Epidemiological studies are important in both the prevention and treatment of mycobacterial infections. This study was initiated to establish the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method, which are not yet extensively studied. The most apprpriate restriction endonucleases included Dral, AsnI, and XbaI. The optimal PFGE condition was different according to the enzymes used. Two stage PFGE was performed, in case of DraI first stage was performed with 10 seconds of initial pulse and 15 seconds of findA pulse, while the second stage was performed with 60 seconds of initial pulse and 70 seconds of final pu',se. The electrophoresis time for DraI-PFGE was 14 hours for each stage. Electrophoresis was performed for 22 hours, in case of XbaI, with 3 seconds of initial pulse and 12 seconds of final pulse. Electrophoresis was performed for 22 hours, in case of AsnI, with 5 seconds of initial pulse and 25 seconds of final pulse. In all cases the voltage of the electrophoresis was maintained constantly at 200 voltage. Standard mycobacterial strains, which included Mycobacterium bovis BCG, M. tuberculosis, and M. fortuitum, could not be differentiated by PFGE analysis. PFGE analysis was performed to differentiate 9 clinically isolated M. fortuitum strains using AsnI. All M. fortuitum strains showed different genotypes except 2 strains. Cluster analysis divided M. fortuitum strains into 2 large groups. PFGE analysis was performed to further differentiate M. fortuitum isolates using XbaI. The undifferentiated 2 M. fortuitum strains showed different PFGE patterns with Xba I. Cluster analysis of the XbaI-PFGE patterns showed more complex grouping than AsnI-PFGE patterns, which showed that XbaI-PFGE analysis was better than AsnI-PFGE in M. fortuitum genotyping. The top dissimilarity values of AsnI-PFGE and XbaI-PFGE were 0.74 and 0.75, respectively. This value was higher than that of arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) analysis and lower than that of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. This suggested that PFGE can be used as a supportive or alternative genotyping method to RFLP analysis.
DNA Restriction Enzymes ; Electrophoresis* ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Genotype ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Tuberculosis

No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; DNA* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction*

No abstract available.
Enterobacteriaceae* ; Starvation*

The DNA fragment containing the phoA of Klebsiella pneumoniae was cloned into pACYC184. The size of the insert. was 4.0 kb and the restriction map showed it contained 3 Pstl sites and 4 PvuLI sites. The nucleotide sequence of the phoA region was determined, which showed strong (80%) sequence similarity with that of Escherichia coli. This suggested that these two species are phylogenetically very close to each other.
Base Sequence ; Clone Cells* ; Cloning, Organism* ; DNA ; Enterobacteriaceae* ; Escherichia coli ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Operon*

Diastematomyelia is an uncommon congenital malformation of the vertebral axis characterized by a localized longitudinal separation of the spinal cord with an interposed septum. It may be found in association with congenital scoliosis. The Authors experienced a case of congenital scoliosis with diastematomyelia. Diastematomyelia was surgicallv resected and scoliosis was corrected by Dwyer operation 5 months later. The results of both operations were satisfactory in 10 months follow up.
Follow-Up Studies ; Neural Tube Defects ; Scoliosis ; Spinal Cord

Pigmentary demarcation lines are borders of abrupt transition between more deeply pigmented skin and that of lighter pigmentation. We describe two patients with pigmentary demarcation lines associated with pregnancy symrnetrially involving the buttocks and flexor as jects of legs. Hormonal changes in pregnancy and compression by the enlarged uterus of Sl and S2 peripheral nerves may be responsible for these changes.
Buttocks ; Humans ; Leg ; Peripheral Nerves ; Pigmentation ; Pregnancy* ; Skin ; Uterus

Eight bacterial strains were examined whether they have phoP/phoQ genes which were known to be involved in the intracellular survival of Salmonella typhimurium. The phoP/phoQ operon were known to sense the stimuli of the genes involved in the adaptation of the environment. Using 514-basepairs EcoRV DNA fragment of phoP region of Salmonella typhimurium as a probe, dot blot hybridization were performed. Chromosomal DNAs of Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marscescens, Enterobacter cloacae, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, and Listeria monocytogenes were examined by DNA hybridization assay. Against our expectation, intracellular pathogen, L. monocytogenes, did not have similar DNA sequences to phoP/phoQ of S. typhimurium, while E, coli, S. dysenteriae, and E. cloacae showed the positive signal even though they were not intracellular pathogens. This result suggested that the phoP/phoQ operon was absent in intracellular pathogenic bacterias other than S. typhimurium. Rather it was found in phylogenetically closer bacterias to S. typhimurium, which were not able to survive in intracellular environment. Some different mechanism, which is not dependent on phoP/phoQ operon, could be involved in the intracellular survival of L. monocytogenes.
Bacteria* ; Base Sequence ; Cloaca ; DNA ; Enterobacter cloacae ; Escherichia coli ; Klebsiella ; Listeria monocytogenes ; Operon ; Pneumonia ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Salmonella typhimurium ; Serratia ; Shigella dysenteriae

No abstract available.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Intracardiac electrocardiographic finding using as a guide for selective catheter ablation in patients with AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is not specific. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of the anatomical approach for catheter ablation in patients with AVNRT. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Among the patients diagnosed as AVNRT by electrophysiologic study, total 66 patients (M:F=26:40) were included in this study. In the right anterior oblique radiographic view, the septal annulus of tricuspid valve, extending from the most posterior region of the annulus adjacent to coronary sinus ostium (posterior) to His bundle recording site (anterior), was divided into posterior (P), mid (M), and anterior (A) sites. Radiofrequency (RF) energies were applied from the posterior part to the anterior part sequentially along the septal annulus of tricuspid valve until successful ablation. RESULTS: Successful anatomical sites were located in posterior (11 patients), mid (48 patients), and anterior (7 patients) sites. The most patients (62 patients) were treated with slow pathway ablation except 4 patients in whom fast pathway was ablated. Probable slow potentials were observed in 8 patients (12%, 3 in posterior sites and 5 in mid sites). Transient complete AV block followed by first degree AV block and delayed complete AV block was occured in one case whose ablation site was A1. And another 3 patients had postablation first degree AV block. CONCLUSION: In patients with AVNRT, the ablated pathway were different according to successful anatomical site. And RF catheter ablation of atrioventricular nodal reentrant circuit guided by anatomical landmark is safe and efficacious.
Atrioventricular Block ; Bundle of His ; Catheter Ablation* ; Catheters* ; Coronary Sinus ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry* ; Tricuspid Valve

No abstract available.