Journal articles on the topic 'Real-life biological samples'
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Bräuer, Birgit, Christine Unger, Martin Werner, and Peter A. Lieberzeit. "Biomimetic Sensors to Detect Bioanalytes in Real-Life Samples Using Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: A Review." Sensors 21, no. 16 (August 18, 2021): 5550. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21165550.
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Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) come with the promise to be highly versatile, useful artificial receptors for sensing a wide variety of analytes. Despite a very large body of literature on imprinting, the number of papers addressing real-life biological samples and analytes is somewhat limited. Furthermore, the topic of MIP-based sensor design is still, rather, in the research stage and lacks wide-spread commercialization. This review summarizes recent advances of MIP-based sensors targeting biological species. It covers systems that are potentially interesting in medical applications/diagnostics, in detecting illicit substances, environmental analysis, and in the quality control of food. The main emphasis is placed on work that demonstrates application in real-life matrices, including those that are diluted in a reasonable manner. Hence, it does not restrict itself to the transducer type, but focusses on both materials and analytical tasks.
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Scholtens, Ingrid, Emile Laurensse, Bonnie Molenaar, Stephanie Zaaijer, Heidi Gaballo, Peter Boleij, Arno Bak, and Esther Kok. "Practical Experiences with an Extended Screening Strategy for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Real-Life Samples." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 61, no. 38 (September 10, 2013): 9097–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf4018146.
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Dey, Nilanjan. "Coordination-driven reversible supramolecular assembly formation at biological pH: Trace-level detection of Hg2+ and I− ions in real life samples." Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 267 (February 2022): 120447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2021.120447.
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Phan, Uyen Thuy Xuan, Chambers, Edgar IV, Padmanabhan, Natarajan, and Alavi, Sajid. "Accelerated vs. real time modeling for shelf life: an example with fortified blended foods." Science and Technology Development Journal 17, no. 3 (September 30, 2014): 83–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.32508/stdj.v17i3.1503.
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Shelf life can be simply defined as the duration of that the food remains acceptable for consumption. Determining shelf life of a product, thus, has become essential in quality control because consumer’s demands for safe and high quality products have increased. Accelerated shelf life testing (ASLT), which subjects the food to environments that are more severe than normal to speed up the deterioration process, has long been used in shelf life studies because it can help make decisions more quickly by minimizing time and it minimizes costs. The criterion used to determine shelf life can be the changes in either physical, chemical, biological or sensory characteristics.
This study used sensory descriptive properties as the primary criteria to investigate the validity of using Accelerated Shelf Life Testing (ASLT) to determine shelf life of four extruded fortified blended foods (FBFs) compared to a real time model. The real-time environment was set at 300C and 65% relative humidity, based on the weather in Tanzania, the expected location of product use. The ASLT environment was at 500C and 70% relative humidity based on a Q factor of 2, which was equivalent to a one-week ASLT equals onemonth real time. The samples were evaluated for aroma and flavor by a highly trained descriptive panel for 3 time points in each shelf life model. Among the eighteen attributes tested, rancid and painty were the main sensory criteria to determine the shelf life of the products.
The ASLT shelf life predictive model was consistent with the real time shelf life for three of the samples. However, it failed to predict the real time shelf life of the fourth similar sample. This affirms the essential use of real time modeling in shelf life study for a new product, even when an accelerated model has been developed for other similar products in the same category. ASLT testing can still be used, but only for early guidance or after validation.
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Enos-Berlage, Jodi. "Development of a Water-Quality Lab that Enhances Learning & Connects Students to the Land." American Biology Teacher 74, no. 7 (September 1, 2012): 471–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.7.8.
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A 3-week laboratory module was developed for an undergraduate microbiology course that would connect student learning to a real-life challenge, specifically a local water-quality project. The laboratory series included multiple field trips, sampling of soil and water, and subsequent analysis for bacteria and nitrate. Laboratory results confirmed the usefulness of comparing real environmental samples, and student survey and performance data supported the original hypothesis of this study in terms of student learning objectives.
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Khanna, Charu, Shalini Singh, Manish Vyas, and Sujata Das. "Biological Potential of Semi-Purified Enterocin of Enterococcus Sp. Yt3 Against Selected Food Pathogens." Oriental Journal Of Chemistry 35, no. 5 (October 16, 2019): 1584–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/350517.
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The efforts for prevention of food borne illness and infections draw great attention, worldwide. Different methods, both physical as well as chemical, are commonly used for improving shelf life of food, but limited efficiency of physical methods, and potential health hazards associated with chemical methods, have brought biological processes in the limelight. One such natural, environment friendly, highly effective natural food preservants are, bacteriocins. Thus, there is a continuous need for better bacteriocin producers in the search for more effective bacteriocins than what are already available in the market. In the current study, food samples were collected from local market of Jalandhar, Punjab, and evaluated for bacteriocin producing Lactic acid bacteria. Enterococcus sp. YT3 was found to be the most efficient bacteriocin producer among the isolates, with higher bacteriocin activity exhibited by the given strain under optimized cultural conditions. The partially purified bacteriocin have molecular weight between 35kDa & 48kDa, possess pH (2-10) and thermal stability (even at 121o C for 20 minutes), and exhibit biological potential against different bacteria (E. coli, P. aeruginosa, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and B. subtilis). Future studies will focus on checking different food samples for real time evaluation of shelf life improvement.
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Yehia, Ali M., Reham M. Arafa, Samah S. Abbas, and Sawsan M. Amer. "Stability Study and Kinetic Monitoring of Cefquinome Sulfate Using Cyclodextrin-Based Ion-Selective Electrode: Application to Biological Samples." Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL 99, no. 1 (January 1, 2016): 73–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.5740/jaoacint.15-0185.
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Abstract Two novel cefquinome sulfate (CFQ)-selective electrodes were performed with dibutyl sebacate as a plasticizer using a polymeric matrix of polyvinyl chloride. Sensor 1 was prepared using sodium tetraphenylborate as a cation exchanger without incorporation of ionophore, whereas 2-hydroxy propyl β-cyclodextrin was used as ionophore in sensor 2. A stable, reliable, and linear response was obtained in concentration ranges 3.2 × 10−5 to 1 × 10−2 mol/L and 1 × 10−5 to 1 × 10−2 mol/L for sensors 1 and 2, respectively. Both sensors could be sufficiently applied for quantitative determination of CFQ in the presence of degradation products either in bulk powder or in pharmaceutical formulations. Sensor 2 provided better selectivity and sensitivity, wider linearity range, and higher performance. Therefore it was used successfully for accurate determination of CFQ in biological fluids such as spiked plasma and milk samples. Furthermore, an online kinetic study was applied to the CFQ alkaline degradation process to estimate the reaction rate and half-life with feasible real-time monitoring. The developed sensors were found to be fast, accurate, sensitive, and precise compared with the manufacturer's reversed-phase chromatographic method.
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Dau, Holger, and Michael Haumann. "X-ray absorption spectroscopy to watch catalysis by metalloenzymes: status and perspectives discussed for the water-splitting manganese complex of photosynthesis." Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 10, no. 1 (December 24, 2002): 76–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/s090904950201720x.
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Understanding structure–function relations is one of the main interests in the molecular biosciences. X-ray absorption spectroscopy of biological samples (BioXAS) has gained the status of a useful tool for characterization of the structure of protein-bound metal centers with respect to the electronic structure (oxidation states, orbital occupancies) and atomic structure (arrangement of ligand atoms). Owing to progress in the performance characteristics of synchrotron radiation sources and of experimental stations dedicated to the study of (ultra-dilute) biological samples, it is now possible to carry out new types of BioXAS experiments, which have been impracticable in the past. Of particular interest are approaches to follow biological catalysis at metal sites by characterization of functionally relevant structural changes. In this article, the first steps towards the use of BioXAS to `watch' biological catalysis are reviewed for the water-splitting reactions occurring at the manganese complex of photosynthesis. The following aspects are considered: the role of BioXAS in life sciences; methodological aspects of BioXAS; catalysis at the Mn complex of photosynthesis; combination of EXAFS and crystallographic information; the freeze-quench technique to capture semi-stable states; time-resolved BioXAS using a freeze-quench approach; room-temperature experiments and `real-time' BioXAS; tasks and perspectives.
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Minogue, Timothy D., Phillip A. Rachwal, Adrienne Trombley Hall, Jeffery W. Koehler, and Simon A. Weller. "Cross-Institute Evaluations of Inhibitor-Resistant PCR Reagents for Direct Testing of Aerosol and Blood Samples Containing Biological Warfare Agent DNA." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80, no. 4 (December 13, 2013): 1322–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.03478-13.
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ABSTRACTRapid pathogen detection is crucial for the timely introduction of therapeutics. Two groups (one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States) independently evaluated inhibitor-resistant PCR reagents for the direct testing of substrates. In the United Kingdom, a multiplexedBacillus anthracis(target) andBacillus subtilis(internal-control) PCR was used to evaluate 4 reagents against 5 PCR inhibitors and down-selected the TaqMan Fast Virus 1-Step master mix (Life Technologies Inc.). In the United States, four real-time PCR assays (targetingB. anthracis,Brucella melitensis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus [VEEV], andOrthopoxvirusspp.) were used to evaluate 5 reagents (plus the Fast Virus master mix) against buffer, blood, and soil samples and down-selected the KAPA Blood Direct master mix (KAPA Biosystems Inc.) with added PlatinumTaq(Life Technologies). The down-selected reagents underwent further testing. In the United Kingdom experiments, both reagents were tested against seven contrived aerosol collector samples containingB. anthracisAmes DNA andB. subtilisspores from a commercial formulation (BioBall). In PCR assays with reaction mixtures containing 40% crude sample, an airfield-collected sample induced inhibition of theB. subtilisPCR with the KAPA reagent and complete failure of both PCRs with the Fast Virus reagent. However, both reagents allowed successful PCR for all other samples—which inhibited PCRs with a non-inhibitor-resistant reagent. In the United States, a cross-assay limit-of-detection (LoD) study in blood was conducted. The KAPA Blood Direct reagent allowed the detection of agent DNA (by four PCRs) at higher concentrations of blood in the reaction mixture (2.5%) than the Fast Virus reagent (0.5%), although LoDs differed between assays and reagent combinations. Across both groups, the KAPA Blood Direct reagent was determined to be the optimal reagent for inhibition relief in PCR.
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Hršak, Dalibor, Ivan Katanić, and Strahil Ristov. "A Fast Method for the Selection of Samples in Populations with Available Genealogical Data." Diversity 14, no. 2 (February 20, 2022): 150. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14020150.
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Optimal selection of samples in populations should provide the best coverage of sample variations for the available sampling resources. In populations with known genealogical connections, or pedigrees, this amounts to finding the set of samples with the largest sum of mutual distances in a genealogical tree. We present an optimal, and a faster sub-optimal, method for the selection of K samples from a population of N individuals. The optimal method works in time proportional to NK2, and the sub-optimal in time proportional to NK, which is more practical for large populations. The sub-optimal algorithm can process pedigrees of millions of individuals in a matter of minutes. With the real-life pedigrees, the difference in the quality of the output of the two algorithms is negligible. We provide the Python3 source codes for the two methods.
