Changing Epidemiology of Group B Streptococcus Susceptibility to Fluoroquinolones and Aminoglycosides in France.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal invasive infections and an emerging pathogen in the elderly. Our objectives were to describe the evolution of GBS resistance to antibiotics in France and to investigate the emergence of fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant isolates. A total of 8,757 unrelated GBS isolates were collected and tested for antibiotic susceptibility from 2007 to 2014 according to EUCAST recommendations.

Search for Screened Interactions Associated with Dark Energy below the 100 μm Length Scale.

We present the results of a search for unknown interactions that couple to mass between an optically levitated microsphere and a gold-coated silicon cantilever. The scale and geometry of the apparatus enable a search for new forces that appear at distances below 100  μm and which would have evaded previous searches due to screening mechanisms. The data are consistent with electrostatic backgrounds and place upper limits on the strength of new interactions at <0.

Genomic Methods Take the Plunge: Recent Advances in High-Throughput Sequencing of Marine Mammals.

The dramatic increase in the application of genomic techniques to non-model organisms (NMOs) over the past decade has yielded numerous valuable contributions to evolutionary biology and ecology, many of which would not have been possible with traditional genetic markers. We review this recent progression with a particular focus on genomic studies of marine mammals, a group of taxa that represent key macroevolutionary transitions from terrestrial to marine environments and for which available genomic resources have recently undergone notable rapid growth. Genomic studies of NMOs utilize an expanding range of approaches, including whole genome sequencing, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing, array-based sequencing of single nucleotide polymorphisms and target sequence probes (e.

Noninvasive Facial Rejuvenation. Part 2: Physician-Directed-Neuromodulators and Fillers.

A proper knowledge of noninvasive facial rejuvenation is integral to the practice of a cosmetic surgeon. Noninvasive facial rejuvenation can be divided into patient- versus physician-directed modalities. Patient-directed facial rejuvenation combines the use of facial products such as sunscreen, moisturizers, retinoids, α-hydroxy acids, and various antioxidants to both maintain youthful skin as well as rejuvenate damaged skin.

Developments in imaging methods used in hip arthroplasty: A diagnostic algorithm.

Background: Several imaging modalities can be used to diagnose complications of hip prosthesis placement. Despite progress in these imaging techniques, there are, as yet, no guidelines as to their respective indications.

Methods: We formed a panel of experts in fields related to prosthesis imaging (radiology, nuclear medicine, orthopedic surgery) and conducted a review of the literature to determine the value of each modality for diagnosing complications following hip replacement.

CT of hip prosthesis: New techniques and new paradigms.

Patients with hip pain after joint replacement are first assessed by analyzing the clinical presentation and conventional radiography findings. When this first step is inconclusive, various different imaging techniques can be used to identify the anomalies. Based on our experience, computed tomography (CT) is the cornerstone for diagnosing the main prosthesis-related complications.

Subchondral linear hyperintensity of the femoral head: MR imaging findings and associations with femoro-acetabular joint pathology.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the associations between linear hyperintensity in the subchondral bone of the femoral head on T2-weighted MR imaging and structural bone lesions.

Material And Methods: The MR imaging examinations of 63 patients (66 hips) that showed a bone marrow edema pattern (BMEP) of the hip were retrospectively evaluated (study group). The study group comprised 43 men and 20 women, with a mean age of 55.

The wiring diagram of a glomerular olfactory system.

The sense of smell enables animals to react to long-distance cues according to learned and innate valences. Here, we have mapped with electron microscopy the complete wiring diagram of the Drosophila larval antennal lobe, an olfactory neuropil similar to the vertebrate olfactory bulb. We found a canonical circuit with uniglomerular projection neurons (uPNs) relaying gain-controlled ORN activity to the mushroom body and the lateral horn.

Towards a new standardized method for circulating miRNAs profiling in clinical studies: Interest of the exogenous normalization to improve miRNA signature accuracy.

Circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers in oncology but have not yet been implemented in the clinic given the lack of concordance across studies. In order to increase the cross-studies reliability, we attempted to reduce and to control the circulating miRNA expression variability between patients. First, to maximize profiling signals and to reduce miRNA expression variability, three isolation kits were compared and the NucleoSpin(®) kit provided higher miRNA concentrations than the other widely used kits.

Improving Patient Safety Event Reporting Among Residents and Teaching Faculty.

Background: A June 2012 site visit report from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Clinical Learning Environment Review revealed that residents and physicians at TriHealth, Inc., a large, nonprofit independent academic medical center serving the Greater Cincinnati area in Ohio, had an opportunity to improve their awareness and understanding of the hospital's system for reporting patient safety concerns in 3 areas: (1) what constitutes a reportable patient safety event, (2) who is responsible for reporting, and (3) how to use the hospital's current reporting system.

Methods: To improve the culture of patient safety, we designed a quality improvement project with the goal to increase patient safety event reporting among residents and teaching faculty.

"Fungal elicitors combined with a sucrose feed significantly enhance triterpene production of a Salvia fruticosa cell suspension".

Oleanolic (OA) and ursolic acid (UA) are plant secondary metabolites with diverse pharmacological properties. To reach reasonable productivities with plant cell suspension cultures, elicitation is a widely used strategy. Within the presented work, the effects of different elicitors on growth and production of OA and UA in a Salvia fruticosa cell suspension culture were examined.

