User-friendly one-step disposable signal-on bioassay for glyphosate detection in water samples.

The onsite detection of glyphosate requires an easy-to-handle, low-cost and disposable assay for untrained users as requested by the ASSURED guidelines. A new strategy based on the expression of fusion proteins is proposed here. A glyphosate oxidase derived from Bacillus subtilis and the 6E10 variant of the dye peroxidase from Pseudomonas putida, both fused with the carbohydrate binding module (CBM) 3a from Clostridium thermocellum, were designed and expressed, leading to GlyphOx-CBM and 6E10-CBM. Cell lysates were used to immobilise both enzymes on cotton buds' heads without any purification. The cotton buds exhibit glyphosate oxidase activity when dipped into a glyphosate-contaminated water sample containing the 6E10-CBM chromogenic substrates. The chromophore could be quantified both in the solution and on the cotton buds' heads. Photography followed by image analysis allows to detect glyphosate with a linear range of 0.25-2.5 mM and a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.12 mM. When the chromogenic substrates are replaced by luminol, the chemiluminescence reaction allows the detection of glyphosate with a linear range of 2-500 µM and a LoD of 0.45 µM. No interference was observed using glyphosate analogues (glycine, sarcosine, aminomethylphosphonic acid) or other herbicides used in a mixture. Only cysteine was found to inhibit 6E10-CBM. Two river waters spiked with glyphosate lead to recoveries of 64-131%. This work describes a very easy-to-handle and inexpensive signal-on bioassay for glyphosate detection in real surface water samples.

Cardiovascular severe maternal morbidity in pregnant and postpartum women: development and internal validation of risk prediction models.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and internally validate risk prediction models identifying women at risk for cardiovascular severe maternal morbidity (CSMM). DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: An obstetric teaching hospital between 2007 and 2017. POPULATION: A total of 89 681 delivery hospitalisations. METHODS: We created and evaluated two models, one predicting CSMM at delivery (delivery model) and the other predicting CSMM postpartum following discharge from delivery hospitalisation (postpartum CSMM). We assessed model discrimination and calibration and used bootstrapping for internal validation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cardiovascular severe maternal morbidity comprised the following confirmed conditions: pulmonary oedema/acute heart failure, myocardial infarction, aneurysm, cardiac arrest/ventricular fibrillation, heart failure/arrest during surgery or procedure, cerebrovascular disorders, cardiogenic shock, conversion of cardiac rhythm and difficult-to-control severe hypertension. RESULTS: The delivery model contained 11 variables and 3 interaction terms. The strongest predictors were gestational hypertension, chronic hypertension, multiple gestation, cardiac lesions or valvular heart disease, maternal age ≥40 years and history of poor pregnancy outcome. The postpartum model comprised eight variables. The strongest predictors were severe pre-eclampsia, non-Hispanic Black race/ethnicity, chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, non-severe pre-eclampsia and maternal age ≥40 years at delivery. The delivery and postpartum models had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.87 (95% CI 0.85-0.89) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.80-0.90), respectively. Both models were adequately calibrated and performed well on internal validation. CONCLUSIONS: These tools may help providers to identify women at highest risk of CSMM and enable future prevention measures. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Risk assessment tools for cardiovascular severe maternal morbidity were developed and internally validated.

Collectis automated boar collection technology.

The challenge of employee management, the difficulty to find adequate labor, and constant pressure on production costs, have been major challenges for boar stud managers worldwide. Since the early 1990s, equipment suppliers have been offering multiple solutions for automation for semen collection and processing. Most of these have centered around the laboratory, but a few have addressed semen collection, as it is one of the more labor-intensive aspects of a boar center. In 2000, Genes Diffusion (Douai, France) developed an automatic boar collection system (Collectis). The system was first tested and implemented in France, and subsequently tested in other countries over the last 3 years. In the present study, we provide a large data set related to the use of Collectis. It was noteworthy that Collectis had no impact on semen output (number of doses/boar), but had a significant impact on labor, increasing the number of collections per employee per hour by 90%.

Impacto del proyecto itersocietario de trauma en Rafaela: período 1996-2003 / Impact of trauma project in Rafaela city since 1996 to 2003

Antecedentes: El trauma o lesiones por causas extremas constituyen la primera causa de muerte en Argentina entre el primer año de vida y los 44. Objetivo: presentar la experiencia obtenida en la aplicación y desarrollo en Rafaela del Proyecto Intersocietario de Trauma (PIT) y su impacto en la comunidad. Diseño: Método operativo de investigación epidemiológico con transferencia de estrategias basadas en el análisis de circunatancias de ocurrencia. Lugar: Ciudad de Rafaela, Provincia de Santa Fé, Argentina. Población: 3040 víctimas politraumatizadas internadas en las instituciones médicas de Rafaela. Método: Incorporación y análisis de datos de pacientes, adultos y niños politraumatizados incorporados a un sistema de información durante el periodo octubre 1996-septiembre 1997. Elaboración de estrategias de prevención primaria basadas en el informe epidemiológico. Resultados: Promedio de edad 21,8 años (amplitud 0 a 98 años). El 73,4 por ciento de las víctimas tenia menos de 30 años de edad. Género: 65,2 por ciento fueron varones. De acuerdo a la Clasificación Internacional C10, las lesiones no intencionales representan el 95 por ciento del total. El 60 por ciento de los lesionados correspondieron a lesiones por "Otras causas externas de morbilidad y mortalidad" y dentro de éstas las caídas representaron el 43,3 por ciento. Los "Accidentes de Transporte" generaron el 35,6 por ciento de las lesiones. Las víctimas fallecidas por accidentes vehículares fueron 16 durante el año 1998, 13 en 1999, 12 en 2000, 13 en 2001, 6 en 2002 y 7 durante 2003. El número de internaciones de niños con lesiones por quemaduras fue de 68 durante el periodo 1993-1997 y de 50 para el período 1998-2001. Comentarios: El Proyecto Intersocietarios de Trauma (P.I.T.) en Rafaela, desarrolló un plan para la transferencia de conocimiento de las entidades científicas, mediante un proceso de autogestión comunitaria, destinado a generar programas de prevención primaria en lesiones de causa externas. La comunidad de Rafaela eligió realizar acciones de prevención sobre los accidentes de tránsito, tanto niños como en adultos. La detección del problema relacionado al aumento progresivo del número de niños internados por quemaduras generó medidas de prevención relacionadas con este tema. Los resultados obtenidos son muy estimulantes ya que se observó la franca disminución del número de accidentes... (AU)

Impacto del proyecto itersocietario de trauma en Rafaela: período 1996-2003 / Impact of trauma project in Rafaela city since 1996 to 2003

Antecedentes: El trauma o lesiones por causas extremas constituyen la primera causa de muerte en Argentina entre el primer año de vida y los 44. Objetivo: presentar la experiencia obtenida en la aplicación y desarrollo en Rafaela del Proyecto Intersocietario de Trauma (PIT) y su impacto en la comunidad. Diseño: Método operativo de investigación epidemiológico con transferencia de estrategias basadas en el análisis de circunatancias de ocurrencia. Lugar: Ciudad de Rafaela, Provincia de Santa Fé, Argentina. Población: 3040 víctimas politraumatizadas internadas en las instituciones médicas de Rafaela. Método: Incorporación y análisis de datos de pacientes, adultos y niños politraumatizados incorporados a un sistema de información durante el periodo octubre 1996-septiembre 1997. Elaboración de estrategias de prevención primaria basadas en el informe epidemiológico. Resultados: Promedio de edad 21,8 años (amplitud 0 a 98 años). El 73,4 por ciento de las víctimas tenia menos de 30 años de edad. Género: 65,2 por ciento fueron varones. De acuerdo a la Clasificación Internacional C10, las lesiones no intencionales representan el 95 por ciento del total. El 60 por ciento de los lesionados correspondieron a lesiones por "Otras causas externas de morbilidad y mortalidad" y dentro de éstas las caídas representaron el 43,3 por ciento. Los "Accidentes de Transporte" generaron el 35,6 por ciento de las lesiones. Las víctimas fallecidas por accidentes vehículares fueron 16 durante el año 1998, 13 en 1999, 12 en 2000, 13 en 2001, 6 en 2002 y 7 durante 2003. El número de internaciones de niños con lesiones por quemaduras fue de 68 durante el periodo 1993-1997 y de 50 para el período 1998-2001. Comentarios: El Proyecto Intersocietarios de Trauma (P.I.T.) en Rafaela, desarrolló un plan para la transferencia de conocimiento de las entidades científicas, mediante un proceso de autogestión comunitaria, destinado a generar programas de prevención primaria en lesiones de causa externas. La comunidad de Rafaela eligió realizar acciones de prevención sobre los accidentes de tránsito, tanto niños como en adultos. La detección del problema relacionado al aumento progresivo del número de niños internados por quemaduras generó medidas de prevención relacionadas con este tema. Los resultados obtenidos son muy estimulantes ya que se observó la franca disminución del número de accidentes...

