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Studies on sport mega-events and their legacies often seem only loosely connected to local experiences. Stories on sport mega-event legacy appear as a setting-the-scene or function as a reference to illustrate specific types of legacy. However, stories themselves are never the primary focus in these studies. What is generally lacking from these studies is an interpretive perspective, giving voice to ordinary citizens’ everyday experiences of legacies in mundane aspects of their lives and their local environment. The article aims to add an analysis of stories to the existing body of knowledge as an innovative way of interpreting sport mega-events’ legacies. We introduce a narrative ethnographic approach for studying sport mega-event legacy, by looking at the way stories and narrative analysis are used to conceptualise legacy in the sociological subfield of ageing-studies. In our case study we show how citizens from one Johannesburg township make sense of the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup one year after the event, by analysing people's stories about two sport-for-development projects. We conclude that local residents of the township of Alexandra perceive changes in public safety and the image of Alexandra as the most important positive legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At the same time they take a critical stance towards the World Cup's legacy, because personal situations and community structures were often disrupted, rather than improved. We maintain that a narrative ethnographic approach provides extensive accounts about sport mega-event legacies, which help to better understand the different faces of sport mega-events’ legacies at a micro level

Follow-up of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage after 8 years: redefining the persistent carrier state

Studies of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage have distinguished three carriage patterns: persistent, intermittent, and noncarriage. The criteria used to identify these carriage patterns have been inconsistent. In 1988 the S. aureus nasal carrier index, i.e., the proportion of nasal swab specimen cultures yielding S. aureus, was determined for 91 staff members of various departments of a large university hospital by obtaining weekly nasal swab specimens for culture over a 12-week period. Thirty-three (36%) persons had carrier indices of 0.80 or higher, 15 (17%) had indices between 0.1 and 0.7, and 43 (47%) had indices of zero. In 1995, 17 individuals with carrier indices of 0.80 or higher in 1988 were available for reexamination. For 12 (71%) of these individuals, S. aureus was again isolated from a single nasal swab, i.e., from each individual with a 1988 carrier index of 1.0 but from only half of those with indices below 1.0. Genotyping (by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) of all S. aureus strains showed that strains isolated from only three individuals, all with 1988 carrier indices of 1.0, in 1988 and 1995 showed genetic similarity. In conclusion, persistent S. aureus nasal carriage is a unique characteristic of a fraction of the population, and the attribute "persistent" should be confined to those individuals for whom serial nasal swab specimen cultures consistently yield S. aureus

Результаты изучения палеодегазации неогена и перспективы нефтегазоносности Юго-Западного Крыма

Склад флюїдів з Гераклітiв принципово не відрізняється від складу газів із сучасних зон струминного виділення в Чорному морі, що є підтвердженням їх генетичного споріднення. Дані аналізів вказують на різкі коливання змістів і непостійний склад газових флюїдів палеодегазаціі в неогені. Наявність газів вуглеводнів та слідів нафти в Гераклітах, тектонічна будова регіону дозволяють зробити висновок про високі перспективи знаходження родовищ нафти і газу в Південно-Західному Криму.The composition of fluids from Heraclitus has no fundamental differences from the gas composition from the modern jet ejections zones in the Black Sea, which is a confirmation of their genetic relatedness. Data of analysis show sharp fluctuations of the contents and unstable structure of gas fluids paleo degassing of Neogene. The presence of hydrocarbon gases and traces of oil in Heraclitus, the tectonic structure of the region allow to conclude high prospects of finding oil and gas in the South-West Crimea

Distinguishing blaKPC -gene-containing IncF plasmids from epidemiologically related and unrelated Enterobacteriaceae based on short- and long-read sequence data

BACKGROUND: Limited information is available on whether blaKPC -containing plasmids from isolates in a hospital outbreak can be differentiated from epidemiologically unrelated blaKPC-containing plasmids based on sequence data. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of three approaches to distinguish epidemiologically related from unrelated blaKPC-containing pKpQiL-like IncFII(k2)-IncFIB(pQiL) plasmids. METHOD: Epidemiologically related isolates, were short- and long-read whole genome sequenced. A hybrid assembly was performed and plasmid sequences were extracted from the assembly graph. Epidemiologically unrelated plasmid sequences were extracted from the GenBank. Pairwise comparisons were performed of epidemiologically related and unrelated plasmids based on SNP differences using snippy, phylogenetic distance using Roary and using a similarity index that penalizes size differences between plasmids (Stoesser-index). The percentage of pairwise comparisons misclassified as genetically related or as clonally unrelated was determined using different genetic thresholds for genetic relatedness. RESULTS: The ranges in number of SNP differences, Roary phylogenetic distance, and Stoesser-index overlapped between the epidemiologically related and unrelated plasmids. When using a genetic similarity threshold that classified 100% of epidemiologically related plasmid pairs as genetically related, the percentages of plasmids misclassified as epidemiologically related ranged from 6.7% (Roary) to 20.8% (Stoesser-index). DISCUSSION: Although epidemiologically related plasmids can be distinguished from unrelated plasmids based on genetic differences, blaKPC-containing pKpQiL-like IncFII(k2)-IncFIB(pQiL) plasmids show a high degree of sequence similarity. The phylogenetic distance as determined using Roary showed the highest degree of discriminatory power between the epidemiologically related and unrelated plasmids

