Successful topical application of caspofungin in the treatment of fungal keratitis refractory to voriconazole

Fungal keratitis is an important ophthalmic problem because it leads to corneal blindness and sometimes to loss of the eye.1,2 There is no agreed protocol for the treatment of suspected fungal keratitis. Topical and oral voriconazole have now been reported to be effective.3 However, some cases do not respond to this treatment. New antifungal agents such as caspofungin acetate, 0.5%, are promising alternative

Optical coherence tomography characteristics of group 2A idiopathic parafoveal telangiectasis

PURPOSE: To describe the optical coherence tomography (OCT) characteristics of patients with group 2A idiopathic parafoveal telangiectasis (IPFT) and to correlate them with biomicroscopic and fluorescein angiographic (FA) findings based on Gass and Blodi staging classification for group 2A IPFT. METHODS: Fifty-two eyes of 26 consecutive patients with IPFT underwent biomicroscopic fundus examination, color fundus photography, FA, and OCT. Main outcome measures were OCT characteristics and their correlation with biomicroscopy and FA. RESULTS: The most common OCT findings that help differentiate between stages in group 2A IPFT are 1) highly reflective dots in the inner retina that correspond with microvessels seen by FA in Stage 1 (5 eyes [62.5%]); 2) the presence of hyporeflective intraretinal spaces in the absence of retinal thickening and highly reflective dots in the retina in Stage 2 (9 [81.8%] and 10 eyes [90.9%], respectively); 3) in Stage 3, both outer and inner retina exhibit areas of similar high reflectivity. In addition, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choriocapillaris complex is thickened or disrupted as evidenced by an area of high reflectivity (13 eyes [81.2%]); 4) a highly reflective area nasal or temporal to the fovea in the inner or outer retinal layers in Stage 4 suggesting RPE proliferation and migration (13 eyes [100%]); and 5) a fusiform thickening and duplication of the highly reflective RPE/choriocapillaris complex corresponding to choroidal neovascularization in Stage 5 (4 eyes [100%]). Our OCT characteristics correlated well with biomicroscopic and FA findings for Stages 4 and 5. However, the hyporeflective spaces that are evident on OCT could not be seen clinically at the slit lamp or on FA. In addition, our OCT findings on eyes with group 2A IPFT Stage 3 have not, to our knowledge, been previously described. CONCLUSIONS: Optical coherence tomography findings in group 2A IPFT were characteristic for each stage and may be helpful in making the diagnosis as well as defining the anatomical staging proposed by Gass and Blodi. Optical coherence tomography complements biomicroscopic and FA findings in the evaluation of group 2A IPFT. © The Ophthalmic Communications Society, Inc

Taxonomic variations in the gut microbiome of gout patients with and without tophi might have a functional impact on urate metabolism

Objective: To evaluate the taxonomic composition of the gut microbiome in gout patients with and without tophi formation, and predict bacterial functions that might have an impact on urate metabolism. Methods: Hypervariable V3–V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from fecal samples of gout patients with and without tophi (n=33 and n=25, respectively) were sequenced and compared to fecal samples from 53 healthy controls. We explored predictive functional profles using bioinformatics in order to identify diferences in taxonomy and metabolic pathways. Results: We identifed a microbiome characterized by the lowest richness and a higher abundance of Phascolarctobacterium, Bacteroides, Akkermansia, and Ruminococcus_gnavus_group genera in patients with gout without tophi when compared to controls. The Proteobacteria phylum and the Escherichia-Shigella genus were more abundant in patients with tophaceous gout than in controls. Fold change analysis detected nine genera enriched in healthy controls compared to gout groups (Bifdobacterium, Butyricicoccus, Oscillobacter, Ruminococcaceae_UCG_010, Lachnospiraceae_ND2007_group, Haemophilus, Ruminococcus_1, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, and Ruminococcaceae_ UGC_013). We found that the core microbiota of both gout groups shared Bacteroides caccae, Bacteroides stercoris ATCC 43183, and Bacteroides coprocola DSM 17136. These bacteria might perform functions linked to one-carbon metabo‑ lism, nucleotide binding, amino acid biosynthesis, and purine biosynthesis. Finally, we observed diferences in key bacterial enzymes involved in urate synthesis, degradation, and elimination. Conclusion: Our fndings revealed that taxonomic variations in the gut microbiome of gout patients with and with‑ out tophi might have a functional impact on urate metabolism. Keywords: Gout, Gut microbiota, Uric acid metabolis

Transient Sperm Starvation Improves the Outcome of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

