Investigating the chemical pathway to the formation of a single biofilm using infrared spectroscopy

Diagnosing biofilm infections has remained a constant challenge for the last 50 years. Existing diagnostic methods struggle to identify the biofilm phenotype. Moreover, most methods of biofilm analysis destroy the biofilm making the resultant data interpretation difficult. In this study we introduce Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy as a label-free, non-destructive approach to monitoring biofilm progression. We have utilised FTIR in a novel application to evaluate the chemical composition of bacterial biofilms without disrupting the biofilm architecture. S. epidermidis (RP62A) was grown onto calcium fluoride slides for periods of 30 min-96 h, before semi-drying samples for analysis. We report the discovery of a chemical marker to distinguish between planktonic and biofilm samples. The appearance of new proteins in biofilm samples of varying maturity is exemplified in the spectroscopic data, highlighting the potential of FTIR for identifying the presence and developmental stage of a single biofilm.

Sequence length and error analysis of Sequenase and automated Taq cycle sequencing methods

We have examined DNA sequence error as a function of length using both a manual method of performing reactions with Sequenase and an automated Taq cycle sequencing method. DNA fragments from both methods were separated and analyzed on a sequencer. To determine the sequence of a cosmid insert (35.3 kb), 379 sequences were obtained from a manual Sequenase method, and 354 sequences were obtained from a Taq cycle sequencing method as performed on an automated robotic workstation and sequenced on an automated fluorescent sequencer. A highly redundant consensus of these sequences was obtained and aligned with the individual sequences to determine sequence error over the length of each sequence. The results of this study indicate that error is about 1% per position over the first 350 nucleotides, but increases thereafter to about 17% at 500 nucleotides. This pattern of accuracy was nearly equivalent for manual Sequenase methods and automated Taq cycle sequencing methods. The potential of these methods in large-scale DNA sequencing projects is discussed.

Acute aortic insufficiency in a patient with presumed Reiter's syndrome

Cardiac disease is rare in patients with Reiter's syndrome. There have been 15 reported cases of aortic insufficiency in patients with Reiter's syndrome, with the aortic insufficiency developing over several years. This paper reports the case of a black HLA-B27 negative woman who presented with Reiter's syndrome and acute aortic insufficiency. An antecedent streptococcal infection is suggested as the inciting factor. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Reiter's syndrome in a black woman with acute aortic insufficiency.

Thoracic vertebral fracture as a complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation

We report the case of a 76-year-old woman who suffered cardiopulmonary arrest three days after being hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction. She underwent standard cardiopulmonary resuscitative measures for approximately 25 min before being pronounced dead. Autopsy examination revealed a recent myocardial infarction, as well as an acutely fractured tenth thoracic vertebra. Thoracic vertebral fractures are a previously unrecognized complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Facilitating word combination in language-impaired children through discourse structure

The influence of an adult-child discourse structure on the production of early word combinations was examined in language-impaired children. The subjects were 10 children (2:8-3:4) at the single-word utterance level. Eight of the children were engaged in 10 experimental sessions utilizing vertical structures (e.g., Adult: "Who's this?" Child: "Daddy." Adult: "What's Daddy throwing?" Child: "Ball." Adult: "Yeah, Daddy's throwing the ball."), while the remaining children, serving as controls, were engaged in an alternate activity. Examination of pretest and posttest data as well as session data revealed a substantial increase in the number of multiword productions for most of the children in the experimental group but not for the children serving as controls. These findings indicate that vertical structures have a facilitating effect on the multiword productions of language-impaired children comparable to that found in an identical procedure with normally developing children. The use of a naturally occurring adult-child discourse structure as an intervention procedure is discussed.

Injury account during the 1980 NCAA wrestling championships

Data were gathered during the 1980 NCAA Wrestling Championships in order to document various specifics involving the injuries sustained by the participating athletes. Any time a match was stopped for medical reasons, specific information was recorded and later organized to indicate any injury tendencies in wrestling. Of the 353 athletes who participated in the championships, 110 incurred injuries requiring the attention of a physician and/or an athletic trainer. Results indicated an overall injury rate per athlete of 31.2% with no conclusive trends considering the weight classification. Injury variety was great with only six athletes (5.5%) injured severe enough to require withdrawal from the tournament. The head-face-neck region was the most commonly injured area (36.4%). Data suggest the fatigue may affect the injury rate while results related to wrestler position and match score seemed to be inconclusive.