“
“BACKGROUND: Variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) loci were recently identified in Japanese isolates of Mycobacterium intracellulare. We hypothesised that some mycobacterial genotypes are more virulent than others, resulting in particular genotypes being associated with disease phenotype and progression.
OBJECTIVE: BMS202 Immunology & Inflammation inhibitor To evaluate the VNTR loci of M. intracellulare in clinical isolates from Korean patients,
and investigate the association between mycobacterial genotype and disease phenotype and progression.
DESIGN: In total, 70 M. intracellulare clinical isolates were genotyped using 16 M. intracellulare VNTR loci.
RESULTS: VNTR typing showed strong discriminatory power and genetic diversity for molecular epidemiological studies of M. intracellulare. In a phylogenetic tree, the M. intracellulare clinical isolates were divided into two clusters (A and B). Cluster A was observed more frequently (77%) than Cluster B; however, there was no association between the clinical characteristics, disease progression, drug susceptibility and clusters based on VNTR genotyping.
CONCLUSIONS: VNTR typing could be used for epidemiological studies of M. intracellulare lung disease; however, no association was found between
the find more specific VNTR genotypes of M. intracellulare and the clinical characteristics of Korean patients.”
“Plasma-induced charging of patterned-dielectric structures
during device fabrication can cause structural and electrical damage to devices. In this work, we report on vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) radiation-induced charge depletion in plasma-charged patterned-silicon-oxide dielectric wafers. Charge depletion is studied as a function of photon energy and the aspect ratio of hole structures. The wafers were charged in a plasma and subsequently exposed to monochromatic-synchrotron-VUV. Selleckchem BIIB057 Surface-potential measurements after VUV exposure showed that photon energies less than 11 eV were beneficial in depleting the plasma-induced charge from the patterned-dielectric wafers. In addition, for a given photon-flux density and for photon energies less than 11 eV, VUV-induced charge depletion decreases with increasing hole aspect ratio. The results are explained with a physically plausible equivalent-circuit model, which suggests that both electron photoinjection from Si into the oxide and oxide surface conductivity play an important role in the charge-depletion process.”
“SETTING AND OBJECTIVE: There are limited data regarding the frequency and significance of co-isolating pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).