Recommendations for proficiency testing criteria for hemoglobin A based on the Shanghai Center for Clinical Laboratory's study.

Objectives: The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed in 2019 that glycated hemoglobin A (HbA) be a CLIA'88 regulated analyte. People who commented expressed concerns that the proposed acceptance limit (AL, HbA in NGSP unit) ±10% for proficiency testing (PT) would be unable to maintain already improved analytical performance and guarantee the clinical utility of HbA testing. Assessing impact of various ALs on PT performance is needed to provide scientific evidence for adopting an appropriate AL.

Role of autolysin-mediated DNA release in biofilm formation of Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Staphylococcus epidermidis has become a serious nosocomial pathogen frequently causing infections associated with implanted foreign materials. Biofilm formation is considered a major factor determining S. epidermidis pathogenicity in such device-associated infections.

Formation and properties of in vitro biofilms of ica-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis clinical isolates.

Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis has become the leading cause of foreign-body infections due to its biofilm formation on all kinds of medical-device surfaces. The biofilm development of S. epidermidis includes two steps: the initial attachment phase and the accumulative phase.

Comparative proteomic analysis between the invasive and commensal strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is one of the major causative agents for nosocomial infections. To reveal the pathogenesis factors, we performed the comparative proteomic analysis of invasive ATCC35984 and commensal ATCC12228 strains by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed proteins were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, sugar binding, lipid degradation and amino acid binding.