Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia is a common infection in patients with AIDS but an infrequent cause of pneumonia in cancer patients. Little is known about the impact of cancer type and hematopoietic ...stem cell transplantation on the presentation and outcome of P. jiroveci pneumonia in cancer patients. A retrospective cohort study of all patients with cancer and P. jiroveci pneumonia cared for at The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center during 1990-2003 was conducted. Eighty episodes of P. jiroveci pneumonia in 79 patients were identified. In most (67%) episodes, patients had a hematologic malignancy. In 23 (29%) episodes, patients had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Twenty-seven percent of patients with histopathologically confirmed P. jiroveci pneumonia had nodular infiltrates on the radiographic study. Pleural effusion and pneumothorax were more common in patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation than in those with solid tumors. Clinical suspicion of P. jiroveci pneumonia was less common in patients with nodular infiltrates than in those without such a radiographic finding (7 vs. 39%; p=0.002). Twenty-six of 76 (34%) patients with data available died of P. jiroveci pneumonia. Predictors of death by univariate analysis included older age, tachypnea, high APACHE II score, use of mechanical ventilation or vasopressors, lower arterial pH level, absence of interstitial component, pneumothorax, and comorbid conditions (all p<0.05). Multivariate analysis identified the use of mechanical ventilation as an independent predictor of death. Death attributable to P. jiroveci pneumonia appeared to be higher in patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The clinical presentation of P. jiroveci pneumonia in cancer patients may be affected by the category of cancer and the history of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. P. jiroveci pneumonia remains a rare yet severe infection in cancer patients.
Growing concerns about the environmental consequences of chemically based pest control strategies have precipitated a call for the development of integrated, ecologically based pest management ...programs. Carabid or ground beetles (Coleoptera:Carabidae) are an important group of natural enemies of common agricultural pests such as aphids, slugs, and other beetles. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most common forage crop species in the semi-arid western United States. In 2011, Montana alone produced 4.0 × 106 Mg of alfalfa on 8.1 × 105 ha for gross revenue in excess of US$4.3 × 108,making it the third largest crop by revenue. We conducted our study over the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons. Each year, our study consisted of three sites each with adjacent systems of monoculture alfalfa, alfalfa nurse cropped with hay barley, and an uncultivated refuge consisting of a variety of forbs and grasses. Carabid community structure differed and strong temporal shifts were detected during both 2012 and 2013.Multivariate fuzzy set ordination suggests that variation in canopy height among the three vegetation systems was primarily responsible for the differences observed in carabid community structure. Land managers may be able to enhance carabid species richness and total abundance by creating a heterogeneous vegetation structure, and nurse cropping in particular may be effective strategy to achieve this goal.
Lithography can be performed with beams of neutral atoms in metastable excited states to pattern self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold. An estimated exposure of a SAM of ...dodecanethiolate (DDT) to 15 to 20 metastable argon atoms per DDT molecule damaged the SAM sufficiently to allow penetration of an aqueous solution of ferricyanide to the surface of the gold. This solution etched the gold and transformed the patterns in the SAMs into structures of gold; these structures had edge resolution of less than 100 nanometers. Regions of SAMs as large as 2 square centimeters were patterned by exposure to a beam of metastable argon atoms. These observations suggest that this system may be useful in new forms of micro- and nanolithography.
A rise in the incidence of mosquito-transmitted Cache Valley virus (CVV) in lambs in 2011 prompted a study to evaluate on-animal pyrethroid insecticides to reduce mosquito attacks on sheep. Using ...enclosure traps for 1 night per wk for 6 wk, we compared engorgement rates of mosquitoes given the opportunity to feed on untreated sheep and sheep treated with 1 Python® insecticide ear tag (containing 10% zeta-cypermethrin and 20% piperonyl butoxide) per animal or 2 synergized permethrin body spray treatments (containing 2.5% permethrin and 2.5% piperonyl butoxide). During the 6-wk study, 18,920 mosquitoes were collected in the animal-baited enclosure traps. Thirteen species were identified from these collections with the floodwater species Aedes increpitus and Ae. idahoensis making up 68% of the total. Potential CVV vector species, making up 25% of the samples, included Ae. vexans, Ae. dorsalis, Culex tarsalis, and Culiseta inornata. Traps baited with untreated sheep collected 9,701 mosquitoes with 65% of these engorged. Traps baited with sheep treated with Python ear tags or permethrin spray collected 4,034 and 4,555, respectively, with engorgement rates of 23% and 35%. Blood feeding on ear-tagged sheep was significantly reduced by as much as 90% compared to the untreated sheep, and protection lasted 4 wk or longer. Permethrin spray treatments were most effective within 24 h after application and provided better protection against Ae. dorsalis than the Python tag. Effectiveness of the permethrin spray diminished 1 wk after the 2nd application was made. The effect of these treatments appeared to be repellency because negligible mosquito mortality was observed at the time of collection. Further evaluation of these insecticides under conditions of natural exposure to a mosquito-borne pathogen is warranted.
