Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains may cause serious nosocomial infections, including pneumonia and septicemia. The rate of methicillin-resistance among S. aureus isolates in Korea is over 50%. In this study, 90 MRSA isolates from Kyung Hee University Hospital were characterized employing bacteriophage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Eighty percent of the strains could be phage-typed. The largest group or 40% of the strains belonged to lyso group III, followed by 32% of the isolates which produced a reaction with regional additional phages. Phage type 83A was most frequently encountered, followed by phage type D11. PFGE patterns confirmed the presence of two major clusters, which comprise the isolates belonging to lyso group III and the strains that were typable with regional additional phages. The latter group also contained a number of strains that were nontypable with bacteriophages. The resistance rates to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline, gentamicin and clindamycin were over 94%. Strains with intermediate resistance to vancomycin strains or resistance to mupirocin were not found. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the results of phage typing are confirmed and supplemented by PFGE data.
Bacteriophage Typing ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Human ; *Methicillin Resistance ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Staphylococcus aureus/*classification/drug effects

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Efficient transport through the esophago-gastric junction (EGJ) requires synchronized circular and longitudinal muscle contraction of the esophagus including relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). However, there is a scarcity of technology for measuring esophagus movements in the longitudinal (axial) direction. The aim of this study is to develop new analytical tools for dynamic evaluation of the length change and axial movement of the human LES based on the functional luminal imaging probe (FLIP) technology and to present normal signatures for the selected parameters. METHODS: Six healthy volunteers without hiatal hernia were included. Data were analyzed from stepwise LES distensions at 20, 30, and 40 mL bag volumes. The bag pressure and the diameter change were used for motion analysis in the LES. The cyclic bag pressure frequency was used to distinguish dynamic changes of the LES induced by respiration and secondary peristalsis. RESULTS: Cyclic fluctuations of the LES were evoked by respiration and isovolumetric distension, with phasic changes of bag pressure, diameter, length, and axial movement of the LES narrow zone. Compared to the respiration-induced LES fluctuations, peristaltic contractions increased the contraction pressure amplitude (P < 0.001), shortening (P < 0.001), axial movement (P < 0.001), and diameter change (P < 0.01) of the narrow zone. The length of the narrow zone shortened as function of the pressure increase. CONCLUSIONS: FLIP can be used for evaluation of dynamic length changes and axial movement of the human LES. The method may shed light on abnormal longitudinal muscle activity in esophageal disorders.
Esophageal Sphincter, Lower ; Esophagus ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hernia, Hiatal ; Humans ; Methods ; Muscle Contraction ; Peristalsis ; Phenobarbital ; Relaxation ; Respiration

The German Registry of Adamantiades-Behcet's disease was founded in 1990 in Berlin and it provides current data on the epidemiology, the clinical manifestations and the course of the disease in Germany on a continuous basis. A total of 218 patients, including 89 German and 100 Turkish patients, had been reported to the German Registry until October 1997. One hundred and ninety-six patients fulfilled the criteria of the Behcet's disease classification tree. The prevalence of the disease evaluated in Berlin-West was 1.68/100,000 in 1989 and had risen to 2.26/100,000 by 1994. The median age of onset was 25 years (range 5 to 66 years; German-Turks, ns). Juvenile disease was recorded in 6.9% of patients. The complete clinical picture according to the criteria of the International Study Group of Behcet's Disease developed in 15.5 months. The interval between onset of the disease and diagnosis was 35 months, which was significantly longer than the duration of the development of the complete clinical picture (p < 0.0001). The disease was diagnosed later in German (48.5 months) than in Turkish patients (25.5 months, p = 0.003). While German patients presented an equal male-to-female ratio, a male predominance was shown in Turkish patients (M:F 2.1:1, p = 0.022). Familial occurrence was detected in 2.0% of German and 15.9% of Turkish patients (p = 0.013). The frequencies of major clinical manifestations were: oral ulcers 99%, skin lesions 76%, genital ulcers 75%, ocular manifestations 59%, arthritis 59%, and positive pathergy test 52%. Clinical differences between German and Turkish patients were only found in the frequency of ocular lesions (48% vs. 66%, p = 0.025). Oral ulcers were with 72% the most common onset symptom of the disease followed by erythema nodosum (9%), uveitis (7%), arthritis (7%), genital ulcers (3%), superficial thrombophlebitis (2%) and papules/sterile pustules (2%). Uveitis and erythema nodosum as onset symptoms shortened the median interval to diagnosis to 1.5 and 15 months, respectively, while arthritis delayed diagnosis (43.5 months; p = 0.029). A severe course developed in 25% of the patients; irreversible retinal vasculitis to blindness in 15%, sterile meningoencephalitis in 8%, severe arthritis in 5%, hemoptysis in 2%, lethal outcome in 2% and bowel perforation in 1%. The relative risk of HLA-B5 positive German natives developing the disease. HLA-B5 was confirmed as a marker of severe prognosis. Cardiolipin autoantibodies were associated with cutaneous vasculitis and superficial thrombophlebitis was correlated with systemic vessel involvement.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Aged ; Behcet's Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Behcet's Syndrome/complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Europe/epidemiology ; Female ; Germany/epidemiology ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Prognosis

Introduction: In Mongolia, diagnostic tests for the detection of the sexually transmitted congenital virus and human papilloma virus are currently not routinely used in clinical settings and the frequency of these STIs is enigmatic. Goal: The prevalence of this virus were prospectively evaluated among 200 Mongolian pregnant women and their newborns and correlated with pregnancy outcome. Materials and Methods: Taq Man PCRs were used to detect some virus in pre-birth vaginal swabs of the pregnant women and in oral swabs of their newborns. A standardized questionnaire concerning former and present pregnancies was developed and regression analysis was used to correlate virus detection with pregnancy outcome. Result: Cytomegalovirus was the most prevalent of the tested pathogens (46.5% positive women and 10.5% newborns), human papilloma virus (31.5% and 4.5%) and herpes simplex virus-2 (1% and 0%). Statistical analysis: The statistical analysis was conducted using the software program RStudio, version 0.99.896. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association between pathogen loads of mothers or newborns and the outcome variables (gestational age, neonatal length, weight, head circumferences and bacterial vaginosis). Conclusions Multiple regression analyses indicate that colonization of the mothers with cytomegalovirus is associated with transmission to newborns and that transmission is associated with reduced neonatal length and gestational age. Thus, diagnostic tests for their detection should be implemented in the clinical settings in Mongolia.