Development of amoxicillin resistance in Escherichia coli after exposure to remnants of a non-related phagemid-containing E. coli:an exploratory study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of exposure to remnants of a phagemid-containing E. coli, killed by treatment with a propanol-based hand rub, on antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolates. METHODS: An in vitro model was developed in which a clinical E. coli isolate (EUR1) was exposed to remnants of an E. coli K-12 strain containing a phagemid (pBS-E12) strain treated with Sterillium®. A series of 200 experiments was performed using this in vitro model. As a control, a series of 400 experiments was performed where the EUR1 was exposed either to the remnants of an E. coli K-12 strain (not containing a phagemid) (E12) treated with Sterillium® (n = 200) or to dried Sterillium® only (n = 200). The number of experiments that showed growth of an amoxicillin-resistant EUR1 isolate was evaluated in all three groups. An additional 48 experiments were performed in which a different clinical E. coli isolate (EUR2) was exposed to remnants of the pBS-E12 treated with Sterillium®. Whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic testing for AmpC beta-lactamase production was performed to investigate the mechanism behind this resistance development. RESULTS: In 22 (11.0%) of 200 experiments in which the EUR1 isolate was exposed to remnants of a pBS-E12 an amoxicillin-resistant mutant isolate was obtained, as opposed to only 2 (1.0%) of 200 experiments involving the exposure of the EUR1 to Sterillium® only (risk difference: 10.0%; 95% CI 5.4-14.6%)) and 1 (0.5%) of 200 experiments involving the exposure of the EUR1 isolate to the remnants of the phagemid-free E12 (risk difference: 10.5%; 95% CI 6.1-14.9%). In 1 (2.1%) of the 48 experiments in which the EUR2 isolate was exposed to remnants of a pBS-E12 an amoxicillin-resistant mutant isolate was obtained. The development of resistance in all experiments was due to mutations in the promoter/attenuator region of the chromosomal AmpC beta-lactamase (cAmpC) gene leading to cAmpC hyperproduction. CONCLUSION: Exposure of an E. coli isolate to another phagemid-containing E. coli that was treated with propanol-based hand rub increased the development of amoxicillin resistance. Although phagemids are cloning vectors that are not present in clinical isolates, this finding may have implications for hand disinfection practices in healthcare facilities

Detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes and plasmid replicons in Enterobacteriaceae using PlasmidSPAdes assembly of short-read sequence data

Knowledge of the epidemiology of plasmids is essential for understanding the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance. PlasmidSPAdes attempts to reconstruct plasmids using short-read sequence data. Accurate detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes and plasmid replicon genes is a prerequisite for the use of plasmid assembly tools to investigate the role of plasmids in the spread and evolution of ESBL production in Enterobacteriaceae. This study evaluated the performance of PlasmidSPAdes plasmid assembly for Enterobacteriaceae in terms of detection of ESBL-encoding genes, plasmid replicons and chromosomal wgMLST genes, and assessed the effect of k-mer size. Short-read sequence data for 59 ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae were assembled with PlasmidSPAdes using different k-mer sizes (21, 33, 55, 77, 99 and 127). For every k-mer size, the presence of ESBL genes, plasmid replicons and a selection of chromosomal wgMLST genes in the plasmid assembly was determined. Out of 241 plasmid replicons and 66 ESBL genes detected by whole-genome assembly, 213 plasmid replicons [88 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 83.9-91.9] and 43 ESBL genes (65 %; 95 % CI: 53.1-75.6) were detected in the plasmid assemblies obtained by PlasmidSPAdes. For most ESBL genes (83.3 %) and plasmid replicons (72.0 %), detection results did not differ between the k-mer sizes used in the plasmid assembly. No optimal k-mer size could be defined for the number of ESBL genes and plasmid replicons detected. For most isolates, the number of chromosomal wgMLST genes detected in the plasmid assemblies decreased with increasing k-mer size. Based on our findings, PlasmidSPAdes is not a suitable plasmid assembly tool for short-read sequence data for ESBL-encoding plasmids of Enterobacteriaceae

Гибридная интегральная схема для обработки звукового сигнала

Разработана гибридная интегральная схема с номинальным напряжением питания 1,4 В, током потребления 0,7 мА и габаритными размерами 8x4x3 мм для обработки звукового сигнала в автономной аппаратуре.Розроблена гібридна інтегральна схема з номінальною напругою живлення 1,4 В, струмом споживання 0,7 мА і габаритними розмірами 8x4x3 мм забезпечує багатофункціональну обробку звуковою сигналу в аналоговій мікроелектронній апаратурі. Наведено її конструкторсько-технологічні та електричні параметри.Developed hybrid integrated circuit with rated supply voltage of 1,4 V, current consumption 0,7 mA and overall dimensions 8x4x3 mm provides soft processing of the audio signal in analog microelectronic equipment. Given its design, technological and electrical parameters

