| 1. |
- Zamora, Juan Carlos, et al.
(författare)
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Considerations and consequences of allowing DNA sequence data as types of fungal taxa
- 2018
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Ingår i: IMA Fungus. - : INT MYCOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 2210-6340 .- 2210-6359. ; 9:1, s. 167-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.
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| 2. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Five simple guidelines for establishing basic authenticity and reliability of newly generated fungal ITS sequences
- 2012
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Ingår i: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 4, s. 37-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular data form an important research tool in most branches of mycology. A non-trivial proportion of the public fungal DNA sequences are, however, compromised in terms of quality and reliability, contributing noise and bias to sequence-borne inferences such as phylogenetic analysis, diversity assessment, and barcoding. In this paper we discuss various aspects and pitfalls of sequence quality assessment. Based on our observations, we provide a set of guidelines to assist in manual quality management of newly generated, near-full-length (Sanger-derived) fungal ITS sequences and to some extent also sequences of shorter read lengths, other genes or markers, and groups of organisms. The guidelines are intentionally non-technical and do not require substantial bioinformatics skills or significant computational power. Despite their simple nature, we feel they would have caught the vast majority of the severely compromised ITS sequences in the public corpus. Our guidelines are nevertheless not infallible, and common sense and intuition remain important elements in the pursuit of compromised sequence data. The guidelines focus on basic sequence authenticity and reliability of the newly generated sequences, and the user may want to consider additional resources and steps to accomplish the best possible quality control. A discussion on the technical resources for further sequence quality management is therefore provided in the supplementary material.
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| 3. |
- Dai, Y. C., et al.
(författare)
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Ganoderma lingzhi (Polyporales, Basidiomycota): the scientific binomial for the widely cultivated medicinal fungus Lingzhi
- 2017
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Ingår i: Mycological Progress. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1617-416X .- 1861-8952. ; 16:11-12, s. 1051-1055
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The traditional medicinal fungus, Lingzhi, has long been considered to be Ganoderma lucidum, but was recently described as G. lingzhi based on both morphological and molecular data. Months earlier than this description, the species was identified as G. sichuanense by another research group. A sequenced epitype for G. sichuanense was selected that, if accepted, meant that it became a synonym of, and an earlier name for, G. lingzhi. However, the holotype of G. sichuanense is well developed with distinct morphological characters, and its ITS sequence, the DNA barcode for fungal taxonomy, is available. The holotype of G. sichuanense does not possess the typical morphological characteristics of Lingzhi, and the designated epitype is not conspecific with the holotype from morphological, phylogenetic and ecological perspectives. Consequently, the designation of the epitype is considered to conflict with the regulations of the Code and should be rejected. As no other previously published species name matches Lingzhi, the correct name for this fungus is G. lingzhi.
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| 4. |
- Huber, Laura, et al.
(författare)
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Geographic Drivers of Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Pigs in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2297-1769. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Thailand, pig production has increased considerably in the last decades to meet a growing demand for pork. Antimicrobials are used routinely in intensive pig production to treat infections and increase productivity. However, the use of antimicrobials also contributes to the rise of antimicrobial resistance with potential consequences for animal and human health. Here, we quantify the association between antimicrobial use and resistance rates in extensive and intensive farms with a focus on geographic proximity between farm and drugstores. Of the 164 enrolled farms, 79% reported using antimicrobials for disease prevention, treatment, or as a feed additive. Antimicrobial-resistant E. coli were present in 63% of farms. These drugs included critically important antimicrobials, such as quinolones and penicillins. Medium-scale farms with intensive animal production practices showed higher resistance rates than small-scale farms with extensive practices. Farms with drug-resistant Escherichia coli were located closer to drugstores and a had a higher proportion of disease than farms without drug-resistant E. coli. We found no association between the presence of resistance in humans and antimicrobial use in pigs. Our findings call for actions to improve herd health to reduce the need for antimicrobials and systematic training of veterinarians and drugstore owners on judicious use of antimicrobials in animals to mitigate resistance.
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| 5. |
- Knight, A, et al.
(författare)
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Efficacy and safety of rituximab as maintenance therapy for relapsing granulomatosis with polyangiitis-a case series.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Clinical Rheumatology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0770-3198 .- 1434-9949. ; 33:6, s. 841-848
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this work was to study the efficacy and safety of pre-emptive rituximab (RTX) in a series of patients with severe relapsing granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). GPA is a systemic vasculitis with a high relapse rate despite successful remission induction. Drug toxicity with repeated induction treatments and long-standing immunosuppression poses a problem. Based on the findings in reports on RTX for rheumatoid arthritis, we treated patients with severe relapsing GPA with pre-emptive RTX, 1,000 mg 2 weeks apart every 6 months, aiming at achieving sustainable remission. All patients at one centre with relapsing GPA in spite of traditional maintenance treatment, who had received more than or equal to three cycles of RTX as regularly repeated pre-emptive maintenance therapy every 6 months, were included in this retrospective study. Information on disease manifestations and activity, treatments, lab parameters and adverse events was extracted from the medical files. Of the 12 included patients, all with a positive proteinase 3-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, generalised disease and a median disease duration of 35 months (21-270), 92 % (11/12) achieved sustainable remission during a median follow-up time of 32 months (range 21-111) from first RTX treatment. Concomitant immunosuppressants were reduced. Infections were the most common adverse events, but infections were an issue also before the start of RTX. RTX administered every 6 months seems to be an effective maintenance treatment in a population with severe, relapsing long-standing GPA. Granulomatous as well as vasculitic manifestations responded equally well. Infections are a problem in this patient group but no new safety problems were identified.
