A hepatitis C avidity test for determining recent and past infections in both plasma and dried blood spots

DBS testing has been used successfully to detect HCV antibody positive individuals. Determining how long someone has been infected is important for surveillance initiatives. Antibody avidity is a method that can be used to calculate recency of infection. A HCV avidity assay was evaluated for both plasma and DBS. Study design: To measure antibody avidity a commercial HCV ELISA was modified using 7 M urea. The plasma samples were split into: group 1 (recently infected N = 19), group 2 (chronic carrier N = 300) and group 3 (resolved infection N = 82). Mock DBS made from group 1 (N = 12), group 2 (N = 50), group 3 (N = 25) and two seroconverter panels were evaluated. 133 DBS taken from patients known to have a resolved infection or be a chronic carrier were also tested. The avidity assay cut-off was set at AI ≤ 30 for a recent infection. Using sequential samples the assay could detect a recent infection in the first 4–5 months from the point of infection. Most of the false positive results (AI < 30 among cases known not to have had recent infection) were detected among known resolved infections, in both the plasma and DBS; as a result, a testing algorithm has been designed incorporating both PCR and two dilution factors. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay on plasma was 100% and 99.3%, respectively, while DBS had 100% sensitivity and 98.3% specificity. The HCV avidity assay can be used to distinguish between chronic and recent infection using either plasma or DBS as the sample type

Consolidation of the argentine national state at the tip of the spear, saber and facón. Osteobiographical and historical approach to the remains of the Col. Ambrosio Sandes (1815-1863)

La segunda mitad del siglo XIX estuvo caracterizado por la consolidación del Estado nacional argentino en el marco de dos cosmovisiones políticas-ideológicas contrapuestas: Liberalismo versus Federalismo. Las fuerzas militares y, específicamente, sus militares de alto rango cumplieron un rol trascendental al ejecutar el monopolio de la violencia desde los Estados Provinciales en su proyección nacional. El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar, desde un enfoque osteobiográfico-histórico, un entierro secundario exhumado de la sepultura de Ambrosio Sandes (1815-1863) (Cementerio Municipal de Mendoza, Argentina) coronel unitario del Ejército Argentino cuya participación fue ampliamente documentada en los campos de batalla y en el escenario político nacional. A nivel esqueletal, se analizaron indicadores de estrés metabólico-nutricional, estrés funcional, patologías, traumas y salud oral. Los resultados permitieron elaborar un perfil osteobiográfico general y otro individualizante, brindando fundamentos que permitieron aproximarse a una posible identificación. Así mismo, se discuten los bioindicadores de acuerdo a las distintas etapas de su vida (infancia, carrera militar y los eventos próximos a su fallecimiento). De esta forma, se aporta no solo información osteobiográfica de uno de los personajes más relevantes del periodo, sino también permite vivenciar las lógicas del Estado en formación plasmada en el cuerpo de sus protagonistas.The second half of the 19th century was determined by the consolidation of the Argentine national state within the framework of two opposing political-ideological worldviews: Liberalism versus. Federalism. The military forces and, specifically, its high-ranking military played a transcendental role by executing the monopoly on violence from the Provincial States in their national projection. The aim of this work is to study, from an osteobiographical-historical approach, a secondary burial exhumed from the grave of Ambrosio Sandes (1815-1863) (Municipal Cemetery of Mendoza, Argentina) who was the unitary colonel of the Argentine Army with a documented participation in the battlefields and on the national political stage. At the skeletal level, analyze indicators of metabolic-nutritional stress, functional stress, pathologies, traumas and oral health. The results allowed to elaborate a general osteobiographical profile and another individualizing one, providing foundations that allowed to approximate a possible identification. Likewise, they discuss the bioindicators according to the different stages of their life (childhood, military career and the events near their death). In this way, not only osteobiographical information of one of the most relevant characters of the period is provided, but also allows to live the logic of the State in formation embodied in the body of its protagonists.Fil: Giannotti, Pablo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología y Etnología; ArgentinaFil: Mansegosa, Daniela Alit. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología y Etnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Chiavazza, Horacio Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología y Etnología; ArgentinaFil: Araujo, Emiliano J.. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología y Etnología; Argentin

Genome sequence of Perigonia lusca single nucleopolyhedrovirus: insights into the evolution of a nucleotide metabolism enzyme in the family Baculoviridae