Musculoskeletal Wide-Detector CT Kinematic Evaluation: From Motion to Image.

Kinematic computed tomography (CT) allows identification of fine positional anomalies of bones during motion and under stress and has a potential role in the evaluation of dynamic joint diseases. The increasing width of CT detector systems has made kinematic CT clinically available. Information on acquisition protocol, patient preparation, and the influence of motion on image quality is scarce in the literature despite the obvious importance for the clinical application of this technique.

Operator dependent factors implicated in failure of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) for respiratory failure.

Background: Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NIPPV) is employed for the management of acute respiratory failure and studies have shown that it can prevent the need for endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation and associated complications. Given limited studies evaluating the factors, other than those related patient or underlying disease severity, that may lead to NIPPV failure, we performed this study to gain insight into current practices in terms of utilization of NIPPV and operator dependent factors that may possibly contribute to failure of NIPPV.

Method: After institutional board review approval a retrospective chart review was performed of consecutive patients who were initiated on and failed NIPPV between January 2009 and December 2009.

A Model of Drosophila Larva Chemotaxis.

Detailed observations of larval Drosophila chemotaxis have characterised the relationship between the odour gradient and the runs, head casts and turns made by the animal. We use a computational model to test whether hypothesised sensorimotor control mechanisms are sufficient to account for larval behaviour. The model combines three mechanisms based on simple transformations of the recent history of odour intensity at the head location.

Evolutionary Loss of Activity in De-Ubiquitylating Enzymes of the OTU Family.

Understanding function and specificity of de-ubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) is a major goal of current research, since DUBs are key regulators of ubiquitylation events and have been shown to be mutated in human diseases. Most DUBs are cysteine proteases, relying on a catalytic triad of cysteine, histidine and aspartate to cleave the isopeptide bond between two ubiquitin units in a poly-ubiquitin chain. We have discovered that the two Drosophila melanogaster homologues of human OTUD4, CG3251 and Otu, contain a serine instead of a cysteine in the catalytic OTU (ovarian tumor) domain.

Repurposing historical control clinical trial data to provide safety context.

Billions of dollars spent, millions of subject-hours of clinical trial experience and an abundance of archived study-level data, yet why are historical data underutilized? We propose that historical data can be aggregated to provide safety, background incidence rate and context to improve the evaluation of new medicinal products. Here, we describe the development and application of the eControls database, which is derived from the control arms of studies of licensed products, and discuss the challenges and potential solutions to the proper application of historical data to help interpret product safety.

Impact of HIV Infection Status on Interpretation of Quantitative PCR for Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii.

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is now a key diagnostic tool for Pneumocystis pneumonia. However, cutoffs to distinguish between infected and colonized patients according to their HIV status have not yet been determined. According to clinical, radiological, and biological data, we retrospectively classified bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples subjected to qPCR over a 3-year period into four categories, i.

The functional dlt operon of Clostridium butyricum controls the D-alanylation of cell wall components and influences cell septation and vancomycin-induced lysis.

Clostridium butyricum is a Gram-positive bacterium involved in the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. To colonize the digestive tract, components of the cell wall of C. butyricum must interact with the intestinal mucosa.

Dynamical feature extraction at the sensory periphery guides chemotaxis.

Behavioral strategies employed for chemotaxis have been described across phyla, but the sensorimotor basis of this phenomenon has seldom been studied in naturalistic contexts. Here, we examine how signals experienced during free olfactory behaviors are processed by first-order olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) of the Drosophila larva. We find that OSNs can act as differentiators that transiently normalize stimulus intensity-a property potentially derived from a combination of integral feedback and feed-forward regulation of olfactory transduction.

Role of the subesophageal zone in sensorimotor control of orientation in Drosophila larva.

Chemotaxis is a powerful paradigm to investigate how nervous systems represent and integrate changes in sensory signals to direct navigational decisions. In the Drosophila melanogaster larva, chemotaxis mainly consists of an alternation of distinct behavioral modes: runs and directed turns. During locomotion, turns are triggered by the integration of temporal changes in the intensity of the stimulus.

Is There Any Association between PEEP and Upper Extremity DVT?

Background. We hypothesized that positive end-exploratory pressure (PEEP) may promote venous stasis in the upper extremities and predispose to upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT). Methods.

The impact of odor-reward memory on chemotaxis in larval Drosophila.

How do animals adaptively integrate innate with learned behavioral tendencies? We tackle this question using chemotaxis as a paradigm. Chemotaxis in the Drosophila larva largely results from a sequence of runs and oriented turns. Thus, the larvae minimally need to determine (i) how fast to run, (ii) when to initiate a turn, and (iii) where to direct a turn.

Musculoskeletal wide detector CT: principles, techniques and applications in clinical practice and research.

A progressive increase in the detector width in CT scanners has meant that advanced techniques such as dynamic, perfusion and dual-energy CT are now at the radiologist's disposal. Although these techniques may be important for the diagnosis of various musculoskeletal diseases, data acquisition and interpretation can be challenging. This article offers a practical guide for the use of these tools including acquisition protocol, post-processing options and data interpretation based on 7 years of clinical experience in a tertiary university hospital.