Isolation of keratinophilic fungi from floors in Roman primary schools

Keratinophilic fungi are present in the environment with variable distribution patterns that depend on different factors, one of which, of fundamental importance, is human and or animal presence. The present study was conducted in the environment and classrooms of schools in order to evaluate the relationship between the human presence and the presence of keratinophilic fungi. In order to achieve this goal, a new isolation technique was used. From 20 samples, 253 colonies of keratinophilic fungi were isolated. The results showed that species of the genus Chrysosporium were present in 100% of the samples, while Microsporum and Trichophyton species were present in 40% and 65% of the samples respectively. The percentage of three pathogenic species, M. canis (25), T. mentagrophytes (10) and M. gypseum (10) was significant. The other species isolated were: T. terrestre (55%), Trichophyton sp. (35%), M. cookei (25%) and T. ajelloi (10%). A correlation between the amount of gathered dust and the number of colonies of keratinophilic fungi isolated was not found.     

Diversity of keratinophilic mycoflora in the soil of Agra (India)

Diversity of keratinophilic mycoflora in the soil of Agra was under observation for 1 year (July 2001-June 2002) and isolation of keratinophilic fungi was followed by the hair-baiting method. The frequency of occurrence of keratinophilic fungi in 284 soil samples collected from various hospitals, cattle yards, poultry farms, crop fields and playgrounds was determined, 204 samples (72%) having been found to be positive. A total of 33 species classified into 11 genera (Acremonium, Aspergillus, Chrysosporium, Emmonsia, Geomyces, Keratinophyton, Microsporum, Myceliophthora, Penicillium, Sporotrichum, Trichophyton) were encountered from the soil samples. Sporotrichum spp. were found to be the most dominant species followed by Trichophyton simii. The parameter of keratinophilic fungi found in the samples studied ranged from 62 to 80% where playgrounds yielded the maximum number of species (80%) while the least dominating soil was hospital soil (62%). Among all the baits used maximum fungi occurred on human hairs (82%) followed by chicken feather (74%), wool (61%) and the least on horns (45%). The spectrum of keratinophilic fungi isolated from different sites differed considerably according to the frequency of use by humans.     

Association between ecological factors and the presence of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus larvae in Puerto Rico

A prevalence study was conducted to survey tick larvae populations in Puerto Rico (PR), compare the number of infested sites with Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus larvae between the wet and dry season, and assess the associations of ecologic factors on the presence of R. microplus larvae. Ninety-six sites were selected using a GIS-based sampling method. Each site was sampled twice; the first sampling was performed during the dry season (March 4-18, 2007) and the second sampling during the wet season (August 13-26, 2007). Sites were sampled using a tick drag with a 1-m(2) white flannel cloth along a 50-m straight course. Only 2 tick species were identified. In the dry season, 15 sites (0.16, 95?% CI?=?0.09-0.24) were identified with R. microplus larvae (n?=?606) and 9 sites (0.09, 95?% CI?=?0.04-0.17) with Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens larvae (n?=?779), whereas in the wet season 5 sites (0.05, 95?% CI?=?0.02-0.12) were identified with R. microplus (n?=?94), and 5 sites (0.05?%, 95?% CI = 0.02-0.12) with D. nitens (n?=?275). Difference in the number of infested sites with R. microplus was significant (P =?0.031) between the 2 seasons. Factors associated with the presence of R. microplus larvae in PR were wind speed of >4.0?km/h (OR?=?0.07, 95?% CI?=?0.01-0.63), more than 25?% bushes and shrubs on the site (OR?=?11, 95?% CI?=?1.6-71), and presence of cattle on the site (OR?=?26, 95?% CI?=?3.4-188).     

