Cryptococcal pneumonia complicating pregnancy

In the present report we describe 4 previously healthy women who developed cryptococcal pneumonia during pregnancy, and 1 pregnant woman with cryptococcal meningitis. These cases illustrate a previously uncharacterized spectrum of cryptococcal disease. We also discuss 24 patients previously reported who had cryptococcal meningitis during pregnancy. Finally, we review the available data for each therapeutic option and present an algorithm for management based on appraisals of disease severity and risk to the unborn fetus. This report emphasizes the need for heightened awareness of cryptococcosis in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia, chest pain, and hypoxemia in the pregnant patient, but at present, there are insufficient epidemiologic data to determine whether incidences of pulmonary or disseminated cryptococcosis actually increase during pregnancy. The risk of congenital cryptococcosis to the unborn fetus is low, and the most likely mechanism whereby neonates acquire invasive fungal pulmonary infection is through aspiration. While it is unclear whether there is any real increased risk of spontaneous abortion or premature labor, the data indicate that overall fetal outcome depends on effective treatment of maternal infection. For patients with dense air-space consolidation, progressive pulmonary disease, or dissemination, antifungal therapy is necessary. Optimal treatment is determined by the acuity and severity of the clinical presentation. Amphotericin B (approximately 1 g) with or without flucytosine represents the choice for initial treatment of the more acutely ill patient with disseminated or progressive pulmonary cryptococcosis who requires hospitalization (whether during or after pregnancy). Oral fluconazole appears to be safe and effective alternative therapy after delivery for the less severely ill patient who can be managed on an outpatient basis. While the use of fluconazole during pregnancy generally appears safe in terms of fetal outcome (49, 58), the class C status and single report of fetal malformation (62) preclude confident recommendation for its use during pregnancy. The risks and benefits of this effective and generally less toxic drug should be discussed with the parents and weighed against the use of amphotericin B. For pregnant women with limited pulmonary cryptococcosis (segmental or nodular infiltrates) and no evidence of dissemination, we recommend close follow-up without antifungal therapy similar to the recommendation for normal hosts with minimal disease. However, it is important to note that there is no extensive experience upon which to base this recommendation for pregnant individuals (45, 55, 103, 108). It is prudent to use frequent physical examinations (for example, every 1-2 months), combined with chest roentgenograms and serum cryptococcal antigens to monitor progression and/or development of disease in both the mother and child for approximately 6 months postpartum. In conclusion, cryptococcosis during pregnancy presents a special challenge to the clinician. A balanced therapeutic approach holds great promise for successful maternal and fetal outcomes.     

High‐Rate Continuous Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Perovskites and Metal Oxides in a Colliding Vapor Stream of Microdroplets

A high‐rate, continuous synthesis of functional nanomaterials using a home engineered reactor is reported. The reactor is able to produce low‐cost, kilogram‐scale BaTiO₃ nanopowders with a nanocrystalline particle size less than 30 nm at mild temperatures (<100 °C) and ambient pressure. Nebulization and collision of warm microdroplets (60–80 °C) of Ba(OH)₂ and Ti(O‐nBu)₄ very quickly result in total hydrolysis and subsequent conversion to BaTiO₃, yielding 1.3 kg/day of high purity, highly crystalline nanoparticles (25–30 nm). This synthesis procedure also enables high‐rate production of TiO₂ anatase (2.9 kg/day). It therefore provides a general platform for processing and scaling up of functional inorganic nanomaterials under very mild conditions.     

On the Role of Exponential Splines in Image Interpolation

A Sobolev reproducing-kernel Hilbert space approach to image interpolation is introduced. The underlying kernels are exponential functions and are related to stochastic autoregressive image modeling. The corresponding image interpolants can be implemented effectively using compactly-supported exponential B-splines. A tight l₂ upper-bound on the interpolation error is then derived, suggesting that the proposed exponential functions are optimal in this regard. Experimental results indicate that the proposed interpolation approach with properly-tuned, signal-dependent weights outperforms currently available polynomial B-spline models of comparable order. Furthermore, a unified approach to image interpolation by ideal and nonideal sampling procedures is derived, suggesting that the proposed exponential kernels may have a significant role in image modeling as well. Our conclusion is that the proposed Sobolev-based approach could be instrumental and a preferred alternative in many interpolation tasks.     

Analysis and synthesis of multicomponent signals using positivetime-frequency distributions

A new approach to the analysis and reconstruction of multicomponent nonstationary signals from their time-frequency distribution (TFD) is presented. Specifically, we consider a TFD based on the recently introduced minimum cross entropy principle (MCE). This positive TFD is cross-terms free and, hence, has an advantage over the family of bilinear distributions. Based on the MCE-TFD, a new algorithm for reconstructing the phase and amplitude parameters of each component of the signal is developed. To evaluate the accuracy of the algorithm. Monte Carlo simulations are presented and compared with the corresponding Cramer-Rao bound. It is shown that the new algorithm is superior to presently available methods in both efficiency and performance. It is concluded that together with the MCE-TFD representation, the proposed approach provides a powerful tool for analysis of nonstationary multicomponent signals embedded in additive Gaussian noise     

Detection and localization of vapor-emitting sources

We develop methods for detecting and localizing vapor-emitting sources using chemical sensor arrays. Potential applications of these methods include detection of explosives or drugs, sensing leakage of hazardous chemicals or pollution, and studying the environment. We describe the pertinent physical models, develop estimation and detection algorithms, and derive performance bounds. The algorithms are tested numerically and compared with the theoretical bounds     

A contingency model of conflict and team effectiveness.

The authors develop and test theoretical extensions of the relationships of task conflict, relationship conflict, and 2 dimensions of team effectiveness (performance and team-member satisfaction) among 2 samples of work teams in Taiwan and Indonesia. Findings show that relationship conflict moderates the task conflict–team performance relationship. Specifically, the relationship is curvilinear in the shape of an inverted U when relationship conflict is low, but the relationship is linear and negative when relationship conflict is high. The results for team-member satisfaction are more equivocal, but the findings provide some evidence that relationship conflict exacerbates the negative relationship between task conflict and team-member satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mate Location Mechanism and Phase-Related Mate Preferences in Solitarius Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria

Mate location responses of male and female solitary-reared locusts that had either experienced no crowding or that had been crowded for varying periods were studied in a flatbed wind tunnel. Two hypotheses were explored: that both sexes of this phase of the locust participate in locating the other by using a combination of chemical and visual signals, and that individuals that experience some crowding (i.e., undergo varying levels of phase shift) can compete effectively with their solitary counterparts in mate location and mating. Our results confirm that both male and female solitarious locusts actively participate in mate location, although the former is the more aggressive partner. The responses of the insects are stronger when a visual cue is provided with the olfactory signal. Crowding of solitary-reared adults enhances their responsiveness to the other sex in the absence and presence of the visual cue. This phenomenon may constitute one of several mechanisms that are involved in recruiting solitary individuals into gregarizing groups and facilitating the spread of gregarious characters across a reproductively active solitarious population.