146 research outputs found
Infección cutánea por Alternaria triticina en un paciente con trasplante bilateral de pulmón
We report the case of a 60-year-old man who was receiving immunosuppressive
therapy for a bilateral lung transplant and presented with a crusted, violaceous plaque on the
left hand. Based on histopathology and microbiological culture the patient was diagnosed with
infection by Alternaria species. Treatment with itraconazole led to complete resolution of the
skin lesion. Forty months later he developed four reddish, nodular, skin lesions on the left leg.
Analysis of a biopsy from one of these lesions using histopathologic and molecular techniques
identified a mold that shared 98% homology with a strain of Alternaria triticina. Alternaria
species belong to a group of dematiaceous fungi that cause opportunistic infections in humans.
The incidence of these infections is increasing, mainly in transplant centers. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first reported case of a human infection caused by A. triticinaPresentamos el caso de un hombre de 60 años en tratamiento inmunosupresor
por un trasplante pulmonar bilateral que presentó una placa violácea costrosa en la mano.
Se diagnosticó de infección por Alternaria spp mediante estudio histopatológico y cultivo
microbiológico. El tratamiento con itraconazol condujo a la resolución completa de la lesión
cutánea. Cuarenta meses más tarde el paciente desarrolló 4 lesiones nodulares rojizas
en la pierna izquierda. Las muestras obtenidas de una de las lesiones fueron estudiadas
mediante histopatología y técnicas moleculares. La secuencia de ADN que se obtuvo del
germen causal mostraba una homología del 98% con una cepa de Alternaria triticina. Las
especies de Alternaria forman parte del grupo de hongos que componen las feohifomicosis
susceptibles de causar infecciones oportunísticas humanas. La incidencia de estas infecciones
está aumentando, sobre todo en centros de trasplante. De acuerdo con nuestra información el
presente caso es el primero en el que A. triticina es causante de una infección humanaAcknowledgement: We thank Manuel Cuenca Estrella and Emilia Mellado of the Instituto Nacional de Salud Carlos III in Madrid for confirmation of the identity of the fungus
On Communicative Education in Non-Linguistic Institute
The problem of communicative education as a condition of modern human development is considered. Different approaches of foreign and Russian researchers to defining of “communicative competence” and “communicative competency” as components of communicative education are described. The methods and forms of work at the lessons of foreign language that the authors uses in the teaching process in the conditions of a non-linguisticuniversity are described. It is concluded that the development of communicative competence in the sphere of foreign language usingis necessary for future specialist, regardless of specialty he receives.Рассматривается проблема коммуникативного образования как условия развития современного человека. Описываются различные подходы зарубежных и российских исследователей к определению понятий «коммуникативная компетенция» и «коммуникативная компетентность» как компонентов коммуникативного образования. Предлагаются методы и формы работы на занятиях по иностранному языку, которые авторы используют в процессе преподавания в условиях неязыкового вуза
Communicative competence in the globalization process
The article deals with different approaches of Russian and foreign researchers to the concept of «communicative competence», specifies its definition, content and structureРассматриваются различные подходы зарубежных и российских исследователей к понятию коммуникативной компетенции, приводятся его определение, содержание и структур
Osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells in decellularised adipose tissue solid foams
3D cell culture systems based on biological scaffold materials obtainable from both animal and human tissues constitute very interesting tools for cell therapy and personalised medicine applications. The white adipose tissue (AT) extracellular matrix (ECM) is a very promising biomaterial for tissue engineering due to its easy accessibility, malleability and proven biological activity. In the present study, human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) were combined in vitro with ECM scaffolds from porcine and human decellularised adipose tissues (pDAT, hDAT) processed as 3D solid foams, to investigate their effects on the osteogenic differentiation capacity and bone matrix production of hDPSCs, compared to single-protein-based 3D solid foams of collagen type I and conventional 2D tissue-culture-treated polystyrene plates. pDAT solid foams supported the osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs to similar levels to collagen type I, as assessed by alkaline phosphatase and alizarin red stainings, reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and osteocalcin/bone gamma-carboxyglutamate protein (BGLAP) immunostaining. Interestingly, hDAT solid foams showed a markedly lower capacity to sustain hDPSC osteogenic differentiation and matrix calcification and a higher capacity to support adipogenesis, as assessed by RT-qPCR and oil red O staining. White ATs from both human and porcine origins are relatively abundant and available sources of raw material to obtain high quality ECM-derived biomedical products. These biomaterials could have promising applications in tissue engineering and personalised clinical therapy for the healing and regeneration of lesions involving not only a loss of calcified bone but also its associated soft non-calcified tissues.This research was supported by the Basque Government (ELKARTEK program PLAKA KK2019-00093; to NB), MICINN retos I+D+i (PID2019- 104766RB-C21, to JRP) and UPV/EHU (PPGA20/22; to FU, GI). The authors would like to thank the staff members of the SGIKER services of the UPV/EHU: Lipidomic service (Beatriz Abad) and Analytical Microscopy (Ricardo Andrade, Alejandro Díez-Torre and Irene Fernández) for their technical assistance
739 observed NEAs and new 2-4m survey statistics within the EURONEAR network
We report follow-up observations of 477 program Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs)
using nine telescopes of the EURONEAR network having apertures between 0.3 and
4.2 m. Adding these NEAs to our previous results we now count 739 program NEAs
followed-up by the EURONEAR network since 2006. The targets were selected using
EURONEAR planning tools focusing on high priority objects. Analyzing the
resulting orbital improvements suggests astrometric follow-up is most important
days to weeks after discovery, with recovery at a new opposition also valuable.
