Sulbactam-durlobactam is a β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination developed to treat hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia caused by Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex (ABC). Durlobactam is a diazabicyclooctane β-lactamase inhibitor with potent activity against Ambler classes A, C, and D serine β-lactamases and restores sulbactam activity against multidrug-resistant ABC. Studies were conducted to establish sulbactam-durlobactam antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods for both broth microdilution minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and disk diffusion tests as well as quality control (QC) ranges. To establish the MIC test method, combinations of sulbactam and durlobactam were evaluated using a panel of genetically characterized A. baumannii isolates which were categorized as predicted to be susceptible or resistant based on the spectrum of β-lactamase inhibition by durlobactam. MIC testing with doubling dilutions of sulbactam with a fixed concentration of 4 µg/mL of durlobactam resulted in the greatest discrimination of the pre-defined susceptible and resistant strains. Similarly, the sulbactam/durlobactam 10/10 µg disk concentration showed the best discrimination as well as correlation with the MIC test. A. baumannii NCTC 13304 was selected for QC purposes because it assesses the activity of both sulbactam and durlobactam with clear endpoints. Multi-laboratory QC studies were conducted according to CLSI M23 Tier 2 criteria. A sulbactam-durlobactam broth MIC QC range of 0.5/4-2/4 µg/mL and a zone diameter QC range of 24-30 mm were determined for A. baumannii NCTC 13304 and have been approved by CLSI. These studies will enable clinical laboratories to perform susceptibility tests with accurate and reproducible methods.

The Selux Next-Generation Phenotyping (NGP) system (Charlestown, MA) is a new antimicrobial susceptibility testing system that utilizes two sequential assays performed on all wells of doubling dilution series to determine MICs. A multicenter evaluation of the performance of the Selux NGP system compared with reference broth microdilution was conducted following FDA recommendations and using FDA-defined breakpoints. A total of 2,488 clinical and challenge isolates were included; gram-negative isolates were tested against 24 antimicrobials, and gram-positive isolates were tested against 15 antimicrobials. Data is provided for all organism-antimicrobial combinations evaluated, including those that did and did not meet FDA performance requirements. Overall very major error and major error rates were less than 1% (31/3,805 and 107/15,606, respectively), essential agreement and categorical agreement were >95%, reproducibility was ≥95%, and the average time-to-result (from time of assay start to time of MIC result) was 5.65 hours.

The Gram-positive bacterium Actinomyces oris expresses a unique cell wall-anchored fimbria comprised of the fimbrial shaft FimA and the tip fimbrillin CafA, whose gene is not genetically linked to the fimA locus, unlike many other fimbrial gene loci in Gram-positive bacteria. Mutational analyses of individual fimbrillins, FimA and CafA, in A. oris often rely on multi-copy plasmids that may alter the stoichiometry of fimbrillins in vivo, hence fimbrial assembly. Here, we provide a robust method for single-copy gene expression and mutagenesis in A. oris, using CafA as an experimental model. This method can be applied for single-copy gene editing in various bacterial systems.

Abstract Background MIC data from MicroScan Dried Gram-negative MIC (MSDGN) Panels with piperacillin/tazobactam were evaluated with CLSI-M100-ED32 breakpoints for Acinetobacter, Enterobacterales, Other-Non-Enterobacterales, and proposed CLSI breakpoints for Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a multicenter clinical study. MIC results were compared to results obtained with CLSI frozen broth microdilution panels. Materials/Methods The study included a total of 683 clinical isolates tested using Prompt and turbidity during efficacy and challenge phases. MSDGN panels were evaluated at three clinical sites, comparing MIC values obtained using MSDGN panels to MICs utilizing CLSI reference panel. MSDGN panels were incubated at 35 ± 1°C and read on WalkAway System, autoSCAN-4 instrument, and read visually at 16–20 h. Frozen reference panels were prepared according to CLSI methodology, incubated for 16–20 h for Enterobacterales, Other Non-Enterobacterales, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and for 20–24 h for Acinetobacter and read visually. CLSI breakpoints(mg/L) used for interpretation of MIC results were: ≤16/4 S, 32/4–64/4 I, ≥128/4 R for Acinetobacter and Other Non Enterobacterales, ≤8/4 S, 16/4 SDD, ≥32/4 R for Enterobacterales, and ≤16/4 S, 32/4 I, >64/4 R for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results When compared to frozen reference panel results, essential and categorical agreements for all isolates tested are as follows with these recommendations: Due to elevated major error rates for S. marcescens and WalkAway reads with Prompt, results should be confirmed visually prior to reporting. Due to performance with P. rettgeri and S. liquefaciens complex, do not report drug, therapy, or MIC. Conclusion Piperacillin/tazobactam MIC results for gram-negative clinical isolates obtained with the MSDGN panel correlate with MICs obtained using frozen reference panels with updated CLSI interpretive criteria.

