Efficacy and safety of topical eprinomectin to control Myocoptes musculinus infestation in mice.

Myocoptes musculinus is the most common fur mite identified among laboratory mice; infested mice, in addition to dermatological signs, may also be prone to secondary infections, affecting the outcome of a research trial. This trial was conducted in order to assess the safety and efficacy of a single topical administration of eprinomectin (5mg/kg BW) in a naturally infested laboratory mice colony. A safety trial was conducted on 20 uninfested pregnant females assigned to two groups, receiving eprinomectin and mineral oil, respectively. The mice were examined daily for signs of illness or toxicity; nests were individually weighted at 21 and 28 days postpartum. No acute toxicity was observed, all treated females gave full term delivery and number and mean weight of newborns ranged in the physiological values. To evaluate the efficacy, 20 naturally infested non-pregnant females were divided into two groups, treated as in the safety trial. Animals were observed daily for 15 min until 21 days post-treatment (DPT) and a “pruritus index” (PI: scratching and gnawing acts/mouse/min) was calculated. Pelage examination was performed on DPT 7, 14, 21 and 50. The “PI” was significantly lower in the treated group and mites were eradicated from all infested animals. A single topical administration of eprinomectin at a (high) dosage of 5mg/kg BW was safe and effective to control M. musculinusin mice

Potenziale utilizzo di idrolati per il controllo delle infezioni microbiche

Introduzione. Come \ue8 noto, diversi microrganismi costituiscono un diretto pericolo per la nostra salute in quanto possono infettare l'ospite umano: le malattie infettive causate da batteri e funghi sono ogni anno responsabili di morbilit\ue0 e mortalit\ue0 in un numero crescente di individui ospedalizzati e immunocompromessi. Inoltre, negli ultimi anni, la diffusione di ceppi microbici multi-resistenti ai farmaci, (ad es. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Candida spp.), ha provocato infezioni difficili o impossibili da controllare con antimicrobici convenzionali. La necessit\ue0 di nuove terapie per il trattamento delle infezioni microbiche ha portato i ricercatori a concentrarsi su possibili alternative di tipo naturale. L'idrolato (Id), noto anche come idrosol o acqua aromatica, \ue8 la frazione idrofila ottenuta durante il processo di distillazione in corrente di vapore assieme all\u2019olio essenziale (OE), capace di esercitare attivit\ue0 anti-microbiche grazie al contenuto in componenti terpeniche pari a circa l\u20191% v/v. Sebbene entrambe i prodotti della distillazione abbiano una nota azione antimicrobica, non \ue8 mai stata paragonata la loro attivit\ue0 quando estratti dalla stessa pianta. Scopo. Gli scopi di questo lavoro sono stati: (i) quello di paragonare l'attivit\ue0 antimicrobica dell\u2019OE e dell\u2019Id estratti da Monarda citriodora (MC) verso 30 ceppi fungini e batterici coinvolti in infezioni umane, (ii) valutare l\u2019efficacia dell\u2019Id di C. aurantium var. amara (CA) nei confronti di 18 ceppi fungini e batterici potenzialmente responsabili di infezioni cutanee. Materiali e metodi. L\u2019OE e l\u2019Id di MC sono stati ottenuti mediante distillazione in corrente di vapore partendo da piante fiorite coltivate presso l\u2019istituto Scarabelli-Ghini di Imola (fig.1), mentre l\u2019Id-CA era di tipo commerciale. Sono stati eseguiti test di micro-brodo diluizione secondo linee guida internazionali EUCAST per valutare l\u2019efficacia antimicrobica dell\u2019OE-MC (concentrazioni comprese tra 0,0078% e 4%), dell'Id-MC (concentrazioni tra 12,5% e 50%) e dell\u2019Id-CA (concentrazioni tra 3.12% e 50%) vs i ceppi testati. Inoltre, l'OE e gli Id sono stati analizzati in GC-MS per valutarne la composizione terpenica e, nel caso di M. citriodora, paragonare l\u2019efficacia dell\u2019OE a quella dell\u2019Id in funzione del loro contenuto terpenico. Risultati. L'OE-MC e l\u2019Id-CA sono risultati efficaci, a concentrazioni variabili, su tutti i ceppi testati, mentre, l'Id-MC era attivo su tutti i microrganismi tranne che sui ceppi di P. aeruginosa (MIC>4% v/v). Le analisi GC-MS hanno individuato come principali componenti terpeniche il timolo per OE-MC e di Id-MC (19,6% e 66,4% rispettivamente) e il linalolo per Id-CA. Conclusioni. Nonostante sia necessaria una maggiore concentrazione di Id-MC per ottenere lo stesso effetto inibente dell\u2019OE-MC, la quantit\ue0 di terpeni presenti per unit\ue0 di volume nell\u2019Id \ue8 risultata inferiore rispetto all'EO. La maggiore efficacia dei terpeni contenuti nell\u2019Id \ue8 probabilmente dovuta all'ambiente idrofilo che ne promuove una maggiore disponibilit\ue0