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Patrizi, Barbara, Mario Siciliani de Cumis, Silvia Viciani, and Francesco D’Amato. "Dioxin and Related Compound Detection: Perspectives for Optical Monitoring." International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, no. 11 (May 30, 2019): 2671. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms20112671.
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Dioxins and related compounds are environmental xenobiotics that are dangerous to human life, due to the accumulation and persistence in the environment and in the food chain. Cancer, reproductive and developmental issues, and damage to the immune system and endocrine system are only a few examples of the impact of such substances in everyday life. For these reasons, it is fundamental to detect and monitor these molecules in biological samples. The consolidated technique for analytical evaluation is gas chromatography combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Nowadays, the development of mid-infrared optical components like broadband laser sources, optical frequency combs, high performance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and plasmonic sensors open the way to new techniques for detection and real time monitoring of these organic pollutants in gaseous or liquid phase, with sufficient sensitivity and selectivity, and in short time periods. In this review, we report the latest techniques for the detection of dioxins, furans and related compounds based on optical and spectroscopic methods, looking at future perspectives.
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Radovanov, J., V. Milosevic, I. Hrnjakovic, V. Petrovic, M. Ristic, I. Elez, T. Petrovic, et al. "Influenza A and B viruses in the population of Vojvodina, Serbia." Archives of Biological Sciences 66, no. 1 (2014): 43–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/abs1401043r.
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At present, two influenza A viruses, H1N1pdm09 and H3N2, along with influenza B virus co-circulate in the human population, causing endemic and seasonal epidemic acute febrile respiratory infections, sometimes with life-threatening complications. Detection of influenza viruses in nasopharyngeal swab samples was done by real-time RT-PCR. There were 60.2% (53/88) positive samples in 2010/11, 63.4% (52/82) in 2011/12, and 49.9% (184/369) in 2012/13. Among the positive patients, influenza A viruses were predominant during the first two seasons, while influenza B type was more active during 2012/13. Subtyping of influenza A positive samples revealed the presence of A (H1N1)pdm09 in 2010/11, A (H3N2) in 2011/12, while in 2012/13, both subtypes were detected. The highest seroprevalence against influenza A was in the age-group 30-64, and against influenza B in adults aged 30-64 and >65.
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Baloghová, Janette, Tomáš Kampe, Peter Kolarčik, and Elena Hatalová. "Vaccination, Risk Factors and Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection in Patients with Psoriasis—A Single Centre Real-Life Experience from Eastern Slovakia." Viruses 14, no. 8 (July 27, 2022): 1646. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14081646.
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) represents a threat for people with immune-mediated diseases. It seems that patients with psoriasis appear to have a similar SARS-CoV-2 infection rate as the general population. Our study aimed to identify factors associated with contracting COVID-19 and determining the severity of COVID-19 among psoriatic patients in a real practice setting. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 379 respondents. About one-quarter (n = 78; 25.8%) of the respondents who provided information on their COVID-19 (n = 302) status had contracted COVID-19. Most variables tested for their effect on getting COVID-19 proved to be statistically insignificant, except education, age and gender. Our study proved the protective effect of vaccination, especially the third dose, against the COVID-19 outcome. From all the potential variables, we found that non-Roma ethnicity increased the chance of being vaccinated at least once by 2.6-fold. Patients with a longer psoriasis duration had a higher chance of being vaccinated. We consider biological treatment of psoriasis safe during COVID-19. Vaccination of patients was a statistically significant protector against COVID-19. It is important to point out that only three doses of vaccine decreased with statistical significance the chance of getting the illness. Our findings should be confirmed on larger samples in further studies.
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Hinterer, Fabian, Magdalena C. Schneider, Simon Hubmer, Montserrat López-Martinez, Philipp Zelger, Alexander Jesacher, Ronny Ramlau, and Gerhard J. Schütz. "Robust and bias-free localization of individual fixed dipole emitters achieving the Cramér Rao bound for applications in cryo-single molecule localization microscopy." PLOS ONE 17, no. 2 (February 4, 2022): e0263500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263500.
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Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has the potential to resolve structural details of biological samples at the nanometer length scale. Compared to room temperature experiments, SMLM performed under cryogenic temperature achieves higher photon yields and, hence, higher localization precision. However, to fully exploit the resolution it is crucial to account for the anisotropic emission characteristics of fluorescence dipole emitters with fixed orientation. In case of slight residual defocus, localization estimates may well be biased by tens of nanometers. We show here that astigmatic imaging in combination with information about the dipole orientation allows to extract the position of the dipole emitters without localization bias and down to a precision of 1 nm, thereby reaching the corresponding Cramér Rao bound. The approach is showcased with simulated data for various dipole orientations, and parameter settings realistic for real life experiments.
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El Osta, Marven, Pierre Naubourg, Olivier Grunewald, Gilles Renom, Patrick Ducoroy, and Jean Marc Périni. "The Reliable, Automatic Classification of Neonates in First-Tier MALDI-MS Screening for Sickle Cell Disease." International Journal of Neonatal Screening 5, no. 3 (August 31, 2019): 31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijns5030031.
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Previous research has shown that a MALDI-MS technique can be used to screen for sickle cell disease (SCD), and that a system combining automated sample preparation, MALDI-MS analysis and classification software is a relevant approach for first-line, high-throughput SCD screening. In order to achieve a high-throughput “plug and play” approach while detecting “non-standard” profiles that might prompt the misclassification of a sample, we have incorporated various sets of alerts into the decision support software. These included “biological alert” indicators of a newborn’s clinical status (e. g., detecting samples with no or low HbA), and “technical alerts” indicators for the most common non-standard profiles, i.e., those which might otherwise lead to sample misclassification. We evaluated these alerts by applying them to two datasets (produced by different laboratories). Despite the random generation of abnormal spectra by one-off technical faults or due to the nature and quality of the samples, the use of alerts fully secured the process of automatic sample classification. Firstly, cases of β-thalassemia were detected. Secondly, after a visual check on the tagged profiles and reanalysis of the corresponding biological samples, all the samples were correctly reclassified without prompting further alerts. All of the samples for which the results were not tagged were well classified (i.e., sensitivity and specificity = 1). The alerts were mainly designed for detecting false-negative classifications; all the FAS samples misclassified by the software as FA (a false negative) were marked with an alert. The implementation of alerts in the NeoScreening® Laboratory Information Management System’s decision support software opens up perspectives for the safe, reliable, automated classification of samples, with a visual check solely on abnormal results or samples. It should now be possible to evaluate the combination of the NeoSickle® analytical solution and the NeoScreening® Laboratory Information Management System in a real-life, prospective study of first-line SCD screening.
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Bigni, Ricardo, Teresa de Souza Fernandez, Mayara Rego, Ingrid Luise, Eliana Abdelhay, Cecilia Fernandez, and Keyla Araujo. "Prognostic Impact of Deletion 17p Clone Size on Outcome in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients (A Real Life Routine Practice Perspective in Brazil)." Blood 132, Supplement 1 (November 29, 2018): 5546. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2018-99-114843.
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Abstract Objectives: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) presents a heterogeneous clinical course. Treatment mainly aims to control clinical manifestations and improving survival. Some biological markers have significant prognostic value. Cytogenetic studies in CLL have central role to refine the follow-up of disease evolution, to guide treatment options and monitoring response. Due to low mitotic index in conventional cytogenetic studies, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) became an indispensable tool. The main objective of this study was analyze the presence of del(17p13) using FISH and the percentage of positive cells that have impact on survival, along with clinical characteristics from CLL patients. Methods: Seventy-one CLL patients were studied from 2010 to 2017. Median age was 57 years old and male patients were 56,4%. FISH analysis was performed using peripheral blood samples from patients and TP53 spectrum srange/CEP 17 spectrum green probe (Vysis). Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS20.0 software. Results: Twenty-eight of 71 patients had positive FISH for del(17p13) and the evidence of more than 20% del(17p13) cells was related to a worse overall survival (p<0,05). No difference in survival was observed between negative FISH patients and those with less than 20% del(17p13) cells. Conclusions: Patients presenting del(17p13) in more than 20% of cells had worse prognosis with reduced survival. Our results suggest the prognostic relevance of deletion17p clone size detected by FISH in CLL patients. Disclosures Bigni: Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding.
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Romano, Ida, Carlo Camerlingo, Lisa Vaccari, Giovanni Birarda, Annarita Poli, Akira Fujimori, Maria Lepore, Ralf Moeller, and Paola Di Donato. "Effects of Ionizing Radiation and Long-Term Storage on Hydrated vs. Dried Cell Samples of Extremophilic Microorganisms." Microorganisms 10, no. 1 (January 16, 2022): 190. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10010190.
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A main factor hampering life in space is represented by high atomic number nuclei and energy (HZE) ions that constitute about 1% of the galactic cosmic rays. In the frame of the “STARLIFE” project, we accessed the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC) facility of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba, Japan. By means of this facility, the extremophilic species Haloterrigena hispanica and Parageobacillus thermantarcticus were irradiated with high LET ions (i.e., Fe, Ar, and He ions) at doses corresponding to long permanence in the space environment. The survivability of HZE-treated cells depended upon either the storage time and the hydration state during irradiation; indeed, dry samples were shown to be more resistant than hydrated ones. With particular regard to spores of the species P. thermantarcticus, they were the most resistant to irradiation in a water medium: an analysis of the changes in their biochemical fingerprinting during irradiation showed that, below the survivability threshold, the spores undergo to a germination-like process, while for higher doses, inactivation takes place as a consequence of the concomitant release of the core’s content and a loss of integrity of the main cellular components. Overall, the results reported here suggest that the selected extremophilic microorganisms could serve as biological model for space simulation and/or real space condition exposure, since they showed good resistance to ionizing radiation exposure and were able to resume cellular growth after long-term storage.
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Zainal, N. H. M., R. Abas, and S. F. Mohamad Asri. "Childhood Allergy Disease, Early Diagnosis, and the Potential of Salivary Protein Biomarkers." Mediators of Inflammation 2021 (October 8, 2021): 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/9198249.
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Allergic disease has risen to epidemic proportions since the last decade and is among the most common noncommunicable, chronic diseases in children and adolescents worldwide. Allergic disease usually occurs in early life; thus, early biomarkers of allergic susceptibility are required for preventive measures to high-risk infants which enable early interventions to decrease allergic severity. However, to date, there is no reliable general or specific allergy phenotype detection method that is easy and noninvasive for children. Most reported allergic phenotype detection methods are invasive, such as the skin prick test (SPT), oral food challenge (OFC), and blood test, and many involve not readily accessible biological samples, such as cord blood (CB), maternal blood, or newborn vernix. Saliva is a biological sample that has great potential as a biomarker measurement as it consists of an abundance of biomarkers, such as genetic material and proteins. It is easily accessible, noninvasive, collected via a painless procedure, and an easy bedside screening for real-time measurement of the ongoing human physiological system. All these advantages emphasise saliva as a very promising diagnostic candidate for the detection and monitoring of disease biomarkers, especially in children. Furthermore, protein biomarkers have the advantages as modifiable influencing factors rather than genetic and epigenetic factors that are mostly nonmodifiable factors for allergic disease susceptibility in childhood. Saliva has great potential to replace serum as a biological fluid biomarker in diagnosing clinical allergy. However, to date, saliva is not considered as an established medically acceptable biomarker. This review considers whether the saliva could be suitable biological samples for early detection of allergic risk. Such tools may be used as justification for targeted interventions in early childhood for disease prevention and assisting in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by childhood allergy.
