scholarly journals Value of positive blood culture for Staphylococcus pettenkoferi - how not to make a mistake while interpreting the microbiological test results

Author(s):  
Kinga Markowska ◽  
Anna Majewska

Staphylococcus pettenkoferi is a coagulase negative staphylococcus (CoNS) whose clinical relevance is not fully understood. Hitherto, there are several reports describing the participation of this species in human infections; in most cases S. pettenkoferi was isolated from blood cultures. The purpose of this work is to summarize knowledge about S. pettenkoferi especially in terms of biochemical properties, types of infections caused, factors predisposing to bacteremia and susceptibility to antibiotics. Particular attention was paid to the difficulties in identifying this CoNS bacterium and limitations of microbiological tests. The principles of microbiological bloodstream infection diagnostics and criteria for interpreting test results are summarized, as well. The analysis of published reports and opinions resulted in better characterization of infections in which S. pettenkoferi is the etiological agent. From a clinical point of view, presented knowledge allows to assess the risk of bloodstream infection or sample contamination, help physician to implement the appropriate procedures and making decisions concerning inter alia empirical treatment.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Patyka ◽  
L. Butsenko ◽  
L. Pasichnyk

Aim. To validate the suitability of commercial API 20E test-system (bioMerieux) for the identifi cation and characterization of facultative gram-negative phytopathogenic bacterial isolates. Methods. Conventional mi- crobiological methods, API 20E test-system (bioMerieux) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Re- sults. The identifi cation results for Erwinia amylovora, Pectobacterium carotovorum and Pantoea agglome- rans isolates were derived from the conventional and API 20E test systems, which, were in line with the literature data for these species. The API 20E test-system showed high suitability for P. agglomerans isolates identifi cation. Although not all the species of facultatively anaerobic phytopathogenic bacteria may be identi- fi ed using API 20E test-system, its application will surely allow obtaining reliable data about their physiologi- cal and biochemical properties, valuable for identifi cation of bacteria, in the course of 24 h. Conclusions. The results of tests, obtained for investigated species while using API 20E test-system, and those of conventional microbiological methods coincided. The application of API 20E test-system (bioMerieux) ensures fast obtain- ing of important data, which may be used to identify phytopathogenic bacteria of Erwinia, Pectobacterium, Pantoea genera.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-129
Author(s):  
Asti Gumartifa ◽  
◽  
Indah Windra Dwie Agustiani

Gaining English language learning effectively has been discussed all years long. Similarly, Learners have various troubles outcomes in the learning process. Creating a joyful and comfortable situation must be considered by learners. Thus, the implementation of effective learning strategies is certainly necessary for English learners. This descriptive study has two purposes: first, to introduce the classification and characterization of learning strategies such as; memory, cognitive, metacognitive, compensation, social, and affective strategies that are used by learners in the classroom and second, it provides some questionnaires item based on Strategy of Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) version 5.0 that can be used to examine the frequency of students’ learning strategies in the learning process. The summary of this study explains and discusses the researchers’ point of view on the impact of learning outcomes by learning strategies used. Finally, utilizing appropriate learning strategies are certainly beneficial for both teachers and learners to achieve the learning target effectively.


Keyword(s):  

The article discusses a sequence of activities to identify a crime as jointly committed. The requirements to the algorithm of such activities are formulated. Programme-based and targeted methods applied by the authors allowed detecting a range of stages of the algorithm. The first four stages aim at defining mandatory elements of a crime allowing to characterize it as a jointly committed action. The rest of the stages focus on identifying a type of criminal complicity. In the article, each stage is described. It is emphasized that in each stage there is a special objective. At the same time, all these stages, taken together, constitute a separate module of the program of criminal characterization of an action. From the authors’ point of view, algorithms are necessary not only for detection of crimes and their criminal characterization, but also for answering the question on existence of criminal complicity in each case. Also the authors give their opinions on interpretation of criminal complicity as a legal category. In particular, it is emphasized that not all of crimes merely committed with participation of two or more persons should be understood as jointly committed. It is joint participation that makes a crime jointly committed. Various forms of criminal complicity and types of co-offenders are considered in the article as well. In various crimes, criminal complicity manifests itself differently. Therefore the proposed algorithm can be applied only after identification a specific article of the Russian Criminal Code stipulating the responsibility for the crime committed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peixian Bai ◽  
Liyuan Wang ◽  
Kang Wei ◽  
Li Ruan ◽  
Liyun Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Alanine decarboxylase (AlaDC), specifically present in tea plants, is crucial for theanine biosynthesis. Serine decarboxylase (SDC), found in many plants, is a protein most closely related to AlaDC. To investigate whether the new gene AlaDC originate from gene SDC and to determine the biochemical properties of the two proteins from Camellia sinensis, the sequences of CsAlaDC and CsSDC were analyzed and the two proteins were over-expressed, purified, and characterized. Results The results showed that exon-intron structures of AlaDC and SDC were quite similar and the protein sequences, encoded by the two genes, shared a high similarity of 85.1%, revealing that new gene AlaDC originated from SDC by gene duplication. CsAlaDC and CsSDC catalyzed the decarboxylation of alanine and serine, respectively. CsAlaDC and CsSDC exhibited the optimal activities at 45 °C (pH 8.0) and 40 °C (pH 7.0), respectively. CsAlaDC was stable under 30 °C (pH 7.0) and CsSDC was stable under 40 °C (pH 6.0–8.0). The activities of the two enzymes were greatly enhanced by the presence of pyridoxal-5′-phosphate. The specific activity of CsSDC (30,488 IU/mg) was 8.8-fold higher than that of CsAlaDC (3467 IU/mg). Conclusions Comparing to CsAlaDC, its ancestral enzyme CsSDC exhibited a higher specific activity and a better thermal and pH stability, indicating that CsSDC acquired the optimized function after a longer evolutionary period. The biochemical properties of CsAlaDC might offer reference for theanine industrial production.


