21,809 research outputs found
Thin-layer agar for detection of resistance to rifampicin, ofloxacin and kanamycin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates
BACKGROUND: In low-income countries there is a great need for economical methods for testing the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the thin-layer agar (TLA) for rapid detection of resistance to rifampicin (RMP), ofloxacin (OFX) and kanamycin (KM) in M. tuberculosis clinical isolates and to determine the sensitivity, specificity and time to positivity compared to the gold standard method. METHODS: One hundred and forty-seven clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis were studied. For the TLA method, a quadrant Petri plate containing 7H11 agar with RMP, OFX and KM was used. Results were compared to the Bactec MGIT960 for RMP and the proportion method for OFX and KM. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity for RMP and OFX were 100% and for KM they were 100% and 98.7%, respectively. The use of a TLA quadrant plate enables the rapid detection of resistance to the three anti-tuberculosis drugs RMP, OFX and KM in a median of 10 days. CONCLUSION: TLA was an accurate method for the detection of resistance in the three drugs studied. This faster method is simple to perform, providing an alternative method when more sophisticated techniques are not available in low-resource settings
Neutral heavy lepton production at next high energy linear colliders
The discovery potential for detecting new heavy Majorana and Dirac neutrinos
at some recently proposed high energy colliders is discussed. These
new particles are suggested by grand unified theories and superstring-inspired
models. For these models the production of a single heavy neutrino is shown to
be more relevant than pair production when comparing cross sections and
neutrino mass ranges.
The process is calculated
including on-shell and off-shell heavy neutrino effects.
We present a detailed study of cross sections and distributions that shows a
clear separation between the signal and standard model contributions, even
after including hadronization effects.Comment: 4 pages including 15 figures, 1 table. RevTex. Accepted in Physical
Review
Experimental Observation of Environment-induced Sudden Death of Entanglement
We demonstrate the difference between local, single-particle dynamics and
global dynamics of entangled quantum systems coupled to independent
environments. Using an all-optical experimental setup, we show that, while the
environment-induced decay of each system is asymptotic, quantum entanglement
may suddenly disappear. This "sudden death" constitutes yet another distinct
and counter-intuitive trait of entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Critical Behavior of a Three-State Potts Model on a Voronoi Lattice
We use the single-histogram technique to study the critical behavior of the
three-state Potts model on a (random) Voronoi-Delaunay lattice with size
ranging from 250 to 8000 sites. We consider the effect of an exponential decay
of the interactions with the distance,, with , and
observe that this system seems to have critical exponents and
which are different from the respective exponents of the three-state Potts
model on a regular square lattice. However, the ratio remains
essentially the same. We find numerical evidences (although not conclusive, due
to the small range of system size) that the specific heat on this random system
behaves as a power-law for and as a logarithmic divergence for
and Comment: 3 pages, 5 figure
Traumatic Neuroma Following Sagittal Split Osteotomy of the Mandible
A 16-year-old male underwent bilateral sagittal split osteotomy of the mandible to correct a mandibular deficiency. Twenty-one years later, a routine panoramic radiograph revealed a radiolucent lesion on the left side of the mandible. The lesion was biopsied. As the patient did not have symptoms and the lesion was connected to the inferior alveolar nerve, the lesion was not totally excised in order to preserve nerve function. The histological features were consistent with traumatic neuroma, and no further surgical procedure was planned
Digital image processing and enhancement of gravity data as an aid to the definition of the structural framework of the north Tucano-Jatobá basins, Northeastern Brazil
Técnicas de processamento digital de imagens foram aplicadas a dados gravimétricos visando melhorar definição das principais feições estruturais na porção norte do Rift Recôncavo-Tucano-Jatobá. Os processamentos utilizados incluíram: (a) conversão de dados Bouguer e residual-Bouguer, no formato de grids, em imagens realçadas; (b) geração de composições falsa cor híbridas e (c) geração de modelos de elevação digital com visão em perspectiva. A análise integrada desse conjunto de dados permitiu reconhecer feições lineares e sutis variações espaciais nos dados gravimétricos, as quais foram associadas a unidades tectónicas no contexto do rift, tais como: plataformas em rampa, baixos e altos estruturais, horsts, grabens e falhas de borda.Digitally processed and enhanced gravity data in raster format were used to improve the definition of the main structural features in the northern part of the Reconcavo-Tucano-Jatoba Rift. Image processing techniques included: (a) conversion of Bouguer and residual-Bouguer gridded data into contrast-enhanced gray-level images; (b) generation of enhanced hybrid pseudo-color composites; and (c) generation of a gravity digital elevation model in perspective views. The integrated analysis of this dataset permitted the recognition of subtle trends and intensity-related spatial variations in gravity data, tentatively related to the following tectonic units of the RTJ Rift: ramp platforms, structural lows and highs, along-length horsts, grabens, faulted borders and extensional faults
Characterization of the Intra-Unit-Cell magnetic order in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d
As in YBa2Cu3O6+x and HgBa2CuO8+d, the pseudo-gap state in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d is
characterized by the existence of an intra-unit-cell magnetic order revealed by
polarized neutron scattering technique. We report here a supplementary set of
polarized neutron scattering measurements for which the direction of the
magnetic moment is determined and the magnetic intensity is calibrated in
absolute units. The new data allow a close comparison between bilayer systems
YBa2Cu3O6+x and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d and rise important questions concerning the
range of the magnetic correlations and the role of disorder around optimal
doping.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, submitted to physical review
Modulation of tomato pericarp firmness through pH and calcium: Implications for the texture of fresh-cut fruit
The effect of pH and calcium on pericarp firmness and pectin solubility was investigated in tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. ‘Tavira’). Pericarp disks were vacuum-infiltrated with 50mM CaCI₂ or with distilled water and incubated for 4 h in buffer solutions at pH 4.5 and 7.0, and
subsequently stored at 2 ◦C for 5 days. CaCl2 treatment had a significant effect on firmness retention in disks from turning and ripe fruit. Pericarp disks from mature-green fruit infiltrated with CaCl2 were firmer than untreated tissue after a 4 h incubation period, but the effect of calcium did
not persist during storage at 2 ◦C. pH had a significant effect on the firmness of pericarp disks excised from turning and ripe fruit, but not on mature-green tissue. Treatments at pH 7.0 caused a reduction of the softening rate in disks from turning and ripe fruit, but had no significant effect
at the mature-green stage. Water-soluble pectins decreased significantly in mature-green and ripe pericarp tissue following treatment with CaCl2 at pH 7.0, suggesting that pH affects pectin dissolution. Firmness changes induced by pH and calcium after a 4 h incubation treatment were highly correlated with pectin dissolution. The results indicate that, besides calcium, pH contributes to textural changes in tomato fruit pericarp. Since
wounding inflicted during processing and acidic solutions used to prevent enzymic browning and microbial growth are likely to acidify the apoplast of fresh-cut fruit, the ability to maintain an apoplastic pH near 7.0 can significantly contribute to enhanced firmness of fresh-cut fruit
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