169,721 research outputs found
Whole Genome Sequencing of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. in wildlife-livestock interface: a pilot study
No full textObjectives: This pilot study provides a multidisciplinary investigation to monitor livestock-wildlife inter-face. Ecological data, microbiological investigations, and whole genome sequencing were used to charac-terize eight bacterial isolates obtained from sympatric domestic and wild ruminants in Maiella National Park (Italy) in terms of genetic patterns of antimicrobial resistance.Methods: Using selective culturing of fresh fecal samples of monitored and georeferenced populations of Apennine chamois, goats, red deer, and sheep, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus fae-calis isolates were isolated and subjected to minimum inhibitory concentration determination and whole genome sequencing.Results: The analyzed isolates showed phenotypic and genotypic resistance to tetracycline and critically important antibiotics such as linezolid and carbapenems. Virulence genes related to biofilm regulation and Shiga toxins were also detected. Furthermore, serotypes related to nosocomial infections, harbouring plasmids recognized as important mobile resistance gene transmitters, were identified.Conclusions: This multidisciplinary pilot study represents a promising initial step to identify the environ-mental drivers and the transmission routes of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors, providing new data on bacteria from rare and endangered species such as Apennine chamois.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Research Note: Detection of antibiotic-resistance genes in commercial poultry and turkey flocks from Italy
No full textAntibiotics are routinely used in commercial poultry farms for the treatment of economically important bacterial diseases. Repeated use of antibiotics, usually administered in the feed or drinking water, may also result in the selection of resistant bacteria in animal feces, able to transfer their antimicrobial-resistance genes (ARG), residing on mobile elements, to other microorganisms, including human pathogens. In this study, single and multiplex PCR protocols were performed to detect tetracycline-, lincomycin-, chloramphenicol-, aminoglycoside-, colistin-, vancomycin-, and carbapenem-resistance genes, starting from 38 litter samples collected from 6 poultry and 2 turkey Italian flocks. The ARG were confirmed for all investigated classes of antimicrobials, except for colistin (mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3,mcr-4 mcr-5) and carbapenem (IMP, OXA-48, NDM, KPC), while the vanB gene was only detected for vancomycin. The highest positivity was obtained for tetracycline (tet[L], tet[M], tet[K], tetA[P]] and aminoglycoside (aadA2) ARG, confirming the predominant use of these antimicrobials in the veterinary practice and their potential to enhance the resistance patterns also in humans as a consequence of environmental contamination. On the contrary, the dissemination by poultry of ARG for critically important antimicrobials seems to be of minor concern, suggesting a negligible environmental dissemination by these genes in the Italian poultry industry. Finally, the molecular screening performed in this study using a noninvasive sampling method represents a simple and rapid tool for monitoring the ARG patterns at the farm level
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Strongili gastrointestinali e broncopolmonari condivisi tra le pecore e i ruminanti selvatici nel Parco Nazionale della Maiella.
No full textMicrobial communities and antimicrobial resistance genes in Appennine chamois in Maiella National Park
No full textMitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Strongylid nematodes shared between domestic and wild ruminants in the Maiella National Park (Abruzzo region, central Italy)
No full textINTRODUCTION. Strongylid nematodes (SN) are recognized as a major concern to livestock production. As the control of SN relies heavily on the use of parasiticides, anthelminthic resistance (AR) is increasing (Barone et al., 2020 Vet Parasitol. 279: 109041). It is known that wild ruminants may harbor several SN that typically infect livestock andit is assumed that they couldalso act as reservoirs in the translocation of anthelmintic resistance (Chintoan-Uta et al., 2014 Proc Biol Sci. 281: 20132985). This risk is even increased where domestic and wild ruminants graze on the same pastures. The aim of the present study was to obtain novel information on the distribution of SN in sheep and wild ruminants (i.e. red deer, chamois) sharing the same pasture in the Maiella National Park. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 20 faecal pool samples were collected from sheep (n. 7) and wild ruminants (n. 13) and examined by classic copromicroscopic tests. Gastrointestinal strongyle (GIS) positive pools were subjected to coprocolture. L3s were morphologically and molecularly identified (Gasser et al., 1993 Nucleic Acids Research. 21: 2525-26; van Wyk et al., 2013 Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 80: 539). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS. Thirteen faecal pools were positive for GIS and 16 pools for bronchopulmonary strongyles (BPS) (Table 1). The present data confirm that wild ruminants may harbor strongyle species that usually affect sheep (Zaffaroni et al., 2000 Vet Parasitol. 90: 221-30). Further studies are required to investigate the pattern of transmission of strongyles between domestic and wild ruminants and the role of wildlife in the spread of anthelmintic-resistant nematodes
Cetacean morbillivirus and toxoplasma gondii co-infection in mediterranean monk seal pup, Italy
No full textA Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) pup from the southern Adriatic coast of Italy showed cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) and disseminated Toxoplasma gondii co-infection, which probably resulted from CeMV-induced immunosuppression. These findings are of concern for the conservation of this critically endangered species
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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