Postoperative Serratia marcescens wound infections traced to an out-of-hospital source.

From 25 August to 28 September 1994, 7 cardiovascular surgery (CVS) patients at a California hospital acquired postoperative Serratia marcescens infections, and 1 died. To identify the outbreak source, a cohort study was done of all 55 adults who underwent CVS at the hospital during the outbreak. Specimens from the hospital environment and from hands of selected staff were cultured. S. marcescens isolates were compared using restriction-endonuclease analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Several risk factors for S. marcescens infection were identified, but hospital and hand cultures were negative. In October, a patient exposed to scrub nurse A (who wore artificial fingernails) and to another nurse-but not to other identified risk factors-became infected with the outbreak strain. Subsequent cultures from nurse A's home identified the strain in a jar of exfoliant cream. Removal of the cream ended the outbreak. S. marcescens does not normally colonize human skin, but artificial nails may have facilitated transmission via nurse A's hands.

Sterile versus clean technique in postoperative wound care of patients with open surgical wounds: a pilot study.

PURPOSE: This study was completed to determine whether there were differences between sterile versus clean dressing change technique for open surgical wounds in the postoperative period with respect to (1) rate of wound healing and (2) cost of supplies. METHODS: A two-group design was used for this pilot study. Of a sample of 30 patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal operations with wounds healing by secondary intention, 15 were men and 15 were women. Mean age was 40.6 years (SD 13.0 years). Patients were randomly assigned to receive clean or sterile dressings, and the intervention was begun on the first postoperative day and repeated three times a day until discharge from the hospital. Analysis of rate of healing was performed with the Mann-Whitney U test: cost analysis was completed with a t test. FINDINGS: Subjects were studied for 3 to 9 days. Groups were homogeneous of the start of treatment with respect to age, length of operation, wound volume, nutritional status, and perfusion. There was no difference in rate of wound healing between the clean and sterile groups. Mean cost was significantly less for the clean group than for the sterile group. CONCLUSION: These pilot study data show no difference in rate of wound healing with clean versus sterile technique, and clean technique is less expensive. These findings need to be confirmed with a larger sample; type II error cannot be ruled out.

[Benign non-parasitic splenic cysts. 9 cases]. / Kystes spléniques bénins non parasitaires. 9 observations.

Benign non-parasitic splenic cysts are uncommon. Their diagnosis can benefit from ultrasounds and computed tomography. However, it may be difficult, before surgery, to distinguish between true cysts, which are congenital with epidermal lining, and false cysts, which are consecutive to a trauma, inflammatory or degenerative, without epidermal lining. We report nine cases of non-parasitic splenic cysts and try to determine the preoperative diagnostic approach. To prevent the overwhelming post-splenectomy infection syndrome, conservative surgical treatment is mandatory. Various surgical methods are discussed.

