Staphylococcus aureus is a serious human and veterinary pathogen in which new strains with increasing virulence and antimicrobial resistance occur due to acquiring new genes by horizontal transfer. It is generally accepted that temperate bacteriophages play a major role in gene transfer. In this study, we proved the presence of various bacterial genes of the S. aureus COL strain directly within the phage particles via qPCR and quantified their packaging frequency. Non-parametric statistical analysis showed that transducing bacteriophages φ11, φ80 and φ80α of serogroup B, in contrast to serogroup A bacteriophage φ81, efficiently package selected chromosomal genes localized in 4 various loci of the chromosome and 8 genes carried on variable elements, such as staphylococcal cassette chromosome SCCmec, staphylococcal pathogenicity island SaPI1, genomic islands vSaα and vSaβ, and plasmids with various frequency. Bacterial gene copy number per ng of DNA isolated from phage particles ranged between 1.05 × 10(2) for the tetK plasmid gene and 3.86 × 10(5) for the SaPI1 integrase gene. The new and crucial finding that serogroup B bacteriophages can package concurrently ccrA1 (1.16 × 10(4)) and mecA (1.26 × 10(4)) located at SCCmec type I into their capsids indicates that generalized transduction plays an important role in the evolution and emergence of new methicillin-resistant clones.

Background: The Czech Republic ranks among the countries with the highest cancer burden in Europe as well as worldwide. The purpose of this study is to summarize long-term trends in the cancer burden and to provide up-to-date estimates of incidence and mortality rates after 2011. Data and Methods: The Czech National Cancer Registry (CNCR) was instituted in 1977 and contains information collected over a 34-year period of standardized registration covering 100% of cancer dia gnoses within the entire Czech population. The CNCR analysis is supported by demographic data and by the Death Records Database. An overview of the epidemiology of malignant tumors in the Czech population is available on-line at www.svod.cz. Results: All neoplasms, including non-melanoma skin cancer, reached a crude incidence rate of almost 802 cases per 100,000 men and 681 cases per 100,000 women in 2011. The annual mortality rate exceeded 258 deaths per 100,000 individuals; in other words, more than 27,000 individuals die of cancer each year. The overall incidence of malignancies has increased with a growth index of +27.6% during the last decade (2001-2011), while the mortality rate has been stabilized over the time span (growth index in 2001-2011:-5.0%). Consequently, the prevalence has signifi cantly increased in the observed period and exceeded 475,000 cases in 2011. In addition to demographic aging of the Czech population, the cancer burden has also increased due to the growing incidence of multiple primary tumors (recently more than 15% of the total incidence). The most frequent dia gnoses include colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Although some neoplasms are increasingly dia gnosed at an early stage (e. g. the proportion of stage I or II was 75.3% for female breast cancer and 84.2% for skin melanoma), the numbers of early dia gnosed cases are generally insuffi cient, even in the case of highly prevalent cancers such as colorectal carcinoma (only 46.1% of incident cases are dia gnosed at stage I or II, according to recent data). Conclusion: Population-based data on malignant tumors are available in the Czech Republic. The data survey can help us defi ne national cancer management priorities. The current priority is to achieve a sustained reduction of cases dia gnosed at an advanced stage and reduction of the signifi cant regional diff erences in dia gnostic effi ciency.

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IntroductionWomen with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have increased risk of developing glucose abnormality, but current diagnostic criteria are evidence-based for adverse pregnancy outcome. The aims of our study were: (i) to ascertain a frequency of early conversion of GDM into permanent glucose abnormality, (ii) to determine predictive potential of current GDM diagnostic criteria for prediction of postpartum glucose abnormality and (iii) to find optimal cut-off values of oral glucose tolerance test (oGTT) to stratify GDM population according to postpartum risk.Materials and methodsElectronic medical records of an ethnically homogenous cohort of women diagnosed and treated for GDM in a single medical centre during the period 2005–2011 who completed postpartum oGTT up to 1 year after the index delivery were retrospectively analysed (N = 305).ResultsPostpartum glucose abnormality was detected in 16.7% subjects. Mid-trimester oGTT values, respective area under the curve and HbA1c were significantly associated with early postpartum glucose abnormality (P < 0.05, Mann-Whitney) and exhibited significant predictive potential for postpartum glucose abnormality risk assessment. Optimal cut-off values for discrimination of at-risk sub-population were identified using ROC analysis and their comparison with WHO and IADPSG criteria exhibited superiority of IADPSG for risk-stratification of GDM population.ConclusionRisk-based stratification at the time of GDM diagnosis could improve efficiency of the post-gestational screening for diabetes. IADPSG criteria seem to optimally capture both perinatal and maternal metabolic risks and are therefore medically and economically justified.

The available data make it possible to analyse long-term trends in MM epidemiology and to predict the future treatment burden as well as treatment results.Key words: multiple myeloma - epidemiology - Czech National Cancer Registry - Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies - Czech Republic.