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| 6. |
- Lunha, Kamonwan, et al.
(författare)
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Antimicrobial Resistance in Fecal Escherichia coli from Humans and Pigs at Farms at Different Levels of Intensification
- 2020
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Ingår i: Antibiotics. - : MDPI. - 2079-6382. ; 9:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The overall aim of the current study was to test the hypotheses that (i) antibiotic resistance in bacteria were more frequent in clinically health pigs in intensified company owned, medium-scale farms (MSFs) (100-500 sows) than in pigs in family-owned, small-scale farms (SSFs) (1-50 sows) and (ii) that farmers working at the MSFs were more prone to attain antibiotic resistant bacteria than farmers working at SSFs. The study was conducted in North-Eastern Thailand, comprising fecal Escherichia coli isolates from pigs, farmers working with the pigs (contact humans) and persons living in the same household as the farmer (non-contact humans) at 51 MSFs and 113 SSFs. Samples from all farms were also screened for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which was not detected in pig samples, but was found in one human sample. Susceptibility was tested by disc-diffusion for seven antibiotics commonly used in the study area. Resistance in pig isolates from MSFs were more frequent for chloramphenicol which (P < 0.001), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (P < 0.001) and gentamicin (P < 0.05) compared with isolates from SSFs, whereas the opposite was true for tetracycline (P < 0.01). Resistance in the human isolates was lower than those in the isolates from pigs for tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and chloramphenicol (P < 0.001). The frequency of resistance in the contact human samples from SSFs and MSFs did not differ. There was no difference between isolates from contact and non-contact humans for any of the tested antibiotics. Multidrug resistance in isolates from pigs was 26%, significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the 13% from humans. The data indicate that (i) resistance to antibiotics, including those critical and highly important for human medicine, were more common in fecal E. coli from pigs at the MSFs than at the SSFs, whereas (ii) the resistance in fecal E. coli from pig farmers seemed not to be influenced by the level of intensification of the farm they were working at.
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| 7. |
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| 10. |
- Ström Hallenberg, Gunilla, et al.
(författare)
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Antimicrobials in small-scale urban pig farming in a lower middle-income country - arbitrary use and high resistance levels
- 2018
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Ingår i: Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2047-2994. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018 The Author(s). Background: Administration of antimicrobials to food-producing animals is regarded as a major contributor to the overall emergence of resistance in bacteria worldwide. However, few data are available on global antimicrobial use and resistance (AMR) in livestock, especially from low- and middle-income countries. Methods: We conducted a structured survey of 91 small-scale pig farms in the urban and peri-urban areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to assess the farmers' knowledge, attitudes and practices related to antimicrobial use in their pig production. Commensal Escherichia coli was isolated from three healthy pigs from each farm (n = 261) and susceptibility testing was performed against 14 antimicrobials, using broth microdilution. Univariable logistic regression and generalized linear mixed models were used to investigate potential associations between farm characteristics, management factors and resistance to different types of antimicrobials. Results: We found a widespread and arbitrary use of antimicrobials, often based on the farmer's own judgment. Around 66% of the farmers reported frequently self-adjusting treatment duration and dosage, and 45% had not heard about the term 'antimicrobial resistance'. The antimicrobials most commonly mentioned or kept by the farmers were amoxicillin, tylosin, gentamicin and colistin. Around 37% used a feed concentrate that contained antimicrobials, while antimicrobials for humans were used as a last-line treatment by 10% of the farmers. Commensal E. coli exhibited high prevalence of resistance to several antimicrobials considered to be of critical importance for human medicine, including ampicillin, ciprofloxacin and colistin, and multidrug-resistance was found in 79% of the samples. Higher prevalence of resistance was observed on farms that administered prophylactic antimicrobials and on farms that treated the entire group or herd in the event of disease. Conclusion: The widespread and arbitrary use of antimicrobials in pig farming in Cambodia is highly worrisome. Overall, farmers had a low awareness of the risks and consequences related to antimicrobial use and AMR. The results presented in this study confirm the hypothesis that non-rational use of antimicrobials results in higher prevalence of AMR and highlight the need for professional animal health systems that involve medically rational use of antimicrobials in emerging economies such as Cambodia.
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