|
Epidermophyton Floccosum
''Epidermophyton floccosum'' is a filamentous fungus that causes skin and nail infections in humans. This anthropophilic dermatophyte can lead to diseases such as tinea pedis (athlete's foot), tinea cruris, tinea corporis and onychomycosis. Diagnostic approaches of the fungal infection include physical examination, culture testing, and molecular detection. Topical antifungal treatment, such as the use of terbinafine, itraconazole, voriconazole, and ketoconazole, is often effective. ''E. floccosum'' is one of the 2 species in the genus '' Epidermophyton''. During the 20th century, this species was the fourth most common cause of dermatophytosis in North America. This ascomycete has a worldwide distribution but is more commonly isolated from patients in tropical and subtropical areas. The non-soil associated fungus has no specific growth conditions and shows characteristic smooth club-shaped macroconidia under the microscope. History and taxonomy The fungus was first isolated in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Otto Harz
Carl (or Karl) Otto Harz (28 November 1842 in Gammertingen – 5 December 1906 in Munich) was a German mycologist, pharmacist and botanist. After spending time as an intern in several pharmacies, he studied botany at the University of Berlin. Later, he relocated to Munich, where he served as a lecturer at the ''Technische Universität München'' (from 1873) and at the ''Tierärztlichen Hochschule'' (from 1874). In 1880 he was appointed professor of botany and pharmacognosy at the ''Tierärztlichen Hochschule''. In 1877, with pathologist Otto Bollinger, he conducted early studies of actinomycosis in cattle, and is credited for naming the causal agent ''Actinomyces bovis''. From his observations, he believed the culprit to be a mould, related to the genera ''Botrytis'' or ''Monosporium''. As a taxonomist, he circumscribed a number of varieties from the species ''Cucurbita pepo''. His name is associated with the following mycological genera: * '' Harzia'' (family Ceratostomatace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microsporum
''Microsporum'' is a genus of fungi that causes tinea capitis, tinea corporis, ringworm, and other dermatophytoses (fungal infections of the skin). ''Microsporum'' forms both macroconidia (large asexual reproductive structures) and microconidia (smaller asexual reproductive structures) on short conidiophores. Macroconidia are hyaline, multiseptate, variable in form, fusiform, spindle-shaped to obovate, 7–20 by 30–160 um in size, with thin or thick echinulate to verrucose cell walls. Their shape, size and cell wall features are important characteristics for species identification. Microconidia are hyaline, single-celled, pyriform to clavate, smooth-walled, 2.5–3.5 by 4–7 um in size and are not diagnostic for any one species. The separation of this genus from ''Trichophyton'' is essentially based on the roughness of the macroconidial cell wall, although in practice this may sometimes be difficult to observe. Seventeen species of ''Microsporum'' have been de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood's Lamp
A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave ( UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separate glass filter in the lamp housing, which blocks most visible light and allows through UV, so the lamp has a dim violet glow when operating. Blacklight lamps which have this filter have a lighting industry designation that includes the letters "BLB". This stands for "blacklight blue". A second type of lamp produces ultraviolet but does not have the filter material, so it produces more visible light and has a blue color when operating. These tubes are made for use in " bug zapper" insect traps, and are identified by the industry designation "BL". This stands for "blacklight". Blacklight sources may be specially designed fluorescent lamps, mercury-vapor lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, or incandescent lamps. In med ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macules
A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this system is as a barrier against the external environment. Conditions of the human integumentary system constitute a broad spectrum of diseases, also known as dermatoses, as well as many nonpathologic states (like, in certain circumstances, melanonychia and racquet nails). While only a small number of skin diseases account for most visits to the physician, thousands of skin conditions have been described. Classification of these conditions often presents many nosological challenges, since underlying causes and pathogenetics are often not known. Therefore, most current textbooks present a classification based on location (for example, conditions of the mucous membrane), morphology ( chronic blistering conditions), cause (skin conditions resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mycelium
Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates into a monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in '' Armillaria''. Through the mycelium, a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two-stage process. First, the hyphae secrete enzymes onto or into the food source, which break down biological polymers into smaller units such as monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keratitis
