22 research outputs found
When Due Process Is Due: Implications of Logerstedt v. Taylor and the Supreme Court\u27s Contravention of the Rules of Appellate Procedure
When Due Process is Du
A Qualitative Assessment of Participation in a Rapid Scale-Up, Diagonally-Integrated MDG-Related Disease Prevention Campaign in Rural Kenya
Background: Many countries face severe scale-up barriers toward achievement of MDGs. We ascertained motivational and experiential dimensions of participation in a novel, rapid, ‘‘diagonal’ ’ Integrated Prevention Campaign (IPC) in rural Kenya that provided prevention goods and services to 47,000 people within one week, aimed at rapidly moving the region toward MDG achievement. Specifically, the IPC provided interventions and commodities targeting disease burden reduction in HIV/ AIDS, malaria, and water-borne illness. Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews (IDI) were conducted with 34 people (18 living with HIV/AIDS and 16 not HIVinfected) randomly selected from IPC attendees consenting to participate. Interviews were examined for themes and patterns to elucidate participant experience and motivation with IPC. Findings: Participants report being primarily motivated to attend IPC to learn of their HIV status (through voluntary counseling and testing), and with receipt of prevention commodities (bednets, water filters, and condoms) providing further incentive. Participants reported that they were satisfied with the IPC experience and offered suggestions to improve future campaigns. Interpretation: Learning their HIV status motivated participants along with the incentive of a wider set of commodities that were rapidly deployed through IPC in this challenging region. The critical role of wanting to know their HIV status combine
Filovirus RefSeq Entries: Evaluation and Selection of Filovirus Type Variants, Type Sequences, and Names
Sequence determination of complete or coding-complete genomes of viruses is becoming common practice for supporting the work of epidemiologists, ecologists, virologists, and taxonomists. Sequencing duration and costs are rapidly decreasing, sequencing hardware is under modification for use by non-experts, and software is constantly being improved to simplify sequence data management and analysis. Thus, analysis of virus disease outbreaks on the molecular level is now feasible, including characterization of the evolution of individual virus populations in single patients over time. The increasing accumulation of sequencing data creates a management problem for the curators of commonly used sequence databases and an entry retrieval problem for end users. Therefore, utilizing the data to their fullest potential will require setting nomenclature and annotation standards for virus isolates and associated genomic sequences. The National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI’s) RefSeq is a non-redundant, curated database for reference (or type) nucleotide sequence records that supplies source data to numerous other databases. Building on recently proposed templates for filovirus variant naming [ ()////-], we report consensus decisions from a majority of past and currently active filovirus experts on the eight filovirus type variants and isolates to be represented in RefSeq, their final designations, and their associated sequences
Virus nomenclature below the species level : a standardized nomenclature for laboratory animal-adapted strains and variants of viruses assigned to the family Filoviridae
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) organizes the classification of
viruses into taxa, but is not responsible for the nomenclature for taxa members. International
experts groups, such as the ICTV Study Groups, recommend the classification and naming of
viruses and their strains, variants, and isolates. The ICTV Filoviridae Study Group has recently
introduced an updated classification and nomenclature for filoviruses. Subsequently, and
together with numerous other filovirus experts, a consistent nomenclature for their natural
genetic variants and isolates was developed that aims at simplifying the retrieval of sequence
data from electronic databases. This is a first important step toward a viral genome annotation
standard as sought by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Here, this
work is extended to include filoviruses obtained in the laboratory by artificial selection through
passage in laboratory hosts. The previously developed template for natural filovirus genetic
variant naming ( //<year of
sampling>/-) is retained, but it is proposed to
adapt the type of information added to each field for laboratory animal-adapted variants. For
instance, the full-length designation of an Ebola virus Mayinga variant adapted at the State
Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” to cause disease in guinea pigs after
seven passages would be akin to “Ebola virus VECTOR/C.porcellus-lab/COD/1976/Mayinga-
GPA-P7”. As was proposed for the names of natural filovirus variants, we suggest using the fulllength
designation in databases, as well as in the method section of publications. Shortened
designations (such as “EBOV VECTOR/C.por/COD/76/May-GPA-P7”) and abbreviations (such
as “EBOV/May-GPA-P7”) could be used in the remainder of the text depending on how critical it is to convey information contained in the full-length name. “EBOV” would suffice if only one
EBOV strain/variant/isolate is addressed.This work was funded in part by the Joint Science and Technology Office for Chem Bio Defense (proposal #TMTI0048_09_RD_T to SB).http://www.springerlink.com/content/0304-8608/hb2013ab201
Virus nomenclature below the species level : a standardized nomenclature for filovirus strains and variants rescued from cDNA
Specific alterations (mutations, deletions,
insertions) of virus genomes are crucial for the functional
characterization of their regulatory elements and their expression products, as well as a prerequisite for the creation
of attenuated viruses that could serve as vaccine
candidates. Virus genome tailoring can be performed either
by using traditionally cloned genomes as starting materials,
followed by site-directed mutagenesis, or by de novo synthesis
of modified virus genomes or parts thereof. A systematic
nomenclature for such recombinant viruses is
necessary to set them apart from wild-type and laboratoryadapted
viruses, and to improve communication and collaborations
among researchers who may want to use
recombinant viruses or create novel viruses based on them.
