2,716 research outputs found
Constraining cosmological parameters with the clustering properties of galaxy clusters in optical and X-ray bands
(abridged) We use a theoretical model to predict the clustering properties of
galaxy clusters. Our technique accounts for past light-cone effects on the
observed clustering and follows the non-linear evolution of the dark matter
correlation function and cluster bias factor. A linear treatment of
redshift-space distortions is also included. We perform a maximum-likelihood
analysis by comparing the theoretical predictions to a set of observational
data, both in the optical (APM and EDCC catalogues) and X-ray band (RASS1
Bright Sample, BCS, XBACs, REFLEX). In the framework of CDM models, we compute
the constraints on cosmological parameters. Our results show that X-ray data
are more powerful than optical ones, allowing smaller regions in the parameter
space. We find that the clustering properties of clusters are almost
independent of the matter density parameter and of the presence of a
cosmological constant, while they appear to be strongly dependent on the shape
parameter. Using the X-ray data only, we obtain Gamma~0.1 and 0.4<sigma_8<1.1
for the Einstein-de Sitter model, while 0.14<Gamma<0.22 and 0.6<sigma_8<1.3 for
open and flat models with Omega_0m=0.3. Finally, we use our model to make
predictions on the correlation length of galaxy clusters expected in future
surveys. In particular, we show the results for an optical catalogue with
characteristics similar to the EIS project and for a very deep X-ray catalogue
with the characteristics of the XMM/LSS survey. We find that clusters at high
redshifts are expected to have larger a correlation length than local ones.Comment: 15 pages, Latex using MN style. Revised version accepted for
publication in MNRA
Dermatophytes’ identification by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. (MALDI-TOF MS) - the experience of a clinical laboratory
Objectives:
Dermatophytes are a challenging group of fungi that infect the keratinized tissues. The taxonomy of these
fungi has changed recently with the reclassification of some species and description of new ones. However,
many clinical laboratories still base the identification of dermatophytes on their phenotype. Since
dermatophytes are very pleomorphic, macro and micromorphology are often insufficient to reach a correct
classification and may lead to misidentifications. The identification based on MALDI-TOF relies on the protein
profile of the microorganism. Thus, this study aims to summarize our current laboratorial experience of
dermatophyte identification using MALDI-TOF MS.
Methods:
From january to april 2018, 95 dermatophytes isolates, collected from human keratinized samples and also
from quality control programs were characterized by phenotypic analysis, and by VITEK MS V3.2 bioMerieux.
Before identification procedure, isolates were inoculated on Sabouraud Dextrose agar plates and incubated at
27°C during 5 to 10 days. Species were identified taking into account clinical features, as well as cultural,
microscopic and physiological characteristics. Prior to MALDI-TOF MS analysis, the samples were pre-treated
according to the manufacturer’s protocol for filamentous fungi. Molecular identification by sequencing of the
internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) was performed in 34 of those isolates
Results:
Through phenotypic analysis eight different species were identified (54 Trichophyton rubrum; 4 T.soudanense;
22 T.interdigitale; 1 T.mentagrophytes; 3 T.tonsurans; 7 Microsporum canis; 3 M.audouinii; 1 Microsporum
spp.- (non canis or audouinii). MALDI-TOF analysis showed an identification agreement in 80 cases (84,2%)
with a confidence level of 99,9%. Eight isolates showed divergent identification results: three T.rubrum were
identified as T.violaceum, three T.soudanense were identified as T.rubrum, one T.mentagrophytes was
identified as T.interdigitale and one T.tonsurans was identified as T.rubrum. In four cases MALDI-TOF analysis
did not get a profile. The ITS sequencing analysis of discrepant results corroborated the MALDI-TOF
identification in five of them. On the other hand, T.soudanense was only identified by phenotypic analysis since
MALDI-TOF and ITS sequencing result was T.rubrum. MALDITOF identification of T.violaceum was not
confirmed by ITS sequencing that identified T. rubrum instead, in accordance with the phenotypic
identification.
Conclusion:
Correct identification of dermatophytes to species level requires sequencing of the ITS, LSU, and/or betatubulin
regions. The implementation of this methodology in a clinical laboratory is expensive and time
consuming. MALDI-TOF identification is a good option for dermatophytes’ identification performed in
laboratory routine, since costs of consumables as well as time of sample preparation are lower than for PCR
analysis and doesn’t require long training period as phenotypic identification does. In this study, however, both
methods failed to identify some species variants like Trichophyton soudanense or T. violaceum. The combined
use of both MALDI-TOF and phenotypic methods seems to be the better approach for dermatophytes’
identification since some species show significant phenotypic and clinical differences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Frequency and molecular epidemiology of Aspergillus isolated from patients with suspicion of respiratory fungal infection
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of Aspergillus detected in respiratory samples from a cohort of patients with suspicion of fungal infection of the respiratory tract as well as to determine the susceptibility to azoles of the isolates from the Fumigati section.
