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Abstract
Saliva specimens have drawn interest for diagnosing respiratory viral infections due to their ease of collection and decreased risk to healthcare providers. However, rapid and sensitive immunoassays have not yet been satisfactorily demonstrated for such specimens due to their viscosity and low viral loads. Using paper microfluidic chips and a smartphone-based fluorescence microscope, we developed a highly sensitive, low-cost immunofluorescence particulometric SARS-CoV-2 assay from clinical saline gargle samples. We demonstrated the limit of detection of 10 ag/μL. With easy-to-collect saline gargle samples, our clinical sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 100%, 86%, and 93%, respectively, for n = 27 human subjects with n = 13 RT-qPCR positives.

Critics of the American Political Science Association's Data Access and Research Transparency (DA-RT) policy have targeted the initiative on many fronts, not the least of which is the impact that the policy will have on political science's engagement with the public—evocative of the recurrent appeals to remake the discipline with an eye to relevance, usefulness, and comprehensibility (Isaac 2015).1 DART's proponents seem assured of the positive impact of the policy, heralding its contributions to transferring knowledge beyond disciplinary boundaries, and in particular toward improving political science's public face, making it more credible and legitimate (Lupia and Elman 2014). However, I argue that DA-RT overemphasizes the purported disciplinary benefits without adequate consideration of the probable harms to the public. This is especially the case for marginalized communities and the policy issues that affect them, and is likely to result in a chilling effect on such research.

Aedes albopictus is a vector of over 20 arboviruses that has spread throughout the world, mainly in the second half of the twentieth century. Approximately 50–100 million people are infected with dengue virus (DENV) transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes each year, leading to heavy economic burdens for both governments and individuals, among countless other negative consequences. Understanding the vector competence of vector species is critical for effectively preventing and controlling vector-borne diseases. Accordingly, in this study, vector competence was evaluated by quantitative analysis of DENV-2 loads in mosquito tissues (midguts, heads, and salivary glands) and whole mosquitoes through real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis. Wolbachia and the expression of immune-associated genes (Rel1, Rel2, Dicer2, and STAT) in mosquitoes were also detected by RT-qPCR to explore their impact on vector competence. The amount of DENV-2 in the mosquito midguts, heads, and salivary glands from southern-western China were found to be lower than those from eastern-central-northern China. The DENV-2 loads in whole mosquitoes showed a negative correlation with Rel1 gene (r = -0.285, P = 0.011) and STAT gene expression levels (r = -0.289, P = 0.009). In terms of Wolbachia strains, the density of the wAlbB strain was found to be significantly higher than that of the wAlbA strain in the eight Ae. albopictus populations, and the relative density of the wAlbB strain in mosquitoes from southern-western China was higher than those from eastern-central-northern China. The relative density of the wAlbB strain showed a negative correlation with the mean loads of DENV-2 in the heads (r = -0.729, P = 0.040), salivary glands (r = -0.785, P = 0.021), and whole mosquitoes (r = -0.909, P = 0.002). Thus, there are lower DENV-2 loads in the mosquitoes from southern-western China, which may be related to the innate immunity of mosquitoes as affected by Rel1 in the Toll pathway, STAT in the JAK-STAT pathway, and the relative ...