2021 ◽  
pp. 004051752110277
Author(s):  
Qilu Cui ◽  
Jiawei Li ◽  
Chongwen Yu

In this paper, the extraction process of flavonoids from hemp fibers was studied. Response surface methodology (RSM) analysis of the extraction parameters indicated that optimized results would be ethanol concentration 76 vol.%, bath ratio 1:50, and reaction time 139 min; therefore, an optimal extraction rate of flavonoids of 0.2275% can be obtained. The chemical structure, surface morphology and element composition of flavonoid extracts were analyzed. The test results indicated that hemp extract contains flavonoids, which can be used to extract flavonoids from hemp fiber, so as to comprehensively develop hemp fiber and reduce the discharge of waste liquid in the traditional degumming process.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5149
Author(s):  
Marco Ceccarelli ◽  
Mykhailo Riabtsev ◽  
Axel Fort ◽  
Matteo Russo ◽  
Med Amine Laribi ◽  
...  

An experimental characterization is presented for an improved version of a wearable assistive device for elbow motion. The design is revised with respect to requirements for elbow motion assistance, looking at applications both in rehabilitation therapies and exercising of elderly people. A laboratory prototype is built with lightweight, portable, easy-to-use features that are verified with test results, whose discussion is also provided as a characterization of operating performance.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2904
Author(s):  
Margot Gautier ◽  
Cécile Thirant ◽  
Olivier Delattre ◽  
Isabelle Janoueix-Lerosey

Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, is characterized by an important clinical heterogeneity, and high-risk tumors are associated with a poor overall survival. Neuroblastoma cells may present with diverse morphological and biochemical properties in vitro, and seminal observations suggested that interconversion between two phenotypes called N-type and S-type may occur. In 2017, two main studies provided novel insights into these subtypes through the characterization of the transcriptomic and epigenetic landscapes of a panel of neuroblastoma cell lines. In this review, we focus on the available data that define neuroblastoma cell identity and propose to use the term noradrenergic (NOR) and mesenchymal (MES) to refer to these identities. We also address the question of transdifferentiation between both states and suggest that the plasticity between the NOR identity and the MES identity defines a noradrenergic-to-mesenchymal transition, reminiscent of but different from the well-established epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1304
Author(s):  
Francisco Espínola ◽  
Alfonso M. Vidal ◽  
Juan M. Espínola ◽  
Manuel Moya

Wild olive trees have important potential, but, to date, the oil from wild olives has not been studied significantly, especially from an analytical point of view. In Spain, the wild olive tree is called “Acebuche” and its fruit “Acebuchina”. The objective of this work is to optimize the olive oil production process from the Acebuchina cultivar and characterize the oil, which could be marketed as healthy and functional food. A Box–Behnken experimental design with five central points was used, along with the Response Surface Methodology to obtain a mathematical experimental model. The oils from the Acebuchina cultivar meet the requirements for human consumption and have a good balance of fatty acids. In addition, the oils are rich in antioxidants and volatile compounds. The highest extraction yield, 12.0 g oil/100 g paste, was obtained at 90.0 min and the highest yield of phenolic compounds, 870.0 mg/kg, was achieved at 40.0 °C, and 90.0 min; but the maximum content of volatile compounds, 26.9 mg/kg, was obtained at 20 °C and 30.0 min. The oil yield is lower than that of commercial cultivars, but the contents of volatile and phenolic compounds is higher.


Morphology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Varvara ◽  
Gabriella Lapesa ◽  
Sebastian Padó

AbstractWe present the results of a large-scale corpus-based comparison of two German event nominalization patterns: deverbal nouns in -ung (e.g., die Evaluierung, ‘the evaluation’) and nominal infinitives (e.g., das Evaluieren, ‘the evaluating’). Among the many available event nominalization patterns for German, we selected these two because they are both highly productive and challenging from the semantic point of view. Both patterns are known to keep a tight relation with the event denoted by the base verb, but with different nuances. Our study targets a better understanding of the differences in their semantic import.The key notion of our comparison is that of semantic transparency, and we propose a usage-based characterization of the relationship between derived nominals and their bases. Using methods from distributional semantics, we bring to bear two concrete measures of transparency which highlight different nuances: the first one, cosine, detects nominalizations which are semantically similar to their bases; the second one, distributional inclusion, detects nominalizations which are used in a subset of the contexts of the base verb. We find that only the inclusion measure helps in characterizing the difference between the two types of nominalizations, in relation with the traditionally considered variable of relative frequency (Hay, 2001). Finally, the distributional analysis allows us to frame our comparison in the broader coordinates of the inflection vs. derivation cline.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2333794X2199090
Author(s):  
Vilounna Sanaphay ◽  
Sourideth Sengchanh ◽  
Alongkone Phengsavanh ◽  
Anousavanh Sanaphay ◽  
Leelawadee Techasatian

Newborn skin disorders are quite common and happen to occur during the neonatal period. Most of the birthmarks are transient; however, worried parents often seek medical advice from their child’s physician regarding skin lesions. Thus, it is important to differentiate the skin lesions from pathologic ones to avoid unnecessary diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. This is the first published study in Lao neonates that carried out the data from 4 central hospitals in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR from September 2019 to February 2020. Among 500 neonates, Sebaceous gland hyperplasia (53%), Mongolian patches (46.6%), and Erythema toxicum neonatorum (30%) were the 3 most common cutaneous conditions found in the Lao newborns. From a clinical point of view, these findings are often a source of parental anxiety and medical concern for inexperienced clinicians.


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