Evolution, antimicrobial susceptibility and assignment to international clones of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated over a 9-year period in two Spanish hospitals.

Antimicrobial resistance profiles, restriction fragment length polymorphism of the coagulase gene and repetitive element sequence-based PCR were used to classify 210 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered between 1997 and 2005 in two hospitals in Vigo, north-west Spain. Representative isolates belonging to the epidemic clones were analysed by spa typing and multilocus sequence typing, and the staphylococcal chromosomal cassette (SCC)mec type was determined for all isolates. The New York/Japan clone (t002-ST5-II) was detected in Spain for the first time. However, the New York/Japan and the Brazilian (t037-ST239-IIIA) clones were replaced by EMRSA-16 (t018-ST36-II), which at present is the predominant clone.

[HSV1-derived vectors: a powerful and flexible system for genes transfers]. / Les vecteurs amplicons dérivés du virus HSV1 : un système souple et puissant pour le transfert de gènes.

Amplicons are non-integrative defective herpes simplex type 1 (HSV1) derived vectors. Their genomes are entirely free of viral genes, making these vectors non toxic for infected cells and non pathogenic for inoculated animals. In addition, amplicon vectors possess the unique property of delivering up to 150 kbp of foreign DNA. These characteristics make amplicon vectors one of the most powerful and promising viral vectors for gene transfer. This review illustrates several interesting applications using amplicon vectors, as well as problems that need to be resolved in order to obtain stable and physiological transgene expression.

Numerical comparison of acoustic wedge models, with application to ultrasonic telemetry.

Ultrasonic telemetry imaging systems are used to monitor such immersed structures as main vessels of nuclear reactors. The interaction between acoustic beams and targets involves scattering phenomena, mainly specular reflection and tip diffraction. In order to assist in the design of imaging systems, a simulation tool is required for the accurate modeling of such phenomena. Relevant high-frequency scattering models have been developed in electromagnetic applications, in particular, the geometrical optics (GO), Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (GTD) and its uniform corrections (UAT and UTD), Kirchhoff approximation (KA) and Physical Theory of Diffraction (PTD). Before adopting any of them for simulation of scattering of acoustic waves by edged immersed rigid bodies, it is important to realize that in acoustics the characteristic dimension to the wave length ratio is usually considerably smaller than in electromagnetics and a further study is required to identify models' advantages, disadvantages and regions of applicability. In this paper their numerical comparison is carried out. As the result, the most suitable algorithm is identified for simulating ultrasonic telemetry of immersed rigid structures.

Molecular characterization and clonal diversity of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the community in Spain: emergence of clone sequence type 72.

Sequence type 72 meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ST72 MRSA) was recently detected in our hospital. Although in Europe this clone is rarely isolated, it is the leading cause of community-associated MRSA infections in Korea, spreading also into hospitals, where it has also emerged as the main MRSA clone recovered from raw meat. We studied MRSA isolated from outpatients in Spain during a nine-year period. More than 70% of the isolates belonged to predominant clones found in hospitals. There was a significant increase in the ST72 prevalence. It appears that boundaries of dominance among MRSA clones have become blurred, demanding continuous surveillance.

Importance of the near Lamb mode imaging of multilayered composite plates.

In recent years Lamb waves are being used for internal defect detection in multilayered composite plates. Different Lamb modes generate various stress levels in different layers. As a result, all Lamb modes are not equally sensitive to internal defects of various layers. A number of studies have been carried out to identify which Lamb mode is most effective for detecting defects in a specific layer. However, one shortcoming of the Lamb wave inspection technique is that in a symmetrically layered composite plate stress and displacement magnitudes and energy distribution profiles for all Lamb modes are symmetric about the central plane of the plate. As a result, the ability of a Lamb mode to detect defects in a specific layer of the plate is identical to its ability to detect defects in the corresponding layer of mirror symmetry. Hence, from the Lamb wave generated image one cannot distinguish between the defects in these two layers of mirror symmetry. In this paper it is investigated how by fine-tuning the frequency and the striking angle of the incident beam in the neighborhood of a Lamb mode one can separately detect internal defects in layers of mirror symmetry in the upper and lower halves of a plate.

Prevalence, duration and aetiology of bacteraemia following dental extractions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence, duration and aetiology of bacteraemia following dental extractions, analysing the factors affecting its development. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study group was composed of 53 patients undergoing dental extractions under general anaesthesia. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected at baseline and at 30 s, 15 min and 1 h after the dental extractions. Samples were inoculated into BACTEC PLUS aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles and were processed in Bactec 9240. Subculture and further identification of the bacteria isolated was performed by conventional microbiological techniques. RESULTS: The prevalence of bacteraemia following dental extractions was 96.2% at 30 s, 64.2% at 15 min and 20% at 1 h after completing the surgical procedure. The bacteria most frequently identified in the positive blood cultures were Streptococcus spp. (63.8%), particularly Streptococcus viridans. CONCLUSIONS: In our series, the majority of patients undergoing dental extractions developed bacteraemia, usually of a streptococcal nature, independently of the grade of oral health and of the number of extractions performed. Positive blood cultures persisted for at least 1 h after the dental procedure in a considerable number of patients, questioning the supposedly transient nature of bacteraemia following dental extractions.

