Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility Assay for Rapid Diagnosis of Lymph Node Tuberculosis and Detection of Drug Resistance.

In this study, 132 patients with lymphadenopathy were investigated. Fifty-two (39.4%) were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). The microscopic observation drug susceptibility (MODS) assay provided rapid (13 days), accurate diagnosis (sensitivity, 65.4%) and reliable drug susceptibility testing (DST). Despite its lower sensitivity than that of other methods, its faster results and simultaneous DST are advantageous in resource-poor settings, supporting the incorporation of MODS into diagnostic algorithms for extrapulmonary TB

Performance of yam microtubers from temporary immersion system in field conditions

The yam clones ´Pacala Duclos´ and ´Belep´ of Dioscorea alata were used to evaluate the performance of microtubers formed in temporary immersion systems (TIS) in field conditions. Previously sprouted microtubers with a fresh weight higher than 3.0 gFW were used while in vitro plants and tuber crowns from conventional propagation methods served as control. In both clones there were no significant differences in qualitative morphological characters between plants from microtubers and in vitro plants for all traits but both differed significantly from plants obtained from tuber crowns. The same trend was observed for number, length, diameter and fresh weight of tubers produced 36 weeks after field planting. The number of tubers formed per plant raised from microtubers doubled that raised from tuber crowns in both clones. Microtubers from temporary immersion systems can be grown on the field and used in original seed production programs.Key words: Microtuber, yam, field, temporary immersion system

Protocol for studying cough frequency in people with pulmonary tuberculosis.

INTRODUCTION: Cough is a key symptom of tuberculosis (TB) as well as the main cause of transmission. However, a recent literature review found that cough frequency (number of coughs per hour) in patients with TB has only been studied once, in 1969. The main aim of this study is to describe cough frequency patterns before and after the start of TB treatment and to determine baseline factors that affect cough frequency in these patients. Secondarily, we will evaluate the correlation between cough frequency and TB microbiological resolution. METHODS: This study will select participants with culture confirmed TB from 2 tertiary hospitals in Lima, Peru. We estimated that a sample size of 107 patients was sufficient to detect clinically significant changes in cough frequency. Participants will initially be evaluated through questionnaires, radiology, microscopic observation drug susceptibility broth TB-culture, auramine smear microscopy and cough recordings. This cohort will be followed for the initial 60 days of anti-TB treatment, and throughout the study several microbiological samples as well as 24 h recordings will be collected. We will describe the variability of cough episodes and determine its association with baseline laboratory parameters of pulmonary TB. In addition, we will analyse the reduction of cough frequency in predicting TB cure, adjusted for potential confounders. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the ethics committees at each participating hospital in Lima, Peru, Asociación Benéfica PRISMA in Lima, Peru, the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. We aim to publish and disseminate our findings in peer-reviewed journals. We also expect to create and maintain an online repository for TB cough sounds as well as the statistical analysis employed

Aerococcus urinae: a rare pathogen in urinary tract infections, associated with patients with underlying urinary pathology

Introducción: Aerococcus urinae es un patógeno urinario poco frecuente que ha sido asociado en la bibliografía a pacientes en la tercera edad, con patología urinaria subyacente. La mala identificación mediante pruebas bioquímicas convencionales, su baja tasa de aislamiento y la similar morfología con otros microorganismos considerados como flora normal en el tracto urinario, hacen de este microorganismo un gran desconocido. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la implicación clínica de Aerococcus urinae en pacientes con infección urinaria, estudiando la relación existente descrita en la bibliografía con pacientes en la tercera edad, con patología urinaria subyacente. Asimismo, debido a su infradiagnóstico en infección urinaria (ITU), se evaluó la utilidad de la espectrometría de masas MALDI-TOF (Bruker) como modelo diagnóstico confiable en el laboratorio de microbiología. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio prospectivo en pacientes con infección urinaria desde mayo a septiembre de 2014. Se estudiaron los perfiles de sensibilidad a los antimicrobianos frecuentemente utilizados en infección urinaria. Se registraron los datos clínicos más importantes de los pacientes con un recuento positivo para A. urinae. Resultados: De las 9261 muestras de orina analizadas, 1513 muestras resultaron tener un recuento mayor a 100.000 UFC/mL. A. urinae fue aislado en 3 casos, y la identificación por MALDI-TOF fue fiable a nivel de género y especie ( score ≥ 2) , siendo contrastada mediante secuenciación ARNr 16S. Todos los pacientes que desarrollaron infección urinaria por A. urinae, fueron pacientes en la tercera edad con una patología subyacente, siendo en todos los casos este microorganismo resistente a trimetropim/sulfametoxazol. Conclusiones: La implicación de A. urinae como patógeno urinario, en pacientes con patología urinaria de base, la dificultad en su diagnóstico, y la alta tasa de resistencia de este microorganismo a trimetropim/sulfametoxazol, hacen recomendable establecer una especial atención en los métodos diagnósticos utilizados.Introduction: Aerococcus urinae is an uncommon urinary tract pathogen that has been associated in the literature for older patients with underlying urinary pathology. Misidentification by conventional biochemical tests, their low rate of isolation and similar morphology to other microorganisms considered as normal flora in the urinary tract, makes this organism a great unknown. The aim of this investigation is to determine the implication of Aerococcus urinae as the cause of urinary tract infections, studying the relationship described in literature in elderly patients with underlying urinary pathology. Material and methods: A prospective study on patients with urinary infection, from May to September 2014 was performed. Urine-cultures with a significant bacteria and suspicious of A. urinae, were identified by means of MALDI-TOF system, and contrasted with ARNr 16S sequencing. Profiles of antimicrobial susceptibility frequently used in urinary tract infection were studied. Clinical data for patients with positive urine cultures for A. urinae were registered. Result: 9261 urine samples were analyzed, 1513 samples had counts greater than 100,000 CFU / mL. A. urinae was isolated in 3 cases, and identification by MALDI-TOF was reliable genus and species level (score ≥ 2), being proven by sequencing 16S rRNA. All patients who developed urinary infection by A. urinae were elderly patients with underlying pathology, and this microorganism resistant to trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole. Conclusions: The A. urinae overt implication as urinary pathogen, the high rate of resistance of this organism to trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole, and its difficulty to diagnose, urge to pay special attention to the diagnostic methods applied

Estudio del efecto solvatocrómico en derivados fenólicos naturales

Se describen las características espectrofluorimétricas de dos derivados de quercetina aislados de las hojas deFlaveria bidentis, un derivado de 6-prenilpinocembrina, aislado de las raíces de Dalea elegans y un compuesto deestructura antraquinónica aislado de las hojas de Heterophyllaea pustulata. Todos ellos presentan espectros deabsorción con máximos en la región UV-visible acordes con los grupos cromóforos presentes en su estructura. Loscuatro compuestos estudiados presentan fluorescencia nativa. La posición de los máximos de emisión de fluorescenciase modifica en función del disolvente. Los desplazamientos producidos están relacionados con el diferente gradode solvatación de las moléculas en estado excitado según la polaridad del disolvente. La adición de ácidos mineralesprovoca desplazamientos en los máximos de fluorescencia concordantes con los ya descritos para compuestos deestructura similar. Estas modificaciones espectrales tienen un gran interés analítico desde el punto de vista de laidentificación y caracterización de productos naturales de estructura fenólica