We present the first performance evaluation results for omadacycline on the VITEK 2 and VITEK 2 Compact Systems (bioMérieux, Inc.). The trial was conducted at four external sites and one internal site. All sites were in the United States, geographically dispersed as follows: Indianapolis, IN; Schaumburg, IL; Wilsonville, OR; Cleveland, OH; and Hazelwood, MO. In this multisite study, omadacycline was tested against 858 Enterobacterales on the VITEK 2 antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) Gram-negative (GN) card, and the results were compared to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute broth microdilution (BMD) reference method. The results were analyzed and are presented as essential agreement (EA), category agreement (CA), minor error (mE) rates, major error (ME) rates, and very major error (VME) rates following the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Standards Organization (ISO) performance criteria requirements. Omadacycline has susceptibility testing interpretive criteria (breakpoints) established by the FDA only; nevertheless, the analysis was also performed using the ISO acceptance criteria to satisfy the registration needs of countries outside the United States. The analysis following FDA criteria (including only Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae) showed the following performance: EA = 97.9% (410/419), CA = 94.3% (395/419), VME = 2% (1/51), with no ME present. The performance following ISO criteria (including all Enterobacterales tested) after error resolutions was EA = 98.1% (842/858) and CA = 96.9% (831/858). No ME or VME were observed. The VITEK 2 test met the ISO and FDA criteria of ≥ 95% reproducibility, and ≥ 95% quality control (QC) results within acceptable ranges for QC organisms. In June 2022, the omadacycline VITEK 2 test received FDA 510(k) clearance (K213931) FDA as a diagnostic device to be used in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infections caused by E. cloacae and K. pneumoniae, and for treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia caused by K. pneumoniae. The new VITEK 2 AST-GN omadacycline test provides an alternative to the BMD reference method testing and increases the range of automated diagnostic tools available for determining omadacycline MICs in Enterobacterales.

Driving anomaly detection aims to identify objects, events or actions that can increase the risk of accidents, reducing road safety. While supervised approaches can effectively identify aspects related to driving anomalies, it is unfeasible to tabulate and address all potential driving anomalies. Instead, it is appealing to design unsupervised approaches that can automatically identify unexpected driving scenarios. This study formulates the detection of driving anomalies as a binary-discrimination task between expected and unexpected driving behaviors. We propose an unsupervised contrastive method using conditional generative adversarial networks (GANs) implemented with the attention model and the triplet loss function. A feature of our framework is its scalability, where it is easy to add new modalities. We consider five different modalities: the vehicle's CAN-Bus signals, driver's physiological signals, distance to nearby pedestrians, distance to nearby vehicles and distance to nearby bicycles. Our approach trains a conditional GAN to extract latent features from each of the five modalities. An attention model combines the latent representations from the modalities. The entire framework is trained with the triplet loss function to generate effective representations to discriminate normal and abnormal driving segments. We conduct experimental evaluations on the driving anomaly dataset (DAD), achieving improved performance over alternative approaches.

Abstract Background A multicenter study was performed to evaluate the accuracy of MIC results for colistin on a MicroScan Dried Gram Negative MIC (MSDGN) Panel when compared to results obtained with frozen broth microdilution panels prepared according to CLSI/EUCAST methodology. Note: Colistin is not available in all countries. Methods MSDGN panels were evaluated at three clinical sites (including Beckman Coulter) by comparing MIC values obtained using the MSDGN panels to MICs obtained utilizing a CLSI/EUCAST broth microdilution reference panel. The study included 407 clinical isolates tested using the turbidity and Prompt® methods of inoculation. MSDGN panels were incubated in the WalkAway System (35 ± 1°C) and read on the WalkAway System, the autoSCAN-4 instrument, and read visually at 16-20 hours. Frozen reference panels were prepared and inoculated according to CLSI/EUCAST Joint Working Group Recommendations for MIC determination of Colistin (Polymyxin E) and incubated for 16-20 hours and read visually. CLSI M100 ED32 breakpoints (µg/mL) used for interpretation of MIC results were: Enterobacterales ≤ 2 I, ≥ 4 R; P. aeruginosa ≤ 2 I, ≥ 4 R. Results Essential, categorical agreement, and categorical errors were calculated using MIC results from WalkAway reads for MSDGN panels in Table 1. All other read methods yielded similar results. Categorical agreement was not calculated for Acinetobacter spp. as MIC only is reported. Table 1- Results Conclusion This multicenter study showed that colistin MIC results for Gram Negative bacteria obtained with the MSDGN panel correlate well with MICs obtained using frozen reference panels with CLSI interpretive criteria. © 2022 Beckman Coulter. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Beckman Coulter, the stylized logo, and the Beckman Coulter product and service marks mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Beckman Coulter, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Disclosures Stefan Riedel, M.D., PhD., D(ABMM), FCAP, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Maria Traczewski, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Denise Beasley, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Regina Brookman, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Jose Diaz, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Zabrina Lockett, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Jennifer Chau, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter.

