An explosive outbreak of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype-8 infection in a highly vaccinated residential care home, England, summer 2012.

In August 2012, an explosive outbreak of severe lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) due to Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype-8 occurred in a highly vaccinated elderly institutionalized population in England. Fifteen of 23 residents developed LRTI over 4 days (attack rate 65%); 11 had confirmed S. pneumoniae serotype-8 disease, and two died. Following amoxicillin chemoprophylaxis and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) re-vaccination no further cases occurred in the following 2 months. No association was found between being an outbreak-associated case and age (P = 0.36), underlying comorbidities [relative risk (RR) 0.84 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34-2.09], or prior receipt of PPV (RR 1.4, 95% CI 0.60-3.33). However, the median number of years since PPV was significantly higher for cases (n = 15, 10.2 years, range 7.3-17.9 years) than non-cases (n = 8, 7.2 years, range 6.8-12.8 years) (P = 0.045), provided evidence of waning immunity. Alternative vaccination strategies should be considered to prevent future S. pneumoniae outbreaks in institutionalized elderly populations.

Inhibitor effects during the cell cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Determination of transition points in asynchronous cultures.

A wide variety of inhibitors (drugs, antibiotics, and antimetabolites) will block cell division within an ongoing cell cycle in autotrophic cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. To determine when during the cell cycle a given inhibitor is effective in preventing cell division, a technique is described which does not rely on the use of synchronous cultures. The technique permits the measurement of transition points, the cell cycle stage at which the subsequent cell division becomes insensitive to the effects of an inhibitor. A map of transition points in the cell cycle reveals that they are grouped into two broad periods, the second and fourth quarters. In general, inhibitors which block organellar DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis have second-quarter transition points, while those which inhibit nuclear cytoplasmic macromolecular synthesis have fourth-quarter transition points. The specific grouping of these transition points into two periods suggests that the synthesis of organellar components is completed midway through the cell cycle and that the synthesis of nonorganellar components required for cell division is not completed until late in the cell cycle.

Alga-like forms in onverwacht series, South Africa: oldest recognized lifelike forms on Earth.

Spheroidal and cupshaped, carbonaceous alga-like bodies, as well as filamentous structures and amorphous carbonaceous matter occur in sedimentary rocks of the Onverwacht Series (Swaziland System) in South Africa. The Onverwacht sediments are older than 3.2 eons, and they are probably the oldest, littlealtered sedimentary rocks on Earth. The basal Onverwacht sediments lie approximately 10,000 meters stratigraphically below the Fig Tree sedimentary rocks, from which similar organic microstructures have been interpreted as alga-like microfossils. The Onverwacht spheroids and filaments are best preserved in black, carbonrich cherts and siliceous argillites interlayered with thick sequences of lavas. These lifelike forms and the associated carbonaceous substances are probably biological in origin. If so, the origins of unicellular life on Earth are buried in older rocks now obliterated by igneous and metamorphic events.

REPCAT: desktop expert system for interpreting and validating laboratory data for pheochromocytoma diagnosis with the database application Omnis 7.

To aid in the validation and interpretive reporting of results from multianalyte diagnostic testing for pheochromocytoma (PHEO), we have developed a desktop personal computer-based laboratory expert system (REPCAT). REPCAT utilizes a commercial database application to run procedures that assess analytical and clinical data relating to patient urine or plasma samples. REPCAT was used to evaluate the raw data from >4000 24-h urine samples submitted to our laboratory for testing for the presence of PHEO. REPCAT performed equivalently to an expert pathologist in assessing the presence and class of PHEO (epinephrine, norepinephrine, or mixed secretor). No false negatives were generated and it assigned a correct interpretation (on the basis of subsequent clinical and biochemical investigation) for each of the primary diagnostic samples from these patients.

Carbon compounds in Apollo 11 lunar samples.

Are they entrapped solar wind particles, meteoritic or cometary contributions, remnants of a primordial atmosphere or products of the degassing of the Moon ?