9 research outputs found

    Handlungskonzept zu Social Media und Geschlecht in der Offenen Kinder- und Jugendarbeit

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    Das Handlungskonzept liefert Wissen rund um Social Media, Geschlecht und Sexualität für die pädagogische Praxis der Offenen Kinder- und Jugendarbeit

    Comparison of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Three Real-Time PCR Assays for the Detection of Arcobacter butzleri in Human Stool Samples Targeting Different Genes in a Test Comparison without a Reference Standard

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    Potential etiological relevance for gastroenteric disorders including diarrhea has been assigned to Arcobacter butzleri. However, standard routine diagnostic algorithms for stool samples of patients with diarrhea are rarely adapted to the detection of this pathogen and so, A. butzleri is likely to go undetected unless it is specifically addressed, e.g., by applying pathogen-specific molecular diagnostic approaches. In the study presented here, we compared three real-time PCR assays targeting the genes hsp60, rpoB/C (both hybridization probe assays) and gyrA (fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay) of A. butzleri in a test comparison without a reference standard using a stool sample collection with a high pretest probability from the Ghanaian endemicity setting. Latent class analysis was applied with the PCR results obtained with a collection of 1495 stool samples showing no signs of PCR inhibition to assess the real-time PCR assays’ diagnostic accuracy. Calculated sensitivity and specificity were 93.0% and 96.9% for the hsp60-PCR, 100% and 98.2% for the rpoB/C-PCR, as well as 12.7% and 99.8% for the gyrA-PCR, respectively. The calculated A. butzleri prevalence within the assessed Ghanaian population was 14.7%. As indicated by test results obtained with high-titer spiked samples, cross-reactions of the hsp60-assay and rpoB/C-assay with phylogenetically related species such as A. cryaerophilus can occur but are less likely with phylogenetically more distant species like, e.g., A. lanthieri. In conclusion, the rpoB/C-assay showed the most promising performance characteristics as the only assay with sensitivity >95%, albeit associated with a broad 95%-confidence interval. In addition, this assay showed still-acceptable specificity of >98% in spite of the known cross-reactivity with phylogenetically closely related species such as A. cryaerophilus. If higher certainty is desired, the gyrA-assay with specificity close to 100% can be applied for confirmation testing with samples showing positive rpoB/C-PCR results. However, in case of a negative result in the gyrA-assay, this cannot reliably exclude the detection of A. butzleri in the rpoB/C-assay due to the gyrA-assay’s very low sensitivity.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaf

    Atmospheric aging increases the cytotoxicity of bare soot particles in BEAS-2B lung cells

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    Soot particles (SP) are ubiquitous components of atmospheric particulate matter and have been shown to cause various adverse health effects. In the atmosphere, freshly emitted SP can be coated by condensed low-volatility secondary organic and inorganic species. In addition, gas-phase oxidants may react with the surface of SP. Due to the chemical and physical resemblance of SP carbon backbone with polyaromatic hydrocarbon species and their potent oxidation products, we investigated the biological responses of BEAS-2B lung epithelial cells following exposure to fresh- and photochemically aged-SP at the air–liquid interface. A comprehensive physical and chemical aerosol characterization was performed to depict the atmospheric transformations of SP, showing that photochemical aging increased the organic carbon fraction and the oxidation state of the SP. RNA-sequencing and qPCR analysis showed varying gene expression profiles for fresh- and aged-SP. Exposure to aged-SP increased DNA damage, oxidative damage, and upregulation of NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response genes compared to fresh-SP. Furthermore, aged-SP augmented inflammatory cytokine secretion and activated AhR-response, as evidenced by increased expression of AhR-responsive genes. These results indicate that oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage play a key role in the cytotoxicity of SP in BEAS-2B cells, where aging leads to higher toxic responses. Collectively, our results suggest that photochemical aging may increase SP toxicity through surface modifications that lead to an increased toxic response by activating different molecular pathways

    Genomic and phenotypic insights from an atlas of genetic effects on DNA methylation

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    Characterizing genetic influences on DNA methylation (DNAm) provides an opportunity to understand mechanisms underpinning gene regulation and disease. In the present study, we describe results of DNAm quantitative trait locus (mQTL) analyses on 32,851 participants, identifying genetic variants associated with DNAm at 420,509 DNAm sites in blood. We present a database of >270,000 independent mQTLs, of which 8.5% comprise long-range (trans) associations. Identified mQTL associations explain 15–17% of the additive genetic variance of DNAm. We show that the genetic architecture of DNAm levels is highly polygenic. Using shared genetic control between distal DNAm sites, we constructed networks, identifying 405 discrete genomic communities enriched for genomic annotations and complex traits. Shared genetic variants are associated with both DNAm levels and complex diseases, but only in a minority of cases do these associations reflect causal relationships from DNAm to trait or vice versa, indicating a more complex genotype–phenotype map than previously anticipated

    31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016): part one

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