Search

The rise in antifungal resistance and side effects of conventional treatments drive the search for innovative therapies like Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). This study explored the efficacy of PDT mediated by gutiferone, an isolated compound from red propolis, for candidiasis treatment. Multiple evaluation methods were employed, including determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) via broth microdilution, quantifying biomass using crystal violet detachment, and cell counting through total plate count. PDT mediated by gutiferone was also assessed in five groups of mice, followed by histopathological examination and agar plating of lingual tissue samples. Among the seven Candida species tested, gutiferone displayed efficacy against C. albicans, C. glabrata , and C. tropicalis , with MIC values of 1000 μg/mL. In C. tropicalis biofilms, exposure to gutiferone led to a reduction of 1.61 Log10 CFU/mL. PDT mediated by gutiferone achieved an average reduction of 3.68 Log10 CFU/mL in C. tropicalis biofilm cells, underscoring its potent fungicidal activity. Histopathological analysis revealed fungal structures, such as pseudohyphae and hyphae, in infected groups (G2) and irradiated mice. In contrast, groups treated with gutiferone or subjected to gutiferone-assisted PDT (G5) exhibited only few blastoconidia. Furthermore, CFU/mL assessments in lingual tissue post-treatment demonstrated a significantly lower count (0.30 Log10 CFU/mL) in the G5 group compared to G2 (2.43 Log10 CFU/mL). These findings highlight the potential of PDT mediated by gutiferone as a promising alternative for managing denture stomatitis. Future research and clinical investigations offer the promise of validating its clinical applicability and improving outcomes in the treatment of oral candidiasis. • Antifungal resistance drives Photodynamic Therapy exploration. • Gutiferone's efficacy against Candida species. • Potent fungicidal activity in Candida tropicalis. • Histopathological improvement in group treated simultaneously with photodynamic therapy and gutiferone. • Gutiferone-assisted Photodynamic Therapy for oral candidiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We analyze the drivers of sovereign rating phases via discrete-time Weibull models. • For speculative-rated sovereigns, reputation build-up as good borrowers is gradual. • The reputation of investment-grade sovereigns remains unchanged as time passes. • The length of both phases significantly depends on the country's economic conditions. • Better governance quality helps to reduce the duration of speculative-grade phases. Using long-term sovereign ratings data for a panel of 130 countries over the last three decades, we investigate the duration and determinants of sovereign rating phases through the lens of discrete-time Weibull models. We find that the likelihood of the end of the 'speculative-grade' phase increases as time goes by (i.e. there is positive duration dependence), but the 'investment-grade' phase is not duration dependent. Thus, for sovereigns rated as speculative, the build-up of reputation as good borrowers is a gradual process, whereas the reputation of investment-grade sovereigns solidifies and remains unchanged as time passes. However, the length of both phases significantly depends on the country's economic conditions. In particular, lower inflation, stronger growth and sounder fiscal policies shorten (prolong) the speculative- (investment-) grade phase. In addition, better governance quality helps to reduce the duration of speculative-grade phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article analyses the incidence of politically driven cycles on the functional components and sub-components of government expenditures over a group of 18 European countries during the period 1990–2012. An LSDVC estimator is employed in the empirical analysis. The results provide evidence of political opportunism at aggregated and disaggregated levels of public expenditures. The expenditure components that have proved to be more related to that behaviour are public services, education, social protection and some sub-components of health expenditure, items that tend to generate outcomes that are more visible to voters. Some disaggregated evidence of partisan manipulation is also found. Highlights • This paper analyses the incidence of politically driven cycles on the functional components of government expenditures. • An LSDVC estimator is employed over a panel of 18 countries for the period 1990–2012. • The results point out to the presence of political opportunism at aggregated and disaggregated levels of public expenditures. • Spending in public services, health, education and social protection is increased in election years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyses the presence of duration dependence in Portuguese local governments' tenure employing continuous and discrete-time duration analyses over a set of spells of time in office for the period 1979–2005. Our results show that the more time a party remains in office, the higher is the likelihood of leaving it. However, more flexible polynomial-in-time, cubic splines and time-dummies specifications show that the behaviour of that likelihood is not monotonic: it increases but only until the third term, then it decreases until the sixth term before starting to increase again. This study also shows that the likelihood of an incumbent party leaving office, given his tenure, is affected by the local economic environment, political support, the effective number of parties, the dimension of the municipality and the age of its leader. Additionally, it shows that that likelihood is consistently lower when the party leader/mayor decides to run for another term. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy has been criticised for giving more attention to price stabilisation in Europe rather than encouraging higher growth and employment. It is now largely accepted that the Maastricht norms reinforced by the Stability Pact have imposed serious macroeconomic constraints on economic performance by not taking into account specific problems of the individual economies. An interesting issue to examine is how the Maastricht obligations and the Stability Pact restrictions have affected the process of real convergence between the European economies in the last two decades. The purpose of this paper is to test for convergence in living standards, productivity, investment and unemployment among the European countries. From this analysis and using panel data estimation techniques, it is possible to detect any significant influence (favourable or not) of the Maastricht rules on real convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]