In vitro methods for antifungal susceptibility testing of Trichophyton spp.

In general, methods to test the susceptibility of fungi to antifungal drugs require standardized techniques, but so far there is no methodology that is widely applicable to dermatophytes. Here we introduced modifications to the protocols from documents of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (CLSI) M38-A and the Antifungal Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) that are usually applied to moulds and fermentative yeasts, in order to adjust the conditions for the growth of dermatophytes. The modifications included: growth on potato dextrose agar supplemented with 2 % in-house rice flour to encourage sporulation, the addition of 2 % glucose to the culture media (RPMI-1640), and an incubation temperature of 28 °C. In addition, the incubation period was 7 d, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was defined as 80 % growth inhibition endpoints for azole agents, and the inocula only contained microconidia. Results obtained by both tested methodologies were very similar to the ones reported by other researchers. MIC₉₀ (MIC at which 90% of isolates tested were inhibited) values were identical for four out of five antifungal drugs tested and there was only a difference of one or two dilutions when MIC₅₀ values were compared. Although the modifications introduced did not interfere with the results, more studies are necessary to establish a standard technique to test susceptibility of dermatophytes to antifungal drugs.     

Establishing Intracranial Brain Tumor Xenografts With Subsequent Analysis of Tumor Growth and Response to Therapy using Bioluminescence Imaging

Transplantation models using human brain tumor cells have served an essential function in neuro-oncology research for many years. In the past, the most commonly used procedure for human tumor xenograft establishment consisted of the collection of cells from culture flasks, followed by the subcutaneous injection of the collected cells in immunocompromised mice. Whereas this approach still sees frequent use in many laboratories, there has been a significant shift in emphasis over the past decade towards orthotopic xenograft establishment, which, in the instance of brain tumors, requires tumor cell injection into appropriate neuroanatomical structures. Because intracranial xenograft establishment eliminates the ability to monitor tumor growth through direct measurement, such as by use of calipers, the shift in emphasis towards orthotopic brain tumor xenograft models has necessitated the utilization of non-invasive imaging for assessing tumor burden in host animals. Of the currently available imaging methods, bioluminescence monitoring is generally considered to offer the best combination of sensitivity, expediency, and cost. Here, we will demonstrate procedures for orthotopic brain tumor establishment, and for monitoring tumor growth and response to treatment when testing experimental therapies.     

代谢、血液碱化和纯氧影响呼吸调控的人体实验研究II： 血液碱化后运动试验*

目的: 在完成吸入室内空气状态下症状限制性最大极限心肺运动试验(CPET)和动脉血气指标动态变化规律的基础上,进一步探讨体液酸碱度和CO₂含量对呼吸调控的影响。方法: 选正常志愿者5名,给予5%NaHCO₃(总量0.3 g/kg)分次口服,每5 min口服75 ml(3.75g )。总量服完1 h后,重复CPET。于静息、热身、运动及恢复期,连续测定肺通气指标及每分钟动脉取样的血气指标变化,并与本人在非碱化血液条件下对照数据进行配对t检验比较。结果: 碱化血液之后,CPET期间随着运动功率逐步递增,气体交换和血气指标的反应模式与非碱化血液对照相似（P>0.05）;即与静息状态比较,每分通气量、潮气量、呼吸频率、VO₂、VCO₂均呈现近于线性渐进性递增(P<0.05~0.001)。与碱化血液前吸入室内空气的对照比较：在碱化血液条件下,所有时间点血红蛋白浓度,PaCO₂与pH均显著提高(P<0.05);除无氧阈PaCO₂减低外,只有热身状态呈增高态势,统计学有显著差异(P<0.05);而PaO₂无差异(P>0.05),各状态均较对照状态减低,除恢复期外均有统计学差异(P<0.05)。与非碱化血液对照比较,除静息每分通气量低于对照(P<0.05）外,所有通气指标均无统计学差异(P>0.05)。结论: 碱化血液条件下, 尽管有更高的CaCO₂, PaCO₂ 和 pHa平均水平及更低的Hba和[H⁺]a平均水平,机体对CPET的呼吸反应模式基本相似。     

