Author:  Rachel M. McNeill, William M. DeFoor, Carlos C. Goller, and Laura E. Ott

Delftia spp. are rod-shaped, gram-negative water and soil bacteria that are resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. Clinical case reports have described infections of Delftia spp. in patients with intravenous catheters, prompting us to investigate the immune response to Delftia spp. stimulation. We hypothesized that stimulation of THP-1 monocytes with Delftia spp. would elicit a pro-inflammatory response. THP-1 cells were stimulated for 24hr with two strains of heat-killed Delftia spp.: Delftia acidovorans ATCC 13751 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.6 and 6.0, and Delftia sp. Cs1-4 MOI of 0.8 and 8.0. Purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used as the positive control. Stimulation of monocytes with Delftia spp. resulted in increased monocyte mortality.

Authors:  Michael O'Brien and Pierre-Richard Cornely

Earthquakes pose a significant threat to human life, especially when they affect major centers of population. However, there is currently no method of predicting seismic activity that gives enough time to prepare for a major catastrophe. This paper presents a method for predicting earthquakes months before an actual seismic event occurs. A major earthquake, which occurred near Haiti’s capitol in early 2010, is investigated using the Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) satellite. Electron density in the ionosphere is measured through DEMETER. The electron density measurement is then compared to predictions by the Parameterized Ionospheric Model (PIM), a computer model capable of predicting the electron density at a given point in the atmosphere.