Calorie restriction modulates hippocampal NMDA receptors in diet-induced obese rats

Calorie restriction (CR) has attracted increased interest since CR enhances lifespan and alters age-related decline in hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions. Obesity is associated with poor neurocognitive outcome including impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognitive abilities such as learning and memory. N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are linked to hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, which may be stabilized by CR. In the present study, we aimed to establish the effects of CR on NMDARs in CA1 region of hippocampus in obese and non-obese rats. In addition, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined as a marker for lipid peroxidation (LPO) in hippocampus. Four groups were constituted as control group (C, n?=?9), obese group (OB, n?=?10), obese calorie-restricted group (OCR, n?=?9), and non-obese calorie-restricted group (NCR, n?=?10). OCR and NCR were fed with a 60% CR diet for 10 weeks. After 10 weeks of CR, the MDA levels significantly decreased in the calorie-restricted groups. Obesity caused significant decreases in NR2A and NR2B subunit expressions in the hippocampus. The hippocampal NR2A and NR2B levels significantly increased in the OCR group compared with the OB group (P?相似文献   

Streaming potential-based arthroscopic device is sensitive to cartilage changes immediately post-impact in an equine cartilage injury model

Models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis where early degenerative changes can be monitored are valuable for assessing potential therapeutic strategies. Current methods for evaluating cartilage mechanical properties may not capture the low-grade cartilage changes expected at these earlier time points following injury. In this study, an explant model of cartilage injury was used to determine whether streaming potential measurements by manual indentation could detect cartilage changes immediately following mechanical impact and to compare their sensitivity to biomechanical tests. Impacts were delivered ex vivo, at one of three stress levels, to specific positions on isolated adult equine trochlea. Cartilage properties were assessed by streaming potential measurements, made pre- and post-impact using a commercially available arthroscopic device, and by stress relaxation tests in unconfined compression geometry of isolated cartilage disks, providing the streaming potential integral (SPI), fibril modulus (Ef), matrix modulus (Em), and permeability (k). Histological sections were stained with Safranin-O and adjacent unstained sections examined in polarized light microscopy. Impacts were low, 17.3?±?2.7 MPa (n?=?15), medium, 27.8?±?8.5 MPa (n?=?13), or high, 48.7?±?12.1 MPa (n?=?16), and delivered using a custom-built spring-loaded device with a rise time of approximately 1 ms. SPI was significantly reduced after medium (p?=?0.006) and high (p<0.001) impacts. Ef, representing collagen network stiffness, was significantly reduced in high impact samples only (p?相似文献   

Keratinophilic Fungi Isolated from Soils of Long-Term Fold-Grazed, Degraded Pastures in National Parks of Slovakia

A total of 939 isolates of 11 genera representing 15 species of keratinophilic fungi were isolated and identified from the soils of three long-term fold-grazed pastures in national parks of Slovakia (Pod Ploskou, Strungovy príslop, and Pod Ke?kou) and one non-fold-grazed pasture in sierra Stolicke vrchy (Diel) using the hair-baiting technique. Keratinophilic fungi were present in all soil samples with a prevalence of Trichophyton ajelloi and Paecilomyces lilacinus. These fungi were more abundant in soil from fold-grazed pasture (Strungovy príslop) compared to non-fold-grazed pasture (Diel). The occurrence of the other keratinophilic fungi was substantially lower, likely because of low pH in some soils.     

杭州部分地区头癣73例类型及病原菌分析

目的 了解近2年来杭州部分地区头癣类型及其病原菌分布情况。方法 采用回顾性方法对2003年5月～2005年4月在杭州市第三人民医院皮肤科门诊诊治的头癣患者进行分析。结果 73例头癣患者中白癣41例（56．16％）、黑癣23例（31．5％）、脓癣9例（12．33％）,未发现黄癣。51例行真菌培养。主要病原菌为犬小孢子菌22例（43．14％）、紫色毛癣菌17例（33．33％）、须癣毛癣菌8例（15．69％）、断发毛癣菌4例（7．84％）。结论 杭州地区头癣患者中白癣发病率占首位,犬小孢子菌为主要致病菌。     

A study comparing insulin lispro mix 25 with glargine plus lispro therapy in patients with Type 2 diabetes who have inadequate glycaemic control on oral anti-hyperglycaemic medication: results of the PARADIGM study

Diabet. Med. 29, e263-e272 (2012) ABSTRACT: Aims To test the hypothesis that initiation and intensification with 25% insulin lispro, 75% insulin lispro protamine suspension (LM25), is non-inferior to initiation and intensification with glargine?+?insulin lispro therapy on change from baseline in HbA(1c) . Methods In this randomized, non-inferiority (margin of 0.4%), parallel, prospective, multi-country, 48-week, open-label study, patients (n?=?426) with Type?2 diabetes inadequately controlled with oral anti-hyperglycaemic medications were assigned to either initiating therapy with one daily LM25 injection, progressing up to three daily injections (full analysis set n?=?211; per protocol set n?=?177) or initiating therapy with one daily glargine injection and progressing up to three daily insulin lispro injections (full analysis set n?=?212; per protocol set n?=?184). Results LM25 therapy was found to be non-inferior to glargine?+?insulin lispro therapy by study end (upper limit of 95%?CI 相似文献   

Postmenopausal Vegetarians' Low Serum Ferritin Level May Reduce the Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

The present study was conducted to compare the serum ferritin status between the postmenopausal vegetarians and non-vegetarians and to identify the relation of serum ferritin with metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors in postmenopausal women. The two study groups consisted of postmenopausal vegetarians (n?=?59) who maintained a vegetarian diet for over 20?years and age-matched non-vegetarian controls (n?=?48). Anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes, serum metabolic syndrome-related parameters, and serum ferritin level between the two groups were compared. The vegetarians exhibited significantly lower weight (p?相似文献   

Insulin ameliorates miR-1-induced injury in H9c2 cells under oxidative stress via Akt activation

Growing evidence indicates that aberrant upregulation of microRNA-1 (miR-1) occurs in ischemic myocardium. In addition, insulin elicits metabolism-independent cardioprotection against cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to determine whether insulin ameliorates miR-1-induced injury in H9c2 cells under oxidative stress and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. By quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), we show that miR-1 is upregulated in H9c2 cells after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), and this effect is both dose- and time dependent. Furthermore, expression of miR-1 decreased significantly after insulin treatment (4.5?±?0.1 vs. 3.0?±?0.2, p?相似文献   

Keratinophilic fungi of poultry farm and feather dumping soil in Tamil Nadu,India

Soils of 10 poultry farms from Namakkal and 12 feather dumping sites from Chennai were studied for the presence of keratinophilic fungi. A total of 34 species belonging to 19 genera and one non-sporulating fungus were recovered. Sixteen species of fungi and one non-sporulating fungi were common to both sites, eight species were specific to Namakkal and nine species were specific to Chennai. Dermatophytes and closely related fungi were represented by six species belonging to five genera. Fungal species commonly found in the soil samples included Chrysosporium keratinophilum (73%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (68.2%), Microsporum gypseum (64%), Myceliopthora vellerea (32%), Chrysosporium state of Arthroderma tuberculatum (27.3%) and Geomyces pannorum (23%). Non-dermatophyte fungi were represented by 28 species belonging to 14 genera and one non-sporulating fungus.     

Investigation of keratinophilic fungi from soils in Western Australia a preliminary survey

In order to determine which species of geophilic dermatophytes were present in Western Australian soils 299 samples were investigated. These samples were collected from a range of locations, 208 from towns throughout the state and 91 samples from the Perth Metropolitan area.Most samples were collected from areas frequented by people and animals, such as home gardens, parks and animal yards.Of the total 299 soils, 271 (90.6 %) yielded keratinophilic fungi. A total of 181 dermatophytes were isolated, and there were 205 isolations of other keratinophilic fungi. Microsporum gypseum (30.7 %) was the most prevalent dermatophyte recovered from soil followed byMicrosporum cookei (21.7 %) and thenTrichophyton ajelloi (8.0 %). No other dermatophytes were recovered.Chrysosporium indicum was the most common of all the keratinophilic fungi and was isolated from 50.1 % of the samples. Mixed growth was obtained from 33.5 % of the soil samples.     

