We recovered an unusual bacterial strain from blood or sputum of three patients with septicemia, endocarditis, and/or respiratory failure. The three isolates were thin, curved, gram-negative, light brown, pigment-producing bacilli with variable catalase activity. They were asaccharolytic, oxidase-negative, nonmotile, and fastidious. Identification was not possible on the basis of these characteristics alone or in combination with cellular fatty acid profiles. Nucleic acid amplification and sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that all three isolates were identical and most closely related to the emerging pathogen Bordetella holmesii, diverging from the published sequence at three nucleotide positions (99.8% similarity). Isolation of a B. holmesii-like pathogen from sputum suggests that, in addition to producing septicemia, the organism may inhabit the respiratory tract like other Bordetella species.
In the dispersion of powders in liquid media agglomerates are broken down into primary particles. The strength of these agglomerates is dependent on both the interparticle force and the packing structure. A model is developed which relates the tensile strength and packing density of powder compacts to the interparticle force and has been tested with carbon blacks assuming the only force of significance is the van der Waals attraction. Of the 11 powders examined, 10 showed good agreement between the force derived from the experimental tensile strength data and that predicted theoretically, from which it may be concluded that the van der Waals force is responsible for the agglomeration of carbon black.
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