38 research outputs found
Diphenyl diselenide and its interaction with antifungals against Aspergillus spp
No full textGiven the few antifungal classes available to treat aspergillosis, this study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antifungal activity of diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)2 alone and in combination with classical antifungals against Aspergillus spp., and its in vivo activity in a systemic experimental aspergillosis model. We performed in vitro broth microdilution assay of (PhSe)2 against 32 Aspergillus isolates; and a checkboard assay to test the interaction of this compound with itraconazole (ITC), voriconazole (VRC), amphotericin B (AMB), and caspofungin (CAS), against nine Aspergillus isolates. An experimental model of invasive aspergillosis in mice was studied, and survival curves were compared between an untreated group and groups treated with 100 mg/kg ITC, or (PhSe)2 in different dosages (10 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg). All Aspergillus non-fumigatus and 50% of A. fumigatus were inhibited by (PhSe)2 in concentrations ≤ 64 µg/ml, with significant differences in MICs between the sections. Synergism or additive effect in the in vitro (PhSe)2 interaction with VRC and CAS was observed against the majority of isolates, and with ITC against the non-fumigatus strains. In addition to the inhibitory interaction, (PhSe)2 was able to add a fungicidal effect to CAS. Survival curves from the systemic experimental aspergillosis model demonstrated that the inoculum caused an acute and lethal infection in mice, and no treatment applied significantly prolonged survival over that of the control group. The results highlight the promising activity of (PhSe)2 against Aspergillus species, but more in vivo studies are needed to determine its potential applicability in aspergillosis treatment.Lay summary: The activity of diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)2 alone and in combination with itraconazole, voriconazole, and caspofungin, is described against three of the most pathogenic Aspergillus sections. (PhSe)2 may prove useful in therapy of infection in future; further study is required.This study was supported by the International Cooperation Program financed
by Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate
Education within the Ministry of Education of Brazil (CAPES), under
the Capes-Print Program and PDSE Program - Finance Code 001.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Using the N1 print tuning effect to predict poor reading in Chinese in Hong Kong children
No full textThis study examined how we can use N1 to predict group membership of poor readers among 46 Hong Kong children (Age: M=8.26, SD=0.72 years old). An offline behavioral reading fluency measure was used to define the grouping; the children who performed in the bottom 15% (after adjusting the effect based on age) in a reading fluency task were defined as the poor readers (n=7), and the remaining children were defined as the typically developing readers (n=39). Electroencephalogram was recorded during a Chinese character lexical decision task, where the children were asked to press a button whenever they saw a real character, and press another button whenever they saw anything that was not a real character. There were four experimental conditions each with 60 trials, including real character, pseudo character, noncharacter, and stroke combination. The N1 in both the left and right occipital-temporal areas were used to predict group membership. Results indicated that the overall correct prediction was at 80.4%, with sensitivity at 71.4% and specificity at 82.1%. Among all the N1 contrasts, the N1 lexicality contrast (real character minus pseudo character) provided the highest odd ratio = 2.51 to the model. These results indicate the possibility of using the N1 to predict poor reader status
Real-life epidemiology and current outcomes of hospitalized adults with invasive fungal infections
No full textWe aimed to describe the current epidemiology of both hosts with invasive fungal infections (IFI) and causative fungi. And detail outcomes of these infections at 12 weeks in a real-life cohort of hospitalized patients. The study was retrospective and observational to describe IFI diagnosed in a tertiary hospital (February 2017 - December 2021). We included all consecutive patients meeting criteria for proven or probable IFI according to EORTC-MSG and other criteria. A total of 367 IFI were diagnosed. 11.7% were breakthrough infections, and 56.4% were diagnosed in the intensive care unit (ICU). Corticosteroid use (41.4%) and prior viral infection (31.3%) were the most common risk factors for IFI. Lymphoma and pneumocystis pneumonia were the most common baseline and fungal diseases. Only 12% of IFI occurred in patients with neutropenia. Fungal cultures were the most important diagnostic tests (85.8%). The most frequent IFI were candidemia (42.2%) and invasive aspergillosis (26.7%). Azole-resistant candida strains and non-fumigatus aspergillus infection represented 36.1% and 44.5% of the cases, respectively. Pneumocystosis (16.9%), cryptococcosis (4.6%) and mucormycosis (2.7%) were also frequent, as well as mixed infections (3.4%). Rare fungi accounted for 9.5% of infections. Overall IFI mortality at 12 weeks was 32.2%; higher rates were observed for Mucorales (55.6%), Fusarium (50%) and mixed infections (60%). We documented emerging changes in both hosts and real-life IFI epidemiology. Physicians should be aware of these changes to suspect infections and be aggressive in diagnoses and treatments. Currently, outcomes for such clinical scenarios remain extremely poor.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology
Fluorescent in situ hybridization of pre-incubated blood culture material for the rapid diagnosis of histoplasmosis
No full textFluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been shown to be useful for the detection of Candida and Cryptococcus species in blood culture materials. FISH procedures for the detection of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum have not been reported so far. This study describes the development and evaluation of fluorescently labeled rRNA-targeting FISH probes to detect and identify H. capsulatum in blood cultures. All three analyzed H. capsulatum reference strains and clinical isolates showed positive signals with the newly designed specific oligonucleotide probes for H. capsulatum, whereas negative reactions were observed for all three nontarget yeast species and the two nontarget bacteria. The assay was also successfully applied for detections of H. capsulatum cells in pre-incubated blood culture samples of patients with clinical suspicion of histoplasmosis (n = 33). The described FISH-based assay was shown to be easy to apply, sensitive, and specific (compared to polymerase chain reaction) for the detection and identification of H. capsulatum in this proof-of-principle analysis. Larger multicentric assessments are recommended for a thorough diagnostic evaluation of the procedure. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology
Comparison of the rolling circle amplification and ligase-dependent reaction methods for the identification of opportunistic Exophiala species
No full textPubMedID: 29087521We developed two ligase-dependent probe amplification assays based on rolling circle amplification (RCA) and the ligase-dependent reaction (LDR) to differentiate species of Exophiala targeting the rDNA internal transcribed spacer region. We focused on Exophiala dermatitidis and E. phaeomuriformis, two opportunistic inhabitants of indoor wet cells, and further detected E. heteromorpha, E. xenobiotica, and E. crusticola; 57 reference isolates representing the five species were tested. Depending on the RCA probes used, the sensitivity was 100%, and the specificity ranged from 3.7% to 88.6% (median: 46.1%). In contrast, the sensitivity and specificity of the LDR probes targeting the same isolates were 88.6-100% (median: 95.8%) and 95.4-100% (median: 97.7%), respectively. We analyzed 198 additional environmental isolates representing the same Exophiala species. Overall, the sensitivity and specificity of LDR ranged from 89.7% to 100% (median: 94.1%) and from 93.9% to 100% (median: 96.9%), respectively. The assessment of performance and validation of LDR probes using SYBR Green quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed high reproducibility and an acceptable range limit, in line with the guidelines of the European Network of GMO Laboratories. In conclusion, the LDR assay was more reliable and less expensive than RCA for species-level identification of Exophiala isolates. © 2017 The Author(s).TF2014 D3This study was funded by the Research Fund of C¸ ukurova University (project no: TF2014 D3)
Risks and outcomes of invasive fungal infections in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving fluconazole prophylaxis: A multicenter cohort study by the Turkish Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Study Group
No full textPubMedID: 29608706Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a major cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Data from pediatric settings are scarce. To determine the incidence, risk factors and outcomes of IFIs in a 180-day period post-transplantation, 408 pediatric patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT were retrospectively analyzed. The study included only proven and probable IFIs. The cumulative incidences of IFI were 2.7%, 5.0%, and 6.5% at 30, 100, and 180 days post-transplantation, respectively. According to the multivariate analysis, the factors associated with increased IFI risk in the 180-day period post-HSCT were previous HSCT history (hazard ratio [HR], 4.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-14.71; P = .011), use of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) (HR, 2.94; 95% CI 1.27-6.80; P = .012), grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) (HR, 2.91; 95% CI 1.24-6.80; P = .014) and late or no lymphocyte engraftment (HR, 2.71; 95% CI 1.30-5.62; P = .007). CMV reactivation was marginally associated with an increased risk of IFI development (HR, 1.91; 95% CI 0.97-3.74; P = .063). IFI-related mortality was 1.5%, and case fatality rate was 27.0%.The close monitoring of IFIs in pediatric patients with severe acute GVHD who receive ATG during conditioning is critical to reduce morbidity and mortality after allogeneic HSCT, particularly among those with prior HSCT and no or late lymphocyte engraftment. © The Author(s) 2018
MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of black yeasts of the genus Exophiala
No full textPubMedID: 25851261In this study, we investigated the applicability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of Exophiala species. The analysis included a total of 110 Exophiala isolates, including 15 CBS strains representing 4 species, Exophiala dermatitidis (61), E. phaeomuriformis (36), E. crusticola (9), and E. heteromorpha (4), that had been previously identified based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. We also compared the relative efficacies of Sabouraud glucose agar (SGA) and Columbia agar (CA) for use in MALDI-TOF MS. Remarkably, we obtained a log-score value ?2.0 by using either SGA or CA for all 15 CBS strains, indicating species-level identification. The remaining 95 Exophiala strains were identified to the genus or species levels, with identification rates of 96.8% and 90.5%, using SGA or CA, respectively. Most of the E. dermatitidis (100% and 92.9%), E. phaeomuriformis (80.6% and 83.9%), E. crusticola (50% and 100%), and E. heteromorpha (100% and 100%) isolates were correctly identified using SGA or CA, respectively. Furthermore, 58.9% and 26.3% of the strains had log-score values of ?2.0 by using SGA and CA, respectively. Our results indicate that MALDI-TOF MS is a rapid and reliable technique with high rates of correct taxonomic identification. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology
Candida parapsilosis in domestic laundry machines
No full textPubMedID: 28204594Candida parapsilosis, although a human commensal, acts as an opportunistic pathogen associated with nosocomial infections, with a rising incidence worldwide. Its ecological characteristics are poorly understood. Human-made environments within dwellings, such as dishwashers and water distribution systems, represent major sources of fungi such as C. parapsilosis. Here, we investigated the presence of members of the C. parapsilosis complex in 99 washing machines in various dwellings in the city of Mersin, Turkey. We sampled three sites in each washing machine: (i) the washing powder drawers, (ii) fabric softener drawers, and (iii) rubber seals around the washing machine doors. Additionally, we recorded the type of cleanser used by each customer. Of note, 25.3% of sampled washing machines harbored C. parapsilosis strains, later identified as the members of the C. parapsilosis sensu stricto via internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing. Out of the 29 isolates obtained, biofilm-forming ability and proteinase and esterase activities were recorded in 14, 11, and 4 of the isolates, respectively. Our results suggest that the washing machines investigated abundantly harbored C. parapsilosis sensu stricto; however, no single preferred isolation site or association with cleanser type was observed (P > .05). Furthermore, C. parapsilosis isolates grew at temperatures ranging from 10°C to 37°C, at pH values ranging from 4 to 10, and were found to tolerate 5-10% NaCl. Domestic laundry appliances as a potential source of C. parapsilosis infections are discussed. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. All rights reserved
Singing from the Grave: DNA from a 180 Year Old Type Specimen Confirms the Identity of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens)
No full textCopyright: © 2015 Price et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Helical Inerter Test Data from 2016
No full textData from the testing of a novel type of fluid inerter system where the inertance can be varied. This inertance is achieved by having a fluid filled cylinder that induces flow in a helical pipe system. The parameters of the helical pipe system can be adjusted to give different amounts of inertial force depending on the requirements. See Reference below for full details.Parameters for the tests are given in the file name: Xmm_Yhz_Z.txtWhere X is amplitude in mmY is sine wave frequency in HzZ is the test case: For test case 2, the radius of the helix was 120mm and for test case 3 the radius of the helix was 80mm. See reference below for full details of the parameters.Further details of the tests cab be found in the following paper:@CONFERENCE{SmithWaggEACS, author = {Smith, N.D.J. and Wagg, D. J.}, title = {A fluid inerter with variable inertance properties}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Structural Control}, year = {2016}, pages = {1--8}, note = {https://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.4206096.v1}}</p