Hormonal, functional and genetic biomarkers in controlled ovarian stimulation: tools for matching patients and protocols

Background

The G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is thought to be involved in non-genomic estrogen responses as well as processes such as cell proliferation and migration. In this study, we analyzed GPER expression patterns from endometriosis samples and normal endometrial tissue samples and compared these expression profiles to those of the classical sex hormone receptors.

Methods

A tissue microarray, which included 74 samples from different types of endometriosis (27 ovarian, 19 peritoneal and 28 deep-infiltrating) and 30 samples from normal endometrial tissue, was used to compare the expression levels of the GPER, estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha, ER-beta and progesterone receptor (PR). The immunoreactive score (IRS) was calculated separately for epithelium and stroma as the product of the staining intensity and the percentage of positive cells. The expression levels of the hormonal receptors were dichotomized into low (IRS?<?6) and high (IRS?>?=6) expression groups.

Results

The mean epithelial IRS (+/?standard deviation, range) of cytoplasmic GPER expression was 1.2 (+/?1.7, 0?C4) in normal endometrium and 5.1 (+/?3.5, 0?C12) in endometriosis (p?<?0.001), of nuclear GPER 6.4 (+/?2.6, 0?C12) and 6.8 (+/?2.9, 2?C12; p?=?0.71), of ER-alpha 10.6 (+/?2.4, 3?C12) and 9.8 (+/?3.0, 2?C12; p?=?0.26), of ER-beta 2.4 (+/?2.2; 0?C8) and 5.6 (+/?2.6; 0?C10; p?<?0.001), and of PR 11.5 (+/?1.7; 3?C12) and 8.1 (+/?4.5; 0?C12; p?<?0.001), respectively. The mean stromal IRS of nuclear GPER expression was 7.7 (+/?3.0; 2?C12) in endometrium and 10.8 (+/?1.7; 6?C12) in endometriosis (p?<?0.001), of ER-alpha 8.7 (+/?3.1; 2?C12) and 10.6 (+/?2.4; 2?C12; p?=?0.001), of ER-beta 1.8 (+/?2.0; 0?C8) and 5.4 (+/?2.5; 0?C10; p?<?0.001), and of PR 11.7 (+/?0.9; 8?C12) and 10.9 (+/?2.0; 3?C12; p?=?0.044), respectively. Cytoplasmic GPER expression was not detectable in the stroma of endometrium and endometriosis. The observed frequency of high epithelial cytoplasmic GPER expression levels was 50% (n?=?30/60) in the endometriosis and none (0/30) in the normal endometrium samples (p?<?0.001). High epithelial cytoplasmic GPER expression levels were more frequent in endometriomas (14/20, 70%; p?=?0.01), as compared to peritoneal (9/18, 50%) or deep-infiltrating endometriotic lesions (7/22, 31.8%). The frequency of high stromal nuclear GPER expression levels was 100% (n?=?74/74) in endometriosis and 76.7% (n?=?23/30) in normal endometrium (p?<?0.001). The frequency of high epithelial nuclear GPER expression levels did not differ between endometriosis and normal endometrium.

Conclusions

The present data indicate a unique GPER expression pattern in endometriosis, especially in endometriomas as compared to the normal endometrium. The overexpression of GPER in endometriotic lesions suggests a potential role for GPER in the hormonal regulation of endometriosis, which should be taken into consideration for future hormonal treatment strategies.     

