A number of bacterial cytokine-inducing substances (CIS) such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and exotoxins have been detected in dialysate and may contribute to inflammation in hemodialysis patients. Short DNA fragments, oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) of 6 to 20 nucleotides, are able to bind to Toll-like receptors and are stimulatory on immune cells. ODN induce natural killer cell activity and induc...

We amplified bacterial 16S rRNA encoding DNA (rDNA) with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect amniotic fluid infection in 69 women in premature labor whose membranes were intact. Bacterial rDNA was detected by PCR in samples from 15 (94%) of 16 patients with positive amniotic fluid cultures. Bacteria were detected by PCR in samples from 5 (36%) of 14 patients with negative cultures and...

Aerobacter aerogenes, Paracolobactrum aerogenoides, Spirillum serpens, and gelatinous strains of Chromobacterium violaceum produced an extracellular, ether-soluble, Ehrlich-positive substance when grown in media prepared with gelatin hydrolysate. The substance has been tentatively identified as pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid. Both hydroxy-l-proline and allo-d-hydroxyproline have been shown to be pre...

The proportion of mutants in a growing culture of organisms will depend upon (a) the rate at which the wild cells produce them (with or without growth), (b) the back mutation rate, and (c) the growth rates of the wild and mutant cells. If the mutation rate without growth and the back mutation rate are neglected, the growth of a mutant is expressed by See PDF for Equation and the ratio of the mu...

A simple automatic inoculator which allows the simultaneous inoculation of several cultures with identical or different inocula is described. The use of Teflon spaghetti tubing allows great flexibility in handling and placing of components. The inoculator can be adapted to handle aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

In this study, chlorpyrifos degrading capability of four bacterial monocultures (RCC-2, GCC-1, GCC-3 and JCC-3) and two bacterial mixed-cultures (GCE345 and GCC134) was investigated in terms of treatment duration and culture volume, using soil slurry medium. Among the bacterial mono-cultures, RCC-2 was found to be most efficient with 21, 37, 54 and 77% of chlorpyrifos degradation in 5, 10, 15 a...

BACKGROUND Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed prior to functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) while under general anesthesia to collect bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) for lower respiratory tract cultures in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS A retrospective chart review was performed on all CF patients who underwent combined FESS and bronchoscopy between January ...

We studied adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesized by bacteria in tube dilution cultures to devise a rapid antibacterial susceptibility test. The ATP level was determined with a firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferin/luciferase bioluminescence assay, which allows a direct quantifying of bacteria above 10,000 CFU/ml. At sub-MIC, total bacterial ATP levels were paralleled by increased viable bacte...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the minimum incubation time required to detect positive blood cultures from newborn infants with sepsis. Data were collected retrospectively on seventy-five positive blood cultures from newborn infants in the neonatal intensive care unit of Songklanagarind Hospital. The BacT/Alert Microbial Detection System had been used to culture the samples. Data wer...