Identification and characterization of the multidrug resistance gene cfr in a Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive sequence type 8 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus IVa (USA300) isolate.

The staphylococcal cfr gene mediates resistance to phenicols, lincosamides, oxazolidinones, pleuromutilins, and streptogramin A, a phenotype that has been termed PhLOPS(A). The cfr gene has mainly been associated with coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates from animals, and only a few cfr-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates have been described so far. This study reports the first description of a cfr-positive MRSA isolate (M05/0060) belonging to the pandemic Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive sequence type 8 MRSA IVa/USA300 (ST8-MRSA-IVa/USA300) clone.

Inorganic nitrate and nitrite and control of blood pressure.

Continual nitric oxide (NO) synthesis is important in the regulation of vascular tone and thus blood pressure. Whereas classically NO is provided by the enzymatic oxidation of l-arginine via endothelial NO synthase, it is now clear that NO can also be generated in mammals from the reduction of nitrite and nitrate. Thus inorganic nitrate derived either from NO oxidation or from dietary sources may be an important storage form of reactive nitrogen oxides which can be reduced back to nitrite and NO when physiologically required or in pathological conditions.

National trends in the management and survival of surgically managed gallbladder adenocarcinoma over 15 years: a population-based analysis.

Introduction: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend hepatic resection and lymphadenectomy (LND) for gallbladder adenocarcinoma (GBA). We sought to evaluate compliance with these recommendations and to assess trends in the management and survival of patients with GBA.

Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare-linked data, we identified 2,955 patients with GBA who underwent cancer-directed surgery from 1991 to 2005.

Detection of hydrogen sulfide in plasma and knee-joint synovial fluid from rheumatoid arthritis patients: relation to clinical and laboratory measures of inflammation.

Blood concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) are markedly elevated in several animal models of inflammation. Pharmacological inhibition of H(2)S synthesis reduces inflammation and swelling, suggesting that H(2)S is a potential inflammatory mediator. However, it is currently unknown whether H(2)S synthesis is perturbed in human inflammatory conditions or whether H(2)S is present in synovial fluid.

Medication utilization and annual health care costs in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus before and after bariatric surgery.

Objective: To examine the relationship of bariatric surgery with the use of diabetes medications and with total health care costs in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Design: We studied 2235 adults with type 2 diabetes and commercial health insurance who underwent bariatric surgery in the United States during a 4-year period from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2005. We used administrative claims data to measure the use of diabetes medications at specified time intervals before and after surgery and total median health care costs per year.

Reduced incidence of gestational diabetes with bariatric surgery.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity. Our objective was to determine the association of bariatric surgery with the incidence of GDM and related complications.

Study Design: We performed a retrospective study comparing rates of GDM and related outcomes (including cesarean section, large-for-gestational-age infant, shoulder dystocia, and infection) between a group of women with a delivery before bariatric surgery and a group with a delivery after bariatric surgery.

Indian Asians have poorer cardiovascular autonomic function than Europeans: this is due to greater hyperglycaemia and may contribute to their greater risk of heart disease.

Aims/hypothesis: A high prevalence of diabetes contributes to excess CHD in Indian Asians, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) are measures of cardiac autonomic function that are disturbed by hyperglycaemia and predict CHD. We compared these measures in Indian Asians and Europeans, and sought explanations for the observed differences.

Capillary pressure may predict preclinical changes in the eye.

Aims/hypothesis: Microvascular dysfunction is associated with end-organ damage. Macular oedema is an important component of diabetic retinopathy. Macular thickness can be accurately quantified by optical coherence tomography (OCT), enabling accurate assessment of the macular prior to clinically apparent abnormalities.

Living alone with dementia: lack of awareness adds to functional and cognitive vulnerabilities.

Background: Approximately 25% of individuals with dementia live alone, yet little is known about the cognitive and functional factors that impact detection of impairment.

Methods: Subjects with dementia (n = 349) from a community study of dementia management were administered the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and were asked to rate their cognitive status. Each participant's knowledgeable informant (KI) was interviewed to provide information about the subject's mental health and levels of cognitive and functional impairment.

Development of a claims-based risk score to identify obese individuals.

Obesity is underdiagnosed, hampering system-based health promotion and research. Our objective was to develop and validate a claims-based risk model to identify obese persons using medical diagnosis and prescription records. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of de-identified claims data from enrollees of 3 Blue Cross Blue Shield plans who completed a health risk assessment capturing height and weight.

The harm susceptibility model: a method to prioritise risks identified in patient safety reporting systems.

Background: Medical errors are endemic in healthcare. Patient safety reporting systems (PSRSs) have been developed and implemented to identify and reduce medical errors. Although they have succeeded in identifying errors (over 1 million reports in the NHS), there are limited methods by which to analyse this large number of events.

Adiposity is a major determinant of plasma levels of the novel vasodilator hydrogen sulphide.

Aims/hypothesis: Hydrogen sulphide is a recently identified endogenous endothelium-dependent vasodilator. Animal models of diabetes have shown that low plasma H(2)S levels are associated with marked endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance. However, human studies on H(2)S and vascular function in health and disease are lacking.