Citation: Ardisson-Araujo, D. M. P., Lima, R. N., Melo, F. L., Clem, R. J., Huang, N., Bao, S. N., . . . Ribeiro, B. M. (2016). Genome sequence of Perigonia lusca single nucleopolyhedrovirus: insights into the evolution of a nucleotide metabolism enzyme in the family Baculoviridae. Scientific Reports, 6, 14. doi:10.1038/srep24612The genome of a novel group II alphabaculovirus, Perigonia lusca single nucleopolyhedrovirus (PeluSNPV), was sequenced and shown to contain 132,831 bp with 145 putative ORFs (open reading frames) of at least 50 amino acids. An interesting feature of this novel genome was the presence of a putative nucleotide metabolism enzyme-encoding gene (pelu112). The pelu112 gene was predicted to encode a fusion of thymidylate kinase (tmk) and dUTP diphosphatase (dut). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that baculoviruses have independently acquired tmk and dut several times during their evolution. Two homologs of the tmk-dut fusion gene were separately introduced into the Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) genome, which lacks tmk and dut. The recombinant baculoviruses produced viral DNA, virus progeny, and some viral proteins earlier during in vitro infection and the yields of viral occlusion bodies were increased 2.5-fold when compared to the parental virus. Interestingly, both enzymes appear to retain their active sites, based on separate modeling using previously solved crystal structures. We suggest that the retention of these tmk-dut fusion genes by certain baculoviruses could be related to accelerating virus replication and to protecting the virus genome from deleterious mutation

CyTOF mass cytometry reveals phenotypically distinct human blood neutrophil populations differentially correlated with melanoma stage

BACKGROUND: Understanding neutrophil heterogeneity and its relationship to disease progression has become a recent focus of cancer research. Indeed, several studies have identified neutrophil subpopulations associated with protumoral or antitumoral functions. However, this work has been hindered by a lack of widely accepted markers with which to define neutrophil subpopulations. METHODS: To identify markers of neutrophil heterogeneity in cancer, we used single-cell cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) coupled with high-dimensional analysis on blood samples from treatment-naïve patients with melanoma. RESULTS: Our efforts allowed us to identify seven blood neutrophil clusters, including two previously identified individual populations. Interrogation of these neutrophil subpopulations revealed a positive trend between specific clusters and disease stage. Finally, we recapitulated these seven blood neutrophil populations via flow cytometry and found that they exhibited diverse capacities for phagocytosis and reactive oxygen species production in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide a refined consensus on neutrophil heterogeneity markers, enabling a prospective functional evaluation in patients with solid tumors.</p

New Species in the Old World: Europe as a Frontier in Biodiversity Exploration, a Test Bed for 21st Century Taxonomy

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late

Hydrated electron generation by excitation of copper localized surface plasmon resonance

Hydrated electrons are important in radiation chemistry and chargetransfer reactions, with applications that include chemical damage of DNA, catalysis, and signaling. Conventionally, hydrated electrons are produced by pulsed radiolysis, sonolysis, two-ultraviolet-photon laser excitation of liquid water, or photodetachment of suitable electron donors. Here we report a method for the generation of hydrated electrons via single-visible-photon excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of supported sub-3 nm copper nanoparticles in contact with water. Only excitations at the LSPR maximum resulted in the formation of hydrated electrons, suggesting that plasmon excitation plays a crucial role in promoting electron transfer from the nanoparticle into the solution. The reactivity of the hydrated electrons was confirmed via proton reduction and concomitant H2 evolution in the presence of a Ru/ TiO2 catalyst

El activismo religioso conservador en Latinoamérica

Pertenece a la colección Religión, Género y Sexualidad / dirigida por Juan M. Vaggione ; v.3El libro reúne un conjunto de análisis que ponen en evidencia la heterogeneidad y la complejidad de las estrategias de influencia de la religión como uno de los principales sostenes de sistemas heteronormativos en nuestras sociedades contemporáneas. Tanto al nivel de los actores como de los discursos, las formas en que las religiones influencian las discusiones sobre políticas de sexualidad han adoptado diversas modalidades de actuación adaptándose a los momentos políticos. Así, los artículos que integran la compilación se dirigen a complejizar el rol de lo religioso en la política sexual contemporánea incluyendo en esta problematización distintos ejes de análisis y marcos teóricos. Haciendo foco en diferentes países de América Latina, con sus escenarios y problemas, los artículos abordan las variadas dimensiones del activismo religioso conservador en nuestra región

Comparative Survival of Asian and White Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Men Treated With Docetaxel

There are few data regarding disparities in overall survival (OS) between Asian and white men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We compared OS of Asian and white mCRPC men treated in phase III clinical trials with docetaxel and prednisone (DP) or a DP-containing regimen. Individual participant data from 8820 men with mCRPC randomly assigned on nine phase III trials to receive DP or a DP-containing regimen were combined. Men enrolled in these trials had a diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. The median overall survival was 18.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.4 to 22.1 months) and 21.2 months (95% CI = 20.8 to 21.7 months) for Asian and white men, respectively. The pooled hazard ratio for death for Asian men compared with white men, adjusted for baseline prognostic factors, was 0.95 (95% CI = 0.84 to 1.09), indicating that Asian men were not at increased risk of death. This large analysis showed that Asian men did not have shorter OS duration than white men treated with docetaxel