In the spring, the Al saturations tended to increase with the deepening layers. The Al saturations at 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm depths increased obviously in the summer and autumn. The highest Al saturation of all the beds at all three depths was found in the transplanted

2-yr-old ginseng beds. To better understand the potential soil damage caused by the artificial plastic canopy during ginseng cultivation, an annual cycle investigation was conducted to inspect the seasonal dynamics of soil acidity and related parameters in the albic ginseng bed soils. The results showed that ginseng planting resulted in soil acidification (Fig. 3A–E), decreased concentrations of Ex-Ca2+ (Fig. 1K–O), NH4+ (Fig. 2A–E), TOC (Fig. 3K–O), and Alp (Fig. 3P–T), and increased bulk density (Fig. 2P–T) of soils originating MEK inhibitor from albic luvisols. There were also marked seasonal changes in the Ex-Al3+ and NO3− concentrations and spatial variation of water content (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3F–J). The soil conditions were analyzed further as described in the following text. Generally,

soil acidification results from proton sources such as nitrification, acidic deposition, dissociation of organic anions and carbonic acid, and excessive uptake of cations over anions by vegetation [19]. In this study, the plastic canopy minimized the influence of rainfall, and thus acid deposition can be ignored. The form of nitrogen ( NH4+ or NO3−) has a prominent influence on the cation–anion balance in plants and the net production or consumption of H+ in roots, which accounts for a corresponding decrease or increase check details in the substrate pH [20]. The remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations and the surface increase in NO3− concentrations in the summer and autumn might mean that NH4+ is the major nitrogen source for ginseng uptake. It is difficult for ginseng to uptake the surface accumulation of NO3− due to spatial limitations. The Casein kinase 1 remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations within a 1-yr investigation cycle (Fig. 2A–E) might be

the result of two factors: (1) NH4+ uptake by plants; and (2) the nitrification transformation of NH4+ to NO3−. Either uptake by ginseng or transformation to NO3− will release protons and result in soil acidification. This is consistent with the finding that pH is positively correlated with NH4+ concentration (r = 0.463, p < 0.01, n = 60; Fig. 3A–E). The active nitrification process in ginseng garden soils might result in significant NO3− accumulation, especially in the summer and autumn (Fig. 2F–J). The clear seasonality of NO3− distribution in ginseng garden soils might also be driven by water movement (Fig. 2K–O), which was demonstrated in the variation in soil moisture in ginseng beds under plastic shades (Fig. 2K–O). In the summer and autumn, the potential difference in the amount of water between the layers might have resulted in upward water capillary action (Fig. 2K–O). The following spring, the snow melted and leaching occurred again (Fig. 2K–O).

1). In total, 118 ha of (semi-)natural environments were converted

during the last 50 years. While natural or degraded forest is absent in the Virgen Yacu (Fig. 1), it represented 40% of total area in Panza catchment in 1963 and 29% in 2010 (Fig. 3). Average deforestation rate of natural dense forest between 1963 and 2010 equals 0.8%. Forests were mainly converted to agricultural lands (Fig. 3), which increased by 5.7 times in 50 years. Recently 145 ha of páramo were converted into pine plantations. The introduction of this exotic tree species was first promoted by the Ecuadorian government and, later, by international programs CP-868596 cell line for fuel wood demand, industrial purpose and mitigation climate change impacts through carbon sequestration (Farley, 2010, Vanacker et al., 2007 and Balthazar et al., 2014). The multi-temporal inventory for Llavircay counts 189 landslides (Fig. 2) for a total mapped landslide area of 1.8 × 105 m2. According to field observations, the majority of the landslides are shallow landslides with their sliding plane within the regolith. The multi-temporal inventory for Pangor counts 316 landslides in total (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3) for a total mapped landslide area of 1.7 × 105 m2 (of which 3 × 104 m2 corresponds to reactivations). 153 landslides were observed in the Virgen Yacu catchment, and 163 landslides

in the Panza catchment. In contrast to the Llavircay site, field observations revealed the presence of deep-seated bedrock landslides, mainly located on the riverbanks of incised rivers. Landslides are on LY294002 research buy average bigger in the eastern site than in the western sites (Table 2). Frattini and Crosta (2013) discussed the effect of cohesion and friction on landslide size distribution. Following their hypothesis, the larger size of the landslides in the Llavircay basin could be related to the bedrock geology, which is composed of phyllite and shales. These rocks are more susceptible to deep-seated landslides compared to the stiff volcanic rocks of the Pangor basin. Landslide frequency in Llavircay is within the range Autophagy activator of the landslide