Abstract Background EUCAST V11 fosfomycin breakpoints for Enterobacterales (i.v. and oral for uncomplicated UTI only, E. coli) were evaluated against data from a multicenter clinical study on a MicroScan Dried Gram Negative MIC (MSDGN) Panel. MIC results were compared to results obtained with agar dilution reference prepared according to CLSI methodology. Methods A total of 344 Gram negative clinical isolates including 191 Enterobacterales were tested using the turbidity and Prompt® methods of inoculation during the efficacy phase at three clinical sites. An evaluation was conducted by comparing MIC values obtained using the MSDGN panels to MICs utilizing the CLSI agar dilution reference. MSDGN panels were incubated at 35 ± 1°C and read on the WalkAway System, the autoSCAN-4 instrument, and read visually at 16-20 hours. Agar dilution plates were prepared according to CLSI methodology, incubated for 16-20 hours and read visually. EUCAST v11.0 fosfomycin breakpoints (mg/L) used for interpretation of MIC results were: i.v. for Enterobacterales ≤ 32 S, > 32 R and oral for uncomplicated UTI only, E. coli ≤ 8 S, > 8 R. Results Essential agreement, categorical agreement and categorical errors were calculated compared to MIC results from agar dilution plates. Results for all efficacy isolates with turbidity inoculation and manual read are found in Table 1. Table 1- Results Conclusion This multicenter study showed that fosfomycin MIC results for i.v. for Enterobacterales and E. coli (oral, for uncomplicated UTI only) obtained with the MSDGN panel correlate well with MICs obtained using CLSI agar dilution reference using EUCAST interpretive criteria. © 2022 Beckman Coulter. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Beckman Coulter, the stylized logo, and the Beckman Coulter product and service marks mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Beckman Coulter, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Disclosures Omai Garner, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Amanda Harrington, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc.|bioMeriuex/BioFire: Grant/Research Support Sharon DesJarlais, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Maria Traczewski, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Denise Beasley, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Clinical trial data collection funded by Beckman Coulter, Inc. Jose Diaz, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Regina Brookman, BS, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Zabrina Lockett, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter Jennifer Chau, PhD, Beckman Coulter, Inc.: Employee of Beckman Coulter.

The present study describes a previously unknown universal system that orchestrates the interaction of bacteria with the environment, named the Teazeled receptor system (TR-system). The identical system was recently discovered within eukaryotes. The system includes DNA- and RNA-based molecules named “TezRs”, that form receptor’s network located outside the membrane, as well as reverse transcriptases and integrases. TR-system takes part in the control of all major aspects of bacterial behavior, such as intra cellular communication, growth, biofilm formation and dispersal, utilization of nutrients including xenobiotics, virulence, chemo- and magnetoreception, response to external factors (e.g., temperature, UV, light and gas content), mutation events, phage-host interaction, and DNA recombination activity. Additionally, it supervises the function of other receptor-mediated signaling pathways. Importantly, the TR-system is responsible for the formation and maintenance of cell memory to preceding cellular events, as well the ability to “forget” preceding events. Transcriptome and biochemical analysis revealed that the loss of different TezRs instigates significant alterations in gene expression and proteins synthesis.

Antibiotics are associated with increased risk of Clostridioides difficile infection, which has limited treatment options. We assessed in vitro activity of omadacycline (an aminomethylcycline antibiotic) against the C. difficile infection strain and efficacy in a hamster model of C. difficile-associated diarrhoea. Omadacycline, clindamycin, tigecycline, vancomycin, and metronidazole minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for the infection-model strain (C. difficile ATCC 43596) were determined. Hamsters were pretreated with subcutaneous clindamycin (10 mg/kg) and infected 24 h later with C. difficile ATCC 43596; 24 h post infection, they received oral omadacycline (50 mg/kg/day), vancomycin (50 mg/kg/day), or vehicle for 5 days. Efficacy was reported as survival. Omadacycline was as active as tigecycline, vancomycin, and metronidazole (MIC 0.06 mg/L); clindamycin showed no activity. Median survival in hamsters was: 12 days, omadacycline; 2 days, vancomycin; 4 days, clindamycin pretreatment only. Omadacycline exhibited potent in vitro activity against C. difficile and showed efficacy in a model of C. difficile-associated diarrhoea.