To become fertile, mammalian sperm must undergo a series of biochemical and physiological changes known as capacitation. These changes involve crosstalk between metabolic and signaling pathways and can be recapitulated in vitro. In this work, sperm were incubated in the absence of exogenous nutrients (starved) until they were no longer able to move. Once immotile, energy substrates were added back to the media and sperm motility was rescued. Following rescue, a significantly higher percentage of starved sperm attained hyperactivated motility and displayed increased ability to fertilize in vitro when compared with sperm persistently incubated in standard capacitation media. Remarkably, the effects of this treatment continue beyond fertilization as starved and rescued sperm promoted higher rates of embryo development, and once transferred to pseudo-pregnant females, blastocysts derived from treated sperm produced significantly more pups. In addition, the starvation and rescue protocol increased fertilization and embryo development rates in sperm from a severely subfertile mouse model, and when combined with temporal increase in Ca2+ ion levels, this methodology significantly improved fertilization and embryo development rates in sperm of sterile CatSper1 KO mice model. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) does not work in the agriculturally relevant bovine system. Here, we show that transient nutrient starvation of bovine sperm significantly enhanced ICSI success in this species. These data reveal that the conditions under which sperm are treated impact postfertilization development and suggest that this “starvation and rescue method” can be used to improve assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in other mammalian species, including humans.Fil: Navarrete, Felipe A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Aguila, Luis. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Martin Hidalgo, David. University of Massachussets; Estados Unidos. Universidad de Extremadura ; EspañaFil: Tourzani, Darya A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Luque, Guillermina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ardestani, Goli. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Garcia Vazquez, Francisco A.. Universidad de Murcia; EspañaFil: Levin, Lonny R.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Buck, Jochen. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Darszon, Alberto. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Biología; MéxicoFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Mager, Jesse. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Fissore, Rafael A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Salicioni, Ana M.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Gervasi, María G.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Visconti, Pablo E.. University of Massachussets; Estados Unido

Conservation of the endemic dwarf carnivores of Cozumel Island, Mexico.

Cozumel Island, Mexico, harbours two endemic species of dwarf procyonids: the Pygmy Raccoon Procyon pygmaeus and the Dwarf Coati Nasua nelsoni. Both species are Critically Endangered, and are among the world&rsquo;s most threatened Carnivora. Here we summarise the research we have been conducting on their ecology, evolution, genetics, and conservation. We also summarise the conservation initiatives we have been undertaking and promoting in order to advance the conservation of these unique species and their habitats. This effort illustrates the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in conservation science and action in maximising effectiveness. Nevertheless, the precarious status of the species make it imperative to continue and expand the work we have carried out in Cozumel to prevent two imminent global extinctions.<br /

Classification methods to identify lesions in skin starting from spectra of diffuse reflectance

Con el objetivo de discriminar lesiones benignas y malignas en la piel humana a partir de espectros de reflexión difusa, se han analizado diferentes algoritmos de clasificación usando el software de aprendizaje automático y reconocimiento de patrones WEKA. Además, dada la alta dimensionalidad de la señal espectral, fue empleada una técnica selección de atributos para determinar las variables que aporten la mayor cantidad de información. Se probó la clasificación de la señal usando los algoritmos de máquinas de vectores de soporte, redes neuronales y bosques aleatorios, el desempeño fue evaluado usando el promedio de la k-fold cross-validation tomando en cuenta los porcentajes de instancias clasificadas correctamente, el índice kappa, el área bajo la curva ROC, la sensibilidad, y la especifidad. Finalmente se demuestra que el algoritmo de redes neuronales con los parámetros momentum y learning rate en 0,6 y 0,3 respectivamente, es el que mejor se adapta al problema de reconocimiento de patrones ya que clasifica correctamente al 89,89% de los casos.In order to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions in the human skin using diffuse reflection spectra, different classification algorithms were tested using the WEKA data mining software. In addition, due to the high dimensionality of the spectral signal, an attribute selection technique was applied to determine the variables that contribute with more information. The spectral signal classification was tested using support vector machines, neural networks and random forests, their performance was measured using the k-fold cross-validation percentages of the Kappa statistic, area under the ROC curve, specificity and sensitivity. Finally it is shown that the one layer neural network with 6 neurons and the parameters momentum and learning rate in 0.6 and 0.3 respectively, is best suited to the problem of pattern recognition, achieving correctly classify 89.89% of the cases

Smoking and age-related macular degeneration: review and update

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the main socioeconomical health issues worldwide. AMD has a multifactorial etiology with a variety of risk factors. Smoking is the most important modifiable risk factor for AMD development and progression. The present review summarizes the epidemiological studies evaluating the association between smoking and AMD, the mechanisms through which smoking induces damage to the chorioretinal tissues, and the relevance of advising patients to quit smoking for their visual health

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Study of Bc+B_c^+ decays to the K+K−π+K^+K^-\pi^+ final state and evidence for the decay Bc+→χc0π+B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+

A study of $B_c^+\to K^+K^-\pi^+$ decays is performed for the first time using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$ TeV. Evidence for the decay $B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}(\to K^+K^-)\pi^+$ is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the measurement of $\frac{\sigma(B_c^+)}{\sigma(B^+)}\times\mathcal{B}(B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+)$ to be $(9.8^{+3.4}_{-3.0}(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.8(\mathrm{syst}))\times 10^{-6}$. Here $\mathcal{B}$ denotes a branching fraction while $\sigma(B_c^+)$ and $\sigma(B^+)$ are the production cross-sections for $B_c^+$ and $B^+$ mesons. An indication of $\bar b c$ weak annihilation is found for the region $m(K^-\pi^+)<1.834\mathrm{\,Ge\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$, with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html, link to supplemental material inserted in the reference

Differential branching fraction and angular analysis of the decay B0→K∗0μ+μ−

The angular distribution and differential branching fraction of the decay B 0→ K ∗0 μ + μ − are studied using a data sample, collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1. Several angular observables are measured in bins of the dimuon invariant mass squared, q 2. A first measurement of the zero-crossing point of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon system is also presented. The zero-crossing point is measured to be q20=4.9±0.9GeV2/c4 , where the uncertainty is the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions