Xanthones from roots, hairy roots and cell suspension cultures of selected Hypericum species and their antifungal activity against Candida albicans.

Highest xanthone contents were found in Hypericum pulchrum and H. annulatum untransformed roots. The best anti- Candida activity was obtained for hairy roots extracts of H.

Prosthetic joint infections in the elderly.

Introduction: Recent age-projection showed that the number of elderly is expected to rise significantly over the next decades worldwide. Accordingly, the prevalence of chronic and degenerative diseases will increase, among them osteoarthritis, resulting in more and older patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty and thereby also being at risk for associated complications. Among those, prosthetic joint infections are feared as threatening complication with a mortality approaching 8 % and causing long-term antibiotic therapy, immobilization and often account for operative revision.

4D PET iterative deconvolution with spatiotemporal regularization for quantitative dynamic PET imaging.

Quantitative measurements in dynamic PET imaging are usually limited by the poor counting statistics particularly in short dynamic frames and by the low spatial resolution of the detection system, resulting in partial volume effects (PVEs). In this work, we present a fast and easy to implement method for the restoration of dynamic PET images that have suffered from both PVE and noise degradation. It is based on a weighted least squares iterative deconvolution approach of the dynamic PET image with spatial and temporal regularization.

Haploidentical, G-CSF-primed, unmanipulated bone marrow transplantation for patients with high-risk hematological malignancies: an update.

Ninety-seven patients affected by high-risk hematological malignancies underwent G-CSF primed, unmanipulated bone marrow (BM) transplantation from a related, haploidentical donor. All patients were prepared with an identical conditioning regimen including Thiotepa, Busilvex, Fludarabine (TBF) and antithymocyte globulin given at myeloablative (MAC = 68) or reduced (reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) = 29) dose intensity and received the same GvHD prophylaxis consisting of the combination of methotrexate, cyclosporine, mycofenolate-mofetil and basiliximab. Patients were transplanted in 1st or 2nd CR (early phase: n = 60) or in > 2nd CR or active disease (advanced phase: n = 37).

The social context and the need of information from patients with epilepsy: evaluating a tertiary referral service.

Objective: Characterize the social profile and the need of information from patients with refractory epilepsy.

Method: A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to 103 patients to investigate sociodemographic aspects, pharmacotherapy and any doubts about epilepsy.

Results: Patients were highly dependent on having a free and accessible supply of antiepileptic drugs.

Antifungal susceptibility profiles of bloodstream yeast isolates by Sensititre YeastOne over nine years at a large Italian teaching hospital.

Sensititre YeastOne (SYO) is an affordable alternative to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference method for antifungal susceptibility testing. In this study, the MICs of yeast isolates from 1,214 bloodstream infection episodes, generated by SYO during hospital laboratory activity (January 2005 to December 2013), were reanalyzed using current CLSI clinical breakpoints/epidemiological cutoff values to assign susceptibility (or the wild-type [WT] phenotype) to systemic antifungal agents. Excluding Candida albicans (57.

Whole-Genome Sequences of Nonencapsulated Haemophilus influenzae Strains Isolated in Italy.

Haemophilus influenzae is an important human pathogen involved in invasive disease. Here, we report the whole-genome sequences of 11 nonencapsulated H. influenzae (ncHi) strains isolated from both invasive disease and healthy carriers in Italy.

Internet-based implementation of non-pharmacological interventions of the "people getting a grip on arthritis" educational program: an international online knowledge translation randomized controlled trial design protocol.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects 2.1% of the Australian population (1.5% males; 2.

Full field spatially-variant image-based resolution modelling reconstruction for the HRRT.

Accurate characterisation of the scanner's point spread function across the entire field of view (FOV) is crucial in order to account for spatially dependent factors that degrade the resolution of the reconstructed images. The HRRT users' community resolution modelling reconstruction software includes a shift-invariant resolution kernel, which leads to transaxially non-uniform resolution in the reconstructed images. Unlike previous work to date in this field, this work is the first to model the spatially variant resolution across the entire FOV of the HRRT, which is the highest resolution human brain PET scanner in the world.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in a haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient with sickle cell disease: a successful treatment.

Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) is the most common inherited blood disorder and is associated with severe morbidity and decreased survival. Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative approach. Nevertheless the decision to perform a bone marrow transplant includes the risk of major complications and transplant-related mortality.

New insights into the pharmacokinetics of intravenous busulfan in children with sickle cell anemia undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

Background: Busulfan (Bu) is an integral part of conditioning regimens for patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) undergoing transplantation. Patients with SCA might predispose to transplant-related neurological and pulmonary toxicities due to pre-existing disease-related cerebrovascular and lung injury. Bu therapy appears to be an important contributing factor in this context.

Catheter-related bacteremia by Cupriavidus metallidurans.

Cupriavidus bacteremia is a rare infection and identification of the pathogen is difficult. We present four cases of bacteremia by Cupriavidus metallidurans that were initially identified to the genus level by both Bruker and Vitek matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and later identified to the species level by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. To our knowledge, these are the first cases of C.

Peripheral red blood cell split chimerism as a consequence of intramedullary selective apoptosis of recipient red blood cells in a case of sickle cell disease.

Allogeneic cellular gene therapy through hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only radical cure for congenital hemoglobinopathies like thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Persistent mixed hematopoietic chimerism (PMC) has been described in thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Here, we describe the clinical course of a 6-year-old girl who had received bone marrow transplant for sickle cell anemia.

Quadrupole transition strength in the (74)Ni nucleus and core polarization effects in the neutron-rich Ni isotopes.

