The main virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae is the capsule. The polysaccharides comprising this capsule are encoded by approximately 15 genes and differences in these genes result in different serotypes. The aim of this study was to investigate the sequence diversity of the capsular genes of serotypes 6A, 6B, 6C, 19A and 19F and to explore a possible effect of vaccination on variation...

Bacteria in the distal human gut have evolved diverse abilities to metabolize complex glycans, including the capacity to degrade these compounds as nutrients and to assemble their component sugars into new polymers such as extracellular capsules. The human gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is well endowed with the ability to metabolize both host- and diet-derived glycans. Its genome co...

BACKGROUND Capsular block syndrome is an uncommon complication that occurs after cataract surgery. It is characterized by capsular distension, anterior intraocular lens displacement, anterior chamber shallowing, and unexpected myopic shifts. We report a case of recurrent fibrotic capsular block syndrome with Elschnig's pearl-type posterior capsule opacification 10 months after neodymium-yttrium...

OBJECTIVE Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a unique technology, developed to provide high resolution, cross sectional images of human tissue. The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of OCT for the evaluation of positive surgical margins and extra capsular extension in robotic prostatectomy specimens and compare it to histopathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS Radical prosta...

A survey is made of the present observational status on cosmological parameters from microwave background anisotropies. I then move to some non-standard aspect of parameter extraction like quintessence, extra-background of relativistic particles and variations in fundamental constants.

The major pneumococcal virulence determinant is its capsule, and pneumococcal epidemiology is based on 91 capsular serotypes, each corresponding to the structure of the capsular polysaccharide determined by the type-specific capsular genome. Here, we provide the beginnings of an approach to intertwine serotype epidemiology, capsular regulatory gene characteristics on the basis of existing seque...

BACKGROUND Previously was found that sonography is a reliable method to measure a capsular distance in total hip arthroplasty hips. The aim of our current study was to investigate the relation between the implanted size of the cup and the anterior capsular distance, as measured with ultrasound one year after THA. METHODS 50 osteoarthritis (OA) patients operated on with total hip arthroplasty ...

familiarity with the normal and abnormal anatomy of the root canal system is essential for successful root canal treatment. the possibility of concomitant three-rooted and three- canalled maxillary and mandibular premolars are extremely rare. the purpose of this paper was to report a case with a three-rooted maxillary first premolar and two three-rooted mandibular premolars.