CT694 and pgp3 as Serological Tools for Monitoring Trachoma Programs.

Defining endpoints for trachoma programs can be a challenge as clinical signs of infection may persist in the absence of detectable bacteria. Antibody-based tests may provide an alternative testing strategy for surveillance during terminal phases of the program. Antibody-based assays, in particular ELISAs, have been shown to be useful to document C. trachomatis genital infections, but have not been explored extensively for ocular C. trachomatis infections. An antibody-based multiplex assay was used to test two C. trachomatis antigens, pgp3 and CT694, for detection of trachoma antibodies in bloodspots from Tanzanian children (n = 160) collected after multiple rounds of mass azithromycin treatment. Using samples from C. trachomatis-positive (by PCR) children from Tanzania (n = 11) and control sera from a non-endemic group of U.S. children (n = 122), IgG responses to both pgp3 and CT694 were determined to be 91% sensitive and 98% specific. Antibody responses of Tanzanian children were analyzed with regard to clinical trachoma, PCR positivity, and age. In general, children with more intense ocular pathology (TF/TI = 2 or most severe) had a higher median antibody response to pgp3 (p = 0.0041) and CT694 (p = 0.0282) than those with normal exams (TF/TI = 0). However, 44% of children with no ocular pathology tested positive for antibody, suggesting prior infection. The median titer of antibody responses for children less than three years of age was significantly lower than those of older children. (p<0.0001 for both antigens). The antibody-based multiplex assay is a sensitive and specific additional tool for evaluating trachoma transmission. The assay can also be expanded to include antigens representing different diseases, allowing for a robust assay for monitoring across NTD programs

Enteric Infection with Citrobacter rodentium Induces Coagulative Liver Necrosis and Hepatic Inflammation Prior to Peak Infection and Colonic Disease

Acute and chronic forms of inflammation are known to affect liver responses and susceptibility to disease and injury. Furthermore, intestinal microbiota has been shown critical in mediating inflammatory host responses in various animal models. Using C. rodentium, a known enteric bacterial pathogen, we examined liver responses to gastrointestinal infection at various stages of disease pathogenesis. For the first time, to our knowledge, we show distinct liver pathology associated with enteric infection with C. rodentium in C57BL/6 mice, characterized by increased inflammation and hepatitis index scores as well as prominent periportal hepatocellular coagulative necrosis indicative of thrombotic ischemic injury in a subset of animals during the early course of C. rodentium pathogenesis. Histologic changes in the liver correlated with serum elevation of liver transaminases, systemic and liver resident cytokines, as well as signal transduction changes prior to peak bacterial colonization and colonic disease. C. rodentium infection in C57BL/6 mice provides a potentially useful model to study acute liver injury and inflammatory stress under conditions of gastrointestinal infection analogous to enteropathogenic E. coli infection in humans.United States. Army Research Office (Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology grant 6915539 (SRT))National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant P01 CA026731)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant P30 ES02109)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Toxicology Training grant ES-070220

Evaluating the Effects of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) and Hormone Levels on In-vitro Micropropagation of Peperomia (Peperomia magnoliifolia)

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been proposed as a useful tool for enhancing plant growth. However, only few studies have examined the application of PGPR in in-vitro plant micropropagation. This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and hormone levels on in-vitro micropropagation of Peperomia. The experiment was conducted in a factorial design based on completely randomized design with three replications. Factors comprised of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (including 0=control (without bacteria), 1=Azospirillum lipoferum, 2=Pseudomonas fluorescent) and hormone levels (including 0=control (without hormone), 1=1.5 mg/l IAA + 1 mg/l 2ip and 2=double the treatment 1). Before planting, medium surface was inoculated with 0.08 ml of liquid culture of bacteria and then sterilized axillary buds were cultured. Growth characteristics were measured at two and four weeks after planting. Bacteria and hormone interaction effect was significant in terms of total root length and mean root length. Treating with Azospirillum (without hormone) led to a greater root number, compared to other treatments. Bacteria inoculation had a significant effect on shoot length and leaf number. Inoculation with both bacteria resulted in a greater shoot length compared to control, i.e. it led to a 1.5-fold increase in shoot length. Concomitant application of bacteria and hormone led to a decreased leaf number. In general, bacterial inoculation appeared to be more beneficial to the rooting attributes

Investigating Psychometric Properties of “NEO-Five Factor Inventory” (NEO-FFI)