A large group of filovirus experts has recently proposed
nomenclatures for natural and laboratory animal-adapted
filoviruses that aim to simplify the retrieval of sequence
data from electronic databases. Here, this work is extended
to include nomenclature for filoviruses obtained in the
laboratory via reverse genetics systems. The previously
developed template for natural filovirus genetic variant
naming,\virus name[(\strain[/)\isolation host-suffix[/
\country of sampling[/\year of sampling[/\genetic
variant designation[-\isolate designation[, is retained, but we propose to adapt the type of information added to each
field for cDNA clone-derived filoviruses. For instance, the
full-length designation of an Ebola virus Kikwit variant
rescued from a plasmid developed at the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention could be akin to ‘‘Ebola
virus H.sapiens-rec/COD/1995/Kikwit-abc1’’ (with the
suffix ‘‘rec’’ identifying the recombinant nature of the virus
and ‘‘abc1’’ being a placeholder for any meaningful isolate
designator). Such a full-length designation should be used
in databases and the methods section of publications.
Shortened designations (such as ‘‘EBOV H.sap/COD/95/
Kik-abc1’’) and abbreviations (such as ‘‘EBOV/Kik-abc1’’)
could be used in the remainder of the text, depending on
how critical it is to convey information contained in the
full-length name. ‘‘EBOV’’ would suffice if only one
EBOV strain/variant/isolate is addressed.http://link.springer.com/journal/705hb201
Ebola virus genome plasticity as a marker of its passaging history: a comparison of in vitro passaging to non-human primate infection.
To identify polymorphic sites that could be used as biomarkers of Ebola virus passage history, we repeatedly amplified Ebola virus (Kikwit variant) in vitro and in vivo and performed deep sequencing analysis of the complete genomes of the viral subpopulations. We then determined the sites undergoing selection during passage in Vero E6 cells. Four locations within the Ebola virus Kikwit genome were identified that together segregate cell culture-passaged virus and virus obtained from infected non-human primates. Three of the identified sites are located within the glycoprotein gene (GP) sequence: the poly-U (RNA editing) site at position 6925, as well as positions 6677, and 6179. One site was found in the VP24 gene at position 10833. In all cases, in vitro and in vivo, both populations (majority and minority variants) were maintained in the viral swarm, with rapid selections occurring after a few passages or infections. This analysis approach will be useful to differentiate whether filovirus stocks with unknown history have been passaged in cell culture and may support filovirus stock standardization for medical countermeasure development
Mutation and SNPs analysis of EBOV passage variants.
<p>Mutation and SNPs analysis of EBOV passage variants.</p
Comparison of EBOV-Kik <i>in vitro</i> passage with <i>in vivo</i> infection.
<p>EBOV-Kik samples from passage 2, 3, and 4 in Vero E6 cells (represent 1, 4 and 3 isolates respectively) were compared to six in vivo samples from lethally challenged crab-eating macaques collected after day 4. A passage 3 viral stock from this study (16502) was used as the challenge material for the <i>in vivo</i> samples. See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0050316#pone-0050316-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a> for passage and seed stock information. Numbers are reported here as percent of population for sub-clonal variants. Error bars represent variance between multiple independently propagated lineages or infected animals (i.e. The data is summarized based on passage number or infection day rather than experimental or individual bounds). a) GP Poly-U transition. Here, we compare two variants of the 8U form that expressed predominantly the full length GP<sub>1,</sub> and the 7U variant that predominantly expressed sGP. <i>In vitro</i>, we observed a dramatic and rapid shift between the 7U variant and the 8U variant at positions 6,925 and 6,926. By passage 3, there is an inversion in variant levels and there is an equally rapid reversion observed by day 8 <i>in vivo</i>. b) Stop Codon detection. There is a twofold increase in the amount of the sub-clonal variant encoding for a truncated form of GP<sub>1,2</sub> at position 6,677.* Note: the scale is changed to 10% for better visualization. c) and d). Marker increase <i>in vivo</i>. We identify two changes 6,179, and 10,833, which result in amino acid changes <sub>2</sub> protein in GP<sub>1,2</sub> and VP24 respectively. As with the 7U variant, the subclonal variants at these positions decrease and revert rapidly when switching between cell culture passage and infection.</p
Stock identifier alias table.
*<p>Stock ID is used to identify the stock in the text.</p