Application of Nanotrap technology for high sensitivity measurement of urinary outer surface protein A carboxyl-terminus domain in early stage Lyme borreliosis

Objectives: Prompt antibiotic treatment of early stage Lyme borreliosis (LB) prevents progression to severe multisystem disease. There is a clinical need to improve the diagnostic specificity of early stage Lyme assays in the period prior to the mounting of a robust serology response. Using a novel analyte harvesting nanotechnology, Nanotrap particles, we evaluated urinary Borrelia Outer surface protein A (OspA) C-terminus peptide in early stage LB before and after treatment, and in patients suspected of late stage disseminated LB. Method: We employed Nanotrap particles to concentrate urinary OspA and used a highly specific anti-OspA monoclonal antibody (mAb) as a detector of the C-terminus peptides. We mapped the mAb epitope to a narrow specific OspA C-terminal domain OspA236-239 conserved across infectious Borrelia species but with no homology to human proteins and no cross-reactivity with relevant viral and non-Borrelia bacterial proteins. 268 urine samples from patients being evaluated for all categories of LB were collected in a LB endemic area. The urinary OspA assay, blinded to outcome, utilized Nanotrap particle pre-processing, western blotting to evaluate the OspA molecular size, and OspA peptide competition for confirmation. Results: OspA test characteristics: sensitivity 1.7 pg/mL (lowest limit of detection), % coefficient of variation (CV) = 8 %, dynamic range 1.7-30 pg/mL. Pre-treatment, 24/24 newly diagnosed patients with an erythema migrans (EM) rash were positive for urinary OspA while false positives for asymptomatic patients were 0/117 (Chi squared p < 10-6). For 10 patients who exhibited persistence of the EM rash during the course of antibiotic therapy, 10/10 were positive for urinary OspA. Urinary OspA of 8/8 patients switched from detectable to undetectable following symptom resolution post-treatment. Specificity of the urinary OspA test for the clinical symptoms was 40/40. Specificity of the urinary OspA antigen test for later serology outcome was 87.5 % (21 urinary OspA positive/24 serology positive, Chi squared p = 4.072e-15). 41 of 100 patients under surveillance for persistent LB in an endemic area were positive for urinary OspA protein. Conclusions: OspA urinary shedding was strongly linked to concurrent active symptoms (e.g. EM rash and arthritis), while resolution of these symptoms after therapy correlated with urinary conversion to OspA negative

How (not) to talk about adoption : on communicative vigilance in Spain

This chapter was written with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness R+D Project “Adoptions and fosterages in Spain: tracing challenges, opportunities and problems in social and family lives of children and adolescents†(CSO2012-39593-C02-01), IP Diana MarreAdoptions and fosterages in Spain: tracing challenges, opportunities and problems in social and family lives of children and adolescents (2013-2015), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CSO2012-39593-C02-01. IP: Diana Marre.Transnational adoption is very difficult to talk about in Spain. For this reason, speakers use "communicative vigilance" to emphasize the appropriate ways to speak and particularly not to speak about it. Part of the difficulty, we demonstrate, is that adoption talk must mediate two contradictory understandings of talk and kinship: (1) a referentialist one in which adoption's undesirability must be first acknowledged and then masked and (2) a performative one in which talk can create a new world where transnational adoption is equivalent to and as valuable as traditional ways of creating families. Our findings have implications for both language-socialization studies and kinship studie

New speakers: Challenges and opportunities for variationist sociolinguistics

While the field of variationist sociolinguistics has advanced rapidly since Labov (1966), it remains the case that a socially informed theory of language change continues to be influenced by only very few languages, typically English and a handful other dominant European languages. This article considers recent work on the emergence of new speakers in (severely) endangered or minority language communities, and what they might have to offer variationist theory. Although definitions can vary, it has become convention to describe new speakers as individuals ‘with little or no home or community exposure to a minority language but who instead acquire it through immersion or bilingual education programs, revitalization projects or as adult language learners’ (O'Rourke, Pujolar, & Ramallo, 2015: 1). There is now a wealth of literature available on new speakers in typologically dissimilar language contexts, though, so far, very little work has adopted the variationist paradigm. This article will argue that new speakers can figure prominently in variationist models of diffusion and change, taking the classic sociolinguistic factor of social networks as an example. The article ends by proposing a manifesto of potential research trajectories, based on current gaps in the literature

