BACKGROUND Panton-Valentine leucocidin is a Staphylococcus aureus virulence factor encoded by lukF-PV and lukS-PV that is infrequent in S aureus bacteremia (SAB), and, therefore, little is known about risk factors and outcome of lukF-PV/lukS-PV-positive SAB. METHODS This report is a register-based nationwide observational cohort study. lukF-PV was detected by polymerase chain reaction. Factor...

Anticipatory deployment of attention may operate through networks of brain areas that modulate the representations of to-be-attended items in advance of their occurrence through top-down control. Luks and Simpson (2004) (Luks, T.L., Simpson, G.V., 2004. Preparatory deployment of attention to motion activates higher order motion-processing brain regions. NeuroImage 22, 1515-1522) found activatio...

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus produces numerous molecules that facilitate survival in the host. We recently identified a novel S. aureus leukotoxin (leukotoxin GH [LukGH]) using proteomics, but its role in virulence remains unclear. Here we investigated the role of LukGH in vivo. METHODS We tested cytotoxicity of LukGH toward polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) from mice, rabbits, monkeys,...

We consider the isomorphism problem for groups specified by their multiplication tables. Until recently, the best published bound for the worst-case was achieved by the np n+O(1) generator-enumeration algorithm. In previous work with Fabian Wagner, we showed an n logp n+O(logn/ log logn) time algorithm for testing isomorphism of p-groups by building graphs with degree bounded by p + O(1) that r...

During 2011, 160 nasal samples were taken from pigs on 8 different farms in Lithuania. Four methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were obtained. The isolates were ST398, spa type t011 and SCCmec V and none carried the lukF/lukS genes. Strains were resistant to tetracycline, attributed to tetK and tetM genes, and to erythromycin owing to the ermB gene. One MRSA strain was r...

CC398 is a livestock-associated Staphylococcus aureus. However, it has also been isolated from humans with no previous contact with livestock. A surveillance of methicillin-resistant S. aureus colonisation among children attending public day care centres and hospitals in Niterói and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between 2011 and 2013, resulted in the isolation of six cases of CC398 from individuals w...

Methods A total of 20 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from 25 cases of breast abscess from a tertiary hospital during January 2010-October 2010. Isolation was done by culturing the pus sample drained from the abscess with 16 gauge needle. The S. aureus isolates were screened for susceptibility to various antibiotics including cefoxitin, clindamycin, fusidic acid, mupirocin, vanc...

1. Yuan TL, Cantley LC. PI3K pathway alterations in cancer: variations on a theme. Oncogene 2008: 27: 5497–5510. 2. Lindhurst MJ, Sapp JC, Teer JK et al. A mosaic activating mutation in AKT1 associated with the Proteus syndrome. N Engl J Med 2011: 365: 611–619. 3. Kurek KC, Luks VL, Ayturk UM et al. Somatic mosaic activating mutations in PIK3CA cause CLOVES syndrome. Am J Hum Genet 2012: 90: 11...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates carry the methicillin resistance gene (mecA) on a horizontally transferred genetic element called the staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec). Community-acquired MRSA (CAMRSA) isolates usually carry SCCmec type IV. We previously reported that 76% of 17 CAMRSA isolates (multilocus sequence type 59) obtained from pediatric patien...