Surveillance of environmental fungi, with focus on Aspergillus, in a Portuguese Central Hospital.

Objectives: Because immunocompromised patients are more prone to acquire nosocomial infections caused by fungi isolated from the environment, e.g. Aspergillus, this study aimed to screen the hospital environment for the presence of fungi and to understand their epidemiology in the different hospital wards analyzed. Methods: During one-year period, four seasonal samplings, i.e., air and hard surface, were performed. A total of 101 air samples and 99 surface samples were collected from the Hematology, Oncology, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) wards of a Portuguese Central Hospital. Aspergillus isolates were plated for growth as single colonies on malt extract agar with chloramphenicol to check the colony purity and observe colonial morphology. The universal fungal primers ITS1 and ITS4 were used to amplify DNA from all Aspergillus isolates, amplimers were sequenced, and isolates identified to the species-complex level. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS v15.0 program for Windows. Results: Aspergillus was the most frequently recovered fungal genus (20.9%), followed by Cladosporium (18.7%), and Penicillium (17.2%). Thirty-five Aspergillus isolates were collected from the wards with hematological patients (bone marrow transplant and hemato-oncology wards), whereas 15 isolates were recovered from ICU. Among Aspergillus isolates from the hospital environment, those belonging to the species-complexes of versicolores (n = 26; 32.5%), nigri (n = 12; 15.0%), flavi (n = 11; 13.7%), and circumdati (n = 6; 7.5%) dominated. Hemato-Oncology was the ward with higher fungal counts, whereas the bone marrow transplant ward, which is protected by HEPA-filtration of the supply air, showed the lowest numbers in all sampling periods. A significant association (p = 0.001) was found between the season and the Aspergillus complexes isolated, with spring and summer having a larger number of different species-complexes detected in the hospital´s air and on the surfaces. Nevertheless, air counts showed that the autumn was the season with the highest proportion of Aspergillus (one third of the total number of fungi detected). This could be due in part to the presence of construction work near these wards. Conclusion: The knowledge of the epidemiology of environmental fungi in each hospital may allow the establishment of preventive or corrective measures to decrease nosocomial fungal infections

Interactional response during infants’ aquatic sessions

The aim of study was to assess infants’ behaviour during routine swimming sessions using a naturalistic observation method. The study sample included 14 infants (13.7 ± 7.5 months old) with previous aquatic experience. The frequency of occurrences per unit of time (session) in the different dimensions – infant’s motor behaviour and social-affective interaction – was registered over the course of two sessions by two independent experts. The behaviours most frequently observed were accompanied displacement (61.1 %) and interaction with others (41.6 %). Submersions or jumps represented only 8.4 % of the session. Implementing a child-centred methodology leads to positive behaviours during this type of sessions, contributing to the child’s healthy development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kinetic energy driven superconductivity in doped cuprates

Within the t-J model, the mechanism of superconductivity in doped cuprates is studied based on the partial charge-spin separation fermion-spin theory. It is shown that dressed holons interact occurring directly through the kinetic energy by exchanging dressed spinon excitations, leading to a net attractive force between dressed holons, then the electron Cooper pairs originating from the dressed holon pairing state are due to the charge-spin recombination, and their condensation reveals the superconducting ground-state. The electron superconducting transition temperature is determined by the dressed holon pair transition temperature, and is proportional to the concentration of doped holes in the underdoped regime. With the common form of the electron Cooper pair, we also show that there is a coexistence of the electron Cooper pair and antiferromagnetic short-range correlation, and hence the antiferromagnetic short-range fluctuation can persist into the superconducting state. Our results are qualitatively consistent with experiments.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, two figures are included, corrected typo

Identification of Aspergillus cryptic species in hospital environment

Selected hospital wards, housing patients at higher risk to develop invasive fungal infections, were screened in order to understand the epidemiology and distribution of Aspergillus, especially regarding the presence of cryptic species.Aspergillus species were identified by b-tubulin and calmodulin sequencing, and a high percentage of cryptic species (i.e., not sensu stricto) was found (59%). Sections Usti, Versicolores and Circumdati harbored the highest proportion of cryptic species [100% (4/4), 95% (19/20) and 90% (9/10), respectively].The high number of cryptic species found raises concerns about the possible reduced susceptibility to antifungals of hospital environmental Aspergillus isolates. These data reinforce the importance of hospital air and surface monitoring, mainly in immunocompromised patients’ wards

