This study was carried out to evaluate the sensitivity and rapidity of the BACTEC radiometric techniques for isolation and susceptibility testing of mycobacteria from extrapulmonary specimens. Concentrated specimens of urine, pleural fluid, and blood as well as other extrapulmonary specimens were processed for the recovery of mycobacteria and for drug susceptibility testing, employing conventio...

A total of 463 respiratory specimens, all smear positive for acid-fast bacteria, were inoculated onto routine solid media and into BACTEC 7H12 Middlebrook medium for detection of mycobacterial growth. Conventional drug susceptibility testing (1% proportion method) was performed on Middlebrook 7H10/7H11 medium, and radiometric susceptibility testing was performed on BACTEC 7H12 medium. The avera...

Given recent progress in regenerative medicine, we need a means to expand chondrocytes in quantity without losing their regenerative capability. Although many reports have shown that growth factor supplementation can have beneficial effects, the use of growth factor-supplemented basal media has widespread effect on the characteristics of chondrocytes. Chondrocytes were in vitro cultured in the ...

The granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly known as Wegener’s granulomatosis, is a pauci-immune vasculitis involving small- and medium-sized blood vessels. Classically, the patients inflicted with this disease present with a triad of necrotizing granulomatous inflammation of the respiratory tract, cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis, and glomerulonephritis (GN). The antinuclear (ANA) and...

At the CREA research facility of Treviglio (Bergamo, Italy), to provide farmers with valuable hints for transition from conventional precision agriculture, information on crop production dynamics (Maize and Triticale) has been obtained using real-time soil mapping (resistivity technique) quality quantity monitoring a commercial yield apparatus. The geostatistical processing data resulted in sam...