Ampicillin-resistant non-beta-lactamase-producing Haemophilus influenzae in Spain: recent emergence of clonal isolates with increased resistance to cefotaxime and cefixime.

The sequence of the ftsI gene encoding the transpeptidase domain of penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP 3) was determined for 354 nonconsecutive Haemophilus influenzae isolates from Spain; 17.8% of them were ampicillin susceptible, 56% were beta-lactamase nonproducing ampicillin resistant (BLNAR), 15.8% were beta-lactamase producers and ampicillin resistant, and 10.

End-to-side portacaval shunt: a simplified technique.

A simplified technique of end-to-side portacaval shunt in the rat is described, consisting in using a microsuture with a looped end. By using this technique, combined with two-step portal vein venotomy, the portal vein and caval vein can be brought closer together in a single movement, with no need for a knot at the start of the shunt. As a result, this modified technique makes it easier and reduces the time required to perform the shunt, without any rise in associated mortality.

Fluoroquinolone resistance in Haemophilus influenzae is associated with hypermutability.

Forty-three percent (12/28) of ciprofloxacin (CIP)-nonsusceptible respiratory isolates of Haemophilus influenzae were hypermutable, compared with 8.5% (3/35) in the CIP-susceptible control group (P=0.002).

The effect of content and physical properties of affective pictures on emotional responses.

The aim of this research was to study the influence of both the emotional content and the physical characteristics of affective stimuli on the psychophysiological, behavioral and cognitive indexes of the emotional response. We selected 54 pictures from the IAPS, depicting unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant contents, and used two picture sizes as experimental conditions (120 x 90 cm and 52 x 42 cm). Sixty-one subjects were randomly assigned to each experimental condition.

Molybdenocene-oligonucleotide binding study at physiological pH using NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.

The self-complementary oligonucleotide CGCATATATGCG was used as a model to establish the binding interactions of antitumor molybdenocene dichloride and DNA. The free dodecamer was first characterized using (1)H, NOESY, and DQF-COSY NMR experiments, which enable to pinpoint the guanines and adenines as well as the cytosines and thymines signals in the aromatic region. Molybdenocene dichloride was characterized in saline and buffer solutions as function of pH by (1)H NMR spectroscopy.

Density functional theory of fluids in nanopores: analysis of the fundamental measures theory in extreme dimensional-crossover situations.

Two density functional theories, the fundamental measures theory of Rosenfeld [Phys. Rev. Lett.

Cancellous bone homograft storage with aluminium-polyethylene bags.

In order to transport and cryopreserve human tissues, it is essential to have an easy-to-use recipient where tissues can be kept in sterile conditions. Here we show the results obtained by using Macopharma's tissue freezing bags, an aluminium-polyethylene multilayer bag, in our tissue bank of the Centro Comunitario de Sangre y Tejidos de Asturias. Five hundred and twenty-seven cancellous bone homografts were obtained from hospitals located 120 km around our Bank.

Involvement of tissue inhibition of metalloproteinases-1 in learning and memory in mice.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP-1) is one of the four-member family (TIMPs-1-4) of multifunctional proteins that inhibit matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Its expression in the hippocampus is neuronal-activity-dependent and dramatically induced by stimuli leading to long-term potentiation (LTP), suggesting that TIMP-1 is a candidate plasticity protein potentially involved in learning and memory processes. We tested this hypothesis in a hippocampus-dependent task using the new olfactory tubing maze, with mice carrying a null mutation for TIMP-1 (TIMP-1 KO) and mice overexpressing TIMP-1 (TIMP-1 (tg)).

Strain differences in rewarded discrimination learning using the olfactory tubing maze.

We trained BALB/c Byllco (C), CD-1, SV 129/SvPasCr1 (129 SV), C57BL/6 (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) mice using the olfactory tubing maze with the hope of gaining insight into behavioral genetics related to learning and memory processes. All strains of mice acquired the odor-reward associations using this new task except the D2 strain. The C, CD-1, and 129 SV consistently remembered the associations from the sixth 20-trial training session, reaching 80% +/- 5 correct responses in session seven.

Finite-size effects in the microscopic structure of a hard-sphere fluid in a narrow cylindrical pore.

We examine the microscopic structure of a hard-sphere fluid confined to a small cylindrical pore by means of Monte Carlo simulation. In order to analyze finite-size effects, the simulations are carried out in the framework of different statistical mechanics ensembles. We find that the size effects are specially relevant in the canonical ensemble where noticeable differences are found with the results in the grand canonical ensemble (GCE) and the isothermal isobaric ensemble (IIE) which, in most situations, remain very close to the infinite system results.

Molecular epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae type b causing vaccine failures in the United Kingdom.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was a major cause of pediatric disease in the United Kingdom prior to the introduction of routine Hib immunization in 1992. An unexpected resurgence of cases of vaccine failure was observed with fully vaccinated children from 1999 onward. We investigated whether Hib isolates causing vaccine failures in the United Kingdom could have undergone a change in their population structure to elude the protective effect of Hib vaccine.

