Search Results (12)

The influence of different mineral and organic fertiliser applications on the soil organic matter (SOM) content and quality was monitored in long-term field trials. We used long-term field experiments (27 years) with a crop rotation of potatoes, winter wheat, and spring barley on cambisol soil. The treatments were as follows: an unfertilised control (Cont), sewage sludge in normal and triple doses (SS1 and SS3, respectively), farmyard manure (F1) in a conventional dose, a half dose of farmyard manure with a half dose of mineral nitrogen (F1/2 + N1/2), straw with mineral nitrogen fertiliser (N + St), and mineral nitrogen without any organic fertiliser (N). This study focused on the ability of the total and easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP and EE-GRSP, respectively) and the water stability of aggregates (WSA) as indicators of long-term SOM quality changes. The results were compared with the content of humic substance fractions and the carbon in humic substances (C_HS), humic acids (C_HA), and fulvic acids (C_FA). The lowest SOM content and quality were observed in the control treatment. The highest overall SOM quality, including the degree of polymerisation (HA) and the GRSP content, was found in the F1 treatment. The organic matter in sewage sludge contributed less to the formation of stable SOM than straw. A significant correlation was found between both the EE-GRSP and the T-GRSP and the content of the C_SOM, C_HS, C_HA, and HA, but not with the C_FA. The influence of fertiliser on the GRSP content was demonstrated. However, no relationship was observed between the WSA and SOM quality, the EE-GRSP, or the T-GRSP content. Full article

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a chronic middle ear inflammatory condition due to persistent polymicrobial middle ear infection. The interaction between local immune responses and microbial communities is not well understood, complicating the development of targeted therapies. This study aimed to characterise local immune cell responses and microbial composition in CSOM-affected middle ear mucosa, focusing on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. A total of 24 CSOM patients and 22 controls undergoing tympanomastoid surgery participated in this prospective study. Middle ear and mastoid mucosa were collected for histological and microbiological analysis. Bacterial identification was performed using standard culture methods and Vitek MS, while immune cell populations were quantified via immunohistochemistry. Statistical analyses were performed using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. Microbiology results identified multiple pathogens in CSOM, including S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, with polymicrobial infections in 10 samples. CSOM patients exhibited significantly elevated immune cells, including CD3⁺, CD20⁺, and CD68⁺ cells, compared to controls. Histological analysis showed Gram-positive bacteria in three mastoid samples, with positive antibody staining for S. aureus (20.8%) and P. aeruginosa (12.5%) in CSOM patients. Controls had no bacterial staining. Intracellular bacteria may evade host defences and reduce antibiotic efficacy, contributing to CSOM persistence. Targeting intracellular pathogens in future treatments, along with studying polymicrobial communities, could improve management strategies. Full article

We designed and synthesized new indolocarbazole-triazine derivatives, 9-di-tert-butyl-5,7-bis(4-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl)-5,7-dihydroindolo[2,3-b]carbazole (2TRZ-P-ICz) and 3,9-di-tert-butyl-5,7-bis(5′-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-[1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-2′-yl)-5,7-dihydroindolo[2,3-b]carbazole (2TRZ-TP-ICz), as new bipolar host materials for red phosphorescent OLEDs. In the film state, 2TRZ-P-ICz and 2TRZ-TP-ICz exhibited photoluminescence maxima at 480 nm and 488 nm, respectively. The dipole moment characteristics of the new compounds under various solvent conditions were investigated using the Lippert–Mataga equation. The results showed that the dipole moment of 2TRZ-P-ICz is 26.9D, while that of 2TRZ-TP-ICz is 21.3D. The delayed fluorescence lifetimes were 0.188 μs for 2TRZ-P-ICz and 2.080 μs for 2TRZ-TP-ICz, with 2TRZ-TP-ICz showing TADF characteristics. Additionally, 2TRZ-TP-ICz was found to have a ΔEST of less than 0.2 eV. The triplet energy levels of the newly synthesized bipolar host materials were found to be 2.72 and 2.75 eV, confirming their suitability for use in red phosphorescent OLEDs. To investigate the carrier mobility of the synthesized materials, hole-only devices and electron-only devices were fabricated and tested. The hole mobility value at 1V was found to be 3.43 × 10⁻³ cm²/Vs for 2TRZ-P-ICz and 2.16 × 10⁻³ cm²/Vs for 2TRZ-TP-ICz. For electron mobility at 1V, 2TRZ-P-ICz showed a value of 4.41 × 10⁻⁹ cm²/Vs, while 2TRZ-TP-ICz exhibited a value of 9.13 × 10⁻⁹ cm²/Vs. As a result, when the new material was used as a host in red phosphorescent OLEDs, 2TRZ-TP-ICz achieved a current efficiency of 9.92 cd/A, an external quantum efficiency of 13.7%, CIE coordinates of (0.679, 0.319), and an electroluminescence maximum wavelength of 626 nm. Full article

