Species-specific changes in density in response to planting diversity reinforced the value of creating heterogeneous habitat for grassland birds. Densities for all four species were substantially lower in unmanaged marginal grasslands versus conservation parcels and the community structure between the two habitats differed significantly, with generalist species (e.g., American robins, common grackles and grassland species associated with shorter, sparse

and patchy vegetation (e.g., horned lark and vesper sparrow)) largely replacing tallgrass specialists in unmanaged marginal grassland parcels. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and assess the in vitro activity of eight drugs, including the new azole isavuconazole, against 81 strains representing Stem Cell Compound Library 13 species of the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex. Methods: A total of 81 Fusarium spp. isolates, within the F. fujikuroi species complex, were identified by molecular methods and tested according to CLSI M38-A2. Eight antifungal compounds, including the new azole isavuconazole, were tested. Isolates were selected to represent the widest variety

of geographical regions and to include clinical see more as well as environmental strains. Results: Susceptibility profiles differed between and within species, with Fusarium verticillioides showing the lowest MICs and Fusarium nygamai the highest MICs. Amphotericin B was the most active drug, followed by voriconazole, posaconazole, isavuconazole and natamycin. The remaining antifungals (fluconazole, itraconazole and micafungin) showed poor activity with MIC/minimum effective concentration values of bigger than = 32, bigger than = 16 and bigger than 8 mg/L, respectively. Conclusions: Resistance patterns in the F. fujikuroi species complex are species specific and therefore identification down to species level

is important for the choice of antifungal treatment.”
“Creatine degradation to creatinine, which has no biological activity, in combinations of glycerol and pH 4.0 buffer solutions followed first-order kinetics up to a point where degradation started to level off, generally beyond the R406 clinical trial first half-life. Practical data are reported for a wide range of water activity (a(w)) values (0.31-0.983) at 4 degrees C, 23 degrees C, and 35 degrees C. Creatine degradation did not exhibit a dilution effect, that is a decrease in rate about an a(w) of 0.7, as is found for both microbiological growth and chemical reactions in semisolid food matrix systems. The temperature dependence obeyed the Arrhenius relationship with an energy of activation of about 20 kcal/mol at a(w) >= 0.68 increasing to 23 kcal/mole below that a(w). In addition, a semilog plot of half-life as a function of a(w) at each temperature follows a predicted straight line.