BACKGROUND Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of Clostridium difficile is increasingly important because of the rise in resistant strains. The standard medium for the AST of C. difficile is supplemented Brucella agar (sBA), but we found that the growth of C. difficile on sBA was not optimal. Because active growth is critical for reliable AST, we developed a new, modified C. difficile (m...

INTRODUCTION Skilled birth attendance (SBA) and measles immunization reflect two aspects of a health system. In Kenya, their national coverage gaps are substantial but could be largely improved if the total population had the same coverage as the wealthiest quintile. A decomposition analysis allows identifying the factors that influence these wealth-related inequalities in order to develop appr...

The superficial brachial artery (SBA), a branch of the axillary artery, is one of the most common arterial variations in this area. While it is more vulnerable to accidental arterial injection or injury, it could be useful for the nourishment of a medial arm skin free flap. To analyze the relationship between the SBA of axillary origin and segmental variation of the axillary artery, we dissecte...

The diagnostic value of staining cells from serous effusion and peritoneal washing specimens with a panel of four lectins was investigated and the results compared with those achieved with polyclonal anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (anti-CEA) sera. Cell blocks from 42 pleural effusions, 25 peritoneal effusions, and 14 peritoneal washing specimens were stained with Con A (D-mannosyl, D-glucosyl), ...

Ordered mesoporous SBA-15 analogs with different Si/Al ratios were successfully prepared in a two-step process from self-assembly of ZSM-5 nanoseeds at high temperature in mildly acidic media (473 K, pH 3.5). The obtained products were characterized as SAXS, XRD, N₂ sorption, FTIR, TEM, NH₃-TPD, AAS and ICP. The results show that the initial Si/Al molar ratio of ZSM-5 precursors strongly affect...

INTRODUCTION Patients with spina bifida in the lumbosacral region usually have various degrees of motor and sensory dysfunctions of the lower extremities and anal sphincter. The aim of our study was to evaluate the distribution and differences in frequencies of affected muscles, number of affected muscles and degree of neurogenic lesion between patients with spina bifida occulta (SBO) and spina...

To evaluate the relative mobilities of cell surface glycoconjugates during myogenesis we have studied the redistribution of fluorescein-conjugated plant lectins on L6 rat myogenic cells. Previous experiments had demonstrated that the receptors for the lectins soybean agglutinin (SBA), wheat germ agglutinin, concanavalin A and Lens culinaris agglutinin all were relatively uniformly distributed o...

Finance and Growth at the Firm Level: Evidence from SBA Loans* We analyze linked databases on all Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, on all SBA lenders, and on all U.S. employers to estimate the effects of financial access on employment growth. Our methods combine regressions with matching on firm age, size, industry, year, and employment history, and with instrumental variables capturi...

INTRODUCTION Confinement of biomolecules in structured nanoporous materials offers several desirable features ranging from chemical and thermal stability, to resistance to degradation from the external environment. A new generation of mesoporous materials presents exciting new possibilities for the formulation and controlled release of biological agents. Such materials address niche application...

The Malaysian government has proposed to implement SBA (school-based assessment) in public schools with an attempt to replace the current public examinations. However, as SBA has yet to be in full swing, relatively little is known about the concerns of the teachers who would directly be involved in implementing SBA. This paper presents the findings from a survey on 40 English teachers who are c...