Role of Hfq in Genome Evolution: Instability of G-Quadruplex Sequences in .

Certain G-rich DNA repeats can form quadruplex in bacterial chromatin that can present blocks to DNA replication and, if not properly resolved, may lead to mutations. To understand the participation of quadruplex DNA in genomic instability in (), mutation rates were measured for quadruplex-forming DNA repeats, including (GT), (GT), and a RET oncogene sequence, cloned as the template or nontemplate strand. We evidence that these alternative structures strongly influence mutagenesis rates.

On the Dependability and Feasibility of Layperson Ratings of Divergent Thinking.

A new system for subjective rating of responses to divergent thinking tasks was tested using raters recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The rationale for the study was to determine if such raters could provide reliable (aka generalizable) ratings from the perspective of generalizability theory. To promote reliability across the Alternative Uses and Consequence task prompts often used by researchers as measures of Divergent Thinking, two parallel scales were developed to facilitate feasibility and validity of ratings performed by laypeople.

Rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus in lower respiratory tract secretions from patients with suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia: evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert MRSA/SA SSTI assay.

A preclinical evaluation was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Cepheid Xpert assay on 135 lower respiratory tract secretions for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and S. aureus. Compared with the quantitative culture, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 99.

Are central venous catheter tip cultures reliable after 6-day refrigeration?

Present guidelines recommend culturing only central venous catheter (CVC) tips from patients with suspected catheter-related bloodstream infection (CR-BSI). However, a high proportion of these suspicions are not confirmed. Moreover, CVC tip culture increases laboratory workload, and reports of colonization may be meaningless or misleading for the clinician.

Value of a single galactomannan determination (Platelia) for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in non-hematological patients with clinical isolation of Aspergillus spp.

We studied 75 patients with non-hematological conditions from whom Aspergillus spp. were recovered from clinical specimens during the period March 2003 to August 2006. The patients were classified according to EORTC criteria and the presence of galactomannan (Platelia Aspergillus) in their sera was evaluated.

Contaminated feeding bottles: the source of an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: Outbreaks of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been reported in relationship with contamination of staff fingernails, hands, water baths, hand lotions and others. To our knowledge, contamination of milk and feeding bottles as a source of an outbreak of P aeruginosa infections has not been reported. The incidence of P aeruginosa infection/colonization in our neonatal intensive care unit increased from 1.

Evaluation of procalcitonin as a marker of infection in a nonselected sample of febrile hospitalized patients.

The level of procalcitonin is undetectable in healthy individuals and slightly increased in viral infections and noninfectious inflammatory responses. It has been described to be notably increased in bacterial, parasitic, or fungal infections. Procalcitonin has been reported to be a reliable marker for severe bacterial infections, although it has mainly been studied in specific entities or in selected groups of patients.

Lack of significant cross-reactivity between Leishmania serology and mycobacteriosis in patients infected with HIV-1.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the existence of cross-reactions between Leishmania serology and mycobacteriosis in patients infected with HIV-1. PATIENTS AND METHODS: HIV-positive individuals, with culture-proven episodes of tuberculosis or disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection, were identified from the data files of our microbiology laboratory. Patients were included if leishmania serology had been performed within a period of 2 months before and 1 month after the diagnosis of mycobacterial disease.