Most college students and faculty regard their classrooms as drab, sterile, and institutional. A traditional classroom was converted into a softer more aesthetically pleasing room. Student attitudes toward the new room were favorable, and there was an increase in classroom participation, including student-student discussion.
A case of abdominal actinomycosis originating from the sigmoid colon is presented. Actinomyces odontolyticus was isolated; it is a rarity, but should be suspected in the case of a palpable mass and several fistulas developing after a latent period of weeks to months following surgical or inflammatory trauma. The diagnosis is made by anaerobic cultivation. Primary treatment with large doses of penicillin for several weeks may be supplemented by surgery. The strain isolated in the present case was only moderately sensitive to penicillin and was successfully treated with erythromycin.
From Nov. 15 to Dec. 17, 1977, Pseudomonas cepacia was isolated from the blood of 16 patients in Odense, Denmark, and Nijmegen, Holland, 2--5 days after an operation with general anaesthesia. The fever started 14--70 h after operation and lasted 2--4 days. All patients recovered. 14/15 patients examined 7--51 days later had agglutinating antibody titres of 400-3,200 against the epidemic strain. Ps. cepacia with identical biochemical characters and sensitivity pattern was isolated from unbroken vials containing the anaesthetic fentanyl, which had been given to all 16 patients. Two batches were contaminated, one heavily so (10(4)--10(5) cfu/0.1 ml). Seven other batches examined yielded no growth. The preservative added to the vials was a mixture of methyl- and propyl-p-hydroxybenzoates which not only allowed growth of the Ps. cepacia strain but could also serve as a carbon source as did citric and malonic acids. The concentration of preservative was not reduced in contaminated vials. The vials had not been sterilized after closure; too much reliance had been placed on an aseptic technique and insufficient preservatives.
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