Methods: A retrospective study was performed involving samples obtained from 16 hospitals covering different districts of continental Portugal and Azores islands. One hundred and eighty-seven respiratory samples (101 bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, 52 bronchial lavages, 27 bronchial secretions, 6 expectorations and 1 bronchial aspirate) were collected between November 2011 and December 2017 from a cohort of 146 patients with suspicion of respiratory fungal infection (ages ranging from 20 to 87 years old). Demographic and clinical data were recorded. Detection of Aspergillus was done by culture, immunoenzimatic assay and/or molecular techniques. Aspergillus molecular identification to species level was performed by sequencing of the calmodulin and β-tubulin genes. To detect possible resistance to azoles, isolates belonging to section Fumigati were inoculated into Sabouraud dextrose agar media supplemented with 1 µg/ml or 4 µg/ml of voriconazole, 4 µg/ml of itraconazole and 0.5 µg/ml of posaconazole and their growth was observed and recorded after 7 days of incubation at 27ºC. Doubtful results were confirmed when possible by E-test and by real-time multiplex PCR for the detection of mutations in the Cyp51A gene.
Results: Fifty-seven (39.0%) of the studied patients were positive for Aspergillus. From the cases with a positive culture (n=58) the species were identified by sequencing and belonged to six different sections. The most frequently isolated was the section Nigri (42.1%) followed by the Fumigati (33.3%) and Flavi sections (8.6%). Regarding the species, the most frequent was A. niger sensu stricto (33.9%) followed by A. fumigatus sensu stricto (32.1%). Nine cryptic species were also identified which frequency was 21.4%. In order to study the frequency of azole resistance in Fumigati isolates collected from the samples of this cohort as well from other biological products, 52 isolates - Aspergillus fumigatus sensu stricto (n=45), A. lentulus (n=4), A. udagawae (n=2) and A. pseudofelis (n=1) – were tested. The tested A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates did not show resistance to azoles. An A. udagawae strain revealed low susceptibility to voriconazole (MIC was not determined due to loss of strain viability). An A. pseudofelis strain also showed decreased susceptibility to voriconazole (MIC =1 μg/ml) as well as to and itraconazole (MIC = 2 μg/ml).
Conclusion: In this study, the genus Aspergillus was frequently isolated in the respiratory samples tested and a high number of cryptic species was detected. Although resistance to azoles was not a problem identified in the tested isolates, determination of the in vitro susceptibility profile and molecular identification of the Aspergillus species is essential to improve the diagnosis and management of aspergillosis since several cryptic species have intrinsic resistance to antifungal drugs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Multidimensional Quasi-Monte Carlo Malliavin Greeks
We investigate the use of Malliavin calculus in order to calculate the Greeks
of multidimensional complex path-dependent options by simulation. For this
purpose, we extend the formulas employed by Montero and Kohatsu-Higa to the
multidimensional case. The multidimensional setting shows the convenience of
the Malliavin Calculus approach over different techniques that have been
previously proposed. Indeed, these techniques may be computationally expensive
and do not provide flexibility for variance reduction. In contrast, the
Malliavin approach exhibits a higher flexibility by providing a class of
functions that return the same expected value (the Greek) with different
accuracies. This versatility for variance reduction is not possible without the
use of the generalized integral by part formula of Malliavin Calculus. In the
multidimensional context, we find convenient formulas that permit to improve
the localization technique, introduced in Fourni\'e et al and reduce both the
computational cost and the variance. Moreover, we show that the parameters
employed for variance reduction can be obtained \textit{on the flight} in the
simulation. We illustrate the efficiency of the proposed procedures, coupled
with the enhanced version of Quasi-Monte Carlo simulations as discussed in
Sabino, for the numerical estimation of the Deltas of call, digital Asian-style
and Exotic basket options with a fixed and a floating strike price in a
multidimensional Black-Scholes market.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
On cosmological observables in a swiss-cheese universe
Photon geodesics are calculated in a swiss-cheese model, where the cheese is
made of the usual Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solution and the holes are
constructed from a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution of Einstein's equations. The
observables on which we focus are the changes in the redshift, in the
angular-diameter--distance relation, in the luminosity-distance--redshift
relation, and in the corresponding distance modulus. We find that redshift
effects are suppressed when the hole is small because of a compensation effect
acting on the scale of half a hole resulting from the special case of spherical
symmetry. However, we find interesting effects in the calculation of the
angular distance: strong evolution of the inhomogeneities (as in the approach
to caustic formation) causes the photon path to deviate from that of the FRW
case. Therefore, the inhomogeneities are able to partly mimic the effects of a
dark-energy component. Our results also suggest that the nonlinear effects of
caustic formation in cold dark matter models may lead to interesting effects on
photon trajectories.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figures; replaced to fit the version accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
Light-cone averages in a swiss-cheese universe
We analyze a toy swiss-cheese cosmological model to study the averaging
problem. In our model, the cheese is the EdS model and the holes are
constructed from a LTB solution. We study the propagation of photons in the
swiss-cheese model, and find a phenomenological homogeneous model to describe
observables. Following a fitting procedure based on light-cone averages, we