The reduced transition probability B(E2;0(+)→2(+)) has been measured for the neutron-rich nucleus (74)Ni in an intermediate energy Coulomb excitation experiment performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The obtained B(E2;0(+)→2(+))=642(-226)(+216)  e(2) fm(4) value defines a trend which is unexpectedly small if referred to (70)Ni and to a previous indirect determination of the transition strength in (74)Ni. This indicates a reduced polarization of the Z=28 core by the valence neutrons.

Deep transverse friction massage for treating lateral elbow or lateral knee tendinitis.

Background Deep transverse friction massage, one of several physical therapy interventions suggested for the management of tendinitis pain, was first demonstrated in the 1930s by Dr James Cyriax, a renowned orthopedic surgeon in England. Its goal is to prevent abnormal fibrous adhesions and abnormal scarring. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2001.

Minimal residual disease as biomarker for optimal biologic dosing of ARA-C in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

We assessed by flow cytometry minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) given standard-dose (SDAC) and high-dose ARA-C (HDAC) regimens. Of 163 patients enrolled, 130 (median age, 45 years; range, 18-59 years) qualified for analysis, all achieving complete remission after treatment with SDAC (n = 78) or HDAC (n = 52) plus etoposide and daunorubicin. Consolidation consisted of intermediate-dose ARA-C and daunorubicin.

Application of adaptive kinetic modelling for bias propagation reduction in direct 4D image reconstruction.

Parametric imaging in thoracic and abdominal PET can provide additional parameters more relevant to the pathophysiology of the system under study. However, dynamic data in the body are noisy due to the limiting counting statistics leading to suboptimal kinetic parameter estimates. Direct 4D image reconstruction algorithms can potentially improve kinetic parameter precision and accuracy in dynamic PET body imaging.

Hindered Gamow-Teller decay to the odd-odd N=Z (62)Ga: absence of proton-neutron T=0 condensate in A=62.

Search for a new kind of superfluidity built on collective proton-neutron pairs with aligned spin is performed studying the Gamow-Teller decay of the T=1, J(π)=0+ ground state of (62)Ge into excited states of the odd-odd N=Z nucleus (62)Ga. The experiment is performed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Shwerionenforshung with the (62)Ge ions selected by the fragment separator and implanted in a stack of Si-strip detectors, surrounded by the RISING Ge array. A half-life of T1/2=82.

Attenuation correction for freely moving small animal brain PET studies based on a virtual scanner geometry.

Attenuation correction in positron emission tomography brain imaging of freely moving animals is a very challenging problem since the torso of the animal is often within the field of view and introduces a non negligible attenuating factor that can degrade the quantitative accuracy of the reconstructed images. In the context of unrestrained small animal imaging, estimation of the attenuation correction factors without the need for a transmission scan is highly desirable. An attractive approach that avoids the need for a transmission scan involves the generation of the hull of the animal's head based on the reconstructed motion corrected emission images.

Impact of extraneous mispositioned events on motion-corrected brain SPECT images of freely moving animals.

Purpose: Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain imaging of freely moving small animals would allow a wide range of important neurological processes and behaviors to be studied, which are normally inhibited by anesthetic drugs or precluded due to the animal being restrained. While rigid body motion of the head can be tracked and accounted for in the reconstruction, activity in the torso may confound brain measurements, especially since motion of the torso is more complex (i.e.

Evaluation of a direct 4D reconstruction method using generalised linear least squares for estimating nonlinear micro-parametric maps.

Objective: Estimation of nonlinear micro-parameters is a computationally demanding and fairly challenging process, since it involves the use of rather slow iterative nonlinear fitting algorithms and it often results in very noisy voxel-wise parametric maps. Direct reconstruction algorithms can provide parametric maps with reduced variance, but usually the overall reconstruction is impractically time consuming with common nonlinear fitting algorithms.

Methods: In this work we employed a recently proposed direct parametric image reconstruction algorithm to estimate the parametric maps of all micro-parameters of a two-tissue compartment model, used to describe the kinetics of [[Formula: see text]F]FDG.

Hematopoietic SCT for the Black African and non-Black African variants of sickle cell anemia.

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) remains associated with high risks of morbidity and early death. Allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) is the only curative treatment for SCA. We report our experience with transplantation in a group of patients with the non-Black African variant and the Black African variant of SCA.

Reduction of intramedullary apoptosis after stem cell transplantation in black african variant of pediatric sickle cell anemia.

Background And Purpose: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative treatment for sickle cell anemia (SCA). We report our experience with transplantation in children with the Black African variant of SCA and the effects of transplant on erythroid compartment in bone marrow (BM).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-seven consecutive patients who underwent BM transplantation from HLA-identical donors following a myeloablative conditioning regimen were included.

Isospin character of low-lying pygmy dipole states in 208Pb via inelastic scattering of 17O ions.

The properties of pygmy dipole states in 208Pb were investigated using the 208Pb(17O, 17O'γ) reaction at 340 MeV and measuring the γ decay with high resolution with the AGATA demonstrator array. Cross sections and angular distributions of the emitted γ rays and of the scattered particles were measured. The results are compared with (γ, γ') and (p, p') data.

Performance of two resin-containing blood culture media in detection of bloodstream infections and in direct matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) broth assays for isolate identification: clinical comparison of the BacT/Alert Plus and Bactec Plus systems.

We compared the clinical performances of the BacT/Alert Plus (bioMérieux) and Bactec Plus (Becton Dickinson) aerobic and anaerobic blood culture (BC) media with adsorbent polymeric beads. Patients ≥ 16 years old with suspected bloodstream infections (BSIs) were enrolled in intensive care units and infectious disease wards. A single 40-ml blood sample was collected from each and used to inoculate (10 ml/bottle) one set of BacT/Alert Plus cultures and one set of Bactec Plus cultures, each set consisting of one aerobic and one anaerobic bottle.