297例浅部真菌病临床及病原菌菌种分析

目的 探讨皮肤浅部真菌病致病真菌菌种的构成.方法 对297例真菌涂片阳性和培养阳性的浅部真菌病患者,取标本进行分离培养及菌种鉴定,培养阳性标本在形态学上不能准确鉴定的,进行梅里埃API 20C AUX酵母菌鉴定试剂盒或核糖体DNA （rDNA） ITS区序列测定,确切鉴定菌种.使用SPSS 17.0统计软件对于结果进行统计分析.结果 共分离培养出致病菌13种,其中红色毛癣菌86株（29.0％）,须癣毛癣菌68株（22.9％）,念珠菌属59株（19.9％）,暗色真菌属13株（4.4％）,曲霉菌属13株（4.4％）,红酵母菌12株（4.0％）,青霉菌属9株（3.0％）,毛霉菌9株（3.0％）,犬小孢子菌5株（1.7％）,浅白隐球菌3株（1.0％）,毛孢子菌属2株（0.7％）,絮状表皮癣菌1株（0.3％）,混合感染17株（5.7％）.结论 本地区浅部真菌病以甲癣为主,主要致病真菌是红色毛癣菌,但其他种类真菌感染尤其是念珠菌属有明显上升趋势.     

Survey of keratinophilic fungi isolated from city park soils of Pisa,Italy

A survey of geophilic dermatophytes and related keratinophilic fungi isolated from city park soils of Pisa is reported. Twenty-three (48%) soil samples out of 48 were positive by hair baiting. The following species were isolated: Microsporum gypseum (39%), Trichophyton ajelloi (31%), Chrysosporium keratinophilum (14%), T. terrestre (8%), M. fulvum, Ch. luteum, Ch. indicum (5% each) and M. cookei (2%). The presence of the different species is discussed in relation to the risk of fungal skin infections. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Quantitative analysis of viral load per haploid genome revealed the different biological features of Merkel cell polyomavirus infection in skin tumor

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has recently been identified in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in sun-exposed skin. Conventional technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry, have produced conflicting results for MCPyV infections in non-MCC tumors. Therefore, we performed quantitative analyses of the MCPyV copy number in various skin tumor tissues, including MCC (n?=?9) and other sun exposure-related skin tumors (basal cell carcinoma [BCC, n?=?45], actinic keratosis [AK, n?=?52], Bowen's disease [n?=?34], seborrheic keratosis [n?=?5], primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma [n?=?5], malignant melanoma [n?=?5], and melanocytic nevus [n?=?6]). In a conventional PCR analysis, MCPyV DNA was detected in MCC (9 cases; 100%), BCC (1 case; 2%), and AK (3 cases; 6%). We then used digital PCR technology to estimate the absolute viral copy number per haploid human genome in these tissues. The viral copy number per haploid genome was estimated to be around 1 in most MCC tissues, and there were marked differences between the MCC (0.119-42.8) and AK (0.02-0.07) groups. PCR-positive BCC tissue showed a similar viral load as MCC tissue (0.662). Immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody against the MCPyV T antigen (CM2B4) demonstrated positive nuclear localization in most of the high-viral-load tumor groups (8 of 9 MCC and 1 BCC), but not in the low-viral-load or PCR-negative tumor groups. These results demonstrated that MCPyV infection is possibly involved in a minority of sun-exposed skin tumors, including BCC and AK, and that these tumors display different modes of infection.     

Molecular detection of coccidian Apicomplexa Parasites isolated from wild crab-eating and pampas foxes through novel TaqMan™ probes: a contribution to their molecular epidemiology

Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Hammondia spp. are coccidian parasites similar in morphology. Molecular techniques are necessary to detect parasite DNA isolated from stool samples in wild canids because they were reported as definitive hosts of N. caninum life cycle. The objective of this study was to develop a highly sensitive and accurate molecular method for the identification of coccidian Apicomplexa parasites in crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) and pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus). Tissue samples from road-killed animals (pampas fox?=?46, crab-eating fox?=?55) and feces (pampas fox?=?84, crab-eating fox?=?2) were collected, and species were diagnosed through molecular assay. PCR was used for the amplification of a fragment of the coccidian Apicomplexa nss-rRNA gene. Additionally, we developed a novel real-time PCR TaqMan? probe approach to detect T. gondii- Hammondia spp. and N. caninum. This is the first report of N. caninum DNA in pampas fox feces (n?=?1), thus it was also detected from pampas fox tissues (n?=?1). Meanwhile, T. gondii was found in tissues of pampas (n?=?1) and crab-eating (n?=?1) foxes and H. triffittae in one crab-eating fox tissue. Despite the low percentage (2.5%) of positive samples, the molecular method developed in this study proved to be highly sensitive and accurate allowing to conduct an extensive monitoring analysis for these parasites in wildlife.

