169,813 research outputs found
An integrated mathematical model to study isokinetic flexion-extension motion of the human spine
No full textNovel Potential Antifungal Compounds With Dual Mechanism Of Action Selectively Acting Against Malassezia spp.
No full textMalassezia spp. infections and azole drug resistance phenomena are of great concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Malassezia spp. cause severe human and animal skin disorders, with a zoonotic potential for M. pachydermatis, which could include it on WHO fungal pathogens priority list. Inorganic SeS2 is used as topical treatment, but its mechanism of action on fungal sterol pathways has not been fully revealed, due to the great variability of lipidome among Malasseziomycetes. In this work we evaluated antifungal activity by microdilution broth assay of novel compounds with acyl/selenoureido moieties and primary/secondary sulfonamide groups with a dual mechanism of action: (i) a selective organic selenium fungal toxicity and (ii) the inhibition of a new antifungal target metalloenzyme, the Carbonic Anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1). Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values of selenium-containing compounds showed very high activity on M. pachydermatis (0,5-3,33 μg/ml) instead of C. albicans and C. glabrata (3,33-256 μg/ml). Suppression of antifungal activity was noted when selenium was replaced with either chalcogen isosteric elements oxygen and sulfur. Compounds library was also tested on M. furfur and M. globosa showing preferential activity on M. pachydermatis, with only a few candidates more active on M. furfur. Cytotoxicity properties of selected compounds against MDBK and HaCat cells were assessed, which showed safety profile at MIC values, better than SeS2. KI values on Malassezia spp. CAs of compounds bearing primary or secondary sulfonamide moiety was in the low-medium nanomolar range, demonstrating a multitarget selective activity on Malassezia spp., probably depending on lipidome constitution
Extraction and Quantification of Azelaic Acid from Different Wheat Samples (Triticum durum Desf.) and Evaluation of Their Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities
No full text: Azelaic Acid (AzA) is a 9-carbon atom dicarboxylic acid, with numerous pharmacological uses in dermatology. Its effectiveness in papulopustular rosacea and acne vulgaris, among other dermatological disorders such as keratinization and hyper-pigmentation, is thought to be related to its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It is a by-product of Pityrosporum fungal mycelia metabolism but also it is found in different cereals such as barley, wheat, and rye. Diverse topical formulations of AzA exist in commerce, and it is mainly produced via chemical synthesis. In this study we describe the extraction of AzA from whole grains and whole-grain flour (Triticum durum Desf.) through green methods. Seventeen different extracts were prepared and analyzed for their AzA content by HPLC-MS methods and then screened for their antioxidant activity using spectrophotometric assays (ABTS, DPPH, and Folin-Ciocalteu). Minimum-inhibitory-concentration (MIC) assays against several bacterial and fungal pathogens were performed, to validate their antimicrobial activity. The obtained results indicate that whole grain extracts provide a wider spectrum of activity than the flour matrix; in particular, the Naviglio® extract showed higher AzA content, while the hydroalcoholic ultrasound-assisted extract provided better antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The data analysis was performed using principal component analysis (PCA), as an unsupervised-pattern-recognition technique, to extract useful analytical and biological information
Leptospira seroprevalence in colombian dairy herds
No full textLeptospirosis in cattle has important economic effects on the infected farms. Moreover, livestock farming is considered a major occupational risk factor for the transmission of Leptospira infection to humans. A survey was performed to determine the overall and within-herd seroprevalence and mapping of different Leptospira serovars in dairy cattle from farms located in some municipalities of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Nine hundred and fifty-nine animals, from 20 unvaccinated and one vaccinated herd, were included in the study. Anti-Leptospira serum antibodies were detected by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Only one herd was seronegative. Overall seroprevalence to at least one serovar of Leptospira was 24.1% for unvaccinated animals and 62.3% for animals from the vaccinated herd. A very high within-herd seroprevalence (>60%) was present in 20% of the unvaccinated herds. The presence in the vaccinated herd of 20/398 animals showing high titers, between 1000 and 4000, to at least one serovar of Leptospira suggest that some animals could have been infected. Moreover, due to the presence of seronegative animals, a failure of vaccination immunity or the presence of unvaccinated animals in the vaccinated herd cannot be excluded. In all farms, domestic animals other than cattle were present. Considering the farming practices occurring on dairy farms in the study area, higher hygienic standards and stricter biosecurity measures are suggested
A Wireless and Context-Aware ECG Monitor: An iMote2 Based Portable System
No full textWith the advent of low cost sensors and high performance mobile devices, telemedicine is well on its way to becoming part of our daily lives. While many times we see systems add a singular piece of context to ECG holter data, we believe that additional information can aid in understanding a patients condition, not only by physicians but by computerized algorithms as well. Typically, context of any sort is fundamental for having a holistic view of the user/patient’s complete situation. In that light we have developed a portable monitoring system based around a custom ECG board, an iMote2 (a platform from Intel Research) and a cellular telephone capable of transmitting information over UMTS. The iMote2 has the task of contextualizing the ECG data by adding not only accelerometer data, but ambient information as well. The integration of a subject’s activity from accelerometers and environmental data like temperature, humidity, and light intensity will give a better general picture of where the changes in ECG data come from. The system visualizes the information on a portable windows mobile handheld with the possibility of transmitting the information to a remote server for later use or re-use. The overall result is a system which provides a clean ECG signal implementing an ac-coupled front end with the potential to allow complex classifiers to run on the iMote2 platform
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
Redox Active Cage for the Electrochemical Sensing of Anions
No full textThe tripodal system [1]3+ forms a 1:1 complex with CoII in which the metal is octahedrally coordinated by three bpy
fragments. The [CoII(1)]5+ complex provides a cavity suitable for solvent or anion inclusion. X-ray diffraction studies
on the crystalline complex salt of formula [CoII(1) · · ·H2O]Cl(PF6)4 · 2MeCN have shown that a water molecule is
included in the cavity and the water oxygen atom receives six H-bonds from the C-H fragments of the three
imidazolium subunits and of the three proximate pyridine rings, according to a slightly distorted trigonal prismatic
geometry. Anion inclusion in an aqueous MeCN solution induces a distinct cathodic shift of the potential of the
CoIII/CoII couple, whose magnitude decreases along the series: Cl- > Br- ∼ NCO- > I- ∼ NCS-, which reflects
anion tendencies to receive H-bonds from the receptor. The variation of the water content in the MeCN solution
(from 0 to 20%) induces a gradual change of the voltammetric response to anion titration: from two well distinguished
peaks at a fixed potential to a single peak progressively shifted to a more cathodic potential. Such a behavior
parallels the gradual decrease of the equilibrium constant for anion inclusion into the [CoII(1)]5+ recepto
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Variability of the groundwater sulfate concentration in fractured rock slopes: a tool to identify active unstable areas
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