Avaliação dos métodos de suscetibilidade antifúngica: Etest e macrodiluição em caldo para leveduras do gênero Candida isoladas da cavidade bucal de pacientes com AIDS

A comparison of the Etest and the reference broth macrodilution susceptibility test for fluconazole, ketoconazole, itraconazole and amphotericin B was performed with 59 of Candida species isolated from the oral cavities of AIDS patients. The Etest method was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions, and the reference method was performed according to National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards document M27-A guidelines. Our data showed that there was a good correlation between the MICs obtained by the Etest and broth dilution methods. When only the MIC results at ± 2 dilutions for both methods were considered, the agreement rates were 90.4% for itraconazole, ketoconazole and amphotericin B and 84.6% for fluconazole of the C. albicans tested. In contrast, to the reference method, the Etest method classified as susceptible three fluconazole-resistant isolates and one itraconazole-resistant isolate, representing four very major errors. These results indicate that Etest could be considered useful for antifungal sensitivity evaluation of yeasts in clinical laboratories.Foram comparados dois testes de suscetibilidade in vitro, macrodiluição em caldo e Etest através da determinação das concentrações inibitórias mínimas de fluconazol, cetoconazol, itraconazol e anfotericina B para 59 isolados de Candida obtidos da cavidade bucal de pacientes com AIDS. O método de Etest foi feito de acordo com as instruções do fabricante e o método de macrodiluição em caldo foi realizado seguindo as normas do NCCLS (National Committee for Clinical Laboratoratory Standards), documento M27-A, considerado método de referência. Nossos dados mostraram uma boa correlação entre os valores de concentração inibitória mínima encontrados para o Etest e o método de macrodiluição em caldo. Foi verificada concordância entre os resultados de CIM, de 90,4% para itraconazol, cetoconazol e anfotericina B e de 84,6% para fluconazol, quando se analisou isolados de C. albicans. A comparação de breakpoints mostrou que havia quatro grandes discrepâncias de resultados entre os dois métodos, sendo que pelo método de referência três isolados de Candida albicans classificados como resistentes ao fluconazol e um de C. krusei considerado resistente ao itraconazol foram sensíveis ao Etest. Estes resultados mostraram que o Etest é de grande valor nos testes de suscetibilidade antifúngica para leveduras do gênero Candida

New SiS destruction and formation routes via neutral-neutral reactions and their fundamental role in interstellar clouds at low- and high-metallicity values

Context. Among the silicon-bearing species discovered in the interstellar medium, SiS and SiO stand out as key tracers due to their distinct chemistry and variable abundances in interstellar and circumstellar environments. Nevertheless, while the origins of SiO are well documented, the SiS chemistry remains relatively unexplored. Aims. Our objective is to enhance the network of Si- and S-bearing chemical reactions for a gas-grain model in molecular clouds, encompassing both low and high metallicities. To achieve this, we calculated the energies and rate coefficients for six neutral atom-diatom reactions involved in the SiCS triatomic system, with a special focus on the C+SiS and S+SiC collisions. Methods. We employed the coupled-cluster method with single and double substitutions and a perturbative treatment of triple substitutions (CCSD(T)) refined at the explicitly correlated CCSD(T)-F12 level. With these computational results in conjunction with supplementary data from the literature, we construct an extended network of neutral-neutral chemical reactions involving Si- and S-bearing molecules. To assess the impact of these chemical reactions, we performed time-dependent models employing the Nautilus gas-grain code, setting the gas temperature to 10 K and the H2 density to 2 × 10^4 cm−3 . The models considered two initial abundance scenarios, corresponding to low- and high-metallicity levels. Abundances were computed using both the default chemical network and the constrained network, enriched with newly calculated reactions. Results. The temperature dependence for the reactions involving SiS were modelled to the k(T ) = α (T/300)β exp (−γ/T ) expression, and the coefficients are provided for the first time. The high-metallicity models significantly boost the SiS production, resulting in abundances nearly four orders of magnitude higher compared to low-metallicity models. Higher initial abundances of C, S, and Si, roughly ∼2, 190, and 210 times higher, respectively, contribute to this. Around the age of 10^3 yr, destruction mechanisms become relevant, impacting the abundance of SiS. The proposed production reaction S + SiC −→ C + SiS, mitigates these effects in later stages. By expanding the gas reaction network using a high-metallicity model, we derived estimates for the abundances of observed interstellar molecules, including SiO, SO, and SO2 . Conclusions. We demonstrate the significance of both SiC+S and C+SiS channels in the SiS chemistry. Notably, the inclusion of neutral-neutral mechanisms, particularly via Si+HS and S+SiC channels, played a pivotal role in determining SiS abundance. These mechanisms carry a significance level on a par with that of the well-known and fast ion-neutral reactions

