Disk Diffusion Testing for Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci: Does Moxalactam Improve upon Cefoxitin?

Disk diffusion testing is widely used to detect methicillin resistance in staphylococci, and cefoxitin is currently considered the best marker for mecA-mediated methicillin resistance. In low-inoculum diffusion testing (colony suspension at 10 CFU/ml), the addition of moxalactam in combination with cefoxitin has been reported to improve on cefoxitin alone for the detection of methicillin-heteroresistant staphylococci. However, moxalactam is absent from EUCAST and CLSI guidelines, which use high-inoculum diffusion testing (colony suspension at 10 CFU/ml), calling into question the potential interest of including moxalactam in their recommendations.

A complex of three natural anti-inflammatory agents provides relief of osteoarthritis pain.

Background: Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), turmeric (Curcuma longa), and bromelain are nutraceuticals that have demonstrated anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and may be potential solutions in the treatment of acute or chronic joint pain. Their analgesic effect, however, is generally considered mild to moderate, and the relevance of their clinical use remains subject to discussion.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of the efficacy of a marketed complex of 3 plant extracts-H procumbens, C longa, and bromelain (AINAT, 650 mg)-in the treatment of degenerative joint pain.

Medical device SALs and surgical site infections: a mathematical model.

It is commonly accepted that terminally sterilized healthcare products are rarely the source of a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). The vast majority of HAIs arise from human-borne contamination from the workforce, the clinical environment, less-than-aseptic handling techniques, and the patients themselves. Nonetheless, the requirement for a maximal sterility assurance level (SAL) of a terminally sterilized product has remained at 10(-6), which is the probability of one in one million that a single viable microorganism will be on a product after sterilization.

Interactions between core and matrix thalamocortical projections in human sleep spindle synchronization.

Sleep spindles are bursts of 11-15 Hz that occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Spindles are highly synchronous across the scalp in the electroencephalogram (EEG) but have low spatial coherence and exhibit low correlation with the EEG when simultaneously measured in the magnetoencephalogram (MEG). We developed a computational model to explore the hypothesis that the spatial coherence spindles in the EEG is a consequence of diffuse matrix projections of the thalamus to layer 1 compared with the focal projections of the core pathway to layer 4 recorded in the MEG.

Thalamic burst firing propensity: a comparison of the dorsal lateral geniculate and pulvinar nuclei in the tree shrew.

Relay neurons in dorsal thalamic nuclei can fire high-frequency bursts of action potentials that ride the crest of voltage-dependent transient (T-type) calcium currents [low-threshold spike (LTS)]. To explore potential nucleus-specific burst features, we compared the membrane properties of dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and pulvinar nucleus relay neurons using in vitro whole-cell recording in juvenile and adult tree shrew (Tupaia) tissue slices. We injected current ramps of variable slope into neurons that were sufficiently hyperpolarized to de-inactivate T-type calcium channels.

Interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity during human non-rapid eye movement sleep.

Humans are less responsive to the surrounding environment during sleep. However, the extent to which the human brain responds to external stimuli during sleep is uncertain. We used simultaneous EEG and functional MRI to characterize brain responses to tones during wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.

Corticothalamic feedback controls sleep spindle duration in vivo.

Spindle oscillations are commonly observed during stage 2 of non-rapid eye movement sleep. During sleep spindles, the cerebral cortex and thalamus interact through feedback connections. Both initiation and termination of spindle oscillations are thought to originate in the thalamus based on thalamic recordings and computational models, although some in vivo results suggest otherwise.

Functional neuroimaging insights into the physiology of human sleep.

Functional brain imaging has been used in humans to noninvasively investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of sleep stages. On the one hand, REM sleep has been associated with the activation of the pons, thalamus, limbic areas, and temporo-occipital cortices, and the deactivation of prefrontal areas, in line with theories of REM sleep generation and dreaming properties. On the other hand, during non-REM (NREM) sleep, decreases in brain activity have been consistently found in the brainstem, thalamus, and in several cortical areas including the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), in agreement with a homeostatic need for brain energy recovery.

"Relevance vector machine" consciousness classifier applied to cerebral metabolism of vegetative and locked-in patients.

The vegetative state is a devastating condition where patients awaken from their coma (i.e., open their eyes) but fail to show any behavioural sign of conscious awareness.

M-type channels selectively control bursting in rat dopaminergic neurons.

Midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, pars compacta and ventral tegmental area are critically important in many physiological functions. These neurons exhibit firing patterns that include tonic slow pacemaking, irregular firing and bursting, and the amount of dopamine that is present in the synaptic cleft is much increased during bursting. The mechanisms responsible for the switch between these spiking patterns remain unclear.

Some facts about sleep relevant for Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

Our understanding of the neural mechanisms of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) is steadily increasing. Given the intriguing activation of paroxysmal activity during NREM sleep in patients with Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS), a thorough characterization of commonalities and differences between the neural correlates of LKS paroxysms and normal sleep oscillations might provide useful information on the neural underpinning of this disorder. Especially, given the suspected role of sleep in brain plasticity, this type of information is needed to assess the link between cognitive deterioration and electroencephalography (EEG) paroxysms during sleep.

An in computo investigation of the Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

We describe a computational model of the thalamus and the cortex able to reproduce some essential epileptiform features commonly observed in the Landau-Kleffner syndrome. Investigation with this realistic model leads us to the formulation of a cellular mechanism that could be responsible for the epileptic discharges occuring with this severe syndrome. Understanding this mechanism is of prime importance for developing new therapeutical strategies.

Systematic review of measures and their concepts used in published studies focusing on the treatment of acute inflammatory arthritis.

To identify outcome measures and concepts cited in published studies focusing on the treatment of acute inflammatory arthritis, and to identify and quantify the concepts contained in these measures using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference. This 'research perspective' is part of the development process for an ICF core set in acute arthritis. Electronic searches of Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Pedro and the Cochrane Library from January 2000 to July 2004 were carried out.

Frozen shoulder.

Stiffness is a consistent but nonspecific symptom of primary frozen shoulder, a condition defined by restriction of passive motion in all planes without glenohumeral abnormalities on plain radiographs. Since the first description by Duplay in 1872, theories and descriptions of the lesions have varied over time and across authors, with the main target of the condition being reported as the subacromial bursa in some studies and the rotator interval in others. Recent publications have pointed out similarities with Dupuytren's contracture.

Family therapy education for psychiatry residents : a pilot study of efficacy.

Teaching and clinical supervision of family therapy can enhance a resident's clinical skills and also promote movement from a linear, reductionistic type of thinking to a dynamic understanding of complex systems. Second-year postgraduate residents who completed a 10-month family therapy program were tested for their ability to understand family systems dynamics with the Family Therapy Assessment Exercise. Comparison of their test results before and after the program indicated significant improvement, which was entirely accounted for by improvement in the area of therapeutic skills.

Bone histology in adults with aseptic necrosis. Histomorphometric evaluation of iliac biopsies in seventy-seven patients.

Unlabelled: We studied the bone histology by histomorphometric methods in transiliac bone-biopsy specimens from seventy-seven adult patients with aseptic osteonecrosis and normal kidney function. The trabecular bone volume, trabecular osteoid volume, trabecular osteoid surfaces, thickness index of osteoid seams, total resorption surfaces, calcification rate, tetracycline-labeled surfaces, and bone-formation rate at the basic multicellular unit level and at the tissue level were determined. Histological evidence of osteomalacia was found in nine patients, of whom four were alcoholics.