The glomalin content is generally considered an indicator of the soil organic matter (SOM) quality. The content of easily extractable glomalin (EEG) and the total glomalin (TG) content was investigated across 71 different sites in the Czech Republic with arable soil and crop production (12 chernozems, 30 luvisols, 17 cambisols, and 12 fluvisols). The majority of the crops in the crop rotation were cereals (45.5%—mainly winter wheat, winter barley, and spring barley). The proportion of winter canola within the crop rotation was 15.9%. The contribution of other crops was substantially smaller (alfalfa, clover, potatoes, beet, silage maize, grain maize). The representation of crops in the crop rotation is standard for conventional farming in the Czech Republic. Based on the results of long-term field monitoring at 71 sites in different soil–climate conditions, we can state the following. The TG content was significantly correlated with the soil organic matter carbon content (C_SOM), as well as another important indicator of SOM quality (humic and fulvic acid carbon content ratio—C_HA/C_FA). A significant and positive correlation was also determined for the TG and clay content (size < 0.002 mm), as well as particles smaller than 0.01 mm. The easily extractable glomalin content (EEG) did not differ based on the reference soil group (RSG). On the other hand, the total glomalin content (TG) was significantly higher in the chernozem RSG in comparison with other RSGs (luvisols, cambisols, fluvisols). There was no relationship between the pH_CaCl2 and glomalin (EEG; TG). The same can be said about the relationship between glomalin (EEG; TG) and the bulk density and porosity. No link was established between the glomalin content (EEG; TG) and phosphorus plant-available content. There was no relationship between the amount of applied organic matter (carbon inputs) and the soil glomalin content (EEG; TG). This relationship was not influenced by the type of applied organic fertilizer. No significant relationship was found for either straw, manure, or compost. The data on the glomalin content are significantly influenced by the site (soil type and soil texture). Full article

Polymicrobial meningitis is a rare entity in the adult population, especially in the antibiotic era. However, disorders such as chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) or even poor oral hygiene are considered risk factors for the development of such cerebral infection. We report a case of polymicrobial meningitis associated with oto-mastoiditis in a 64-year-old female patient known to have CSOM. The patient presented atypical symptoms for community-acquired meningitis, showing subacute evolution of headache, without fever or neck stiffness. The aerobe microorganisms Streptococcus anginosus and Corynebacterium spp., sensitive to beta-lactamines, and the anaerobe Prevotella spp., resistant to penicillin and metronidazole, were isolated from CSF specimens, while Proteus mirabilis and Enterococcus faecalis were identified from the ear drainage. The diversity of pathogens identified in our case led us to the hypothesis of two different sources of meningitis: otogenic and/or odontogenic. Favorable evolution was obtained after a multi-disciplinary approach, combining surgery and broad-spectrum antibiotics. In addition, we performed a literature review that highlights the low incidence of polymicrobial mixed aerobe–anaerobe meningitis. Full article

