Generation of human antibody fragments recognizing distinct epitopes of the nucleocapsid (N) SARS-CoV protein using a phage display approach

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV is a newly emerging virus that causes SARS with high mortality rate in infected people. Successful control of the global SARS epidemic will require rapid and sensitive diagnostic tests to monitor its spread, as well as, the development of vaccines and new antiviral compounds including neutralizing antibodies that effectively prevent or treat this disease. METHODS: The human synthetic single-chain fragment variable (scFv) ETH-2 phage antibody library was used for the isolation of scFvs against the nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV using a bio panning-based strategy. The selected scFvs were characterized under genetics-molecular aspects and for SARS-CoV N protein detection in ELISA, western blotting and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: Human scFv antibodies to N protein of SARS-CoV can be easily isolated by selecting the ETH-2 phage library on immunotubes coated with antigen. These in vitro selected human scFvs specifically recognize in ELISA and western blotting studies distinct epitopes in N protein domains and detect in immunohistochemistry investigations SARS-CoV particles in infected Vero cells. CONCLUSION: The human scFv antibodies isolated and described in this study represent useful reagents for rapid detection of N SARS-CoV protein and SARS virus particles in infected target cells

Exploring Takfir, Its Origins and Contemporary Use: The Case of Takfiri Approach in Daesh’s Media

Muslims have been the primary targets of Daesh’s attacks since 2014 in different countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. These attacks were based on its takfiri ideology. As Daesh official media and documents indicate, kufr (unbelief, infidelity) in Daesh’s approach is not limited to non-Muslims (original disbelievers), but Muslims are the most significant parts of kuffar (unbelievers) in its view and defined as incidental disbelievers. Through studying Daesh’s official documents and various Arabic, English, and Persian media productions, in an explanatory research, this article attempts to display Daesh’s takfiri approach toward Muslims and explains its historical and ideological roots, difference with Al-Qaeda’s takfiri approach, different approaches to takfir inside Daesh, main targets of Daesh’s takfir, and the reasons behinds its takfiri view. This article displays that for Daesh, the Muslims are limited only to Sunni Muslims who are accepting and following its approach. Other Sunni and non-Sunni Muslims are thus kuffar. This study also shows that the assertion of takfir has become a method for Daesh to discredit its opponents, such as Shi’a Muslims and other Muslim groups

Missing non-Western voices on social justice for education : a postcolonial perspective on traditions of marginalized communities

This chapter reviews the theories and development of a number of non-Western philosophical and legal social justice traditions that have been marginalized in the literature, adopting primarily a postcolonial perspective on how they can contribute to education, transcending colonizer distortions of knowledge to present and draw implications from bodies of knowledge that have been removed from the dominating international literature. This approach is accompanied by a critique of globalization that has, according to many authors, created a hegemonic position for primarily Anglo-American systems in this respect including the view of “epistemicide,” imperialism, “symbolic violence,” and neocolonization, particularly in relation to the right to culture as a social justice principle. Various forms of colonization, including that under the current globalization period, produce cultural hierarchies of values and knowledge, or even expunge cultural and knowledge traditions. This chapter examines selected humanistic traditions of social justice that have existed for centuries, long pre-dating the modern period, focusing on those that have suffered an injustice in their suppression and distortion through a Bourdieuian “symbolic” violence applying not only to the knowledge that is suppressed, expunged, or lost through colonization and globalization and the cultural and intellectual capital they carry but also the identities, values, and traditional social institutions from which they are derived. The first section examines the conceptions and practices of social justice established in ancient Mesopotamia that provides the historical foundation to many later systems. The second presents the Confucian system of social justice as a foundation to the just society that has informed administration, education, and the principles of justice of a number of countries consisting of equitable distribution, equal opportunities, the rights of individuals and the principle of equity. The next section examines the Islamic social justice tradition consisting of distributive, retributive, and fairness and equity and the aim of piety to correct injustices, individually and collectively and establish equal rights for women and men in many spheres and the role of education in emphasizing the role of mind in its critical and reasoning capacities and reason in the formation of character, morality, and the human community with a strong emphasis on education and becoming learned. Finally, a representative selection of indigenous systems of social justice are examined where principles of individual rights and obligations to others and nature carried with them obligations in how others are treated and cared for due to stronger collective rather than individualistic values