Deep-pretrained-FWI: combining supervised learning with physics-informed neural network

An accurate velocity model is essential to make a good seismic image. Conventional methods to perform Velocity Model Building (VMB) tasks rely on inverse methods, which, despite being widely used, are ill-posed problems that require intense and specialized human supervision. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have been extensively investigated as an alternative to solve the VMB task. Two main approaches were investigated in the literature: supervised training and Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN). Supervised training presents some generalization issues since structures, and velocity ranges must be similar in training and test set. Some works integrated Full-waveform Inversion (FWI) with CNN, defining the problem of VMB in the PINN framework. In this case, the CNN stabilizes the inversion, acting like a regularizer and avoiding local minima-related problems and, in some cases, sparing an initial velocity model. Our approach combines supervised and physics-informed neural networks by using transfer learning to start the inversion. The pre-trained CNN is obtained using a supervised approach based on training with a reduced and simple data set to capture the main velocity trend at the initial FWI iterations. We show that transfer learning reduces the uncertainties of the process, accelerates model convergence, and improves the final scores of the iterative process.Comment: Paper present at machine Learning and the Physical Sciences workshop, NeurIPS 202

Theoretical and experimental differential cross sections for electron impact excitation of the electronic bands of furfural

13 págs.; 8 figs.; 6 tabs.We report results from a joint experimental and theoretical investigation into electron scattering from the important industrial species furfural (CHO). Specifically, differential cross sections (DCSs) have been measured and calculated for the electron-impact excitation of the electronic states of CHO. The measurements were carried out at energies in the range 20-40 eV, and for scattered-electron angles between 10°and 90°. The energy resolution of those experiments was typically ∼80 meV. Corresponding Schwinger multichannel method with pseudo-potential calculations, for energies between 6-50 eV and with and without Born-closure, were also performed for a sub-set of the excited electronic-states that were accessed in the measurements. Those calculations were undertaken at the static exchange plus polarisation-level using a minimum orbital basis for single configuration interaction (MOB-SCI) approach. Agreement between the measured and calculated DCSs was qualitatively quite good, although to obtain quantitative accord, the theory would need to incorporate even more channels into the MOB-SCI. The role of multichannel coupling on the computed electronic-state DCSs is also explored in some detail. ©2016 AIP Publishing LLCR.F.C.N. thanks CNPq (Brazil) and the Science Without Borders Programme for opportunities to study abroad. D.B.J. thanks the Australian Research Council (ARC) for financial support provided through a Discovery Early Career Research Award, while M.J.B. also thanks the ARC for their support. M.J.B. and M.C.A.L. acknowledge the Brazilian agencies CNPq and FAPEMIG. P.L.-V. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCTMEC) through Grant Nos. PTDC/FIS-ATO/1832/2012 and UIO/FIS/00068/2013. G.G. acknowledges partial financial support from the Spanish Ministry MINECO (Project No. FIS2012-31230) and the European Union COST Action No. CM1301 (CELINA). Finally, R.F.d.C., M.T.d.N.V., M.H.F.B., and M.A.P.L. acknowledge support from the Brazilian agency CNPq and M.T.d.N.V. also thanks FAPESP.Peer Reviewe

Diagnostic Performance of convolutional neural networks for dental sexual dimorphism

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) led to important solutions in the field of Computer Vision. More recently, forensic sciences benefited from the resources of artificial intelligence, especially in procedures that normally require operator-dependent steps. Forensic tools for sexual dimorphism based on morphological dental traits are available but have limited performance. This study aimed to test the application of a machine learning setup to distinguish females and males using dentomaxillofacial features from a radiographic dataset. The sample consisted of panoramic radiographs (n = 4003) of individuals in the age interval of 6 and 22.9 years. Image annotation was performed with V7 software (V7labs, London, UK). From Scratch (FS) and Transfer Learning (TL) CNN architectures were compared, and diagnostic accuracy tests were used. TL (82%) performed better than FS (71%). The correct classifications of females and males aged ≥ 15 years were 87% and 84%, respectively. For females and males < 15 years, the correct classifications were 80% and 83%, respectively. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) from Receiver-operating Characteristic (ROC) curves showed high classification accuracy between 0.87 and 0.91. The radio-diagnostic use of CNN for sexual dimorphism showed positive outcomes and promising forensic applications to the field of dental human identification