The objective of this study was to assess the functional outcomes of dogs wearing nail grips in the first 2 weeks following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). Thirty dogs were included (n = 13 nail grips and n = 17 sham grips). Visual lameness scores (VLS), total pressure index (TPI), and client-specific outcome measures (CSOMs) were obtained by blinded observers on day 1 and day 14 +/− 3 post TPLO. CSOMs were also obtained on day 7. There were no differences in VLS and TPI between the treatment and sham group on day 14 (p = 0.44 and p = 0.59, respectively) or at any time point. CSOMs assessing walking on slippery flooring, ability to rise, and consistent use of surgical limb on a 5 min walk were also not different between groups (p = 0.78, p = 0.80, and p = 0.63) at any time point. Nail grips were well tolerated in dogs after orthopedic surgery. This study did not demonstrate a benefit for dogs wearing nail grips during the first two weeks after TPLO; however, further studies are warranted. Full article

The influence of different fertilizers (mineral/organic) on the quantity and quality of soil organic matter was monitored in long-term stationary experiments (27 years) with silage maize monoculture production on Luvisol. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between easily extractable glomalin (EEG), total glomalin (TG), and parameters commonly used for the determination of soil organic matter quality, i.e., the content of humic acids (C_HA), fulvic acids (C_FA), and potential wettability index (PWI). A significant correlation was found between EEG content and C_SOM content, humic acid content (C_HA), humic acid/fulvic acid ratio (C_HA/C_FA), PWI, and index of aromaticity (IAR). Furthermore, the contents of EEG and TG correlated with soil organic carbon (C_SOM). Periodical application of sewage sludge and cattle slurry increased the content of glomalin in soils. From the results, it is obvious that data about glomalin content can be used to study soil organic matter quality. A more sensitive method (a method that reacts more to changes in components of soil fertility) seems to be the determination of EEG rather than TG. The factors supporting use of EEG extraction in agronomic practice are mainly the substantially shorter time of analysis than TG, C_HA, and C_FA determination and lower chemical consumption. Furthermore, the PWI method is even suitable for studying soil organic matter quality. On the other hand, the humus quality ratio (E4/E6) does not provide relevant information about soil organic matter quality. Full article

Nowadays, one of the main challenges in computer architectures is scalability; indeed, novel processor architectures can include thousands of processing elements on a single chip and using them efficiently remains a big issue. An interesting source of inspiration for handling scalability is the mammalian brain and different works on neuromorphic computation have attempted to address this question. The Self-configurable 3D Cellular Adaptive Platform (SCALP) has been designed with the goal of prototyping such types of systems and has led to the proposal of the Cellular Self-Organizing Maps (CSOM) algorithm. In this paper, we present a hardware architecture for CSOM in the form of interconnected neural units with the specific property of supporting an asynchronous deployment on a multi-FPGA 3D array. The Asynchronous CSOM (ACSOM) algorithm exploits the underlying Network-on-Chip structure to be provided by SCALP in order to overcome the multi-path propagation issue presented by a straightforward CSOM implementation. We explore its behaviour under different map topologies and scalar representations. The results suggest that a larger network size with low precision coding obtains an optimal ratio between algorithm accuracy and FPGA resources. Full article

Soil organic matter carbon (C_SOM) compounds degradation was observed in long-term field experiments with silage maize monoculture. Over a period of 26 years, the content of carbon in topsoil decreased by 22% in control unfertilized plots compared to 25% and 26% in treatments fertilized annually with mineral nitrogen. With annual wheat straw application (together with mineral N), the content of C_SOM decreased by 8%. Contrary to that, the annual application of farmyard manure resulted in a C_SOM increase of 16%. The ratio of carbon produced by maize related to total topsoil C_SOM content ranged between 8.1–11.8%. In plots with mineral N fertilization, this ratio was always higher than in the unfertilized control plots. With the weaker soil extraction agent (CaCl₂), the ratio of carbon produced by maize was determined to be 17.9–20.7%. With stronger extraction agent (pyrophosphate) it was only 10.2–14.6%. This shows that maize produced mostly unstable carbon compounds. Mineral N application resulted in stronger mineralization of original and stable organic matter compared to the unfertilized control. However, the increase of maize-produced carbon content in fertilized plots did not compensate for the decrease of “old” organic matter. As a result, a tendency to decrease total C_SOM content in plots with mineral N applied was observed. Full article

Background. Previous studies reported human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in middle ear tumors, whereas these viruses have been poorly investigated in chronic inflammatory middle ear diseases. We investigated HPVs in non-tumor middle ear diseases, including chronic otitis media (COM). Methods. COM specimens (n = 52), including chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) (n =38) and cholesteatoma (COMC) (n = 14), as well as normal middle ear (NME) specimens (n = 56) were analyzed. HPV sequences and DNA loads were analyzed by quantitative-PCR. HPV genotyping was performed by direct sequencing. Results. HPV DNA was detected in 23% (12/52) of COM and in 30.4% (17/56) of NME (p > 0.05). Specifically, HPV DNA sequences were found in 26.3% (10/38) of CSOM and in 14.3% (2/14) of COMC (p > 0.05). Interestingly, the HPV DNA load was higher in COMC (mean 7.47 copy/cell) than in CSOM (mean 1.02 copy/cell) and NME (mean 1.18 copy/cell) (P = 0.03 and P = 0.017 versus CSOM and NME, respectively). HPV16 and HPV18 were the main genotypes detected in COMC, CSOM and NME. Conclusions. These data suggest that HPV may infect the middle ear mucosa, whereas HPV-positive COMCs are associated with higher viral DNA loads as compared to NME. Full article

Antibiotics are over-prescribed in low-and-middle-income countries, where the infection rate is high. The global paucity of standard treatment guidelines and reliable diagnose-specific prescription data from high-infection risk departments such as the otorhinolaryngology (ENT: ears, nose and throat) is a barrier to rationalize antibiotic use and combat antibiotic resistance. The study was conducted to present diagnose-specific antibiotic prescribing patterns of five years at ENT inpatient departments of two private-sector Indian hospitals. Data of all consecutive inpatients (n = 3527) were collected but analyzed for the inpatients aged >15 years (n = 2909) using the World Health Organization’s methodologies. Patient records were divided into four diagnoses groups: surgical, non-surgical, chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), and others. Of 2909 inpatients, 51% had surgical diagnoses. An average of 83% of patients in the clean surgery group and more than 75% in the viral and non-infectious groups were prescribed antibiotics. CSOM was the most common diagnosis (31%), where 90% of inpatients were prescribed antibiotics. Overall, third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones were most commonly prescribed. This study highlights the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics to patients of clean surgeries, viral infections, and non-infectious groups. The single-prophylactic dose of antibiotic for clean-contaminated surgeries was replaced by the prolonged empirical prescribing. The use of microbiology investigations was insignificant. Full article

Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) is a widely prevalent disease, which is a leading cause of acquired deafness worldwide, and is associated with complications with significant mortality and morbidity. It often responds poorly to standard of care therapy and places a disproportionate burden on at-risk populations. The microbiology and antibiotic resistance of CSOM varies based on local factors, including health care access, comorbidities, and antibiotic prescribing practices. We evaluated the role and feasibility of using routine culture for the treatment of CSOM in rural areas as a means of improving treatment of CSOM. More than 400 patients were screened in a rural clinic in South Africa over six weeks, and 14 met study criteria and consented for participation. Gram-negative organisms predominated overall, although Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly isolated single species. A majority of the pathogens were relatively sensitive to commonly prescribed antibiotics, but two cases of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus were cultured, and one patient grew a Scedosporium species. Treatment on follow-up was able to be directed by culture results, suggesting routine culture at the initial point of contact with the health care system may play a pivotal role in addressing this widely prevalent and devastating disease. Full article