Additionally we observed 40 survey fields spanning three nights covering 11 sq.
degrees near opposition, using the Wide Field Camera on the 2.5m Isaac Newton
Telescope (INT), resulting in 104 discovered main belt asteroids (MBAs) and
another 626 unknown one-night objects. These fields, plus program NEA fields
from the INT and from the wide field MOSAIC II camera on the Blanco 4m
telescope, generated around 12,000 observations of 2,000 minor planets (mostly
MBAs) observed in 34 square degrees. We identify Near Earth Object (NEO)
candidates among the unknown (single night) objects using three selection
criteria. Testing these criteria on the (known) program NEAs shows the best
selection methods are our epsilon-miu model which checks solar elongation and
sky motion and the MPC's NEO rating tool. Our new data show that on average 0.5
NEO candidates per square degree should be observable in a 2m-class survey (in
agreement with past results), while an average of 2.7 NEO candidates per square
degree should be observable in a 4m-class survey (although our Blanco
statistics were affected by clouds). At opposition just over 100 MBAs (1.6
unknown to every 1 known) per square degree are detectable to R=22 in a 2m
survey based on the INT data, while our two best ecliptic Blanco fields away
from opposition lead to 135 MBAs (2 unknown to every 1 known) to R=23.Comment: Published in Planetary and Space Sciences (Sep 2013
Isolation and characterization of galactinol synthases from hybrid poplar
The raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs) serve as transport carbohydrates in the phloem, storage compounds in sink tissues, and putative biological agents to combat both abiotic and biotic stress in several plant species. To investigate further the functional roles of this class of compounds in trees, two cDNAs encoding galactinol synthase (GolS, EC 2.4.1.123), which catalyses the first step in the biosynthesis of RFOs, were identified and cloned from hybrid poplar (Populus alba×grandidentata). Phylogenetic analyses of the Populus GolS isoforms with other known GolS proteins suggested a putative role for these enzymes during biotic or abiotic stress in hybrid poplar. The predicted protein sequences of both isoforms (Pa×gGolSI and Pa×gGolSII) showed characteristics of GolS proteins from other species, including a serine phosphorylation site and the ASAAP pentapeptide hydrophobic domain. Kinetic analyses of recombinant Pa×gGolSI and Pa×gGolSII resulted in Km values for UPD-galactose of 0.80 and 0.65 mM and Vmax values of 657.5 and 1245 nM min−1, respectively. Pa×gGolSI inherently possessed a broader pH and temperature range when compared with Pa×gGolSII. Interestingly, spatial and temporal expression analyses revealed that Pa×gGolSII transcript levels varied seasonally, while Pa×gGolSI did not, implying temperature-regulated transcriptional control of this gene in addition to the observed thermosensitivity of the respective enzyme. This evidence suggested that Pa×gGolSI may be involved in basic metabolic activities such as storage, while Pa×gGolSII is probably involved in seasonal mobilization of carbohydrates
Optical-to-NIR magnitude measurements of the Starlink LEO Darksat satellite and effectiveness of the darkening treatment
Four observations of Starlink's LEO communication satellites, Darksat and
STARLINK-1113, were conducted on two nights with two telescopes. The Chakana
0.6\,m telescope at the Ckoirama observatory (Chile) observed both satellites
on 5\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) and 7\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) using a Sloan r' and Sloan i'
filter, respectively. The ESO VISTA 4.1\,m telescope with the VIRCAM instrument
observed both satellites on 5\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) and 7\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) in the
NIR J-band and Ks-band, respectively. The calibration, image processing, and
analysis of the Darksat images give r\,\,5.6\,mag,
i\,\,5.0\,mag, J\,\,4.2\,mag, and Ks\,\,4.0\,mag
when scaled to a range of 550\,km (airmass ) and corrected for the solar
incidence and observer phase angles. In comparison, the STARLINK-1113 images
give r\,\,4.9\,mag, i\,\,4.4\,mag, J\,\,3.8\,mag,
and Ks\,\,3.6\,mag when corrected for range, solar incidence, and
observer phase angles. The data and results presented in this work show that
the special darkening coating used by Starlink for Darksat has darkened the
Sloan r' magnitude by 50\,\%, Sloan i' magnitude by 42\,\%, NIR J magnitude by
32\,\%, and NIR Ks magnitude by 28\,\%. The results show that both satellites