find that the the expansion scalar is unaffected by the inhomogeneities. This
is because of spherical symmetry. However, the light-cone average of the
density as a function of redshift is affected by inhomogeneities. The effect
arises because, as the universe evolves, a photon spends more and more time in
the (large) voids than in the (thin) high-density structures. The
phenomenological homogeneous model describing the light-cone average of the
density is similar to the concordance model. Although the sole source in the
swiss-cheese model is matter, the phenomenological homogeneous model behaves as
if it has a dark-energy component. Finally, we study how the equation of state
of the phenomenological model depends on the size of the inhomogeneities, and
find that the equation-of-state parameters w_0 and w_a follow a power-law
dependence with a scaling exponent equal to unity. That is, the equation of
state depends linearly on the distance the photon travels through voids. We
conclude that within our toy model, the holes must have a present size of about
250 Mpc to be able to mimic the concordance model.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures; replaced to fit the version accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
The mechanism of the amine-catalysed isomerizationof dialkyl maleate: A computational study
DFT at B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level calculation results for the amine-catalysed isomerization of dimethyl maleate revealed that the mechanism proceeds via foursteps: (1) a concerted proton transfer from one amine molecule to another which
subsequently enhances the addition of the adduct thus formed to the C-C double bond to yield INT1. (2) Abstraction of a proton from the -carbon of INT1 by a second amine molecule to give intermediate INT2. (3) Rotation about the C-C single bond followed by proton abstraction by an amine molecule to yield unstable INT3, and (4) an elimination of an amine molecule to yield the trans isomer, dimethyl fumarate. Furthermore, it was found that step 1 is the rate limiting step. However, the activation energy difference between steps 1 and 2 was significantly low and its value depends on the amine catalyst used. The activation energy was found to be lower in water when compared to that calculated in the
gas phase. In addition, linear correlation was found between the amine-catalysed isomerization experimental rate and the pKa of the amine catalyst on one hand and the enthalpic and free activation energies on the other hand. The calculations
also confirmed that the reaction is first order in dimethyl maleate, second order in the amine catalyst and overall third order. This study disproves three of the four different intermediates that were previously suggested to explain the amine catalysed isomerization of dialkyl maleates. The study verifies the intermediate suggested by Rappopor
Screening of cryptic species among clinical Aspergillus isolates collected during one year period in a Portuguese reference laboratory
Objectives: Correct identification of Aspergillus species is important given that sibling species may show variable susceptibilities to multiple antifungal drugs and also because sharper definition of species may facilitate epidemiological studies. Thus, we screened Aspergillus clinical isolates from Portuguese hospitals to determine which, if any, of the cryptic species of Aspergillus were involved in patient infections.
Methods: Over a one year period, Aspergillus isolates from Portuguese health institutions were collected. These isolates were identified on the basis of microscopic morphology and through the use of molecular tools. Genomic DNA was prepared from each isolate and the sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) regions, specifically the ITS1 and ITS2 non-coding regions flanking the 5.8S rDNA was used to determine the species complex, whereas β-tubulin and calmodulin sequencing was done to achieve the correct species identification.
Results: Over the study period, 57 Aspergillus isolates from clinical samples were collected from 10 Portuguese health institutions. According to the morphological observations, 29 isolates were identified as Aspergillus fumigatus, 11 A. flavus, 8 A. niger, 3 A. nidulans, 2 A. terreus, 2 A. candidus and 2 Aspergillus sp. Among those isolates, six species-complexes were detected by ITS sequencing, and were distributed as follows: fumigati (50.1%), flavi (21.0%), nigri (15.8%), terrei (5.3%), nidulantes (3.6%) and versicolores (3.6%). β-tubulin and calmodulin sequencing resulted in ten (17.5%) cryptic species being identified among the 57 isolates. Six of those isolates belonged to the nigri complex (A. brasiliensis, A. awamorii and A. tubigensis), two to the versicolores complex (A. sidowii and A. fructus), one to the fumigati complex (A. lentulus) and one to the nidulantes complex (Emmericella echinulata).
Conclusion: With rigorous application of molecular tools, cryptic species of Aspergillus are not uncommon in the clinic. The identification of cryptic species among the collected clinical isolates of Aspergillus alerts the clinician to isolates with reduced susceptibilities to antifungal drugs and emphasizes a correct identification to species level
Tinea Corporis Causada por Trichophyton Benhamiae de TransmissĂŁo Canina: Primeiro Relato em Portugal
Dermatophytoses are superficial and contagious infections caused by dermatophyte fungi. They are the most fre-quent infectious dermatosis in clinical practice, and can affect the skin, hair and nails. Its correct diagnosis allows the understanding of clinical, ecological and epidemiological aspects associated with these microorganisms. Clinical presentation is variable and depends on the habitat (human, animal or soil origin), virulence of the fungus and on the host’s immune status.We report the clinical case of a 62-year-old man with tinea corporis, which stands out for its exuberant clinical pres-entation and by the isolated agent, Trichophyton benhamiae (formerly known as Arthroderma benhamiae), an etiologi-cal agent of dermatophytosis that has not been scientifically reported in Portugal yet.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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