Antifungal Activity Assessment of Selected Locally Sold Over-The-Counter Azole against Candida Isolates from Hospital and Community Settings of Rivers State, Nigeria

There seems to be multiple factors that could affect the performance of a drug which may range widely from measurements to packaging, storage, handling and standardization. Candida species are ubiquitous in nature and are found at different parts of the body, with some present as normal flora. However, drug abuse as mostly associated with the conscious intake of drugs without the guide or prescription of a physician, poses enormous challenge to personal and public health. Hence, this study was designed for comparative analysis of the antifungal activity of over the counter azole and standardized fluconazole disc on the Candida species isolated from community and hospital settings in Rivers State. All Candida isolates were inoculated onto a Sarbouraud dextrose agar plate to obtain a pure culture and then used for normal saline microscopy, germ tube test and carbohydrate assimilation tests to confirm Candida species. Antifungal susceptibility testing using the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method was carried out and the data generated were type-set in Microsoft Excel version 2003, and transferred into statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), IBM version 21 for statistical analysis. The study results showed 59 Candida isolates with 11.9% Candida isolated testing negative to germ tube test while 88.1% of the tested positive to germ tube test. However, distribution of germ tube positive Candida species from hospital and community settings showed that the community setting had 90.6% germ tube positive Candida isolates and 9.4% germ tube negative Candida isolates while hospital settings showed 85.2% germ tube positive isolates and 14% germ tube negative isolates. In this study, 28.6% Non-albicans Candida (NAC) were susceptible to clotrimazole, 14.3% NAC were susceptible dose dependent while 57.1% were resistant to clotrimazole. However, fluconazole recorded 0% susceptibility dose dependence by Non-albicans Candida, 42.9% susceptibility and 57.1% resistance. Similarly, 63.5%, 15.4%, and 21.2% of Candida albicans were susceptible, susceptibility dose dependent and resistant respectively to fluconazole. While, 30.8%, 34.6% and 34.6% of Candida albicans were susceptible, susceptibility dose dependent and resistant to itraconazole. In conlusion, fluconazole had the best efficacy on non-albicans Candida while clotrimazole was best for killing Candida albicans It is believed that a change in attitude from self medication is very crucial as it remains a key factor that could be responsible for increased incidence of Candida species’ resistance to azole therapy. Furthermore, change towards adherence to antifungal drug regimes when encouraged and cultivated as a positive habit for all patients, could enhance monitoring of drug efficacy and clinical/treatment outcomes

Case report of bullous pemphigoid in a 65 year old woman

The unique thing about this case is that it is the first reported case of bullous pemphigoid in the elderly that has been clinically diagnosed with histologic findings highly suggestive of this blistering disorder although an immunofluorescence could not be done due to unavailability in the centre. Patient was managed successfully and discharged home with improvement on subsequent hospital visits. This case report shows how diagnosis of an immunobullous disease was made and managed in a resource poor setting. A descriptive summary of 65-year old black Nigerian woman with bullous pemphigoid covering history, physical examination and management. The main diagnosis was bullous pemphigoid in a recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic. Patient was placed on corticosteroids as well as immunosuppressive agents and diabetes was managed with subcutaneous insulin and oral hypoglycemics with appropriate wound care. Patient showed remarkable improvement after management and was discharged home with subsequent follow up in the clinics. Bullous Pemphigoid (BP) can be diagnosed clinically with a high index of suspicion with the aid of skin biopsy and histology, and can be managed successfully even in a resource poor centre where immunofluorescence facilities are lacking

In-orbit performance of the EPIC-MOS detectors on XMM-Newton

XMM-Newton was launched into space on a highly eccentric 48 hour orbit on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is now in its fifth year of operation and has been an outstanding success, observing the Cosmos with imaging, spectroscopy and timing capabilities in the X-ray and optical wavebands. The EPIC-MOS CCD X-ray detectors comprise two out of three of the focal plane instruments on XMM-Newton. In this paper we discuss key aspects of the current status and performance history of the charge transfer ineffiency (CTI), energy resolution and spectral redistribution function (rmf) of EPIC-MOS in its fifth year of operation.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, SPIE Glasgow 21-25 June 2004, Session 548

Rank-(n – 1) convexity and quasiconvexity for divergence free fields

The CAST experiment at CERN (European Organization of Nuclear Research) searches for axions from the sun. The axion is a pseudoscalar particle that was motivated by theory thirty years ago, with the intention to solve the strong CP problem. Together with the neutralino, the axion is one of the most promising dark matter candidates. The CAST experiment has been taking data during the last two years, setting an upper limit on the coupling of axions to photons more restrictive than from any other solar axion search in the mass range below 0.1 eV. In 2005 CAST will enter a new experimental phase extending the sensitivity of the experiment to higher axion masses. The CAST experiment strongly profits from technology developed for high energy physics and for X-ray astronomy: A superconducting prototype LHC magnet is used to convert potential axions to detectable X-rays in the 1-10 keV range via the inverse Primakoff effect. The most sensitive detector system of CAST is a spin-off from space technology, a Wolter I type X-ray optics in combination with a prototype pn-CCD developed for ESA's XMM-Newton mission. As in other rare event searches, background suppression and a thorough shielding concept is essential to improve the sensitivity of the experiment to the best possible. In this context CAST offers the opportunity to study the background of pn-CCDs and its long term behavior in a terrestrial environment with possible implications for future space applications. We will present a systematic study of the detector background of the pn-CCD of CAST based on the data acquired since 2002 including preliminary results of our background simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Proc. SPIE 5898, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XI

Moving from a Product-Based Economy to a Service-Based Economy for a More Sustainable Future

Traditionally, economic growth and prosperity have been linked with the availability, production and distribution of tangible goods as well as the ability of consumers to acquire such goods. Early evidence regarding this connection dates back to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which any activity not resulting in the production of a tangible good is characterized as unproductive of any value." Since then, this coupling of economic value and material production has been prevalent in both developed and developing economies throughout the world. One unintended consequence of this coupling has been the exponential increase in the amount of solid waste being generated. The reason is that any production and consumption of material goods eventually generates the equivalent amount of (or even more) waste. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, with today's manufacturing and supply chain management technologies, it has become cheaper to dispose and replace most products rather than to repair and reuse them. This has given rise to what some call a disposable society." To put things in perspective: In 2012 households in the U.K. generated approximately 22 thousand tons of waste, which amounted to 411 kg of waste generated per person (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2015). During the same time period, households in the U.S. generated 251 million tons of waste, which is equivalent to a person generating approximately 2 kg of waste every day (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Out of these 251 million tons of total waste generated, approximately 20% of the discarded items were categorized as durable goods. The disposal of durable goods is particularly worrisome because they are typically produced using material from non- renewable resources such as iron, minerals, and petroleum-based raw materials

GRB 050117: Simultaneous Gamma-ray and X-ray Observations with the Swift Satellite

The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer performed its first autonomous, X-ray follow-up to a newly detected GRB on 2005 January 17, within 193 seconds of the burst trigger by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. While the burst was still in progress, the X-ray Telescope obtained a position and an image for an un-catalogued X-ray source; simultaneous with the gamma-ray observation. The XRT observed flux during the prompt emission was 1.1 x 10(exp -8) ergs/sq cm/s in the 0.5-10 keV energy band. The emission in the X-ray band decreased by three orders of magnitude within 700 seconds, following the prompt emission. This is found to be consistent with the gamma-ray decay when extrapolated into the XRT energy band. During the following 6.3 hours, the XRT observed the afterglow in an automated sequence for an additional 947 seconds, until the burst became fully obscured by the Earth limb. A faint, extremely slowly decaying afterglow, alpha=-0.21, was detected. Finally, a break in the lightcurve occurred and the flux decayed with alpha<-1.2. The X-ray position triggered many follow-up observations: no optical afterglow could be confirmed, although a candidate was identified 3 arcsecs from the XRT position

Homologous and heterologous desensitization of guanylyl cyclase-B signaling in GH3 somatolactotropes

The guanylyl cyclases, GC-A and GC-B, are selective receptors for atrial and C-type natriuretic peptides (ANP and CNP, respectively). In the anterior pituitary, CNP and GC-B are major regulators of cGMP production in gonadotropes and yet mouse models of disrupted CNP and GC-B indicate a potential role in growth hormone secretion. In the current study, we investigate the molecular and pharmacological properties of the CNP/GC-B system in somatotrope lineage cells. Primary rat pituitary and GH3 somatolactotropes expressed functional GC-A and GC-B receptors that had similar EC50 properties in terms of cGMP production. Interestingly, GC-B signaling underwent rapid homologous desensitization in a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-dependent manner. Chronic exposure to either CNP or ANP caused a significant down-regulation of both GC-A- and GC-B-dependent cGMP accumulation in a ligand-specific manner. However, this down-regulation was not accompanied by alterations in the sub-cellular localization of these receptors. Heterologous desensitization of GC-B signaling occurred in GH3 cells following exposure to either sphingosine-1-phosphate or thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH). This heterologous desensitization was protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent, as pre-treatment with GF109203X prevented the effect of TRH on CNP/GC-B signaling. Collectively, these data indicate common and distinct properties of particulate guanylyl cyclase receptors in somatotropes and reveal that independent mechanisms of homologous and heterologous desensitization occur involving either PP2A or PKC. Guanylyl cyclase receptors thus represent potential novel therapeutic targets for treating growth-hormone-associated disorders

A refined position catalog of the Swift XRT afterglows

We present a catalogue of refined positions of 68 gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglows observed by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) from the launch up to 2005 Oct 16. This is a result of the refinement of the XRT boresight calibration. We tested this correction by means of a systematic study of a large sample of X-ray sources observed by XRT with well established optical counterparts. We found that we can reduce the systematic error radius of the measurements by a factor of two, from 6.5" to 3.2" (90% of confidence). We corrected all the positions of the afterglows observed by XRT in the first 11 months of the Swift mission. This is particularly important for the 37 X-ray afterglows without optical counterpart. Optical follow-up of dark GRBs, in fact, will be more efficient with the use of the more accurate XRT positions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table ; accepted for publication in A&A Letters. The revised version contains updated position