scholarly journals Epidemiological relationships among penicillin non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae strains recovered in the Czech Republic

2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Žemličková ◽  
Oto Melter ◽  
Pavla Urbášková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽  
Multilocus Sequence Typing ◽  
Sequence Type ◽  
Penicillin Resistance ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Nationwide Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
Clone Sequence ◽  
Resistance To Penicillin

Since 1986, penicillin non-susceptible pneumococci (PNSP) have been found in the Czech Republic. As documented by a nationwide study, the proportion of invasive strains with reduced susceptibility to penicillin has fluctuated around 5 % in the past decade. Although the level of resistance to penicillin remains stable, the contribution of different capsular serotypes among the PNSP population varies. Whereas serotype 19A was predominantly associated with penicillin resistance until 1997, serotype 9V became most common among PNSP strains in 1998. In a collection of PNSP strains (n=225) isolated from 2000 to 2002, the most frequent serotype was 9V (n=91, 40·4 %), followed by 19F (n=30, 13·3 %) and 14 (n=25, 11·5 %). PFGE and multilocus sequence typing were used to characterize a set of PNSP of the currently predominant serotypes 9V (n=42), 14 (n=15) and 19F (n=14). The Spain9V-3 clone [sequence type (ST) 156] was responsible for a large proportion (100 % of serotype 9V strains, n=42; 93·3 % of serotype 14 strains, n=14) of the analysed strains. A representative of the Taiwan19F-14 clone (ST 236) was also recovered in the Czech Republic (a single isolate of serotype 19F). These findings confirm the spread of the major penicillin-resistant clones in the Czech Republic.

scholarly journals Serotype-specific invasive disease potential of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Czech children

2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 1079-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Zemlickova ◽  
Vladislav Jakubu ◽  
Pavla Urbaskova ◽  
Jitka Motlova ◽  
Martin Musilek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽  
Multilocus Sequence Typing ◽  
Invasive Disease ◽  
Odds Ratios ◽  
The Czech Republic

To estimate the invasive disease potential of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes, invasive isolates (n=138) were compared with nasopharyngeal isolates (n=153) from children under 6 years of age in the Czech Republic. Odds ratios (ORs) based on a comparison of the distribution of S. pneumoniae serotypes amongst invasive and carriage isolates were calculated for individual serotypes and 172 strains were characterized using multilocus sequence typing. The ORs of serotypes 9V and 14 were significantly greater than 1, suggesting an association with invasive disease, while serotypes 6A and 23F were significantly associated with carriage (ORs less than 1). A single predominant clone with high invasive disease potential was found in each of the 9V, 7F, 14 and 1 serotypes while carriage-associated serotypes were highly heterogeneous.

Transitional Justice and Changing Memories of the Past in Central Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-44
Author(s):  
Roman David
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Divided Societies ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Impact

Memories of wrongdoings are often viewed as an obstacle to reconciliation in divided societies. Is it due to the past or the present politics of the past? To examine the dilemma of essentialism versus presentism, this article investigates the impact of transitional justice on memories of wrongdoing. It theorizes that using different transitional justice strategies to deal with the same wrongdoing shapes memories in different ways. The theory is tested via vignette-based surveys in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, which adopted distinct lustration laws. The results show that wrongdoing is viewed through lustration laws, reflecting present power constellations, not history.

scholarly journals Lustration in Europe and Serbia: The motivation for passing the laws on lustration and their social functions

Sociologija ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-306
Author(s):  
Milan Cakic
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Justice ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Opening Section

The main topic of this article are the motives that led to the adoption of lustration laws in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Serbia, and their social functions. In the opening section, lustration is placed in the wider framework of dealing with the past and two possible approaches to the phenomenon are discussed: to take it as part of the broader process of decommunization, or a measure of transitional justice. In the next section an attempt at defining the concept of lustration is made, with a view to eliminating some ambiguities surrounding it. Subsequently, two partially complementary theoretical models explaining the occurrence, form and severity of dealing with the past and lustration are presented. After that comes the description of the socio-political context at the time of the adoption of lustration laws in the three countries and identification of political and ideological forces that have supported or challenged it. Finally, the article attempts to answer the question whether lustration is a legitimate measure of settling historical justice, overcoming the legacies of socialism, a way to strengthen liberal democracy, or merely a tool in political struggles for power.

scholarly journals Macrolide-resistant phenotypes of invasive streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in Serbia

2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1377-1382
Author(s):  
Ina Gajic ◽  
Natasa Opavski ◽  
Vera Mijac ◽  
L. Ranin
Keyword(s):  
Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽  
Susceptibility Testing ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
National Reference ◽  
The Past ◽  
Triple Test ◽  
Resistance To Penicillin ◽  
Resistant Strains ◽  
Resistance Rates ◽  
Susceptibility Patterns

Macrolide resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae has emerged as an important worldwide problem over the past decade. The aim of this study was to investigate macrolide-resistant phenotypes and the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of invasive pneumococci in Serbia. A total of 68 invasive pneumococcal strains, collected from 2009 to 2011, were sent from regional laboratories to the National Reference Laboratory. Susceptibility testing was performed using the VITEK2 system and phenotypes were determined by triple-test. Overall penicillin and erythromycin nonsusceptibility rates were 26% and 43%, respectively. Resistance rates were higher in children than in adults. Co-resistance to penicillin and erythromycin was detected in 18% strains. Resistance rates to the third generation of cephalosporins, TMP-SXT and tetracycline were 16%, 37% and 29%, respectively. All isolates were fully susceptible to vancomycin, linezolid, fluoroquinolones, telithromycin and rifampicin. Twenty-two isolates (79%) an expressed macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) resistance phenotype and M phenotype was found in 21% of macrolide resistant strains.