Keratitis is a condition in which the human eye, eye's cornea, the clear dome on the front surface of the eye, becomes inflammation, inflamed. The condition is often marked by moderate to intense pain and usually involves any of the following symptoms: pain, impaired eyesight, photophobia (light sensitivity), Red eye (medicine), red eye and a 'gritty' sensation. Diagnosis of infectious keratitis is usually made clinically based on the signs and symptoms as well as eye examination, but corneal scrapings may be obtained and evaluated using microbiological culture or other testing to identify the causative pathogen. Classification (by chronicity) Acute * Acute epithelial keratitis * Nummular keratitis * Interstitial keratitis * Disciform keratitis Chronic * Neurotrophic keratitis * Mucous plaque keratitis Classification (infective) Viral The most common causes of viral keratitis include herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV), which cause herpes of the eye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keratinized Epithelium
Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial (mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of many internal organs, the corresponding inner surfaces of body cavities, and the inner surfaces of blood vessels. Epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. These tissues also lack blood or lymph supply. The tissue is supplied by nerves. There are three principal shapes of epithelial cell: squamous (scaly), columnar, and cuboidal. These can be arranged in a singular layer of cells as simple epithelium, either simple squamous, simple columnar, or simple cuboidal, or in layers of two or more cells deep as stratified (layered), or ''compound'', either squamous, columnar or cuboidal. In some tissues, a layer of columnar cells may appear to be stratified due to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthroconidium
Arthroconidia are a type of fungal spore typically produced by segmentation of pre-existing fungal hyphae. Background These spores are asexual and are generally not as durable and environmentally persistent as, for instance, bacterial endospores or chlamydospores. Some medically significant pathogens, such as ''Coccidioides immitis'', and '' Coccidioides posadasii'', both causative agents of coccidioidomycosis (also known as San Joaquin Valley fever), are transmitted through airborne arthroconidia. Additionally, some pathogenic yeasts, such as '' Geotrichum'' and '' Trichosporon'', also reproduce asexually via arthroconidia. The small size of the arthroconidia, 3 to 5 μm, allow them to lodge themselves into the terminal bronchioles of the lung. There, they develop into a thick-walled spherule filled with endospores that cause a pyogenic (pus-causing) inflammation. See also *Conidium A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlamydoconidia
A chlamydospore is the thick-walled large resting spore of several kinds of fungi, including Ascomycota such as '' Candida'', Basidiomycota such as '' Panus'', and various Mortierellales species. It is the life-stage which survives in unfavourable conditions, such as dry or hot seasons. '' Fusarium oxysporum'' which causes the plant disease Fusarium wilt is one which forms chlamydospores in response to stresses like nutrient depletion. Mycelia of the pathogen can survive in this manner and germinate in favorable conditions. Chlamydospores are usually dark-coloured, spherical, and have a smooth (non-ornamented) surface. They are multicellular, with cells connected by pores in the septae between cells. Chlamydospores are a result of asexual reproduction (in which case they are conidia called chlamydoconidia) or sexual reproduction (rare). Teliospores are special kind of chlamydospores formed by rusts and smuts. File:Candida pseudohyphae, chlamydospores, blastospores.png, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to . They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges. Beavers build dams and lodges using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud; they chew down trees for building material. Dams restrict water flow, forming ponds, and lodges (usually built in ponds) serve as shelters. Their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleomorphism (microbiology)
In microbiology, pleomorphism (from Ancient Greek , ''pléō'', "more", and , ''morphḗ'', form), also pleiomorphism, is the ability of some microorganisms to alter their morphology, biological functions or reproductive modes in response to environmental conditions. Pleomorphism has been observed in some members of the Deinococcaceae family of bacteria. The modern definition of pleomorphism in the context of bacteriology is based on ''variation'' of morphology or functional methods of the individual cell, rather than a heritable ''change'' of these characters as previously believed. Bacteria In the first decades of the 20th century, the term "pleomorphism" was used to refer to the idea that bacteria change morphology, biological systems, or reproductive methods dramatically according to environmental cues. This claim was controversial among microbiologists of the time, and split them into two schools: the monomorphists, who opposed the claim, and the pleomorphists such as Antoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabouraud Agar
Sabouraud agar or Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) is a type of agar growth medium containing peptones. It is used to cultivate dermatophytes and other types of fungi, and can also grow filamentous bacteria such as ''Nocardia''. It has utility for research and clinical care. It was created by, and is named after, Raymond Sabouraud in 1892. In 1977 the formulation was adjusted by Chester W. Emmons when the pH level was brought closer to the neutral range and the dextrose concentration lowered to support the growth of other microorganisms. The acidic pH (5.6) of traditional Sabouraud agar inhibits bacterial growth. Peptones are complex digests and can be a source of variability in Sabouraud agar. Typical composition Sabouraud agar is commercially available and typically contains: * 40 g/L dextrose * 10 g/L peptone * 20 g/L agar * pH 5.6 Medical use Clinical laboratories can use this growth medium to diagnose and further speciate fungal infections, allowing medical profession ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
