Biofilm-forming capability of highly virulent, multidrug-resistant Candida auris

The emerging multidrug-resistant yeast pathogen Candida auris has attracted considerable attention as a source of healthcare–associated infections. We report that this highly virulent yeast has the capacity to form antifungal resistant biofilms sensitive to the disinfectant chlorhexidine in vitro

Grant for 1099 acre tract of land known as Athens in Pennsylvania, 1806, to Alexander Baring, Henry Baring, Robert Gilmore, Thomas Mayne Willine and Charles Willing Hare for the sum of $22.09. Official state form, parchment, signed by James Trimble and Thomas M. Kean, governnor.

Document granting 1099 acres of land to the trustees of William Bingham\u27s estate: Alexander Baring, Henry Baring, Robert Gilmore, Thomas Mayne Willing, and Charles Willing Hare. Dimensions of the tract are noted in detail, as are the machinations by which this tract is granted to the grantees. On parchment, 1806. Includes seal under paper accompanied by signature of governor Thomas M. Kean. Dimensions of tract resemble modern day dimensions of Athens Borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.https://digitalcommons.wofford.edu/littlejohnmss/1178/thumbnail.jp

Your Governance or Mine?

In response to criticism directed at the resource sector's corporate governance, this paper examines the corporate governance and underlying firm characteristics of resource development stage entities (DSEs) relative to a size-matched sample of non-resource firms. We find that resource DSEs have different governance characteristics in the measures of board independence, chair/CEO duality and CEO cash bonuses. Furthermore, there are differences in the information environment measures of analyst following, debt levels, stock market return and stock turnover. Considering we document substantial differences in underlying firm characteristics, corporate governance differences are likely appropriate to the mining industry and should not be uniformly labelled as 'bad'. Our results suggest that media rankings based on corporate governance scores may not accurately portray the resource sector. Overall, our results are of interest to Australian investors and regulators and contribute to a broader understanding of contextually contingent corporate governance. © 2011 CPA Australia

Peter Kean with Amos Scudder, October 22, 1827

A legal indenture from Peter Kean to Amos Scudder. Amos leased a lot of land in Savannah, GA from Peter Kean for the term of 8 years. The document is also signed by James M. Wayne, as Peter\u27s attorney and Thomas S. Wayne as a witness.https://digitalcommons.kean.edu/lhc_1820s/1092/thumbnail.jp

Implications of antimicrobial combinations in complex wound biofilms containing fungi

Diabetic foot ulcer treatment currently focuses on targeting bacterial biofilms, while dismissing fungi. To investigate this we used an in vitro biofilm model containing bacteria and fungi, reflective of the wound environment, to test the impact of antimicrobials. Here we showed that while mono-treatment approaches influenced biofilm composition it had no discernible effect on overall quantity. Only by combining bacterial and fungal specific antibiotics were we able to decrease the biofilm bioburden, irrespective of composition

The Risk of Thromboembolic Complications in Fontan Patients with Atrial Flutter/fibrillation Treated with Electrical Cardioversion

Atrial flutter or fibrillation (AFF) remains a major chronic complication of the Fontan procedure. This complication further predisposes this patient population to thromboembolic events. However, the incidence of thromboembolic complications in Fontan patients with AFF prior to or acutely after electrical cardioversion is unknown. This study aimed to characterize the risk of post-cardioversion thromboembolic events in this population. We performed a retrospective medical record review of all patients with a history of Fontan operation treated with direct current cardioversion for AFF at Riley Children’s Hospital between June 1992 and March 2014. A total of 57 patients were identified and reviewed. A total of 216 episodes of AFF required electrical cardioversion. Patients were treated with anticoagulation/antiplatelet therapy in 86.1 % (N = 186) of AFF episodes. Right atrial or Fontan conduit clots were observed in 33 patients (57.9 %) with 61 episodes of AFF. Approximately half (49.2 %, N = 30) of these episodes were treated immediately with electrical cardioversion. Twenty-five of 33 (75.8 %) patients with intracardiac thrombi had an atriopulmonary Fontan. Five (15.2 %) patients with a lateral caval tunnel had clots in the Fontan conduit, and three (9.1 %) patients with right atrium to right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) connections presented with right atrial mural thrombi. Nine of the 57 (15.8 %) patients had documented stroke, and three (5.3 %) patients had pulmonary emboli during follow-up, although none of these emboli were associated with electrical cardioversion. The risk of thrombus and thromboembolism associated with AFF is high in the Fontan population. However, the risk of thromboembolism associated with cardioversion in the setting of anticoagulation is very low

Review on effect of repetitive rework on dissimilar austenistic stainless steel pipes by using GMAW orbital welding

