[Fungemia caused by Candida lipolytica: Speaking of two cases].

Candida lipolytica has rarely been reported as a human pathogen. We observed two cases of fungemia caused by C. lipolytica, one of them in a 12-year-old child with cystic pancreatic fibrosis in advanced phase and another in a 86-year-old woman who presented vesical neoformation with peritoneal fibrosis, bilateral hydronephrosis and recurrent urinary tract infections.

Molecular survey of pyrethroid resistance mechanisms in Mexican field populations of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.

Susceptibility to synthetic pyrethroids (SP s) and the role of two major resistance mechanisms were evaluated in Mexican Rhipicephalus microplus tick populations. Larval packet test (LPT), knock-down (kdr) PCR allele-specific assay (PASA) and esterase activity assays were conducted in tick populations for cypermethrin, flumethrin and deltamethrin. Esterase activity did not have a significant correlation with SP s resistance.

Assessment of proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) shape using three-dimensional echocardiography in a paediatric population with mitral regurgitation or ventricular shunt.

Background: The proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) method is validated to quantify mitral regurgitation (MR) and ventricular shunt (VS). However, the two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) PISA method assumes a hemispherical distribution of velocity factors proximal to the MR or VS orifice.

Aim: To assess the PISA shape by three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) in a paediatric population with MR or VS.

Microarray analysis of female- and larval-specific gene expression in the horn fly (Diptera: Muscidae).

The horn fly, Haematobia irritans L., is an obligate blood-feeding parasite of cattle, and control of this pest is a continuing problem because the fly is becoming resistant to pesticides. Dominant conditional lethal gene systems are being studied as population control technologies against agricultural pests.

Evidence of a tick RNAi pathway by comparative genomics and reverse genetics screen of targets with known loss-of-function phenotypes in Drosophila.

Background: The Arthropods are a diverse group of organisms including Chelicerata (ticks, mites, spiders), Crustacea (crabs, shrimps), and Insecta (flies, mosquitoes, beetles, silkworm). The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, is an economically significant ectoparasite of cattle affecting cattle industries world wide. With the availability of sequence reads from the first Chelicerate genome project (the Ixodes scapularis tick) and extensive R.

The calcimimetic AMG 641 accelerates regression of extraosseous calcification in uremic rats.

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that extraskeletal calcification regresses in uremic rats after reduction in phosphorus intake and treatment with calcimimetics. Extraosseous calcification was induced in five to six nephrectomized rats fed a high-phosphorus (1.2%) diet who received calcitriol (80 ng/kg ip) every other day for a period of 14 days.

The position of repetitive DNA sequence in the southern cattle tick genome permits chromosome identification.

Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) using meiotic chromosome preparations and highly repetitive DNA from the southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, was undertaken to investigate genome organization. Several classes of highly repetitive DNA elements were identified by screening a R. microplus bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library.

Bubble formation and endothelial function before and after 3 months of dive training.

Introduction: It has been suggested that repeated compression-decompression cycles reduce diver susceptibility to decompression sickness (DCS). This study examined whether intensive scuba dive training would reduce bubble formation and modulate endothelial function as shown by skin circulation.

Methods: There were 22 military divers who were studied before and after a 90-d program of physical training and open-sea air diving (mean 67 dives total).

Effects of calcimimetics on extraskeletal calcifications in chronic kidney disease.

While the precise mechanisms of vascular calcification (VC) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) remain to be elucidated, there is a close association between VC and secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The elevations in calcium, phosphorus, the Ca x P product, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) observed in patients with CKD and secondary HPT have been associated with VC and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We have investigated the development of extraskeletal calcification in uremic rats with secondary HPT treated with vitamin D derivatives (calcitriol or paricalcitol), calcimimetics (R-568 or AMG 641), or the combination of both types drugs.

Profile of organ donors not authorized for judicial reasons.

Loss of donors as a consequence of a coroner's refusal to authorize is an unusual problem that prevents organs becoming available for transplantation. Of 1123 effective donors, 433 (38.5%) died of accidental death.

Organ donors with exceptional medical conditions also count!

All organ donors, even those who have died under exceptional conditions, can provide at least one valid organ for transplantation. It is thus necessary to evaluate the outcomes of donors with unusual diseases. We reviewed 909 organ donors at six hospitals over the last 15 years.

Increased organ donations from people born outside Spain.

Organs donated from persons born outside Spain are becoming increasingly numerous. These persons now account for 26.1% of all donors in the "Malaga sector," an area of tourism with a high percentage of immigrants.

Microarray analysis of acaricide-inducible gene expression in the southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.

Acaricide-inducible differential gene expression was studied in larvae of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus using a microarray-based approach. The acaricides used were: coumaphos, permethrin, ivermectin, and amitraz. The microarrays contained over 13 000 probes, having been derived from a previously described R.