frequency observed in Pangor subcatchments. The landslide frequency is higher in the Virgen Yacu (14.30 landslides/km2) than in the Panza catchment (5.46 landslides/km2); and the landslide area is generally larger (median and mean) in the Virgen Yacu catchment (Table 2). A three-week long field validation of the landslide inventory of 2010 indicated that only very few small landslides were omitted in the remotely sensed dataset. Therefore, we cannot fully attribute these differences to uncertainties that could be associated with landslide detection under forest cover. Our data rather suggest this difference in landslide frequency is linked to different land cover dynamics between the two catchments.

Nonetheless,

sequencing of the PG545 resistant virus and its comparison with the original and mock-passaged RSV revealed presence of the F168S and the P180S amino acid substitutions in the G protein in all three virus variants examined, and the V516I amino acid alteration in the F protein in variant A (Table 4). Because alteration in the F protein Epigenetics inhibitor was not found in all variants tested and the resistance of this variant was not substantially different from variants lacking this alteration, this mutation in contrast to alterations in the G protein is likely to be irrelevant for the resistant phenotype. RSV variants generated by selective pressure from muparfostat in 10 passages in HEp-2 cells were readily selected and appeared to be ∼7–9 times more resistant to this compound than original virus. All three plaque variants of resistant virus comprised the N191T amino acid change in the viral attachment protein G (Table 4). In addition to this mutation, variant A also contained the D126E amino acid substitution and the t642c (silent) nucleotide alteration in the G component. Because the drug resistance of variant A was similar to

variants B and C, the N191T amino MAPK inhibitor acid change in the G protein seemed to confer RSV resistance to muparfostat. In repetition of this experiment, the RSV was subjected to 6 passages in HEp-2 cells in the presence of muparfostat and two viral variants were plaque purified and analyzed. Both variants were resistant to muparfostat and in contrast to initial or mock-passaged virus comprised the N191T amino acid substitution in the G protein (data not shown). One of these plaques also contained the K197T alteration in the G protein. These data confirm that the N191T alteration in the G protein is responsible for resistance nearly of RSV to muparfostat. Data presented

in Table 2 indicate that, unlike the sulfated oligosaccharides of muparfostat, inhibition of RSV infectivity by PG545 is associated with virucidal activity of this compound. The term “virucidal activity” is usually applied to agents that are capable of neutralizing, inactivating or destroying a virus permanently. We tested the virucidal potency of PG545 in a dose dependent manner. To this end, PG545 at the indicated concentrations and ∼105 PFU of RSV A2 strain were mixed in medium comprising 2% heat-inactivated FCS or in serum-free medium and incubated for 15 min at 37 °C. Subsequently, the virus-compound mixture was serially diluted and the residual virus infectivity determined at the non-inhibitory concentrations of PG545. In contrast to muparfostat, PG545 exhibited virucidal activity (Table 3). This activity of PG545 was most pronounced in the serum-free medium where 10 μg/ml of compound completely inactivated infectivity of ∼105 PFU of RSV. These results indicate that some components of FCS decreased anti-RSV activity of PG545.

, 1981a, Scavia et al., 1981b and Scavia et al., 1988), a new generation of models has emerged more recently (e.g., Bierman et al., 2005, Fishman et al., 2009,

Leon et al., 2011, LimnoTech, 2010, Rucinski et al., 2010, Rucinski et al., 2014, Zhang et al., 2008 and Zhang et al., 2009). For Lake Erie, Zhang et al. (2008) developed a two-dimensional ecological model to explore potentially important ecosystem processes and the contribution of internal Volasertib solubility dmso vs. external P loads. Rucinski et al. (2010) developed a one-dimensional model to examine the inter-annual variability in DO dynamics and evaluate the relative roles of climate and P loading. Leon et al. (2011) developed a three-dimensional model to capture the temporal and spatial variability of phytoplankton and nutrients. LimnoTech (2010) developed a fine-scale linked hydrodynamic, sediment transport, advanced eutrophication model for the WB that relates nutrient, sediment, and phytoplankton temporal and spatial profiles to external loads and forcing functions. Stumpf et RG7204 research buy al. (2012) developed a model to predict the likelihood of cyanobacteria blooms as a function of average discharge of the Maumee River. As part of EcoFore-Lake Erie, Rucinski et al. (2014) developed and tested a model specifically for establishing the relationship between P loads and CB hypoxia. This model is driven by a one-dimensional