Background: Our previous studies demonstrated the expression of procollagen11A1 in fibroblasts of pancreatic cancer desmoplasia and the lack of expression in fibroblasts of pancreatitis by means of the polyclonal antibody (anti-proCOL11A1 pAb) we generated. In a similar way, we decided to compare the expression of procollagen11A1 in fibroblasts of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast and fibroblasts of benign sclerosing lesions of the breast, in order to validate the anti-proCOL11A1 pAb in this setting and to study how proCOL11A1 expression relates to other prognostic and predictive factors, as well as to survival. Methods: 45 core biopsies of sclerosing adenosis and 50 core biopsies of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast were stained with anti-proCOL11A1 pAb, a polyclonal antibody highly specific to the less homologous fraction of proCOL11A1 (in comparison with proCOL5A1 and proCOL11A2). In addition, the expression of the proCOL11A1 gene was measured by RT-qPCR. On the other hand, the expression of proCOL11A1 was compared to the expression of estrogenic receptors, progestagen receptors, the state of the epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), the histologic grade and the stage of the disease. We also compared the immunohistochemical expression of proCol11A1 to the disease-free interval, and to overall survival. Results: The immunohistochemical analysis showed that proCOL11A1 was expressed in 100% of infiltrating ductal carcinomas, but only focally expressed in 2.2% (1 case) of sclerosing adenosis, in agreement with RT-qPCR results. ProCOL11A1 expression did not prove to have a prognostic value in relation to the disease-free interval or to overall survival in infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Conclusion: The anti-proCOL11A1 pAb is a stromal marker for breast cancer and the expression of proCOL11A1 does not seem to have a prognostic value in infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast. ; This research has been cofinanced by FEDER Funds from the European Union; Proyecto INNPACTO-ONCOPAN ...

Krim-Kongo Hämorrhagisches Fieber (CCHF) ist eine beim Menschen tödlich verlaufende Erkrankung mit Letalitätsraten von 5% (Türkei) bis 80% (Volksrepublik China). Diese Variation hängt vom Kenntnisstand in der Bevölkerung über das Vorkommen dieser Infektionskrankheit, von der Qualität des Gesundheitswesens, von der Genauigkeit des Meldesystems und vom zirkulierenden Virusstamm ab. Das Krim-Kongo-Hämorrhagische‑Fieber-Virus (CCHFV) wird vorrangig durch Zecken der Gattung Hyalomma übertragen und kommt in Afrika, Asien und Europa vor. Hyalomma spp. bevorzugen im Allgemeinen ein warmes und trockenes Klima und eine weniger dichte Vegetation. Hyalomma spp.-Populationen kommen deshalb natürlicherweise nur bis zum 46. nördlichen Breitengrad vor. Weitere Infektionsquellen für den Menschen sind der Kontakt zu Blut, Körperflüssigkeiten und Gewebematerial von virämischen Tieren oder auch infektiösen Menschen; auch das Zerdrücken von CCHFV-infizierten Zecken kann zur Infektion führen. Obwohl Tiere in der Regel nach der Infektion keine klinischen Symptome zeigen, entwickeln sie einen stabilen Antikörpertiter, der noch viele Jahre nach der Infektion nachweisbar ist. Deshalb kann der CCHFV-Antikörpernachweis bei Wiederkäuern zur Feststellung von Risikogebieten verwendet werden. Am gründlichsten ist die CCHFV-Infektion in endemischen Gebieten in Europa und Kleinasien untersucht worden. Demgegenüber gibt es über das CCHFV-Vorkommen in Afrika kaum aktuelle Daten. Daher war das Hauptziel der hier vorgestellten Studien, das CCHFV-Vorkommen in verschiedenen Subsahara-Ländern (Mauretanien, Mali, Kamerun und Demokratische Republik Kongo (DR Kongo)) zu untersuchen. Hierzu wurden zunächst modifizierte serologische Tests angewendet, die zuvor zur Untersuchung von Wiederkäuerseren aus Südosteuropa entwickelt worden waren. Diese Testmethoden umfassten einen kommerziellen (Spezies-adaptierten) Enzym-gekoppelten-Immunadsorptionstest (ELISA) und einen im eigenen Labor entwickelten indirekten CCHFV‑IgG-ELISA sowie einen (Spezies-adaptierten) indirekten Immunfluoreszenz-Test (IFA). Die Anpassung dieser Tests umfasste Veränderungen in den Protokollen und bei den Grenzwerten. Die so modifizierten Tests erreichten diagnostische Sensitivitäten von 95% ‑ 98% und Spezifitäten von 98% - 100%. Da diese Tests jedoch auch in weniger gut ausgestatteten Laboren in Afrika bei tropischer Hitze verwendet werden sollten, wurde ein weiterer auch unter diesen Verhältnissen noch robuster indirekter CCHFV-IgG-ELISA für Rinder mit vergleichbarer diagnostischer Performance (Sensitivität und Spezifität jeweils 99%) entwickelt. Dieser ELISA wurde anschließend im Rahmen seroepidemiologischer Studien an Rinderseren aus Mali und Kamerun (2014 gesammelt) eingesetzt. Parallel dazu wurde ein hochsensitiver Multiplex-CCHFV-RT-qPCR-Nachweis auf der Basis von 12 Genotyp-spezifischen und 2 universalen Primern entwickelt und validiert, der darauf abzielt alle aktuell bekannten CCHFV-Stämme zu detektieren. Dieser RT-qPCR-Nachweis wurde komplettiert durch die Verwendung zweier spezifischer Carboxyfluorescein-Sonden zum direkten CCHFV-Erregergenom-Nachweis. Ein solcher universeller Nachweis war bis dato angesichts der großen Sequenz-Variationen zwischen den CCHFV-Stämmen der sechs bekannten Genotypen nicht verfügbar. Mithilfe von sechs Kalibrator-RNAs ist ferner die genaue Genotyp-spezifische Quantifizierung von CCHFV möglich. Die serologische Nachweismethoden wurden anschließend zur Untersuchung von über 3000 Wiederkäuerseren aus den in Subsahara-Afrika liegenden Ländern Mauretanien, Mali, Kamerun und DR Kongo verwendet. Wiederkäuerseren wurden als CCHFV-Antikörper-positiv erachtet, wenn sie in zwei unabhängigen ELISA-Systemen reaktive Ergebnisse erbrachten. Bei abweichenden Ergebnissen wurde eine IFA zur endgültigen Diagnose durchgeführt. Die Untersuchungen zeigen, dass CCHFV-Infektionen in allen vier Ländern (Mauretanien, Mali, Kamerun und DR Kongo) vorkommen. Dies war insbesondere für Kamerun ein überraschendes Ergebnis, da es sich um den ersten Nachweis dieser Infektionskrankheit in diesem Land handelt. Die höchsten Prävalenzraten wurden in Mauretanien, Mali und Nordkamerun nachgewiesen. Dies stimmte mit den Vegetations- und klimatischen Bedingungen und den dort jeweils vorliegenden, von Hyalomma-Zecken präferierten Habitaten überein. Umgekehrt lassen sich auch die deutlich niedrigeren Prävalenzen in Südkamerun und DR Kongo mit der (geringeren) Eignung der lokalen Vegetation und des lokalen Klimas für Hyalomma-Zecken erklären. Ggfs. steht auch die Viehdichte mit dem Vorkommen von CCHFV in einem Gebiet im direkten Zusammenhang. In Nordkamerun, wo eine deutlich höhere Viehdichte als im Süden des Landes vorzufinden ist, wurden deutlich mehr Rinder positiv auf CCHFV-spezifische Antikörper getestet als im Süden mit geringerer Rinderdichte. Eine ähnliche Korrelation wurde auch in Mali nachgewiesen. Da im Rahmen dieser Studie zum ersten Mal CCHFV-Infektionen in Kamerun detektiert werden konnten, war es wichtig, das Virus auch direkt nachzuweisen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in einem CCHFV-hochendemischen Gebiet in Nordkamerun 109 Hyalomma-Zecken von Rindern abgesammelt und molekulardiagnostisch auf CCHFV untersucht. Hierzu wurde die hochsensitive Multiplex-SYBR–Green-CCHFV-RT-qPCR verwendet. Proben mit charakteristischer Amplifikation wurden mithilfe der Sonden-basierten Multiplex-CCHFV-RT-qPCR bestätigt. CCHFV konnte in 7 von 109 Zecken nachgewiesen werden, und die amplifizierte Genomsequenz konnte phylogenetisch als Genotyp III eingeordnet werden. Zusammenfassend kann festgehalten werden, dass Wiederkäuer auch in den Subsahara‑Ländern als ausgezeichnete Indikator-Tiere für CCHFV-Infektionen angesehen werden können und dass hierzu nun hochsensitive und -spezifische und gleichzeitig robuste ELISAs zur Verfügung stehen. Die hohe Seroprävalenz in Nordkamerun wurde durch den molekularen RT-qPCR-Nachweis des CCHFV-Genoms bestätigt. Die serologischen und molekulardiagnostischen Daten deuten auf ein weiträumiges und gleichzeitig hochgradiges Infektionsgeschehen in den Ländern Subsahara-Afrikas hin. Angesichts der vorliegenden Daten erscheint zumindest in bestimmten Regionen die Einführung von Aufklärungsaktionen