Enhanced discrimination of highly clonal ST22-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus IV isolates achieved by combining spa, dru, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing data.

ST22-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus type IV (ST22-MRSA-IV) is endemic in Irish hospitals and is designated antibiogram-resistogram type-pulsed-field group (AR-PFG) 06-01. Isolates of this highly clonal strain exhibit limited numbers of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns and spa types. This study investigated whether combining PFGE and spa typing with DNA sequencing of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element (SCCmec)-associated direct repeat unit (dru typing) would improve isolate discrimination.

When are the hands of healthcare workers positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus?

Hand hygiene is a key component in reducing infection. There are few reports on the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on healthcare workers' (HCWs') hands. The aim of this study was to establish whether HCWs' fingertips were contaminated with MRSA in a clinical hospital setting.

Role of Ucp1 enhancer methylation and chromatin remodelling in the control of Ucp1 expression in murine adipose tissue.

Aims/hypothesis: Increasing the expression of the brown adipose tissue-specific gene uncoupling protein-1 (Ucp1) is a potential target for treating obesity. We investigated the role of DNA methylation and histone modification in Ucp1 expression in adipose cell lines and ex vivo murine adipose tissues.

Methods: Methylation state of the Ucp1 enhancer was studied using bisulphite mapping in murine adipose cell lines, and tissue taken from cold-stressed mice, coupled with functional assays of the effects of methylation and demethylation of the Ucp1 promoter on gene expression and nuclear protein binding.

Associations between cardiac target organ damage and microvascular dysfunction: the role of blood pressure.

Background: Microvascular dysfunction may be an early precursor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Increased left ventricular mass (LVM), concentric left ventricular remodelling and increased left atrial size are the factors that could predict future CVD. We investigated whether microvascular dysfunction was associated with these cardiac measures.

The effect of rapid screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the identification and earlier isolation of MRSA-positive patients.

Objectives: (1) To determine whether rapid screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays leads to the earlier isolation of patients at risk for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization, (2) to assess compliance with routine MRSA screening protocols, (3) to confirm the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MRSA real-time PCR assay (Cepheid) by comparison with culture, and (4) to compare turnaround times for PCR assay results with those for culture results.

Design: Before-and-after study conducted in a 700-bed acute tertiary care referral hospital. Study periods were (1) a 5-week period before PCR testing began, (2) a 10-week period when the PCR assay was used, and (3) a 5-week period after PCR testing was discontinued.

Pediatric antidepressant medication errors in a national error reporting database.

Objective: To describe inpatient and outpatient pediatric antidepressant medication errors.

Methods: We analyzed all error reports from the United States Pharmacopeia MEDMARX database, from 2003 to 2006, involving antidepressant medications and patients younger than 18 years.

Results: Of the 451 error reports identified, 95% reached the patient, 6.

Attenuation of microvascular function in those with cardiovascular disease is similar in patients of Indian Asian and European descent.

Background: Indian Asians are at increased risk of cardiovascular death which does not appear to be explained by conventional risk factors. As microvascular disease is also more prevalent in Indian Asians, and as it is thought to play a role in the development of macrovascular disease, we decided to determine whether impaired microcirculation could contribute to this increased cardiovascular risk in Indian Asians.

Methods: Forearm skin laser Doppler fluximetry in response to heating and ischaemia was assessed in 83 Europeans (41 with angiographically confirmed atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) and 42 from the general population) and 84 Indian Asians (41 with CAD).

NICU medication errors: identifying a risk profile for medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To identify a risk profile for harmful medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Study Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study on NICU medication error reports submitted to MEDMARX between 1 January 1999, and 31 December 2005. The Rao-Scott modified chi(2) test was used for analysis.

The association of increasing body mass index and kidney stone disease.

Purpose: Previous epidemiological works have reported that obesity is a risk factor for kidney stone disease. However, the effect of increasing degrees of obesity on stone formation has yet to be defined. To address this question we examined how an increasing body mass index affects the risk of kidney stone disease.

Ischemic conditioning shows a time-dependant influence on the fate of the gastric conduit after minimally invasive esophagectomy.

Background: Minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIO) is now established as a valid alternative to open surgery for the management of esophagogastric cancers. However, a high incidence of ischemia-related gastric conduit failure (ICF) is observed, which is detrimental to any potential benefits of this approach.

Methods: Since April 2004, MIO has been the procedure of choice for esophagogastric resection in the authors' unit.

Characterisation of MRSA from Malta and the description of a Maltese epidemic MRSA strain.

Malta has one of the highest prevalence rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Europe. However, only limited typing data are currently available. In order to address this situation, 45 MRSA isolates from the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta, were characterised using DNA microarrays.

Evaluation of the validity and reliability of the Alzheimer Disease-related Quality of Life Assessment Instrument.

The Alzheimer Disease-related Quality of Life (ADRQL) instrument was developed to assess health-related quality of life in people with AD using assessments from family caregivers or professional staff. Validity and reliability of the ADRQL in its original form and a revised version are assessed in a sample consisting of persons in 3 residential settings (community, assisted living, nursing home). The ADRQL exhibits good item-internal consistency (67.