hydrodynamic model that provides temperature and vertical mixing Morin Hydrate profiles as described in Rucinski et al. (2010). The Ekman pumping effect described above and in Beletsky et al., 2012 and Beletsky et al., 2013 was in essence parameterized as additional diffusion in the one-dimensional hydrodynamic model.

The biological portion of the model is a standard eutrophication model that used constant sediment oxygen demand (SOD) of 0.75 gO2∙ m− 2·d− 1 because it has not varied significantly over the analysis period (Matisoff and Neeson, 2005, Schloesser et al., 2005, Snodgrass, 1987 and Snodgrass and Fay, 1987). Earlier analysis (Rucinski et al., 2010) indicated that SOD represented on average 63% of the total hypolimnetic oxygen demand, somewhat larger than the 51% and 53% contribution that Bouffard et al. (2013) measured in 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, for load-reduction scenarios, a new formulation was needed to adjust SOD as a function of TP load. This relationship (Rucinski et al., 2014), while ignoring the 1-year time lag suggested by Burns et al. (2005), was based on an empirical relationship between SOD and deposited organic carbon (Borsuk et al., 2001). The model was calibrated over 19 years (1987–2005) using chlorophyll a, zooplankton abundance, phosphorus, and DO concentrations, and was compared to key process rates, such as organic matter production and sedimentation, DO depletion rates, and estimates of hypoxic area ( Zhou et al., 2013) by taking advantage of a new empirical relationship between bottom water DO and area ( Zhou et al., 2013).

The segment between the Garrison and Oahe dams was divided into five geomorphic reaches termed: Dam Proximal, Dam-Attenuating, River-Dominated Interaction, Reservoir-Dominated Interaction, and Reservoir. The divisions are based on changes in cross-sectional area,

channel planform, and morphology, which are often gradational. The Dam Proximal reach of the river is located immediately downstream of the dam and extends 50 km downstream. The cross-sectional data and aerial images suggest that the Dam Proximal reach of the river is eroding the bed, banks, and islands (Fig. 5). The CH5424802 purchase standard spatial deviation of cross sectional area for all cross sections on the river in 1946 was 269 m2. All 22 sites examined in the Dam-Proximal

reach (Appendix A) experienced an increase in cross-sectional area that is greater than this natural variability. As an example, Fig. 3A is a typical cross-section in the Dam Proximal reach and has lost 1364 m2 of cross-sectional area between DAPT manufacturer 1954 and 2007 (Fig. 3A, Eq. (2)). The thalweg elevation at the transect decreased by as much as 1.5 m between 1954 and 2007, evidence that much of the material scoured from the channel in this location came from the bed (Fig. 3A). Laterally, the banks scoured as much as 45 m in other areas. The aerial images shown in Fig. 5A also indicate that most of the islands in the area have eroded away (red areas). The historical aerial photo analysis indicates that the island surface area lost is approximately 35,000 m2. The areal extent of islands in 1999 was 43% of what is was in 1950. The Dam-Attenuating reach

extends from 50 to 100 km Ribonucleotide reductase downstream of the dam. The islands in this reach are essentially metastable (adjusting spatially but with no net increase or decrease in areal extent). The reach itself has experienced net erosion with respect to the bed and banks, but to a lesser extent than the Dam Proximal reach. Twelve of the 14 cross sections in the Dam-Attenuating reach show an increase in cross-sectional area greater than the 1946 natural variability (269 m2). Fig. 3B is representative of the reach and has had an increase in cross-sectional area of 346 m2. The reach gained a net of 3300 m2 in island area from 1950 to 1999 which represents a 16% increase. All major islands present in 1950 were still present in 1999 with similar geometries and distribution (Fig. 5B). The River-Dominated Interaction reach extends from 100 to 140 km downstream of the dam. This reach is characterized by an increase in islands and sand bars and minimal change in channel cross-sectional area. 4 of the 11 sites have erosion greater than the natural variability (269 m2) and 5 of the 11 sites are depositional. The cross-section in Fig. 3C is typical of this reach and has a relatively small decrease in the cross-sectional area between 1958 and 2007 (25 m2), less than the natural variability. However, the banks widened more than 518 m (Fig. 3C).

In the spring, the Al saturations tended to increase with the deepening layers. The Al saturations at 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm depths increased obviously in the summer and autumn. The highest Al saturation of all the beds at all three depths was found in the transplanted

2-yr-old ginseng beds. To better understand the potential soil damage caused by the artificial plastic canopy during ginseng cultivation, an annual cycle investigation was conducted to inspect the seasonal dynamics of soil acidity and related parameters in the albic ginseng bed soils. The results showed that ginseng planting resulted in soil acidification (Fig. 3A–E), decreased concentrations of Ex-Ca2+ (Fig. 1K–O), NH4+ (Fig. 2A–E), TOC (Fig. 3K–O), and Alp (Fig. 3P–T), and increased bulk density (Fig. 2P–T) of soils originating VEGFR inhibitor from albic luvisols. There were also marked seasonal changes in the Ex-Al3+ and NO3− concentrations and spatial variation of water content (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3F–J). The soil conditions were analyzed further as described in the following text. Generally,

soil acidification results from proton sources such as nitrification, acidic deposition, dissociation of organic anions and carbonic acid, and excessive uptake of cations over anions by vegetation [19]. In this study, the plastic canopy minimized the influence of rainfall, and thus acid deposition can be ignored. The form of nitrogen ( NH4+ or NO3−) has a prominent influence on the cation–anion balance in plants and the net production or consumption of H+ in roots, which accounts for a corresponding decrease or increase ALK tumor in the substrate pH [20]. The remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations and the surface increase in NO3− concentrations in the summer and autumn might mean that NH4+ is the major nitrogen source for ginseng uptake. It is difficult for ginseng to uptake the surface accumulation of NO3− due to spatial limitations. The TCL remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations within a 1-yr investigation cycle (Fig. 2A–E) might be

the result of two factors: (1) NH4+ uptake by plants; and (2) the nitrification transformation of NH4+ to NO3−. Either uptake by ginseng or transformation to NO3− will release protons and result in soil acidification. This is consistent with the finding that pH is positively correlated with NH4+ concentration (r = 0.463, p < 0.01, n = 60; Fig. 3A–E). The active nitrification process in ginseng garden soils might result in significant NO3− accumulation, especially in the summer and autumn (Fig. 2F–J). The clear seasonality of NO3− distribution in ginseng garden soils might also be driven by water movement (Fig. 2K–O), which was demonstrated in the variation in soil moisture in ginseng beds under plastic shades (Fig. 2K–O). In the summer and autumn, the potential difference in the amount of water between the layers might have resulted in upward water capillary action (Fig. 2K–O). The following spring, the snow melted and leaching occurred again (Fig. 2K–O).

The bottom layer of the reference forest was characterized by over 70% cover of P. schreberi in the moss bottom layer and the shrub understory was over 50% cover of dwarf shrubs. In contrast the spruce-Cladina forest had less than 3% cover SRT1720 cost of P. schreberi and over 50% cover of Cladina in the bottom layer and about 18% cover of all dwarf shrubs in the understory. Soil characteristics in open spruce stands with Cladina understory were notably different than those found in neighboring spruce, pine, feathermoss forest stands within the

same area. Recurrent use of fire reduced the depth of O horizon by an average of 60% across all three forest sites. Both total N capital ( Fig. 1a) and total concentration ( Table 2) associated with the O horizon were significantly reduced by historical burning practices. Total N concentration in the O horizon decreased by about 50% where total N capital decreased by a factor of 10. Nitrogen capital values of greater than 800 kg N ha−1 exist on the reference forest stands as compared to less than 80 kg N ha−1 on the spruce-Cladina forests. Total C in the O horizon was also much lower in the spruce-Cladina forests ( Table Selleckchem AZD2281 2 and Table 3, Fig. 1b), but not to the extent of

