Combined 624-nm and 850-nm illumination at low rates leads to enhanced inhibition of Candida albicans

Background: To determine whether combinations of red and infrared light could improve inhibition of Candida albicans and whether combining wavelengths and altering rate of energy delivery could prevent the formation of resistance to light energy.Methods: C. albicans was tested because of the common appearance in human skin and mucous membrane infections. The organism was treated in vitro with a combination of 624-nm (red) and 850-nm (infrared) light emitted from a supraluminous diode (SLD) array. Doses of 9, and 30 J/cm2 were used. Rate of energy delivery was also manipulated. Colony counts were performed and compared to untreated controls using Student t tests and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc analysis.Results: The combination of 624 and 850-nm light energy at 30 J/cm2 was an effective (p ≤ 0.05) inhibitor of C. albicans across all seven stages of the experiment. The combination of 624 and 850-nm wavelengths produced a maximum kill rate [{control – treated / control} X 100] of 76.24% and an average kill rate of 54% across the seven stages of the experiment.Conclusions: A Combination of 624-nm and 850-nm light from an SLD array can inhibit the growth of C. albicans in vitro. Altering delivery rate of the energy can delay resistance formation in this organism.

Comparing Common Techniques for Calculating Parasite Prevalence

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the final host for raccoon roundworms (Baylisascaris procyonis). Raccoon roundworm is the leading cause of a dangerous neurological disease, known as larva migrans encephalopathy. Diagnostic tools for detecting the presence of B. procyonis within a raccoon population include necropsy, fecal flotation, and latrine analysis. Necropsies yield the highest measure of prevalence, with fecal flotation and latrine analysis often underestimating infection rates. We necropsied 225 raccoons gathered from 10 townships of Clark and Greene Counties in Ohio. We collected fecal samples from 95 raccoons negative for B. procyonis at necropsy. We suspended the feces in Sheather’s solution to float any eggs, and prepared slides from this solution. Nearly 14% of raccoons negative at necropsy for B. procyonis possessed eggs in their feces. We used a chi squared test for equality of distributions to determine the likelihood that a positive fecal analysis is related to B. procyonis prevalence or to the area in which the raccoon was trapped. These data will help us determine how well fecal analyses estimate parasite prevalence

Does Baylisascaris procyonis Phylogeny Correlate with That of the Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

Baylisacaris procyonis, commonly known as the raccoon roundworm, is a parasite that inhabits the small intestine of the North American raccoon (Procyon lotor). Although humans do not typically become the definitive host, humans can become infected through handling soil containing eggs. B. procyonis can induce serious health complications in cases of human infection, including degenerative retinal and behavioral changes, coma, and even death. High prevalence of B. procyonis in a raccoon population increases the probability of transference to human hosts. In our study, we analyzed the genetic structure of B. procyonis harvested from raccoons of southwestern Ohio, and compared this to the genetic structure of the raccoons they inhabited. It is our hypothesis that the genetic structuring of the roundworms is the same as the genetic structuring of the raccoons. We isolated DNA from the roundworms using the method outlined in the DNA Minikit (Qiagen). Our research team isolated DNA from each roundworm sample and sent it to the Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility at The Ohio State University for gene amplification and sequencing. We built phylogenetic trees using these sequences, and compared these trees to some constructed for the raccoons. The correlations drawn between the raccoon and B. procyonis phylogenetic trees will help us better understand the relationship between the two species

Baylisascaris procyonis Impacts Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Diets

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the definitive host for raccoon roundworms (Baylisascaris procyonis). Raccoon roundworm is responsible for a dangerous neurological disease known as larva migrans encephalopathy. Raccoons are omnivorous animals and rely on various food items. Dietary analyses help determine how a raccoon changes its diet in response to environmental features. Raccoons eat whatever food resource is most convenient and abundant. Parasite infections can potentially affect host eating habits in order to keep the host alive and active longer. In this study, we analyzed the diets of necropsied raccoons from ten townships of Clark and Greene Counties by examining their stomach contents. We categorized stomach contents by separating out plant material, vertebrate tissue, and invertebrate tissue. We measured the total stomach mass and the mass of plant material alone in order to compare and obtain a percentage of plant material in the raccoons’ diet. We conducted two chi-squared tests for equality of distributions. We tested the null hypotheses that raccoons from townships with high prevalence (\u3e60%) have the same vertebrate tissue and plant tissue prevalence as raccoons from townships with low roundworm prevalence

Does Baylisascaris procyonis Impact Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Genetics?

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the final host for raccoon roundworms (Baylisascaris procyonis). Raccoon roundworm is the leading cause of a dangerous neurological disease, known as larva migrans encephalopathy. Phylogenetic trees illustrate co-evolutionary events between species living in a symbiotic relationship with each other. Throughout the coevolution of host and parasite, many aspects of a population affect the way the members interact with one another and with symbiotic species. In order to evaluate the relationship between host and parasite in regards to diet, we isolated DNA from intestinal wall tissue, amplified a portion of exon 2 from MHC II, and sent our samples to Ohio State University for sequencing. We calculated heterozygosities for the nine townships we surveyed. We used a chi-squared test for equality of distributions to test whether raccoons from townships with above 60% prevalence have different heterozygosity for this locus than other raccoons. These data will help us to understand the relationship between raccoons and raccoon roundworm

Baylisascaris procyonis prevalence in raccoons (Procyon lotor) and its relation to landscape features

