Enhancing chlamydospore production in Duddingtonia flagrans on solid substrate: The impact of mannitol and varied cultivation conditions.

Duddingtonia flagrans is a nematophagous fungus which has shown promising results as a non-chemical parasitic control tool. The fungus disrupts the parasite's life cycle by trapping larvae in the environment through the networks generated from chlamydospores, thus preventing the reinfection of animals. One barrier to the development of a commercial product using this tool is the need to increase chlamydospore production in the laboratory for its administration to livestock.

Long-Range Traffic Monitoring Based on Pulse-Compression Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Advanced Vehicle Tracking and Classification Algorithm.

We introduce a novel long-range traffic monitoring system for vehicle detection, tracking, and classification based on fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). High resolution and long range are provided by the use of an optimized setup incorporating pulse compression, which, to our knowledge, is the first time that is applied to a traffic-monitoring DAS system. The raw data acquired with this sensor feeds an automatic vehicle detection and tracking algorithm based on a novel transformed domain that can be regarded as an evolution of the Hough Transform operating with non-binary valued signals.

Association between Germline Single-Nucleotide Variants in ADME Genes and Major Molecular Response to Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients.

Imatinib is the most common first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) used to treat chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML). However, only a proportion of patients achieve major molecular response (MMR), so there is a need to find biological factors that aid the selection of the optimal therapeutic strategy (imatinib vs. more potent second-generation TKIs).

Real-life analysis on safety and efficacy of asciminib for ponatinib pretreated patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Failure of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (2GTKI) is a challenging situation in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Asciminib, recently approved by the US Federal Drug Administration, has demonstrated in clinical trials a good efficacy and safety profile after failure of 2GTKI. However, no study has specifically addressed response rates to asciminib in ponatinib pretreated patients (PPT).

Influence of Telomere Length on the Achievement of Deep Molecular Response With Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors have dramatically changed the outcome of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and nowadays, one of the main treatment goals is the achievement of deep molecular responses (DMRs), which can eventually lead to therapy discontinuation approaches. Few biological factors at diagnosis have been associated with this level of response. Telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood cells of patients with CML has been related to disease stage, response to therapy and disease progression, but little is known about its role on DMR.

Impact of BCR-ABL1 Transcript Type on Response, Treatment-Free Remission Rate and Survival in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Treated with Imatinib.

The most frequent -p210 transcripts in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) are e14a2 and e13a2. Imatinib (IM) is the most common first-line tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) used to treat CML. Some studies suggest that transcript types confer different responses to IM.

Two-wavelength phase-sensitive OTDR sensor using perfect periodic correlation codes for measurement range enhancement, noise reduction and fading compensation.

We demonstrate a two-wavelength differential-phase-measuring OTDR sensor that uses perfect periodic correlation phase codes to enhance the measurement performance. The two-wavelength technique extends the measurement range of OTDR sensors by synthesizing a virtual longer-wavelength measurement from two simultaneous measurements of phase using different lasers. This increases the range free from phase unwrapping errors.

Effect of macrocyclic lactones on nontarget coprophilic organisms: a review.

Macrocyclic lactones are frequently used dewormers in livestock farms around the world. Due to their wide spectrum of action against nematodes and arthropods and their practicality of application at very low doses, their use has become massive since their discovery. These compounds are eliminated in a large percentage in the feces of animals, causing adverse effects on coprophilic fauna.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia in pregnancy: a challenge for maternal and fetal follow-up.

Background: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a rare entity during pregnancy. The fetal risk is determined primarily by the ability of autoantibodies to cross the placental barrier. Currently, the establishment of a standardized antenatal care in cases with AIHA remains as a pending issue.

Feasibility of treatment discontinuation in chronic myeloid leukemia in clinical practice: results from a nationwide series of 236 patients.

Over half of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in deep molecular response do not lose the major molecular response (MMR) after stopping treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). This strategy is safe in clinical trials, but its applicability in the real-life setting remains unsettled. We describe the outcomes after TKI discontinuation in a nationwide series of 236 CML patients.

Predatory effect of Duddingtonia flagrans on infective larvae of gastro-intestinal parasites under sunny and shaded conditions.

Duddingtonia flagrans is a natural strain of Nematophagous-Fungi isolated around the world. It has demonstrated efficacy and ease of use in laboratory as well as in field conditions. The fungus contributes to the prophylactic control of the worms by reducing the number of L on pasture.