für potenzielle Risikogruppen und auch der Allgemeinbevölkerung empfehlenswert. ; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a fatal disease in humans with observed case fatality rates varying from 5% in Turkey to 80% in the People's Republic of China. This variability most likely depends on general awareness of the population, quality of the public healthcare system, sensitivity of the notification system and on the individual virus strain. The primary transmission route of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is by tick bites. Therefore, the virus distribution on the African, Asian and European continent is closely linked to the main vector, ticks of the genus Hyalomma. Hyalomma spp. generally prefer a warm and dry climate with a fragmented and less dense vegetation. Hence, these ticks are not able to create a stable and self-sustaining population further north than 46° N. Other sources of infections are contact to blood, body fluids and tissues of viremic animals or human patients and by crushing infected ticks. The detection of CCHFV-specific antibodies in ruminant sera is commonly used as indicator to reveal infection risk areas also for humans. Even though animals do not show clinical signs, they develop a stable IgG antibody titer that is detectable for many years after infection. CCHFV is best investigated in endemic areas in Europe. In contrast, research on the CCHFV prevalence on the African continent was fairly neglected for many decades and up-to-date information is only available for a few African countries. Therefore, the main goal of this thesis was to investigate the CCHFV prevalence in four different countries located in sub-Saharan Africa. For this purpose, a series of serological assays recently developed for testing ruminant sera from Southeastern Europe was employed. These assays included a commercial (species adapted) enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and an in-house CCHFV‑IgG-ELISA as well as a commercial (species adapted) immunofluorescence assay (IFA). The adaptation of these assays included protocol and cut-off changes to reach convincing diagnostic sensitivities (95% - 98%) and specificities (98% - 100%). However, as the assays were supposed also to be run in less well equipped laboratories in Africa, a robust and highly reproducible indirect cattle in-house CCHFV-IgG-ELISA was developed. The extensive modifications in the novel CCHFV-IgG-ELISA did not only increase the robustness of the assay and simplify the procedure but also enabled testing sera under the technical standards currently available in African laboratories. Nonetheless this new assay had an excellent diagnostic sensitivity and specificity (both 99%) and was therefore used in the seroepidemiological studies in Mali and Cameroon (sera collected in 2014). In parallel, a highly specific and sensitive multiplex CCHFV RT-qPCR using 12 genotype‑specific primers, 2 universal primers and 2 carboxyfluorescein probes for the reliable detection of all currently known CCHFV strains was newly designed and validated. This assay detects synthetic and native virus sequences of all six known genotypes and six calibrator RNAs enable the genotype-specific and precise quantification of CCHFV. Serological assays were subsequently used to screen more than 3,000 ruminant sera from Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), countries all situated in sub-Saharan Africa, and questions about the correlation of CCHFV prevalence with vegetation, climate and animal density were addressed. Ruminant sera were considered positive for CCHFV antibodies, if they were reactive in two independent ELISAs. In case of divergent results, the IFA was used for final diagnosis. This approach revealed CCHFV infections in ruminants in all four countries Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon and DR Congo, which was a surprising result especially for Cameroon as this was the first demonstration of this infectious disease in this country. Highest prevalence rates were detected in Mauritania, Mali and North Cameroon, which is consistent with the vegetation and climatic conditions and the habitat preference