Rapid identification of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae: comparison of two cultivation methods

We evaluated the performance of chromID CARBA compared with direct plating onto MacConkey agar supplemented with meropenem disk (MCM) for the screening and detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) from rectal swabs. Sensitivity and specificity values were 89.9% and 98.7% for MCM, and 92.4% and 98.8% for chromID CARBA

Identification of gene expression logical invariants in Arabidopsis.

Numerous gene expression datasets from diverse tissue samples from the plant variety Arabidopsis thaliana have been already deposited in the public domain. There have been several attempts to do large scale meta-analyses of all of these datasets. Most of these analyses summarize pairwise gene expression relationships using correlation, or identify differentially expressed genes in two conditions. We propose here a new large scale meta-analysis of the publicly available Arabidopsis datasets to identify Boolean logical relationships between genes. Boolean logic is a branch of mathematics that deals with two possible values. In the context of gene expression datasets we use qualitative high and low expression values. A strong logical relationship between genes emerges if at least one of the quadrants is sparsely populated. We pointed out serious issues in the data normalization steps widely accepted and published recently in this context. We put together a web resource where gene expression relationships can be explored online which helps visualize the logical relationships between genes. We believe that this website will be useful in identifying important genes in different biological context. The web link is http://hegemon.ucsd.edu/plant/

Adipose-derived Stem Cell Conditioned Media Extends Survival time of a mouse model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Adipose stromal cells (ASC) secrete various trophic factors that assist in the protection of neurons in a variety of neuronal death models. In this study, we tested the effects of human ASC conditional medium (ASC-CM) in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) transgenic mouse model expressing mutant superoxide dismutase (SOD1(G93A)). Treating symptomatic SOD1(G93A) mice with ASC-CM significantly increased post-onset survival time and lifespan. Moreover, SOD1(G93A) mice given ASC-CM treatment showed high motor neuron counts, less activation of microglia and astrocytes at an early symptomatic stage in the spinal cords under immunohistochemical analysis. SOD1(G93A) mice treated with ASC-CM for 7 days showed reduced levels of phosphorylated p38 (pp38) in the spinal cord, a mitogen-activated protein kinase that is involved in both inflammation and neuronal death. Additionally, the levels of α-II spectrin in spinal cords were also inhibited in SOD1(G93A) mice treated with ASC-CM for 3 days. Interestingly, nerve growth factor (NGF), a neurotrophic factor found in ASC-CM, played a significant role in the protection of neurodegeneration inSOD1(G93A) mouse. These results indicate that ASC-CM has the potential to develop into a novel and effective therapeutic treatment for ALS

Modelling correlation in foreign exchange markets

LAUREA MAGISTRALELe opzioni vanilla sui tassi cross FX offrono la possibilità di calibrare dei modelli a correlazione locale per ottenere prezzi coerenti con il mercato. Proposti originariamente agli inizi del 2010, questi modelli sono diventati rapidamente lo standard di mercato per prezzare derivati multi-asset nel mondo FX, per via della loro abilità di replicare smile di volatilità in un’ampia gamma di condizioni di mercato. Questo documento esplora l’implementazione pratica di questo modello su dati reali, ottenendo risultati che supportano la capacità del modello di essere adatto anche a condizioni di mercato estreme. In aggiunta, il modello si dimostra accurato anche quando l’implementazione numerica pone maggiore importanza sull’efficienza piuttosto che sulla correttezza teorica. L’analisi è condotta sia tramite lo studio degli errori di calibrazione delle opzioni vanilla, sia tramite la valutazione del modello su un case study dove viene usato per prezzare un opzione esotica multi-FX.Plain vanilla options on cross FX rates offer a market consistent way to calibrate correlation between two FX rates through so-called local correlation models. Originally proposed in the early 2010s, these models rapidly became the industry standard for FX multi-asset derivatives thanks to their theoretical ability to fit volatility smiles in a wide variety of market conditions. This document explores the practical applications of this model on real market data, showing evidence in favour of its robustness with respect to extreme market conditions and also that the results remain accurate even when the numerical implementation is tailored for efficiency rather than correctness. This analysis is carried out by looking at both the calibration errors on plain vanillas and also the model performance on a case study where it is used to price an exotic multi-FX option

