Assessing the conversion of electronic medical record data into antibiotic stewardship indicators.

Background: Measuring the appropriateness of antibiotic use is crucial for antibiotic stewardship (ABS) programmes to identify targets for interventions.

Objectives: To assess the technical feasibility of converting electronic medical record (EMR) data into ABS indicators.

Methods: In this observational feasibility study covering a period of 2 years, the EMRs of patients hospitalized at a large non-university hospital network and receiving at least one dose of a systemic antibiotic were included.

Thermodynamic Modelling and Microstructural Study of Z-Phase Formation in a Ta-Alloyed Martensitic Steel.

A thermokinetic computational framework for precipitate transformation simulations in Ta-containing martensitic Z-steels was developed, including Calphad thermodynamics, diffusion mobility data from the literature, and a kinetic parameter setup that considered precipitation sites, interfacial energies and dislocation density evolution. The thermodynamics of Ta-containing subsystems were assessed by atomic solubility data and enthalpies from the literature as well as from the experimental dissolution temperature of Ta-based Z-phase CrTaN obtained from differential scanning calorimetry. Accompanied by a comprehensive transmission electron microscopy analysis of the microstructure, thermokinetic precipitation simulations with a wide-ranging and well-documented set of input parameters were carried out in MatCalc for one sample alloy.

COVID-19 and the role of imaging: early experiences in Central Switzerland.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) was initially observed in a group of Chinese patients with unclear pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei [1] in late December 2019. The first positive case in Switzerland was confirmed on 25 February 2020 in a patient from canton Tessin, who most likely caught the virus during a visit to Milan, Italy [2]. The country has since been preparing for an imminent public health emergency caused by the pandemic.

Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device-Related Infection Due to .

Cardiac implantable electronic device-related infection is clinically challenging. Curative treatment commonly includes system removal. A case caused by occurred in a 32-year-old woman.

Diffusion-defining atomic-scale spinodal decomposition within nanoprecipitates.

Stoichiometric precipitates owe their fixed composition to an ordered crystal structure. Deviations from that nominal value, however, are encountered at times. Here we investigate composition, structure and diffusion phenomena of ordered precipitates that form during heat treatment in an industrially cast Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy system.

Long-term Immune Response to Yellow Fever Vaccination in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected Individuals Depends on HIV RNA Suppression Status: Implications for Vaccination Schedule.

Background: In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, the immune response over time to yellow fever vaccination (YFV) and the necessity for booster vaccination are not well understood.

Methods: We studied 247 participants of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) with a first YFV after HIV diagnosis and determined their immune responses at 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years postvaccination by yellow fever plaque reduction neutralization titers (PRNTs) in stored blood samples. A PRNT of 1:≥10 was regarded as reactive and protective.

Osteoarticular and skin and soft-tissue infections caused by Streptococcus agalactiae in elderly patients are frequently associated with bacteremia.

Older persons (≥65 years) are at risk for invasive group B streptococcal (GBS) infections. The most frequent clinical syndromes in 174 infection episodes were osteoarticular (40%) and skin and soft-tissue infections (30%). In 36% of episodes, a companion microorganism was isolated, and in 45%, blood culture results were positive.

Sellar Toxoplasmosis and Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenoma.

Background: Sellar toxoplasmosis is associated with congenital infections or immunodeficiency. The finding of Toxoplasma bradycysts in a pituitary adenoma is very unusual.

Case Description: An otherwise healthy 27-year-old woman presented with secondary amenorrhea and moderately elevated prolactin levels.

Reactivated Moraxella osteitis presenting as granulomatous disease.

Granulomatous infections are commonly associated with mycobacteria, brucellosis, actinomycosis, nocardiosis, spirochetes, and fungi. Rarely, granuloma formation is a host response to other bacterial infection. Osteomyelitis and osteitis that reactivate many years after the primary episode is a known phenomenon.

Perspective: a systems approach to diabetes research.

We review here the status of human type 2 diabetes studies from a genetic, epidemiological, and clinical (intervention) perspective. Most studies limit analyses to one or a few omic technologies providing data of components of physiological processes. Since all chronic diseases are multifactorial and arise from complex interactions between genetic makeup and environment, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a collection of sub-phenotypes resulting in high fasting glucose.

Combination of gas-phase fractionation and MS³ acquisition modes for relative protein quantification with isobaric tagging.

Relative quantification of peptides and proteins with isobaric tags such as iTRAQ or TMT is commonly used in comparative quantitative proteomics based on tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Nonetheless, isobaric tagging inherently suffers from the cofragmentation/interference phenomenon that may compromise the quality of the quantitative data. An MS(3) acquisition mode has been recently proposed to address this issue.

Analysis of the dynamics of limb transcriptomes during mouse development.

Background: The development of vertebrate limbs has been a traditional system to study fundamental processes at work during ontogenesis, such as the establishment of spatial cellular coordinates, the effect of diffusible morphogenetic molecules or the translation between gene activity and morphogenesis. In addition, limbs are amongst the first targets of malformations in human and they display a huge realm of evolutionary variations within tetrapods, which make them a paradigm to study the regulatory genome.

Results: As a reference resource for future biochemical and genetic analyses, we used genome-wide tiling arrays to establish the transcriptomes of mouse limb buds at three different stages, during which major developmental events take place.

Relationship between estrogen receptor alpha location and gene induction reveals the importance of downstream sites and cofactors.

Background: To understand cancer-related modifications to transcriptional programs requires detailed knowledge about the activation of signal-transduction pathways and gene expression programs. To investigate the mechanisms of target gene regulation by human estrogen receptor alpha (hERalpha), we combine extensive location and expression datasets with genomic sequence analysis. In particular, we study the influence of patterns of DNA occupancy by hERalpha on expression phenotypes.

Imported aseptic meningitis due to Toscana virus acquired on the island of Elba, Italy, August 2008.

We describe a case of aseptic meningitis due to Toscana Virus imported to Switzerland and discuss the epidemiological situation. To our knowledge this is the first description of this infection acquired on the Island of Elba.

Modifications of stereological correction methods for precipitate parameters using transmission microscopy.

Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM), dark field imaging and light microscopy are well established methods to evaluate size, volume fraction and number density of precipitates on different size scales. The stereological problems are well known and analogous for all methods. Many evaluation methods can be found in literature, each of them valid for special sample geometries or special size distributions.

Are gadolinium contrast agents suitable for gadolinium neutron capture therapy?

Objective: Gadolinium neutron capture therapy (GdNCT) is a potential treatment for malignant tumors based on two steps: (1) injection of a tumor-specific (157)Gd compound; (2) tumor irradiation with thermal neutrons. The GdNC reaction can induce cell death provided that Gd is proximate to DNA. Here, we studied the nuclear uptake of Gd by glioblastoma (GBM) tumor cells after treatment with two Gd compounds commonly used for magnetic resonance imaging, to evaluate their potential as GdNCT agents.