Two- to 9-year clinical results of alumina ceramic-on-ceramic THA

From June 1997 to June 2003 we performed 194 total hip arthroplasties on 173 patients using alumina ceramic-on-ceramic bearings as part of a prospective United States Food and Drug Administration/Investigational Device Exemption study. The average patient age at surgery was 49.9 years. Minimum followup time was 2 years (mean 4.3 years, range 2-9 years). We evaluated survival rate, implant- and nonimplant-related complications. Clinical outcomes included the Merle d'Aubigné score. We assessed radiographs for signs of osteolysis, component loosening, and implant wear. No patients had osteolysis and there were no hip dislocations. Implant survivorship for all hips with aseptic revision of any component was 96% (CI, 91-100) at 9 year; survivorship for hips without prior surgery was 99.3%, (CI, 98-100). There was a 1.7% incidence of implant-related complications. Our data help confirm two United States FDA/IDE studies on alumina ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty that reported low aseptic revision rates and low revision rates for instability. Total hip arthroplasty using alumina ceramic-on-ceramic implants is a safe and reliable procedure in the comparably young and active patient.

Post-translational signal peptide cleavage controls differential epitope recognition in the QP-rich domain of recombinant Theileria parva PIM

The presence of the schizont stage of the obligate intracellular parasites Theileria parva or T. annulata in the cytoplasm of an infected leukocyte results in host cell transformation via a mechanism that has not yet been elucidated. Proteins, secreted by the schizont, or expressed on its surface, are of interest as they can interact with host cell molecules that regulate host cell proliferation and/or survival. The major schizont surface protein is the polymorphic immunodominant molecule, PIM, which contains a large glutamine- and proline-rich domain (QP-rd) that protrudes into the host cell cytoplasm. Analyzing QP-rd generated by in vitro transcription/translation, we found that the signal peptide was efficiently cleaved post-translationally upon addition of T cell lysate or canine pancreatic microsomes, whereas signal peptide cleavage of a control protein only occurred cotranslationally and in the presence of microsomal membranes. The QP-rd of PIM migrated anomalously in SDS-PAGE and removal of the 19 amino acids corresponding to the predicted signal peptide caused a decrease in apparent molecular mass of 24kDa. The molecule was analyzed using monoclonal antibodies that recognize a set of previously defined PIM epitopes. Depending on the presence or the absence of the signal peptide, two conformational states could be demonstrated that are differentially recognized, with N-terminal epitopes becoming readily accessible upon signal peptide removal, and C-terminal epitopes becoming masked. Similar observations were made when the QP-rd of PIM was expressed in bacteria. Our observations could also be of relevance to other schizont proteins. A recent analysis of the proteomes of T. parva and T. annulata revealed the presence of a large family of potentially secreted proteins, characterized by the presence of large stretches of amino acids that are also particularly rich in QP-residues.

Genome Sequences of Two Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from Different Geographical Regions, Argentina (Strain JHCK1) and the United States (Strain VA360)

We report the sequences of two Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates, strains JHCK1 and VA360, from a newborn with meningitis in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and from a tertiary care medical center in Cleveland, OH, respectively. Both isolates contain one chromosome and at least five plasmids; isolate VA360 contains the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) gene

Search for direct slepton and gaugino production in final states with two leptons and missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at sqrts=7 TeV

A search for the electroweak pair production of charged sleptons and weak gauginos decaying into final states with two leptons is performed using 4.7 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excesses are observed with respect to the prediction from Standard Model processes. In the scenario of direct slepton production, if the sleptons decay directly into the lightest neutralino, left-handed slepton masses between 85 and 195 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a 20 GeV neutralino. Chargino masses between 110 and 340 GeV are excluded in the scenario of direct production of wino-like chargino pairs decaying into the lightest neutralino via an intermediate on-shell charged slepton for a 10 GeV neutralino. The results are also interpreted in the framework of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric Standard Model.

Search for direct third-generation squark pair production in final states with missing transverse momentum and two b-jets in sqrts = 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for pair production of supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model third-generation quarks are reported. This search uses 20.1 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The lightest bottom and top squarks ((b) over tilde (1) and (t) over tilde (1) respectively) are searched for in a final state with large missing transverse momentum and two jets identified as originating from b-quarks. No excess of events above the expected level of Standard Model background is found. The results are used to set upper limits on the visible cross section for processes beyond the Standard Model. Exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on the masses of the third-generation squarks are derived in phenomenological supersymmetric R-parity-conserving models in which either the bottom or the top squark is the lightest squark. The (b) over tilde (1) is assumed to decay via (b) over tilde (1) -> b (chi) over tilde (0)(1) and the (t) over tilde (1) via (t) over tilde (1) b (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1), with undetectable products of the subsequent decay of the (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1) due to the small mass splitting between the (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1) and the (chi) over tilde (0)(1)