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Pochinok, T. B., P. V. Anisimovich, and Z. A. Temerdashev. "Methodological features of the spectrophotometric determination of proteins in biological fluids using reactions with brompyrogallol red." Industrial laboratory. Diagnostics of materials 86, no. 2 (February 27, 2020): 15–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.26896/1028-6861-2020-86-2-15-22.
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Determination of proteins in biological fluids is rather important for diagnostics in current clinical practice. The results of total protein determination depend on the amino-acid composition of the proteins present in the biological fluid. We discuss some aspects of the spectrophotometric determination of proteins in biological fluids, in particular, the methodological features of the technique based on the reaction of proteins with brompyrogallol red (BPGR). The most important advantage of BPGR in the determination of proteins in biological fluids is rather high and equal sensitivity of the dye to the proteins of albumin and globulin fractions, thus minimizing the errors attributed to the mismatch of the protein composition of the analyzed samples and calibration solutions used. The goal of the work is to study the impact of conditions and shelf life of the BPGR solution on the analytical properties of the solution in the spectrophotometric determination of proteins in biological fluids. Stability of the optical and analytical properties of BPGR solutions are studied using Fisher and Student criteria under conditions of different storage temperatures and nature of the stabilizer (ethanol or sodium benzoate) in the reagent solutions. Verification of the correctness of the total protein determination by the proposed method was carried out in spike tests. The introduced additives of standard solutions are prepared from the «Total protein» or «Albumin» calibrators. The developed method of the spectrophotometric determination of the mass concentration of proteins in the urine by the reaction with bromopyrogallol red was tested on real objects, metrologically certified and listed in the Federal register of certified measurement techniques. Analytical and metrological studies have shown that the developed method of protein determination with a reagent based on BPGR provides equal and high sensitivity of determination of albumin and globulin protein fractions in human biological fluids. To increase the shelf life of the reagent solution and preserve the analytical properties of the solution, we recommend to use ethanol as a stabilizer.
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Ghesquieres, Herve, Cedric Rossi, Fanny Cherblanc, Sandra Le Guyader, Fontanet Bijou, Pierre Sujobert, Pascale Fabbro-Peray, et al. "A French Multicentric Prospective Cohort of 6000 Patients with Integrative Epidemiological, Clinical, Biological and Treatment Data to Improve Knowledge on Outcome of Lymphoma Patients: Pilot Phase Results of the Real World Data in Lymphoma and Survival in Adults (REALYSA) Study." Blood 134, Supplement_1 (November 13, 2019): 4762. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2019-129204.
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Introduction: Lymphoma incidence continues to rise in France since early 80', although differently among subtypes. Recent improvements in patient survival in major lymphoma subtypes at populational level raise new questions about patient outcome (in specific subgroups) and survivorship (i.e. quality of life, long term sequelae). Numerous epidemiological studies have investigated factors related to lymphoma risk, but far fewer have addressed the extent to which socioeconomic status, social institutional context (i.e. healthcare system), social relationships, environmental context (exposures), individual behaviours (lifestyle) or genetic determinants influence lymphoma outcomes, especially in the general population. Moreover, the knowledge of the disease behaviour achieved from clinical trials data is partly biased because of patient selection. Study Design and Methods: The REALYSA ("REal world dAta in LYmphoma and Survival in Adults") study is a real-life multicentric cohort set in France areas mostly covered by population-based cancer registries to study the prognostic value of epidemiological, clinical and biological factors with a prospective 9-year follow up. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier is NCT03869619. We aim to include 6000 patients over 4 years. Adult patients without lymphoma history and newly diagnosed of one of the following 7 lymphoma subtypes (diffuse large B cell (DLBCL), follicular (FL), marginal zone (MZL), mantle cell (MCL), Burkitt, Hodgkin (HL), T-cell (T-NHL)) are offered to participate during a medical consultation with their hematologist. Exclusion criteria are: having already received anti-lymphoma treatment (except pre-phase) and having a documented HIV infection. After having given signed informed consent, participants fill in three auto-questionnaires regarding lifelong history of residences and occupations, quality of life (QoL / QLQ-C30 questionnaire) and social support (SS / SSQ6 questionnaire). Patients are then interviewed to collect their sociodemographic characteristics, medical and familial history, professional and domestic exposures to major chemicals and pesticides, lifestyle and women health. Clinical data are obtained using patients medical records, including care pathway, medical history, concomitant treatments, initial diagnosis characteristics, nodal/extra-nodal involvement, exams performed, staging, laboratory data, serologic tests, geriatric screening (G8 questionnaire), treatments received (including pre-phase, detailed treatment phases and molecules, reasons for treatment discontinuation), progressions, and treatment response evaluation. Biological samples at baseline and during treatment are collected including plasma and peripheral mononuclear cells. Additionally, a virtual tumor biobank is constituted for baseline tumor samples. The diagnosis will be ensured thanks to the review of French Lymphopath network. Follow-up, including clinical outcomes, new morbidities, lifestyle, professional situation, QoL, SS, fertility, health behavior, are collected every 6 months in the first 3 years and every year thereafter. Results: A pilot phase was implemented between November 2018 and June 2019 in 7 French hospitals/clinics. By June 30, 328 patients were recruited. Biological samples at baseline were obtained for 81% of included patients (n=265). 52% were male and 48% were female. The median age was 62 years (range: 18-95). The histological subtypes were the following (n=308 patients with complete data): 132 DLBCL (42.8%); 59 FL (19.5%); 52 HL (16.9%); 29 MCL (9.4%); 22 MZL (7.1%); 13 T-NHL (4.2%); 1 other (0.3%). We observed a good adherence to clinical research process despite the complexity of data collection. An extension phase with 10 additional centres will be launched during the last 2019 trimester. Discussion: The pilot phase of REALYSA study showed a good compliance to study guidelines and a good quality of data collected at baseline. Consequently, the study design is prospectively feasible in real-life setting. This cohort will constitute an innovative platform for clinical, biological, epidemiological and socio-economical research projects. Disclosures Oberic: Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Salles:Amgen: Honoraria, Other: Educational events; Novartis, Servier, AbbVie, Karyopharm, Kite, MorphoSys: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Educational events; BMS: Honoraria; Roche, Janssen, Gilead, Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Educational events; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Educational events; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Autolus: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria.
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Kamal Eddin, Faten Bashar, and Yap Wing Fen. "Recent Advances in Electrochemical and Optical Sensing of Dopamine." Sensors 20, no. 4 (February 14, 2020): 1039. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20041039.
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Nowadays, several neurological disorders and neurocrine tumours are associated with dopamine (DA) concentrations in various biological fluids. Highly accurate and ultrasensitive detection of DA levels in different biological samples in real-time can change and improve the quality of a patient’s life in addition to reducing the treatment cost. Therefore, the design and development of diagnostic tool for in vivo and in vitro monitoring of DA is of considerable clinical and pharmacological importance. In recent decades, a large number of techniques have been established for DA detection, including chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, spectroscopic approaches, and electrochemical (EC) methods. These methods are effective, but most of them still have some drawbacks such as consuming time, effort, and money. Added to that, sometimes they need complex procedures to obtain good sensitivity and suffer from low selectivity due to interference from other biological species such as uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA). Advanced materials can offer remarkable opportunities to overcome drawbacks in conventional DA sensors. This review aims to explain challenges related to DA detection using different techniques, and to summarize and highlight recent advancements in materials used and approaches applied for several sensor surface modification for the monitoring of DA. Also, it focuses on the analytical features of the EC and optical-based sensing techniques available.
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GAMBOA, D., G. VAN EYS, K. VICTOIR, K. TORRES, V. ADAUI, J. AREVALO, and J. C. DUJARDIN. "Putative markers of infective life stages in Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis." Parasitology 134, no. 12 (September 26, 2007): 1689–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003118200700306x.
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SUMMARYGene expression is known to vary significantly during the Leishmania life-cycle. Its monitoring might allow identification of molecular changes associated with the infective stages (metacyclics and amastigotes) and contribute to the understanding of the complex host-parasite relationships. So far, very few studies have been done on Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, one of the most pathogenic species. Such studies require, first of all, reference molecular markers. In the present work, we applied differential display analysis (DD analysis) in order to identify transcripts that might be (i) candidate markers of metacyclics and intracellular amastigotes of L. (V.) braziliensis or (ii) potential controls, i.e. constitutively expressed. In total, 48 DNA fragments gave reliable sequencing data, 29 of them being potential markers of infective stages and 12 potential controls. Eight sequences could be identified with reported genes. Validation of the results of DD analysis was done for 4 genes (2 differentially expressed and 2 controls) by quantitative real-time PCR. The infective insect stage-specific protein (meta 1) was more expressed in metacyclic-enriched preparations. The oligopeptidase b showed a higher expression in amastigotes. Two genes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and a serine/threonine protein kinase, were found to be similarly expressed in the different biological samples.
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Decamp, Matthieu, Dina Istasi, Atchroue Johnsonansah, Oumedaly Reman, Xavier Levaltier, Christophe Fruchart, Vincent Launay, Seyeffedine Kadi, and Xavier Troussard. "Frequency of Complete Molecular Response In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients In Real Life Practice." Blood 116, no. 21 (November 19, 2010): 1227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood.v116.21.1227.1227.
