Epidemiological cutoff values for fluconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole for six Candida species as determined by the colorimetric Sensititre YeastOne method

In the absence of clinical breakpoints (CBP), epidemiological cutoff values (ECVs) are useful to separate wild-type (WT) isolates (without mechanisms of resistance) from non-WT isolates (those that can harbor some resistance mechanisms), which is the goal of susceptibility tests. Sensititre YeastOne (SYO) is a widely used method to determine susceptibility of Candida spp. to antifungal agents. The CLSI CBP have been established, but not for the SYO method. The ECVs for four azoles, obtained using MIC distributions determined by the SYO method, were calculated via five methods (three statistical methods and based on the MIC50 and modal MIC). Respectively, the median ECVs (in mg/liter) of the five methods for fluconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole (in parentheses: the percentage of isolates inhibited by MICs equal to or less than the ECVs; the number of isolates tested) were as follows: 2 (94.4%; 944), 0.5 (96.7%; 942), 0.25 (97.6%; 673), and 0.06 (96.7%; 849) for Candida albicans; 4 (86.1%; 642), 0.5 (99.4%; 642), 0.12 (93.9%; 392), and 0.06 (86.9%; 559) for C. parapsilosis; 8 (94.9%; 175), 1 (93.7%; 175), 2 (93.6%; 125), and 0.25 (90.4%; 167) for C. tropicalis; 128 (98.6%; 212), 4 (95.8%; 212), 4 (96.0%; 173), and 2 (98.5; 205) for C. glabrata; 256 (100%; 53), 1 (98.1%; 53), 1 (100%; 33), and 1 (97.9%; 48) for C. krusei; 4 (89.2%; 93), 0.5 (100%; 93), 0.25 (100%; 33), and 0.06 (87.7%; 73) for C. orthopsilosis. All methods included =94% of isolates and yielded similar ECVs (within 1 dilution). These ECVs would be suitable for monitoring emergence of isolates with reduced susceptibility by using the SYO method

Coagulopathy as initial manifestation of concomitant celiac disease and cystic fibrosis: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Celiac disease and cystic fibrosis have many common manifestations, such as malabsorption, steatorrhea and growth failure, and were for many years recognized as one clinical entity. Since their recognition as two separate diseases, their co-existence in a patient has been described sporadically; around 20 cases have been described in the literature. Taking into consideration the incidences of the two diseases, the chance of them occurring together is one in 2,000,000 in the general population.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe the case of a five-year-old boy of Turkish ethnicity with both celiac disease and cystic fibrosis, who presented initially with a skin hemorrhage. The diagnosis of celiac disease was made with a positive serum anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody test and the presence of HLA-DQ2 heterodimer, and confirmed on histology with small intestinal villous atrophy. A positive sweat test confirmed the diagnosis of associated cystic fibrosis.</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge there has been no previous report of this rare presentation of associated celiac disease and cystic fibrosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The clinical significance of this case is the consideration of malabsorption with both celiac disease and cystic fibrosis in patients who present with unexplained coagulopathy.</p

PREDICCIÓN DE LAS NECESIDADES HÍDRICAS CON UNA SEMANA DE ANTELACIÓN MEDIANTE TELEDETECCIÓN Y METEOROLOGÍA EN LA FINCA EXPERIMENTAL DEL CENTER PARA CULTIVOS DE MAÍZ

[ES] Determinar las necesidades hídricas que los cultivos demandarán a corto plazo juega un papel fundamental en la gestión de explotaciones agrícolas de regadío. De su precisión depende la obtención de mejores rendimientos productivos, económicos y medioambientales. La experiencia llevada a cabo en la finca experimental de la DGDRPF – CENTER del MAGRAMA, obtuvo la predicción de las necesidades hídricas con una semana de antelación durante todo el periodo de monitorización. Basados en la ecuación del coeficiente de cultivo único (Kc), de la metodología FAO56, se predijo la evapotranspiración del cultivo (ETc) en parcelas de maíz en regadío. Para ello, se emplearon técnicas meteorológicas que predijeron la evapotranspiración de referencia (ETo), y técnicas de teledetección basadas en secuencias temporales de índices de vegetación (IV) mediante las cuales se predijo el Kc. Los resultados obtenidos produjeron una ligera sobre estimación de la ETc a final de campaña (8%). Paralelamente, los riegos aplicados fueron validados externamente mediante el empleo de sondas de humedad. En resumen, la experiencia proporcionó resultados adecuados con un bajo número de recursos. Así, la programación del riego se realizó mediante la combinación de técnicas de teledetección y meteorológicas.Garrido-Rubio, J.; González Gómez, L.; Arellano Alcazar, I.; Madurga Del Cura, C.; Navarro Comalrena De Sobregrau, M.; López Tapia, J.; Calera Belmonte, A. (2015). PREDICCIÓN DE LAS NECESIDADES HÍDRICAS CON UNA SEMANA DE ANTELACIÓN MEDIANTE TELEDETECCIÓN Y METEOROLOGÍA EN LA FINCA EXPERIMENTAL DEL CENTER PARA CULTIVOS DE MAÍZ. En XXXIII CONGRESO NACIONAL DE RIEGOS. Valencia 16-18 junio de 2015. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/CNRiegos.2015.1496OC

Nitrogen uptake and internal recycling in Zostera marina exposed to oyster farming: eelgrass potential as a natural biofilter

Oyster farming in estuaries and coastal lagoons frequently overlaps with the distribution of seagrass meadows, yet there are few studies on how this aquaculture practice affects seagrass physiology. We compared in situ nitrogen uptake and the productivity of Zostera marina shoots growing near off-bottom longlines and at a site not affected by oyster farming in San Quintin Bay, a coastal lagoon in Baja California, Mexico. We used benthic chambers to measure leaf NH4 (+) uptake capacities by pulse labeling with (NH4)-N-15 (+) and plant photosynthesis and respiration. The internal N-15 resorption/recycling was measured in shoots 2 weeks after incubations. The natural isotopic composition of eelgrass tissues and vegetative descriptors were also examined. Plants growing at the oyster farming site showed a higher leaf NH4 (+) uptake rate (33.1 mmol NH4 (+) m(-2) day(-1)) relative to those not exposed to oyster cultures (25.6 mmol NH4 (+) m(-2) day(-1)). We calculated that an eelgrass meadow of 15-16 ha (which represents only about 3-4 % of the subtidal eelgrass meadow cover in the western arm of the lagoon) can potentially incorporate the total amount of NH4 (+) excreted by oysters (similar to 5.2 x 10(6) mmol NH4 (+) day(-1)). This highlights the potential of eelgrass to act as a natural biofilter for the NH4 (+) produced by oyster farming. Shoots exposed to oysters were more efficient in re-utilizing the internal N-15 into the growth of new leaf tissues or to translocate it to belowground tissues. Photosynthetic rates were greater in shoots exposed to oysters, which is consistent with higher NH4 (+) uptake and less negative delta C-13 values. Vegetative production (shoot size, leaf growth) was also higher in these shoots. Aboveground/belowground biomass ratio was lower in eelgrass beds not directly influenced by oyster farms, likely related to the higher investment in belowground biomass to incorporate sedimentary nutrients

Delay to celiac disease diagnosis and its implications for health-related quality of life

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To determine how the delay in diagnosing celiac disease (CD) has developed during recent decades and how this affects the burden of disease in terms of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and also to consider differences with respect to sex and age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In collaboration with the Swedish Society for Coeliacs, a questionnaire was sent to 1,560 randomly selected members, divided in equal-sized age- and sex strata, and 1,031 (66%) responded. HRQoL was measured with the EQ-5D descriptive system and was then translated to quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scores. A general population survey was used as comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean delay to diagnosis from the first symptoms was 9.7 years, and from the first doctor visit it was 5.8 years. The delay has been reduced over time for some age groups, but is still quite long. The mean QALY score during the year prior to initiated treatment was 0.66; it improved after diagnosis and treatment to 0.86, and was then better than that of a general population (0.79).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The delay from first symptoms to CD diagnosis is unacceptably long for many persons. Untreated CD results in poor HRQoL, which improves to the level of the general population if diagnosed and treated. By shortening the diagnostic delay it is possible to reduce this unnecessary burden of disease. Increased awareness of CD as a common health problem is needed, and active case finding should be intensified. Mass screening for CD might be an option in the future.</p

Charge separation relative to the reaction plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}= 2.76 TeV

Measurements of charge dependent azimuthal correlations with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. Two- and three-particle charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta| < 0.8$ are presented as a function of the collision centrality, particle separation in pseudo-rapidity, and transverse momentum. A clear signal compatible with a charge-dependent separation relative to the reaction plane is observed, which shows little or no collision energy dependence when compared to measurements at RHIC energies. This provides a new insight for understanding the nature of the charge dependent azimuthal correlations observed at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 captioned figures, authors from page 2 to 6, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/286

Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 $< p_{\rm{T}, assoc} < p_{\rm{T}, trig} <$ 5.0 GeV/$c$ is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momen\-tum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<0.9$. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton--parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 17, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/161

Multi-particle azimuthal correlations in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Measurements of multi-particle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flow-like, azimuthal correlations in the p-Pb system. Comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions. However, when a $|\Delta \eta|$ gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to rise at high-multiplicity, indicating the presence of global azimuthal correlations. The Pb-Pb values are higher than the p-Pb values at similar multiplicities. In both systems, the second harmonic four-particle cumulants exhibit a transition from positive to negative values when the multiplicity increases. The negative values allow for a measurement of $v_{2}\{4\}$ to be made, which is found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions at similar multiplicities. The second harmonic six-particle cumulants are also found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions. In Pb-Pb collisions, we generally find $v_{2}\{4\} \simeq v_{2}\{6\}\neq 0$ which is indicative of a Bessel-Gaussian function for the $v_{2}$ distribution. For very high-multiplicity Pb-Pb collisions, we observe that the four- and six-particle cumulants become consistent with 0. Finally, third harmonic two-particle cumulants in p-Pb and Pb-Pb are measured. These are found to be similar for overlapping multiplicities, when a $|\Delta\eta| > 1.4$ gap is placed.Comment: 25 pages, 11 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 20, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/87