Methodological aspects of Klebsiella pneumoniae serotyping and its use for characterization of clinical isolates

The method for serological typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae making use of Russian commercial K-sera manufactured by the Ilya Metchnikoff firm has been used to characterize 85 strains isolated from newborns at an obstetrical hospital and department of newborn diseases and from children with acute enteric infections hospitalized at the hospital for infectious diseases. The authors emphasize that their methods of serotyping are to be accurately performed, specifically, the selection of capsular forms and identification of serovars in strains which can be agglutinated by several sera. Serovars were identified by the proposed serotyping method in 89.4% of the studied strains. A wide spectrum of K-serovars typical of this or that hospital has been defined for each institution. K. pneumoniae K2 predominated in the obstetrical hospital, K. pneumoniae K24 and K25 prevailed in department for newborn diseases, and the K14 variant in the infectious diseases hospital.     

Current role of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in surgery

In urology the introduction of extracorporeal shockwave therapy brought a revolutionary change to the management of urinary calculi. This inspired the introduction of shockwave therapy in several fields of surgery; it has been applied as a potential alternative to several operative procedures but is still experimental. So far, the major application of shockwave therapy has been lithotripsy of stones in the gallbladder, common bile duct, pancreatic duct and salivary gland ducts. Other applications are in the non-operative management of bone healing disturbances and in the inhibition of tumour growth. Steps towards selective thrombus ablation and pretreatment of heavily calcified arteries have also been made. In this review, the applications of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in several areas of surgery are discussed. It is concluded that, for selected patients, shockwave treatment may serve as a useful addition to the surgical armamentarium.     

Coexistence of nematodes Trichostrongyloidea in marsupials from French Guyana (author''s transl)

Analysis of the helminthofauna of two Didelphis marsupialis, compared to that of a Metachirops opossum from the same area, studied by Durette-Desset, 1974. Except for their similarities in the general repartition of the species, the two Marsupials are easily differentiated: the dominant species is not the same. The location of common or "vicariant" species is stable. In opposition to former notions, the fauna appears to be composed of but one lineage, except for Moennigia, which would appear as captures from Xenarthes.     

Multi-Objective Optimization of Grooved Gas Journal Bearings for Robustness in Manufacturing Tolerances

Abstract

A tolerancing method highlighting trade-offs against key design variables of mechanical systems is proposed and applied to herringbone-grooved gas journal bearings. Gas bearings typically suffer from a subsynchronous instability, demanding a very tight tolerance on the bearing clearance and groove depth. Classical optimization techniques look for the most stable design, which does not necessarily lead to most robust design against manufacturing deviations. The proposed method uses a normalized multidimensional lookup table of stability score (critical mass), covering a large design space of gas bearings. It then dimensionalizes the table for a specific rotor–bearing system, highlighting regions of the hyperspace where the system is stable. The hyperspace is sliced into 2D maps and a Monte Carlo method creates windows within the stable domain along the two most critical design variables regarding manufacturing: the bearing clearance and the groove depth. Width and length of the windows represent the manufacturing tolerance allowed for the two parameters to remain stable. A Pareto front of optimum windows in the entire hyperspace is then compiled. It displays the trade-off between the tolerance against deviation in clearance and groove depth, allowing the designer to select a nominal geometry tailored to the available manufacturing methods. A test rotor is analyzed with this method and the effects of pressure, speed, viscosity, radius, mass, and centrifugal growth on manufacturing tolerances are investigated, highlighting that the radius and viscosity have the greatest impact on the robustness.     

Glucose utilization and production in patients with maturity-onset diabetes of the young caused by a mutation of the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1alpha gene

Mutations of the hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1alpha gene cause impaired insulin secretion and hyperglycemia in patients with maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY)3. Whether these mutations also affect glucose metabolism in tissues other than the beta-cell has not yet been documented. We therefore assessed, in five MODY3 patients and a dozen healthy control subjects, insulin secretion, oxidative and nonoxidative glucose disposal, and glucose production during a two-step hyperglycemic clamp and a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic (0.4 mU x kg(-1) x min(-1)) clamp. Compared with healthy control subjects, MODY3 patients had higher fasting plasma glucose (+100%) but similar rates of fasting glucose production and oxidation. Both the early and late phases of insulin secretion were virtually abolished during the hyperglycemic clamp, and glucose production was suppressed by only 43% in MODY3 patients vs. 100% in healthy control subjects. The rate of glucose infusion required to produce a 5 mmol/l increase above basal glycemia was reduced by 30%, net nonoxidative glucose disposal (which is equal to net glycogen deposition) was inhibited by 39%, and net carbohydrate oxidation during hyperglycemia was 25% lower in MODY3 patients compared with control subjects. Insulin-stimulated glucose utilization and oxidation measured during the hyperinsulinemic clamp (at approximately 200 pmol/l insulin) were identical in MODY3 patients and in healthy control subjects, indicating that peripheral insulin sensitivity was not altered. Suppression of endogenous glucose production was, however, mildly impaired. It is concluded that MODY3 patients have severely depressed glucose-induced insulin secretion. The development of hyperglycemia in these patients appears to be caused by a decreased stimulation of glucose utilization, oxidation, and nonoxidative glucose disposal as well as by a blunted suppression of endogenous glucose output. These phenomena are essentially secondary to insulinopenia, whereas insulin sensitivity remains intact.