Fungi - an Amalgam of Toxins and Antibiotics: a Mini- Review

Fungi are eukaryotes with many functions. Earlier, fungi were classified in the plant kingdom but were later classified as a separate kingdom due to their unique cell walls. Fungi are heterotrophs like animals and are more closely related to animals. The perception of fungi is inconspicuous due to their small sizes and their ability to grow symbiotically in plants, animals, other fungi, and parasites. Fungi are used for their nutrition, fermentation potential, and bactericidal potential. However, fungi are also toxic due to certain bioactive compounds known as mycotoxins. Candida and Aspergillus are invasive species that contribute to a high percentage of mycoses in oncological and haematological patients. The mortality rate due to invasive aspergillosis and candidiasis is high, at 4% and 2%, respectively. In the agriculture sector, a significant contributor to damage to crops globally is the invasion of filamentous fungi. Fungi invasion destroys over 125 million tons of wheat, rice, soybeans, potatoes, and maize annually. If prevented, 600 million people may be fed. Therefore, it is vital to consider the dual role of fungi, therapeutic, and pathogenic

Impurity Ion Complexation Enhances Carbon Dioxide Reduction Catalysis

Herein, we show that group 11 CO[subscript 2] reduction catalysts are rapidly poisoned by progressive deposition of trace metal ion impurities present in high purity electrolytes. Metal impurity deposition was characterized by XPS and in situ stripping voltammetry and is coincident with loss of catalytic activity and selectivity for CO[subscript 2] reduction, favoring hydrogen evolution on poisoned surfaces. Metal deposition can be suppressed by complexing trace metal ion impurities with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or solid-supported iminodiacetate resins. Metal ion complexation allows for reproducible, sustained catalytic activity and selectivity for CO[subscript 2] reduction on Au, Ag, and Cu electrodes. Together, this study establishes the principal mode by which group 11 CO[subscript 2] reduction catalysts are poisoned and lays out a general approach for extending the lifetime of electrocatalysts subject to impurity metal deposition.MIT Energy Initiative (Saudi Aramco, research agreement)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Award FA9550-15-1-0135)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Junior Faculty Funds)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Predoctoral Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (MIT MRSEC Program, award number DMR-0819762

AGGRESSIVE DIURESIS AND SEVERITY-ADJUSTED LENGTH OF HOSPITAL STAY IN ACUTE CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE PATIENTS

To see if aggressive diuresis in first twenty four hours is associated with a comparable number of total days in the hospital as compared to non-aggressive diuresis. In this retrospective cohort study, we compared the length of hospital stay of consecutive patients admitted in one year based on their diuresis during the first twenty-four hours of hospitalization: aggressive diuresis (group 1) i.e. \u3e 2400mL versus non-aggressive diuresis (group 2) i.e. ≤ 2400mL urine output. Patients were excluded if in cardiogenic shock, had creatinine level above 3 mg/dL on admission, or on dialysis. A total of 194 patients were enrolled (29 in group 1 and 165 in group 2 respectively). The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the median cumulative proportion of patients still hospitalized for the group 1 was 4 days and in group 2 was 5 days (log-rank test; P=0.67). In univariate analysis, Cox PH regression showed unadjusted hazard rate of discharge from hospital was slightly higher in group 1 than group 2 but was statistically non-significant (HR=1.08; P=0.70). In multivariate Cox model analysis, creatinine at the time of admission when greater than 1.6mg/dL (P=0.75), LVEF (P= 0.14), total twenty-four hours dose of intravenous Furosemide given (P=0.98) and interaction between Furosemide dose and Creatinine level (P=0.79) were not significant predictor of hospital discharge. Adjusted hazard rate for discharge from hospital was 12% higher in group 1 than group 2 but still statistically non-significant (HR=1.12; P=0.60). Since the length of hospital stay is similar between two groups, we suggest the goal of diuresis to be less than 2400mL in first twenty-four hours to prevent excessive dehydration

Carbon nanotubes adhesion and nanomechanical behavior from peeling force spectroscopy

Applications based on Single Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) are good example of the great need to continuously develop metrology methods in the field of nanotechnology. Contact and interface properties are key parameters that determine the efficiency of SWNT functionalized nanomaterials and nanodevices. In this work we have taken advantage of a good control of the SWNT growth processes at an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip apex and the use of a low noise (1E-13 m/rtHz) AFM to investigate the mechanical behavior of a SWNT touching a surface. By simultaneously recording static and dynamic properties of SWNT, we show that the contact corresponds to a peeling geometry, and extract quantities such as adhesion energy per unit length, curvature and bending rigidity of the nanotube. A complete picture of the local shape of the SWNT and its mechanical behavior is provided

