Identification of Medicare Recipients at Highest Risk for Clostridium difficile Infection in the US by Population Attributable Risk Analysis

Background

Population attributable risk percent (PAR%) is an epidemiological tool that provides an estimate of the percent reduction in total disease burden if that disease could be entirely eliminated among a subpopulation. As such, PAR% is used to efficiently target prevention interventions. Due to significant limitations in current Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) prevention practices and the development of new approaches to prevent CDI, such as vaccination, we determined the PAR% for CDI in various subpopulations in the Medicare 5% random sample.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study using the 2009 Medicare 5% random sample. Comorbidities, infections, and healthcare exposures during the 12 months prior to CDI were identified. CDI incidence and PAR% were calculated for each condition/exposure. Easy to identify subpopulations that could be targeted from prevention interventions were identified based on PAR%.

Findings

There were 1,465,927 Medicare beneficiaries with 9,401 CDI cases for an incidence of 677/100,000 persons. Subpopulations representing less than 15% of the entire population and with a PAR% ≥ 30% were identified. These included deficiency anemia (PAR% = 37.9%), congestive heart failure (PAR% = 30.2%), fluid and electrolyte disorders (PAR% = 29.6%), urinary tract infections (PAR% = 40.5%), pneumonia (PAR% = 35.2%), emergent hospitalization (PAR% = 48.5%) and invasive procedures (PAR% = 38.9%). Stratification by age and hospital exposures indicates hospital exposures are more strongly associated with CDI than age.

Significance

Small and identifiable subpopulations that account for relatively large proportions of CDI cases in the elderly were identified. These data can be used to target specific subpopulations for CDI prevention interventions.     

Notes on the ant genus Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera,Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species and a key to species of the C. pallida-group

Cataglyphis fisheri sp. n. is described and illustrated from the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based on the worker caste. It belongs to the Cataglyphis pallida-group which is recorded for the first time from the Arabian Peninsula. Cataglyphis fisheri sp. n. is similar to Cataglyphis pallida Mayr, 1877 from Kazakhstan. Differential diagnosis between these two species is given and a key to the species of the Cataglyphis pallida-group is presented. Cataglyphis laylae Collingwood, 2011 is treated as a junior synonym of Cataglyphis saharae Santschi, 1929. Cataglyphis flavobrunnea Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 is redescribed and a lectotype for this species is designated.     

The endocannabinoid anandamide protects neurons during CNS inflammation by induction of MKP-1 in microglial cells

Endocannabinoids are released after brain injury and believed to attenuate neuronal damage by binding to CB(1) receptors and protecting against excitotoxicity. Such excitotoxic brain lesions initially result in primary destruction of brain parenchyma, which attracts macrophages and microglia. These inflammatory cells release toxic cytokines and free radicals, resulting in secondary neuronal damage. In this study, we show that the endocannabinoid system is highly activated during CNS inflammation and that the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) protects neurons from inflammatory damage by CB(1/2) receptor-mediated rapid induction of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) in microglial cells associated with histone H3 phoshorylation of the mkp-1 gene sequence. As a result, AEA-induced rapid MKP-1 expression switches off MAPK signal transduction in microglial cells activated by stimulation of pattern recognition receptors. The release of AEA in injured CNS tissue might therefore represent a new mechanism of neuro-immune communication during CNS injury, which controls and limits immune response after primary CNS damage.     

Melanoma invasion - current knowledge and future directions

The acquisition of invasive behaviour is the key transition in the progression of benign melanocyte hyperplasia to life threatening melanoma. Understanding this transition and the mechanisms of invasion are the key to understanding why malignant melanoma is such a devastating disease and will aid treatment strategies. Underlying the invasive behaviour is increased cell motility caused by changes in cytoskeletal organization and altered contacts with the extra-cellular matrix (ECM). In addition, changes in the interactions of melanoma cells with keratinocytes and fibroblasts enable them to survive and proliferate outside their normal epidermal location. Proteomic and genomic initiatives are greatly increasing our knowledge of which gene products are deregulated in invasive and metastatic melanoma; however, the next challenge is to understand how these genes promote the invasion of melanoma cells. In recent years new models have been developed that more closely recapitulate the conditions of melanoma invasion in vivo. It is hoped that these models will give us a better understanding of how the genes implicated in melanoma progression affect the motility of melanoma cells and their interactions with the ECM, stromal cells and blood vessels. This review will summarise our current understanding of melanoma invasion and focus on the new model systems that can be used to study melanoma.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis places Percolomonas cosmopolitus within Heterolobosea: evolutionary implications

Percolomonas cosmopolitus is a common free-living flagellate of uncertain phylogenetic position that was placed within the Heterolobosea on the basis of ultrastructure studies. To test the relationship between Percolomonas and Heterolobosea, we analysed the primary structure of the actin and small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genes of P. cosmopolitus as well as the predicted secondary structure of the SSU rRNA. Percolomonas shares common secondary structure patterns of the SSU rRNA with heterolobosean taxa, which, together with the results of actin gene analysis, confirms that it is closely related to Heterolobosea. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the sequences of the SSU rRNA gene suggest Percolomonas belongs to the family Vahlkampfiidae. The first Bayesian analysis of a large taxon sampling of heterolobosean SSU rRNA genes clarifies the phylogenetic relationships within this group.