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Abstract Abstract 1227 Introduction: Scarce data are available on the frequency of complete molecular response (CMR) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. The European Leukemia Net defined CMR lately as an undetectable transcript quantified by Real Time PCR and/or nested PCR in two consecutive blood samples of adequate quality, using strict sensitivity criteria (sensitivity > 10 4). CMR is the best response that we can achieve in CML patients. Generally it is obtained after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) but since the administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), the number of patients seen with CMR is continuously increasing. The aim of this study is to assess the frequency of CMR in CML patients, and study their characteristics. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to collect epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and laboratory data of CML patients followed in hospitals of the region of Basse Normandie in France. All CML patients who had been followed up, between 1999 and 2010, by molecular monitoring for their Bcr-Abl transcript level were included. Clinical and biological responses were defined according to the ELN 2009 recommendations. Results: 199 patients were included in this study, 154 were diagnosed during the study period. Median age at diagnosis was 54 years and 46% were females. 61.3% were diagnosed in the chronic phase while the accelerated and the blast crisis phase accounted for 10.5% and 0.02%. Among these patients, 2 had the p190 BCR-ABL transcript and 2 the p230 transcript type. 169 were still followed at the end of this study and the median follow up duration was 6,4 years. Out of these 199 patients 12 died and 18 were lost out of sight. Imatinb (IM) alone or Imatinib-based combined therapies in clinical trials, was administrated as a first line treatment in 51,2% of patients. Interferon (INF) alone or in association with other chemotherapy was the frontline therapy in 37,7%; 52% of them started IFN treatment before 2000 and 73% switched to IM. At the time of analysis 26.6% of patients achieved a complete molecular response and 39.7% obtained a major molecular response (MMR) as defined by the international scale; this figure is to be tempered by the fact that the follow up duration was less than 18 months for 9,5% of patients. CMR was obtained in 11 patients following HSCT. With IM as a first line therapy, 11 patients achieved CMR or had an undetectable transcript after a median duration of 43.3 months and lasted for 13.3 months. When IM was given as a second line therapy, 17 obtained a CMR or had an undetectable transcript, in this case the median time calculated starting from the second line treatment administration was 37,3 months and in half of them, it persisted for 28 months. Among these patients, two discontinued therapy and currently they are still on CMR, 24 and 18 months after IM arrest. There was no significant difference in the median CMR achievement duration between the first and second line IM therapy groups. CMR following IFN treatment had been observed in 8 patients, 7 of them stopped IFN and have been in CMR for more than 5 years since its discontinuation. Finally five patients achieved a CMR after administration of second generation TKI. Altogether, a total of 63 patients were followed up for undetectable BCR-ABL transcript. In 53, the transcript remained undetectable; whereas 10 had lost that level of molecular response; 7 of them had regressed to a MMR though they were under IM therapy; 2 lost the MMR, one of them after IM arrest and one progressed to acute leukemia. Conclusion: A significant proportion of patients is in CMR or at least had no detectable transcript. In case of TKI therapy, the response is obtained after continuous administration (median duration was 36 months) and is durable in most cases. In this study, few patients in CMR have discontinued treatment but maintained their CMR response. Unfortunately one stopped the treatment and relapsed rapidly. The maintenance of this level of response appears to be dependent on continued suppression of the Bcr-Abl clone by TKI. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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Harrison, Xavier A. "A brief introduction to the analysis of time-series data from biologging studies." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376, no. 1831 (June 28, 2021): 20200227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0227.
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Recent advances in tagging and biologging technology have yielded unprecedented insights into wild animal physiology. However, time-series data from such wild tracking studies present numerous analytical challenges owing to their unique nature, often exhibiting strong autocorrelation within and among samples, low samples sizes and complicated random effect structures. Gleaning robust quantitative estimates from these physiological data, and, therefore, accurate insights into the life histories of the animals they pertain to, requires careful and thoughtful application of existing statistical tools. Using a combination of both simulated and real datasets, I highlight the key pitfalls associated with analysing physiological data from wild monitoring studies, and investigate issues of optimal study design, statistical power, and model precision and accuracy. I also recommend best practice approaches for dealing with their inherent limitations. This work will provide a concise, accessible roadmap for researchers looking to maximize the yield of information from complex and hard-won biologging datasets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Measuring physiology in free-living animals (Part II)’.
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Cebeci, Oğuz Özden, and Alp Ozkan. "An evaluation of factors affecting pain during transrectal ultrasonographic prostate biopsy: a real-life scenario in a retrospective cohort study." PeerJ 9 (September 6, 2021): e12144. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12144.
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Background Periprostatic infiltration anesthesia (PPIA) and intrarectal topical anesthesia (IRTA) are recommended methods to control pain in transrectal ultrasonographic prostate biopsy (TRUS-Bx). This study evaluates the factors affecting pain during TRUS-Bx, considering the pathologies involved in anorectal pain etiology and comparing the effectiveness of local anesthesia techniques in providing patient comfort. Material and Methods We retrospectively evaluated 477 consecutive patients with TRUS-Bx for elevated Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), abnormal rectal examination findings, or both. Patients were grouped as local anesthesia methods for pain control during TRUS-Bx. Both groups were compared in terms of age, body mass index, clinical T stage, PSA, prostate volume, number of biopsy cores, type of anesthesia, previous biopsy history, and presence of prostate cancer. We used a visual analog pain scale (VAS) to evaluate the patient’s pain status; pre-procedure (VAS-0), during probe insertion (VAS-I), administration of anesthetic (VAS-A), and simultaneous with the biopsy procedure itself (VAS-Bx). For PPIA and IRTA, 4 ml lidocaine 20 mg/ml injection and 5 g 5% prilocaine-5% lidocaine cream was used, respectively. Results The PPIA was used 74.2% (n = 354) and IRTA was used for 25.8% (n = 123) patients. VAS-0, VAS-I, and VAS-A scores are similar between groups. VAS-Bx was significantly higher in the IRTA than in the PPIA (3.37 ± 0.18 vs. 2.36 ± 0.12 p > 0.001). Clinical T stage (OR: 0.59), number of biopsy cores (OR: 1.80), and type of anesthesia application (OR: 2.65) were independent variables on TRUS-Bx for pain. Conclusion Three factors play roles as independent variables associated with the pain in TRUS-Bx; abnormal rectal examination findings, collection of more than twelve core samples during the biopsy, and the type of anesthesia used. Compared with PPIA, IRTA does not improve pain related to probe insertion, and using IRTA results in higher pain scores for biopsy-related pain. Thus, we recommend a PPIA to lower biopsy-related pain.
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Yousef, Manal M., Rehab Alsultan, and Said G. Nassr. "Parametric inference on partially accelerated life testing for the inverted Kumaraswamy distribution based on Type-II progressive censoring data." Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering 20, no. 2 (2022): 1674–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2023076.
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<abstract> <p>This article discusses the problem of estimation with step stress partially accelerated life tests using Type-II progressively censored samples. The lifetime of items under use condition follows the two-parameters inverted Kumaraswamy distribution. The maximum likelihood estimates for the unknown parameters are computed numerically. Using the property of asymptotic distributions for maximum likelihood estimation, we constructed asymptotic interval estimates. The Bayes procedure is used to calculate estimates of the unknown parameters from symmetrical and asymmetric loss functions. The Bayes estimates cannot be obtained explicitly, therefor the Lindley's approximation and the Markov chain Monte Carlo technique are used to obtaining the Bayes estimates. Furthermore, the highest posterior density credible intervals for the unknown parameters are calculated. An example is presented to illustrate the methods of inference. Finally, a numerical example of March precipitation (in inches) in Minneapolis failure times in the real world is provided to illustrate how the approaches will perform in practice.</p> </abstract>
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Curtis, Thomas P., Ian M. Head, Mary Lunn, Stephen Woodcock, Patrick D. Schloss, and William T. Sloan. "What is the extent of prokaryotic diversity?" Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 361, no. 1475 (October 6, 2006): 2023–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1921.
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The extent of microbial diversity is an intrinsically fascinating subject of profound practical importance. The term ‘diversity’ may allude to the number of taxa or species richness as well as their relative abundance. There is uncertainty about both, primarily because sample sizes are too small. Non-parametric diversity estimators make gross underestimates if used with small sample sizes on unevenly distributed communities. One can make richness estimates over many scales using small samples by assuming a species/taxa-abundance distribution. However, no one knows what the underlying taxa-abundance distributions are for bacterial communities. Latterly, diversity has been estimated by fitting data from gene clone libraries and extrapolating from this to taxa-abundance curves to estimate richness. However, since sample sizes are small, we cannot be sure that such samples are representative of the community from which they were drawn. It is however possible to formulate, and calibrate, models that predict the diversity of local communities and of samples drawn from that local community. The calibration of such models suggests that migration rates are small and decrease as the community gets larger. The preliminary predictions of the model are qualitatively consistent with the patterns seen in clone libraries in ‘real life’. The validation of this model is also confounded by small sample sizes. However, if such models were properly validated, they could form invaluable tools for the prediction of microbial diversity and a basis for the systematic exploration of microbial diversity on the planet.
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Carruthers, Lauren V., Arinaitwe Moses, Moses Adriko, Christina L. Faust, Edridah M. Tukahebwa, Lindsay J. Hall, Lisa C. Ranford-Cartwright, and Poppy H. L. Lamberton. "The impact of storage conditions on human stool 16S rRNA microbiome composition and diversity." PeerJ 7 (December 2, 2019): e8133. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8133.
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Background Multiple factors can influence stool sample integrity upon sample collection. Preservation of faecal samples for microbiome studies is therefore an important step, particularly in tropical regions where resources are limited and high temperatures may significantly influence microbiota profiles. Freezing is the accepted standard to preserve faecal samples however, cold chain methods are often unfeasible in fieldwork scenarios particularly in low and middle-income countries and alternatives are required. This study therefore aimed to address the impact of different preservative methods, time-to-freezing at ambient tropical temperatures, and stool heterogeneity on stool microbiome diversity and composition under real-life physical environments found in resource-limited fieldwork conditions. Methods Inner and outer stool samples collected from one specimen obtained from three children were stored using different storage preservation methods (raw, ethanol and RNAlater) in a Ugandan field setting. Mixed stool was also stored using these techniques and frozen at different time-to-freezing intervals post-collection from 0–32 h. Metataxonomic profiling was used to profile samples, targeting the V1–V2 regions of 16S rRNA with samples run on a MiSeq platform. Reads were trimmed, combined and aligned to the Greengenes database. Microbial diversity and composition data were generated and analysed using Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology and R software. Results Child donor was the greatest predictor of microbiome variation between the stool samples, with all samples remaining identifiable to their child of origin despite the stool being stored under a variety of conditions. However, significant differences were observed in composition and diversity between preservation techniques, but intra-preservation technique variation was minimal for all preservation methods, and across the time-to-freezing range (0–32 h) used. Stool heterogeneity yielded no apparent microbiome differences. Conclusions Stool collected in a fieldwork setting for comparative microbiome analyses should ideally be stored as consistently as possible using the same preservation method throughout.
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Pinter, Elisabeth, Frank Welle, Elisa Mayrhofer, Andreas Pechhacker, Lukas Motloch, Vera Lahme, Andy Grant, and Manfred Tacker. "Circularity Study on PET Bottle-To-Bottle Recycling." Sustainability 13, no. 13 (July 1, 2021): 7370. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13137370.
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With the European Green Deal, the importance of recycled products and materials has increased. Specifically, for PET bottles, a high content of recycled material (rPET) is demanded by the industry and consumers. This study was carried out in a lab environment replicating real-life industrial processes, to investigate the possible impacts on rPET quality over eleven recycling loops, aiming to use high amounts of rPET repetitively. A cycle included extrusion, solid state polycondensation (SSP), a second extrusion to simulate bottle production, hot wash and a drying step. 75% rPET and 25% virgin PET were extruded in eleven cycles to simulate a recycling and production process. Samples underwent chemical, physical and biological analysis. The quality of the rPET material was not adversely affected. Parameters such as coloring, intrinsic viscosity, concentration of critical chemicals and presence of mutagenic contaminants could be positively assessed. The quality of the produced material was likely influenced by the input material’s high standard. A closed loop PET bottle recycling process using an rPET content of up to 75% was possible when following the proposed process, indicating that this level of recycled content can be maintained indefinitely without compromising quality.
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Nicolau, R., A. Martins, D. Santos Oliveira, B. Samões, F. R. Martins, M. Rato, F. Oliveira Pinheiro, M. Bernardes, and L. Costa. "AB0107 IMPACT OF SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION ON THE DISEASE ACTIVITY OF PATIENTS WITH PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS UNDER bDMARDs: REAL LIFE DATA." Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 81, Suppl 1 (May 23, 2022): 1184.2–1184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-eular.2364.