Mumps virus Enders strain is sensitive to interferon (IFN) despite encoding a functional IFN antagonist

Although the Enders strain of mumps virus (MuV) encodes a functional V protein that acts as an interferon (IFN) antagonist, in multi-cycle growth assays MuV Enders grew poorly in naive ('IFN-competent' Hep2) cells but grew to high titres in 'IFN-compromised' Hep2 cells. Even so, the growth rate of MuV Enders was significantly slower in 'IFN-compromised' Hep2 cells when compared with its replication rate in Vero cells and with the replication rate of parainfluenza virus type 5 (a closely related paramyxovirus) in both naive and 'IFN-compromised' Hep2 cells. This suggests that a consequence of slower growth is that the IFN system of naive Hep2 cells can respond quickly enough to control the growth of MuV Enders. This is supported by the finding that rapidly growing variants of MuV Enders that were selected on 'IFN-compromised' Hep2 cells (i.e. in the absence of any selection pressure exerted by the IFN response) also grew to high titres on naive Hep2 cells. Sequencing of the complete genome of one of these variants identified a single point mutation that resulted in a substitution of a conserved asparagine by histidine at position 498 of the haemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein, although this mutation was not present in all rapidly growing variants. These results support the concept that there is a race between the ability of a cell to detect and respond to virus infection and the ability of a virus to block the IFN response. Importantly, this emphasizes that factors other than viral IFN antagonists influence the sensitivity of viruses to IFN.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An evaluation of involving family caregivers in the self-care of heart failure patients on hospital readmission: Randomised controlled trial (the FAMILY study)

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Background The prevalence of heart failure is increasing in Lebanon but to date there is no systematic evaluation of a disease management intervention. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of involving family caregivers in the self-care of patients with heart failure on the risk of hospital readmission. Design A multi-site, block randomised controlled trial. Settings The study was conducted over a 13-month period in three tertiary medical centres in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Lebanon. Participants Adult patients presenting for an exacerbation of heart failure to one of the study centres were included. Patients with limited life expectancy or physical functionality, planned cardiac bypass or valve replacement surgery, living alone or in nursing homes, or aged less than 18 years were excluded. Methods Patients allocated to the intervention group and their family caregivers were provided with a comprehensive, culturally appropriate, educational session on self-care maintenance and symptom management along with self-care resources. The usual care group received the self-care resources only. Follow-up phone calls were conducted 30 days following discharge by a research assistant blinded to treatment assignment. The primary outcome was hospital readmission and the secondary outcomes were self-care, quality of life, major vascular events and healthcare utilization. Results The final sample included 256 patients hospitalized for heart failure randomised into control (130 patients) and intervention (126 patients) groups. The mean age was 67 (SD = 8) years, and the majority (55%) were male. Readmission at 30 days was significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group (n = 10, 9% vs. n = 20, 19% respectively, OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.02, 0.10, p = 0.02). Self-care scores improved in both groups at 30 days, with a significantly larger improvement in the intervention group than the control group in the maintenance and confidence sub-scales, but not in the self-care management sub-scale. No differences were seen in quality of life scores or emergency department presentations between the groups. More patients in the control group than in the intervention group visited health care facilities (n = 24, 23% vs. n = 12, 11% respectively, OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.18, 0.83, p = 0.01). Conclusion The trial results confirmed the potential of the family-centred self-care educational intervention under evaluation to reduce the risk of readmission in Lebanese patients suffering from exacerbated heart failure. Further research is needed to validate these findings with longer periods of follow-up and to identify the intervention components and intensity required to induce sustained benefits on patients’ self-care management and quality of life