Integral elastic, electronic-state, ionization, and total cross sections for electron scattering with furfural

We report absolute experimental integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron impact excitation of bands of electronic-states in furfural, for incident electron energies in the range 20-250 eV. Wherever possible, those results are compared to corresponding excitation cross sections in the structurally similar species furan, as previously reported by da Costa et al. [Phys. Rev. A 85, 062706 (2012)] and Regeta and Allan [Phys. Rev. A 91, 012707 (2015)]. Generally, very good agreement is found. In addition, ICSs calculated with our independent atom model (IAM) with screening corrected additivity rule (SCAR) formalism, extended to account for interference (I) terms that arise due to the multi-centre nature of the scattering problem, are also reported. The sum of those ICSs gives the IAM-SCAR+I total cross section for electron-furfural scattering. Where possible, those calculated IAM-SCAR+I ICS results are compared against corresponding results from the present measurements with an acceptable level of accord being obtained. Similarly, but only for the band I and band II excited electronic states, we also present results from our Schwinger multichannel method with pseudopotentials calculations. Those results are found to be in good qualitative accord with the present experimental ICSs. Finally, with a view to assembling a complete cross section data base for furfural, some binary-encounter-Bethe-level total ionization cross sections for this collision system are presented. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC

Allergies and Diabetes as Risk Factors for Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever: Results of a Case Control Study

Dengue is an arboviral disease that affects large areas of countries in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Around 500,000 cases and 22,000 deaths of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)/Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS), the most severe presentations of this disease, occur annually. It is unclear why some cases of dengue fever (0.5% to 4%) progress to DHF/DSS. There is weak evidence that some diseases could have a role in this process, such as diabetes, hypertension, and allergies. In epidemics most dengue fever cases are sent home as there are too many to be kept in observation, but if it were possible to identify those with a higher risk of progression to DHF, they could be kept for observation, for early detection of signs, symptoms and alterations in laboratory tests suggestive of DHF, to enable timely and effective clinical management and early intervention. We study this issue and we believe that the evidence produced in this study, when confirmed in other studies, suggests that screening criteria might be used to identify adult patients at a greater risk of developing DHF with a recommendation that they remain under observation and monitoring in a hospital

Pharmacognostic characterization of Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent

Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) é conhecida popularmente como esporão-de-galo e amplamente utilizada na medicina popular brasileira. O objetivo desse trabalho foi realizar o estudo farmacognóstico das folhas e caules jovens da C. iguanaea através de análises macro e microscópicas, triagem fitoquímica, ensaios de pureza (umidade, cinzas totais e insolúveis em ácido) e determinação dos teores de polifenóis e flavonóides totais. As folhas são anfiestomáticas, apresentando grande quantidade de tricomas tectores, litocistos e estômatos na epiderme abaxial. Na triagem fitoquímica foram detectados mucilagem, flavonóides e cumarinas. Os teores de umidade, cinzas totais, cinzas insolúveis em ácido, polifenóis e flavonóides totais encontrados, foram de 7,05 ± 0,22 %, 18,2 ± 0,18 %, 7,43 ± 1,03 %, 0,55 ± 0,03 % e 0,53 ± 0,007 %, respectivamente. Esses resultados podem subsidiar estudos futuros e contribuir para a obtenção de informações relevantes acerca da padronização e controle de qualidade da matéria-prima dessa espécie.Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) is popularly known as esporão-de-galo and widely used in Brazilian folk medicine. The aim of this work was to perform a pharmacognostic study of C. iguanaea leaves and young stem through macro and microscopic analysis as well as phytochemical screening, purity assays (moisture, total and acid insoluble ash contents), total polyphenols and total flavonoids contents. The leaves are amphistomatic, presenting large amounts of tector trichomes, lytocists and stomata were noted on the abaxial leaf surface epidermis. The phytochemical screening detected flavonoids, coumarins and mucilage. The moisture, total ash, acid insoluble ash, polyphenol and flavonoid contents were 7.05 ± 0.22 %, 18.2 ± 0.18 %, 7.43 ± 1.03 %, 0.55 ± 0.03 % and 0.53 ± 0.007 %, respectively. These results must to subsidize further studies and contribute to the obtainment of relevant informations about this raw material standardization and quality controlColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Pharmacognostic characterization of Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent

Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) é conhecida popularmente como esporão-de-galo e amplamente utilizada na medicina popular brasileira. O objetivo desse trabalho foi realizar o estudo farmacognóstico das folhas e caules jovens da C. iguanaea através de análises macro e microscópicas, triagem fitoquímica, ensaios de pureza (umidade, cinzas totais e insolúveis em ácido) e determinação dos teores de polifenóis e flavonóides totais. As folhas são anfiestomáticas, apresentando grande quantidade de tricomas tectores, litocistos e estômatos na epiderme abaxial. Na triagem fitoquímica foram detectados mucilagem, flavonóides e cumarinas. Os teores de umidade, cinzas totais, cinzas insolúveis em ácido, polifenóis e flavonóides totais encontrados, foram de 7,05 ± 0,22 %, 18,2 ± 0,18 %, 7,43 ± 1,03 %, 0,55 ± 0,03 % e 0,53 ± 0,007 %, respectivamente. Esses resultados podem subsidiar estudos futuros e contribuir para a obtenção de informações relevantes acerca da padronização e controle de qualidade da matéria-prima dessa espécie.Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) is popularly known as esporão-de-galo and widely used in Brazilian folk medicine. The aim of this work was to perform a pharmacognostic study of C. iguanaea leaves and young stem through macro and microscopic analysis as well as phytochemical screening, purity assays (moisture, total and acid insoluble ash contents), total polyphenols and total flavonoids contents. The leaves are amphistomatic, presenting large amounts of tector trichomes, lytocists and stomata were noted on the abaxial leaf surface epidermis. The phytochemical screening detected flavonoids, coumarins and mucilage. The moisture, total ash, acid insoluble ash, polyphenol and flavonoid contents were 7.05 ± 0.22 %, 18.2 ± 0.18 %, 7.43 ± 1.03 %, 0.55 ± 0.03 % and 0.53 ± 0.007 %, respectively. These results must to subsidize further studies and contribute to the obtainment of relevant informations about this raw material standardization and quality controlColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Pharmacognostic characterization of Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent

Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) é conhecida popularmente como esporão-de-galo e amplamente utilizada na medicina popular brasileira. O objetivo desse trabalho foi realizar o estudo farmacognóstico das folhas e caules jovens da C. iguanaea através de análises macro e microscópicas, triagem fitoquímica, ensaios de pureza (umidade, cinzas totais e insolúveis em ácido) e determinação dos teores de polifenóis e flavonóides totais. As folhas são anfiestomáticas, apresentando grande quantidade de tricomas tectores, litocistos e estômatos na epiderme abaxial. Na triagem fitoquímica foram detectados mucilagem, flavonóides e cumarinas. Os teores de umidade, cinzas totais, cinzas insolúveis em ácido, polifenóis e flavonóides totais encontrados, foram de 7,05 ± 0,22 %, 18,2 ± 0,18 %, 7,43 ± 1,03 %, 0,55 ± 0,03 % e 0,53 ± 0,007 %, respectivamente. Esses resultados podem subsidiar estudos futuros e contribuir para a obtenção de informações relevantes acerca da padronização e controle de qualidade da matéria-prima dessa espécie.Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sargent (Ulmaceae) is popularly known as esporão-de-galo and widely used in Brazilian folk medicine. The aim of this work was to perform a pharmacognostic study of C. iguanaea leaves and young stem through macro and microscopic analysis as well as phytochemical screening, purity assays (moisture, total and acid insoluble ash contents), total polyphenols and total flavonoids contents. The leaves are amphistomatic, presenting large amounts of tector trichomes, lytocists and stomata were noted on the abaxial leaf surface epidermis. The phytochemical screening detected flavonoids, coumarins and mucilage. The moisture, total ash, acid insoluble ash, polyphenol and flavonoid contents were 7.05 ± 0.22 %, 18.2 ± 0.18 %, 7.43 ± 1.03 %, 0.55 ± 0.03 % and 0.53 ± 0.007 %, respectively. These results must to subsidize further studies and contribute to the obtainment of relevant informations about this raw material standardization and quality controlColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire