Increase in Candida parapsilosis Fungemia in Critical Care Units: A 6-Years Study

Objectives

We aimed to asses possible clinically significant differences between C. parapsilosis and other candida species candidemia receiving care in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Methods

The study included 118 adult patients diagnosed as candidemia after admission to the ICU of a university hospital between January 2004 and December 2009. Data about demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, and risk factors for ICU-related candidemia were collected.

Results

During the study period, 118 patients with candidemia were identified among 2,853 patients admitted into the ICU. Candidemia was seen in 41.4 cases per 1,000 ICU admissions. The overall incidence of candidemia in ICU patients during the study period was 2.09 per 1,000 hospital admissions. Of the isolates, 18.6% were C. albicans and 81.4% were C. non-albicans. The species most frequently isolated was C. parapsilosis (66.1%, 78/118). The distribution of other Candida spp. was as follows: 15 had C. tropicalis (12.7%) and 3 had C. glabrata (2.5%). By Statistical analysis, when patients with candidemia who had C. parapsilosis were compared with other Candida spp., the following factors were found to be significantly associated with C. parapsilosis fungemia; intravascular catheters (p = 0.008), malignity (p = 0.049) and age (p = 0.039). Relationship was found between C. tropicalis and hematologic malignancies (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

When infections with a high mortality such as candidemia is suspected in critically ill patients, it is important to know local risk factors and epidemiological distributions of causative agents in selection of empirical and effective antifungal treatment.     

Whole-body to tissue concentration ratios for use in biota dose assessments for animals

Environmental monitoring programs often measure contaminant concentrations in animal tissues consumed by humans (e.g., muscle). By comparison, demonstration of the protection of biota from the potential effects of radionuclides involves a comparison of whole-body doses to radiological dose benchmarks. Consequently, methods for deriving whole-body concentration ratios based on tissue-specific data are required to make best use of the available information. This paper provides a series of look-up tables with whole-body:tissue-specific concentration ratios for non-human biota. Focus was placed on relatively broad animal categories (including molluscs, crustaceans, freshwater fishes, marine fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) and commonly measured tissues (specifically, bone, muscle, liver and kidney). Depending upon organism, whole-body to tissue concentration ratios were derived for between 12 and 47 elements. The whole-body to tissue concentration ratios can be used to estimate whole-body concentrations from tissue-specific measurements. However, we recommend that any given whole-body to tissue concentration ratio should not be used if the value falls between 0.75 and 1.5. Instead, a value of one should be assumed.     

A fluorescence-based reporter substrate for monitoring RNA editing in trypanosomatid pathogens

RNA editing regulates mitochondrial gene expression in trypanosomatid pathogens by creating functional mRNAs. It is catalyzed by a multi-protein complex (the editosome), and is found to be essential in both insect stage and mammalian blood stream form of Trypanosoma brucei. This particular form of RNA editing is unique to trypanosomatids, and thus provides a suitable drug target in trypanosomatid pathogens. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of a rapid and sensitive fluorescence-based reporter assay to monitor RNA editing based on ribozyme activity. We could validate our new assay using previously identified inhibitors against the essential RNA editing ligase. The principle advantages of this assay are: (i) the use of non-radioactively labeled materials, (ii) sensitivity afforded by fluorescence instrumentation applicable to high-throughput screening of chemical inhibitors against the essential editosome and (iii) a rapid and convenient ‘mix and measure’ type of assay in low volume with a high signal to noise ratio. This assay should enhance rapid identification and characterization of the editosome inhibitors primarily based on the overall composition of the editosomes from T. brucei. These inhibitors could also be tested against the editosomes from the closely related pathogens including T. cruzi and Leishmania species.     

Phylogenetic status of Vavilovia formosa (Fabaceae-Fabeae) based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA sequences

The phylogenetic status of the monotypic genus Vavilovia was studied using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F and trnS-G regions. The results from the analysis of each dataset and the combined dataset, revealed that Vavilovia is closely related to Pisum, forming a group that is sister to Lathyrus. The molecular data and some morphological and biological characteristics strongly indicate that Vavilovia should be subsumed under Pisum, as Pisum formosum.     

Plant U13 orthologues and orphan snoRNAs identified by RNomics of RNA from Arabidopsis nucleoli

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and small Cajal body-specific RNAs (scaRNAs) are non-coding RNAs whose main function in eukaryotes is to guide the modification of nucleotides in ribosomal and spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs, respectively. Full-length sequences of Arabidopsis snoRNAs and scaRNAs have been obtained from cDNA libraries of capped and uncapped small RNAs using RNA from isolated nucleoli from Arabidopsis cell cultures. We have identified 31 novel snoRNA genes (9 box C/D and 22 box H/ACA) and 15 new variants of previously described snoRNAs. Three related capped snoRNAs with a distinct gene organization and structure were identified as orthologues of animal U13snoRNAs. In addition, eight of the novel genes had no complementarity to rRNAs or snRNAs and are therefore putative orphan snoRNAs potentially reflecting wider functions for these RNAs. The nucleolar localization of a number of the snoRNAs and the localization to nuclear bodies of two putative scaRNAs was confirmed by in situ hybridization. The majority of the novel snoRNA genes were found in new gene clusters or as part of previously described clusters. These results expand the repertoire of Arabidopsis snoRNAs to 188 snoRNA genes with 294 gene variants.     