Dissimilar metal welding is widely applied to meet the rquirement of transition in mechanical properties and/or difference in working conditions. For instance, even though AISI 304 and AISI 316L are both belong to austenitic stainless steels, but they are applied in different working environment. AISI 304 is used at high temperature applications, whereas AISI 316L is used at low temperature. Repair welding is able to return a part back to its normal service life if weld failure happened due to service deterioration or defects during fabrication stage. However, repetitive heat input due to repair welding will cause changes in welded structure and properties. In this article, the effect of repetitive repair welding of dissimilar austenitic stainless steel pipes to the microhardness, tensile strength, microstructure and quality of the weldment has been reviewed

Testing the Drosophila maternal haploid gene for functional divergence and a role in hybrid incompatibility

Crosses between Drosophila simulans females and Drosophila melanogaster males produce viable F1 sons and poorly viable F1 daughters. Unlike most hybrid incompatibilities, this hybrid incompatibility violates Haldane’s rule, the observation that incompatibilities preferentially affect the heterogametic sex. Furthermore, it has a different genetic basis than hybrid lethality in the reciprocal cross, with the causal allele in Drosophila melanogaster being a large species-specific block of complex satellite DNA on its X chromosome known as the 359-bp satellite, rather than a protein-coding locus. The causal allele(s) in Drosophila simulans are unknown but likely involve maternally expressed genes or factors since the F1 females die during early embryogenesis. The maternal haploid (mh) gene is an intriguing candidate because it is expressed maternally and its protein product localizes to the 359-bp repeat. We found that this gene has diverged extensively between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. This observation led to the hypothesis that Drosophila melanogaster mh may have coevolved with the 359-bp repeat and that hybrid incompatibility thus results from the absence of a coevolved mh allele in Drosophila simulans. We tested for the functional divergence of mh by creating matched transformants of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans orthologs in both Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans strains. Surprisingly, we find that Drosophila simulans mh fully complements the female sterile phenotype of Drosophila melanogaster mh mutations. Contrary to our hypothesis, we find no evidence that adding a Drosophila melanogaster mh gene to Drosophila simulans increases hybrid viability

Are routinely collected NHS administrative records suitable for endpoint identification in clinical trials? Evidence from the West of Scotland coronary prevention study

Background: Routinely collected electronic patient records are already widely used in epidemiological research. In this work we investigated the potential for using them to identify endpoints in clinical trials.<p></p> Methods: The events recorded in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), a large clinical trial of pravastatin in middle-aged hypercholesterolaemic men in the 1990s, were compared with those in the record-linked deaths and hospitalisations records routinely collected in Scotland.<p></p> Results: We matched 99% of fatal study events by date. We showed excellent matching (97%) of the causes of fatal endpoint events and good matching (.80% for first events) of the causes of nonfatal endpoint events with a slightly lower rate of mismatching of record linkage than study events (19% of first study myocardial infarctions (MI) and 4% of first record linkage MIs not matched as MI). We also investigated the matching of non-endpoint events and showed a good level of matching, with .78% of first stroke/TIA events being matched as stroke/TIA. The primary reasons for mismatches were record linkage data recording readmissions for procedures or previous events, differences between the diagnoses in the routinely collected data and the conclusions of the clinical trial expert adjudication committee, events occurring outside Scotland and therefore being missed by record linkage data, miscoding of cardiac events in hospitalisations data as ‘unspecified chest pain’, some general miscoding in the record linkage data and some record linkage errors.<p></p> Conclusions: We conclude that routinely collected data could be used for recording cardiovascular endpoints in clinical trials and would give very similar results to rigorously collected clinical trial data, in countries with unified health systems such as Scotland. The endpoint types would need to be carefully thought through and an expert endpoint adjudication committee should be involved.<p></p&gt

A family intervention to reduce delirium in hospitalzed ICU patients: a feasibility randomized controlled trial

Background: Family members could play an important role in preventing and reducing the development of delirium in Intensive Care Units (ICU) patients. This study sought to assess the feasibility of design and recruitment, and accept ability for family members and nurses of a family delivered intervention to reduce delirium in ICU patients. Method: A single centre randomised controlled trial in an Australian medical/surgical ICU was conducted. Sixty-one family members were randomised (29 in intervention and 32 in non-intervention group). Following instructions, the intervention comprised the family members providing orientation, or memory clues (family photographs, orientation to surroundings) to their relative each day. In addition, family members conducted sensory checks (vision and hearing with glasses and hearing aids); and 5 therapeutic or cognitive stimulation (discussing family life, reminiscing) daily. Eleven ICU nurses were interviewed to gain insight into the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the intervention from their perspective. Results: Recruitment rate was 28% of eligible patients (recruited n=90, attrition n=1). Following instruction by the research nurse the family member delivered the intervention which was assessed to be feasible and acceptable by family members and nurses. Protocol adherence could be improved with alternative data collection methods. Nurses considered the activities acceptable. Conclusion: The study was able to recruit, randomise, and retain family member participants. Further strategies are required to assess intervention fidelity and improve data collection