OBJECTIVE To perform molecular fingerprinting for strain relatedness among isoniazid-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates recovered from tuberculosis (TB) patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-two consecutive isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis strains isolated from TB patients (4 natives and 28 expatriates) at Rashid Hospital, Dubai, UAE were analy...

There are few diagnostic methods that readily distinguish among community-acquired methicillin (meticillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, now frequently transmitted within hospitals. We describe a rapid and high-throughput method for bacterial profiling of staphylococcal isolates. The method couples PCR to electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and is performed on a platf...

fabrication of ultrafine grained materials by imposing severe plastic deformation for improvement of mechanical and physical properties of metals has been the focus of many researches over the past few years. in this process, a sheet is subjected to repetitive shear deformation conditions by utilizing asymmetrically grooved and flat dies through alternate pressing. in this study, a 2mm thick co...

Measuring mechanical implications of high current densities in microelectronic packaging interconnects has always been a challenging goal. Due to small interconnect size this task has typically been accomplished by measuring the change in electrical resistance of the joint. This measurement parameter is global and does not give local mechanical state information. Also, understanding strain evol...

Q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii-a small obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium found in a variety of animals. It is transmitted to humans by inhalation of contaminated aerosols from urine, feces, milk, amniotic fluid, placenta, abortion products, wool, and rarely by ingestion of raw milk from infected animals. Nested PCR can improve the sensitivity and specif...

Repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction (REP-PCR) DNA fingerprinting and library-based microbial source tracking (MST) methods were utilized to investigate the potential sources of Escherichia coli pollution in recreational waters of southeastern Lake Huron. In addition to traditional sources such as humans, agriculture, and wildlife, environmentally persistent E. coli isolates were includ...

Three dimensioned finite element analysis were conducted on concrete block paving. In order to verify the calculated results, an experimental case study was analyzed. Good agreement was observed between the measured and the calculated results. Based on the finite element analysis results and available failure models, comprehensive design charts were developed for port and industrial pavement wh...

As part of a large, ongoing study of invasive infections in pediatric patients in Bamako, Mali, 106 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease were identified from June 2002 to July 2003 (J. D. Campbell et al., Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. 23:642-649, 2004). Of the 12 serotypes present, the majority of isolates were not contained in PCV7 (the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine), including 1 isolat...