Escherichia coli associated with urinary tract infections and bacteremia has been intensively investigated, including recent work focusing on the virulent, globally disseminated, multidrug-resistant lineage ST131. To contextualize ST131 within the broader E. coli population associated with disease, we used genomics to analyze a systematic 11-yr hospital-based survey of E. coli associated with b...

BACKGROUND Group B Streptococcus (GBS) (Streptococcus agalactiae) is an important pathogen in neonates, pregnant women, and adults with underlying disease. METHODS Fifty clinical isolates were collected during the period 2001-2004 and analyzed by multilocus sequence typing and capsular serotyping. RESULTS The six major sequence types (STs) identified by multilocus sequence typing were ST1, ...

Escherichia coli sequence types (STs) 69, 73, 95, and 131 are collectively responsible for a large proportion of E. coli urinary tract and bloodstream infections, and they differ markedly in their antibiotic susceptibilities. Here, we describe a novel PCR method to rapidly detect and distinguish these lineages. Three hundred eighteen published E. coli genomes were compared in order to identify ...

Ordinary materials can transform into novel phases at extraordinary high pressure and temperature. The recently developed method of ultrashort laser-induced confined microexplosions initiates a non-equilibrium disordered plasma state. Ultra-high quenching rates overcome kinetic barriers to the formation of new metastable phases, which are preserved in the surrounding pristine crystal for subseq...

The effect of microstructural refinement and intercritical annealing on the mechanical properties and work-hardening response of a low carbon St12 steel was studied. It was revealed that intercritical annealing of the ferritic-pearlitic sheet results in the formation of a coarse-grained DP microstructure with discrete martensite islands normally formed in place of pearlitic colonies, which resu...

BACKGROUND Escherichia coli producing ESBL/AmpC enzymes are unwanted in animal production chains as they may pose a risk to human and animal health. Molecular characterization of plasmids and strains carrying genes that encode these enzymes is essential to understand their local and global spread. OBJECTIVES To investigate the diversity of genes, plasmids and strains in ESBL/AmpC-producing E....

Objectives Efforts to treat Escherichia coli infections are increasingly being compromised by the rapid, global spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Whilst AMR in E. coli has been extensively investigated in resource-rich settings, in sub-Saharan Africa molecular patterns of AMR are not well described. In this study, we have begun to explore the population structure and molecular determina...