Development of immunoassays for the detection of kanamycin in veterinary fields

Monoclonal antibody against kanamycin was prepared, and competitive direct ELISA and immunochromatographic assay were developed using the antibody to detect kanamycin in animal plasma and milk. The monoclonal antibody produced was identified to be IgG1, which has a kappa light chain. No cross-reactivity of the antibody was detected with other aminoglycosides, indicating that the monoclonal antibody was highly specific for kanamycin. Based on competitive direct ELISA, the detection limits of kanamycin were determined to be 1.1 ng/ml in PBS, 1.4 ng/ml in plasma, and 1.0 ng/ml in milk. The concentration of intramuscularly injected kanamycin was successfully monitored in rabbit plasma with competitive direct ELISA. Based on the colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay, the detection limits of kanamycin were estimated to be about 6-8 ng/ml in PBS, plasma, and milk. The immunochromatographic assay would be suitable for rapid and simple screening of kanamycin residues in veterinary medicine. Screened positives can be confirmed using a more sensitive laboratory method such as competitive direct ELISA. Therefore, the assays developed in this study could be used to complement each other as well as other laboratory findings. Moreover, instead of slaughtering the animals to obtain test samples, these methods could be applied to determine kanamycin concentration in the plasma of live animals

Systemic aminoglycosides-induced vestibulotoxicity in humans

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of vestibular adverse effects of aminoglycoside (AG) therapy in humans and to analyze objective vestibular tests for the detection of AG-induced vestibulotoxicity. Design: PubMed, Cochrane Database, Web of Science, and reference lists of all included studies were screened by two independent researchers. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Studies were included according to preset inclusion criteria and reported outcomes of studies evaluating vestibular function using one or more objective vestibular function tests in adults and children after systemic AG administration. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the quality assessment tool for quantitative studies. Interrater reliability was established using Cohen's Kappa. Results: Twenty-seven studies were included, with the vast majority showing AG-induced vestibulotoxic side effects, ranging from 0 to 60%. Most studies reported AG-induced abnormalities by caloric and rotatory testing, whereas only a few studies reported using video Head Impulse test and vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing. Conclusions: Because type I hair cells (particularly of the semicircular canals) are more susceptible to ototoxicity, video Head Impulse test and vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing seem more promising for the early detection of vestibulotoxicity than caloric and rotatory testing. Prospective studies using an extensive vestibular test battery are needed to further characterize the impact of AGs on the different vestibular end organs and to identify the most sensitive vestibular technique for the early detection of vestibulotoxicity

Relationships between unoccupied classroom acoustical conditions and elementary student achievement measured in eastern Nebraska

Building standards recommend maximum background noise levels (BNL) and reverberation times (RT) for unoccupied classrooms. However, existing research does not show a consistent correlation between these parameters and student achievement. Through in situ testing, this research seeks to determine what acoustical conditions should be attained in elementary schools for students to meet educational goals. Acoustical measurements were conducted in a Nebraska public school system and correlated to achievement scores from students in the surveyed classrooms. Unoccupied BNLs and RTs were gathered in 34 third and 33 fifth-grade classrooms. Additionally, binaural room impulse response measurements were gathered in a subset of the classrooms. The results suggest that student reading and language subject areas may be negatively impacted by higher unoccupied BNLs; to meet the upper half of NE state targets, these levels should be less than 45 dBA. However, the percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunches is more strongly correlated to achievement than BNLs, and the negative correlations between noise and achievement are not significant when controlling for this demographic variable. One statistically significant relationship that remained when controlling for demographics was that classrooms with lower distortion of frequency-smoothed magnitude values generally had students with higher language scores