Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation versus Standard of Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Peripheral intravenous cannulation (PIV) is a common and necessary procedure in the emergency department (ED). Patients with PIV access encounter significant treatment delay. Ultrasound guidance for PIV (USGPIV) cannulation is a modality to reduce delay of care in such patients, but its efficacy, when compared with cannulation by the standard of care (SOC), the landmark and palpation method, has not been well established.

Identification of a d-Arabinose-5-Phosphate Isomerase in the Gram-Positive Clostridium tetani.

d-Arabinose-5-phosphate (A5P) isomerases (APIs) catalyze the interconversion of d-ribulose-5-phosphate and d-arabinose-5-phosphate. Various Gram-negative bacteria, such as the uropathogenic strain CFT073, contain multiple API paralogs (KdsD, GutQ, KpsF, and c3406) that have been assigned various cellular functions. The d-arabinose-5-phosphate formed by these enzymes seems to play important roles in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and group 2 K-antigen capsules, as well as in the regulation of the cellular d-glucitol uptake and uropathogenic infectivity/virulence.