Development of a Genus-Specific Antigen Capture ELISA for Orthopoxviruses – Target Selection and Optimized Screening

Orthopoxvirus species like cowpox, vaccinia and monkeypox virus cause zoonotic infections in humans worldwide. Infections often occur in rural areas lacking proper diagnostic infrastructure as exemplified by monkeypox, which is endemic in Western and Central Africa. While PCR detection requires demanding equipment and is restricted to genome detection, the evidence of virus particles can complement or replace PCR. Therefore, an easily distributable and manageable antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of orthopoxviruses was developed to facilitate particle detection. By comparing the virus particle binding properties of polyclonal antibodies developed against surface-exposed attachment or fusion proteins, the surface protein A27 was found to be a well-bound, highly immunogenic and exposed target for antibodies aiming at virus particle detection. Subsequently, eight monoclonal anti-A27 antibodies were generated and characterized by peptide epitope mapping and surface plasmon resonance measurements. All antibodies were found to bind with high affinity to two epitopes at the heparin binding site of A27, toward either the N- or C-terminal of the crucial KKEP-segment of A27. Two antibodies recognizing different epitopes were implemented in an antigen capture ELISA. Validation showed robust detection of virus particles from 11 different orthopoxvirus isolates pathogenic to humans, with the exception of MVA, which is apathogenic to humans. Most orthopoxviruses could be detected reliably for viral loads above 1 × 103 PFU/mL. To our knowledge, this is the first solely monoclonal and therefore reproducible antibody-based antigen capture ELISA able to detect all human pathogenic orthopoxviruses including monkeypox virus, except variola virus which was not included. Therefore, the newly developed antibody-based assay represents important progress towards feasible particle detection of this important genus of viruses

The profile of head injuries and traumatic brain injury deaths in Kashmir

This study was conducted on patients of head injury admitted through Accident & Emergency Department of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences during the year 2004 to determine the number of head injury patients, nature of head injuries, condition at presentation, treatment given in hospital and the outcome of intervention. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) deaths were also studied retrospectively for a period of eight years (1996 to 2003)

Publicações de teatro em 2013

O texto procede ao levantamento bibliográfico, selecção da tipologia e listagem das edições de / sobre teatro no ano indicado, inclui adenda aos anos anterioresinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Progress Report on Target Development

The present document is the D08 deliverable report of work package 1 (Target Development) from the MEGAPIE TEST project of the 5th European Framework Program. Deliverable D08 is the progress report on the activities performed within WP 1. The due date of this deliverable was the 5th month after the start of the EU project. This coincided with a technical status meeting of the MEGAPIE Initiative, that was held in March 2002 in Bologna (Italy). The content of the present document reflects the status of the MEGAPIE target development at that stage. It gives an overview of the Target Design, the related Design Support activities and the progress of the work done for the safety assessment and licensing of the target

The effects of conflict role and intensity on preschoolers’ expectations about peer conflict

Using a puppet procedure depicting hypothetical conflict involving the participant and a peer, 96 preschoolers’ (48 boys and 48 girls; M 1/4 5.14 years, SD 1/4 0.78 years) expectations about peer conflict were assessed as a function of their role in the conflict (i.e., initiator of or responder to initial provocation) and the intensity level of the conflict. Initiators of conflict expected less conflict escalation and subsequent problems with the same peer from the conflict than did responders, particularly following low-intensity conflict. Findings also indicated that, for low-intensity but not high-intensity conflict, girls expected the same peer to provoke them during a subsequent interaction more often than did boys. Results provide further support for assessing preschoolers’ understanding of conflict and are consistent with previous work demonstrating a self-serving bias in young children’s perceptions and reports of their conflicts with other children. Moreover, findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of peer relations.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Effects of GnRH vaccination in wild and captive African Elephant bulls (Loxodonta africana) on reproductive organs and semen quality

OBJECTIVES: Although the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in some isolated habitats in southern Africa, contraception is of major interest due to local overpopulation. GnRH vaccination has been promoted as a non-invasive contraceptive measure for population management of overabundant wildlife. We tested the efficacy of this treatment for fertility control in elephant bulls. METHODS: In total, 17 male African elephants that were treated with a GnRH vaccine were examined in two groups. In the prospective study group 1 (n = 11 bulls, ages: 8±36 years), semen quality, the testes, seminal vesicles, ampullae and prostate, which were all measured by means of transrectal ultrasound, and faecal androgen metabolite concentrations were monitored over a three-year period. Each bull in the prospective study received 5 ml of Improvac® (1000 μg GnRH conjugate) intramuscularly after the first examination, followed by a booster six weeks later and thereafter every 5±7 months. In a retrospective study group (group 2, n = 6, ages: 19±33 years), one examination was performed on bulls which had been treated with GnRH vaccine for 5±11 years. RESULTS: In all bulls of group 1, testicular and accessory sex gland sizes decreased significantly after the third vaccination. In six males examined prior to vaccination and again after more than five vaccinations, the testis size was reduced by 57.5%. Mean testicular height and length decreased from 13.3 ± 2.6 cm x 15.2 ± 2.8 cm at the beginning to 7.6 ± 2.1 cm x 10.2 ± 1.8 cm at the end of the study. Post pubertal bulls (>9 years, n = 6) examined prior to vaccination produced ejaculates with viable spermatozoa (volume: 8±175 ml, sperm concentration: 410-4000x106/ml, total motility: 0±90%), while after 5±8 injections, only 50% of these bulls produced ejaculates with a small number of immotile spermatozoa. The ejaculates of group 2 bulls (vaccinated >8 times) were devoid of spermatozoa. Faecal androgen metabolite concentrations measured in captive males decreased significantly after the fourth vaccination. None of the males entered musth during the treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed a marked decrease in semen quality, testicle and secondary sex gland sizes following repeated GnRH vaccinations. After 2±4 years of continuous treatment every 5±7 months, the effects were similar to surgical castration.ISIScopu

