Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis Is Part of the Skin Flora on the Hands of Both Healthy Individuals and Hospital Workers.

Staphylococcus epidermidis, a major skin flora on hands, acts as a reservoir of various antimicrobial resistance determinants including staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) and contributes to multidrug resistance for S. aureus. The aim of this study was understanding the characteristics of commensal S.

Increase in SCCmec type IV strains affects trends in antibiograms of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at a tertiary-care hospital.

The prevalence of community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) strains has become a serious problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the annual transitions of MRSA strains with the CA-MRSA feature, which were identified as SCCmec type IV or V, in a hospital setting in Japan. Between 2005 and 2012, MRSA strains were collected from a tertiary-care hospital in Tokyo, Japan, and SCCmec typing, detection of the virulence factors and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted.

When remembering the past suppresses memory for future actions.

Remembering planned actions at the correct time in the future is an integral component of prospective cognition. Recent studies on future remembering have led to suggestions that prospective cognition might be based on past experience. To test this hypothesis, we focused on retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), which usually indicates that remembering past events suppresses memory for related but different past events.

Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from tertiary care hospitals in Tokyo, Japan.

The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains problematic in both hospital and community settings. Investigations of MRSA existing in the local area are necessary to understand the detailed epidemiology of healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). In the present study, molecular epidemiological analysis was performed on 584 MRSA isolated from four hospitals in Tokyo, Japan.

Can we determine depressive conditions on the basis of somatic symptoms? A cross-sectional study of depressive conditions among Japanese patients at a university hospital general medicine clinic.

Objective: We evaluated the relationship between somatic symptoms and depressive conditions among patients visiting the general medicine clinic of a university hospital.

Methods: We distributed interview forms to 332 consecutive patients who visited our clinic for the first time between March and July 2011. Somatic symptoms were rated using a symptom checklist, and depressive conditions were evaluated using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS).

Using the tannase gene to rapidly and simply identify Staphylococcus lugdunensis.

The coagulase-negative Staphylococcus lugdunensis, a bacterium similar to Staphylococcus aureus, produces tannase that degrades tannin. We developed a polymerase chain reaction-based method to rapidly and simply identify this species by detecting the tanA gene for S. lugdunensis tannase.

[A case of MPO-ANCA positive vasculitis associated with multiple pulmonary nodules following propylthiouracil treatment].

A 34-year-old woman who had been treated with propylthiouracil (PTU) for hyperthyroidism, was admitted because of bloody sputum and pyrexia. The chest CT scan showed some nodules in both lung fields. The serum level of myeloperoxidase-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) was high, but proteinase-3 antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR-3 ANCA) was negative.

[A case of posterior mediastinal mature teratoma].

The chest radiograph of a 57-year-old man, complaining of paroxysmal dyspnea, suggested the probably of a tumor. Chest CT showed a tumor containing calcification, behind the left crus of the diaphragm. Chest MRI suggested lipid components and a cystic lesion within the tumor.

Paradoxically decreased intracellular collagenase activity in macrophages from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in current smokers and patients with obstructive ventilatory disorder.

The roles of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been studied. Macrophages are considered to release MMPs in the lung tissue. We measured intracellular collagenase activity in intact CD14(+)CD45++ cells from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients with obstructive ventilatory impairment and other respiratory diseases.

[A case of primary pulmonary cavitation with thin smooth walls in sarcoidosis].

A 27-year-old female was admitted to our hospital after a regular medical check revealed BHL and cavitation in the right upper lung field on a chest radiograph. Ga scintigraphy showed abnormal uptake bilaterally in the mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. We strongly suspected lung sarcoidosis, then performed TBLB and BAL.

[A case of spinal sarcoidosis complaining of chest and back pain as a first manifestation and mimicking syringomyelia on MRI].

The patient was a 24-year-old female complaining of bell-shaped chest and back pain with visual disturbance. Chest X-ray showed bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy without the presence of pleural effusion. Bronchoalveolar fluid showed lymphocytosis with an elevated CD 4/CD 8 ratio.