Low incidence of toxoplasma infection during pregnancy and in newborns in Sweden

To estimate the burden of disease due to congenital toxoplasmosis in Sweden the incidence of primary infections during pregnancy and birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis in 40978 children born in two regions in Sweden was determined. Women possibly infected during pregnancy were identified based on: 1, detection of specific IgG based on neonatal screening of the phenylketonuria (PKU) card blood spot followed by retrospective testing of stored prenatal samples to detect women who acquired infection during pregnancy and follow up of their children to 12 months; 2, detection of specific IgM on the PKU blood spot. The birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis was 0·73/10000 (95% CI 0·15–2·14) (3/40978). The incidence of primary infection during pregnancy was 5·1/10000 (95% CI 2·6–8·9) susceptible pregnant women. The seroprevalence in the southern part was 25·7% and in the Stockholm area 14·0%. The incidence of infection during pregnancy was low, as the birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis. Neonatal screening warrants consideration in view of the low cost and feasibility

A Taxonomy of Software Delivery Performance Profiles: Investigating the Effects of DevOps Practices

This research develops a taxonomy of Software Delivery Performance Profiles for DevOps development settings. We base the underlying Software Delivery Performance measure on the application of the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model to software development. Consistent with the objectives of both, development and operations departments, the measure includes attributes for throughput (release frequency and lead-time to delivery) and for stability (mean time to restore). Using a sample of 7,522 DevOps professionals globally, we conduct a hierarchical cluster analysis and find that the throughput and stability measures move in tandem and form three distinct Software Delivery Performance Profiles. Further analysis will show how the use of individual DevOps practices impacts Performance Profiles of development settings. When completed, the study will support the utility of DevOps and the effectiveness of individual DevOps practices

Multiple mating and a low incidence of cuckoldry for nest-holding males in the two-spotted goby, Gobiusculus flavescens

Background: A major question in behavioural ecology concerns the relationship between genetic mating systems and the strength of sexual selection. In this study, we investigated the genetic mating system of the two-spotted goby (Gobiusculus flavescens), a useful fish model for the study of sexual selection whose genetic mating system remains uncharacterized. We developed four polymorphic microsatellite markers and used them to conduct parentage analyses on 21 nests collected during the breeding season to examine the rates of multiple mating by males and to test for evidence of alternative mating strategies.Results: Results of this study indicate that male G. flavescens mate with multiple females and enjoy confidence of paternity. We detected only one instance of sneaking, so cuckoldry contributed a very small percentage (~0.1%) of the total fertilizations in this population. Nests were nearly full and males that maintain larger nests have higher mating and reproductive success, irrespective of body size.Conclusion: Overall, our investigation shows that G. flavescens is similar to other, related gobies in that the nests of care-giving males often contain eggs from multiple females. However, G. flavescens differs from other gobies in displaying an extremely low rate of cuckoldry. The study of ecological factors responsible for this important<br /

Invasive disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae in Sweden 1997–2009; evidence of increasing incidence and clinical burden of non‐type b strains

Introduction of a conjugated vaccine against encapsulated Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) has led to a dramatic reduction of invasive Hib disease. However, an increasing incidence of invasive disease by H. influenzae non‐type b has recently been reported. Non‐type b strains have been suggested to be opportunists in an invasive context, but information on clinical consequences and related medical conditions is scarce. In this retrospective study, all H. influenzae isolates ( n  =   410) from blood and cerebrospinal fluid in three metropolitan Swedish regions between 1997 and 2009 from a population of approximately 3 million individuals were identified. All available isolates were serotyped by PCR ( n  =   250). We observed a statistically significant increase in the incidence of invasive H. influenzae disease, ascribed to non‐typeable H. influenzae (NTHi) and encapsulated strains type f (Hif) in mainly individuals >60 years of age. The medical reports from a subset of 136 cases of invasive Haemophilus disease revealed that 48% of invasive NTHi cases and 59% of invasive Hif cases, respectively, met the criteria of severe sepsis or septic shock according to the ACCP/SCCM classification of sepsis grading. One‐fifth of invasive NTHi cases and more than one‐third of invasive Hif cases were admitted to intensive care units. Only 37% of patients with invasive non‐type b disease had evidence of immunocompromise, of which conditions related to impaired humoral immunity was the most common. The clinical burden of invasive non‐type b H. influenzae disease, measured as days of hospitalization/100 000 individuals at risk and year, increased significantly throughout the study period.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87052/1/j.1469-0691.2010.03417.x.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87052/2/CLM_3417_sm_FigS1.pd