Epidemiology and molecular typing of multidrug-resistant bacteria in day care centres in Flanders, Belgium

The global prevalence and spread of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) represent an emerging public health threat. Day care centre (DCC) attendance is a risk factor for MDRO carriage in children and their environment. This study aimed to map the epidemiology of carriage and potential transmission of these organisms within 18 Flemish DDCs (Belgium). An MDRO prevalence survey was organised between November 2018 and February 2019 among children attending the centres. Selective chromogenic culture media were used for the detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E), carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) in faecal swabs obtained from diapers or jars (n = 448). All isolated MDROs were subjected to resistance gene sequencing. A total of 71 of 448 samples (15.8%) yielded isolates of ESBL-E with a predominance of Escherichia coli (92.2% of ESBL-E) and ESBL resistance gene blaCTX-M-15 (50.7% of ESBL coding genes in E. coli). ESBL-E prevalence varied between DCCs, ranging from 0 to 50%. Transmission, based on the clonal relatedness of ESBL-E strains, was observed. CPE was identified in only one child carrying an E. coli with an OXA-244 gene. VRE was absent from all samples. The observed prevalence of ESBL-E in Flemish DCCs is high compared with previous studies, and our findings re-emphasise the need for rigorous hygiene measures within such centres to control the further spread of MDROs in the community

Prevention of severe infectious complications after colorectal surgery using oral non-absorbable antimicrobial prophylaxis:results of a multicenter randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common complications after colorectal surgery. Oral non-absorbable antibiotic prophylaxis (OAP) can be administered preoperatively to reduce the risk of SSIs. Its efficacy without simultaneous mechanical cleaning is unknown. METHODS: The Precaution trial was a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial conducted in six Dutch hospitals. Adult patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery were randomized to receive either a three-day course of preoperative OAP with tobramycin and colistin or placebo. The primary composite endpoint was the incidence of deep SSI or mortality within 30 days after surgery. Secondary endpoints included both infectious and non-infectious complications at 30 days and six months after surgery. RESULTS: The study was prematurely ended due to the loss of clinical equipoise. At that time, 39 patients had been randomized to active OAP and 39 to placebo, which reflected 8.1% of the initially pursued sample size. Nine (11.5%) patients developed the primary outcome, of whom four had been randomized to OAP (4/39; 10.3%) and five to placebo (5/39; 12.8%). This corresponds to a risk ratio in the intention-to-treat analysis of 0.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23-2.78). In the per-protocol analysis, the relative risk was 0.64 (95% CI 0.12-3.46). CONCLUSIONS: Observational data emerging during the study provided new evidence for the effectiveness of OAP that changed both the clinical and medical ethical landscape for infection prevention in colorectal surgery. We therefore consider it unethical to continue randomizing patients to placebo. We recommend the implementation of OAP in clinical practice and continuing monitoring of infection rates and antibiotic susceptibilities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The PreCaution trial is registered in the Netherlands Trial Register under NL5932 (previously: NTR6113) as well as in the EudraCT register under 2015-005736-17

Prevalence and Clinical Presentation of Health Care Workers With Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in 2 Dutch Hospitals During an Early Phase of the Pandemic

Importance: On February 27, 2020, the first patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported in the Netherlands. During the following weeks, at 2 Dutch teaching hospitals, 9 health care workers (HCWs) received a diagnosis of COVID-19, 8 of whom had no history of travel to China or northern Italy, raising the question of whether undetected community circulation was occurring. Objective: To determine the prevalence and clinical presentation of COVID-19 among HCWs with self-reported fever or respiratory symptoms. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2 teaching hospitals in the southern part of the Netherlands in March 2020, during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health care workers employed in the participating hospitals who experienced fever or respiratory symptoms were asked to voluntarily participate in a screening for infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Data analysis was performed in March 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: The prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection was determined by semiquantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction on oropharyngeal samples. Structured interviews were conducted to document symptoms for all HCWs with confirmed COVID-19. Results: Of 9705 HCWs employed (1722 male [18%]), 1353 (14%) reported fever or respiratory symptoms and were tested. Of those, 86 HCWs (6%) were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (median age, 49 years [range, 22-66 years]; 15 [17%] male), representing 1% of all HCWs employed. Most HCWs experienced mild disease, and only 46 (53%) reported fever. Eighty HCWs (93%) met a case definition of fever and/or coughing and/or shortness of breath. Only 3 (3%) of the HCWs identified through the screening had a history of travel to China or northern Italy, and 3 (3%) reported having been exposed to an inpatient with a known diagnosis of COVID-19 before the onset of symptoms. Conclusions and Relevance: Within 2 weeks after the first Dutch case was detected, a substantial proportion of HCWs with self-reported fever or respiratory symptoms were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, likely as a result of acquisition of the virus in the community during the early phase of local spread. The high prevalence of mild clinical presentations, frequently not including fever, suggests that the currently recommended case definition for suspected COVID-19 should be used less stringently