BACKGROUND Histoplasma capsulatum comprises a worldwide complex of saprobiotic fungi mainly found in nitrogen/phosphate (often bird guano) enriched soils. The microconidia of Histoplasma species may be inhaled by mammalian hosts, and is followed by a rapid conversion to yeast that can persist in host tissues causing histoplasmosis, a deep pulmonary/systemic mycosis. Histoplasma capsulatum sensu...

A new mealybug species, Chorizococcus zoysiaesp. n., feeding on Zoysia tenuifolia (Poaceae), is described from Taiwan. Adult female, third-instar female, second-instar female and first-instar nymph were described and illustrated in this article. Keys are provides to (a) separate this new species from similar species of Chorizococcus and those of same genus on zoysia grasses and (b) to identify ...

OBJECTIVE To determine if urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) may serve as a biomarker to monitor antituberculosis (TB) therapy response, and whether LAM results before and after treatment are predictive of patient outcomes. DESIGN Prospective cohort. SETTING Outpatient referral clinic and tertiary hospital in South Africa. PARTICIPANTS Adults (≥18 years) with ≥2 TB-related symptoms (cough, f...

The rising incidence of tuberculosis worldwide means an increasing burden on diagnostic facilities, so tests simpler than Ziehl-Neelsen staining are needed. Such tests should be objective, reproducible, and have at least as good a detection limit as 10(4) bacteria/ml. A capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for detection of lipoarabinomannan (LAM) in human sputum sampl...

Ependymin, a prominent protein of the brain's extracellular fluid (ECF) was previously implicated in the consolidation of memory and in the activity-driven sharpening of the retinotectal projection. Because both these phenomena probably involve the growth and elaboration of appropriate synapses, we have tested whether ependymin can serve as a substrate for the growth of axons from goldfish reti...

BACKGROUND Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is included within group 5 of the current PH classification (unclear multifactorial mechanisms). However, data regarding the occurrence of PH in LAM are scarce. The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence and characteristics of PH in a large cohort of LAM patients with different levels of severity, and to evaluate the role of echocardiography ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient laparoscopic lumbar diskectomy (LLD) compared with laminectomy (LAM) in the surgical treatment of disabling L5-S1 disk herniation. Sixty-two adults underwent surgery for herniated L5-S1 intervertebral disks (31 LLD and 31 LAM). Operative blood loss (EBL) (milliliters), operative ...

BACKGROUND Lamivudine (LAM) and adefovir (ADV) are widely used in most Asian countries, though monotherapy is associated with the occurrence of resistance. AIM To evaluate the efficiency of LAM and ADV combined treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients with compensated cirrhosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS 206 eligible Chinese patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either LAM o...

BACKGROUND Determine-TB LAM assay is a urine point-of-care test useful for TB diagnosis in HIV-positive patients. We assessed the incremental diagnostic yield of adding LAM to algorithms based on clinical signs, sputum smear-microscopy, chest X-ray and Xpert MTB/RIF in HIV-positive patients with symptoms of pulmonary TB (PTB). METHODS Prospective observational cohort of ambulatory (either sev...

Certification challenges and higher than anticipated development costs for the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) have motivated the investigation of alternative approaches for achieving Category I precision approach and landing service. One proposed alternative is the Local Airport Monitor (LAM). This concept would rebroadcast Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) differential corrections in...