Malassezia pachydermatis
is a yeast that is frequently involved as a secondary/perpetuating factor in canine otitis externa. Topical therapies with different antifungal agents, mainly azole ...compounds, are generally successful in controlling the yeast overgrowth, but treatment failure and rapid recurrences are common. This study compared the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of
M. pachydermatis
isolates obtained from chronic and acute cases of otitis externa. The aim was to assess the possible onset of resistance mechanisms in isolates involved in long-lasting episodes with poor response to treatment. We evaluated the in vitro susceptibility to miconazole (MCZ) and clotrimazole (CTZ) of 42 isolates of
M. pachydermatis
obtained from dogs with chronic (group A,
n
= 25) and acute otitis (group B,
n
= 17), using a modified CLSI M27-A3 microdilution method. All isolates were inhibited by the antifungal agents employed, but
Malassezia
isolates from group A were significantly associated with higher minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for both agents (Median MIC values: MCZ group A 2 µg/ml, group B 1 µg/ml; CTZ group A 8 µg/ml, group B 4 µg/ml). These findings prove that these isolates had a reduced in vitro susceptibility to the antifungal agents tested. However, it is unlikely that this could have any influence on the outcome of a topical treatment. Indeed, marketed products include concentrations of the tested agents that largely exceed even the highest MICs found in this study (in most cases at least 1,000 × the MIC, or greater). In conclusion, this study suggests that isolates of
M. pachydermatis
involved in chronic cases of canine external otitis and exposed to repeated antifungal treatments are unlikely to develop mechanisms of resistance of clinical relevance.
Aim of this study was to verify whether Mueller-Hinton agar supplemented with 2 % glucose and methylene blue (MH-GM), which is used for disk diffusion susceptibility testing of Candida species by the ...Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, is suitable for testing Malassezia pachydermatis. A variant of the disk diffusion procedure utilizing a 9-mm tablet was used to test 31 isolates against clotrimazole and miconazole using MH-GM as test medium. The MH-GM agar optimally supported the growth of all M. pachydermatis isolates, provided that the yeast inoculum was prepared with a lipid source (Tween 40 and 80). Zone edges were frequently definite and clear, facilitating the measurement of zone size and minimizing subjectivity. The inhibition zones correlated with MIC values obtained in a broth dilution assay. The agar diffusion method with MH-GM as the test medium appears as a suitable procedure for testing the susceptibility of M. pachydermatis to CTZ and MCZ in clinical laboratories. This test format may allow processing a large number of isolates in epidemiological studies. This may in turn facilitate clarifying to what extent the problem "drug resistance" accounts for cases of treatment failure in dogs with Malassezia otitis and dermatitis.
Aim of this study was to verify whether Mueller-Hinton agar supplemented with 2 % glucose and methylene blue (MH-GM), which is used for disk diffusion susceptibility testing of Candida species by the ...Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, is suitable for testing Malassezia pachydermatis. A variant of the disk diffusion procedure utilizing a 9-mm tablet was used to test 31 isolates against clotrimazole and miconazole using MH-GM as test medium. The MH-GM agar optimally supported the growth of all M. pachydermatis isolates, provided that the yeast inoculum was prepared with a lipid source (Tween 40 and 80). Zone edges were frequently definite and clear, facilitating the measurement of zone size and minimizing subjectivity. The inhibition zones correlated with MIC values obtained in a broth dilution assay. The agar diffusion method with MH-GM as the test medium appears as a suitable procedure for testing the susceptibility of M. pachydermatis to CTZ and MCZ in clinical laboratories. This test format may allow processing a large number of isolates in epidemiological studies. This may in turn facilitate clarifying to what extent the problem "drug resistance" accounts for cases of treatment failure in dogs with Malassezia otitis and dermatitis.
The zero degree calorimeters for the ALICE experiment Puddu, G.; Arnaldi, R.; Chiavassa, E. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2007, Letnik:
581, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDC) for the ALICE experiment will measure the energy of the spectator nucleons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC, providing a direct measure of the centrality of ...the collisions. ZDC are spaghetti calorimeters, which detect the Cherenkov light produced by the shower particles in silica optical fibers embedded in a dense absorber. The main characteristics of the ZP and ZN detectors are described in this article. The calorimeters were tested at the CERN SPS using pion and electron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to
200
GeV
/
c
. Test beam results such as the calorimeter response, the energy resolution, the signal uniformity and the localizing capability are presented.
The Neutron Zero Degree Calorimeter for the ALICE experiment Arnaldi, R.; Chiavassa, E.; Cicalò, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
08/2006, Letnik:
564, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this paper, we present the performance of the Neutron Zero Degree Calorimeter (ZN) for the ALICE experiment. The ZN is a quartz-fiber spaghetti calorimeter, which will measure the energy of the ...spectator neutrons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC. Its principle of operation is based on the detection of the Cherenkov light produced by the charged particles of the shower in silica optical fibers, embedded in a W-alloy absorber. The detector was tested at CERN SPS using positive hadron and positron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to
150
GeV
/
c
. The response of the calorimeter, the energy resolution, the localizing capability, the signal uniformity and the transverse profile of the detectable hadronic shower are presented.
ALICE at the CERN LHC will investigate the physics of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy densities where the formation of the Quark Gluon Plasma is expected. Its properties can be studied ...from observations like the production of mesons with charm and beauty quarks. These signals have to be studied as a function of energy density, which is determined by the centrality of collisions. One of the physics observables that is closely related with the centrality of the collision is the number of spectator nucleons that can be measured by the Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDC). Having a direct geometric interpretation allows to extract the impact parameter with minimal model assumptions. This paper describes the readout system of the ZDC. The ZDC readout consists of a VME system with a ZDC Readout Card, a VME Processor, Discriminators, a ZDC Trigger Card, scalers, QDCs and TDCs. The system was successfully tested during the 2009 ALICE data taking and is currently operational at the LHC.
The zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs) for the ALICE experiment will measure the energy of the spectator nucleons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC. The dipole magnets of the LHC beam optics will ...separate the ion beams from the spectator protons; the spectator protons and neutrons will be respectively detected by the proton (ZP) and the neutron (ZN) calorimeters. Since all the spectator nucleons have the same energy, the calorimeter response is proportional to their number, providing a direct information on the centrality of the collision. ZDCs are spaghetti calorimeters, which detect the Cherenkov light produced by the shower particles in silica optical fibers embedded in a dense absorber. The technical characteristics of ZP and ZN detectors are described. The calorimeters have been tested at the CERN SPS using pion and electron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to 200 GeV/c; the ZN detector behaviour has also been studied with an indium beam of 158 GeV/c per nucleon. The beam test results are presented: the calorimeters response, the energy resolution and the localizing capability. Also the signal uniformity and a comparison between the transverse profile of the hadronic and electromagnetic shower are discussed. Moreover the differences between the ZP detector responses to protons and pions of the same energy have been investigated, exploiting the proton contamination in the positive pion beams.
A low-resistivity RPC for the ALICE dimuon arm Arnaldi, R; Baldit, A; Barret, V ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
09/2000, Letnik:
451, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In view of ALICE, the dedicated Heavy-Ion Experiment at LHC, a Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) with electrodes made of low-resistivity bakelite (
ρ≃3.5×10
9
Ω
cm
) has been tested at the CERN SPS both ...in streamer and in avalanche mode. The chamber has shown a stable behaviour and excellent rate capability: its efficiency is better than 95% for local particle fluxes of about 1 and 10 kHz/cm
2 for operation in streamer and in avalanche mode, respectively. The cluster size and the time resolution have also been measured for both modes of operation.
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