The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences: five decades of collaborative medical research.

被引量：1 发表：2011

Emergence and properties of fluoroquinolone resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi strains isolated from Nepal in 2002 and 2003.

被引量：1 发表：2010

Status of Vi gene, its expression and Salmonella Pathogenicity Island (SPI-7) in Salmonella Typhi in India.

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S. Typhi) is a causative organism of typhoid fever. A number of Salmonella serovars express a capsular polysaccharide antigen known as Vi, the biosynthetic and export proteins of which are encoded within the viaB locus of Salmonella Pathogenicity Island -7 (SPI-7). SPI-7 is inserted between two partially duplicated copies of tRNA -pheU gene. We have investigated the frequency of viaB operon deletion and loss of SPI-7 due to storage of strains collected during the period 1987-2006 by PCR amplification of fliC (for confirmation of serotype Typhi), tviB (for status of viaB operon) and tRNA -pheU (for absence of SPI-7). All 111 isolates were observed with positive amplification of 495 bp amplicon for fliC. A total of 36 isolates were negative for Vi by agglutination while 39 were negative for viaB operon. Interestingly, 106 isolates were found to have SPI-7. The 5 SPI-7 negative isolates were isolated during recent years. Long-term storage and repeated culture had little or no effect on SPI-7, as none of the 18 isolates recovered from blood before 1997 lacked SPI-7. On the other hand, loss of viaB operon was directly proportional to duration of storage. Thus, it is proposed that stability of Vi gene is dependent on the presence of selection pressure.

被引量：6 发表：2010

Detection of outer membrane porin protein, an imipenem influx channel, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates.

被引量：8 发表：2010

Decentralization and recentralization: effects on the health systems in Lao PDR.

In Lao PDR, lack of skilled manpower and financial resources in the central government, plus the policy urging local authorities to be self-sufficient and self-reliant caused the central government to decentralize all sectors to the provincial level in 1987. After 1987, the provinces took over all responsibilities such as planning, financing and provision of health services, only informing the Ministry of Health (MOH) about their activities. Because of economic differences between the 18 provinces, health services became unequal between the richer and poorer provinces. Some provinces generated high revenues, leading to over spending. The decentralized system had some negative impacts on the health service. The technical and planning functions managed from the ministry level became separated from management and financial decision making at the local level, and the ministry lost influence on the direction of health policy. Salaries from the local government were often delayed. Because health budgets were not allocated centrally by the Ministry of Health, there were no mechanisms by which health resources could be distributed preferentially to poorer areas with greater need. However, donors continued to support health programs through the Ministry of Health, sending drugs, vaccines, and other supplies to the provinces. The implementation of decentralization faced many difficulties due to the lack of experienced staff and insufficient training required for practicing decentralization. Similar problems in other sectors, such as agriculture, education, and communication, caused the central government to retake control from the provinces in 1992. During the recentralization period, utilization of health facilities increased. The Ministry of Health set rules and established regulations to strengthen the health system. A cost-recovery system was introduced to obtain additional funds, and conditions in the provinces gradually improved. The unique situation of decentralization followed by recentralization provides an excellent opportunity for study. We reviewed documents relating to these periods and interviewed officials at all levels who were concerned with the process.

被引量：3 发表：2005