PP/HDPE blends compatibilized by a polyester: An unconventional concept to valuable products.

Polyolefins are the most widely used plastics accounting for a large fraction of the polymer waste stream. Although reusing polyolefins seems to be a logical choice, their recycling level remains disappointingly low. This is mainly due to the lack of large-scale availability of efficient and inexpensive compatibilizers for mixed polyolefin waste, typically consisting of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and isotactic polypropylene (PP) that, despite their similar chemical hydrocarbon structure, are immiscible.

Molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant enterococci: a 2-year perspective.

Objective: To determine the molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at our medical center in order to identify the extent of strain clonality and possible transmission patterns of this pathogen.

Design: An important facet of our infection control program includes molecular typing of all clinical and surveillance isolates of VRE to determine transmission patterns in the hospital. Molecular strain typing is performed by restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) of genomic DNA.

Medical and economic benefit of a comprehensive infection control program that includes routine determination of microbial clonality.

Nosocomial infections are a major part of the problem of reemerging pathogens causing infectious diseases, affecting 5% of patients hospitalized in the United States during 1995. We assessed the medical and economic effects on the overall nosocomial infection rate of an intervention that provided an enhanced, integrated infection control program, including an in-house molecular typing laboratory capability to rapidly assess microbial clonality. Data on nosocomial infections for 24 months prior to the change in approach to infection control were compared with data from the 24 months immediately following implementation of the new program.

Comparison of genomic methods for differentiating strains of Enterococcus faecium: assessment using clinical epidemiologic data.

Genomic DNA extracted from 45 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) isolates was cleaved with HindIII and HaeIII and subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis. The ability of this method (restriction endonuclease analysis [REA]) to distinguish strains at the subspecies level was compared with results previously determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Chart reviews were performed to provide a clinical correlation of possible epidemiologic relatedness.

Comparative in vitro activity of l-ofloxacin and FK037 to other agents against 10,040 fresh clinical isolates.

Fresh clinical isolates collected from November 1, 1992 through November 1, 1993, were tested by agar dilution against 26 different antimicrobial agents including FK037 and l-ofloxacin. Among the 10 040 organisms tested were Staphylococcus aureus (n = 1222), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, n = 455), Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 533), Staphylococcus hominis (n = 90), Staphylococcus hemolyticus (n = 89), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 144), Escherichia coli (n = 2326), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 745), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 258), Proteus mirabilis (n = 445), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 998), and Stenotrophomonas (Xanthomonas) maltophilia (n = 102). Both l-ofloxacin and FK037 inhibited 98% of S.