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BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to severe inflammation and has been suggested to induce Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) flares.1 However, the impact on disease activity and response to biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs DMARDs (bDMARDs) remains unknown.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on disease activity and bDMARDs responses in patients with PsA.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis including all the patients with PsA, meeting the CASPAR criteria and under biologic therapy, followed in the Rheumatology department of a tertiary university hospital. Demographic and clinical data, including occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, were collected from our national database (reuma.pt). Disease activity (CDAI, SDAI, DAS28 4v, BASDAI, ASDAS) and bDMARDs responses (EULAR, ASDAS, ASAS, ACR and PsARC responses) were evaluated before and after SARS-Cov-2 infection. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS. Continuous variables were compared through paired samples t-test.ResultsA total of 102 patients with PsA were included. Fifty-two were females (51%).The mean age was 53 ± 11.09 years and the median disease duration was 15 years [min 2, max 47]. Overall, 54 (53%) patients had predominant axial involvement, 26 (26%) peripheric and 36 (37%) enthesopathic. The most used bDMARD was etanercept (n=28, 27.5%) followed by adalimumab (n=22, 21.6%) and secukinumab (n=18, 17.6%).The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 15.7% (n=16). Sixty-three per cent received the BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNtech) vaccine, 31% received mRNA-1273 (Moderna), 13% received AZD1222 (AstraZeneca) and 13% received AD26.COV2.S (Janssen/Johnson & Johnson). Sixty-three percent were infected before any vaccination, 13% after the first dose and 25% after the second. The most common symptoms were anosmia (65%), dysgeusia (56%) and cough (56%). All patients fully recovered from the infection, with no need for hospitalization.Regardless of the score used, the difference between the mean disease activity after SARS-CoV-2 infection and that at baseline did not reach statistical significance. At baseline and after infection, mean (SD) disease activity parameters were, respectively: CDAI 8.6±5.7 vs 8.6±5.7, p=0.997; SDAI 9.3±6.6 vs 9.2±6.1, p=0,928; DAS 28 4v 2.9±1.2 vs 2.9 ±1.2, p= 0.818; BASDAI 3.6 ±2.6 vs 3.2±2.7, p=0.506; ASDAS 2.2±1.2 vs 2.2±1, p=0.721.The number of patients unresponsive to bDMARDs (according EULAR, ASDAS, ASAS, ACR and PsARC) before the infection wasn’t different from post-infection.ConclusionOur study suggests that SARS-CoV2 infection has no negative impact on PsA disease activity and bDMARD responses. However, more studies are still needed to better understand the long-term effects of SARS-CoV2 infection.References[1]Zhou Q et al. SARS-CoV-2 Infection Induces Psoriatic Arthritis Flares and Enthesis Resident Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Type-1 Interferon Inhibition by JAK Antagonism Offer Novel Spondyloarthritis Pathogenesis Insights. Front Immunol. 2021 Apr 15; 12:635018Disclosure of InterestsNone declared
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Vincent, B., V. Goeb, S. Fritot, M. Romuald, J. M. Sobhy-Danial, P. Fardellone, and L. Le Monnier. "AB0153 EFFECT OF STANDING FRAMES USED IN REAL LIFE ON BONE REMODELING IN NON-WALKING CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY." Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 81, Suppl 1 (May 23, 2022): 1207.1–1207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-eular.145.
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BackgroundChildren with severe cerebral palsy are prone to low bone mineral density. Standing frames are recommended as postural management for these children. The beneficial effects in promoting bone health remain unclear.ObjectivesTo determine whether static standing frames enhance bone remodeling in real life in severe cerebral palsy.Methods24 children with severe cerebral palsy GMFCS IV & V were included in the study and were divided into two groups: 13 were using a passive standing frame and 11 were not. We performed a single center retrospective cross-sectional study comparing the two groups using dual X-ray absorptiometry data and tests on biological samples, including bone remodeling factors.ResultsTotal body (less head) bone mineral content was significantly higher in children who used a standing frame for an average of 30 min/day. This was confirmed in the lumbar spine. Although the total body bone mineral density (less head and proximal femur) densitometric data were not significantly higher, a positive trend favored the use of a standing frame in the children. Bone resorptive factors (CTX) were higher in the non standing-frame group, whereas there was no difference among osteoformation factors. No difference in fracture history was found.ConclusionUsed in real life, we showed that static standing practice improved mineralization by reducing osteoresorption in non-ambulant children with cerebral palsy. Further studies are needed to determine how standing practice could impact bone mineralization over time in real life and to explore more bone remodeling factors.References[1]Sadowska M, Sarecka-Hujar B, Kopyta I. Cerebral Palsy: Current Opinions on Definition, Epidemiology, Risk Factors, Classification and Treatment Options. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2020; Volume 16: 1505–1518.[2]Mergler S, Evenhuis HM, Boot AM, et al. Epidemiology of low bone mineral density and fractures in children with severe cerebral palsy: a systematic review. Dev Med Child Neurol 2009; 51: 773–778.[3]Pin TW. Effectiveness of Static Weight-Bearing Exercises in Children with Cerebral Palsy: Pediatr Phys Ther 2007; 19: 62–73.[4]Kim SJ, Kim S-N, Yang Y-N, et al. Effect of weight bearing exercise to improve bone mineral density in children with cerebral palsy: a meta-analysis. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact 2017; 17:334-340.[5]Damcott M, Blochlinger S, Foulds R. Effects of Passive Versus Dynamic Loading Interventions on Bone Health in Children Who Are Nonambulatory: Pediatr Phys Ther 2013; 25: 248–255.[6]Caulton JM. A randomised controlled trial of standing programme on bone mineral density in non-ambulant children with cerebral palsy. Arch Dis Child 2004; 89: 131–135.[7]Chad KE, Bailey DA, McKay HA, et al. TThe effect of a weight-bearing physical activity program on bone mineral content and estimated volumetric density in children with spastic cerebral palsy. The journal of pediatrics 1999;135(1):115-7[8]Han EY, Choi JH, Kim S-H, et al. The effect of weight bearing on bone mineral density and bone growth in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled preliminary trial. Medicine (Baltimore) 2017; 96: e5896.[9]Gudjonsdottir et al. effect of dynamic VS static prone stander on bone mineral density and behaviour in four children with cerebral palsy. Pediatr Phys Ther Spring 2002;14(1):38-46.[10]Ctr M-P, Bma H, S N, et al. Low bone mineral density in ambulatory persons with cerebral palsy? A systematic review. Disabil Rehabil; 41. Epub ahead of print October 2019. DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1470261.[11]Ho S-T. Review of Fractures and Low Bone Mass in Children with Cerebral Palsy. J Orthop Trauma Rehabil 2012; 16: 45–50.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared
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Fialová, Jitka, Vít Třebický, Radim Kuba, David Stella, Jakub Binter, and Jan Havlíček. "Losing stinks! The effect of competition outcome on body odour quality." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 375, no. 1800 (April 20, 2020): 20190267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0267.
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Dominance hierarchy is often established via repeated agonistic encounters where consistent winners are considered dominant. Human body odour contains cues to psychological dominance and competition, but it is not known whether competition outcome (a marker of a change in dominance hierarchy) affects the hedonic quality of human axillary odour. Therefore, we investigated the effect of winning and losing on odour quality. We collected odour samples from Mixed Martial Arts fighters approximately 1 h before and immediately after a match. Raters then assessed samples for pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity and intensity. We also obtained data on donors' affective state and cortisol and testosterone levels, since these are known to be associated with competition and body odour quality. Perceived body odour pleasantness, attractiveness and intensity significantly decreased while masculinity increased after a match irrespective of the outcome. Nonetheless, losing a match affected the pleasantness of body odour more profoundly, though bordering formal level of significance. Moreover, a path analysis revealed that match loss led to a decrease in odour attractiveness, which was mediated by participants’ negative affective states. Our study suggests that physical competition and to some extent also its outcome affect the perceived quality of human body odour in specific real-life settings, thus providing cues to dominance-related characteristics. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.
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Calleja, Anne, Sandra De Barros, Camille Vinson, Caroline Protin, Lucie Oberic, Fanny Gallais, Melanie White-koning, et al. "Interest of Dosing of Ibrutinib in B-Cell Lymphoid Malignancies: Data from a Real-Life, Phase 4 Study." Blood 132, Supplement 1 (November 29, 2018): 3960. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2018-99-116532.
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Abstract Introduction: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) entails the measurement of drug concentrations and the individualization of drug dosages or schedules to maximize therapeutic effects and minimize toxicity. Ibrutinib (IBR), the first-in-class inhibitor of BTK (Bruton tyrosine kinase) is approved for the therapy of relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (R/R CLL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and Waldenström's disease (WM), at the dose of 420-560mg/d. Drug-drug interactions (DDI), older age, liver diseases have been reported to impact PK parameters of ibrutinib, but dosing is not yet part of clinical practice, despite TDM of imatinib and other kinase inhibitors is routinely used in chronic myeloid leukemia. In this study, we sought to determine whether TDM of ibrutinib should be proposed for patients, in a preliminary cohort of 73 patients included in the PK-e3i trial (NCT02824159). Methods: Serial plasma PK samples were collected at steady-state after one month of therapy in 73 patients: before intake (residual concentration), and then at time 0.5-1-2-4-6h. Key PK parameters for ibrutinib and its metabolite DHD-ibrutinib were calculated: Cmax, Cmin, tmax,AUC24h. Analysis of DDI was made by an oncology pharmacist in 49/73 patients. Treatment-related adverse events were monitored by phonecalls given by an oncology nurse (AMA procedure) and during consultations with hematologist (at least twice a month the first 6 months, then monthly until 12 months, then every 3 months), and severity graded according CTCAE version 4 scale. Efficacy of therapy in CLL patients was assessed with an "effect marker" to demonstrate biological efficacy, the redistribution hyperlymphocytosis seen in 70% of patients the first month of therapy. Results: we reported very similar PK results for ibrutinib as compared to pivotal phase 1 trials in CLL and other B-cell lymphoid malignancies (Advani RH, J Clin Oncol 2013, Byrd JC, New Engl J Med 2013). Mean peak plasma concentrations were observed 1-2h after dosing, Cmax and AUC results showing an important inter-patient heterogeneity. Median Cmax was 150ng/ml (8.2-596ng/ml), and median AUC24h was 412.4 ng h/mL ((32.2-2906 ng h/mL). According to published phase I trials, complete or near complete BTK occupancy was observed in patients with AUCs exceeding 160 ng h/mL, suggesting ibrutinib dose might have been supramaximal in 67 of our patients. Adverse events the first 3 months were seen in 96% (grade 1), 63% (grade 2), 25% (grade 3) and 6.5% (grade 4), respectively. We plotted AUC results for the total cohort of 73 patients (Figure 1), and for 49 patients with adverse events monitoring available at 3 months (9/49 needed drug dose reduction due to toxicity) (Figure 2), both emphasizing the absence of correlations between AUC levels and toxicities. We next splited up toxicities into 10 sub-groups (bleeding, cardiac, liver, muscle, joint, skin, infection, gastro-intestinal, hematologic, neurologic disorders). Again, we could not identify a specific organ toxicity associated with a significant increase of Cmax or AUC24h, nor we could identify a specific DDI signature explaining side effects in our patents (data not shown: 13/49 had CYP3A4 inhibitors, 25/49 had pgp inhibitors). In 45 CLL patients with PK parameters and lymphocyte counts available after one month of therapy, we made the intriguing observation that lower Cmax correlated with the lack of observable, transient hyperlymphocytosis (a class-effect of ibrutinib, correlating with PFS in the Resonate trial) (Figure 3). Altogether, our data did not find any positive correlation between high ibrutinib exposure and efficacy or safety profile. Conclusions: our preliminary results suggested that higher Cmax and AUC24h did not correlate neither to efficacy nor to classical toxicities reported with ibrutinib intake. On one hand, we think that dosing intra-cellular concentrations could be more reliable than in plasma. On the other hand, we could consider TDM of ibrutinib in the context of a clinical trial reducing the doses of drug over time, to limit clinical and financial toxicity of this highly efficient drug. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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Ghodke, Prerna Sanjay, Rashmi Hegde, Waqas Ansari, Sangeeta Muglikar, and Alia S. Dholkawala. "A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of an 810-nm Diode Laser in the Maintenance of Dental Implants: A Peri-Implant Sulcular Fluid Analysis." Journal of Oral Implantology 46, no. 4 (February 18, 2020): 381–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1563/aaid-joi-d-19-00104.
