Can the diagnosis of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis be improved by use of vaginal lavage samples and cultures on chromogenic agar?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if introital and vaginal flushing samples inoculated on chromogenic agar could increase the recovery rate and rapid identification of Candida and non-albicans species, as compared to culture of posterior vaginal fornix samples on Sabouraud agar and speciation of isolates by biochemical tests. METHODS: Samples from the introitus and the posterior vaginal fornix and vaginal lavage samples were collected from 91 women with a history suggestive of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis (RVVC), and with a suspected new attack of the condition. The specimens were cultured on Sabouraud and CHROMagar. Speciation of yeast isolates was made on the chromogenic agar by API 32C kits and by an atomized system (Vitek). RESULTS: Forty-six (51%) women were positive for Candida from one or more of the samples. The introital cultures were positive in 43 (47%) women, both on Sabouraud and chromogenic agar. From the posterior vaginal fomix, 42 (46%) women were positive on the Sabouraud and 43 (47%) on chromogenic agar cultures, while the vaginal lavage cultures yielded Candida on those two media in 40 (44%) and 41 (45%) cases, respectively. Candida albicans was the most frequent species recovered, from 40 (87%) cases, followed by C. krusei in 4 (9%), C. glabrata in 2 (4%), and C. parapsilosis in one case. There was only one woman who had a mixed yeast infection, by C. albicans and C. krusei. There was only one discrepancy in the speciation as demonstrated by mean of chromogenic agar and API 32C kit. CONCLUSIONS: Neither cultures of introital nor of vaginal lavage samples increases the detection rate of Candida in RVVC cases as compared to cultures of posterior vaginal fornix samples. Use of chromogenic agar is a convenient and reliable means to detect colonization by Candida and differentiate between C. albicans and non-albicans species

Temperature dependence of the electron spin g factor in GaAs

The temperature dependence of the electron spin $g$ factor in GaAs is investigated experimentally and theoretically. Experimentally, the $g$ factor was measured using time-resolved Faraday rotation due to Larmor precession of electron spins in the temperature range between 4.5 K and 190 K. The experiment shows an almost linear increase of the $g$ value with the temperature. This result is in good agreement with other measurements based on photoluminescence quantum beats and time-resolved Kerr rotation up to room temperature. The experimental data are described theoretically taking into account a diminishing fundamental energy gap in GaAs due to lattice thermal dilatation and nonparabolicity of the conduction band calculated using a five-level kp model. At higher temperatures electrons populate higher Landau levels and the average $g$ factor is obtained from a summation over many levels. A very good description of the experimental data is obtained indicating that the observed increase of the spin $g$ factor with the temperature is predominantly due to band's nonparabolicity.Comment: 6 pages 4 figure

СУЧАСНІ МЕТОДИ РЕАБІЛІТАЦІЇ ХВОРИХ іЗ ЗАКРИТОЮ ТРАВМОЮ КОЛІННОГО СУГЛОБА

The article describes the basic principles of the application of methods of rehabilitation treatment of patients with knee injuries. Considerable attention is paid to the methodology of medical rehabilitation in the hospital and post-hospital period.У статті висвітлено основні принципи застосування методів реабілітаційного лікування хворих з ушкодженнями колінного суглоба. Значну увагу приділено методології проведення медичної реабілітації у лікарняний та післялікарняний періоди

Optimal control of light pulse storage and retrieval

We demonstrate experimentally a procedure to obtain the maximum efficiency for the storage and retrieval of light pulses in atomic media. The procedure uses time reversal to obtain optimal input signal pulse-shapes. Experimental results in warm Rb vapor are in good agreement with theoretical predictions and demonstrate a substantial improvement of efficiency. This optimization procedure is applicable to a wide range of systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure