Diversity and abundance of airborne fungal spores in a rural cold dry desert environment in Argentinean Patagonia.

This work describes a longitudinal study of three consecutive years carried out in the air of agricultural environments located in Northern Patagonia with cold dry desert climate (Köppen: Bwk). This study area comprises a rural valley with unique geographical and climatological conditions. Therefore, the aim of this work is to quantify and determine its fungal diversity, so this knowledge will contribute to detect potential pathogenic and toxic fungi that has been adapted to this type of environment and may overcome the incipient climate change. Samplings were conducted in two geographical zones of the study area and a microflow air sampler was used to isolate fungal taxa. The annual mean fungal counts were found in the order of E+03 CFU/m3 of air. The aerial mycoflora revealed a wide biodiversity of at least 28 genera and 50 fungal species. Cladosporium was the most abundant genus (76.97%), followed by Alternaria (12.48%), Epicoccum (4.41%) and Botrytis (1.81%). The rest of the genera were found in relative densities lower than 1%. In terms of species, C. cladosporioides (34.82%), C. limoniforme (21.72%), A. tenuissima (10.94%) and C. asperulatum predominated (9.01%). This is the first report of the air mycoflora of rural environments with cold dry desert climate which provides useful information to take preventive measures to avoid biological damage.

Mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi in poultry feed for food-producing animals.

Moulds are capable of reducing the nutritional value of feedstuff as well as elaborating several mycotoxins. Mycotoxin-contaminated feed has adverse effects on animal health and productivity. Also, mycotoxins may be carried over into meat and eggs when poultry are fed with contaminated feed. In a point prevalence study feedstuff used for poultry nutrition in Argentina was analyzed for fungal flora, natural incidence of selected mycotoxins, and nutritional quality. Ten mould genera were recovered, six of them known to be mycotoxigenic. More than 28 species were determined. Fumonisins were detected in all the samples (median 1,750 ppb). Forty-four out of 49 samples (90%) were contaminated with DON (median 222 ppb) and OTA (median 5 ppb). Also, 44 out of 49 samples were contaminated with aflatoxins (median 2.685 ppb), 42 samples (86%) with ZEA (median 50 ppb), and 38 samples (78%) with T2-toxin (median 50 ppb). Ninety percent of the samples had at least one type of nutritional deficiency. This study indicates the need for continuous assessment of the mycological status of animal feed production, in order to feed animals for optimal performance ensuring food safety.

Automated external defibrillation by untrained deaf lay rescuers.

INTRODUCTION: The use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) by lay rescuers can reduce the time to defibrillation, improving survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, some people have hearing defects that can prevent them from understanding the AED verbal prompts. Moreover, even rescuers with normal hearing function may not easily understand the AED verbal prompts when operating in a noisy environment. This study was designed to assess the capability of rescuers to defibrillate effectively using an AED which included visual prompts. METHODS AND RESULTS: Nine deaf employees with no previous experience in basic life support (BLS) or defibrillation were asked to defibrillate a manikin following the text prompts of a Heartstart FR2+ AED. Subjects were tested before and after a 6 h BLS-AED course carried out with the help of a sign language interpreter. Before training, seven out of nine deaf subjects (78%) were able to defibrillate, eight out of nine subjects (89%) placed the pads correctly, and the mean time to defibrillation was 101.3 +/- 28.4 s. After the course, all subjects were able to complete the defibrillation sequence and place the pads correctly. The mean post-course time to defibrillation was 47.8 +/- 5.4 s (P < 0.001). None of the nine subjects touched the manikin during charging of the defibrillator and shock delivery before or after the course. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that untrained deaf rescuers can use AEDs appropriately providing that the defibrillator has visual instructions. Training improves defibrillator use and reduces time to defibrillation.