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Biological implant failures are primarily related to biofilm, which can lead to peri-mucositis and, further on, peri-implantitis. The 810-nm diode laser has an affinity for pigmented chromophores, so its use in the peri-implant sulcus has a significant bactericidal effect on the black-pigmented anaerobes such as Porphyromonas gingivalis. Therefore, it can be used to eliminate or reduce the bacterial count in the peri-implant sulcular fluid (PISF), thus increasing the life of the implants and reducing the chances of failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the 810-nm diode laser for the maintenance of dental implants and its use as a regular in-office tool for limiting the microbiological count in the PISF. Twenty patients undergoing implant treatment at the Department of Periodontology and Oral Implantology were randomly selected for the study. PISF samples were collected before and after the sulcus was lased with an 810-nm diode laser and sent for quantitative microbiological analysis using universal bacterial count, and the quantity of P gingivalis was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The analysis revealed that after diode application, the median percentage drop in the microbial count was 76.67% and the median percentage drop in P gingivalis count was 99.28%. The use of an 810-nm diode laser resulted in the following outcomes: (1) drastic reduction in the total bacterial count around the implant and (2) significant reduction in the P gingivalis count, as evaluated by real-time PCR.
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Kotoula, Vassiliki, Efterpi Demiri, Florentia Fostira, Eleni Vrettou, Elpida Charalambous, Ioannis Tikas, Konstantinos Papazisis, et al. "Genomic features of normal tissues from prophylactic surgery in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers." Journal of Clinical Oncology 35, no. 15_suppl (May 20, 2017): e13055-e13055. http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/jco.2017.35.15_suppl.e13055.
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e13055 Background: Genomic alterations in normal tissues from pathogenic germline BRCA1/2 mutation (mut) carriers are as yet poorly described. We investigated the genomic status of normal breast (NB) and hystero-salpingo-oophorectomy (GYN) tissues removed upon prophylactic surgery in a real-life cohort of BRCA1/2 carriers. Methods: By using targeted NGS we examined the mut status of 220 samples (39 peripheral blood and 181 paraffin tissue) from 53 BRCA1/2 carriers who underwent prophylactic surgery, 42 with and 11 without prior cancer manifestation (PCM). We compared germline BRCA1/2 mut status with tumor, NB and GYN mut status. Results: Eight patients carried germline BRCA2 and 45 BRCA1 mut. Somatic mut were most frequent in BRCA2 (28%), BRCA1 (17%), TP53 (7%) among 136 NB and GYN samples; and, in TP53 (49%; p < 0.001) and BRCA1 (38%; p = 0.039) among 45 tumor samples. Among all tissue types, the 85 NB had the lowest mut load (p = 0.001). In NB and GYN, mut load was higher in BRCA1 vs. BRCA2 carriers (p = 0.027) and in those with BRCA1 substitutions/indels vs. exon deleting and skipping mut (p < 0.001). In tumors, only germline BRCA1 substitutions/indels were associated with higher mut load (p = 0.014). Preservation of germline mut in tissues was assessable in 84 samples from 26 patients. The germline mut was lost in 8 tumor and NB samples from 6 patients (23%) with PCM. Somatic deleterious mut in the BRCA1 BRCT-domain emerged in two such cases; the rest had combinations of TP53, MRE11A and NF1 mut. GYN samples from these patients retained the germline mut and presented the highest mut load among all examined samples (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Somatic mut in normal tissues from BRCA1/2 carriers are affected by the inherited mutated gene and by the type of the germline mut concerning BRCA1. Germline BRCA1 mut may be substituted by somatic mut in tumor and normal tissues, in an organ specific manner. Mutagenesis in tumors and normal tissues appear to be driven by different pathways. Our findings shed new light on the biological impact of BRCA1/2 mut in tissues.
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Natonek-Wiśniewska, Małgorzata, Piotr Krzyścin, and Anna Koseniuk. "Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Mealworm DNA in Raw and Commercial Food Products Using Real-Time PCR." Genes 13, no. 8 (August 6, 2022): 1400. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes13081400.
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Considering food safety and an increasing public awareness of the ingredients, production process and origin of foods, the application of insects as food requires the development of tests for the reliable identification of their presence. The aim of the study was (1) the determination of appropriate modifications of the selected method for isolating the DNA of two life stages of mealworm, i.e., larva and adult, from commercial food products; (2) the determination of the method parameters for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of mealworm contents based on the detection of a species-specific mitochondrial DNA fragment, using real-time PCR; (3) the application of a method to test the commercial food products of mealworm. A total of nine species of adult insect were investigated (field cricket, Dubia cockroach, Madagascar cockroach, banded cricket, migratory locust, yellow mealworm, superworm, house fly and lacewing), theirlarvaes (yellow mealworms and superworms) and thirteen commercial food products (dried whole insects, powder and granules) representing various insect species and origins which were purchased from the European market. The obtained results showed that the efficiency of the modification of the DNA extraction method is dependent on the life stage of the mealworm. We proved the high sensitivity of the test, with the range of the method being 0.1–100%; we also proved the biological specificity in this range, and the linearity. The linearity of the test was also statistically verified using the Fisher–Snedecor test. One-way variance analysis showed statistically significant differences between the cT values of the two mealworm life stages studied, and similarly, between the threshold cycle (cT) values of adult forms. In contrast, for the inside group of mealworm larvae, there was no significant difference observed between the results of the cT values. The test is effective for processed food products and may be used to monitor food. The research proved the suitability of the applied method for the analysis of samples that are commercially available as food for exotic animals. The hereby-developed method is based on widely used laboratory techniques, and does not require any additional investment in equipment. The availabilityof such a methodallows for the verification of the accuracy of the declared species component of the food products.
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Zemskova, Elena Yu, Natalia R. Sokolova, Sergey V. Isupov, and Pavel L. Ivanov. "“Rapid DNA” ― new horizons of forensic DNA profiling using full cycle genetic analyzers." Russian Journal of Forensic Medicine 7, no. 4 (December 15, 2021): 29–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.17816/fm678.
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BACKGROUND: The study is a part of a comprehensive research conducted at the Russian Center of Forensic Medical Expertise of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation with the ultimate goal of development and implementation of new effective technologies for molecular genetic identity testing and kinship analysis in the realm of national forensic expertise.
AIMS: The objective of the study is to evaluate the possibilities of the Rapid DNA technology in application to forensic DNA analysis. One may expect that this technology in the future will ensure the creation of an operational and highly effective procedure for forensic DNA profiling.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The methodical basis of the work is the genotyping of polymorphic STR-loci of chromosomal DNA in biological material using high-tech fully automated (full cycle) analytical platform RapidHIT: namely, RapidHIT 200 (Integenx, USA) and RapidHIT-ID (Life Technologies/Thermo Fisher, IntegenX (USA) instruments.
RESULTS: Buccal epithelium and blood samples, while being the most common in a forensic DNA testing, have been examined as a validation test objects. Then experiments were carried out with real expert material such as cigarette butts, hair, nails, bones, chewing gum; swabs from different surfaces were examined as test samples as well.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the data obtained, it can be stated that the Rapid DNA technology as it is implemented in the full-cycle genetic analyzers IntegenX RapidHIT 200 (Integenx, USA) and RapidHIT ID (Thermo Fisher, IntegenX, USA), according to the criteria studied, in general supports the idea of to be introduced into the practice of forensic DNA analysis.
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Rabaglino, Maria Belen, Elaine Richards, Nancy Denslow, Maureen Keller-Wood, and Charles E. Wood. "Genomics of estradiol-3-sulfate action in the ovine fetal hypothalamus." Physiological Genomics 44, no. 13 (July 1, 2012): 669–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/physiolgenomics.00127.2011.
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In fetal sheep during late gestation sulfoconjugated estrogens in plasma reach a concentration 40–100 times greater than unconjugated estrogens. The objective of the present study was to determine the genomics of estradiol-3-sulfate (E2S) action in the ovine fetal brain. The hypothesis was that E2S stimulates genes involved in the neuroendocrine pathways that direct or facilitate fetal development at the end of gestation. Four sets of chronically catheterized ovine twin fetuses were studied (gestational age: 120–127 days gestation) with one infused with E2S intracerebroventricularly (1 mg/day) and the other remaining untreated (control). After euthanasia, mRNA samples were extracted from fetal brains. Only hypothalamic samples were employed for this study given the important function of this brain region in the control of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. Microarray analysis was performed following the Agilent protocol for one-color 8 × 15 microarrays, designed for Ovis aries. A total of 363 known genes were significantly upregulated by the E2S treatment ( P < 0.05). Network and enrichment analyses were performed using the Cytoscape/Bingo software, and the results validated by quantitative real-time PCR. The main overrepresented biological processes resulting from this analysis were feeding behavior, hypoxia response, and transforming growth factor signaling. Notably, the genes involved in the feeding behavior (neuropeptide Y and agouti-related protein) were the most strongly induced by the E2S treatment. In conclusion, E2S may be an important component of the mechanism for activating orexigenic, hypoxia responsiveness and neuroprotective pathways in the lamb as it approaches postnatal life.
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Chutter, F. M. "The role of aquatic organisms in the management of river basins for sustainable utilisation." Water Science and Technology 32, no. 5-6 (September 1, 1995): 283–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.1995.0627.
