Comparison of Vitek GNI and GNI+ cards for identification of gram-negative bacteria

The GNI+ card has been developed by bioMerieux Vitek as an improvement over the GNI card for the identification of certain species of aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. In this study, we tested 304 organisms from 30 different species on both the GNI and GNI+ cards. The GNI card correctly identified 285 (93.8%) of the isolates tested, and the GNI+ card correctly identified 287 (94.4%) of the isolates tested. The average time to reporting was 4.1 h for the GNI+ card compared to 5.7 h for the GNI card (P < 0.001). Overall, the GNI and GNI+ cards were comparable in identifying the organisms in this study while the GNI+ card gave substantially faster final test results.     

Adult attachment styles: Their relations to family context and personality.

This study used a sample of 304 adults to examine mean differences in family climate and personality variables on the basis of individuals' attachment styles. Also examined was whether mean differences varied by age group. Findings showed significant main effects of attachment style, but no Attachment Style X Age Group interactions. Compared with adults with an insecure attachment style, persons with a secure attachment style described their family of origin and their current family more positively and scored higher on personality variables indicative of self-confidence, psychological well-being, and functioning in the social world. When the family climate and personality variables were included in a discriminant function analysis, 2 significant functions were obtained. The 1st function discriminated adults with a positive self-model from those with a negative self-model. The 2nd function contrasted participants with a positive other-model from those with a negative other-model. Thus, this study provided evidence in support of the self- and other-models as the fundamental dimensions of adults' attachment system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative analysis of mortality due to violence in developed countries and in a few developing countries during the 1985-1989 period

A comparative analysis of crude death rates and specifically of deaths from violence was conducted for a large number of developed and developing countries which provide data to the World Health Organization's data bank. For these countries, the analysis shows, first of all, that violent deaths rank third among the major causes of death, after diseases of the circulatory system and malignant tumours, in most developed countries and in some developing countries with reliable data. The comparative analysis also reveals substantial variations in the level and structure of death rates, both among the developed and the developing countries. Thus the crude death rate varies by a factor of 2 in both sexes, both in the developed and the developing countries. For violent deaths, the ranges are even wide: the highest death rate is 3 to 4 times greater than the lowest, except for women in developing countries where it is only twice as high. The method reveals in which countries the situation regarding violent deaths is relatively tolerable and in which countries the situation is decidedly bad. Although it is difficult to draw up a clear classification whereby countries can be grouped according to their profile of deaths by cause, it can be seen that a number of countries have a fairly characteristic profile of mortality by cause; these are mainly the developed countries (Western Europe and other regions) and some developing countries (Hong Kong and Israel) with low crude death rates. In these countries certain causes of violent death predominate as a result of the level of development achieved; motor vehicle accidents, falls and suicides. Moreover, in the other developed countries (in Eastern Europe) and in the developing countries (except Hong Kong and Israel) there is a more "traditional" profile of mortality by cause; this profile is characteristic of the less-developed countries where there are generally fewer deaths from suicide and from motor-vehicle accidents and where unintentional factors predominate over intentional factors. This analysis also brings out the very distinctive situation of the countries of Latin America with regard to violent deaths, particularly the large number of deaths from homicide in a number of countries. This is unquestionably a high-risk region for which further studies need to be undertaken, and where preventive measures need to be applied in order to curb the rising tide of violence and its harmful consequences for these societies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

The role of morphology and severe plastic deformation on the hydrogen storage properties of magnesium

In this paper we report the role of morphology and severe plastic deformation on the hydrogen storage properties of magnesium. Samples were prepared in air at room temperature by accumulative roll-bonding, filing and a combination of both processes. Accumulative roll-bonding drastically refined the microstructure of magnesium but resulted in a limited hydrogen capacity. Filing accelerated the activation of magnesium without compromising hydrogen capacity. Combining both techniques enhanced or worsened the hydrogen storage properties depending on the processing sequence. These results are explained in terms of microstructure and morphology of the samples.     

LSI Based Three-Phase Thyristor Firing Circuit

A three-phase thyristor firing circuit has been developed to meet the needs of the static power conversion industry. The circuit consists of a three-phase phase-locked loop with digital countdown and phase division to provide delayed equidistant thyristor firing pulses. The delay angle is unaffected by frequency or phase rotation. The major portion of the circuit is implemented in a low-cost 22-pin large-scale integrated (LSI) circuit.     

