Role concept: Differences between diploma and baccalaureate senior nursing students

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Pathology caused by persistent murine norovirus infection.

Subclinical infection of murine norovirus (MNV) was detected in a mixed breeding group of WT and Stat1(-/-) mice with no outward evidence of morbidity or mortality. Investigations revealed the presence of an attenuated MNV variant that did not cause cytopathic effects in RAW264.7 cells or death in Stat1(-/-) mice. Histopathological analysis of tissues from WT, heterozygous and Stat1(-/-) mice revealed a surprising spectrum of lesions. An infectious molecular clone was derived directly from faeces (MNV-O7) and the sequence analysis confirmed it was a member of norovirus genogroup V. Experimental infection with MNV-O7 induced a subclinical infection with no weight loss in Stat1(-/-) or WT mice, and recapitulated the clinical and pathological picture of the naturally infected colony. Unexpectedly, by day 54 post-infection, 50 % of Stat1(-/-) mice had cleared MNV-O7. In contrast, all WT mice remained infected persistently. Most significantly, this was associated with liver lesions in all the subclinically infected WT mice. These data confirmed that long-term persistence in WT mice is established with specific variants of MNV and that despite a subclinical presentation, active foci of acute inflammation persist within the liver. The data also showed that STAT1-dependent responses are not required to protect mice from lethal infection with all strains of MNV

High altitude, hyper-arid soils of the Central-Andes harbor mega-diverse communities of actinobacteria

The data reported in this paper are among the first relating to the microbiology of hyper-arid, very high altitude deserts and they provide base line information on the structure of actinobacterial communities. The high mountain Cerro Chajnantor landscape of the Central Andes in northern Chile is exposed to the world’s most intense levels of solar radiation and its impoverished soils are severely desiccated. The purpose of this research was to define the actinobacterial community structures in soils at altitudes ranging from 3000 to 5000 m above sea level. Pyrosequencing surveys have revealed an extraordinary degree of microbial dark matter at these elevations that includes novel candidate actinobacterial classes, orders and families. Ultraviolet-B irradiance and a range of edaphic factors were found to be highly significant in determining community compositions at family and genus levels of diversity

New genus-specific primers for PCR identification of Rubrobacter strains

A set of oligonucleotide primers, Rubro223f and Rubro454r, were found to amplify a 267 nucleotide sequence of 16S rRNA genes of Rubrobacter type strains. The primers distinguished members of this genus from other deeply-rooted actinobacterial lineages corresponding to the genera Conexibacter, Gaiella, Parviterribacter, Patulibacter, Solirubrobacter and Thermoleophilum of the class Thermoleophilia. Amplification of DNA bands of about 267 nucleotides were generated from environmental DNA extracted from soil samples taken from two locations in the Atacama Desert. Sequencing of a DNA library prepared from the bands showed that all of the clones fell within the evolutionary radiation occupied by the genus Rubrobacter. Most of the clones were assigned to two lineages that were well separated from phyletic lines composed of Rubrobacter type strains. It can be concluded that primers Rubro223f and Rubro454r are specific for the genus Rubrobacter and can be used to detect the presence and abundance of members of this genus in the Atacama Desert and other biomes

Introducing the Atacama Desert

This brief introduction is intended to orientate the reader with respect to the principal environmental and historical features of the Atacama Desert, the oldest and continuously driest non-polar temperate desert on Earth. Exploration of its microbiology is relatively recent but both fundamental and applied research activities have grown dramatically in recent years reflecting the substantial interest in its microbial diversity, ecology, biogeochemistry, natural product potential and Mars-analogue properties of this unique and invigorating environment

Geodermatophilus chilensis sp. nov., from soil of the Yungay core-region of the Atacama Desert, Chile

A polyphasic study was undertaken to establish the taxonomic status of three representative Geodermatophilus strains isolated from an extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil. The strains, isolates B12T, B20 and B25, were found to have chemotaxonomic and morphological properties characteristic of the genus Geodermatophilus. The isolates shared a broad range of chemotaxonomic, cultural and physiological features, formed a well-supported branch in the Geodermatophilus 16S rRNA gene tree in which they were most closely associated with the type strain of Geodermatophilus obscurus. They were distinguished from the latter by BOX-PCR fingerprint patterns and by chemotaxonomic and other phenotypic properties. Average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between the whole genome sequences of isolate B12T and G. obscurus DSM 43160T were 89.28%, 87.27% and 37.4%, respectively, metrics consistent with its classification as a separate species. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that the isolates be assigned to the genus Geodermatophilus as Geodermatophilus chilensis sp. nov. with isolate B12T (CECT 9483T = NCIMB 15089T) as the type strain. Analysis of the whole genome sequence of G. chilensis B12T with 5341 open reading frames and a genome size of 5.5 Mb highlighted genes and gene clusters that encode for properties relevant to its adaptation to extreme environmental conditions prevalent in extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils

Blastococcus atacamensis sp. nov., a novel strain adapted to life in the Yungay core region of the Atacama Desert

A polyphasic study was undertaken to establish the taxonomic status of a Blastococcus strain isolated from an extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil. The isolate, strain P6T, was found to have chemotaxonomic and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Blastococcus . It was shown to form a well-supported branch in the Blastococcus 16S rRNA gene tree together with the type strains of Blastococcus capsensis and Blastococcus saxobsidens and was distinguished from the latter, its close phylogenetic neighbour, by a broad range of phenotypic properties. The draft genome sequence of isolate P6T showed 84.6?% average nucleotide identity, 83.0?% average amino acid identity and a digital DNA–DNA hybridisation value of 27.8?% in comparison with the genome sequence of B. saxobsidens DSM 44509T, values consistent with its assignment to a separate species. Based on these data it is proposed that isolate P6T (NCIMB 15090T=NRRL B-65468T) be assigned to the genus Blastococcus as Blastococcus atacamensis sp. nov. Analysis of the whole genome sequence of B. atacamensis P6T, with 3778 open reading frames and a genome size of 3.9?Mb showed the presence of genes and gene clusters that encode for properties that reflect its adaptation to the extreme environmental conditions that prevail in Atacama Desert soils

Combined point of care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 following emergence of D614G Spike Variant

Rapid COVID-19 diagnosis in hospital is essential, though complicated by 30-50% of nose/throat swabs being negative by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Furthermore, the D614G spike mutant now dominates the pandemic and it is unclear how serological tests designed to detect anti-Spike antibodies perform against this variant. We assess the diagnostic accuracy of combined rapid antibody point of care (POC) and nucleic acid assays for suspected COVID-19 disease due to either wild type or the D614G spike mutant SARS-CoV-2. The overall detection rate for COVID-19 is 79.2% (95CI 57.8-92.9%) by rapid NAAT alone. Combined point of care antibody test and rapid NAAT is not impacted by D614G and results in very high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis with very high specificity