代谢、血液碱化和纯氧影响呼吸调控的人体实验研究III： 血液碱化后纯氧运动试验*

目的: 在急性血液碱化前、后空气吸入下完成症状限制性最大极限心肺运动试验(CPET)的基础上,本文探讨在血液碱化后吸入纯氧对呼吸调控的影响。方法: 正常志愿者5名在碱化血液后呼吸纯氧CPET,在静息、热身、运动及恢复期,连续测定肺通换气指标及每分钟动脉取样的血气指标,对CPET期间的呼吸气体交换和血气指标的动态变化进行分析,同时与急性碱化血液前、后空气CPET数据比较。结果: 碱化血液后吸入纯氧运动呼吸反应与急性碱化血液前、后空气CPET呼吸反应基本一致。CPET期间,各运动状态下的每分通气量均与对照组相似(P>0.05);仅静息每分通气量较血液碱化空气CPET略高(P<0.05),而其它状态和恢复2min时均相近(P>0.05)。潮气量仅峰值运动时较对照和血液碱化空气CPET略低(P<0.05);而运动过程和恢复2min时的潮气量均相近(P>0.05)。呼吸频率在各个时间与血液碱化前后CPET均无差异(P>0.05)。在碱化血液后吸入纯氧运动各个时期的PaO₂和SaO₂较碱化血液前后空气CPET时明显提高(P<0.001,P<0.05)。血红蛋白浓度虽然较急性血液碱化前后均低,但仅较血液碱化前显著降低(P<0.05),比血液碱化后差异不显著(P>0.05) ; 开始时的PaCO₂较碱化血液前后空气CPET时降低(P<0.05),无氧阈时相近(P>0.05),但到峰值及恢复2 min时明显增高(P<0.05);pH仅较对照增高(P<0.05),但与碱化血液空气试验时无差异;乳酸水平较对照略高,但仅在热身和恢复期有差异(P<0.05)。纯氧提高了两人无氧阈和三人峰值运动的功率和时间。结论: 虽然血液碱化给予纯氧, CPET呼吸反应与碱化血液前、后空气CPET呼吸反应模式相似,表明运动中呼吸反应主要取决于代谢变化,而非动脉血气平均值高低。     

On the statistical significance of protein complex

Background: Statistical validation of predicted complexes is a fundamental issue in proteomics and bioinformatics. The target is to measure the statistical significance of each predicted complex in terms of p-values. Surprisingly, this issue has not received much attention in the literature. To our knowledge, only a few research efforts have been made towards this direction. Methods: In this article, we propose a novel method for calculating the p-value of a predicted complex. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between the number of edges in target protein complex and that in the random null model. In addition, we assume that a true protein complex must be a connected subgraph. Based on this null hypothesis, we present an algorithm to compute the p-value of a given predicted complex. Results: We test our method on five benchmark data sets to evaluate its effectiveness. Conclusions: The experimental results show that our method is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms on assessing the statistical significance of candidate protein complexes.     

The eugenics movement and its impact on art education in the United States

This article argues that the eugenics movement has had three major influences on education in the United States, and reveals how these influences have had an impact on visual arts education in particular. The first influence began with a debate between John Dewey and David Snedden that resulted in a two-tiered tracking system that separated college bound and vocational students. The second is the influence of eugenics on the establishment of the hierarchical framework for the public school curriculum. The third influence of eugenics discussed in this article is its impact on standardized testing. These influences have justified American imperialism in schools, and have led to the marginalization of visual arts education in the United States.     

Spectrofluorometric determination of clonazepam in dosage forms: Application to content uniformity testing and human plasma

The present paper describes a developed and validated simple, highly sensitive and cost‐effective spectrofluorometric method for determination of clonazepam (CNP). The proposed method depends on forming a highly fluorescent product through the reduction of CNP with Zn/HCl. The produced fluorophore exhibits a strong fluorescence at λ_em 350 nm after excitation at λ_ex 250 nm. The use of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) greatly enhanced the fluorescence intensity of the produced fluorophore to the extent of about 100%. Calibration curve showed good linear regression (r ² > 0.9998) within test ranges of 20–400 ng ml^?1 with a lower detection limit of 0.67 ng ml^?1 and lower quantification limit of 2.22 ng ml^?1 upon using CMC. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of CNP in its pharmaceutical formulations and the results were in agreement with those obtained using a reference method. Furthermore, the content uniformity testing of the tablets was also performed. The application of the proposed method was extended to determine CNP in spiked human plasma sample as a preliminary investigation and the results were satisfactory.