The performances of the Etest and the disk diffusion methods for testing of the susceptibilities of 235 Candida glabrata isolates to fluconazole and voriconazole were compared with that of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) approved standard broth microdilution (BMD) method. The NCCLS method used RPMI 1640 broth medium, and MICs were read after incubation for 48 h ...

Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamics code (PROMETHEUS), we explore the continued evolution of rotating helium stars, Mα >∼10 M⊙ , whose iron core collapse does not produce a successful outgoing shock, but instead forms a black hole of 2 3 M ⊙ . The model explored in greatest detail is the 14 M ⊙ helium core of a 35 M ⊙ main sequence star. The outcome is sensitive to the angular momentum. For j...

We argue that the X-ray and UV flux illuminating the parsec-scale accretion disk around luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) is super-Eddington with respect to the local far-infrared dust opacity. The far infrared opacity may be larger than in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way due to a combination of supersolar metallicity and the growth of dust grains in the dense accretion disk. Becau...

We model the spectral energy distribution of the type 1 Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548, fitting data from simultaneous optical, UV, and X-ray monitoring observations. We assume a geometry consisting of a hot central Comptonizing region surrounded by a thin accretion disk. The properties of the disk and the hot central region are determined by the feedback occurring between the hot Comptonizing region ...

As many as 5 ice giants—Neptune-mass planets composed of ∼90% ice and rock and ∼10% hydrogen—are thought to form at heliocentric distances of ∼10–25 AU on closely packed orbits spaced ∼5 Hill radii apart. Such oligarchies are ultimately unstable. Once the parent disk of planetesimals is sufficiently depleted, oligarchs perturb one another onto crossing orbits. We explore both the onset and the ...

A 850 µm map of the interacting spiral galaxy M 51 shows well-defined spiral arms, closely resembling the structures seen in CO and HI emission. However, most of the 850 µm emission originates in an underlying exponential disk, a component that has not been observed before in a face-on galaxy at these wavelengths. The scale-length of this disk is 5.45 kpc, which is somewhat larger than the scal...

By solving the time-dependent radiation transfer problem of stellar radiation through evolving superbubbles within a smoothly varying H I distribution, we have estimated the fraction of ionizing photons emitted by OB associations that escapes the H I disk of our Galaxy. We considered a coeval star-formation history and a Gaussian star-formation history with a time spread σt = 2 Myr. We find tha...

Mechanized agriculture is increasing rapidly in the Cerrado region of Brazil, causing concerns about water quality, off-site impacts, and sustainability. Our objective was to determine the impact of tillage on soil biological activity and aggregate stability in an Oxisol typical to the region. Three different tillage practices common to the Cerrado region (no-till, disk harrow, and disk plow) a...

The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of cervical length as a risk factor for spontaneous pre-term birth in twin gestations. A retrospective chart review was carried out on patients with twin pregnancies referred to our multiples' clinic. Cervical length was measured by transvaginal ultrasonography. Patients with an indicated pre-term delivery or intervention were excluded...

Recent studies of nearby spiral galaxies suggest that photodissociation regions (PDRs) are capable of producing much of the observed HI in galaxy disks. In that case, measurements of the observed HI column density and the far–ultraviolet (FUV) photon flux responsible for the photodissociation process provide a new probe of the volume density of the local underlying molecular hydrogen. We develo...