Fermi LAT observations of cosmic-ray electrons from 7 GeV to 1 TeV

We present the results of our analysis of cosmic-ray electrons using about 8 million electron candidates detected in the first 12 months on-orbit by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This work extends our previously-published cosmic-ray electron spectrum down to 7 GeV, giving a spectral range of approximately 2.5 decades up to 1 TeV. We describe in detail the analysis and its validation using beam-test and on-orbit data. In addition, we describe the spectrum measured via a subset of events selected for the best energy resolution as a cross-check on the measurement using the full event sample. Our electron spectrum can be described with a power law $\propto {\rm E}^{-3.08 \pm 0.05}$ with no prominent spectral features within systematic uncertainties. Within the limits of our uncertainties, we can accommodate a slight spectral hardening at around 100 GeV and a slight softening above 500 GeV.Comment: 20 pages, 23 figures, 2 tables, published in Physical Review D 82, 092004 (2010) - contact authors: C. Sgro', A. Moisee

Grassroots Agency: Participation and Conflict in Buenos Aires Shantytowns seen through the Pilot Plan for Villa 7 (1971–1975)

open access articleIn 1971, after more than a decade of national and municipal policies aimed at the top-down removal of shantytowns, the Buenos Aires City Council approved the Plan Piloto para la Relocalización de Villa 7 (Pilot Plan for the Relocation of Shantytown 7; 1971–1975, referred to as the Pilot Plan hereinafter). This particular plan, which resulted in the construction of the housing complex, Barrio Justo Suárez, endures in the collective memory of Argentines as a landmark project regarding grassroots participation in state housing initiatives addressed at shantytowns. Emerging from a context of a housing shortage for the growing urban poor and intense popular mobilizations during the transition to democracy, the authors of the Pilot Plan sought to empower shantytown residents in novel ways by: 1) maintaining the shantytown’s location as opposed to eradication schemes that relocated the residents elsewhere, 2) formally employing some of the residents for the stage of construction, as opposed to “self-help” housing projects in which the residents contributed with unpaid labor, and 3) including them in the urban and architectural design of the of the new housing. This paper will examine the context in which the Pilot Plan was conceived of as a way of re-assessing the roles of the state, the user, and housing-related professionals, often seen as antagonistic. The paper argues that residents’ fair participation and state intervention in housing schemes are not necessarily incompatible, and can function in specific social and political contexts through multiactor proposals backed by a political will that prioritizes grassroots agency

The On-orbit Calibrations for the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on--board the Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope began its on--orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft boresight alignments. Here we describe on orbit calibration results obtained using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions will be described in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch. These results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly released in August 2009.Comment: 60 pages, 34 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Fermi Large Area Telescope Performance after 10 Years of Operation

The Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary instrument for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy gamma-ray telescope, covering the energy range from 30 MeV to more than 300 GeV. We describe the performance of the instrument at the 10 yr milestone. LAT performance remains well within the specifications defined during the planning phase, validating the design choices and supporting the compelling case to extend the duration of the Fermi mission. The details provided here will be useful when designing the next generation of high-energy gamma-ray observatories