Current MT research orientation/disorientation

Conclusion Somers' article brings into focus the state of technology in the subject of MT. In a certain measure, the reflection of Somers despite nearly 25 years since the ALPAC report...for all the investment...perhaps one could have expected better results should be applied not only to MT systems, but equally to NLP systems. However, this reflection of Somers should be interpreted and reevaluated in accordance with the distance between the evolution of our knowledge of the mecanisms of translatology and the ambitious objectives of producing FAHQT for more than 80% of sentences in unrestricted texts.For the future of MT, specialists must play a double role (at the same time, scientific and economic) so as to make the right compromise at all times between language, which is a bottomless pit, and its users, who are clients with restricted R & D funds.     

Synchronous Motor Railcar Propulsion

Development of ac motor drives for rail transit car has centered on the induction motor with pulsewidth modulated (PWM) inverter control. Interest in the induction motor as a replace for the series dc traction motor stems from the simplicity of the squirrel cage rotor of the induction motor. In this article, the short-comings of PWM inverter-induction motor transit car drive are examined. It is shown that the synchronous, or brushless dc, motor drive can provide performance exceeding both the PWM inverter-induction motor and the conventional dc motor in the transit car application.     

Use of the BacT/Alert blood culture system for culture of sterile body fluids other than blood

Studies have demonstrated that large-volume culture methods for sterile body fluids other than blood increase recovery compared to traditional plated-medium methods. BacT/Alert is a fully automated blood culture system for detecting bacteremia and fungemia. In this study, we compared culture in BacT/Alert standard aerobic and anaerobic bottles, BacT/Alert FAN aerobic and FAN anaerobic bottles, and culture on routine media for six specimen types, i.e., continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysate (CAPD), peritoneal, amniotic, pericardial, synovial, and pleural fluids. Specimen volumes were divided equally among the three arms of the study. A total of 1,157 specimens were tested, with 227 significant isolates recovered from 193 specimens. Recovery by method was as follows: standard bottles, 186 of 227 (82%); FAN bottles, 217 of 227 (96%); and routine culture, 184 of 227 (81%). The FAN bottles recovered significantly more gram-positive cocci (P < 0.001), Staphylococcus aureus (P = 0.003), coagulase-negative staphylococci (P = 0.008), gram-negative bacilli (P < 0.001), Enterobacteriaceae (P = 0.005), and total organisms (P < 0.001) than the routine culture. There were no significant differences in recovery between the standard bottles and the routine culture. The FAN aerobic bottle recovered significantly more gram-positive cocci (P < 0.001), S. aureus isolates (P < 0.001), coagulase-negative staphyococci (P = 0.003), and total organisms (P < 0.001) than the standard aerobic bottle, while the FAN anaerobic bottle recovered significantly more gram-positive cocci (P < 0.001), S. aureus isolates (P < 0.001), Enterobacteriaceae (P = 0.03), and total organisms (P < 0.001) than the standard anaerobic bottle. For specific specimen types, significantly more isolates were recovered from the FAN bottles compared to the routine culture for synovial (P < 0.001) and CAPD (P = 0.004) fluids. Overall, the FAN bottles were superior in performance to both the standard bottles and the routine culture for detection of microorganisms from the types of sterile body fluids included in this study.     

The effects of age and experience on accidents with injuries: should the licensing age be raised?

In Canadian Provinces and in several states of the United States the minimal legal age to drive a motor vehicle is 16 years old and in some, it is 15. The excess mortality and morbidity registered by 15 to 24-year-old drivers is well known. Several studies have reported that accident rates decrease with experience, but the effect of the age of new drivers has not been well documented. The objective is to study injury accident rates in terms of the age and experience factors. The data sources are computer files of the Government Insurance Corporation (Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec), which covers all Quebec drivers. For each driver, the file contains birth date, sex, year and month of first license, involvement in accidents, and other parameters. The yearly rates (1970-1984) of new permits per age last birthday and sex show an increase over time, particularly for 16-year-old men. For the period 1979-1984, injury accident involvement rates were computed for all Quebec drivers by age, sex, and driving experience. An experienced driver has been defined as a person who has been licensed for at least one year. The results show, for experienced as well as inexperienced young men (16-18), a high injury accident rate that decreases with age. For women, the rates are much lower and decrease more gradually than for men. This study does not take into account the kilometers driven. Since young drivers (16-18) have the highest accident rates, the question of regulating access to first licensing for such drivers must be examined as a possible strategy for injury prevention.     

Road crashes and injuries in Quebec (1974): patterns among many variables†

Data on 1008 Quebec road victims obtained from linkage of governmental records have led to different types of analyses. This article presents an application of correspondence analysis to these data. We have chosen one example with its specific results showing expected associations between variables and new, unexpected associations which are plausible. The resulting patterns indicate a clear distinction between hospitalized and non-hospitalized victims and between a rural and an urban type of road crash. This multidimensional approach gives an overall picture of the patterns among the variables studied, indicating which subsets of variables might be investigated further.