Influences of genetic variants in interleukin-15 gene and serum interleukin-15 levels on coronary heart disease

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a potent proinflammatory cytokine that is now considered a key component of atherosclerosis. Proinflammatory gene polymorphisms lead to variations in the production and level of the proteins. In light of these findings, we hypothesized that variations in the gene coding for IL-15 influence the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by modulating the IL-15 levels. To test this hypothesis, we examined 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-15 gene and IL-15 levels in 102 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), 102 patients with chronic ischemic stable CHD and 162 healthy control subjects. This study is the first report showing the influences of IL-15 gene variants and IL-15 levels on CHD. The five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IL-15 gene, G367A, C267T, A14035T, C13687A, and A10504G were carried out by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). Serum IL-15 levels were significantly higher in both acute and chronic patients than in controls. Genetic variants of IL-15 gene and IL-15 levels were associated with CHD. In conclusion, our study supports the hypothesis that genetic variation in IL-15 gene and IL-15 levels influence the risk of CHD. Further studies are needed to confirm our hypothesis.     

Multiplicative multi-fractal modeling of electromyography signals for discerning neuropathic conditions

In this paper, we present a new method for multi-scale analysis of electromyography signals based on an interesting fractal process known as multiplicative cascade multi-fractal. Using simulated needle electromyography signals, we show this method provides a means for discrimination of normal and neuropathic electromyography signals. We also present experimental results that show the new parameters, computed using multiplicative cascade multi-fractal modeling, are more robust than the conventional signal parameter, number of turns, in the presence of additive noise. Results of multiplicative cascade multi-fractal modeling are consistent with other multi-scale approaches; advantages and differences are high lighted.     

Seroprevalence Rates of Helicobacter pylori and Viral Hepatitis A among Adolescents in Three Regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Is There Any Correlation?

Background: The seroprevalence rate of Helicobacter pylori in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was reported to be in the range of 50–80% among mostly symptomatic patients in non‐community‐based studies. However, the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis A (HAV) underwent a marked decline in the last two decades from over 50% in 1989 to 25% in 1997 among Saudi children under the age of 12 years. The aim of this paper was to study seroprevalence rates of H. pylori and HAV among the adolescent population in three regions of KSA and to determine whether there was any correlation between them. Materials and methods: We randomly selected 1200 16–18‐year‐old students from three regions around KSA. Demographic data, including socioeconomic status (SES), were recorded, and each student was tested for the presence of H. pylori‐IgG antibodies and anti‐HAV‐IgG. Results: The results indicate a high H. pylori infection rate (47%) among this age group. Boys had a higher prevalence than girls (p = .03), and the Al‐Qaseem region had the highest prevalence (51%, p = .002). SES did not contribute to the high prevalence rates (p = .83). A cross‐tabulation of data showed that 88 (8%) of the teenagers were seropositive and that 512 (44%) were negative for both H. pylori and HAV antibodies (χ² = 0.03, OR = 0.97, CI = 0.70–1.34). The agreement between H. pylori and HAV seropositivity was lower than would be predicted by chance (κ = ?0.03). The variables that were independently associated with seropositivity to H. pylori were being female (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.60–0.95) and living in the Madinah region (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.55–0.94). Conclusion: The prevalence of H. pylori in this group of adolescents was high. However, there was no correlation between H. pylori and HAV infection rates. Hence, factors contributing to the transmission source and route seem to be different.     

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococci from bovine subclinical mastitis cases

The prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Staphylococci and Streptococci were assessed from subclinical mastitis cases. One hundred Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CNS) and 34 Streptoccocci were identified. The most frequently isolated species were Staphylococcus haemolyticus (27%) and Staphylococcus simulans (24%). Susceptible CNS species revealed the highest resistance to penicillin G (58%), ampicillin (48%), neomycin (20%), and oleandomycin (14%). CNS methicillin resistance rates within 82 isolates were 21.95% and 1.22% by disk diffusion and PCR methods, respectively. These results suggested the disk diffusion method was more prone to yield false positives. Partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA region from the mecA carrying isolate (S. haemolyticus) was homologous with S. haemolyticus sequences/accessions obtained from GenBank. However, the mecA gene sequence from this isolate was more closely allied with the S. aureus mecA gene of human origins. Identical sequence data was acquired from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, suggesting horizontal gene transfer between the two species. CNS β-lactamase activity within 81 isolates was 29.63%. The most frequently isolated Streptococcus species were S. uberis (52%) and S. agalactiae (15%). Oleandomycin was the least effective antimicrobial agent on these isolates with 59% susceptibility. Results indicated that CNS and Streptococci exhibited various antimicrobial resistance responses. Consequently, isolation and identification of udder pathogens in herds suffering from subclinical agents is essential to select the most effective antimicrobial agent. Moreover, multiple resistance features of methicillin resistant (MR) isolates should be considered during antimicrobial susceptibility tests.