IFN-λ3, not IFN-λ4, likely mediates IFNL3-IFNL4 haplotype-dependent hepatic inflammation and fibrosis

Genetic variation in the IFNL3-IFNL4 (interferon-λ3-interferon-λ4) region is associated with hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Whether IFN-λ3 or IFN-λ4 protein drives this association is not known. We demonstrate that hepatic inflammation, fibrosis stage, fibrosis progression rate, hepatic infiltration of immune cells, IFN-λ3 expression, and serum sCD163 levels (a marker of activated macrophages) are greater in individuals with the IFNL3-IFNL4 risk haplotype that does not produce IFN-λ4, but produces IFN-λ3. No difference in these features was observed according to genotype at rs117648444, which encodes a substitution at position 70 of the IFN-λ4 protein and reduces IFN-λ4 activity, or between patients encoding functionally defective IFN-λ4 (IFN-λ4-Ser70) and those encoding fully active IFN-λ4-Pro70. The two proposed functional variants (rs368234815 and rs4803217) were not superior to the discovery SNP rs12979860 with respect to liver inflammation or fibrosis phenotype. IFN-λ3 rather than IFN-λ4 likely mediates IFNL3-IFNL4 haplotype-dependent hepatic inflammation and fibrosis

The European Solar Telescope

The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project aimed at studying the magnetic connectivity of the solar atmosphere, from the deep photosphere to the upper chromosphere. Its design combines the knowledge and expertise gathered by the European solar physics community during the construction and operation of state-of-the-art solar telescopes operating in visible and near-infrared wavelengths: the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope, the German Vacuum Tower Telescope and GREGOR, the French Télescope Héliographique pour l'Étude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires, and the Dutch Open Telescope. With its 4.2 m primary mirror and an open configuration, EST will become the most powerful European ground-based facility to study the Sun in the coming decades in the visible and near-infrared bands. EST uses the most innovative technological advances: the first adaptive secondary mirror ever used in a solar telescope, a complex multi-conjugate adaptive optics with deformable mirrors that form part of the optical design in a natural way, a polarimetrically compensated telescope design that eliminates the complex temporal variation and wavelength dependence of the telescope Mueller matrix, and an instrument suite containing several (etalon-based) tunable imaging spectropolarimeters and several integral field unit spectropolarimeters. This publication summarises some fundamental science questions that can be addressed with the telescope, together with a complete description of its major subsystems

The European Solar Telescope

The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project aimed at studying the magnetic connectivity of the solar atmosphere, from the deep photosphere to the upper chromosphere. Its design combines the knowledge and expertise gathered by the European solar physics community during the construction and operation of state-of-the-art solar telescopes operating in visible and near-infrared wavelengths: the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope, the German Vacuum Tower Telescope and GREGOR, the French Télescope Héliographique pour l’Étude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires, and the Dutch Open Telescope. With its 4.2 m primary mirror and an open configuration, EST will become the most powerful European ground-based facility to study the Sun in the coming decades in the visible and near-infrared bands. EST uses the most innovative technological advances: the first adaptive secondary mirror ever used in a solar telescope, a complex multi-conjugate adaptive optics with deformable mirrors that form part of the optical design in a natural way, a polarimetrically compensated telescope design that eliminates the complex temporal variation and wavelength dependence of the telescope Mueller matrix, and an instrument suite containing several (etalon-based) tunable imaging spectropolarimeters and several integral field unit spectropolarimeters. This publication summarises some fundamental science questions that can be addressed with the telescope, together with a complete description of its major subsystems

Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins as a new diagnostic tool in cattle reproduction

Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are powerful pregnancy markers in domestic cattle. These proteins are expressed in mono- and binucleate trophoblast cells from the first days of gestation until calving. Different molecules were identified as being expressed at various stages of pregnancy. However, up to date, their functions and activities during pregnancy were not yet established. Specific RIA tests were developed (classic and alternative RIA) and used to measure the concentration of these glycoproteins in blood during gestation and the postpartum period in cattle. In maternal blood, PAGs rise to detectable levels from days 24 to 28 after fertilization. A recent study indicated that PAGs can also be detected in milk samples. However, concentrations in milk are much lower when compared to those of plasma