Clinical and economic impact of contaminated blood cultures within the hospital setting

Blood cultures have an important role in the diagnosis of serious infections, although contamination of blood cultures (i.e. false-positive blood cultures) is a common problem within the hospital setting. The objective of the present investigation was to determine the impact of the false-positive blood culture results on the following outcomes: length of stay, hotel costs, antimicrobial costs, and costs of laboratory and radiological investigation. A retrospective case-control study design was used in which 142 false-positive blood culture cases were matched with suitable controls (patients for whom cultures were reported as true negatives). The matching criteria included age, comorbidity score and month of admission to the hospital. The research covered a 13-month period (July 2007 to July 2008). The findings indicated that differences in means, between cases and controls, for the length of hospital stay and the total costs were 5.4 days [95% CI (confidence interval): 2.8-8.1 days; P

Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates

College students (N = 3,435) in 26 cultures reported their perceptions of age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional areas of functioning and rated societal views of aging within their culture. There was widespread cross-cultural consensus regarding the expected direction of aging trajectories with (a) perceived declines in societal views of aging, physical attractiveness, the ability to perform everyday tasks, and new learning; (b) perceived increases in wisdom, knowledge, and received respect; and (c) perceived stability in family authority and life satisfaction. Cross-cultural variations in aging perceptions were associated with culture-level indicators of population aging, education levels, values, and national character stereotypes. These associations were stronger for societal views on aging and perceptions of socioemotional changes than for perceptions of physical and cognitive changes. A consideration of culture-level variables also suggested that previously reported differences in aging perceptions between Asian and Western countries may be related to differences in population structure.

Physical and immunoaffinity extraction of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins from cultures of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense

In the present study the extraction of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins from a toxic strain of the marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense CCMP-1493 using various mechanical and/or physical procedures was investigated. PBS buffer was investigated as the extraction solvent in order for these procedures to be used directly with immuno-magnetic Ferrospheres-N. The extraction was performed following the determination of when toxin content by the algae was at its highest during batch culture. The methods used for cell lysis and toxin extraction included freeze-thawing, freeze-boiling, steel ball bearing beating, glass bead beating, and sonication. The steel ball bearing beating was determined to release a similar amount of toxin when compared to a modified standard extraction method which was reported to release 100% of toxins from the algal cells and was therefore used in the next phase of the study. This next phase was to determine the feasibility of utilising an antibody coupled to novel magnetic microspheres (Ferrospheres-N) as a simple, rapid immune-capture procedure for PSP toxins extracted from the algae. The effects of increasing mass of Ferrospheres-N on the immuno-capture of the PSP toxins from the toxic algal strain extracts were investigated. Toxin recovery was found to increase when an increasing mass of Ferrospheres-N was used until 96.2% (+/- 1.3 SD) of the toxin extracted from the cells was captured and eluted. Toxin recovery was determined by comparison to an appropriate PSP toxin standard curve following analysis by the AOAC HPLC method. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Isolation in cell cultures and initial characterisation of two novel bocavirus species from swine in Northern Ireland

We report the isolation in cell cultures of two novel bocavirus species in pigs from farms in Northern Ireland with clinical postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). We have designated the isolates as porcine bocavirus-3 (PBoV3) and porcine bocavirus-4 (PBoV4). To date 5082 and 4125 bps of PBoV3 and PBoV4 have been sequenced, respectively. PBoV3 and PBoV4 show nucleotide homology to other known bocaviruses in swine and other organisms. Open reading frame (ORF) analysis has shown that these viruses have a third small ORF, equivalent to the NP1 ORF that distinguishes the bocaviruses from other parvoviruses.

Plasmid DNA analysis of Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated from blood and colonization cultures in very low birth weight neonates

We prospectively studied the course of colonization and sepsis with Staphylococcus epidermidis among 29 very low birth weight neonates undergoing prolonged umbilical catheterization. S. epidermidis bacteremia occurred in 7 patients. In 6 bacteremia was preceded by positive colonization cultures. Isolates obtained from nares, base of umbilicus, umbilical catheter entry sites, catheter tips and blood were examined for plasmid DNA profiles. In 4 patients the plasmid profiles of the catheter entry site isolates were identical with those of the blood isolates. In the other 3 bacteremic patients plasmid profiles of the catheter entry site and blood isolates were different. No correlation was observed in the plasmid DNA patterns of isolates obtained from catheter tip cultures as compared to the corresponding blood cultures. The blood isolates from bacteremic patients had different plasmid profiles.

Development of primary human nasal epithelial cell cultures for the study of cystic fibrosis pathophysiology

Cultured primary epithelial cells are used to examine inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF). We describe a new human model system using cultured nasal brushings. Nasal brushings were obtained from 16 F508del homozygous patients and 11 healthy controls. Cells were resuspended in airway epithelial growth medium and seeded onto collagen-coated flasks and membranes for use in patch-clamp, ion transport, and mediator release assays. Viable cultures were obtained with a 75% success rate from subjects with CF and 100% from control subjects. Amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na channel current of similar size was present in both cell types while forskolin-activated CF transmembrane conductance regulator current was lacking in CF cells. In Ussing chambers, cells from CF patients responded to UTP but not to forskolin. Spontaneous and cytomix-stimulated IL-8 release was similar (stimulated 29,448 ± 9,025 pg/ml; control 16,336 ± 3,308 pg/ml CF; means ± SE). Thus nasal epithelial cells from patients with CF can be grown from nasal brushings and used in electrophysiological and mediator release studies in CF research.

Cultures of Rioting and Anti-Systemic Politics in Southern Europe

The article investigates why, despite similar background conditions, Greece has been the site of frequent, highly visible, fringe, anti-system politics and street riots, while similar phenomena are rare in Spain. Although the article's focal point is the eruption of the December 2008 riots in Athens, it sheds light on the two countries' diverse social reactions to the sovereign debt crisis. Deploying the tool of media framing, it argues that historical legacies and political cultures matter. In the Greek case, the transition to democracy shaped a political ‘culture of sympathy’ towards acts of resistance to the state, a culture that has been institutionalised since the mid-1970s.