Brillouin optical time-domain analysis sensor assisted by Brillouin distributed amplification of pump pulses.

We demonstrate the extension of the measurement range of Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) sensors using a distributed Brillouin amplifier (DBA). The technique is based on injecting a DBA pump wave in the fiber to generate an additional Brillouin interaction that amplifies the BOTDA pump pulses and compensates optical fiber attenuation. This amplification does not introduce any significant noise to the BOTDA's probe wave due to the inherent directionality of the Brillouin gain.

Lack of negative effects of the biological control agent Duddingtonia flagrans on soil nematodes and other nematophagous fungi.

The possible environmental effects of the massive use of Duddingtonia flagrans for controlling sheep nematodes were evaluated in two regions. Non-supplemented faeces and faeces from sheep supplemented with D. flagrans were deposited three times on pasture plots and samples were collected 7 and 14 days post-deposition.

Nematophagous fungi from decomposing cattle faeces in Argentina.

Background: Biological control of gastrointestinal nematodes of ruminants by use of nematophagous fungi would become part of any livestock parasite integral control system. Identifying autochthonous species that could then be selected for mass production is an important phase in the practical use of biological control.

Aims: To search for nematophagous fungi with potential use as biological control agents against gastrointestinal nematodes in Argentina.

Phasorial differential pulse-width pair technique for long-range Brillouin optical time-domain analysis sensors.

We introduce a novel phasorial differential pulse-width pair (PDPP) method for Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) sensors that combines spatial resolution enhancement with increased tolerance to non-local effects. It is based on the subtraction of the complex time-domain traces supplied by a sensor configuration that uses a phase-modulated probe wave and RF demodulation. The fundamentals of the technique are first described theoretically and using numerical simulation of the propagating waves.

Synthesis of Brillouin frequency shift profiles to compensate non-local effects and Brillouin induced noise in BOTDA sensors.

We present a novel technique for Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) sensors that simultaneously compensates non-local effects and reduces Brillouin noise. The technique relies on the wavelength modulation of the optical source to modify the Brillouin interaction between probe and pump waves during their propagation. The resulting Brillouin distribution mimics the wavelength modulation, creating a virtual Brillouin frequency shift profile along the sensing fiber.

Experimental demonstration of lossy mode resonance generation for transverse-magnetic and transverse-electric polarizations.

This Letter, presents the fabrication of lossy mode resonance (LMR) devices based on titanium dioxide (TiO2)/ poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) coatings deposited on side-polished D-shaped optical fibers. TiO2 thin films have been obtained by means of the layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique. LbL enables us to produce smooth and homogeneous coatings on the polished side of the fiber.

BOTDA measurements tolerant to non-local effects by using a phase-modulated probe wave and RF demodulation.

We demonstrate a Brillouin optical time domain analysis sensor based on a phase-modulated probe wave and RF demodulation that provides measurements tolerant to frequency-dependent variations of the pump pulse power induced by non-local effects. The tolerance to non-local effects is based on the special characteristics of the detection process, which provides an RF phase-shift signal that is largely independent of the Brillouin gain magnitude. Proof-of-concept experiments performed over a 20-km-long fiber demonstrate that the measured RF phase-shift spectrum remains unaltered for large frequency-dependent deformations of the pump pulse power.

The use of soy protein polymers as a release device for nematophagous fungi in the control of parasitic nematodes in ruminants.

This trial was conducted to evaluate the predatory activity of Duddingtonia flagrans incorporated into soy protein-based polymers as a controlled-release device (CRD). The rate of fungal release from the polymers and time of residence of the CRD in the rumen of a cannulated sheep was also determined. After administration to the sheep, the CRD was extracted at weekly intervals over a month for observation of its physical structure and faeces were collected to observe the subsequent predatory activity of the fungus in Petri dishes with water-agar 2% and Panagrellus spp.

Dynamic BOTDA measurements based on Brillouin phase-shift and RF demodulation.

We demonstrate a novel dynamic BOTDA sensor based, for the first time to our knowledge, on the use of the Brillouin phase-shift in addition to the conventional Brillouin gain. This provides the advantage of measurements that are largely immune to variations in fiber attenuation or changes in pump pulse power. Furthermore, the optical detection deployed leads to an enhanced precision or measurement time and to the broadening of the measurement range.