Susceptibility of oral obligate anaerobes to telithromycin, moxifloxacin and a number of commonly used antibacterials.

INTRODUCTION: Obligate anaerobes are closely involved in the pathogenesis of oral and focal infections. The objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility profiles of obligate anaerobes of oral origin to telithromycin (TLM), moxifloxacin (MXF), and other antibiotics that are commonly used in dentistry. METHODS: The study sample comprised 172 obligate anaerobes isolated from the saliva of 43 adult volunteers. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by the agar dilution technique in Brucella agar medium supplemented with vitamin K, haemin and 5% (volume/volume) laked sheep blood, and incubated under anaerobic conditions. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute methodology was followed and its criteria were used for the qualitative interpretation of the results. The antibiotics evaluated were: amoxicillin (AMX), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMX-CLA), clindamycin (CM), metronidazole (MTZ), azithromycin (AZM), TLM and MXF. RESULTS: Resistance to AMX (MIC(90) > or = 16 mg/l) was observed in 45.3% of the obligate anaerobes and resistance to CM (MIC(90) > or = 16 mg/l) was found in 18.6%. All the isolates were sensitive to MTZ (MIC(90) = 1 mg/l) and 98.8% were sensitive to AMX-CLA (MIC(90) = 2 mg/l). The MIC(90) values for AZM, TLM and MXF were > or =16, > or =8 and > or =2 mg/l, respectively. CONCLUSION: Pathogenic, opportunistic and non-pathogenic obligate anaerobes showed high percentages of resistance to AMX and CM, and high MIC values for AZM in the absence of recently administered antibiotics. MXF showed a higher activity than TLM, similar to that detected for AMX-CLA and MTZ. In consequence, MXF could represent a possible alternative antimicrobial against obligate anaerobes of oral origin, particularly in those patients with allergy, intolerance or lack of response to AMX-CLA or MTZ.

[Memory disorders after unilateral cerebral lesions]. / Gedächtnisstörungen nach unilateralen zerebralen Läsionen.

In contrast to the amnestic syndrome, unilateral hemispheric lesions are mostly connected with selective memory deficits, which are related to either verbal or visual-spatial information. Clinical studies concerning this are mostly about patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Almost all studies found that significantly worse verbal memory deficits appeared before or after left temporal lobectomy. In contrast to these outcomes, the results concerning right temporal lobectomy (RTL) are nonuniform. There are studies that cannot prove figurative memory deficits before or after RTL and others that ascertain a correlation between RTL and figurative memory deficits. Mean values are always compared with random samples of left and right hemispheric patients. In contrast, the presented study assumes a clinical isolated case and analyses a random sample of neurological patients with different genesis with a standardized memory test (Berlin Amnesia Test, or BAT). As a result, a significant correlation between left hemispheric lesions and verbal memory deficits as well as right hemispheric lesions and visual-spatial memory deficits can be proven. Possible reasons for these differing results with visual-spatial memory deficits are still under discussion.

Biliary tract infection caused by Haemophilus parainfluenzae.

Haemophilus parainfluenzae was isolated from the bile specimens of 2 patients with acute cholecystitis. The strains were genetically unrelated by the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The 2 H. parainfluenzae strains represented 11.7% of all positive bile cultures inoculated in blood culture bottles. The routine inoculation of bile specimens in media able to support growth of Haemophilus species should be considered.

Nosocomial Kikuchi's disease--a search for herpesvirus sequences in lymph node tissues using PCR.

BACKGROUND: Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, also known as Kikuchi's disease (KD), is a rare disease. Fever and lymphadenopathies with characteristic pathologic features are present. The etiology of this disease remains undetermined. Since the disorder is self-limiting, different viruses have been implicated as the causative agent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seven cases of KD were studied. Three patients acquired the disease nosocomially, three had community-acquired KD and one case was associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. PCR was performed on DNA extracted from lymph node tissues in order to detect herpesvirus-specific DNA sequences: herpes simpLex virus type 1 and 2 (HSV1-2), varicella zoster virus (VZV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). RESULTS: Viral DNA was not detected in any of the lymph node tissues from the seven cases of KD. CONCLUSION: We conclude that these herpesviruses were not involved in the etiology of the three cases of nosocomial KD, nor in the other four cases of KD investigated in this study.