The major aim of this research was to investigate psychometric properties of “NEO-Five Factor Inventory” (NEO-FFI). To this aim, after doing preliminary stages and resolving possible problems, the exploration of this scale was conducted in two studies: in the first study, in order to assess reliability using internal consistency, 604 undergraduate students of Tehran, Amirkabir and Shahed Universities (334= female and 270= male) with average age of 21.8 (sd=2.49) were selected by available sampling method. Students completed NEO-FFI. Results of this study indicated that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness had acceptable internal consistency in all subjects (higher than 0.70). Of course, Cronbach Alfa of Extroversion and Agreeableness were higher than suggested level for group comparisons (higher than 0.5). Therefore, only openness lacked acceptable internal consistency. In the second study, in order to assess construct validity of NEO-FFI, Pearson’s product-moment correlation was calculated for five factors of NEO-FFI and 9 facets of “Symptom Checklist-90- Revised” (SCL-90-R). Results of these analyses indicated that Neuroticism with all facets of SCL-90-R, Conscientiousness with all facets of SCL-90-R with the exception of paranoid thinking (Bonferroni correction not considered) and obsessive-compulsive facets (Bonferroni correction considered), Agreeableness and Extroversion with 3 and 7 facets of SCL-90-R (Bonferroni correction considered) had significant correlation. Openness did not show any significant correlation with facets of SCL-90-R. Besides, among these factors, only the relationships of Neuroticism with facets of SCL-90-R was a significant positive correlation and the remaining factors had not significant correlation or had significant negative correlation with facets of SCL-90-R. In conclusion, results of this study with respect to literature review about investigating psychometric properties of NEO-FFI in non-English cultures suggest need to investigate factor structure of this in Iranian population

Impaired resistance and enhanced pathology during infection with a noninvasive, attaching-effacing enteric bacterial pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium, in mice lacking IL-12 or IFN-gamma

Mice infected with Citrobacter rodentium represent an excellent model in which to examine immune defenses against an attaching-effacing enteric bacterial pathogen. Colonic tissue from mice infected with C. rodentium harbors increased transcripts for IL-12 and IFN-gamma and displays mucosal pathology compared with uninfected controls. In this study, the role of IL-12 and IFN-gamma in host defense and mucosal injury during C. rodentium infection was examined using gene knockout mice. IL-12p40(-/-) and IFN-gamma(-/-) mice were significantly more susceptible to mucosal and gut-derived systemic C. rodentium infection. In particular, a proportion of IL-12p40(-/-) mice died during infection. Analysis of the gut mucosa of IL-12p40(-/-) mice revealed an influx of CD4(+) T cells and a local IFN-gamma response. Infected IL-12p40(-/-) and IFN-gamma(-/-) mice also mounted anti-Citrobacter serum and gut-associated IgA responses and strongly expressed inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in mucosal tissue, despite diminished serum nitrite/nitrate levels. However, iNOS does not detectably contribute to host defense against C. rodentium, as iNOS(-/-) mice were not more susceptible to infection. However, C57BL/6 mice infected with C. rodentium up-regulated expression of the mouse beta-defensin (mBD)-1 and mBD-3 in colonic tissue. In contrast, expression of mBD-3, but not mBD-1, was significantly attenuated during infection of IL-12- and IFN-gamma-deficient mice, suggesting mBD-3 may contribute to host defense. These studies are among the first to examine mechanisms of host resistance to an attaching-effacing pathogen and show an important role for IL-12 and IFN-gamma in limiting bacterial infection of the colonic epithelium

Triaging women with ovarian masses for surgery: observational diagnostic study to compare RCOG guidelines with an International Ovarian Tumour Analysis (IOTA) group protocol.