[Synchronous bilateral cancer of the kidney in the adult. Apropos of a case]. / Cancer du rein bilatéral synchrone chez l'adulte. A propos d'un cas.

Following a case of synchronous bilateral renal cancer, we carried out a review of the literature and defined the specific therapeutic and prognostic characteristics of this clinical condition. Conservative surgery should be proposed as first line treatment. Results in terms of survival depend on the histological characteristics of the more affected kidney. The prognosis is relatively good in general and better than that of unilateral cancer.

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis in a university medical center ophthalmology clinic; need for re-evaluation of the design and disinfection of instruments.

During the period from early December 1987 to late January 1988, an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) caused by adenovirus type 8 occurred at a university medical center eye clinic. A telephone survey of patients revealed an attack rate of 17% among patients seen during the epidemic period. A case-control study demonstrated that development of EKC was associated with exposure to pneumotonometry and to three caregivers. After controlling for exposure to pneumotonometry, however, only exposure to one caregiver was significantly associated with risk of the disease. On January 19, 1988, after recognition of the outbreak, the eye clinic instituted additional infection control measures. A survey of patients seen the following week showed a substantial decrease in the attack rate (1.9%). Before these control measures were implemented, clinic personnel had followed the manufacturer's recommendations and disinfected pneumotonometer tips with 70% isopropyl alcohol, fearing that other disinfectants would corrode the instrument metal. Isopropyl alcohol, shown to have limited activity against adenovirus in vitro, also was being used to "disinfect" pneumotonometer tips between uses at six other area eye clinics polled by telephone. The results of this study demonstrate the need for changes in the design and manufacture of equipment used in the eye clinic.

Considerations and controversies of AIDS.

The statistical probability of seroconversion is proportional to the number of needlesticks incurred and the likelihood that the needlesticks will be with HIV infected blood. Careful adherence to recommended operating room practices, combined with meticulous attention to handling needles and sharps, should result in few, if any, cases of occupational HIV seroconversion among OR personnel. HIV testing is not feasible in the management of emergency patients; these are often the individuals at highest risk for HIV infection and over whom the surgical team has the least control. Non-operative treatment of HIV-infected patients is not an option; many procedures are performed either to enable the individual to lead a more comfortable, productive life or for diagnostic purposes.

[Saccular aneurysm of the superior vena cava]. / Anévrisme sacciforme de la veine cave supérieure.

The authors report a case of a saccular aneurysm of the superior vena cava in a 38 year old female. The diagnosis could only be made at thoracotomy because of the additional difficulty posed by a complete thrombosis of the aneurysmal pocket, which produced a particularly deceptive CT image. This type of lesion is exceptionally rare as a cause of a mediastinal "tumour" since only 24 cases of congenital aneurysm of the superior vena cava have been reported, of which only 4 were of the saccular type.

[Dissecting osteochondritis of the patella. Apropos of 12 cases]. / L'ostéochondrite disséquante de la rotule. A propos de 12 observations.

The authors report 12 cases of osteochondritis dissecans of the patella. The relative rarity of this condition (one hundred published cases) is perhaps only apparent, as the diagnosis is sometimes difficult early in the disease. Drawing from their personal cases and from data in the literature, the authors recall the clinical and radiological signs, describe the place of complementary investigations and therapeutic indications and discuss the various pathogenic theories, none of which are fully satisfactory.

[Pleuro-pulmonary complications of typhoid fever. 1case]. / Les complications pleuro-pulmonaires de la fièvre typhoïde. A propos d'une observation.

The authors report a case of typhoid fever with pleuro-pulmonary complications and recall their characteristics: Usually early (second week), may appear under treatment, whereas the disease evolves normally. Characterised by the absence of infective phenomena, the multiple manifestations, the fleeting course and the favourable prognosis. This corresponds to the pleuro-pulmonary typhus syndrome described long ago, which is probably due to immunological phenomena. Sometimes late, evolving towards suppuration, abscess formation and empyema with presence of typhoid bacilli, rarely seen nowadays.