EST-based gene indices for the cattle fever tick, the horn fly, and the screwworm fly.

The southern cattle tick, Rhip,cephalus (Boophilus) microplus, the horn fly, Haematobia irritans, and the New World screwworm, Cochl,omyia hominivorax, are economically important parasites of cattle throughout the world. Understanding the biology and genomics of these pests is critical to developing novel control methods. We developed EST sequence databases for these parasites and used bioinformatic analysis to identify conceptual open reading frames and assigned Gene Ontology (GO) terms to those database transcripts that had informative BlasIX hits.

Effects of n-3 fatty acids and acute exercise on endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in healthy rat aorta.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether n-3 PUFA result in an effect on endothelial function that is in addition to that of acute exercise. For 4 weeks, male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a diet based on n-3 PUFA or a standard diet. In each diet group, ten rats were submitted to an acute treadmill exercise while the remaining ten acted as sedentary controls.

Effects of copper sulfate on growth, development, and escape behavior in Epidalea calamita embryos and larvae.

Epidalea calamita embryos at Gosner stages 3 and 19, and larvae at Gosner stage 25, were exposed to different copper sulfate concentrations, ranging from 0.05 to 0.40 mg Cu L(-1), in 96-h acute toxicity tests.

Expressed cDNAS from embryonic and larval stages of the horn fly (Diptera: Muscidae).

We used an expressed sequence tag approach to initiate a study of the genome of the horn fly, Hematobia irritans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae). Two normalized cDNA libraries were synthesized from RNA isolated from embryos and first instars from a field population of horn flies.

Gene structure and expression of a pyrethroid-metabolizing esterase, CzEst9, from a pyrethroid resistant Mexican population of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae).

A population of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini) (Acari: Ixodidae), designated Coatzacoalcos, sampled from a ranch near Veracruz, Mexico, was found to possess a high level of resistance to pyrethroid-based acaricides. Bioassay and biochemical and molecular analysis had previously shown that resistance in this population could primarily be attributed to expression of a highly active metabolic esterase designated CzEST9. We cloned and sequenced the entire CzEST9 coding region, including introns and > 1.

Genetics and mechanisms of permethrin resistance in the Santa Luiza strain of Boophilus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae).

The Santa Luiza strain of the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Canestrini) (Acari: Ixodidae), is resistant to both permethrin and amitraz. A study was conducted at the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory in Texas to investigate the genetic basis of permethrin resistance with cross-mating experiments, and to determine the mechanisms of permethrin resistance through synergist bioassays and biochemical analysis of esterase profiles. The Muñoz strain, an acaricide-susceptible reference strain, was used as the susceptible parent and the Santa Luiza strain, originating in Brazil, was used as the resistant parent.

Effect of exercise training on cutaneous microcirculation in rats.

Aim: Exercise training is known to improve endothelium-dependent relaxation in the coronary and skeletal muscle arteries. However, the effects of exercise training on peripheral nonworking tissue, including microcirculation, are still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effect of chronic and regular aerobic exercise on cutaneous microvascular endothelial function in rats.

Stent grafting-related acute type B redissection.

The purpose of this article is to report two distal dissections resulting as a complication of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in two cases of type B aortic dissection (TBAD) and its relationship with prosthetic alignment at the distal landing zone. Two patients affected by aneurysm formation of a chronic type B dissection underwent EVAR. During postoperative follow-up, at 48 and 39 months, respectively, a new chest pain episode recommended a new computed tomographic angiography examination.

Effect of training frequency on endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in rats.

Background: Moderate physical activity enhances endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. Whether the frequency of exercise affects endothelial function is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of various frequencies of training on endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation.

Proteomic profiling of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus midgut responses to infection with Babesia bovis.

Differences in protein expression in midgut tissue of uninfected and Babesia bovis-infected southern cattle ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, were investigated in an effort to establish a proteome database containing proteins involved in successful pathogen transmission. The electrophoretic separation of midgut membrane proteins was greatly improved by using liquid-phase isoelectric focusing combined with one-dimensional or two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis. A selection of differentially expressed proteins were subjected to analysis by capillary-HPLC-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS).

Spain's greatest and most recent mine disaster.

On 25 April 1998, the mineral waste retaining wall at the Swedish-owned pyrite mine at Aznalcóllar (Seville, Spain) burst, causing the most harmful environmental and socio-economic disaster in the history of the River Guadiamar basin. The damage was so great that the regional government decided in May 1998 to finance a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research initiative with the objective of eradicating or at least minimising all of the negative social, economic and environmental impacts. This paper utilises a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis to identify eight strategic measures aimed at providing policymakers with key guidelines on implementing a sustainable development model, in a broad sense.