OBJECTIVE: To compare guidelines from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) based on the Risk of Malignancy Index (RMI) with a protocol based on logistic regression model LR2 developed by the International Ovarian Tumour Analysis (IOTA) group for triaging women with an ovarian mass as low, moderate, or high risk of malignancy. DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational diagnostic study conducted between 2005 and 2007 at 21 oncology referral centres, referral centres for ultrasonography and general hospitals. SAMPLE: In all, 1938 women undergoing surgery for an ovarian mass. METHODS: RCOG guidelines use the RMI to triage women as low (RMI 250) risk. The IOTA protocol uses LR2s estimated probability of malignancy (<0.05 indicates low risk, 65 0.05 but <0.25 moderate risk, and 65 0.25 high risk). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Percentages of benign, borderline and invasive tumours classified as low, moderate or high risk. RESULTS: The IOTA and RCOG protocols classified 71.1% and 62.1% of benign tumours as low risk, respectively (difference 9.0; 95% CI 6.2-11.9, P < 0.0001). Of invasive tumours, 88.6% and 73.6% were labelled high risk (difference 15.0; 10.6-19.4, P < 0.0001), and 3.0% and 5.2% were labelled low risk (difference -2.2; -4.6 to 0.2, P = 0.07) respectively by each protocol. Similar results were found after stratification for menopausal status. CONCLUSIONS: The IOTA protocol was more accurate for triage than the RCOG protocol. The IOTA protocol would avoid major surgery for more women with benign tumours while still appropriately referring more women with an invasive tumour to a gynaecological oncologist

Predicting successful vaginal birth after Cesarean section using a model based on Cesarean scar features examined by transvaginal sonography

ABSTRACT Objective To develop a model to predict the success of a trial of vaginal birth after Cesarean section (VBAC) based on sonographic measurements of Cesarean section (CS) scar features, demographic variables and previous obstetric history. Methods We used transvaginal sonography (TVS) to examine the CS scar of 320 consecutive pregnant women. TVS was carried out at 11-13, 19-21 and 34-3

Recreational Drug Use During the Amsterdam Dance Event: Impact on Emergency Services

Background: Recreational drug use is common at large-scale dance events such as the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) and severe drug-related complications and deaths occur. Increasing concentrations of cocaine, amphetamine and MDMA have been observed in samples from dance events. Therefore, large dance events are expected to cause an increasing amount of recreational drug related complaints (RDRC) and an increased demand on emergency medical services. Aim: To evaluate the impact of recreational drug related complaints (RDRC) during ADE 2016, compared to regular weeks, and to evaluate the requirement for additional medical personnel. Methods: For this prospective, observational cohort study, patients >12 years old presenting with RDRC at first aid stations (FAS), ambulance service (AA) and ED during ADE, between October 19th and October 24th 2016 were included. From 2 EDs and AA, the RDRC 2 weeks before and after ADE were also collected. Results: An estimated 375.000 people attended ADE. The number of patients with RDRC was 459 at the FAS, 113 at AA and 81 at the ED, and increased significantly during ADE with 225% at AA and with 236% at OLVG ED. Eight patients were admitted. A higher percentage of poly-drug use among ED patients (58%) was found, compared to FAS patients (25%). Also, the proportion of tourists in ED’s (51%) was higher compared to FAS (30%). Conclusions: During ADE 2016, the number of intoxicated patients increased significantly. Eight patients were admitted to the hospital, without any deaths. The absolute number of patients stayed within normal range of emergency medical services capacity

A novel application of calcium electroporation to cutaneous manifestations of gynaecological cancer

Introduction: Calcium electroporation (CaEP) is a new technique whereby intracellular concentrations of calcium are elevated by transient permeabilisation of the cell membrane using high-voltage electrical pulses. Tumour necrosis is induced with little damage to healthy tissue. Within gynaecological cancer, vulval cancer and vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) pose challenges for treatment, given the high recurrence rate, persistent symptoms and repeated resections required. In certain cases, CaEP may provide a suitable alternative. Methods: We present a case series of six patients with recurrent vulval squamous cell carcinoma(n=2), VIN III (n=2) and metastatic ovarian cancer (n=2), five of whom were treated with CaEP. This is the first known application of CaEP to gynaecological cancers .Results: The median follow-up time was 14 months (range 2-18 months). Within the cohort of patients, CaEP was applied a total of 10 times, achieving a complete response five times and partial response four times. Symptoms improved within six weeks for eight episodes following CaEP application. Beyond six weeks, symptoms eventually recurred in all patients and four patients required more than one CaEP procedure. CaEP was useful for palliation of distressing symptoms in one case of metastatic ovarian cancer. No intra-operative or post-operative complications have been reported to date. Conclusion: CaEP may be a promising short-term treatment in selected patients with recurrent VIN and vulval cancer, where other treatments had failed. If validated, it could provide an acceptable alternative where surgery is unacceptable. Long term follow-up is required to evaluate effects on recurrence