Mycobacterium sherrisii visceral disseminated infection in an African HIV-infected adolescent

A case of visceral disseminated infection by Mycobacterium sherrisii in an African HIV-infected adolescent with multiple abdominal abscesses is reported. Despite multiple drug resistance to first-line antibiotics in vitro, long-term treatment with clarithromycin, moxifloxacin, and clindamycin, together with appropriate antiretroviral treatment, resulted in clinical and radiological cure after 19 months of therapy and follow-up

Probiotics as prevention and treatment for diarrhea

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To critically appraise evidence on probiotic use for prevention and treatment of diarrhea in children and adults. RECENT FINDINGS: Several randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses suggested that probiotics are effective in primary and secondary prevention of gastroenteritis and its treatment. Selected Lactobacillus strains had a modest, although significant effect in primary prevention. Saccharomyces boulardii was effective in antibiotic-associated and in Clostridium difficile diarrhea. There is evidence that it might prevent diarrhea in day-care centers. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was associated with reduced diarrheal duration and severity, more evident in case of childhood Rotavirus diarrhea. Similar, although weaker, evidence was obtained with S. boulardii. Both strains are included in evidence-based recommendations for gastroenteritis management in children. Data on other Lactobacillus strains are preliminary. Probiotic efficacy was related to cause, early administration and bacterial load, and their mechanisms were associated with antiinfectious action in the intestine or, indirectly, to modulation of innate and adaptive immunity. SUMMARY: Probiotics have gained a role as adjunctive treatment of infantile gastroenteritis together with rehydration. Their efficacy is less convincing in adults, but promising in antibiotic-associated diarrhea. However, evidence of efficacy is limited to a few strains

Chronic diarrhoea in children.

Chronic diarrhoea in children shows an age related spectrum. In infants and young children a major role is related to persistent intestinal infections, intolerance to specific nutrients such as cow's milk protein, and toddler's diarrhoea. In older children and adolescents, inflammatory bowel diseases are strongly increasing and nonspecific diarrhoea is also frequent. Coeliac disease is a major cause of diarrhoea throughout childhood. In neonates, congenital diarrhoea is a rare but severe syndrome that includes several highly complex diseases. In children, diagnosis should be based on noninvasive techniques. Endoscopy should be decided based on clinical criteria, but also driven by noninvasive tests to assess the digestive absorptive functions and intestinal inflammation. A stepwise approach may reduce the need of endoscopy, also in the light of its relatively limited diagnostic yield compared to adult patients. Treatment of chronic diarrhoea in children is also substantially different from what is generally done in adults and includes a major role for nutritional interventions. Therefore chronic diarrhoea in children is a complex age-specific disorder that requires an age-specific management that is in many aspects distinct from that in adults

Riscrivere i Vangeli tra eclissi e ritorno del sacro: sei riscritture italiane dei Vangeli

Per comprendere a pieno il ruolo che la religione ha nella cultura italiana della fine del Novecento, e, più in specifico, nella narrativa, proporrei una definizione del “senso del religioso” partendo dal concetto di religiöse Sinn dell’idealismo tedesco, come dimensione essenziale della natura umana, anche là dove, vedi l’ateismo della modernità, tale dimensione è negata. L’uomo è homo religiosus, così com’è stato messo in evidenza da Rudolf Otto. Anche nell’epoca della presunta emancipazion..

Dinámica glaciar de la cuenca del río Santa Cruz, Andes Patagónicos Australes: el agua del futuro

