In vitro activities of natural products against oral Candida isolates from denture wearers

Background: Candida-associated denture stomatitis is a frequent infectious disease. Treatment of this oral condition is difficult because failures and recurrences are common. The aim of this study was to test the in vitro antifungal activity of pure constituents of essentials oils. -- Methods: Eight terpenic derivatives (carvacrol, farnesol, geraniol, linalool, menthol, menthone, terpinen-4-ol, and aterpineol), a phenylpropanoid (eugenol), a phenethyl alcohol (tyrosol) and fluconazole were evaluated against 38 Candida isolated from denture-wearers and 10 collection Candida strains by the CLSI M27-A3 broth microdilution method. -- Results: Almost all the tested compounds showed antifungal activity with MIC ranges of 0.03-0.25% for eugenol and linalool, 0.03-0.12% for geraniol, 0.06-0.5% for menthol, a-terpineol and terpinen-4-ol, 0.03-0.5% for carvacrol, and 0.06-4% for menthone. These compounds, with the exception of farnesol, menthone and tyrosol, showed important in vitro activities against the fluconazole-resistant and susceptible-dose dependent Candida isolates. -- Conclusions: Carvacrol, eugenol, geraniol, linalool and terpinen-4-ol were very active in vitro against oral Candida isolates. Their fungistatic and fungicidal activities might convert them into promising alternatives for the topic treatment of oral candidiasis and denture stomatitis.Funding: this work has been funded in part by projects GIC07 123-IT-222-07 (Departamento de Educacion, Universidades e Investigacion, Gobierno Vasco), S-PR09UN01 and S-PR10UN03 (Saiotek 2009 and 2010, Departamento de Industria, Comercio y Turismo, Gobierno Vasco)

Predicting Coral Species Richness: The Effect of Input Variables, Diversity and Scale

Coral reefs are facing a biodiversity crisis due to increasing human impacts, consequently, one third of reef-building corals have an elevated risk of extinction. Logistic challenges prevent broad-scale species-level monitoring of hard corals; hence it has become critical that effective proxy indicators of species richness are established. This study tests how accurately three potential proxy indicators (generic richness on belt transects, generic richness on point-intercept transects and percent live hard coral cover on point-intercept transects) predict coral species richness at three different locations and two analytical scales. Generic richness (measured on a belt transect) was found to be the most effective predictor variable, with significant positive linear relationships across locations and scales. Percent live hard coral cover consistently performed poorly as anindicator of coral species richness. This study advances the practical framework for optimizing coral reef monitoring programs and empirically demonstrates that generic richness offers an effective way to predict coral species richness with a moderate level of precision. While the accuracy of species richness estimates will decrease in communities dominated byspecies-rich genera (e.g. Acropora), generic richness provides a useful measure of phylogenetic diversity and incorporating this metric into monitoring programs will increase the likelihood that changes in coral species diversity can be detected

Relation entre la puissance et la raideur musculotendineuse chez les sportifs de haut niveau

International audienc

Head and trunk mass and center of mass position estimations in able-bodied and scoliotic girls

Anthropometric tables are not applicable to calculate the scoliotic trunk mass and center of mass (COM). The purposes of this study were: (1) to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM in able-bodied and scoliotic girls using a force plate method, (2) to estimate head and trunk COM offset compared to those of the body, and (3) the use of mean ratios to estimate the head and trunk COM calculated in this study and that calculated according to a conventional three-dimensional (3D) method compared to the measured values. Twenty-one scoliotic and twenty able-bodied girls participated. The subjects stood upright with arms beside the trunk on a force plate that collected data at 60. Hz for a period of 5. s. The anteroposterior and mediolateral positions of the body COM were obtained from the mean center of pressure values. The height of the body COM was estimated by the reaction board method. Afterwards a body segment was displaced and changes in force plate readings were recorded and applied to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM. Trunk offset was defined as the difference between the COM of the body and head and trunk. The measured head and trunk COM was compared to values obtained by the mean ratios calculated from this study and given by the conventional 3D method. The relative head and trunk mass and the anteroposterior trunk offset were larger in scoliotic girls. The force plate method gave similar results to measured COM values for both groups underlying its capability to provide a more accurate estimation of COM related values. Thus, the use of mean ratios of 0.5538 and 0.6438 obtained in this study to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM position in scoliotic girls can overcome the main drawbacks of current anthropometric methods, if direct measurements cannot be taken. © 2013 IPEM

Head and trunk mass and center of mass position estimations in able-bodied and scoliotic girls

Anthropometric tables are not applicable to calculate the scoliotic trunk mass and center of mass (COM). The purposes of this study were: (1) to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM in able-bodied and scoliotic girls using a force plate method, (2) to estimate head and trunk COM offset compared to those of the body, and (3) the use of mean ratios to estimate the head and trunk COM calculated in this study and that calculated according to a conventional three-dimensional (3D) method compared to the measured values. Twenty-one scoliotic and twenty able-bodied girls participated. The subjects stood upright with arms beside the trunk on a force plate that collected data at 60. Hz for a period of 5. s. The anteroposterior and mediolateral positions of the body COM were obtained from the mean center of pressure values. The height of the body COM was estimated by the reaction board method. Afterwards a body segment was displaced and changes in force plate readings were recorded and applied to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM. Trunk offset was defined as the difference between the COM of the body and head and trunk. The measured head and trunk COM was compared to values obtained by the mean ratios calculated from this study and given by the conventional 3D method. The relative head and trunk mass and the anteroposterior trunk offset were larger in scoliotic girls. The force plate method gave similar results to measured COM values for both groups underlying its capability to provide a more accurate estimation of COM related values. Thus, the use of mean ratios of 0.5538 and 0.6438 obtained in this study to estimate the head and trunk mass and COM position in scoliotic girls can overcome the main drawbacks of current anthropometric methods, if direct measurements cannot be taken. © 2013 IPEM

Dynamique des échanges de polluants à l’interface Sol-Air. Etudes en Laboratoire et sur Sites pollués

National audienc