177,006 research outputs found
Taxonomic Review on the Genus Sciota (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Phycitinae) in Northeast China
No full textThree species of the genus Sciota Hulst, 1888 are recognized from Northeast China: Sciota cynicella (Christoph, 1881), Sciota fumella (Eversmann, 1844), and Sciota adelphella (Fischer von R 수식 이미지slerstamm, 1836), of which Sciota cynicella (Christoph, 1881) is reported for the first time from China. This species can be distinguished from congeners by the gray color of basal area, the straight antemedial line and the distinct postmedial line on the forewing; by the stout aedeagus in male genitalia. In this study, a key to Northeastern Chinese species of genus Sciota is presented, and the illustrations of adults and genitalia are also provided
Sciota campicolella
No full textSciota campicolella (Erschoff, 1874) (Fig. 10) Material examined: Turkey, Iğdır Prov.: 1♂ 2♀ Hıdırlı, Karakoyunlu, 19.vii.2017. Distribution: Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (Slamka, 2019). Remarks: S. campicolellla was described by Erschoff (1874) based on the female specimen from Turkestan. The genitalia of sample has not been dissected before (Sergey Sinev (Russia) pers. com.). However, Sinev (1994) synonymized Salebria melanochreella Ragonot, 1887 with Sciota campicolella and illustrated only male genitalia of. S. melanochreella. Likewise, Slamka (2019) gave only the male genitalia of the species. In this study, female genitalia of S. campicolella is dissected and described for the first time. Female Genitalia: Papillae anales triangular. Apophysis posterior about equal length with apophysis anterior, but the latter a little thicker. 8th tergite sclerotised. Antrum membranous, ductus bursae slightly sclerotised. Connection part of ductus bursae to bursa copulatrix granulated in front-terminally with numerous very small, distinct spines, and not granulated in back-terminally with numerous very small, sparse spines. Bursa copulatrix eliptical. A bump, roundish sclerotised plate in the nearly center of bursa copulatrix and in line with ductus seminalis. And, with numerous very small, sparse spines below the sclerotised plate area.Published as part of Akin, Kesran, Gözüaçik, Celalettin, Seven, Erdem & Türkoğlu, Mete, 2021, New species and new records of Pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Turkey, pp. 529-540 in Zootaxa 4951 (3) on page 536, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4951.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/466841
Molecular picture of community- and healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus circulating in a teaching hospital in Milan
No full textThe epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has dramatically changed over the past 10 y with the emergence of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). Recent studies have reported a frequent association of these strains with hospital outbreaks, and an incidence varying over time and by region. In order to evaluate the MRSA lineages circulating in our area of Italy, we performed a molecular characterization of CA-MRSA isolates prospectively collected from April 2006 to July 2007 at the San Paolo Hospital of Milan. We investigated the protein A-encoding gene (spa-typing), the staphylococcal chromosomal cassette SCCmec, the presence of Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and 3 adhesin genes. Twenty-five CA-MRSA isolates cultured from 25 patients were collected; an equal number of healthcare-associated (HA)-MRSA strains, from 25 patients hospitalized in various wards, were collected for comparison purposes. SCCmec type IV emerged as the most frequent genotype in both CA- and HA-MRSA. Seventeen different spa types were identified: t515 was the most common (36%), followed by t008 (20%). We detected 3 PVL-positive strains, only among the CA-MRSA. On the whole, our local MRSA epidemiology appears to be heterogeneous, with a predominant t515 spa type, only recently considered to belong to clonal EMRSA-15
Characterization of Candida parapsilosis complex strains isolated from invasive fungal infections
No full textIn the present work, we studied the distribution of Candida parapsilosis complex species and the antifungal susceptibility of clinical isolates collected during an Italian surveillance study of yeast invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in intensive care units (ICUs). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference broth microdilution method. BanI digestion patterns of the secondary alcohol dehydrogenase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were used to identify C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, C. orthopsilosis, and C. metapsilosis. A total of 138 C. parapsilosis isolates were stored (January 2007-December 2008). The overall frequency of C. parapsilosis complex in IFIs was 22%. Of the 138 tested isolates, 95% were C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, 3.6% were C. orthopsilosis, and 1.4% were C. metapsilosis. The MIC(50) values (expressed as μg/ml) for anidulafungin, caspofungin, and micafungin for C. parapsilosis complex were 2, 1, and 2, respectively, and the MIC(90) values were 4, 2, and 4, respectively. The MIC(50) and MIC(90) values for itraconazole and posaconazole were 0.12 and 0.25, respectively, and for fluconazole, they were 1 and 4, respectively. This study, the most comprehensive study conducted to date to evaluate the frequency and antifungal susceptibility profiles of C. parapsilosis complex isolates from critically ill patients in Italy, highlights the low prevalence of C. orthopsilosis and C. metapsilosis in IFIs
Tinea corporis due to trichophyton rubrum in a woman and tinea capitis in her 15-day-old baby: molecular evidence of vertical transmission
No full textWe report a case of a 40-year-old Caucasian woman who came under our observation with a 7-year history of a chronic erythematous scaly dermatitis, diagnosed as psoriasis, involving gluteal area and thighs, and treated with topical steroids without benefit. During pregnancy, a progressive worsening of her condition and an extension of cutaneous lesions were observed. Her newborn, a 15-day-old girl, presented a similar scaly and squamous lesion on her scalp. Mycological examination was positive for Trichophyton rubrum in both cases, and random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis confirmed the isogenicity of the two isolates. We performed a diagnosis of T. rubrum tinea corporis and tinea capitis. The case we describe illustrates an unusual clinical presentation of tinea corporis with remarkable extension of cutaneous lesions due to the diagnostic delay and the continuous use of local steroids, together with a rare tinea capitis in the newborn. Our experience highlights the possibility of mother-child transmission and the importance of an early diagnosis
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Experimental biofilm-related candida infections
No full textAIM. We investigated the pathogenic role of biofilm and the therapeutic efficacy of anidulafungin in experimental infections of the wax moth Galleria mellonella by C. albicans clinical strains.
MATERIALS AND METHODS. On the basis of the in vitro propensity to form biofilm, five biofilm-producer (BP) and four non-producer (NP) C. albicans clinical strains were used in this study. For each strain, we assessed the virulence by infecting G. mellonella larvae and observing survival. Anidulafungin was administered two hours after yeast inoculum at 0.6 μg, according to the therapeutic dose recommended for humans.
RESULTS. Biofilm-forming ability highly influenced the larvae-killing rate. A significant (p<0.0001) survival decrease was observed in the BP group, with 80% of the infected larvae dying within 72 hours. NP isolates did not reach the same killing rate, even at the end of experiments (216 h). Larval survival was enhanced (p<0.0001) by anidulafungin administration in both groups. Survival rate at 72 hours was similar in both (BP 78.5% and NP 87.5%), whereas there were still differences at the end of experiments with a higher survival in the NP group (75% versus 48%).
CONCLUSIONS. Our data confirm the pathogenic role of biofilm in C. albicans infections. Its importance was further enhanced by lack of contribution of extracellular enzymes, detected in both NP and BP strains. In addition, we demonstrated anidulafungin efficacy in treating biofilm-related invasive candidiasis
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Comparative evaluation of the Vitek 2 yeast susceptibility test and CLSI broth microdilution reference method for antifungal susceptibility testing of invasive yeast isolates in Italy: the GISIA3 study
No full textThe newly available AST-YS01 Vitek 2 cards were evaluated, and the results were compared with those obtained by the CLSI M27-A2 microdilution reference method. Clinical fungal isolates, including 614 isolates of Candida spp., 10 Cryptococcus neoformans isolates, 1 Geotrichum capitatum isolate, and 2 quality control strains, were tested for their susceptibilities to amphotericin B, fluconazole, and voriconazole using both methods. The majority of fungal isolates were susceptible to all antifungal agents tested: the MIC(90) values determined by the Vitek 2 and CLSI methods were 0.5 and 1 microg/ml, respectively, for amphotericin B; 8 and 16 microg/ml, respectively, for fluconazole; and <0.12 and 0.25 microg/ml, respectively, for voriconazole. Overall there was excellent categorical agreement (CA) between the methods (99.5% for amphotericin B, 92% for fluconazole, 98.2% for voriconazole), but discrepancies were observed within species. The CAs for fluconazole were low for Candida glabrata and Candida krusei when the results of the CLSI method at 48 h were considered. Moreover, the fully automated commercial system did not detect the susceptibility of Cryptococcus neoformans to voriconazole. The Vitek 2 system can be considered a valid support for antifungal susceptibility testing of fungi, but testing of susceptibility to agents not included in the system (e.g., echinocandins and posaconazole) should be performed with other methods
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