Recently, we demonstrated rapid dissemination of different methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones at the Institute for Microbiology at the University of Magdeburg (B. Ghebremedhin, W. König, and B. König, Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 24:388-398, 2005). The majority of them harbored the readily transmissible mec cassette type IV. Thus, theoretically, methicillin-susce...

The objective of this study was to characterize the clonal profile, virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance, particularly oxacillin resistance, of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from sheep milk. Milk samples were collected from all teats for the California Mastitis Test (CMT), somatic cell count, identification of S. aureus, investigation in these strains of genes encoding toxins (sea, s...

The glial cell specificity of the human papovavirus JC (JCV), an etiologic agent for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, is thought to be due to the presence of both positive and negative regulatory elements upstream of the TATA region within the JCV promoter. Here we report that the JCV minimal core promoter, containing only the TATA box and an 8-bp poly(T) region immediately upstream,...

BACKGROUND Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection pose a high risk of developing active TB disease. It is therefore important to detect latent TB infection (LTBI) to be able to offer treatment and prevent progression to TB disease. We assessed the value of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and of an interferon-gamma release assay (Quantiferon®-TB Gold...

Natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (Nramp1) and the vitamin D receptor (VDR) are central components of the innate and adaptive immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and associations between susceptibility to tuberculosis and polymorphisms in the genes NRAMP and VDR have been sought in geographically diverse populations. We investigated associations of NRAMP1 and VDR gene po...

To evaluate the agreement between QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT-GIT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) for the screening of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in recent immigrants to Italy, 279 subjects were submitted to concomitant TST and QFT-GIT. The agreement was analyzed using k statistics. A total of 72/279 (25.8%) individuals were TST positive, while 107/279 (38.3%) were QFT-GIT p...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic yield of magnetic cortical stimulation with the triple stimulation technique (TST) to identify upper motor neuron (UMN) involvement in patients suspected of having ALS. METHODS Fifty-nine patients were recruited to undergo TST in addition to the standard work-up for suspected motor neuron disease. TST combines transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor...

Thailanstatin A (TST-A) is a potent antiproliferative natural product discovered by our group from Burkholderia thailandensis MSMB43 through a genome-guided approach. The limited supply of TST-A, due to its low titer in bacterial fermentation, modest stability and very low recovery rate during purification, has hindered the investigations of TST-A as an anticancer drug candidate. Here we report...

The aim of this study was to obtain epidemiological estimates of bovine tuberculosis (TB) prevalence in cattle in the highlands of Cameroon using two population-based tuberculin skin test (TST) surveys in the years 2009 and 2010. However, prior to the TST survey in 2010, blood was collected from already chosen cattle for serological assay. Anti-bovine TB antibodies was detected in 37.17% of tes...