Diagnostics of internal combustion diesel engines operated in construction and mining

Mining machinery and equipment belong to the group of special machines working in extreme conditions. Mining machines are used in difficult conditions such as limited supplies of fresh air, heat from the rock, in places with high humidity and heavy dust. In other specifics related to the extraction process is brine, harmful compounds such as sulphur dioxide, or rock debris raining down. The machines are operated in continuous mode, the clock. Working in mining conditions machines are exposed to frequent breakdowns and malfunctions. Identifying of failure diesel engines can be cumbersome in these conditions and time-consuming, leading to longer downtime, thereby reducing operating efficiency and increased cost. Therefore, in the paper was a review and analysis methods for the diagnosis of internal combustion diesel engines used in machines built and used to power machines in underground mining. On the basis of diagnostic testing was performed analysis of cases occurring malfunctions and failures

One-day prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of toxigenic and non-toxigenic Clostridioides difficile in 10 French hospitals

International audienceBackground: Asymptomatic faecal carriage of Clostridioides difficile has been widely evaluated, but its prevalence across a wide range of clinical departments and related risk factors are not well described. The objectives of the PORTADIFF study were to evaluate the prevalence and identifying risk factors leading to asymptomatic carriage of both toxigenic and non-toxigenic C. difficile.Methods: The PORTADIFF study was a 1-day prevalence study carried out in 10 different French hospitals. Adult patients, who agreed to participate, were included in this study and provided a fresh stool sample. C. difficile strains isolated from carriage were characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of tcdA, tcdB, cdtA and cdtB, and PCR ribotyping.Results: In total, 721 patients were included in this study. The median age was 73 years (range 18-101 years) and the male/female ratio was 1.06. C. difficile (either toxigenic or non-toxigenic strains) was isolated from 79 (11%) patients; 42 (5.8%) strains were toxigenic. The prevalence rates of asymptomatic carriage ranged from 5% on surgical wards to 19% on long-term care wards. The main risk factors associated with asymptomatic carriage were antibiotic treatment within the preceding 3 months (81.8% vs 53.7%; P<0.01), hospitalization within the preceding 2 months (55.8% vs 33%; P<0.01), cumulative duration of hospital stay before study inclusion (mean 50.1 vs 34.5 days; P<0.047), and hospitalization on a ward with high global incidence of C. difficile infection.Conclusion: Eleven percent of hospitalized patients were asymptomatic carriers of toxigenic or non-toxigenic C. difficile, and may constitute a potential reservoir of C. difficile strains