     

Predictive factors for biochemical pregnancy in intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles

The aim of this study was to investigate which factors contribute to the incidence of biochemical pregnancy (BP) in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. This cohort study included cycles performed from June 2010 to September 2016 in a private, university-affiliated IVF centre. Cycles were split into four groups, depending on the pregnancy outcomes: Clinical Pregnancy (CP, n?=?903), Biochemical Pregnancy (BP, n?=?55), Miscarriage (MI, n?=?142) and Negative Pregnancy (NP, n?=?2034). The effects of ovarian stimulation, laboratory data and seminal parameters on pregnancy outcomes were evaluated using adjusted general linear models. Discriminant analyses were conducted to construct a model for pregnancy prediction and to establish cut-offs for BP. The total sperm count (p?=?0.035), total and progressive sperm motility (p?=?0.001 and p?=?0.023, respectively), total motile sperm count (TMSC, p?=?0.029) and the endometrial thickness (p?<?0.001) were lower among BP group cycles. Lower rates of high-quality cleavage-stage embryos were observed in the BP group compared to CP and MI groups (p?<?0.001). In discriminant analyses, cut-offs for BP prediction were established for the following factors: endometrial thickness < 11?mm, sperm motility < 55.5% and total dose of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)> 2400 IU. The incidence of biochemical pregnancy was four times higher when the aforementioned factors did not meet the defined cut-offs. The combination of suboptimal endometrial development and poor seminal and embryo quality contribute to an increased incidence of biochemical pregnancy in ICSI cycles.     

Relationship between mycobiota in wall-to-wall carpet dust and age of carpet

The objective of this study was to evaluate thefungal concentrations within carpets of the same typeand manufacture during their first 2 years of life.The carpets tested came from several different branchoffices of a bank.A total of 60 dust samples from 20 carpets (3samples per carpet) was analysed. The age of thecarpets varied from 50 to 666 days. Analysis of therelationship between fungal concentration and time wasmade by the Pearson test.Fungal concentrations were very different withina same carpet. Moreover, species distribution was alsoheterogeneous; thus the fungi in 1 m² carpet didnot reflect mycobiota of the whole carpet. Very localfungal contaminations (>10 CFU/mg/dust) were builtup in a relatively short time (138 days). Thehighest concentrations (maximum: 200 CFU/mg dust) weremainly due to species of coelomycetes (mitosporicfungi forming conidia in closed bodies) and to variousyeasts. Comparisons of the 20 carpets sampled did notshow significant differences; the fungal level did notincrease with time (P > 0.05). A decrease waseven noticed. The age of carpets had no significanteffect either on the number of CFU/mg dust of the mainfungal taxa (P > 0.10).It was concluded that these carpets, which wereregularly cleaned, in this particular environment, donot favour important fungal growth. Moreover, sincethe species responsible for the highest contaminationobserved produce conidia or cells not easilytransported through the air, their role in respiratoryallergy would be relatively limited.     

Chromosome 9q and 16q loss identified by genome-wide pooled-analysis are associated with tumor aggressiveness in patients with classic medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most aggressive pediatric brain tumor. We report genome-wide pooled-analysis of classic MB variant of patients over 3 years of age at diagnosis. We combined array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) results from experimental analysis (31 cases) with two public databases (55 cases) in a final evaluation of 86 MBs. The most common chromosome structural aberrations were gains of 17q (45.3%), 1q (22.1%), and losses of 8p (15.1%), 10q (19.8%), 17p (37.2%), and 16q (16.3%). Isochromome (17q) was observed in 29.1% MBs. A significant association between poor patients survival and losses of 9q (p?相似文献