Background: Onychomycosis, the fungal infection of the toenails or fingernails, is caused by three major groups of fungi including dermatophytes, yeasts and non-dermatophyte molds. The objective of the present study was to determine the incidence of onychomycosis and to identify the causative fungi during a one year period in Yazd, Iran. Materials and Methods: From Apr 2013 to Apr 2014 a total ...

In the manufacturing industry, nding an orientation for a mold that eliminates surface defects and insures a complete ll after termination of the gravity casting process, is an important and diicult problem. We study the problem of determining a favorable position of a mold (modeled as a polyhedron), such that when it is lled, no air bubbles and ensuing surface defects arise. Given a polyhedron...

With a growing awareness of the potential hazards of chemical and biological agents in our homes, schools and workplaces, a greater emphasis has been placed on evaluating the role of mycotoxins and mycotoxin-producing fungi in our indoor environments. Now, more then ever, the potential health effects of airborne molds and other biological contaminants are being given serious consideration in IA...

Cutaneous mycoses are among the most common infections in humans and have become an important public health issue because they cause invasive infections in immunocompromised patients. During the infectious process, dermatophyte-host interactions trigger specific metabolic adaptations that allow the pathogen to adhere to and penetrate the host tissue, scavenge nutrients, and overcome the host de...

To determine a role of human -Defensin-2 (HBD-2) in defense against cutaneous dermatophyte infection, we investigated the induction of HBD-2 mRNA expression by a nontumorigenic human keratinocyte-derived cell line, HaCaT cells, after co-culture with microconidia collected from the colonies of Trichophyton rubrum. Co-culture of T. rubrum or Candida albicans with HaCaT cells significantly induced...

BACKGROUND The identification of molds in clinical laboratories is largely on the basis of phenotypic criteria, the classification of which can be subjective. Recently, molecular methods have been introduced for identification of pathogenic molds in clinical settings. Here, we employed comparative sequence analysis to identify molds. METHODS A total of 47 clinical mold isolates were used in t...

A case of dermatophytic pseudomycetoma, in a patient with a history of recurrent lesions in the scalp, for over two years, is reported. Histopathological examination of the affected tissues revealed the mycelial aggregates or pseudogranules characteristic of the disease. Cultures of fresh tissues samples detected a fungus identified as Trichophyton tonsurans. Additional examinations failed to d...