[Brain mechanisms involved in decision-making].

Aim: To review the studies on brain mechanisms in decision making within the framework of the somatic marker hypothesis, and based on experiments employing the Iowa Gambling Task.

Development: An overview of the somatic marker hypothesis is presented together with the review of the main results obtained from research in brain damaged patients, and normal subjects with functional neuroimaging studies, that have led to the identification of the neural structures involved in decision making in humans.

Conclusions: The main region involved in decision making is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, that integrates sensory, mnesic and emotional information relevant to the task.

Simultaneous olfactory discrimination elicits a strain-specific increase in dendritic spines in the hippocampus of inbred mice.

This study examines the extent to which simultaneous olfactory discrimination learning increases spine density on hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in C57BL/6J (C57) and DBA/2J (DBA) inbred mice, characterized by spontaneous differences in hippocampal plasticity and hippocampus-related learning. The behavioral data first showed a clear-cut difference in performance between the two strains. C57 mice learned to identify the positively reinforced olfactory cue whereas DBA did not.

Functional assessment of intracranial arachnoid cysts with TC99 m-HMPAO SPECT: a preliminary report.

Background: Many arachnoid cysts (AC) are detected incidentally in asymptomatic patients. Current neuroimaging methods provide only morphological details of the cysts, but they do not give information about cerebral function. While surgery is indicated in symptomatic patients, the management of asymptomatic individuals, who present with large cysts, is controversial.

Donor-to-host transmission of bacterial and fungal infections in lung transplantation.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and etiology of bacterial and fungal infection or contamination in lung allograft donors and to assess donor-to-host transmission of these infections. Recipients who survived more than 24 h and their respective donors were evaluated. The overall incidence of donor infection was 52% (103 out of 197 donors).

Uncovering the relationship between defence and orienting in emotion: cardiac reactivity to unpleasant pictures.

This research was aimed at studying the relationship between the cardiovascular reactivity to an intense auditory stimulus and the subsequent cardiac response evoked by affective visual stimuli in fifty-five subjects who underwent a cardiac reactivity task (presentation of an intense acoustic stimulus), followed by a picture viewing task (54 pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System). Heart rate (HR), electrodermal activity and corrugator supercilii electromyographic activity were recorded. Subjects were divided into two groups - high accelerators and low accelerators - on the basis of the first heart rate acceleration obtained in the cardiac reactivity task.

On the universal behavior of some thermodynamic properties along the whole liquid-vapor coexistence curve.

When thermodynamic properties of a pure substance are transformed to reduced form by using both critical- and triple-point values, the corresponding experimental data along the whole liquid-vapor coexistence curve can be correlated with a very simple analytical expression that interpolates between the behavior near the triple and the critical points. The leading terms of this expression contain only two parameters: the critical exponent and the slope at the triple point. For a given thermodynamic property, the critical exponent has a universal character but the slope at the triple point can vary significantly from one substance to another.

Evaluation of safety and pharmacokinetics of vancomycin after intravenous regional limb perfusion in horses.

Objective: To evaluate clinical variables, regional concentrations, and pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in the synovial fluid of distal forelimb joints of horses after IV regional limb perfusion.

Animals: 6 horses.

Procedure: Vancomycin was administered via IV regional limb perfusion to the distal portion of the forelimbs of anesthetized horses.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) modulates neuronal death, axonal plasticity, and learning and memory.

The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) belongs to a family of multifunctional proteins that inhibit matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), but also regulate cell growth, proliferation, migration and apoptosis in non-nervous tissues. We had previously reported that kainate (KA)-mediated excitotoxic seizures induce the expression of TIMP-1 in resistant neurons and reactive astrocytes of the rat CNS, but the functional implications of these changes had not been elucidated. In the present work we used a targeted gene null mutation in mice to investigate in vivo the involvement of TIMP-1 in neuronal death and axonal sprouting following KA.

Screw- vs cement-implant-retained restorations: an experimental study in the Beagle. Part 1. Screw and abutment loosening.

The causes of implant failures can be biological or mechanical. The mechanical causes include fracture of the implant, fracture of the abutment, and loosening of the abutment. Numerous studies show that abutment loosening constitutes one of the marked implant postsurgery complications requiring clinical intervention.

A new recombinant virus system for the study of HIV-1 entry and inhibition.

The construction is described of a HIV-1 proviral, eGFP-tagged plasmid that allows for the recombination of any selected env gene without the use of restriction enzymes and for the quantitation of the infection by the recombinant virus using flow cytometry. The system was tested showing that an isoleucine to valine substitution at residue position 37 of the HIV-1 gp41 impairs the fitness of the virus but does not lead by itself to T-20 resistance.

Reproducibility of the Banff classification in subclinical kidney transplant rejection.

The Banff classification for kidney allograft pathology has proved to be reproducible, but its inter and intraobserver agreement can vary substantially among centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate Banff reproducibility of surveillance renal allograft biopsies among renal pathologists from different transplant centres. This study included 32 renal transplant patients with stable graft function.