were evaluated and identified according to the literature. The physicochemical properties and mineral profile of the fermented milk were like those of fresh milk. The peptide extract presented antimicrobial activity and it was detected that 13 of the 46 peptides were able to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. A high antioxidant activity was observed in the peptides extracted from fermented milk (3.125 mg/mL) on the 28th day of storage. Two fractions displayed efficient radical scavenging properties by DPPH and ABTS methods. At least 11 peptides distributed in the different fractions were identified by tandem mass spectrometry. This sheep's milk fermented by Brazilian kefir grains, which has antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and probiotic microorganisms, is a good candidate for further investigation as a source for bioactive peptides. The fermentation process was thus a means by which to produce potential bioactive peptides.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measurements of inclusive W and Z cross sections in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV are presented, based on 2 : 9 pb(-1) of data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurements, performed in the electron and muon decay channels, are combined to give sigma(pp -> WX) x B (W -> lv) = 9.95 +/- 0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.28 (syst.) +/- 1.09 (lumi.) nb and sigma(pp -> ZX) x B (Z -> l(+)l(-)) = 0.931 +/- 0.026 (stat.) +/- 0.023 (syst.) +/- 0.102 (lumi.) nb, where l stands for either e or mu. Theoretical predictions, calculated at the next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recent parton distribution functions, are in agreement with the measured cross sections. Ratios of cross sections, which incur an experimental systematic uncertainty of less than 4%, are also reported