Disseminated Cryptococcus neoformans: case report and review of the literature.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a yeastlike encapsulated basidiomycetous fungus that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and cause meningitis in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. Cryptococcus neoformans has emerged as a major opportunistic pathogen because of the widespread use of immunosuppressive therapy. It causes most cryptococcal infections in humans, and disseminated infection can have cutaneous manifestations.

Ecotypic differentiation of gas exchange responses and leaf anatomy in a tropical forest understory shrub from areas of contrasting rainfall regimes.

Many studies have documented genetic differentiation of physiological ecotypes along environmental gradients in the temperate zone, but this topic has received little attention in tropical plants. We collected cuttings of Psychotria horizontalis (Rubiaceae) from Atlantic and Pacific coastal areas in central Panama, which differed twofold in annual rainfall, and grew them under common conditions in a screened, open-air growing house for 14 months. Plants from the wetter (Atlantic) region showed significantly higher stomatal conductance, but photosynthetic rates were similar in both groups, leading to higher water use efficiency in plants from the drier (Pacific) region.