Molecular diagnosis of symptomatic toxoplasmosis: a 9-year retrospective and prospective study in a referral laboratory in São Paulo, Brazil

Symptomatic forms of toxoplasmosis are a serious public health problem and occur in around 10–20% of the infected people. Aiming to improve the molecular diagnosis of symptomatic toxoplasmosis in Brazilian patients, this study evaluated the performance of real time PCR testing two primer sets (B1 and REP-529) in detecting Toxoplasma gondii DNA. The methodology was assayed in 807 clinical samples with known clinical diagnosis, ELISA, and conventional PCR results in a 9-year period. All samples were from patients with clinical suspicion of several features of toxoplasmosis. According to the minimum detection limit curve (in CT), REP-529 had greater sensitivity to detect T. gondii DNA than B1. Both primer sets were retrospectively evaluated using 515 DNA from different clinical samples. The 122 patients without toxoplasmosis provided high specificity (REP-529, 99.2% and B1, 100%). From the 393 samples with positive ELISA, 146 had clinical diagnosis of toxoplasmosis and positive conventional PCR. REP-529 and B1 sensitivities were 95.9% and 83.6%, respectively. Comparison of REP-529 and B1 performances was further analyzed prospectively in 292 samples. Thus, from a total of 807 DNA analyzed, 217 (26.89%) had positive PCR with, at least one primer set and symptomatic toxoplasmosis confirmed by clinical diagnosis. REP-529 was positive in 97.23%, whereas B1 amplified only 78.80%. After comparing several samples in a Brazilian referral laboratory, this study concluded that REP-529 primer set had better performance than B1 one. These observations were based after using cases with defined clinical diagnosis, ELISA, and conventional PCR. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, Symptomatic toxoplasmosis, Diagnosis, Real-time polymerase chain reactio

Estimates of genetic parameters for visual scores and their correlation with production and reproductive traits in Brahman cattle

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of visual scores of body structure, precocity and muscularity with production (body weight at 18 months and average daily gain) and reproductive (scrotal circumference) traits in Brahman cattle in order to determine the possible use of these scores as selection criteria to improve carcass quality. Covariance components were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood method using an animal model that included contemporary group as fixed effect. A total of 1,116 observations of body structure, precocity and muscularity were used. Heritability was 0.39, 043 and 0.40 for body structure, precocity and muscularity, respectively. The genetic correlations were 0.79 between body structure and precocity, 0.87 between body structure and muscularity, and 0.91 between precocity and muscularity. The genetic correlations between visual scores and body weight at 18 months were positive (0.77, 0.57 and 0.59 for body structure, precocity and muscularity, respectively). Similar genetic correlations were observed between average daily gain and visual scores (0.60, 0.57 and 0.48, respectively), whereas the genetic correlations between scrotal circumference and these scores were low (0.13, 0.02, and 0.13). The results indicate that visual scores can be used as selection criteria in Brahman breeding programs. Favorable correlated responses should be seen in average daily gain and body weight at 18 months. However, no correlated response is expected for scrotal circumference

Resumos em andamento - Direito

Resumos em andamento - Direit

Resumos em andamento - Direito

Resumos em andamento - Direit

Tracking of charged particles with nanosecond lifetimes at LHCb

International audienceA method is presented to reconstruct charged particles with lifetimes between 10 ps and 10 ns, which considers a combination of their decay products and the partial tracks created by the initial charged particle. Using the $\Xi^-$ baryon as a benchmark, the method is demonstrated with simulated events and proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb${}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector in 2018. Significant improvements in the angular resolution and the signal purity are obtained. The method is implemented as part of the LHCb Run 3 event trigger in a set of requirements to select detached hyperons. This is the first demonstration of the applicability of this approach at the LHC, and the first to show its scaling with instantaneous luminosity

Tracking of charged particles with nanosecond lifetimes at LHCb

A method is presented to reconstruct charged particles with lifetimes between 10 ps and 10 ns, which considers a combination of their decay products and the partial tracks created by the initial charged particle. Using the $\Xi^-$ baryon as a benchmark, the method is demonstrated with simulated events and proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb${}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector in 2018. Significant improvements in the angular resolution and the signal purity are obtained. The method is implemented as part of the LHCb Run 3 event trigger in a set of requirements to select detached hyperons. This is the first demonstration of the applicability of this approach at the LHC, and the first to show its scaling with instantaneous luminosity

Tracking of charged particles with nanosecond lifetimes at LHCb

International audienceA method is presented to reconstruct charged particles with lifetimes between 10 ps and 10 ns, which considers a combination of their decay products and the partial tracks created by the initial charged particle. Using the $\Xi^-$ baryon as a benchmark, the method is demonstrated with simulated events and proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb${}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector in 2018. Significant improvements in the angular resolution and the signal purity are obtained. The method is implemented as part of the LHCb Run 3 event trigger in a set of requirements to select detached hyperons. This is the first demonstration of the applicability of this approach at the LHC, and the first to show its scaling with instantaneous luminosity

Tracking of charged particles with nanosecond lifetimes at LHCb

International audienceA method is presented to reconstruct charged particles with lifetimes between 10 ps and 10 ns, which considers a combination of their decay products and the partial tracks created by the initial charged particle. Using the $\Xi^-$ baryon as a benchmark, the method is demonstrated with simulated events and proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb${}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector in 2018. Significant improvements in the angular resolution and the signal purity are obtained. The method is implemented as part of the LHCb Run 3 event trigger in a set of requirements to select detached hyperons. This is the first demonstration of the applicability of this approach at the LHC, and the first to show its scaling with instantaneous luminosity

Tracking of charged particles with nanosecond lifetimes at LHCb

International audienceA method is presented to reconstruct charged particles with lifetimes between 10 ps and 10 ns, which considers a combination of their decay products and the partial tracks created by the initial charged particle. Using the $\Xi^-$ baryon as a benchmark, the method is demonstrated with simulated events and proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb${}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector in 2018. Significant improvements in the angular resolution and the signal purity are obtained. The method is implemented as part of the LHCb Run 3 event trigger in a set of requirements to select detached hyperons. This is the first demonstration of the applicability of this approach at the LHC, and the first to show its scaling with instantaneous luminosity