For elderly patients with chronic back pain in Taiwan, the differential diagnosis of spinal TB should be considered. Image studies and computed tomography-guided aspiration are helpful for early detection. Combined surgical intervention tended to have a more favorable outcome and longer treatment periods had no additional benefit.

Background: Plantar pressure assessment are useful for understanding the functions of the foot and lower limb and predicting injury incidence rates. Musculoskeletal fatigues are likely to affect the results of plantar pressure profiles. This study aimed at characterizing college elite basketball players' plantar pressure profiles and pain profiles during static standing and walking. Methods: Fifty-one male elite basketball players and eighty-five male recreational basketball players participated in this study. An optical plantar pressure measurement system was used for collecting the arch index (AI), regional plantar pressure distributions (PPDs), and footprint characteristics during static and dynamic activities. Elite basketball players' pain profiles were examined for evaluating their common musculoskeletal pain areas.Results: The AI values in recreational basketball players fell in the normal range, whereas was considerably lower in elite basketball players. Elite basketball players' static PPDs of both feet were mainly exerted on the lateral longitudinal arch and the lateral heel, and relatively lower on the medial longitudinal arch, the medial and lateral metatarsal bones. The PPDs mainly transferred to the lateral metatarsal bone and lateral longitudinal arch, and decreased at the medial heel during the midstance phase of walking. The footprint characteristics of elite basketball players illustrated the features of the calcaneal varus (supinated foot) of high arches and the dropped cuboid foot. The lateral ankle joints and anterior cruciate ligaments were the common musculoskeletal pain areas. Conclusions: Elite basketball players' AI values was found to be high arches, and their PPDs tended to parallel the features of the high-arched supinated and dropped cuboid foot. Their pain profiles not only resonated with the common basketball injuries, but also reflected the features of the Jones fracture and cuboid syndrome. The potential links among high-arched supinated foot, Jones fracture and cuboid syndrome are worth further studies.

To minimize IHDD, clinicians should carefully manage hospitalized patients with risk factors for prolonged delay, such as those with negative sputum smears, non-cavitary lesions on chest radiographs, admission to departments other than chest medicine/infectious diseases, exposure to fluoroquinolones before antitubercular treatment, underlying malignancy, and age > 65 years.

Introduction: Pyogenic liver abscess is usually caused by multiple bacterial infections. This disease can be caused by single microorganism, Klebsiella pneumoniae that has been reported in Asia, North America and Europe. Many virulence factors of K. pneumoniae have identified including capsular polysaccharide, lipopolysaccharide, serum resistance, adhesins and siderophores. Previously, we demonstrated the virulent effect of outer membrane porin (OMP) K 36 by a lethality study. However, the role of OmpK36 in liver abscess pathogenesis is still unclear.Objective: In this study, a virulent K. pneumoniae strain NVT-1002 and OmpK36 deficient mutant (ΔOMPK) were used to examine the contribution of OmpK36 to liver abscess. Liver injuries and inflammatory cytokines expression were detected by tissue section and enzyme linked-immunosorbent assay respectively. The toxic effect of OmpK36 to human hepatoma cell (HepG2) was tested by bacterial infections and the treatment with OmpK36 recombinant protein. Results:The Results demonstrated that the NVT-1002 induced sever liver injuries while little or no damage was found in mice injected with OmpK36. Expression of serum and liver cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 were elevated after injection of NVT-1002, meanwhile, only IL-1β was transiently elevated in OmpK36 group. Interestingly, OmpK36 recombinant protein showed no toxic effect to HepG2 cells, and the virulence of OmpK36 mutant to HepG2 was not altered compared to NVT-1002 group. Conclusion:In conclusion, OmpK36 contributes to the K. pneumoniae induced liver abscess and inflammatory responses. The virulent effect of OmpK36 is not mediated by the protein itself, but other uncertain mechanisms. OmpK36 may be a therapeutic target in K. pneumoniae infection. Contribution of Outer Keywords:OmpK36, Virulence, Liver abscess, Inflammatory Original ArticleOpen Access IntroductionKlebsiella pneumoniae have been documented as the common factor for cryptogenic liver abscess in Asia Pacific [1,2]. Similar findings in North America and Europe have also been reported [3][4][5]. Several virulent factors of K. pneumoniae were discovered and these factors are almost related to specific capsular polysaccharides (CPS) [2,[6][7][8]. Accumulating reports have indicated that the capsule is essential to the virulence of Klebsiella species [9][10][11]. Up to now, the capsular antigen have been classified into 77 serotypes , and serotype K1 and K2 capsular antigen were found to comprise virulence in mouse peritonitis model, whereas isolates of serotypes other than K1 or K2 were with little or no virulence [5,12].Outer membrane porins (OMP) are proteins that cross a cellular membrane and contribute to the diffusion of molecules. Many studies have showed OMPs play important roles in antimicrobial resistance [13,14]. Previously, we have demonstrated the virulent effects of OMPK 36 by an animal study [15]. In this report, the results of animal lethality study showed that the virulence of OmpK36 mutant was reduced about 100 fold c...