01/14/2025


The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features, distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of Nocardia species isolated from pulmonary nocardiosis cases in tertiary hospital in China. The species were collected from January 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019 and identified using MALDI-TOF MS or PCR. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the broth microdilution method. Within the 44 Nocardia species, N. farcinica was the most frequently identified species (n = 36), followed by N. nova (n = 5), N. otitidiscaviarum (n = 1), N. cyriacigeorgica (n = 1), and N. transvalensis (n = 1). The top three predisposing factors of pulmonary nocardiosis were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (45.5%), hypertension (34.1%), and tuberculosis (31.8%). All 44 Nocardia strains were susceptible to amikacin, trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole, and linezolid. The resistance rates of Nocardia to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, ceftriaxone, tobramycin, and imipenem were 4.5%, 9.1%, 79.5%, 72.7%, 63.6%, and 38.6%, respectively. Two Nocardia strains had decreased sensitivity to trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole. In conclusion, N. farcinica was the most frequently isolated Nocardia species in the First Hospital of Changsha. All isolated clinical Nocardia strains showed susceptible to amikacin, trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole, and linezolid, suggesting that these drugs can be primary therapeutic choices for treating Nocardia infections.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading worldwide and is a public health problem. Although real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is gold standard for diagnosing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and there are many reports discussing it, reports about loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) tests for SARS-CoV-2, especially in children, are limited. We report the test results of three children with COVID-19 in a family cluster and assess the results of LAMP tests. The LAMP results of these children showed a sensitivity and specificity of 63.6% and 100%, respectively, that was relative to the RT-PCR results. LAMP tests using nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and RT-PCR were almost consistent throughout hospitalization in the school children, except in the very early stage of infection. The preliminary results suggest that salivary samples would be less sensitive than NPS for LAMP testing in the late stage of infection, and that LAMP would not provide accurate results in neonates.Mouse antibodies specific to dengue NS1 have been widely studied for their cross-reactivity with several human molecules. This is the first cross-reactivity study of dengue NS1 specific human monoclonal antibodies (HuMAbs), isolated from DENV2 infected patients. Nine anti-NS1 HuMAbs derived mainly from convalescent-phase patients with secondary DENV-2 infections were characterized. Their cross-reactivity with plasminogen, thrombin, and endothelial cells was investigated, and then plasmin-formation assays were performed. All anti-NS1 HuMAbs were cross-reactive with human plasminogen (Plg), but not thrombin and endothelial cells. Moreover, all HuMAbs that showed cross-reactivity with Plg converted Plg to plasmin in a plasmin-formation assay. These results suggest the implications and drawbacks of anti-NS1 antibodies for immunotherapy.Mayer and Trezek offer a rejoinder to an article by Scott, Dostal, and Lane-Outlaw in which Scott et al. challenge the findings and conclusions of a literature review by Mayer and Trezek published in the Winter 2020 American Annals of the Deaf. Both the rejoinder and the article by Scott et al. appear in the Annals' Spring 2021 issue. Mayer and Trezek reiterate the rationale and aims of their review, as well as the process for conducting it, emphasizing the need for empirical evidence to inform policy and practice in deaf education. They also address observations made in terms of (a) factors to be considered when generating or consuming research and (b) the nature of the search procedures that are used. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pexidartinib-plx3397.html Mayer and Trezek conclude by restating the findings of their review and the implications of these findings for the field moving forward.Scott, Dostal, and Lane-Outlaw challenge findings and conclusions from a literature review by Mayer and Trezek regarding the literacy achievement of deaf children who are educated in schools and programs that espouse bilingual ASL/English instruction. Mayer and Trezek's article appeared in the Winter 2020 American Annals of the Deaf. In addition to responding to Mayer and Trezek's findings and conclusions, Scott et al. outline factors they consider important for all researchers and practitioners who generate and consume knowledge regarding bi- and multilingual deaf education. Specifically, they recommend careful attention to and inclusion of individual- and school-level variables, use of appropriate comparison groups, and valuing of information acquired through various methodologies (both quantitative and qualitative). These recommendations are made in the spirit of improving the state of knowledge and the production and consumption of research that informs policy and practice in bi- and multilingual deaf education.The researchers' primary purpose was to determine which independent predictors affect the probability that physical education (PE) will be popular among teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing; that they will consider PE important and undemanding; that they will feel comfortable with PE; and whether they will be disappointed when a PE class is canceled. Three predictors were confirmed (a) teenagers' sports participation (competitive versus recreational versus no sports); (b) gender (boys versus girls); (c) father (participating in sports versus not participating). Sports participation significantly affected evaluation of the difficulty of PE Teenagers who played no sports were more likely to rate PE as a demanding subject than teenagers who played a sport competitively. Additionally, sports participation significantly affected evaluation of a canceled PE class Teenagers who played a recreational sport were less likely to be happy about a canceled class.