OBJECTIVE To determine the role of serum procalcitonin levels in predicting ascites infection in hospitalized cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. METHODS A total of 101 patients (mean age: 63.4 ± 1.3, 66.3% were males) hospitalized due to cirrhosis (n=88) or malignancy related (n=13) ascites were included in this study. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP, 19.8%), culture-negative SBP (3...

Australian Subtropical White Syndrome (ASWS) is an infectious, temperature dependent disease of the subtropical coral Turbinaria mesenterina involving a hitherto unknown transmissible causative agent. This report describes significant changes in the coral associated bacterial community as the disease progresses from the apparently healthy tissue of ASWS affected coral colonies, to areas of the ...

In recent years, the possibility of developing numerous plantlets of many plant species in vitro has been realized. Termed plant tissue culture, this method of plant propagation has not been without problems when employed in commercial practice. One problem of major consequence has been bacterial contamination, usually becoming evident during later stages of tissue culture increase and multipli...

AIM We aimed for detection of bacterial DNA (bactDNA) in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its prognostic relevance in cirrhotic patients with culture-negative non-neutrocytic ascites (CNNNA). BACKGROUND approximately 60% of patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) are ascites culture negative. PATIENTS AND METHODS Of each 77 patient...

Culture-dependent methods for bacterial community analysis are currently considered obsolete; therefore, molecular techniques are usually used instead. The results of the current study on hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria in various oily habitats in Kuwait showed however, that the bacterial identities varied dramatically according to the analytical approach used. For six desert and six seawater samp...

The most recent trend in research on probiotic bacteria aims at the exploitation of bioactive bacterial compounds that are responsible for health-promoting effects and suitable for medical applications. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to ascertain if the immunomodulatory effects of L. paracasei strains on dendritic cells (DCs) were caused by bacterial metabolites released in the c...

OBJECTIVE To identify a population of children at low risk for bacterial conjunctivitis on the basis of history and physical examination findings. DESIGN Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING Urban pediatric emergency department. PARTICIPANTS Children aged 6 months to 17 years with conjunctival erythema, eye discharge, or both. The exclusion criteria were eye trauma, exposure to...

la caldera” is a high mountain lake located in sierra nevada, spain. for its position andcharacteristics it is considered as an important “sensor” for global changes. water samples were collectedduring the ice-free season in order to observe changes in the bacterial community structure. experiments were carried out complementing culture and culture-independent methods. strong variations of the ...

D IFFERENTIATING BACTERIAL SEPSIS FROM other conditions common in infants in the neonatal intensive care unit poses a number of challenges. First, clinical signs such as apnea, feeding intolerance, and need for increased respiratory support are nonspecific but still of concern for bacterial sepsis. These signs often prompt evaluation for sepsis that includes blood culture and antibiotic therapy...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common bacterial infection in childhood that causes an inflammatory response in the middle ear. Leukocytes produce different inflammatory molecules in vitro when stimulated with Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The major causes of AOM are Streptococcus pneumoniae, nontypeable Haemophilus influenza, and Moraxella catarrhalis. We sought...