Beliefs Related to Diagnosing BPD and Complex PTSD

There has been speculation that Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (Complex PTSD) are the same disorder or represent separate disorders on a broader trauma spectrum (Frost et al., 2020; Lewis & Grenyer, 2009). BPD and Complex PTSD share several symptoms but differ in their presentation (Ford & Courtis, 2021). Because the two disorders present so similarly, it could be that clinicians have difficulty differentiating them, leading to misdiagnosis (Miller, 2014). This study examined clinicians’ diagnostic decision-making and stigma toward BPD and Complex PTSD. Participants (N = 426) completed an online survey where they diagnosed a written case vignette and completed measures of their familiarity with each disorder, stigma, and symptom importance for their diagnosis. Results indicated that clinicians were significantly less familiar with BPD than with Complex PTSD; however, only familiarity with Complex PTSD predicted diagnostic decisions. Higher familiarity with BPD was associated with lower stigma toward BPD, whereas familiarity with Complex PTSD predicted lower stigma for both disorders. Stigma levels were significantly higher for BPD than for Complex PTSD, but only stigma toward Complex PTSD predicted diagnosis. Demographic factors (e.g., gender, profession, degree, theoretical orientation) did not influence diagnosis or stigma. No significant evidence of anchoring bias was found in diagnostic decisions. However, symptom ranking strongly influenced diagnosis, with clinicians more likely to assign a diagnosis based on symptoms they associated with BPD or Complex PTSD. BPD stigma influenced rankings of BPD symptoms, whereas Complex PTSD stigma affected rankings across all symptom categories. These findings suggest that familiarity and stigma play crucial roles in shaping diagnostic decisions and highlight the need for improved clinician training to mitigate biases and enhance diagnostic accuracy

The Effects of Total Dissolved Solids on Locomotory Behavior and Body Weight of Streamside Salamanders, and a Baseline Survey of Salamander Diversity and Abundance

Increased levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in stream habitats are of concern due to salinity as well as the presence of potentially toxic ions. Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale could increase TDS in nearby streams. This thesis investigated the effects of water with elevated TDS on the locomotory activity and body weight of the streamside salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus. Salamanders were exposed to water collected from streams in southwest Pennsylvania with elevated TDS as well as synthetic ion solutions that mimicked the ionic composition found in streams. Chronic, but not acute exposure to solutions of 1000 ppm TDS caused significant differences in weight loss and locomotory activity, although the effect depended on the exact ion composition of the dissolved solids. Finally, field surveys of salamander abundance were completed on two streams to provide baseline data with which to track population changes should the TDS in the streams increase

Design and Initial Results of a Multi-Phase Randomized Trial of Ceftriaxone in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Objectives: Ceftriaxone increases expression of the astrocytic glutamate transporter, EAAT2, which might protect from glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity. A trial using a novel three stage nonstop design, incorporating Phases I-III, tested ceftriaxone in ALS. Stage 1 determined the cerebrospinal fluid pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone in subjects with ALS. Stage 2 evaluated safety and tolerability for 20-weeks. Analysis of the pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and safety was used to determine the ceftriaxone dosage for Stage 3 efficacy testing. Methods: In Stage 1, 66 subjects at ten clinical sites were enrolled and randomized equally into three study groups receiving intravenous placebo, ceftriaxone 2 grams daily or ceftriaxone 4 grams daily divided BID. Participants provided serum and cerebrospinal fluid for pharmacokinetic analysis on study day 7. Participants continued their assigned treatment in Stage 2. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) reviewed the data after the last participants completed 20 weeks on study drug. Results: Stage 1 analysis revealed linear pharmacokinetics, and CSF trough levels for both dosage levels exceeding the pre-specified target trough level of 1 µM (0.55 µg/mL). Tolerability (Stages 1 and 2) results showed that ceftriaxone at dosages up to 4 grams/day was well tolerated at 20 weeks. Biliary adverse events were more common with ceftriaxone but not dose-dependent and improved with ursodeoxycholic (ursodiol) therapy. Conclusions: The goals of Stages 1 and 2 of the ceftriaxone trial were successfully achieved. Based on the pre-specified decision rules, the DSMB recommended the use of ceftriaxone 4 g/d (divided BID) for Stage 3, which recently closed. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00349622

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13