of Hyalomma ticks. Conversely, medium to low prevalence rates were found in Southern Cameroon and the DR Congo, which was also in accordance with the suitability of local vegetation and clime for these arthropods. Moreover, cattle densities seemed also to correlate with the presence of CCHFV in an area. Most CCHFV-specific antibody positive cattle were detected in North Cameroon, where cattle density is much higher than in the South and a similar correlation was noticed for Mali. As this study revealed for the first time CCHFV infections in Cameroon, it was of crucial importance also to prove that the virus is circulating in this environment. For this purpose, 109 Hyalomma ticks were collected from infested bovines in a CCHFV highly endemic area in North Cameroon and were assayed for CCHFV genomes using a novel highly sensitive multiplex SYBR Green CCHFV RT-qPCR based on 14 different primers for the detection of all currently known CCHFV genotypes. Samples with a characteristic amplification were eventually reconfirmed using a multiplex CCHFV RT-qPCR, which had the same genotype specific primer sets and two additional CCHFV specific probes included. CCHFV was found in 7 of the 109 ticks and amplified genome sequences clustered phylogenetically into genotype III. In summary, the work presented here highlights the importance of seroprevalence studies in ruminants as indicator animals and molecular diagnostic studies in ticks to determine, whether CCHFV is circulating in sub-Saharan countries/regions. The current data obtained for Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali and Mauritania allow carrying out risk assessments for human infections and therefore help to define whether public health protection measures (e.g. raising awareness for risk groups and the broader public) should be applied.

: Jaya Mukti is one of the sub-districts in Dumai Timur District East Dumai Urban Village Jaya Mukti is one of urban villages located in the middle of Dumai City with the highest population density among urban villages in Dumai City. To realize JayaMukti Village Mission, Kelurahan is assisted by the performance of the existing Chairman of the RT, and coincides with the respective term of each Chairman of the RT ended in March 2017 then the researcher made a research on how the Head of RT in JayaMukti Kota Dumai by Payaman J. Simanjuntak "(2005: 1) Is a level of achievement of the results of the implementation of certain tasks. "And Prawirosentono in Sinambela (2012: 5) performance is the work that can be achieved by a person or group of people within an organization, in accordance with the authority and responsibility of each, See that the outcomes of the results or the implementation of the task of Chairman of the RT has not been optimal. Research was chosen purposively in JayaMukti Subdistrict, Kecamtan Dumai Timur Kota Dumai with qualitative approach and data collection technique by interview, observation and documentation. Respondents only 16 Head of RT from 23 RT , Key Informant is Lurah Jayamukti.serta Kasi Pemerintahannya.hasil Research is Performance Chairman of RT in Kelurahan JayaMukti from Administration Reporting that maximal routine only reaches 50%, Increase participation of citizen or citizen in Village JayaMukti average 72,50% for , Community empowerment or average citizen of 26.56% and Maintenance of Public Security and Order of the Community Average of 43.75%. To improve the performance of Ketau RT in addition to increasing the capacity of the RT Chairman himself and realizing that the position of Chairman of the RT is a Social , So the consciousness of the consequences, while the community must be educated about the social function as Chairman of the RT while from the Village can make a kind of integrity fact that must be signed by the Head of RT in Kelurahan so there are things that need to be accounted for according to the fact of integrity.

A caricature done by Ape for Vanity Fair magazine depicting Stephen Cave, a British lawyer, writer and conservative politician. He served as Paymaster-General under Queen Victoria. ; https://digital.kenyon.edu/arthistorystudycollection/1139/thumbnail.jpg