The API 20-C clinical yeast identification system (API Laboratory Products Ltd, St. Laurent, Quebec) has given routine clinical laboratories a means of readily discriminating among 15 species of Candida, many species of Cryptococcus, Geotrichum (a mould), Prototheca (an alga), Rhodotorula, Torulopsis, and Trichosporon that had not been previously available. It is to be expected that with the availability of this test, the microbiology laboratory would begin to identify these hitherto unfamiliar species. The unfamiliarity of the new name might well attract the clinicians' attention. We decided to look at the epidemiology of these yeasts in sputum and urine. For the yeast cultures of the first 3 months of 1992, there were 22 individuals with the isolation of Candida albicans from the urine and 10 from the sputum. For non-Candida albicans yeasts, there were 16 from urine (one C. parapsilosis, seven C. tropicalis, six Torulopsis glabrata, and two Trichosporon beigelii) and two from sputum (one C. parapsilosis and one C. tropicalis). Although yeasts other than C. albicans were seldom isolated from the sputum, it was also apparent on review of these cases that only onehalf of patients were admitted with yeasts other than C. albicans or, occasionally, C. tropicalis in the urine. Eight of the 16 patients with non-C. albicans yeasts in the urine on review were shown to have previously had a C. albicans isolated from the urine that had been treated with fluconazole before the appearance of the non-C, albicans isolate. Three-fourths of the patients with funguria had Foley catheters or suprapubic catheters, and the remainder had Texas (condom) catheters (two exceptions). Thus, canTable 1. Isolation of Yeast Species 1991 (as individuals) a
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is intimately associated with behavioral characteristics of alcohol use disorders, including high motivation to drink and difficulty with moderation. Thus, continued mechanistic research investigating PFC cells and targets altered by ethanol experiences should inform translational efforts to craft new, efficacious treatments. Inhibitory interneurons expressing parvalbumin (PV-INs) comprise only a minor fraction of cells within the PFC, yet these cells are indispensable for coordinating PFC ensemble function, oscillatory activity, and subcortical output. Based on this, PV-INs represent an exciting target for the rational design of breakthrough treatments for alcohol use disorders. Here, we assessed experience-dependent physiological adaptations via ethanol place conditioning. By manipulating the timing of administration relative to conditioning sessions, equivalent ethanol exposure can form either rewarding or aversive memories in different individuals. Here, we found that female mice and male mice on a C57BL/6J background display conditioned place preference (CPP) or aversion (CPA) to an intoxicating dose of ethanol (2 g/kg, intraperitoneal [i.p.]) without overt differences between sexes. Ethanol reward learning was associated with decreased PV-IN excitability in deep layer prelimbic PFC, whereas PV-INs from CPA mice were not different from controls. Furthermore, PV-INs from mice in the CPP group, but not the CPA group, displayed potentiated excitatory synaptic strength that emerged during 1 week of abstinence. Taken together, these findings illustrate that synaptic and intrinsic adaptations associated with ethanol can depend on an individual's experience. These studies provide further context and support for PFC PV-INs as intriguing targets for modulating alcohol associations.
Vaccines exist to protect children and adults from pneumococcal infection. The adult vaccine contains capsular polysaccharides from those pneumococci causing the vast majority of pneumococcal infection around the world. This vaccine is, however, poorly immunogenic and not as protective as would be desired. The vaccine for children is a seven-valent conjugate vaccine, which is highly protective against invasive infection and offers some protection against otitis media and pneumococcal carriage. The capsular types in the vaccine are not all appropriate for the developing world and the vaccine is too expensive for use in the developing world. As a result of these problems there have been extensive efforts to develop pneumococcal vaccines for adults and children based on cross-reactive protein antigens. The molecules used are in general virulence factors and the antibodies to them neutralize their function, thus reducing the virulence of the infecting bacteria. Studies in humans have revealed that the proteins studied are invariably immunogenic in humans, as at least low levels of antibody are seen following colonization or infection. Studies in mice have demonstrated that vaccines containing more than one of these virulence proteins are generally more protective than those involving just one. Proteins that have been studied the most in mice are pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), PspC, PsaA, and pneumolysin. PspA has been used in human safety trials and was shown to elicit antibodies that can protect mice from otherwise fatal pneumococcal infections.
We experimentally establish for the first time the influence of oxygen at carbon nanotube (CNT)-Cu interface on CNT/Cu composite electrical performances. We fabricated CNT/Cu films (CCF) with systematically varied oxygen interface characteristics through Cu electron beam deposition of CNT films functionalized by O3(g) exposure. By altering O3(g) exposure times (30–1000 s), different contents and types of interfacial O-functionalities (sp3C-O and sp2CO) were obtained. CCF with optimal interfacial oxygen type and content showed enhanced CNT-Cu wetting and improvement in 4-probe electrical conductivities and their temperature stability. For e.g., Cu/CNT with interface sp3C-O and sp2CO and O:C at% ratio ~4.6 × 10–1 showed 1.6 × and 1.8 × higher electrical conductivity at room temperature and 110 °C, respectively than composites with only sp3C-O interface and O:C at% ratio ~2.7 × 10–1. Favorable effects of interfacial oxygen in previous literature have chiefly focused on CNT/Cu mechanical performances. Systematic studies on electrical performances vs. interfacial oxygen content and type are absent. Our results fill this knowledge-gap and provide experimental evidence on benefits of optimally tailored interfacial oxygen functionalities for enhancing Cu-nanotube interactions and composite electrical performances. We believe our work will add to existing CNT/Cu interface tailoring toolkits in literature, aiding fabrication and application-development of lightweight composites with rivaling performances.