Deep and shallow water effects on developing preschoolers’ aquatic skills

The aim of the study was to assess deep and shallow water teaching methods in swimming lessons for preschool children and identify variations in the basic aquatic skills acquired. The study sample included 32 swimming instructors (16 from deep water programs and 16 from shallow water programs) and 98 preschool children (50 from deep water swimming pool and 48 from shallow water swimming pool). The children were also studied regarding their previous experience in swimming (6, 12 and 18 months or practice). Chi-Square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare the teaching methodology. A discriminant analysis was conducted with Λ wilk's method to predict under what conditions students are better or worse (aquatic competence). Results suggest that regardless of the non-significant variations found in teaching methods, the water depth can affect aquatic skill acquisition - shallow water lessons seem to impose greater water competence particularly after 6 months of practice. The discriminant function revealed a significant association between groups and all predictors for 6 months of swimming practice (p <0.001). Body position in gliding and leg displacements were the main predictors. For 12 and 18 months of practice, the discriminant function do not revealed any significant association between groups. As a conclusion, it seems that the teaching methodology of aquatic readiness based on deep and shallow water programs for preschoolers is not significantly different. However, shallow water lessons could be preferable for the development of basic aquatic skills

Assessment of heart rate in infants from 6 to 36 months old during aquatic activities

Some authors (e.g. Maclaren and Coulson, 1999; Dekerle, 2006) reported that aerobic training has a positive effect on critical velocity in swimming. However, it raises the question whereas this effect is similar among swimmers of different performance level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the training responses in aerobic parameters (critical velocity and critical stroke rate) in young swimmers of different level during an in-season period of training

Baby swimming and motor skills achievement.

Motor skills can be defined as any task, simple or complex, that uses repetition in order to perform with greater independence and success. At 24 months old children are particularly characterized by the independence given to it by walking and running and the ability to transpose stairs. Positive effects of aquatic activity programs on infants’ motor development can be observed. In this context, this study aims to analyze the ability of the motor gesture of getting out of the swimming pier at different conditions: deep pool and shallow pool.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aumento de Resolução Temporal de Sequências de Imagens do Trato Vocal por meio de Registro das Imagens

O imageamento por ressonância magnética tem sido bastanteutilizado no estudo da produção da fala. Sequências de imagens do trato vocal adquiridas durante a emissão de palavras e fonemas permitem a identificação dinâmica das formas assumidas por este tubo acústico. Entretanto, é importante ressaltar que as resoluções espacial e temporal necessárias para a identificação do movimento dos articuladores da fala variam de acordo com a velocidade e localidade desse movimento, e tal informação não é conhecida a priori. Abordagens existentes procuram aprimorar a resolução das sequências de imagens melhorando o processo de aquisição ou utilizando meios de aquisição mais potentes, o que pode ser financeiramente inviável. O método proposto neste artigo procura melhorar a resolução temporal por meio de um método de registro não-rígido proposto na literatura. O movimento identificado pelo registro permite o aumento de resolução temporal por meio de uma técnica de interpolação por compensação de movimento. O movimento presente em toda a sequência é considerado na geração de cada imagem intermediária. Dessa forma, o movimento dos articuladores da fala nessas imagens é coerente com o movimento presente em toda a sequência. Os resultados indicam a eficiência do método proposto

Possible Z2 phase and spin-charge separation in electron doped cuprate superconductors

The SU(2) slave-boson mean-field theory for the tt'J model is analyzed. The role of next-nearest-neighbor hopping t' on the phase-diagram is studied. We find a pseudogap phase in hole-doped materials (where t'<0). The pseudo-gap phase is a U(1) spin liquid (the staggered-flux phase) with a U(1) gauge interaction and no fractionalization. This agrees with experiments on hole doped samples. The same calculation also indicates that a positive t' favors a Z2 state with true spin-charge separation. The Z2 state that exists when t' > 0.5J can be a candidate for the pseudo-gap phase of electron-doped cuprates (if such a phase exists). The experimental situation in electron-doped materials is also addressed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4. Homepage http://dao.mit.edu/~wen

Signature for heavy Majorana neutrinos in hadronic collisions

The production and decay of new possible heavy Majorana neutrinos are analyzed in hadronic collisions. New bounds on the mixing of these particles with standard neutrinos are estimated according to a fundamental representation suggested by grand unified models. A clear signature for these Majorana neutrinos is given by same-sign dileptons plus a charged weak vector boson in the final state. We discuss the experimental possibilities for the future Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.Comment: Latex2e(epsfig), 12 pages, 8 figures, to appear Physical Review