Livestock may impact habitat quality for grasshoppers by reducing food availability and by altering microclimate and potential oviposition sites. A 5-year study was conducted to create consistent ...grazing impacts on replicated plots and measure their effects on plant cover, microclimate, and grasshopper abundance. Cattle were used to produce two levels of grazing intensity that were compared to ungrazed controls. Differences in plant cover were greatest immediately after grazing each summer, grasshopper microhabitats tending to be shadier, cooler, less windy, and more humid in the ungrazed plots. The grasshopper assemblage included five of the worst pest grasshopper species in North America:
Ageneotettix deorum,
Aulocara elliotti,
Melanoplus sanguinipes,
M. packardii, and
Camnula pellucida. Most species had greater abundance on ungrazed pastures, particularly during the 4–6 weeks after grazing each year. However,
A. elliotti was often more abundant in heavily grazed areas early in the year when early instars were present and in late summer when adults were predominant. There was no strong evidence that the effect of grazing on grasshopper abundance increased over the 5-year study. At this time, all changes in grasshopper numbers cannot be directly attributed to particular habitat characteristics that changed after grazing, but the results suggest that grazing management could be used to reduce pest grasshopper densities.
Assesses biosecurity risk across international seed trade networks of forage crops using models of contaminant spread that integrate network connectivity and trade volume. Creates a stochastic model ...of hypothetical contaminants through global seed trade networks via an estimation of realistic dispersal probabilities from quarantine weed seed detections and incursions from border security interception data in New Zealand. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Sweep net sampling of spring and winter wheat (Triticum spp.) was conducted in 2007 and 2008 at the Fort Ellis Research and Extension Center, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT to determine ...hymenoptera parasitoid family composition, abundance, and diversity in two wheat-fallow cropping systems managed by either tillage, herbicides, or domestic sheep (Ovis aries) grazing. Eleven hymenopteran families classified as parasitoids were captured in 2007 and 16 families in 2008. The mean abundance of parasitoids was greatest (P ≤ 0.05) in crops where the fallow component of the rotation was managed with sheep grazing, as opposed to tillage and herbicide systems. Family diversity, as indexed by Simpson's D, did not differ between fallow management treatments (P = 0.88) or cropping system (P = 0.74) but did differ between study year (P ≤ 0.01).
The goal of the present study was to identify differences in gene expression between SAT, VAT and EAT depots in Class III severely obese individuals.
Human subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral (VAT) ...adipose tissues exhibit differential gene expression profiles. There is little information, however, about the other proximal white adipose tissue, epigastric (EAT), in terms of its function and contribution to metabolism.
Using RNA from adipose biospecimens obtained from Class III severely obese patients undergoing open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, we compared gene expression profiles between SAT, VAT and EAT, using microarrays validated by real-time quantitative PCR.
The three depots were found to share 1907 genes. VAT had the greatest number of genes (66) expressed exclusively in this depot, followed by SAT (23), and then EAT (14). Moreover, VAT shared more genes with EAT (65) than with SAT (38). Further analyses using ratios of SAT/EAT, VAT/EAT and SAT/VAT identified specific as well as overlapping networks and pathways of genes representing dermatological diseases, inflammation, cell cycle and growth, cancer and development. Targeted analysis of genes, having a role in adipose tissue development and function, revealed that Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha (PGC1-α) that regulates the precursor of the hormone Irisin (FNCD5) were abundantly expressed in all three fat depots, along with fibroblast growth factors (FGF) FGF1, FGF7 and FGF10, whereas, FGF19 and FGF21 were undetectable.
These data indicate that EAT has more in common with VAT, suggesting similar metabolic potential. The human epigastric adipose depot could have a significant functional role in metabolic diseases and should be further investigated.
Examines the frequency, origin and identity of contaminant seeds within seed for sowing shipments entering New Zealand between 2014–2018. Determines 1) the most and least contaminated crop types and ...crop seeds entering New Zealand, including corresponding contamination rates; 2a) the most common contaminant seeds; 2b) the most common category of contaminant seed; 2c) which crop seed, crop type and exporting country are most commonly associated with a regulated quarantine weed, and; 3) whether the size of a seed lot is linked to contamination. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
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