N. Mineral soil total C and N were not significantly different between the spruce-Cladina and reference forest stands. Total P and extractable Mg are the only other nutrients in the mineral soil that have been significantly influenced by the years of periodic burning (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). There were no differences in total Zn or exchangeable Ca concentrations in the mineral soil of the two forest types (Table 4). Total N:P (Fig. 4) of the O horizon were low for both forest types, but were significantly higher in the spruce-Cladina forests, likely as a result of reduced N2 fixation and increased net P loss from these soils. Ionic resins buried at the interface of the O horizon and mineral soil in both forest types revealed noted differences in N turnover between the spruce-Cladina forests

and the reference forests. Averaged across the three sites, NO3−-N accumulation on ionic resins was significantly greater in the degraded lichen-spruce much forest than that in the reference forest ( Fig. 5a). Resin adsorbed NH4+-N concentrations were notably greater in the reference forests ( Fig. 5b). Previous pollen analyses from the two sites Marrajåkkå and Marrajegge demonstrated a decline in the presence of Scots pine and juniper in conjunction with a great increase in the occurrence of fire approximately 500 and 3000 years BP, respectively (Hörnberg et al., 1999). The pollen record from Kartajauratj showed the same trend with a general decrease in the forest cover over time and the occurrence of charcoal indicates recurrent fires (Fig. 6).

Genetic and archeological data suggest that AMH populations moved out of Africa between ∼70,000 and 50,000 years ago, spreading eastward along the southern shores of Asia (Bulbeck, 2007), as well as along inland routes into central and western Eurasia (Fig. 2). From Island Southeast Asia, they crossed oceanic straits

up to 100 km wide to settle Australia, New Guinea, western Melanesia (near Oceania), and the Ryukyu Islands between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago (Erlandson, 2010). These maritime explorers had fishing skills and boats capable of oceanic crossings that enabled them to colonize Nivolumab in vitro lands that earlier hominins never reached (O’Connor et al., 2011). Near the end of the Pleistocene, maritime peoples may also have followed the coastlines of Northeast Asia to Beringia, a broad plain connecting Asia and North America that formed as sea levels dropped dramatically during the Last Glacial Maximum. Roughly 16,000 years ago, as the world warmed and the coastlines of Alaska and British Columbia deglaciated, these coastal peoples may have migrated down the Pacific Coast into the Americas, following an ecologically rich ‘kelp highway’ that provided a similar suite of marine resources from northern Japan to Baja California (Erlandson et al., 2007). By 14,000 years ago, these ‘First Americans’ had reached selleck products the coast of central Chile and probably explored much of the

New World. Another significant maritime migration occurred between about 4000 and 1000 years ago, when agricultural peoples with sophisticated sailing vessels loaded with domesticated plants and animals spread out of Asia to populate thousands of islands throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans (Kirch, 2000 and Rick et al., 2014). Often referred to as the Austronesian Radiation after the family of languages these maritime peoples spoke, the result was the introduction of humans and domesticated animals (pigs, dogs, below rats, chickens, etc.) and plants to fragile island ecosystems throughout

the vast Indo-Pacific region. A similar process occurred in the North Atlantic, as the Vikings settled several islands or archipelagos—including the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland—between about AD 700 and 1100, carrying a ‘transported landscape’ of domesticated plants and animals with them (Erlandson, 2010). Within this broad overview of human evolution, geographic expansion, and technological innovation, we can also see a general acceleration of behavioral and technological change through the past 2.5 million years (Fig. 3). Beginning with the Oldowan Complex, technological change was initially very slow, with limited evidence of innovation from the initial Oldowan, through the Developed Oldowan, to the appearance of the Acheulean Complex about 1.7 million years ago. The Acheulean, marked by a widespread (but not universal) reliance on large handaxes and cleavers, shows a similar conservatism, with only limited evidence of technological change through almost a million years of prehistory.

For nearly two millennia, it was a symptom and symbol of China’s never-ending problems with “frontier barbarians” who worked continuously to harvest some of the nation’s wealth for themselves (Barfield, 1989). It survives very visibly to the present, albeit now in greatly dilapidated condition except for a few limited restorations. The new Qin emperor also created for his personal afterlife a huge mounded tomb almost half a square km in extent, still unexcavated but, according to recorded legend, containing