Balancing with Vibration: A Prelude for “Drift and Act” Balance Control

Stick balancing at the fingertip is a powerful paradigm for the study of the control of human balance. Here we show that the mean stick balancing time is increased by about two-fold when a subject stands on a vibrating platform that produces vertical vibrations at the fingertip (0.001 m, 15–50 Hz). High speed motion capture measurements in three dimensions demonstrate that vibration does not shorten the neural latency for stick balancing or change the distribution of the changes in speed made by the fingertip during stick balancing, but does decrease the amplitude of the fluctuations in the relative positions of the fingertip and the tip of the stick in the horizontal plane, A(x,y). The findings are interpreted in terms of a time-delayed “drift and act” control mechanism in which controlling movements are made only when controlled variables exceed a threshold, i.e. the stick survival time measures the time to cross a threshold. The amplitude of the oscillations produced by this mechanism can be decreased by parametric excitation. It is shown that a plot of the logarithm of the vibration-induced increase in stick balancing skill, a measure of the mean first passage time, versus the standard deviation of the A(x,y) fluctuations, a measure of the distance to the threshold, is linear as expected for the times to cross a threshold in a stochastic dynamical system. These observations suggest that the balanced state represents a complex time–dependent state which is situated in a basin of attraction that is of the same order of size. The fact that vibration amplitude can benefit balance control raises the possibility of minimizing risk of falling through appropriate changes in the design of footwear and roughness of the walking surfaces

COVID-19 pandemic on coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases in Southern Spain: interrupted time series analysis

Objective: Healthcare systems have been put under intense pressure by the COVID-19 pandemic, although some studies have shown a decline in hospital admissions for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases during the first and second wave of the pandemic. In addition, studies analyzing gender and procedural differences are scarce. The present study aimed to determine the impact of the pandemic on hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in Andalusia (Spain) and analyzed differences by gender and by percutaneous coronary interventions performed. Patients and methods: An interrupted time series analysis of AMI and CVD hospital admissions in Andalusia (Spain) was carried out to measure the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. AMI and CVD cases admitted daily in public hospitals of Andalusia between January 2018 and December 2020 were included. Results: During the pandemic, significant reductions in AMI [-19%; 95% confidence interval (CI): (-29%, -9%), p<0.001] and CVD [-17%; 95% CI: (-26%, -9%); p<0.01] in daily hospital admissions were observed. Differences were also produced according to the diagnosis (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, other AMI and stroke), with a greater reduction in females for AMI and in males for CVD. Although there were more percutaneous coronary interventions during the pandemic, no significant reductions were observed. Conclusions: A decline in AMI and CVD daily hospital admissions during the first and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic was noted. Gender differences were observed, but no clear impact was observed in percutaneous interventions

Los desafíos en la continuidad de atención de personas viviendo con VIH en el Perú durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 [Challenges to the continuity of care of people living with HIV throughout the COVID-19 crisis in Peru]

The COVID-19 pandemic and societal response implemented may interact with the ongoing HIV epidemic in multiple ways. There are approximately 87000 people living with HIV (PLWH) who are at risk of developing COVID-19 in Peru and 67,000 of them are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and at risk of limitations in their access to ART, compromising their adherence and their health during the pandemic. Finally, the potential effect of the pandemic on the mental health of PLWH is not documented. This opinion aims to: describe the clinical implications of the HIV/SARS-CoV-2 coinfection; discuss the challenges to the continuity of care of PLWH in Peru during the COVID-19 crisis; and comment possible implications that the COVID-19 crisis may pose on the mental health of PLWH

Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results

Reconstructing past water availability, both as rainfall and irrigation, is important to answer questions about the way society reacts to climate and its changes and the role of irrigation in the development of social complexity. Carbon stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical remains is a potentially valuable method for reconstructing water availability. To further define the relationship between water availability and plant carbon isotope composition and to set up baseline values for the Southern Levant, grains of experimentally grown barley and sorghum were studied. The cereal crops were grown at three stations under five different irrigation regimes in Jordan. Results indicate that a positive but weak relationship exists between irrigation regime and total water input of barley grains, but no relationship was found for sorghum. The relationship for barley is site-specific and inter-annual variation was present at Deir ‘Alla, but not at Ramtha and Khirbet as-Samra