Comparison of Diplodia Tip Blight Pathogens in Spanish and North American Pine Ecosystems.

Diplodia tip blight is the most ubiquitous and abundant disease in Spanish plantations. The economic losses in forest stands can be very severe because of its abundance in cones and seeds together with the low genetic diversity of the host. is not genetically diverse in North America either, and Diplodia shoot blight is a common disease.

The advantages of therapeutic drug monitoring in patients receiving antiretroviral treatment and experiencing medication-related problems.

Background: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is used to improve the efficacy and safety of ARVs, but there is little interest for the systematic or random TDM of ARVs in the medical management of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. This study aimed to evaluate a different approach and test the potential advantages of TDM as part of medical treatments when clinical problems are identified in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Methods: The authors conducted a prospective, noncontrolled, cohort study on 544 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients treated either with a protease inhibitor (PI), atazanavir/lopinavir, or with a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), efavirenz/nevirapine.

Evaluation of the effect of pollution and fungal disease on Pinus radiata pollen allergenicity.

Background: Pollutants and other stressing factors like mold infection might increase the production of pathogen-related proteins in plants. Since this is invoked as one of the causes for the high prevalence of allergic diseases in developed countries, we aimed to determine the potential effect of environmental pollution, with or without mold infection of the trees, on the allergenic potency of pine pollen (Pinus radiata).

Methods: Pine pollen samples were recovered from three selected areas: low polluted (A), highly polluted (B) and highly polluted and infected with fungi (Spheropsis sapinea) (C).