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The paper considers the several beneficial (provision of drinking water, fish, waste assimilation) and detrimental (overabundant plant life, habitat for pathogens and disease vectors) roles of the aquatic biota in general, before describing the use of the biota in river management through biomonitoring. This is followed by a description of a biomonitoring method called SASS which is based on the aquatic macro-invertebrate community. Results of using SASS4 are presented and show that SASS4 scores vary following water quality. SASS4 results are less expensive than the chemical analysis of water samples and represent water quality variation over a period of time. SASS4 has a role to play in the monitoring and assessment of water quality. It can be used as a substitute for chemical analysis in broad scale monitoring and allow chemical resources to be focused on sampling points where there would appear to be real water quality problems. Since river quality (both chemical and biological) reflects the manner in which the basin is managed, SASS4 provides key information pertinent to the management of river basins. It is concluded that river assessment based on the aquatic biota has an essential role to play in the management of river basins for sustainable utilization.
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Sani, Ali, Ibrahim Lawal Abdullahi, and Sani Ibrahim. "Activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in male albino rats exposed to metal welding fumes in an experimental setting." Environmental Health Engineering and Management 8, no. 1 (March 7, 2021): 33–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.34172/ehem.2021.05.
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Background: There are millions of workers in the world, who engage in activities associated with welding operations but are not classified as full-time metal workers. The present study aimed to determine the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in blood of laboratory animals exposed to welding fumes. Methods: Welding fumes were obtained from Kofar Ruwa, Kano by a skilled welder. 130 albino rats were purchased from the Animal Section of Department of Biological Sciences and were divided into 12 groups. They were given doses equivalent to the workers’ real life exposure regimes, and 1 group was selected as control group. They were administered intratracheally following anesthetization once weekly for twelve weeks. The rats were euthanized and serum samples were collected. Then, AChE activity was evaluated spectrophotometrically using ELISA kit (Sunlong Biotech Company). Results: The mean values of AChE ranged from 23.1 to 25.05 ng/mL with the control having a value of 24.7 ng/mL. Thus, there was a decrease in the values of AChE in the blood of treated groups, which was significantly different from the control (P<0.05). Conclusion: Metal welding fumes negatively affected the AChE by reducing its mean values. This implies that welding fumes possesses neurotoxic effects, which can lead to some neurodegenerative diseases.
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Choopara, Ilada, Yothin Teethaisong, Narong Arunrut, Sudaluck Thunyaharn, Wansika Kiatpathomchai, and Naraporn Somboonna. "Specific and sensitive, ready-to-use universal fungi detection by visual color using ITS1 loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined hydroxynaphthol blue." PeerJ 9 (March 18, 2021): e11082. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11082.
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Being ubiquitous, fungi are common opportunistic pathogens to humans that can lead to invasive and life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals. Eukaryote-resembling cell membrane and filamentous branches make the fungal diagnosis difficult. This study therefore developed a ready-to-use ITS1 loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with hydroxynaphthol blue (LAMP-HNB) for rapid, sensitive and specific colorimetric detection of universal fungi in all phyla. The ITS1 LAMP-HNB could identify every evolutionary phylum of fungi according to sequence analyses. We tested a total of 30 clinically relevant fungal isolates (representing three major human pathogenic phyla of fungi, namely Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota) and 21 non-fungal isolates, and the ITS1 LAMP-HNB properly identified all isolates, with a detection limit of as low as 4.6 ag (9.6 copies), which was identical to ITS1 and 18S rDNA PCR. The assays were also validated on the feasibility of point-of-care diagnostic with real food (dry peanuts, chili and garlics) and blood samples. Furthermore, the shelf life of our ready-to-use ITS1 LAMP activity (≥50%) was more than 40 days at 30 °C with 3–5% polyvinyl alcohol or glycerol additive. The results supported the ready-to-use ITS1 LAMP-HNB for simple detection of fungi contamination with high sensitivity in local and resource-constrained areas to prevent opportunistic fungal species infections.
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Campos-Soto, Ricardo, Gabriel Díaz-Campusano, Nicol Quiroga, Catalina Muñoz-San Martín, Ninette Rives-Blanchard, and Fernando Torres-Pérez. "Trypanosoma cruzi-infected triatomines and rodents co-occur in a coastal island of northern Chile." PeerJ 8 (October 14, 2020): e9967. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9967.
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Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause agent of Chagas disease, is transmitted mainly by blood-feeding insects of the subfamily Triatominae. The T. cruzi life cycle alternates between triatomines and mammalian hosts, excluding birds and reptiles. Triatomines of Mepraia genus are wild vectors of T. cruzi in Chile. Mepraia specimens infected with T. cruzi have been detected in Pan de Azúcar and Santa María islands. The most common vertebrates that inhabit these islands are birds and reptiles, and it is unknown whether small mammals are present. Consequently, it is relevant to know whether there are any T. cruzi-infected small mammals on those islands to elucidate the T. cruzi cycle. To clarify this crossroads, islands of northern Chile were explored to determine if T. cruzi-infected triatomines and rodents co-occur in islands of northern Chile. T. cruzi DNA was detected by conventional and real-time PCR in three islands: on Santa María and Pan de Azúcar islands T. cruzi was detected in Mepraia sp samples, while on Pan de Azúcar (6.1%) and Damas islands (15%) was detected in the rodent Abrothrix olivacea. We show for the first time in Chile the occurrence of insular rodents infected with T. cruzi, and a complete T. cruzi life cycle in a coastal island. Our results provide new insights to understand the T. cruzi infection in the wild cycle.
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de Santiago, Ines, and Lukasz Polanski. "Data-Driven Medicine in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Infertility." Journal of Clinical Medicine 11, no. 21 (October 29, 2022): 6426. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11216426.
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Infertility, although not a life-threatening condition, affects around 15% of couples trying for a pregnancy. The increasing availability of large datasets from various sources, together with advances in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), are enabling a transformational change in infertility care. However, real-world applications of data-driven medicine in infertility care are still relatively limited. At present, very little can prevent infertility from arising; more work is required to learn about ways to improve natural conception and the detection and diagnosis of infertility, improve assisted reproduction treatments (ART) and ultimately develop useful clinical-decision support systems to assure the successful outcome of either fertility preservation or infertility treatment. In this opinion article, we discuss recent influential work on the application of big data and AI in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility. We evaluate the challenges of the sector and present an interpretation of the different innovation forces that are driving the emergence of a systems approach to infertility care. Efforts including the integration of multi-omics information, collection of well-curated biological samples in specialised biobanks, and stimulation of the active participation of patients are considered. In the era of Big Data and AI, there is now an exciting opportunity to leverage the progress in genomics and digital technologies and develop more sophisticated approaches to diagnose and treat infertility disorders.
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Fonti, G. L., M. S. Chimenti, A. D’antonio, M. Teoli, F. Caso, L. Costa, M. Tasso, et al. "AB0640 LONG-TERM EFFECTIVENESS AND DRUG SURVIVAL OF GOLIMUMAB IN PATIENTS AFFECTED BY PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS WITH CUTANEOUS INVOLVEMENT." Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 79, Suppl 1 (June 2020): 1614.1–1615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-eular.4393.
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Background:Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic immune-mediated disease associated with psoriasis (PsO). Overexpression of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α plays a key role in the pathogenic mechanisms. Golimumab (GLM) is a fully human monoclonal antibody IgG1k neutralizing TNF-α approved for PsA and PsO, but effectiveness evaluation in real life remains a crucial issue.Objectives:In a real-life setting, to determine the survival rate of GLM (drug survival) at 48 months in the global population, in different clinical settings, and the effectiveness of GLM in improving joint symptoms and cutaneous manifestations in patients affected by moderate to severe PsA with cutaneous involvement.Methods:We collected retrospectively from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2019 data from 105 patients affected by PsA, according to the Classification for Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR) criteria, who started treatment with GLM. Inclusion criteria were age > 18 years and had a diagnosis of PsA > 6 months, the presence of peripheral arthritis (at least one active joint) and active PsO. Relevant anamnestic, clinical, biochemical data and biological treatment line were collected at baseline (T0) and after 6 (T6), 12 (T12), 24 (T24) and 48 (T48) months of GLM treatment. Comparisons between baseline and 48 months continuous variables were performed using a paired t-test or a Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples. The drug survival rates were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Drug survival rates were read from the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Differences in drug survival between groups were analyzed using a log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test, by stratifying for sex, BMI, smoking habit and line of treatment. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results:Peripheral arthritis was present in 67 (63.8%) cases, axial disease in 37 (35.3%), enthesitis and PsO as prominent manifestations in 82 (78%) and 84 (80%) patients respectively. Erosive disease was present in 38 (36.2%) of patients at baseline. The most frequent comorbidities were MetS described in 20 (19%) patients and cardiovascular disease described in 33 (31.4%) patients, probably due to the high incidence of smokers (33 (31.4%) of patients) and to the elevate BMI score (27.1±6.0). At 48 months, the 42% (44 of 105) (figure 1A) of the patients have discontinued therapy; the most frequent reason was insufficient response/loss of efficacy (30 patients (28.6%) out of 105). Unexpectedly, no statistical significant difference emerged according to gender (p=0.652), BMI (p=0.655), smoking habit (p=0.466) and line of treatment (p=0.208) (figure 1B-E). Finally, the effectiveness of GLM in improving joint symptoms and cutaneous manifestations was confirmed once again, with a statistical significant improvement at 48 months in clinical (BASDAI p<0.0001; PASI p<0.01; DAPSA p<0.0001) and biochemical (CRP<0.05) data.Conclusion:This multicentric study revealed a high drug persistence of GLM in real-life patients, although the presence of comorbidities. Unlike what is known in literature, our study population presented no differences in terms of clinical response and efficacy between male and female, smokers and no-smokers, obese and health-weight patients, different line of treatment. On the other hand, efficacy and safety of GLM has been demonstrated once again also in real-life treatments.References:No references.Disclosure of Interests:giulia lavinia fonti: None declared, Maria Sole Chimenti: None declared, Arianna D’Antonio: None declared, miriam teoli: None declared, Francesco Caso: None declared, Luisa Costa: None declared, marco tasso: None declared, Augusta Ortolan: None declared, Mariagrazia Lorenzin: None declared, Paola Conigliaro: None declared, paola triggianese: None declared, Raffaele Scarpa: None declared, Roberto Perricone: None declared, Roberta Ramonda Speakers bureau: Novartis, Celgene, Janssen, Pfizer, Abbvie, Lilly
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Crupi, Giovanni, Xiue Bao, Oluwatosin John Babarinde, Dominique M. M. P. Schreurs, and Bart Nauwelaers. "Biosensor Using a One-Port Interdigital Capacitor: A Resonance-Based Investigation of the Permittivity Sensitivity for Microfluidic Broadband Bioelectronics Applications." Electronics 9, no. 2 (February 16, 2020): 340. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics9020340.