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the final host for raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis). Raccoon roundworm is the leading cause of a dangerous neurological disease known as larva migrans encephalopathy. Land fragmentation occurs when natural environments are broken up by urban or agricultural landscapes. Raccoons thrive in urban environments, while raccoons in agricultural settings forage over larger areas than raccoons in urban settings do. Land fragmentation affects concentrations of B. procyonis parasites in intermediate hosts. We calculated the prevalence of raccoon roundworm in 9 townships of Greene and Clark Counties by necropsying 226 raccoon intestines. Prevalence is defined as the number of raccoons infected with roundworm divided by the total number of raccoons sampled. We determined that the prevalence of B. procyonis from Beavercreek township is significantly lower than the other townships (χ2 = 25.19, p-value = 0.0007). Prevalence of raccoon roundworm in this region is lower than many areas in the Midwestern United States, suggesting the need for further research to determine reasons for the lower prevalence in the Ohio region

Inhibition of Mycobacterium smegmatis using near-IR and blue light

Background: Objective of current study is to determine whether near-IR, alone or combined with blue light and delivered at a low rate, could lower the dose needed to effectively inhibit Mycobacterium smegmatis in vitro. We have studied the effect of blue light on M. smegmatis and found that a bactericidal outcome can be obtained with high doses of blue light.Methods: The organism was treated in vitro with 464, 850 and combined 464 & 850nm light emitted from a supraluminous diode (SLD) array. Doses of 30, 45 and 60 J/cm2 were used. Colony counts were performed and compared to untreated controls using Student t tests, a two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA and a one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc analysis.Results: Statistically significant inhibition was observed for each individual wavelength and dose combination (p < 0.05). Two-way ANOVA demonstrated an interaction effect between wavelength and dose (F1, 9 = 358.585; p - 0.000). Post hoc analysis using one-way ANOVA (F2, 27 = 11.211; p = 0.00) and Tukey’s HSD identified 850nm at 45 J/cm2 to be the most effective wavelength / dose combination. Conclusions: 850nm irradiation delivered at 45 J/cm2 is a wavelength /dose combination that can be expected to produce a significant inhibition of M. smegmatis in vitro.

Correlating Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Connectivity by Independent Component Analysis-Based Epileptogenic Zones with Intracranial Electroencephalogram Localized Seizure Onset Zones and Surgical Outcomes in Prospective Pediatric Intractable Epilepsy Study

The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the agreement between the epileptogenic zone(s) (EZ) localization by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and the seizure onset zone(s) (SOZ) identified by intracranial electroencephalogram (ic-EEG) using novel differentiating and ranking criteria of rs-fMRI abnormal independent components (ICs) in a large consecutive heterogeneous pediatric intractable epilepsy population without an a priori alternate modality informing EZ localization or prior declaration of total SOZ number. The EZ determination criteria were developed by using independent component analysis (ICA) on rs-fMRI in an initial cohort of 350 pediatric patients evaluated for epilepsy surgery over a 3-year period. Subsequently, these rs-fMRI EZ criteria were applied prospectively to an evaluation cohort of 40 patients who underwent ic-EEG for SOZ identification. Thirty-seven of these patients had surgical resection/disconnection of the area believed to be the primary source of seizures. One-year seizure frequency rate was collected postoperatively. Among the total 40 patients evaluated, agreement between rs-fMRI EZ and ic-EEG SOZ was 90% (36/40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.97). Of the 37 patients who had surgical destruction of the area believed to be the primary source of seizures, 27 (73%) rs-fMRI EZ could be classified as true positives, 7 (18%) false positives, and 2 (5%) false negatives. Sensitivity of rs-fMRI EZ was 93% (95% CI 78-98%) with a positive predictive value of 79% (95% CI, 63-89%). In those with cryptogenic localization-related epilepsy, agreement between rs-fMRI EZ and ic-EEG SOZ was 89% (8/9; 95% CI, 0.52-99), with no statistically significant difference between the agreement in the cryptogenic and symptomatic localization-related epilepsy subgroups. Two children with negative ic-EEG had removal of the rs-fMRI EZ and were seizure free 1 year postoperatively. Of the 33 patients where at least 1 rs-fMRI EZ agreed with the ic-EEG SOZ, 24% had at least 1 additional rs-fMRI EZ outside the resection area. Of these patients with un-resected rs-fMRI EZ, 75% continued to have seizures 1 year later. Conversely, among 75% of patients in whom rs-fMRI agreed with ic-EEG SOZ and had no anatomically separate rs-fMRI EZ, only 24% continued to have seizures 1 year later. This relationship between extraneous rs-fMRI EZ and seizure outcome was statistically significant (p = 0.01). rs-fMRI EZ surgical destruction showed significant association with postoperative seizure outcome. The pediatric population with intractable epilepsy studied prospectively provides evidence for use of resting-state ICA ranking criteria, to identify rs-fMRI EZ, as developed by the lead author (V.L.B.). This is a high yield test in this population, because no seizure nor particular interictal epilepiform activity needs to occur during the study. Thus, rs-fMRI EZ detected by this technique are potentially informative for epilepsy surgery evaluation and planning in this population. Independent of other brain function testing modalities, such as simultaneous EEG-fMRI or electrical source imaging, contextual ranking of abnormal ICs of rs-fMRI localized EZs correlated with the gold standard of SOZ localization, ic-EEG, across the broad range of pediatric epilepsy surgery candidates, including those with cryptogenic epilepsy