700 research outputs found
Novel strategies to fight Candida species infection
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of human fungal infections. The increase in cases of infection caused by Candida species, and the consequent excessive use of antimicrobials, has favored the emergence of resistance to conventional antifungal agents over the past decades. Consequently, Candida infections morbidity and mortality are also increasing. Therefore, new approaches are needed to improve the outcome of patients suffering from Candida infections, because it seems unlikely that the established standard treatments will drastically lower the morbidity of mucocutaneous Candida infections and the high mortality associated with invasive candidiasis. This review aims to present the last advances in the traditional antifungal therapy, and present an overview of novel strategies that are being explored for the treatment of Candida infections, with a special focus on combined antifungal agents, antifungal therapies with alternative compounds (plant extracts and essential oils), adjuvant immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy and laser therapy.Consolidating Research Expertise and Resources on
Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology at CEB/IBBââ, Ref.
FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462BioHealth â Biotechnology
and Bioengineering approaches to improve health qualityââ,
Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027 co-funded by the
Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 â O Novo
Norte), QREN, FEDER
Using curvature information in haptic shape perception of 3D objects
Are humans able to perceive the circularity of a cylinder that is grasped by the hand? This study presents the findings of an experiment in which cylinders with a circular cross-section had to be distinguished from cylinders with an elliptical cross-section. For comparison, the ability to distinguish a square cuboid from a rectangular cuboid was also investigated. Both elliptical and rectangular shapes can be characterized by the aspect ratio, but elliptical shapes also contain curvature information. We found that an elliptical shape with an aspect ratio of only 1.03 could be distinguished from a circular shape both in static and dynamic touch. However, for a rectangular shape, the aspect ratio needed to be about 1.11 for dynamic touch and 1.15 for static touch in order to be discernible from a square shape. We conclude that curvature information can be employed in a reliable and efficient manner in the perception of 3D shapes by touch
The Most Common Comorbidities in Dandy-Walker Syndrome Patients: A Systematic Review of Case Reports.
OBJECTIVE: Dandy-Walker syndrome (DWS) is a rare neurologic multi-entity malformation. This review aimed at reporting its main nonneurologic comorbidities. METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, search in Medline was conducted (2000-2014, keyword: dandy-walker). Age, sex, country, DWS type, consanguinity or siblings with DWS, and recorded coexistent conditions (by ICD10 category) were extracted for 187 patients (46.5% male, 43% from Asia) from 168 case reports. RESULTS: Diagnosis was most often set in 12 years old (27.8%). One-third of cases had a chromosomal abnormality or syndrome (n = 8 PHACE), 27% had a cardiovascular condition (n = 7 Patent Ductus Arteriosus), 24% had a disease of eye and ear (n = 9 cataract); most common malignancy was nephroblastoma (n = 8, all Asian). Almost one-fifth had a mental illness diagnosis; only 6.4% had mild or severe intellectual disability. CONCLUSION: The spread of comorbidities calls for early diagnosis and multidisciplinary research and practice, especially as many cases remain clinically asymptomatic for years
Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in âsNN=5.02ââTeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector
Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (ÎÏ) and pseudorapidity (Îη) are measured in âsNN=5.02ââTeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1ââÎŒb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ÎŁETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Îη|<5) ânear-sideâ (ÎÏâŒ0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ÎŁETPb. A long-range âaway-sideâ (ÎÏâŒÏ) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ÎŁETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Îη and ÎÏ) and ÎŁETPb dependence. The resultant ÎÏ correlation is approximately symmetric about Ï/2, and is consistent with a dominant cosâĄ2ÎÏ modulation for all ÎŁETPb ranges and particle pT
Marine fish traits follow fast-slow continuum across oceans
A fundamental challenge in ecology is to understand why species are found where they are and predict
where they are likely to occur in the future. Trait-based approaches may provide such understanding,
because it is the traits and adaptations of species that determine which environments they can inhabit.
It is therefore important to identify key traits that determine species distributions and investigate
how these traits relate to the environment. Based on scientific bottom-trawl surveys of marine fish
abundances and traits of >1,200 species, we investigate trait-environment relationships and project
the trait composition of marine fish communities across the continental shelf seas of the Northern
hemisphere. We show that traits related to growth, maturation and lifespan respond most strongly to
the environment. This is reflected by a pronounced âfast-slow continuumâ of fish life-histories, revealing
that traits vary with temperature at large spatial scales, but also with depth and seasonality at more
local scales. Our findings provide insight into the structure of marine fish communities and suggest that
global warming will favour an expansion of fast-living species. Knowledge of the global and local drivers
of trait distributions can thus be used to predict future responses of fish communities to environmental
change.Postprint2,92
Functional redundancy and sensitivity of fish assemblages in European rivers, lakes and estuarine ecosystems
The impact of species loss on ecosystems functioning depends on the amount of trait similarity
between species, i.e. functional redundancy, but it is also influenced by the order in which species are
lost. Here we investigated redundancy and sensitivity patterns across fish assemblages in lakes, rivers
and estuaries. Several scenarios of species extinction were simulated to determine whether the loss of
vulnerable species (with high propensity of extinction when facing threats) causes a greater functional
alteration than random extinction. Our results indicate that the functional redundancy tended to
increase with species richness in lakes and rivers, but not in estuaries. We demonstrated that i) in the
three systems, some combinations of functional traits are supported by non-redundant species, ii) rare
species in rivers and estuaries support singular functions not shared by dominant species, iii) the loss of
vulnerable species can induce greater functional alteration in rivers than in lakes and estuaries. Overall,
the functional structure of fish assemblages in rivers is weakly buffered against species extinction
because vulnerable species support singular functions. More specifically, a hotspot of functional
sensitivity was highlighted in the Iberian Peninsula, which emphasizes the usefulness of quantitative
criteria to determine conservation prioritiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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