increase in reflective brightness with increasing wavelength and that the
effectiveness of the darkening treatment is reduced at longer wavelengths. This
shows that the mitigation strategies being developed by Starlink and other LEO
satellite operators need to take into account other wavelengths, not just the
optical. This work highlights the continued importance of obtaining
multi-wavelength observations of many different LEO satellites in order to
characterise their reflective properties and to aid the community in developing
impact simulations and developing mitigation tools.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 10 figures, 3 table
EURONEAR - Recovery, Follow-up and Discovery of NEAs and MBAs using Large Field 1-2m Telescopes
We report on the follow-up and recovery of 100 program NEAs, PHAs and VIs
using the ESO/MPG 2.2m, Swope 1m and INT 2.5m telescopes equipped with large
field cameras. The 127 fields observed during 11 nights covered 29 square
degrees. Using these data, we present the incidental survey work which includes
558 known MBAs and 628 unknown moving objects mostly consistent with MBAs from
which 58 objects became official discoveries. We planned the runs using six
criteria and four servers which focus mostly on faint and poorly observed
objects in need of confirmation, follow-up and recovery. We followed 62 faint
NEAs within one month after discovery and we recovered 10 faint NEAs having big
uncertainties at their second or later opposition. Using the INT we eliminated
4 PHA candidates and VIs. We observed in total 1,286 moving objects and we
reported more than 10,000 positions. All data were reduced by the members of
our network in a team effort, and reported promptly to the MPC. The positions
of the program NEAs were published in 27 MPC and MPEC references and used to
improve their orbits. The O-C residuals for known MBAs and program NEAs are
smallest for the ESO/MPG and Swope and about four times larger for the INT
whose field is more distorted. The incidental survey allowed us to study
statistics of the MBA and NEA populations observable today with 1--2m
facilities. We calculate preliminary orbits for all unknown objects,
classifying them as official discoveries, later identifications and unknown
outstanding objects. The orbital elements a, e, i calculated by FIND_ORB
software for the official discoveries and later identified objects are very
similar with the published elements which take into account longer
observational arcs; thus preliminary orbits were used in statistics for the
whole unknown dataset. (CONTINUED)Comment: Accepted in Planetary and Space Science (Aug 2011
The stellar occultation by Makemake on 2011 April 23
We have taken advantage of a stellar occultation by the dwarf planet Makemake on 2011 April 23, to determine several of its main physical properties. We present results from a multisite campaign with 8 positive occultation detections from 5 different sites, including data from the 8-m VLT and 3.5-m NTT telescopes in Chile, which have very high temporal resolution. Because the star was significantly fainter than Makemake (setting a record in the magnitude of a star whose occultation has been detected), the occultation resulted in a drop of just ~0.3 mag in the lightcurves. From the lightcurves we have been able to determine the size and shape of the body, its geometric albedo and constraints on its atmosphere
Rents, knowledge and neo-structuralism: transforming the productive matrix in Ecuador
This paper explores the relationship between ground rent, production and knowledge in Ecuador’s neo-structuralist, state-led project to transform the productive matrix. Based upon insights from the Marxian approach to the critique of political economy, we interrogate how neo-structuralism has conceptualised the relationship between ‘natural resource income’ and ‘knowledge-based’ economic development. The paper argues that a rent-theoretical perspective, which takes seriously the regional unfolding of uneven geographical development in Latin America, can highlight the limits of a national development plan conceived according to the logic of Schumpeterian efficiency. In doing so, the paper identifies the contradictory relationship between natural resource exports, state-led ‘knowledge’-based development and capital accumulation. On this basis the paper offers a historically and empirically informed critical analysis of selective import substitution industrialisation and vanguard science and technology strategies designed to transition Ecuador away from primary resource dependence
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