Emergence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carrying the novel extended-spectrum beta-lactamase gene variants bla(SHV-40), bla(TEM-116) and the class 1 integron-associated bla(GES-7) in Brazil

A clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate carrying the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase gene variants bla(SHV-40), bla(TEM-116) and bla(GES-7) was recovered. Cefoxitin and ceftazidime activity was most affected by the presence of these genes and an additional resistance to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole was observed. The bla(GES-7) gene was found to be inserted into a class 1 integron. These results show the emergence of novel bla(TEM) and bla(SHV) genes in Brazil. Moreover, the presence of class 1 integrons suggests a great potential for dissemination of bla(GES) genes into diverse nosocomial pathogens. Indeed, the bla(GES-7) gene was originally discovered in Enterobacter cloacae in Greece and, to our knowledge, has not been reported elsewhere.

Observation in the MINOS far detector of the shadowing of cosmic rays by the sun and moon

The shadowing of cosmic ray primaries by the moon and sun was observed by the MINOS far detector at a depth of 2070 mwe using 83.54 million cosmic ray muons accumulated over 1857.91 live-days. The shadow of the moon was detected at the 5.6 sigma level and the shadow of the sun at the 3.8 sigma level using a log-likelihood search in celestial coordinates. The moon shadow was used to quantify the absolute astrophysical pointing of the detector to be 0.17 +/- 0.12 degrees. Hints of interplanetary magnetic field effects were observed in both the sun and moon shadow. Published by Elsevier B.V.