A case of severe pneumonia.

is a thermotolerant nontuberculous mycobacterium which can rarely result in human infection. Although immunosuppression has been identified as a risk factor for infection, it is possible that mycobacterial laboratories may have previously under-recognized as standard mycobacterial incubation temperatures are suboptimal for culture of this organism. Here, we present a case of severe pneumonia associated with achalasia requiring life support in the intensive care unit.

Responsiveness of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures After Large Knee Articular Cartilage Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Cartilage transplantation is commonly used to treat large (>4 cm) articular cartilage defects of the knee. The 2 most common transplants are osteochondral allograft transplantation and autologous chondrocyte implantation. Several patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been used to determine the efficacy of treatment, but it is unknown which measures are the most effective.

International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Is the Most Responsive Patient Reported Outcome Measure After Meniscal Surgery.

Purpose: To report the variability in outcome measures after meniscal surgery and to compare responsiveness between patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Methods: A systematic search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. A total of 257 studies met inclusion criteria.

Mind The Gap, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review.

Australia's First Nations Peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, have reduced life expectancy compared to the wider community. Cardiovascular diseases, mainly driven by ischaemic heart disease, are the leading contributors to this disparity. Despite over a third of First Nations Peoples living in New South Wales, the bulk of the peer-reviewed literature is from Central Australia and Far North Queensland.

Revised guidelines for Australian laboratories performing mycobacteriology testing.

Mycobacteriology laboratories play a key role in tuberculosis (TB) control by providing phenotypic and molecular diagnostics, by performing molecular typing to aid contact tracing, and by supporting research and similar laboratories in Australia's neighbouring countries where TB is prevalent. The National Tuberculosis Advisory Committee (NTAC) published a set of laboratory guidelines in 2006 aiming to document the infrastructure, equipment, staffing and work practices required for safe high-quality work in Australian mycobacteriology laboratories. These revised guidelines have the same aims and have been through a similar extensive consultative peer-review process involving the Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory (MRL) network, the Mycobacterium Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM), and other relevant national bodies.

Cost-effective implementation of a custom MALDI-TOF library for the identification of South Australian Nocardia isolates.

Mass spectrometry plays a significant role in the routine identification of micro-organisms and provides the ability to incorporate newly found pathogens into the database in a cost-effective fashion. This work aims to highlight the role of mass spectrometry through improved identification of Nocardia species in a diagnostic clinical microbiology laboratory. Prior to this study we constructed a custom in-house matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) library for Nocardia isolates consisting of isolates identified to the species level.

Mycobacterial inactivation protein extraction protocol for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight characterization of clinical isolates.

Background: Rapid identification of mycobacteria has been made possible with matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) in recent years. Working with high concentrations of mycobacteria in a PC-3 containment facility makes MALDI-TOF cumbersome and costly. Therefore removing the inactivated isolate's protein extract from the PC-3 facility is needed for efficient identification in a routine PC-2 laboratory.

Culture-Independent Detection of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Clinical Respiratory Samples.

Culture-based detection of nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) in respiratory samples is time consuming and can be subject to overgrowth by nonmycobacterial bacteria. We describe a single-reaction TaqMan quantitative PCR assay for the direct detection of NTM species in clinical samples that is specific, sensitive, and robust.

Synthesis, characterization and crystal structure of a 2-(diethylaminomethyl)indole ligated dimethyl-aluminium complex.

The title compound, [Al(CH3)2(C13H17N2)] (systematic name; {2-[(di-ethyl-amino)-meth-yl]indol-1-yl-κ(2) N,N'}di-methyl-aluminium), was prepared by methane elimination from the reaction of 2-(di-ethyl-amino-meth-yl)indole and tri-methyl-aluminium. The complex crystallizes readily from a concentrated toluene solution in high yield. The asymmetric unit contains two crystallographically independent mol-ecules.

Molecular diagnostics for tuberculosis.

The phenotypic methods of smear microscopy, culture and indirect drug susceptibility testing (DST) remain the 'gold standard' diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB) in 2015. However, this review demonstrates that genotypic methods are in the ascendancy. Current-generation nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are important supplementary tests for the rapid direct detection of (multidrug-resistant) TB in specific clinical settings.

Mycobacterium pinnipedii tuberculosis in a free-ranging Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) in South Australia.

This report describes the first case in South Australia, Australia, of Mycobacterium pinnipedii tuberculosis in a free-ranging Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus). Severe pyogranulomatous pleuropneumonia with intrahistocytic acid-fast beaded filamentous bacilli was seen on histology. M.

In vitro characterization of 6S RNA release-defective mutants uncovers features of pRNA-dependent release from RNA polymerase in E. coli.

6S RNA is a noncoding RNA that inhibits bacterial transcription by sequestering RNA polymerase holoenzyme (Eσ(70)) in low-nutrient conditions. This transcriptional block can be relieved by the synthesis of a short product RNA (pRNA) using the 6S RNA as a template. Here, we selected a range of 6S RNA release-defective mutants from a high diversity in vitro pool.

Evaluation of (SD) MPT64 antigen rapid test, for fast and accurate identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

Aim: To evaluate the SD MPT64 assay for rapid, preliminary identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC).

Methods: All specimens were processed using a standard methodology and inoculated into an automated liquid culture system (BD MGIT960). All signal positive cultures had a smear prepared and tested using a commercial molecular assay.