Com (no) parlar sobre adopció a Espanya

A Espanya, que fins el 2008 va tenir un dels índexs de natalitat més baixos del món i un dels més alts en adopcions internacionals, és difícil parlar sobre adopció en l'àmbit de la família, com així també en l'àmbit de les diferents professions i de la investigació relacionada amb la mateixa. Aquestes dificultats de comunicació, com ha demostrat aquesta investigació qualitativa, s'originen en la coexistència de dos ideals competitius sobre la relació existent entre la creació i el suport a la família i la comunicació sobre la mateixa.En España, que hasta 2008 tuvo uno de los índices de natalidad más bajos del mundo y uno de los más altos en adopciones internacionales, es difícil hablar sobre adopción en el ámbito de la familia, como así también en el ámbito de las diferentes profesiones y de la investigación relacionada con la misma. Estas dificultades de comunicación, como ha demostrado esta investigación cualitativa, se originan en la coexistencia de dos ideales competitivos acerca de la relación existente entre la creación y el apoyo a la familia y la comunicación sobre la misma.Speaking about adoption in Spain, where until 2008 it was one of the countries with the lowest birth rate and an extremely high adoption rate,is difficult for parents, professionals, and researchers alike. Qualitative research has revealed that two competing, co-existing ideals about the relationship between family creation and support and how this is dealt with are at the root of these communicative difficulties

Contested Tongues: Language Politics and Cultural Correction in Ukraine by Laada Bilaniuk

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136502/1/j.1548-1425.2008.01111_7.x.pd

Standardizing opinion

The grounds of authority for the Catalan language have shifted from authenticity to anonymity, as Catalan becomes redefined as a public language. The “model of language” of the Catalan press reflects this shift, with an emphasis on neutral, transparent Catalan. This article examines original and published letters to the editor in a Catalan-medium newspaper in Barcelona. I argue that standardization of language, page design and signatures in the letters to the editor erases the social indexicality that attaches the original letters to their socially positioned authors. This process of standardization in linguistic and other semiotic modes allows the published letters to index a unified Catalan national “public” rather than their distinct authors.</jats:p

Catalan that doesn't hurt the eyes: Linguistic display and linguistic regimentation in Barcelona.

The re-institutionalization of Catalan following the passage of the 1979 Catalan Statute of Autonomy has put the language on display in the public sphere. Because Catalan acts as an iconic and indexical sign of a Catalan nation, representations of Catalan are fraught, and linguistic regimentation is prevalent. This dissertation examines sites for the display and regimentation of Catalan. My work reveals, on the one hand, an increasing definition of Catalan as a public language and, on the other hand, the notion that the language has not attained full public status. According to this language ideology, Catalan is a monologic language that operates exclusively as a codified, normative standard and not as a language composed of multiple registers capable of indexing all social positions. Catalan's purported lack of registers is part of a language ideology that compares Catalan unfavorably to hegemonic national languages. According to this view, Catalan is not normal because it has failed to become the taken-for-granted language associated with a discrete political territory. The emphasis on linguistic normativity is revealed in public representations of Catalan and Catalan speakers. It indexes the successful re-incorporation of Catalan into formal institutions like schools and government---a major feat for a minoritized language. At the same time, this re-institutionalization has had unintended consequences. My analysis suggests that an emphasis on linguistic normativity is divesting some colloquial native Catalan speakers of authority over the language. It also reveals that Catalan is viewed as incompatible with sexuality and popular culture. These trends could disfavor the use of Catalan in the future, an ironic and potentially destructive side effect of language policy that has successfully returned the language to formal institutions. This research contributes to theoretical work on language in the public sphere. It illuminates the relationship between linguistic display, linguistic regimentation and linguistic authority. It also suggests that while the legitimation of political authority may be one role of linguistic circulation in the public sphere, it is not the only one. Institutional support for Catalan must also be taken as a straightforward attempt to encourage use of the language. Finally, this dissertation illuminates the ideologization of linguistic repertoires more generally, which makes public languages rankable according to their purported wealth or dearth of distinct registers.Ph.D.Cultural anthropologyLanguage, Literature and LinguisticsLinguisticsRomance literatureSocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/126146/2/3237952.pd