Decommissioning of Obsolete Nuclear Facilities in the UJV Rez, a. s.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Tous ◽  
Josef Podlaha
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Nuclear Research Institute ◽  
Nuclear Program ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Ultrasonic Bath ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dry Ice Blasting

More than 55 years of activities in the company UJV Rez, a. s. (Nuclear Research Institute Rez a.s. in the past) which is a leading institution in all areas of nuclear R&D in the Czech Republic and had a dominant position in the nuclear program since it was established (1955), there are several obsolete nuclear facilities that shall be decommissioned. The total amount of radioactive waste (RAW) resulting from decommissioning for the next processing will be ∼ 1500 m3 and the expected amount RAW for releasing into the environment is 240 tons after the decontamination. For the RAW processing several decontamination methods such as high press water jetting, chemical treating in ultrasonic bath, dry ice blasting and abrasive blasting were performed. Decommissioning started in 2003 and will be finished in 2016. This decommissioning of nuclear facilities in UJV is the only ongoing decommissioning project in the Czech Republic.

Social Policy in the Czech “Republic”: The Past and the Future of Reforms

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 496-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Večerník
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Pension System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Scene

The article describes the development of Czech policy after 1989 and the controversies it caused. It first looks at the ambiguous nature of the communist welfare state and then proceeds to outline the theoretical alternatives. After early and energetic changes in the system, stagnation set in around the mid-1990s. Despite some problems, the current performance of the system is satisfactory, but its outlook in terms of long-term efficiency is unsatisfactory, as it will generate a rising debt into the future. In particular, the disadvantaged situation for families, the insufficient work motivation, and the frozen pension system are all causes for concern. The political shift to the right after 2006 ushered in reform measures and new reform plans. While reforms are necessary, their feasibility is uncertain owing to the fragility of the Czech political scene.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF THE CITIZENS OF POLAND AND CZECH REPUBLIC WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT ALL-EUROPEAN LINGUISTIC

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 512-523
Author(s):  
Yevhen Gromov ◽  
Alla Kolomiiets ◽  
Natalia Lazarenko ◽  
Olesia Zhovnych ◽  
Liliia Biretska
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level ◽  
Economic Nature

The comparative analysis of the foreign language competence among the citizens of Poland and Czech Republic has been accomplished. The received findings were compared with current observations of all-European linguistic tendencies. Having analysed various statistics the authors succeeded in assembling the social portrait of an average multilingual European. The authors have also considered the fact that over the past years the official percentage of multilingual citizens, both in Poland and the Czech Republic, has significantly decreased due to intensive emigration processes. In the authors’ opinion, this problem is mostly of the socio-economic nature and demonstrates rather not the weakness of educational systems, but the ability of educational institutions of both countries to prepare competitive specialists who are able (due to the high level of foreign language competence) to find decent job in the labour-market of the United Europe. It has also been stated that since the foreign language competence has become a professional and cultural prerequisite for creation of the unified globalized Europe, and multilingualism has become a part of the European identity, the future specialists’ foreign language training in Ukraine should be conducted precisely taking into account the prospects of European integration.

scholarly journals Distribution of epidemic antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal clones in Scottish pneumococcal isolates analysed by multilocus sequence typing

Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Smith ◽  
J. Jefferies ◽  
S. C. Clarke ◽  
C. Dowson ◽  
G. F. S. Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Molecular Epidemiology ◽  
Multilocus Sequence Typing ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Sequence Type ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Clone Sequence ◽  
Sequence Types ◽  
Type Strains

Sequence types of pneumococci isolated in Scotland between 1996 and 2003 were compared with those of globally prevalent antibiotic-resistant clones. Multilocus sequence typing was performed on 252 invasive pneumococcal isolates referred to the Scottish Meningococcus and Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory. Isolates were not preselected for antimicrobial resistance, patient age or disease caused. Sequence types were compared with globally significant antimicrobial-resistant clones identified by the Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology Network (PMEN). Sequence types identical with three of the 26 PMEN clones were present in the Scottish collection; the clones were the Spain9V-3 clone (sequence type 156, seven isolates), the England14-9 clone (sequence type 9, eight isolates) and the Utah35B-24 clone (sequence type 377, one isolate). Many Scottish isolates related to PMEN clones had lower antimicrobial MICs than those described for the corresponding PMEN type strain. A number of single- (SLVs) and double-locus variants (DLVs) were present. Fifteen SLVs related to PMEN sequence types 37, 67, 90, 81, 156, 236 and 377 were detected. The collection contained 10 DLVs related to PMEN sequence types 37, 156, 173 and 338. The majority of SLVs and DLVs were penicillin- or erythromycin-sensitive variants of the resistant PMEN type strains. Capsule switching in isolates related to the PMEN clones was also detected. The highest levels of penicillin resistance were detected in sequence type 320 (serotype 19F), which is not a PMEN clone. These data suggest that PMEN clones are not widely distributed in disease-causing isolates in Scotland.

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