Daily Preventive Zinc Supplementation Decreases Lymphocyte and Eosinophil Concentrations in Rural Laotian Children from Communities with a High Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND:Zinc deficiency impairs immune function and is common among children in South-East Asia. OBJECTIVES:The effect of zinc supplementation on immune function in young Laotian children was investigated. METHODS:Children (n = 512) aged 6-23 mo received daily preventive zinc tablets (PZ; 7 mg Zn/d), daily multiple micronutrient powder (MNP; 10 mg Zn/d, 6 mg Fe/d, plus 13 other micronutrients), therapeutic dispersible zinc tablets only in association with diarrhea episodes (TZ; 20 mg Zn/d for 10 d after an episode), or daily placebo powder (control). These interventions continued for 9 mo. Cytokine production from whole blood cultures, the concentrations of T-cell populations, and a complete blood count with differential leukocyte count were measured at baseline and endline. Endline means were compared via ANCOVA, controlling for the baseline value of the outcome, child age and sex, district, month of enrollment, and baseline zinc status (below, or above or equal to, the median plasma zinc concentration). RESULTS:T-cell cytokines (IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-13, IL-17), LPS-stimulated cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10), and T-cell concentrations at endline did not differ between intervention groups, nor was there an interaction with baseline zinc status. However, mean ± SE endline lymphocyte concentrations were significantly lower in the PZ than in the control group (5018 ± 158 compared with 5640 ± 160 cells/μL, P = 0.032). Interactions with baseline zinc status were seen for eosinophils (Pixn = 0.0036), basophils (Pixn = 0.023), and monocytes (P = 0.086) but a significant subgroup difference was seen only for eosinophils, where concentrations were significantly lower in the PZ than in the control group among children with baseline plasma zinc concentrations below the overall median (524 ± 44 compared with 600 ± 41 cells/μL, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS:Zinc supplementation of rural Laotian children had no effect on cytokines or T-cell concentrations, although zinc supplementation affected lymphocyte and eosinophil concentrations. These cell subsets may be useful as indicators of response to zinc supplementation.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02428647

A Study of Exclusive Charmless Semileptonic B Decays and Extraction of |V_{ub}| at CLEO

We have studied semileptonic B decay to the exclusive charmless states pi, rho/omega, eta and eta' using the full 15.5 fb^-1 CLEO Upsilon(4S) sample, with measurements performed in subregions of phase space to minimize dependence on a priori knowledge of the form factors involved. We find total branching fractions B(B^0 -> pi^-l^+nu) = (1.37 +- 0.15_stat +- 0.11_sys) x 10^-4 and B(B^0 -> rho^- l^+ nu) = (2.93 +- 0.37_stat +- 0.37_sys) x 10^-4. We find evidence for B^+ -> eta' l^+ nu, with B(B^+ -> eta' l^+ nu) = (2.66 +- 0.80_stat +- 0.56_sys) x 10^-4 and 1.20 x 10^-4 eta' l^+ nu) < 4.46 x 10^-4 (90% CL). We also limit B(B^+ -> eta l^+ nu) < 1.01 x 10^-4 (90% CL). By combining our B -> pi l nu information with unquenched lattice calculations, we find |V_ub| = (3.6 +- 0.4 +- 0.2 +0.6 -0.4) x 10^-3, where the errors are statistical, experimental systematic, and theoretical systematic, respectively.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures; revise

Measurement of Gamma_ee(J/psi), Gamma_tot(J/psi), and Gamma_ee[psi(2S)]/Gamma_ee(J/psi)

Using data acquired with the CLEO detector at the CESR e+e- collider at sqrt{s} = 3.773 GeV, we measure the cross section for the radiative return process e+e- --> gamma J/psi, J/psi --> mu+mu-, resulting in B(J/psi --> mu+mu-) x Gamma_ee(J/psi) = 0.3384 +- 0.0058 +- 0.0071 keV, Gamma_ee(J/psi) = 5.68 +- 0.11 +- 0.13 keV, and Gamma_tot(J/psi) = 95.5 +- 2.4 +- 2.4 keV, in which the errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. We also determine the ratio Gamma_ee[psi(2S)] / Gamma_ee(J/psi) = 0.45 +- 0.01 +- 0.02.Comment: 12 pages postscript,also available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/2005

New Measurements of Cabibbo-Suppressed Decays of D Mesons in CLEO-c

Using 281 pb^-1 of data collected with the CLEO-c detector, we report on first observations and new measurements of Cabibbo-suppressed decays of D mesons to 2, 3, 4, and 5 pions. Branching fractions of previously unobserved modes are measured to be: B(D^0\to pi^+pi^-pi^0pi^0)=(9.9\pm0.6\pm0.7\pm0.2\pm0.1)x10^-3, B(D^0\to\pi^+\pi^+\pi^-\pi^-\pi^0)=(4.1\pm0.5\pm0.2\pm0.1\pm0.0)x10^-3, B(D^+\to\pi^+\pi^0\pi^0)=(4.8\pm0.3\pm0.3\pm0.2)x10^-3, B(D^+\to\pi^+\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0)=(11.6\pm0.4\pm0.6\pm0.4)x10^-3, B(D^0\to\eta\pi^0)=(0.62\pm0.14\pm0.05\pm0.01\pm0.01)x10^-3, and B(D^0\to\omega\pi^+\pi^-)=(1.7\pm0.5\pm0.2\pm0.0\pm0.0)x10^-3. The uncertainties are from statistics, experimental systematics, normalization and CP correlations (for D^0 modes only). Improvements in other multi-pion decay modes are also presented. The D-->pi pi rates allow us to extract the ratio of isospin amplitudes A(Delta I=3/2)/A(\Delta I=1/2)=0.420\pm0.014(stat)\pm0.016(syst) and the strong phase shift of delta_I=(86.4+-2.8+-3.3) degrees, which is quite large and now more precisely determined.Comment: 9 pages postscript also available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/2005/, submitted to PR