Acinetobacter baumannii is increasingly recognized as an important multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen. Recent work has highlighted enhanced growth and heightened virulence in the presence of ethyl alcohols. As alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) are extensively used in health care settings, the authors set out to determine whether the hand rubs could also influence the growth of prevalent multidrug-resistant strains circulating in UK hospitals. A significant increase in growth was observed when minimal media were supplemented with concentrations of 1 % and lower of four commercially available hand rubs. In addition, growth in ABHR-supplemented media resulted in secretion of proteins into the culture supernatant. One of these was identified as OmpA, which is recognized as having emulsifying activity, which could potentially confer enhanced pathogenicity to A. baumannii.

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SynopsisThis paper presents some experimental data on inverse relaxation exhibited by yarns spun from cotton, polyester, viscose rayon, and jute fibers. Inverse relaxation (IR) is the building up of tension in a viscoelastic material that has been allowed to recover a part of the initial extension it is subjected to. The IR index defined as a measure of the extent of this property has been determined at various levels of extension. A qualitative explanation of the results based on the fiber model proposed by Vitkauskas and Matukonis is also given.

SynopsisThis article discusses the phenomenon of inverse relaxation in some textile fibers, namely cotton, ramie, wool, polyester, and viscose. If an extended viscoelastic specimen is allowed to recover a part of the deformation given to it, such that its tension has not become zero, the stress in it tends to increase. This phenomenon is termed as "inverse relaxation." This property is measured in terms of an index referred to as the inverse relaxation index. The values of this index at various extension and retraction levels for the above materials are presented and discussed in this article.

SYNOPSISCotton fibers were subjected to swelling in various concentrations of LiOH, NaOH, and KOH at 0°C. Swollen fibers were characterized by measurements of physical, mechanical, and fine structural properties. Slack swelling in LiOH and NaOH produced tremendous changes in fiber properties. Clear-cut swelling maxima, disorientation, and subsequent deterioration in tensile properties at and near the swelling maxima were evident in both LiOH and NaOH. On the other hand, KOH swelling did not produce any clear swelling maximum. Fibers swollen in this reagent showed better retention of tensile properties due to conducive changes in the structural parameters resulting from a lower but more uniform swelling. 0 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.