Sphingomonas Paucimobilis: A Rare Infectious Agent Found in Cerebrospinal Fluid

Sphingomonas paucimobilis (S. paucimobilis) is a gram negative bacillus. It has existed in soil, drinking water and plants. It has been isolated from distilled water tanks, respirators, and hemodialysis devices at the hospital setting. Patients with chronic disorders or immune suppression may be susceptible to infections with it. This microorganism has also been reported to infect healthy persons. Both nosocomial and community-acquired infections have been reported. So far, a variety of infections have been reported, including sepsis, septic pulmonary embolism, septic arthritis, peritonitis, and endophthalmitis. Only 2 cases of meningitis have been reported so far in the literature. So far, no previous reports of culture proliferation have been reported in patients with external ventricular drains, as was the case in our patient. Therefore, our case is the first to have S. paucimobilis proliferation in cerebrospinal fluid culture during intensive care unit stay for an external ventricular drain.

Importance of structured training programs and good role models in hand hygiene in developing countries

The aim of this study is to identify the beliefs and perceptions associated with hand hygiene performance in two different institutions with limited resources and recently established infection control programme later than developed institutions. The study was conducted in two different hospitals [University Hospital-U-hospital and Community Hospital-C-hospital] in the same city by a selfadministered questionnaire. Most questions were drawn from questionnaires used previously in other studies from "industrialized" countries based on "The Theory of Planned Behavior". All nurses, nurse students [last class], physicians and intern medical students in the U-hospital, and all nurses in the C-hospital were included into the study. Of 1764 questionnaires, 941 [41%] were returned. The return rate was highest for nurses in C-hospital [63.8% [303 of 475]] and lowest for senior physicians in U-hospital [7.5% [16 of 212]]. Out of the respondent a total of 16 [1.7%] were senior physicians, 110 [11.6%] were physician assistants, 400 [42.6%] were nurses in the U-hospital, 303 [32%] were nurses in the C-hospital, 66 [7%] were medical students and 46 [4.9%] were nurse students. Seven hundred and ninety five [85.9%] of 926 respondents were female. Respondents provided demographic information and data about various behavioral, normative, and control beliefs that determined their intentions with respect to performing hand hygiene. Among individuals from the other professional categories, a greater percentage of U-hospital nurses [57.6% vs. 53.9%, respectively] believed that healthcare-associated infections to be greater than 20%, and mortality rate among infected patients to be greater than 5%. C-hospital nurses generally believed the frequency, severity, and impact of healthcare-associated infections to be lower than U-hospital nurses and other individuals. However, all professional categories believed that good hand hygiene effectively prevents infections [98%]. In univariate analysis, receipt of structured training in hand hygiene, perceived colleagues adherence's as good, adherence models good practices for others, having been observed for their adherence [normative beliefs], the perception that hand hygiene is relatively easy to perform and high workload [control beliefs] was associated with good hand hygiene. However, in multivariate analysis, high self reported adherence to hand hygiene was independently associated with receipt of structured training in hand hygiene, perceived good adherence by colleagues, the perception that hand hygiene is relatively easy to perform and having been observed for their adherence. In a country with limited resources, intention to comply was associated with training and strong normative and control beliefs. Also, in two different kinds of institution with the similar hand hygiene promotion campaign in the same city, the believes of nurses were different. In developing countries, more resources have to be allocated for training of HCWs and easy access for hand hygiene products

Histological evaluation of the effects of bioglass, hydroxyapatite, or dernineralized freeze-dried bone, grafted alone or as composites, on the healing of tibial defects in rabbits

To compare the effectiveness of bioactive glass [BG], natural hydroxyapatite [HA], and demineralized freeze-dried bone [DFDB] in bone defects. All animal experiments were conducted in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, under the Selcuk University Guidelines for Animal Experimentation, in 2005. Eighteen New Zealand rabbits were used for the experiment. Four cavities were prepared on right and left tibias. The cavities on the right tibia were filled with either BG, HA or DFDB. One cavity was left empty as a control. The cavities on the other tibial bone were grafted with HA+BG, HA+DFDB, BG+DFDB and HA+BG+DFDB composites. Histological examinations were performed at first, third, and sixth postoperative months. According to histomorphometric findings, the mixture containing HA+BG+DFDB obtained the best histological results [p < 0.05]. The composite graft of HA, BG and DFDB is more effective than when used as individual agents

Determination of the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on the percentages of peripheral blood leukocytes and histology of lymphoid organs of the mouse

To determine the effects of very weak, extremely low frequency [50 Hz] electromagnetic field [ELF-EMF] on the relative spleen weight, lymphoid organ histology, peripheral blood leukocyte and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase positive [ANAE- positive] lymphocyte percentages of the mouse. The study was carried out in Scientific Research and Application Center of Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey in 2005. A total of 120 Swiss albino mice were divided into 6 groups [20 in each group]. The experimental animals were exposed to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 uT flux intensities [rms] of EMF at 50 Hz for 40 days. In the exposure groups with 20 animals, the body weight [BW] increased gradually in higher field intensities and reached at peak level in the 4 uT, and then slightly decreased. The relative spleen weight [% of the BW] was not affected. The ELF-EMF treatment did not cause any significant change in lymphocyte, monocyte and ANAE-positive lymphocyte ratios, whereas percentages of neutrophils and basophiles changed non-linearly. Any change in the lymphoid organ histology, which is attributable to the field effect, was not observed in the exposure groups. Extremely low frequency-EMF exposure with the flux intensities between 1-5 uT for 40 days did not cause any effect on the relative spleen weight, lymphoid organ histology, leukocyte and ANAE-positive lymphocyte percentages of the mouse