Reduced Fluoroquinolone Susceptibility in Salmonella enterica Isolates from Travelers, Finland

We tested the fluoroquinolone susceptibility of 499 Salmonella enterica isolates collected from travelers returning to Finland during 2003–2007. Among isolates from travelers to Thailand and Malaysia, reduced fluoroquinolone susceptibility decreased from 65% to 22% (p = 0.002). All isolates showing nonclassical quinolone resistance were from travelers to these 2 countries

The Cross-Cultural Invariance of the Servant Leadership Survey: A Comparative Study across Eight Countries

This paper tests and confirms the cross-cultural equivalence of the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) in eight countries and languages: The Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Finland. A composite sample consisting of 5201 respondents from eight countries that all filled out the SLS was used. A three-step approach was adopted to test configural invariance, measurement equivalence, and structural equivalence. For the full 30-item version of the SLS, configural invariance and partial measurement equivalence were confirmed. Implications of these results for the use of the SLS within cross-cultural studies are discussed

Progress towards the two-thirds conjecture on locating-total dominating sets

We study upper bounds on the size of optimum locating-total dominating sets in graphs. A set $S$ of vertices of a graph $G$ is a locating-total dominating set if every vertex of $G$ has a neighbor in $S$, and if any two vertices outside $S$ have distinct neighborhoods within $S$. The smallest size of such a set is denoted by $\gamma^L_t(G)$. It has been conjectured that $\gamma^L_t(G)\leq\frac{2n}{3}$ holds for every twin-free graph $G$ of order $n$ without isolated vertices. We prove that the conjecture holds for cobipartite graphs, split graphs, block graphs, subcubic graphs and outerplanar graphs

Treatment failure in a typhoid patient infected with nalidixic acid resistant S. enterica serovar Typhi with reduced susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin: a case report from Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Fluoroquinolones or third generation cephalosporins are the drugs of choice for the treatment of typhoid fever. Treatment failure with fluoroquinolones has been reported in Asia and Europe. We report a case of ciprofloxacin treatment failure in typhoid fever in Cameroon. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old female patient with suspected typhoid fever from Kumba, Cameroon, yielded growth of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi in blood culture. The isolate was resistant to nalidixic acid but sensitive to ciprofloxacin by disc diffusion test. However, the patient did not respond to treatment with ciprofloxacin, although the isolate was apparently susceptible to ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSION: Treatment failure with ciprofloxacin in our case indicates the presence of nalidixic acid resistant S. enterica serovar Typhi (NARST) with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in Cameroon (Central Africa)

Probabilistic Selection Approaches in Decomposition-based Evolutionary Algorithms for Offline Data-Driven Multiobjective Optimization

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this recordIn offline data-driven multiobjective optimization, no new data is available during the optimization process. Approximation models, also known as surrogates, are built using the provided offline data. A multiobjective evolutionary algorithm can be utilized to find solutions by using these surrogates. The accuracy of the approximated solutions depends on the surrogates and approximations typically involve uncertainties. In this paper, we propose probabilistic selection approaches that utilize the uncertainty information of the Kriging models (as surrogates) to improve the solution process in offline data-driven multiobjective optimization. These approaches are designed for decomposition-based multiobjective evolutionary algorithms and can, thus, handle a large number of objectives. The proposed approaches were tested on distance-based visualizable test problems and the DTLZ suite. The proposed approaches produced solutions with a greater hypervolume, and a lower root mean squared error compared to generic approaches and a transfer learning approach that do not use uncertainty information

Chromatin organization regulates viral egress dynamics

Various types of DNA viruses are known to elicit the formation of a large nuclear viral replication compartment and marginalization of the cell chromatin. We used three-dimensional soft x-ray tomography, confocal and electron microscopy, combined with numerical modelling of capsid diffusion to analyse the molecular organization of chromatin in herpes simplex virus 1 infection and its effect on the transport of progeny viral capsids to the nuclear envelope. Our data showed that the formation of the viral replication compartment at late infection resulted in the enrichment of heterochromatin in the nuclear periphery accompanied by the compaction of chromatin. Random walk modelling of herpes simplex virus 1-sized particles in a three-dimensional soft x-ray tomography reconstruction of an infected cell nucleus demonstrated that the peripheral, compacted chromatin restricts viral capsid diffusion, but due to interchromatin channels capsids are able to reach the nuclear envelope, the site of their nuclear egress.Peer reviewe

Parvovirus nonstructural protein 2 interacts with chromatin-regulating cellular proteins

Autonomous parvoviruses encode at least two nonstructural proteins, NS1 and NS2. While NS1 is linked to important nuclear processes required for viral replication, much less is known about the role of NS2. Specifically, the function of canine parvovirus (CPV) NS2 has remained undefined. Here we have used proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) to screen for nuclear proteins that associate with CPV NS2. Many of these associations were seen both in noninfected and infected cells, however, the major type of interacting proteins shifted from nuclear envelope proteins to chromatin-associated proteins in infected cells. BioID interactions revealed a potential role for NS2 in DNA remodeling and damage response. Studies of mutant viral genomes with truncated forms of the NS2 protein suggested a change in host chromatin accessibility. Moreover, further studies with NS2 mutants indicated that NS2 performs functions that affect the quantity and distribution of proteins linked to DNA damage response. Notably, mutation in the splice donor site of the NS2 led to a preferred formation of small viral replication center foci instead of the large coalescent centers seen in wild-type infection. Collectively, our results provide insights into potential roles of CPV NS2 in controlling chromatin remodeling and DNA damage response during parvoviral replication.Peer reviewe

Rapid detection of functional gene polymorphisms of TLRs and IL-17 using high resolution melting analysis

Genetic variations in toll-like receptors (TLRs) and IL-17A have been widely connected to different diseases. Associations between susceptibility and resistance to different infections and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR1 to TLR4 and IL17A have been found. In this study, we aimed to develop a rapid and high throughput method to detect functional SNPs of above mentioned proteins. The following most studied and clinically important SNPs: TLR1 (rs5743618), TLR2 (rs5743708), TLR3 (rs3775291), TLR4 (rs4986790) and IL17 (rs2275913) were tested. High resolution melting analysis (HRMA) based on real-time PCR combined with melting analysis of a saturating double stranded-DNA binding dye was developed and used. The obtained results were compared to the "standard" sequencing method. A total of 113 DNA samples with known genotypes were included. The HRMA method correctly identified all genotypes of these five SNPs. Co-efficient values of variation of intra-and inter-run precision repeatability ranged from 0.04 to 0.23%. The determined limit of qualification for testing samples was from 0.5 to 8.0 ng/mu l. The identical genotyping result was obtained from the same sample with these concentrations. Compared to "standard" sequencing methods HRMA is cost-effective, rapid and simple. All the five SNPs can be analyzed separately or in combination