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Electronics is a field of study ubiquitous in our daily lives, since this discipline is undoubtedly the driving force behind developments in many other disciplines, such as telecommunications, automation, and computer science. Nowadays, electronics is becoming more and more widely applied in life science, thus leading to an increasing interest in bioelectronics that is a major segment of bioengineering. A bioelectronics application that has gained much attention in recent years is the use of sensors for biological samples, with emphasis given to biosensors performing broadband sensing of small-volume liquid samples. Within this context, this work aims at investigating a microfluidic sensor based on a broadband one-port coplanar interdigital capacitor (IDC). The microwave performance of the sensor loaded with lossless materials under test (MUTs) is achieved by using finite-element method (FEM) simulations carried out with Ansoft’s high frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The microfluidic channel for the MUT has a volume capacity of 0.054 μL. The FEM simulations show a resonance in the admittance that is reproduced with a five-lumped-element equivalent-circuit model. By changing the real part of the relative permittivity of the MUT up to 70, the corresponding variations in both the resonant frequency of the FEM simulations and the capacitance of the equivalent-circuit model are analyzed, thereby enabling assessment of the permittivity sensitivity of the studied IDC. Furthermore, it is shown that, although the proposed local equivalent-circuit model is able to mimic faithfully the FEM simulations locally around the resonance in the admittance, a higher number of circuit elements can achieve a better agreement between FEM and equivalent-circuit simulation over the entire broad frequency going range from 0.3 MHz to 35 GHz.
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Sklyar, T. V., O. M. Medvedeva, О. А. Drehval, L. P. Holodok, and N. V. Cherevach. "Specifications of Microfloria in Dysbacteriosis of the Urogenital Tract in Women." Ukraïnsʹkij žurnal medicini, bìologìï ta sportu 6, no. 2 (April 28, 2021): 146–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.26693/jmbs06.02.146.
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The microbiocenosis of the vagina is a set of microorganisms that inhabit this habitat, normally represented mainly by lactobacilli. The condition of the microbiocenosis of the vagina is of great importance for reproductive health. Bacterial vaginosis and aerobic vaginitis are infectious diseases of the vagina caused by imbalances between physiological and opportunistic microflora, which are normally found in small quantities. The purpose of the study. The work is devoted to the study and analysis of the microflora of the urogenital tract of women in different periods of life with dysbiotic disorders. Materials and methods. A study of the vaginal microflora of 50 women of different ages who complained to a gynecologist was carried out. Microscopic examination of biological material from the vagina using Pappenheim staining showed complete or partial absence of lactobacilli in the samples and their replacement by other bacteria. Smear microscopy showed an increased content of epithelial cells, leukocytes and "key cells" - Gardnerella vaginalis in 25% of women of the 2nd age category (25-35 years old). In women of the 1st and 3rd age categories (15-25 and 45-65 years old, respectively), the content of epithelial cells and leukocytes was normal or slightly higher than normal. Results and discussion. In no case were gonococci and Trichomonas detected in the examined smears. Lactobacilli (bacillus flora) were most often registered in the 1st age category - almost 80%, against 12% in the second and 13% in the third. In 68% of women of the 2nd age category the mixed coco-stick flora prevailed; in the 3rd age group mixed microflora was found in 36% of people; in the first – was absent. Poor microflora was most often found in group 3 of women – 66%, against 20% in group 2, and was not observed in women of group 1. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to identify microorganisms in the studied samples. Conclusion. As a result of the survey of women of all ages, 155 strains of pathogenic microorganisms were isolated. The largest number of samples contained Candida spp. (18.7%), Staphylococcus spp. (10.3%), Gardnerella vaginalis (9.7%), Streptococcus spp. (7.1%), Mobiluncus spp., Atopobium vaginae, Leptotrichia spp., Eubacterium spp. were detected in a small number of samples, Ureaplasma urealytic and Mycoplasma hominis were not detected
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Skubic, Lucijan, Lea Hošnjak, Jeannette P. Staheli, Michael R. Dyen, Rebecca M. Ducore, Lois M. A. Colgin, Anne D. Lewis, and Mario Poljak. "Molecular and Phylogenetic Characterization of Novel Papillomaviruses Isolated from Oral and Anogenital Neoplasms of Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata)." Viruses 13, no. 4 (April 7, 2021): 630. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13040630.
Full textAbstract:
Papillomaviruses (PVs) are a diverse group of host species-specific DNA viruses, etiologically linked with various benign and malignant neoplasms of cutaneous and mucosal epithelia. Here, we describe the detection and characterization of the first two PVs naturally infecting Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), including the determination of their etiological association(s) with the development of original neoplasms. The molecular and phylogenetic analyses were performed on complete genome sequences of Macaca fuscata PV types 1 (MfuPV1) and 2 (MfuPV2), which were completely sequenced in samples of a malignant oral tumor and benign anogenital neoplasm of Japanese macaques, respectively. Subsequently, two type-specific quantitative real-time PCRs were developed to estimate viral loads of MfuPV1 and MfuPV2 and to evaluate their etiological roles. The in silico molecular analyses revealed that both viral genomes encode characteristic PV proteins with conserved functional domains and have a non-coding genomic region with regulatory sequences to regulate and complete the viral life cycle. However, additional experimental evidence is needed to finally confirm the presence and biological functionality of the molecular features of both novel PVs. While MfuPV1, together with PVs identified in other macaques, is classified into the Alphapapillomavirus (Alpha-PV) species 12, MfuPV2 is most likely a representative of the novel viral species within the Alpha-PV genus. Their relatively high viral loads suggest that both PVs are etiologically linked with the development of the original neoplasms.
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Cornelis, Marilyn C., Sandra Weintraub, and Martha Clare Morris. "Recent Caffeine Drinking Associates with Cognitive Function in the UK Biobank." Nutrients 12, no. 7 (July 2, 2020): 1969. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12071969.
Full textAbstract:
Clinical evidence points to the premise that caffeine may benefit cognition, but whether these findings extend to real life settings and amidst factors that impact caffeine metabolism is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of recent caffeine drinking on cognitive ability while additionally accounting for lifestyle and genetic factors that impact caffeine metabolism. We included up to 434,900 UK Biobank participants aged 37–73 years, recruited in 2006–2010, who provided biological samples and completed touchscreen questionnaires regarding sociodemographic factors, medical history, lifestyle, and diet. Recent caffeine drinking (yes/no in the last hour) was recorded during a physical assessment. Participants completed at least one of four self-administered cognitive function tests using the touchscreen system: prospective memory (PM), pairs matching (Pairs), fluid intelligence (FI), and reaction time (RT). Multivariable regressions were used to examine the association between recent caffeine drinking and cognition test scores. We also tested interactions between recent caffeine drinking and a genetic caffeine-metabolism score (CMS) on cognitive function. Among white participants, recent caffeine drinking was associated with higher performance on RT but lower performance on FI, Pairs, and PM (p ≤ 0.004). Similar directions of associations for FI (p = 0.09), Pairs (p = 0.03), and PM (p = 0.34) were observed among non-white participants. No significant and consistent effect modification by age, sex, smoking, test time, habitual caffeine intake, or CMS was observed. Caffeine consumed shortly before tasks requiring shorter reaction times may improve task performance. Potential impairments in memory and reasoning tasks with recent caffeine drinking warrant further study.
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Sternberg, David, and Bernie Cockayne. "The ongoing invasion of translocated sleepy cod (Oxyeleotris lineolata) in the Lake Eyre Basin, central Australia." Wildlife Research 45, no. 2 (2018): 164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr17140.
Full textAbstract:
Context Present-day distribution records show that Oxyeleotris lineolata (sleepy cod) has colonised many ephemeral streams and refugial waterholes of the Cooper Creek catchment in the Lake Eyre Basin within a decade of the first record or capture. When introduced to new habitats outside its natural range, this species is considered to be a serious conservation risk to native fish species. Aims The present study aims to document the transport, establishment, colonisation and integration of O. lineolata in the Lake Eyre Basin, and quantify its impact on native fish assemblages. Methods Fish samples were taken annually in 21 waterholes between 2011 and 2016, by using a combination of single- and double-winged fyke nets. We collected novel diet and life-history information from 242 O. lineolata individuals across their known distribution. Key results Abundance, length distribution and life-history information suggested a ‘colonising front’ moving downstream, across state jurisdictional boundaries and into the Coongie Lakes Ramsar site. Oxyeleotris lineolata diet is most similar to that of two native generalist invertivore–piscivores and preys on several native fish species. With a derived longevity in excess of 15 years and a life-history strategy that combines batch spawning, high fecundity and parental care (i.e. high juvenile survivorship), there is real potential for O. lineolata to dominate fish assemblages in waterholes that provide refuge for native fishes during dry periods. Conclusions The present study showed that O. lineolata has the potential to negatively influence native fish assemblages through both competition and predation in refugial waterholes. Eradication of O. lineolata from the Cooper Creek catchment in central Australia is highly unlikely, given its widespread distribution, the remoteness of the receiving landscape and a current lack of resources to monitor spread and attempt eradication at the moving front of the Cooper Creek population. Implications Achieving greater awareness of the potential impacts of introducing or spreading non-native species is an important first step towards preserving the native fish fauna of the Lake Eyre Basin. Further research is warranted to fully understand the current and potential future distribution of O. lineolata in the basin, its biological and ecological requirements, and influence on native fish species and assemblages.
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Gilles, Liese, Eva Govarts, Laura Rodriguez Martin, Anna-Maria Andersson, Brice M. R. Appenzeller, Fabio Barbone, Argelia Castaño, et al. "Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Studies in Europe: Characteristics of the HBM4EU-Aligned Studies Participants." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 11 (June 1, 2022): 6787. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116787.
Full textAbstract:
Human biomonitoring has become a pivotal tool for supporting chemicals’ policies. It provides information on real-life human exposures and is increasingly used to prioritize chemicals of health concern and to evaluate the success of chemical policies. Europe has launched the ambitious REACH program in 2007 to improve the protection of human health and the environment. In October 2020 the EU commission published its new chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment. The European Parliament called upon the commission to collect human biomonitoring data to support chemical’s risk assessment and risk management. This manuscript describes the organization of the first HBM4EU-aligned studies that obtain comparable human biomonitoring (HBM) data of European citizens to monitor their internal exposure to environmental chemicals. The HBM4EU-aligned studies build on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies. The HBM4EU-aligned studies focus on three age groups: children, teenagers, and adults. The participants are recruited between 2014 and 2021 in 11 to 12 primary sampling units that are geographically distributed across Europe. Urine samples are collected in all age groups, and blood samples are collected in children and teenagers. Auxiliary information on socio-demographics, lifestyle, health status, environment, and diet is collected using questionnaires. In total, biological samples from 3137 children aged 6–12 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, HEXAMOLL® DINCH, and flame retardants. Samples from 2950 teenagers aged 12–18 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, Hexamoll® DINCH, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and samples from 3522 adults aged 20–39 years are collected for the analysis of cadmium, bisphenols, and metabolites of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The children’s group consists of 50.4% boys and 49.5% girls, of which 44.1% live in cities, 29.0% live in towns/suburbs, and 26.8% live in rural areas. The teenagers’ group includes 50.6% girls and 49.4% boys, with 37.7% of residents in cities, 31.2% in towns/suburbs, and 30.2% in rural areas. The adult group consists of 52.6% women and 47.4% men, 71.9% live in cities, 14.2% in towns/suburbs, and only 13.4% live in rural areas. The study population approaches the characteristics of the general European population based on age-matched EUROSTAT EU-28, 2017 data; however, individuals who obtained no to lower educational level (ISCED 0–2) are underrepresented. The data on internal human exposure to priority chemicals from this unique cohort will provide a baseline for Europe’s strategy towards a non-toxic environment and challenges and recommendations to improve the sampling frame for future EU-wide HBM surveys are discussed.