Comparison of a glucose consumption based method with the CLSI M38-A method for testing antifungal susceptibility of Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes

Background The prevalence of dermatophytoses and the development of new antifungal agents has focused interest on susceptibility tests of dermatophytes. The method used universally for susceptibility tests of dermatophytes was published as document （M38-A） in 2002 by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute （CLSI）, dealing with the standardization of susceptibility tests in filamentous fungi, though not including dermatophytes especially. However, it is not a very practical method for the clinical laboratory in routine susceptibility testing. In this test, we developed a novel rapid susceptibility assay --glucose consumption method （GCM） for dermatophytes. Methods In this study, we investigated the antifungal susceptibilities of dermatophytes to itraconazole （ITC）, voriconazole （VOC）, econazole nitrate （ECN） and terbinafine （TBF） by glucose consumption method （GCM）, in comparison to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute （CLSI） M38-A method. Twenty-eight dermatophyte isolates, including Trichophyton rubrum （T. rubrum） （n=-14） and Trichophyton mentagrophytes （T. mentagrophytes） （n=-14）, were tested. In the GCM, the minimum inhibitory concentrations （MICs） were determined spectrophotometrically at 490 nm after addition of enzyme substrate color mix. For the CLSI method, the MICs were determined visually. Results Comparison revealed best agreement for TBF against T. mentagrophytes and T. rubrum, since MIC range, MIC50, and MIC90 were identical from two methods. However, for ITC and VOC, GCM showed wider MIC ranges and higher MICs than CLSI methods in most isolates. For ECN against T. rubrum, high MICs were tested by GCM （0.125-16 pg/ml） but not M38-A method （0.5-1 IJg/ml）. The overall agreements for all isolates between the two methods within one dilution and two dilutions for ITC, VOC, ECN and TBF was 53.6% and 75.0%, 57.1% and 75.0%, 82.1% and 89.3%, and 85.7 and 85.7%, respectively. Conclusion Measurement of glucose uptake can predict the susceptibility of T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes to ECN and TBF.

Estimating model for urban carrying capacity on bike-sharing

As the demand for bike-sharing has been increasing,the oversupply problem of bike-sharing has occurred,which leads to the waste of resources and disturbance of the urban environment.In order to regulate the supply volume of bike-sharing reasonably,an estimating model was proposed to quantify the urban carrying capacity(UCC)for bike-sharing through the demand data.In this way,the maximum supply volume of bike-sharing that a city can accommodate can be obtained.The UCC on bike-sharing is reflected in the road network carrying capacity(RNCC)and parking facilities’carrying capacity(PFCC).The space-time consumption method and density-based spatial clustering of application with noise(DBSCAN)algorithm were used to explore the RNCC and PFCC for bike-sharing.Combined with the users’demand,the urban load ratio on bike-sharing can be evaluated to judge whether the UCC can meet users’demand,so that the supply volume of bike-sharing and distribution of the related facilities can be adjusted accordingly.The application of the model was carried out by estimating the UCC and load ratio of each traffic analysis zone in Nanjing,China.Compared with the field survey data,the effect of the proposed algorithm was verified.

Energy-Saving Optimization Study on 700℃ Double Reheat Advanced Ultra-Supercritical Coal-Fired Power Generation System

700°C double reheat advanced ultra-supercritical power generation technology is one of the most important development directions for the efficient and clean utilization of coal.To solve the great exergy loss problem caused by the high superheat degrees of regenerative steam extractions in 700°C double reheat advanced ultra-supercritical power generation system,two optimization systems are proposed in this paper.System 1 is integrated with the back pressure extraction steam turbine,and system 2 is simultaneously integrated with both the outside steam cooler and back pressure extraction steam turbine.The system performance models are built by the Ebsilon Professional software.The performances of optimized systems are analyzed by the unit consumption method.The off-design performances of optimization systems are analyzed.The results show that:the standard power generation coal consumption rates of optimization systems 1 and 2 are decreased by 1.88 g·(kW·h)^(–1),2.97 g·(kW·h)^(–1)compared with that of the 700°C reference system;the average superheat degrees of regenerative steam extractions of optimized systems 1 and 2 are decreased by 122.2°C,140.7°C(100%turbine heat acceptance condition),respectively.The comparison results also show that the performance of the optimized system 2 is better than those of the optimized system 1 and the 700°C reference system.The power generation standard coal consumption rate and the power generation efficiency of the optimized system 2 are about 232.08 g·(kW·h)^(–1)and 52.96%(100%turbine heat acceptance condition),respectively.