Legionella steelei sp. nov., isolated from human respiratory specimens in California, USA, and South Australia.

Legionella-like bacteria were isolated from the respiratory tract of two patients in California, USA, and South Australia, but were not thought to cause disease. These bacteria, strains F2632 and IMVS-3376(T), were found to have identical Legionella macrophage infectivity potentiator (mip) gene sequences and were therefore further characterized to determine their genetic and phenotypic relatedness and properties. Both of these Gram-negative-staining bacterial strains grew on buffered charcoal yeast extract medium, were cysteine auxotrophs and made a characteristic diffusible bright yellow fluorescent pigment, with one strain making a late appearing colony-bound blue-white fluorescent pigment.

Binding and release of the 6S transcriptional control RNA.

6S RNA is an important noncoding RNA that regulates eubacterial transcription. In Escherichia coli this RNA binds to the sigma(70) RNA polymerase holoenzyme and is released by the synthesis of a short product RNA. In order to determine how binding and release are controlled by the 6S RNA sequence, we used in vitro selection to screen a high diversity library containing approximately 4 x 10(12) sequences for functional 6S RNA variants.

Myeloid cell differentiation in response to calcitriol for expression CD11b and CD14 is regulated by myeloid zinc finger-1 protein downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

Immature cells of the mononuclear phagocyte series differentiate in response to calcitriol. This is accompanied by increased expression of both CD11b and CD14 and has been shown to be phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) dependent. The events downstream of PI3K that regulate mononuclear phagocyte gene expression, however, remain to be fully understood.

1alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol activates binding of CREB to a CRE site in the CD14 promoter and drives promoter activity in a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase-dependent manner.

1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, also known as 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or calcitriol, regulates the differentiation and functional properties of mononuclear phagocytes. Many of these effects involve nongenomic signaling pathways, which are not fully understood. Activation of CD14 expression, a monocyte differentiation marker and coreceptor with TLR-2 for bacterial LPS, by calcitriol was shown previously to be PI-3K-dependent [1]; however, the mechanism of gene activation remained undefined.

CHIR-258: a potent inhibitor of FLT3 kinase in experimental tumor xenograft models of human acute myelogenous leukemia.

Purpose: Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) for which activating mutations have been identified in a proportion of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients and associated with poor clinical prognosis. Given the relevance of FLT3 mutations in AML, we investigated the activity of CHIR-258, an orally active, multitargeted small molecule, with potent activity against FLT3 kinase and class III, IV, and V RTKs involved in endothelial and tumor cell proliferation in AML models.

Experimental Design: CHIR-258 was tested on two human leukemic cell lines in vitro and in vivo with differing FLT3 mutational status [MV4;11 cells express FLT3 internal tandem duplications (ITD) versus RS4;11 cells with wild-type (WT) FLT3].

The presence of ammonium facilitates nitrite reduction under PHB driven simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

For economic and efficient nitrogen removal from wastewater treatment plants via simultaneous nitrification and denitrification the nitrification process should stop at the level of nitrite such that nitrite rather than nitrate becomes the substrate for denitrification. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the conditions that are necessary to improve nitrite reduction over nitrite oxidation. Laboratory sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated with synthetic wastewater containing acetate as COD and ammonium as the nitrogen source.

Apoptosis, reproductive failure, and oxidative stress in Chinese hamster ovary cells with compromised genomic integrity.

Chromosomal instability and persistent reproductive cell death show a significant correlation after cells are exposed to ionizing radiation. To examine the possible role of apoptosis in persistent reproductive cell death, we analyzed subsets of chromosomally stable and unstable clones for relationships between chromosome stability, reproductive integrity, and apoptosis. All clones were generated from the GM10115 cell line and derived from single progenitor cells surviving 10 Gy of X-rays, and all measurements were made approximately 60-80 generations after irradiation.

Formation of stable cationic lipid/DNA complexes for gene transfer.

Stable cationic lipid/DNA complexes were formed by solubilizing cationic liposomes with 1% octylglucoside and complexing a DNA plasmid with the lipid in the presence of detergent. Removal of the detergent by dialysis yielded a lipid/DNA suspension that was able to transfect tissue culture cells up to 90 days after formation with no loss in activity. Similar levels of gene transfer were obtained by mixing the cationic lipid in a liposome form with DNA just prior to cell addition.

Purification and properties of thyroid hormone receptor beta 1 expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein.

Thyroid hormone receptor binds to specific DNA sequences and acts as a hormone-dependent transcriptional regulator. The protein can form homodimers, or heterodimers with the related 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor (RXR) or retinoic acid receptor (RAR) receptor families, leading to complex patterns of regulation. To obtain relatively large quantities of the receptor for biochemical studies, we have inserted the cDNA for human thyroid receptor beta into a variant of the pGEX vector (pGEX-KG) and produced the protein in Escherichia coli as a fusion with glutathione-S-transferase.

T3 receptor suppression of Sp1-dependent transcription from the epidermal growth factor receptor promoter via overlapping DNA-binding sites.

Expression of the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene is inhibited by ligand-activated thyroid hormone receptor (T3R). Binding sites for Sp1 and for the T3R.retinoid X receptor (RXR) complex overlap in a functional core of the EGFR promoter.