a detailed replica of the royal palace surrounded by rivers of mercury. Well-digging in 1974 led to the discovery, about two km away from this location, of a fully equipped “spirit army” buried in two large pits that selleckchem included perhaps 3000 life-sized MI-773 “terracotta warriors” and associated pottery models of horses, chariots, and weaponry. Excavations quickly captured world attention and the work continues, now sheltered and displayed beneath a vast metal hangar that could house a considerable fleet of the world’s largest jet airplanes (Fig. 2). The Zheng Guor Canal system, according to historical records created in 246 BC by the pre-imperial Qin State, was laid out over a course of some 200 km and linked two local rivers. It hugely expanded the agricultural output of the Qin region and helped afford its lord the economic wherewithal to gain

greater control Bacterial neuraminidase over his rivals. Beyond the constructions subsequently ordered by Emperor Qin Shihuangdi there were also infrastructural projects sponsored by other wealthy “houses” of the region that we still see attested archeologically – dams, canals, vast irrigated agricultural fields, and roads – that are not as well preserved as the displays of royal wealth we see in the Qin emperor’s funereal Terracotta Army. Nevertheless,

these modifications are evident on the landscape and referred to in written records of the time. A third-century historical source quoted by Elvin (1993) vividly portrays the busy cultural landscape of the Qin and following Han periods: “The households of the powerful are [compounds] where one finds hundreds of ridge beams linked together. Their fertile fields fill the countryside. Their slaves throng in thousands, and their [military] retainers can be counted in tens of thousands. Their boats, carts, and their merchants spread out in every direction…. The valleys between the hills cannot contain their horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. The great array of huge mounded earth tombs inside the boundaries of modern Xi’an, created by the Han emperors who followed Qin Shihuangdi, further attests the Imperial capacity of the time for enormously labor-intensive construction projects that created large areas of anthropogenic landscape in the Wei River Valley. Each Han tomb was an artificial mountain that took armies of men and animals years to build.

The mass scale was calibrated using the standard calibration procedure and compounds

provided by the manufacturer. In the MS/MS experiment, nitrogen was used as collision gas, the mass selected monoisotopic parent ions were isolated in the quadrupole with an isolation width of 1.3m/z and fragmented by collision with N2 gas. The relative CID energies for the dissociation of samples in the positive ion mode were 20, 30 and 40 eV. Data were drug discovery collected and processed using MassHunter Workstation software. Thermogravimetric experiments were conducted on a Mettler TGA/SDTA 851e device. 3–3.5 mg of each sample was heated in Al2O3 crucibles with lids. The samples were heated from 25 to Selleck Sunitinib 700 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min. Nitrogen atmosphere was used, at a flow rate of 5 mL/min. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were conducted

on a Mettler DSC 1 STARe device. 3–3.5 mg of each sample was heated in aluminum crucibles with pressed lids. The samples were heated at a rate of 10 °C/min in nitrogen atmosphere at a flow rate of 150 mL/min. A total number of 56 Candida albicans strains collected between 2007 and 2009 from bloodstream infections in three tertiary hospitals from Romania have been assessed. The strains were isolated from blood cultures using BacT/ALERT bottles (bioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France) and subsequently identified using standard laboratory procedures including morphological and biochemical methods. Pure PCZ, NO3PCZ and β-CD–NO3PCZ inclusion complexes

were assessed at following final concentrations of active substances (mg/L): 0.0156; 0.0312; 0.0625; 0.125; 0.250; 0.500; 1.00; 2.00; 4.00; 8.00; 16.00; 32.00; 64.00; 128.00. For PCZ Thiamine-diphosphate kinase and NO3PCZ, DMSO was used as solvent, while the β-CD–NO3PCZ complex was dissolved in pure sterile water. In vitro susceptibility was assessed accordingly to the guidelines of AFST-EUCAST E. Def. 7.1 [27]. The tests were performed in RPMI-1640 medium buffered with MOPS and supplemented with 2% glucose. Microplates were prepared and stored frozen at −20 °C until their use (no more than one month). The final size of inoculum was adjusted to 105 CFU/mL. MICs (minimal inhibitory concentrations) were determined spectrophotometrically after 24 h of incubation at 36 °C, using the MR-96A microplate reader (Mindray, China). The MIC endpoint was defined as 50% or more reduction in growth compared to that in the drug-free well. Two reference strains, Candida krusei ATCC 6258 and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019, were included in each set of determinations to assure the quality of results. After acquirement of the MIC values, the following parameters were calculated using specific statistical software: MIC50 (the concentration of drug capable to inhibit 50% of strains), MIC90 (the concentration of drug capable to inhibit 90% of strains) and GM (geometric mean).