Evaluation of an immunomagnetic separation method to capture Candida yeasts cells in blood

BackgroundCandida species have become the fourth most-frequent cause of nosocomial bloodstream infections in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, rapid identification of pathogenic fungi to species level has been considered critical for treatment. Conventional diagnostic procedures such as blood culture or biochemical tests are lacking both sensitivity and species specificity, so development of rapid diagnostic is essential. Results An immunomagnetic method involving anti-Candida monoclonal antibodies was developed to capture and concentrate in human blood four different species of Candida cells responsible for invasive yeast infections. In comparison with an automated blood culture, processing time of immunomagnetic separation is shorter, saving at least 24 hours to obtain colonies before identification. Conclusion Thus, this easy to use method provides a promising basis for concentrating all Candida species in blood to improve sensitivity before identification

Role of TLR1, TLR2 and TLR6 in the modulation of intestinal inflammation and Candida albicans elimination

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the major pattern recognition receptors that mediate sensing of a wide range of microorganisms. TLR2 forms heterodimers with either TLR1 or TLR6, broadening its ligand diversity against pathogens. TLR1, TLR2 and TLR6 have been implicated in the recognition of Candida albicans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, we explored whether the deficiency in TLR1, TLR2 or TLR6 impacts C. albicans colonization and inflammation-associated colonic injury in the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. DSS treatment and C. albicans challenge induced greater weight loss, worse clinical signs of inflammation, higher histopathologic scores, and increased mortality rates in TLR1(-/-) and TLR2(-/-) mice when compared to TLR6(-/-) and wild-type mice. The number of C. albicans colonies in the stomach, colon and feces was decreased in TLR6(-/-) mice as compared to TLR2(-/-), TLR1(-/-) and wild-type mice. Interestingly, the population of E. coli in colonic luminal contents, intestinal permeability to FITC-dextran and cytokine expression were significantly increased in TLR1(-/-) and TLR2(-/-) mice, while they were decreased in TLR6(-/-) mice. In contrast to TLR6, both TLR1 and TLR2 deficiencies increased intestinal inflammation, and the overgrowth of C. albicans and E. coli populations in the colitis model, suggesting the involvement of TLR1 and TLR2 in epithelial homeostasis, and a role of TLR6 in increasing intestinal inflammation in response to pathogen-sensing

Drifter observations reveal intense vertical velocity in a surface ocean front

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Tarry, D., Ruiz, S., Johnston, T., Poulain, P., Özgökmen, T., Centurioni, L., Berta, M., Esposito, G., Farrar, J., Mahadevan, A., & Pascual, A. Drifter observations reveal intense vertical velocity in a surface ocean front. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(18), (2022): e2022GL098969, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl098969.Measuring vertical motions represent a challenge as they are typically 3–4 orders of magnitude smaller than the horizontal velocities. Here, we show that surface vertical velocities are intensified at submesoscales and are dominated by high frequency variability. We use drifter observations to calculate divergence and vertical velocities in the upper 15 m of the water column at two different horizontal scales. The drifters, deployed at the edge of a mesoscale eddy in the Alboran Sea, show an area of strong convergence (urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl64766:grl64766-math-0001(f)) associated with vertical velocities of −100 m day−1. This study shows that a multilayered-drifter array can be an effective tool for estimating vertical velocity near the ocean surface.This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Departmental Research Initiative CALYPSO under program officers Terri Paluszkiewicz and Scott Harper. The authors' ONR Grant No. are as follows: DT, SR, AM, and AP N000141613130, TMSJ N000146101612470, PP N000141812418, TO N000141812138, LRC N000141712517, and N00014191269, MB and GE N000141812782 and N000141812039, and JTF N000141812431

Diagnosing Frontal Dynamics From Observations Using a Variational Approach

Intensive hydrographic and horizontal velocity measurements collected in the Alboran Sea enabled us to diagnose the three-dimensional dynamics of a frontal system. The sampled domain was characterized by a 40 km diameter anticyclonic eddy, with an intense front on its eastern side, separating the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. Here, we implemented a multi-variate variational analysis (VA) to reconstruct the hydrographic fields, combining the 1-km horizontal resolution of the Underway Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) system with information on the flow shape from the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler velocities. One advantage of the VA is given by the physical constraint, which preserves fine-scale gradients better than the classical optimal interpolation (OI). A comparison between real drifter trajectories and virtual particles advected in the mapping quantified the improvements in the VA over the OI, with a 15% larger skill score. Quasi-geostrophic (QG) and semi-geostrophic (SG) omega equations enabled us to estimate the vertical velocity (w) which reached 40 m/day on the dense side of the front. How nutrients and other passive tracers leave the mixed-layer and subduct is estimated with 3D advection from the VA, which agreed with biological sampling from traditional CTD casts at two eddy locations. Downwelling warm filaments are further evidence of subduction, in line with the w from SG, but not with QG. SG better accounted for the along-isopycnal component of w in agreement with another analysis made on isopycnal coordinates. The multi-platform approach of this work and the use of variational methods improved the characterization and understanding of (sub)-mesoscale frontal dynamics.This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research Departmental Research Initiative CALYPSO under program officers Terri Paluszkiewicz and Scott Harper. The authors' ONR Grant are as follows: N000141613130 (AP, SR and AM), N000141812418 (PMP), S. Johnston N000141812416 (TMSJ), N000141812138 (TO), N000141712517 and N00014191269 (LRC), N000141812139 and N000141812420 (AS) and N000141812139and (EDA). This article is also a contribution to the PRE-SWOT project funded by the Spanish Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (AEI/FEDER, UE) under grant agreement (CTM2016-78607-P)

Geostrophic Circulation Patterns in the Northeastern Adriatic Sea and the Effects of Air-Sea Coupling: May-September 2003

CTD data were collected weekly during 20 cruises from May to September 2003 over a 19 station grid in a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic Sea as part of Project ADRICOSM. Relative geostrophic velocities indicated fine scale circulation patterns in in the area consisting of two pronounced circulation cells, of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic character, and that were present in the area for most of the investigated period.. These motions were induced primarily by spatial variations in the temperature field and may be strengthened during episodes of very strong northeasterly bora wind, when the investigated region is not heated (cooled) uniformly

Measuring the quantum state of photoelectrons

A photoelectron, emitted due to the absorption of light quanta as described by the photoelectric effect, is often characterized experimentally by a classical quantity, its momentum. However, since the photoelectron is a quantum object, its rigorous characterization requires the reconstruction of the complete quantum state, the photoelectron's density matrix. Here, we use quantum state tomography to fully characterize photoelectrons emitted from helium and argon atoms upon absorption of ultrashort, extreme ultraviolet light pulses. While in helium we measure a pure photoelectronic state, in argon, spin-orbit interaction induces entanglement between the ion and the photoelectron, leading to a reduced purity of the photoelectron state. Our work shows how state tomography gives new insights into the fundamental quantum aspects of light-induced electronic processes in matter, bridging the fields of photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum information, and offering new spectroscopic possibilities for quantum technology

Candidaemia and antifungal therapy in a French University Hospital: rough trends over a decade and possible links

BACKGROUND: Evidence for an increased prevalence of candidaemia and for high associated mortality in the 1990s led to a number of different recommendations concerning the management of at risk patients as well as an increase in the availability and prescription of new antifungal agents. The aim of this study was to parallel in our hospital candidemia incidence with the nature of prescribed antifungal drugs between 1993 and 2003. METHODS: During this 10-year period we reviewed all cases of candidemia, and collected all the data about annual consumption of prescribed antifungal drugs RESULTS: Our centralised clinical mycology laboratory isolates and identifies all yeasts grown from blood cultures obtained from a 3300 bed teaching hospital. Between 1993 and 2003, 430 blood yeast isolates were identified. Examination of the trends in isolation revealed a clear decrease in number of yeast isolates recovered between 1995–2000, whereas the number of positive blood cultures in 2003 rose to 1993 levels. The relative prevalence of Candida albicans and C. glabrata was similar in 1993 and 2003 in contrast to the period 1995–2000 where an increased prevalence of C. glabrata was observed. When these quantitative and qualitative data were compared to the amount and type of antifungal agents prescribed during the same period (annual mean defined daily dose: 2662741; annual mean cost: 615629 €) a single correlation was found between the decrease in number of yeast isolates, the increased prevalence of C. glabrata and the high level of prescription of fluconazole at prophylactic doses between 1995–2000. CONCLUSION: Between 1993 and 2000, the number of cases of candidemia halved, with an increase of C. glabrata prevalence. These findings were probably linked to the use of Fluconazole prophylaxis. Although it is not possible to make any recommendations from this data the information is nevertheless interesting and may have considerable implications with the introduction of new antifungal drugs

L'expérience sensible des bibliothèques

« L’expérience sensible des bibliothèques » qui est au cœur de ce recueil de textes est aussi bien celle dont les usagers de ces établissements sont susceptibles de témoigner que celle manifestée par les établissements eux-mêmes - et à travers eux leurs personnels - à l’égard de ceux-là. Le « souci des publics » est ici éclairé de six façons différentes par des contributeurs situés à la croisée de plusieurs mondes : deux sociologues en poste dans des grands établissements, une chercheuse et un chercheur aux confins des sciences sociales et de l’analyse « big data », trois conservatrices des bibliothèques aux profils et aux fonctions variés, un ancien éditeur devenu pour un temps directeur d’une grande bibliothèque, deux intervenantes « écrivain-conseil » et membres d’une association proposant un service d’écrivain public aux bibliothèques. Aussi différentes soient elles, ces approches scientifiques et professionnelles sont articulées sur un même socle de valeurs et surtout sur un même type de terrain qui constitue un dispositif spécifique : celui des grands établissements (la Bibliothèque publique d’information du Centre Pompidou, la Bibliothèque nationale de France et la Bibliothèque Vasconcelos de Mexico). Rien n’empêche évidemment les lectrices et les lecteurs d’associer une partie des questions qui sont ici décrites et analysées en détail à d’autres catégories de bibliothèques, notamment aux établissements de taille plus restreinte. La notion d’attachement à l’institution, la reconnaissance de la dimension hospitalière et protectrice de cette dernière, le « façonnage » des services par les usagers ou la manière à la fois singulière et collective dont ils sont appropriés, sont en effet des phénomènes que l’on peut observer ailleurs que dans les grands établissements, en dehors des bibliothèques et même du champ culturel. Faire l’expérience de l’expérience des publics, c’est, pour reprendre les mots d’Alain-Marie Bassy,passer de l’espace institué par les professionnels à l’espace restitué par les usagers

Inertial Oscillations and Frontal Processes in an Alboran Sea Jet: Effects on Divergence and Vertical Transport

Vertical transport pathways in the ocean are still only partially understood despite their importance for biogeochemical, pollutant, and climate applications. Detailed measurements of a submesoscale frontal jet in the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean Sea) during a period of highly variable winds were made using cross-frontal velocity, density sections and dense arrays of surface drifters deployed across the front. The measurements show divergences as large as ±f implying vertical velocities of order 100 m/day for a ≈ 20 m thick surface layer. Over the 20 hr of measurement, the divergences made nearly one complete oscillation, suggesting an important role for near-inertial oscillations. A wind-forced slab model modified by the observed background frontal structure and with initial conditions matched to the data produces divergence oscillations and pattern compatible with that observed. Significant differences, though, are found in terms of mean divergence, with the data showing a prevalence of negative, convergent values. Despite the limitations in data sampling and model uncertainties, this suggests the contribution of other dynamical processes. Turbulent boundary layer processes are discussed, as a contributor to enhance the observed convergent phase. Water mass properties suggest that symmetric instabilities might also be present but do not play a crucial role, while downward stirring along displaced isopycnals is observed.This work has been supported and co-financed by the CALYPSO project, within the Office of Naval Research Departmental Research Initiative, under the following grants: N00014-18-1-2782 and N00014-22-1-2039 (GE,SD,MB,AG), N00014-18-1-2139 (AYS,EAD), N00014-18-1-2138 (TO), N00014-18-1-2418 and N00014-20-1-2754 (PMP), N00014-19-1-2692 and N00014-19-1-2380 (LC and part of the drifter data collection/analysis), N00014-18-1-2431 (JTF), N00014-18-1-2416 (TMSJ), N00014-16-1-3130 (AP,DRT,SR), N00014-21-1-2702 (AM). MF was supported by the Scripps Institutional Postdoctoral Fellowship (MAF). Investigation of front dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea from multiplatform observations is supported as well by the European Union's JERICO-S3 project through Grant 871153. Open Access Funding provided by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.Peer reviewe