Time-Resolved Fuel Density Profiles of the Stagnation Phase of Indirect-Drive Inertial Confinement Implosions.

The implosion efficiency in inertial confinement fusion depends on the degree of stagnated fuel compression, density uniformity, sphericity, and minimum residual kinetic energy achieved. Compton scattering-mediated 50-200 keV x-ray radiographs of indirect-drive cryogenic implosions at the National Ignition Facility capture the dynamic evolution of the fuel as it goes through peak compression, revealing low-mode 3D nonuniformities and thicker fuel with lower peak density than simulated. By differencing two radiographs taken at different times during the same implosion, we also measure the residual kinetic energy not transferred to the hot spot and quantify its impact on the implosion performance.

The Crystal Backlighter Imager: A spherically bent crystal imager for radiography on the National Ignition Facility.

The Crystal Backlighter Imager (CBI) is a quasi-monochromatic, near-normal incidence, spherically bent crystal imager developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which will allow inertial confinement fusion capsule implosions to be radiographed close to stagnation. This is not possible using the standard pinhole-based area-backlighter configuration, as the self-emission from the capsule hotspot overwhelms the backlighter signal in the final stages of the implosion. The CBI mitigates the broadband self-emission from the capsule hot spot by using the extremely narrow bandwidth inherent to near-normal-incidence Bragg diffraction. Implementing a backlighter system based on near-normal reflection in the NIF chamber presents unique challenges, requiring the CBI to adopt novel engineering and operational strategies. The CBI currently operates with an 11.6 keV backlighter, making it the highest energy radiography diagnostic based on spherically bent crystals to date. For a given velocity, Doppler shift is proportional to the emitted photon energy. At 11.6 keV, the ablation velocity of the backlighter plasma results in a Doppler shift that is significant compared to the bandwidth of the instrument and the width of the atomic line, requiring that the shift be measured to high accuracy and the optics aligned accordingly to compensate. Experiments will be presented that used the CBI itself to measure the backlighter Doppler shift to an accuracy of better than 1 eV. These experiments also measured the spatial resolution of CBI radiographs at 7.0 µm, close to theoretical predictions. Finally, results will be presented from an experiment in which the CBI radiographed a capsule implosion driven by a 1 MJ NIF laser pulse, demonstrating a significant (>100) improvement in the backlighter to self-emission ratio compared to the pinhole-based area-backlighter configuration.

beta-Lactam resistance in salmonella strains isolated from retail meats in the United States by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System between 2002 and 2006.

Ampicillin-resistant (Amp(r)) Salmonella enterica isolates (n = 344) representing 32 serotypes isolated from retail meats from 2002 to 2006 were tested for susceptibility to 21 other antimicrobial agents and screened for the presence of five beta-lactamase gene families (bla(CMY), bla(TEM), bla(SHV), bla(OXA), and bla(CTX-M)) and class 1 integrons. Among the Amp(r) isolates, 66.9% were resistant to five or more antimicrobials and 4.9% were resistant to 10 or more antimicrobials. Coresistance to other beta-lactams was noted for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (55.5%), ceftiofur (50%), cefoxitin (50%), and ceftazidime (24.7%), whereas less than 5% of isolates were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam (4.9%), cefotaxime (3.5%), ceftriaxone (2%), and aztreonam (1.2%). All isolates were susceptible to cefepime, imipenem, and cefquinome. No Salmonella producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases was found in this study. Approximately 7% of the isolates displayed a typical multidrug-resistant (MDR)-AmpC phenotype, with resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfonamide, tetracycline, plus resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, and ceftiofur and with decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone (MIC > or = 4 microg/ml). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis results showed that several MDR clones were geographically dispersed in different types of meats throughout the five sampling years. Additionally, 50% of the isolates contained bla(CMY), 47% carried bla(TEM-1), and 2.6% carried both genes. Only 15% of the isolates harbored class I integrons carrying various combinations of aadA, aadB, and dfrA gene cassettes. The bla(CMY), bla(TEM), and class 1 integrons were transferable through conjugation and/or transformation. Our findings indicate that a varied spectrum of coresistance traits is present in Amp(r) Salmonella strains in the meat supply of the United States, with a continued predominance of bla(CMY) and bla(TEM) genes in beta-lactam-resistant isolates.

Antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg isolates from retail meats, including poultry, from 2002 to 2006.

Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg frequently causes food-borne illness in humans. There are few data on the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, and genetic diversity of Salmonella serovar Heidelberg isolates in retail meats. We compared the prevalences of Salmonella serovar Heidelberg in a sampling of 20,295 meats, including chicken breast (n = 5,075), ground turkey (n = 5,044), ground beef (n = 5,100), and pork chops (n = 5,076), collected during 2002 to 2006. Isolates were analyzed for antimicrobial susceptibility and compared genetically using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and PCR for the bla(CMY) gene. A total of 298 Salmonella serovar Heidelberg isolates were recovered, representing 21.6% of all Salmonella serovars from retail meats. One hundred seventy-eight (59.7%) were from ground turkey, 110 (36.9%) were from chicken breast, and 10 (3.4%) were from pork chops; none was found in ground beef. One hundred ninety-eight isolates (66.4%) were resistant to at least one compound, and 49 (16.4%) were resistant to at least five compounds. Six isolates (2.0%), all from ground turkey, were resistant to at least nine antimicrobials. The highest resistance in poultry isolates was to tetracycline (39.9%), followed by streptomycin (37.8%), sulfamethoxazole (27.7%), gentamicin (25.7%), kanamycin (21.5%), ampicillin (19.8%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (10.4%), and ceftiofur (9.0%). All isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin. All ceftiofur-resistant strains carried bla(CMY). PFGE using XbaI and BlnI showed that certain clones were widely dispersed in different types of meats and meat brands from different store chains in all five sampling years. These data indicate that Salmonella serovar Heidelberg is a common serovar in retail poultry meats and includes widespread clones of multidrug-resistant strains.

Characterization of multidrug resistant Salmonella recovered from diseased animals.

Three hundred and eighty Salmonella isolates recovered from animal diagnostic samples obtained from four state veterinary diagnostic laboratories (AZ, NC, MO, and TN) between 2002 and 2003 were tested for antimicrobial susceptibilities and further characterized for bla(CMY) beta-lactamase genes, class 1 integrons and genetic relatedness using PFGE. Forty-seven serovars were identified, the most common being S. Typhimurium (26%), S. Heidelberg (9%), S, Dublin (8%), S. Newport (8%), S. Derby (7%), and S. Choleraesuis (7%). Three hundred and thirteen (82%) isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, and 265 (70%) to three or more antimicrobials. Resistance was most often observed to tetracycline (78%), followed by streptomycin (73%), sulfamethoxazole (68%), and ampicillin (54%), and to a lesser extent chloramphenicol (37%), kanamycin (37%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (20%), and ceftiofur (17%). With regards to animal of origin, swine Salmonella isolates displayed the highest rate of resistance, being resistant to at least one antimicrobial (92%), followed by those recovered from turkey (91%), cattle (77%), chicken (68%), and equine (20%). Serovars commonly showing multidrug resistance (MDR) to > or =9 antimicrobials were S. Uganda (100%), S. Agona (79%), and S. Newport (62%), compared to S. Heidelberg (11%) and S. Typhimurium (7%). Class-1 integrons were detected in 43% of all isolates, and were found to contain aadA, aadB, dhfr, cmlA and sat1 gene cassettes alone or in various combinations. All ceftiofur resistant isolates (n=66) carried the bla(CMY) beta-lactamase gene. A total of 230 PFGE patterns were generated among the 380 isolates tested using XbaI, indicating extensive genetic diversity across recovered Salmonella serovars, however, several MDR clones were repeatedly recovered from different diseased animals.

Differential cytokine mRNA expression in swine whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures.

The kinetics of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 gene expression in concanavalin A (Con A)-activated whole blood (WB) and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures were examined using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Unstimulated PBMC or WB cultures failed to show increases in basal cytokine PCR amplicon levels for any cytokine examined. PBMC cultures demonstrated peak expression of IL-2, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 mRNA levels at 12, 24, 24 and 6h, respectively. WB cultures exhibited peak IL-2, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 mRNA levels at 24, 12, 6 and 24h, respectively. PBMC cultures consistently exhibited higher levels of IL-2 mRNA at all times examined than did WB cultures. WB cultures consistently had higher levels of IL-6 mRNA than PBMC cultures. IL-8 and IL-10 protein levels in PBMC cultures were first detected 12h after stimulation and continued to increase in concentration through 48h. In WB cultures, IL-8 and IL-10 protein levels were first noted at 12 and 6h, respectively. WB culture IL-8 and IL-10 levels quickly reached equilibrium after being detected and remained at levels lower than those noted in PBMC cultures. These results show WB cultures represent an approach with reduced cost and time when compared to traditional cell culture and isolation methods. It may also produce an in vitro test system that more closely resembles in vivo conditions.