Immunodepletion in xenotransplantation

Xenograft transplantation is perhaps the most immunologically difficult problem in transplantation today. An overwhelming hyperacute rejection reaction (HAR) occurs within minutes of organ implantation. Preformed antibodies are thought to initiate this process. We used a pig-to-dog renal xenograft transplant model and investigated methods of decreasing the severity of hyperacute rejection. Female pigs weighing 15-20 kg were used as donors. Recipients were mongrel dogs weighing 15-25 kg. Experimental dogs were all given a number of treatments of IgG depletion using an antibody removal system (Dupont-Excorim). This machine immunoadsorbs plasma against a column containing immobilized staphylococcal protein A, which is known to bind the IgG Fc receptor. An 84% reduction in the IgG levels and a 71% reduction in IgM levels was achieved. Postoperative assessment was made of urine output, time to onset of HAR, and histopathological examination of the rejected kidneys. Although cross-matches between donor lymphocytes and recipient sera remained strongly positive in the treated dogs, there was a two- to fourfold reduction in the titers. The time to onset of HAR was prolonged in the experimental group, and the urine output was increased slightly. The histopathologic changes in the experimental group generally showed signs of HAR, but of less intensity than in the nonimmunodepleted control group. © 1990 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted

Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers of Synaptic Dysfunction Are Altered in Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders

Background: Synaptic dysfunction and degeneration are central contributors to the pathogenesis and progression of parkinsonian disorders. Therefore, identification and validation of biomarkers reflecting pathological synaptic alterations are greatly needed and could be used in prognostic assessment and to monitor treatment effects. Objective: To explore candidate biomarkers of synaptic dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) and related disorders. Methods: Mass spectrometry was used to quantify 15 synaptic proteins in two clinical cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cohorts, including PD (n1 = 51, n2 = 101), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) (n1 = 11, n2 = 3), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) (n1 = 22, n2 = 21), multiple system atrophy (MSA) (n1 = 31, n2 = 26), and healthy control (HC) (n1 = 48, n2 = 30) participants, as well as Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n2 = 23) patients in the second cohort. Results: Across both cohorts, lower levels of the neuronal pentraxins (NPTX; 1, 2, and receptor) were found in PD, MSA, and PSP, compared with HC. In MSA and PSP, lower neurogranin, AP2B1, and complexin-2 levels compared with HC were observed. In AD, levels of 14-3-3 zeta/delta, beta- and gamma-synuclein were higher compared with the parkinsonian disorders. Lower pentraxin levels in PD correlated with Mini-Mental State Exam scores and specific cognitive deficits (NPTX2; rho = 0.25–0.32, P < 0.05) and reduced dopaminergic pre-synaptic integrity as measured by DaTSCAN (NPTX2; rho = 0.29, P = 0.023). Additionally, lower levels were associated with the progression of postural imbalance and gait difficulty symptoms (All NPTX; β-estimate = −0.025 to −0.038, P < 0.05) and cognitive decline (NPTX2; β-estimate = 0.32, P = 0.021). Conclusions: These novel findings show different alterations of synaptic proteins in parkinsonian disorders compared with AD and HC. The neuronal pentraxins may serve as prognostic CSF biomarkers for both cognitive and motor symptom progression in PD. © 2022 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Deep Mining of Oxysterols and Cholestenoic Acids in Human Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid: Quantification using Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

Both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are rich in cholesterol and its metabolites. Here we describe in detail a methodology for the identification and quantification of multiple sterols including oxysterols and sterol-acids found in these fluids. The method is translatable to any laboratory with access to liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry. The method exploits isotope-dilution mass spectrometry for absolute quantification of target metabolites. The method is applicable for semi-quantification of other sterols for which isotope labelled surrogates are not available and approximate quantification of partially identified sterols. Values are reported for non-esterified sterols in the absence of saponification and total sterols following saponification. In this way absolute quantification data is reported for 17 sterols in the NIST SRM 1950 plasma along with semi-quantitative data for 8 additional sterols and approximate quantification for one further sterol. In a pooled (CSF) sample used for internal quality control, absolute quantification was performed on 10 sterols, semi-quantification on 9 sterols and approximate quantification on a further three partially identified sterols. The value of the method is illustrated by confirming the sterol phenotype of a patient suffering from ACOX2 deficiency, a rare disorder of bile acid biosynthesis, and in a plasma sample from a patient suffering from cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis, where cholesterol 27-hydroxylase is deficient

Immunity in Society: Diverse Solutions to Common Problems

How do social animals, from insects to humans, limit the spread of disease by deploying community-level responses to pathogens? Active immunization of healthy ants by infected ants is one intriguing example