Cefotaxime is a broad-spectrum cephalosporin which is metabolized or degraded to less active or inactive metabolites by serum esterases, elevated temperatures, or a pH outside of its stability range. Cefotaxime instability during in vitro microbiological susceptibility tests may lead to an underestimation of the antibacterial activity of the compound. Cefotaxime and desacetylcefotaxime solution...

Lower respiratory infections are the major cause of death due to infectious disease in the United States and worldwide. Most forms of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are treatable, and there is consensus that the selection of antimicrobial agents is notably simplified if the pathogen is defined. The rich history of CAP studies in the prepenicillin era showed that an etiologic diagnosis was e...

Standardized microbiological methods used in clinical analysis are based on traditional microbial enrichment on selective media, possibly followed by characterization of bacteria with molecular methods. These techniques present several difficulties, such as the subjectivity in the interpretation of genetic, biochemical or morphological tests and the possible interference of biological matrices,...

The study was undertaken to prospectively evaluate a Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen test for diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia among patient and control groups between 2004 and 2006. Microbiological analysis for these patients included Gram staining for sputum, sputum and blood culture. Nonconcentrated urine samples were tested using an immunochromatographic assay, the NOW S.pneumon...

Background: The continuous worldwide increase of consumption of fresh mushrooms has registered in the recent years. The major goal of this study was to determine the microbiological characteristics of wild edible mushrooms and effect of temperature during storage of Morchella conica. Methods: Wild mushrooms of the species Boletus edulis, Cantharellus cibarius, and Leccinum aurantiacum were col...

Drinking water has received considerable attention recently. However, misuse and mismanagement have resulted in a rapid and widespread decline in source-water quality and supply. Water quality guidelines can be used to identify constituents of concern in water, to determine the levels to which the constituents of water must be treated for drinking purposes. Membrane technology for the water cyc...

CONTEXT One purpose of early clinical trials is to establish the appropriate dose of an antibiotic for phase 3 trials. Development of a relationship between the ratio of drug exposure to organism minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and therapeutic response early in the development process would allow an optimal choice of dose to maximize response. OBJECTIVE To prospectively quantitate the ...

We report the microbiological, biochemical, and molecular characterization of an unusual Brucella strain (BO1) isolated from a breast implant wound in a 71-year-old woman with clinical symptoms consistent with brucellosis. Initial phenotypic analysis, including biochemical and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, cellular fatty acid analysis, and molecular analysis based on DNA-DNA reassociati...

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is routinely used in agriculture, for the analysis of pharmaceuticals, combustion products, astronomy, food stuffs and in research. The method has been broadly accepted and is widely used in quality assessment of foods, beverages and in food and beverage research. The method is relatively inexpensive, rapid, preserves the sample and is able to measure several co...

Background: Freezing is a common and ancient method for preservation of foods which is applicable both under household and industrial conditions. The objective of the study was to establish histological and microbiological changes in dorsal and abdominal muscles of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) after freezing once and twice. Methods: Forty-five fresh rainbow trout specimens were distribu...