The largest glacier area in Argentina is located in the Santa Cruz River Basin (CRS), Southern Patagonian Andes. The CRS concentrates 35% of the entire national glacier cover (including the sub-Antarctic islands), and 52% if only the Andes are considered.Its 3023 km2 are distributed in a thousand glaciers, although between seven of them accumulate ~80% of that area (Viedma, Upsala, Onelli, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino, and Perito Moreno). These seven glaciers end in proglacial lakes, which stimulate processes of acceleration, fracture, and detachment of glacial ice (detachment glaciers). The thesis aims to determine the multiscale relationships between the dynamics of the detachment glaciers of the CRS, the natural triggering processes, and their impacts on the geographic space. To this end, the analysis of the last two decades is proposed through different satellite platforms and the thematic information available. In this work, the glaciological indicators analyzed are frontal position changes and supraglacial melting events. For synthesis purposes, the results show a cumulative retraction of 19 ± 0.3 km during the whole study period, although withheterogeneous individual behaviors. Between 1985 and 2017 the Upsala glacier retreated 8287 ± 60 m, at the same time Moreno glacier advanced 101 ± 60 m. Spegazzini glacier is another glacier that sustained its position in that period, immediately south of Onelli glacier which retreated 3069 ± 60 m. The above suggests the multicausal of glacial dynamics and the inexistence of a single forcer. In terms of melting events (2001-2016), the extent occupied by these has a marked seasonality, frequent during the summer months even at high summits (>3000 m). During the warm period (October/April) more than 50% of the glacier area was melting (with maximums of 75% in the summer of 2013). In contrast, in the cold phase, they were drastically reduced and even absent in the months of June-July. In CRS, melt events began to increase from 2010, with a positive trend. The consequences of glacial dynamics have played a key role in the possibilities for the configuration of humanized spaces. These places are structured according to these dynamics, either because of exposure to glacial hazards or because they represent the main source of foreign exchange for the basin: glacier tourism.La superficie glaciar más extensa de la República Argentina se encuentra en la cuenca del río Santa Cruz (CRS), Andes Patagónicos Australes. La CRS concentra el 35% de toda la cubierta glacial nacional (incluidas las islas subantárticas), y el 52 % si solo seconsideran los Andes. Sus 3023 km2 están distribuidos en un millar de glaciares, aunque entre siete de ellos acumulan el ~80 % de esa área (Viedma, Upsala, Onelli, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino y Perito Moreno). Esos siete glaciares terminan en lagosproglaciares, lo cual estimula procesos de aceleración, fractura y desprendimiento de hielo glaciar (glaciares de desprendimiento). El objetivo de la tesis es determinar las relaciones multiescalares existentes entre la dinámica de los glaciares dedesprendimiento de la CRS, los procesos naturales disparadores, y sus impactos en el espacio geográfico. Para tal fin se propone el análisis de las últimas dos décadas a través de diferentes plataformas satelitales e información temática disponible. En estetrabajo, los indicadores glaciológicos analizados son los cambios de posición frontal y los eventos de fusión supraglacial. A efectos de síntesis, los resultados muestran una retracción acumulada de 19 ± 0,3 km durante todo el periodo de estudio, aunque concomportamientos individuales heterogéneos. Entre 1985 y 2017 el glaciar Upsala retrocedió 8287 ± 60 m, al mismo tiempo que glaciar Moreno avanzó 101 ± 60 m. El glaciar Spegazzini es otro glaciar que sostuvo su posición en ese periodo, inmediatamente al sur del glaciar Onelli que retrocedió 3069 ± 60 m. Lo anterior sugiere la multicausalidad de la dinámica glaciar y la inexistencia de un único forzante. En términos de eventos de fusión (2001-2016), la extensión ocupada por estos tiene una marcada estacionalidad, frecuentes durante los meses de verano incluso en las altas cumbres (>3000 m). Durante el periodo estival (octubre/abril) más del 50 % del área glaciar estuvo en fusión (con máximos del 75% en el verano del 2013). Por el contrario, durante la fase invernal se redujeron drásticamente e incluso se ausentaron en los meses de junio-julio. En términos de cuenca, los eventos de fusión comenzaron a aumentar a partir del 2010, con una tendencia positiva a favor de su expansión. Las consecuencias de la dinámica glaciar han jugado un rol clave en las posibilidades de configuración de espacios humanizados. Esos enclaves están estructurados en función de esa dinámica, ya sea por la exposición a amenazas de origen glaciar o bien por significar la principal fuente de divisas para la cuenca: el turismo glaciar

Infrared evidence of a Slater metal-insulator transition in NaOsO3

The magnetically driven metal-insulator transition (MIT) was predicted by Slater in the fifties. Here a long-range antiferromagnetic (AF) order can open up a gap at the Brillouin electronic band boundary regardless of the Coulomb repulsion magnitude. However, while many low-dimensional organic conductors display evidence for an AF driven MIT, in three-dimensional (3D) systems the Slater MIT still remains elusive. We employ terahertz and infrared spectroscopy to investigate the MIT in the NaOsO3 3D antiferromagnet. From the optical conductivity analysis we find evidence for a continuous opening of the energy gap, whose temperature dependence can be well described in terms of a second order phase transition. The comparison between the experimental Drude spectral weight and the one calculated through Local Density Approximation (LDA) shows that electronic correlations play a limited role in the MIT. All the experimental evidence demonstrates that NaOsO3 is the first known 3D Slater insulator.Comment: 4 figure

Optical properties of V2O3 in its whole phase diagram

Vanadium sesquioxide V2O3 is considered a textbook example of Mott-Hubbard physics. In this paper we present an extended optical study of its whole temperature/doping phase diagram as obtained by doping the pure material with M=Cr or Ti atoms (V1-xMx)2O3. We reveal that its thermodynamically stable metallic and insulating phases, although macroscopically equivalent, show very different low-energy electrodynamics. The Cr and Ti doping drastically change both the antiferromagnetic gap and the paramagnetic metallic properties. A slight chromium content induces a mesoscopic electronic phase separation, while the pure compound is characterized by short-lived quasiparticles at high temperature. This study thus provides a new comprehensive scenario of the Mott-Hubbard physics in the prototype compound V2O3