Distribution of the slope parameter <i>b</i> of simulated distributions by different simulation settings.

<p>sim. = simulations, repl. = replicates.</p

Comparison of , and .

<p>Comparison of , and .</p

Five empirical evaluations of the −log₁₀(<i>P</i>)-distribution of the statistic, each obtained by simulating 2 × 10⁹ replicates.

<p>The theoretical distribution was obtained by fitting a straight line. The grey shaded area reflects the 95% Clopper-Pearson confidence interval [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0154872#pone.0154872.ref007" target="_blank">7</a>].</p

Association of epidemiological and clinical features with PCR cycle threshold values of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study

The cycle threshold (Ct) in quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is inversely correlated to the amount of viral nucleic acid or viral load and can be regarded as an indicator of infectivity. We examined the association of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive cases with PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values at the time of diagnosis. SARS-CoV-2 cases reported between 12 October 2020 and 24 January 2021 in Regensburg were analyzed employing bivariate and multivariable methods. We included 3,029 SARS-CoV-2 cases (31% asymptomatic at diagnosis) and analyzed the association of case characteristics with Ct values in 2,606 cases. Among symptomatic patients, cough (38.0%), rhinitis (32.4%), headache (32.0), and fever/chills (29.9%) were the most frequent complaints. Ct values ≤20 were more frequent in symptomatic cases (20.9% vs. 11.3%), whereas Ct values >30 were more common in asymptomatic cases (32.6% vs. 18.0%). Ct values >20 and ≤30 were most common in symptomatic and asymptomatic cases (48.0% vs 40.7%). We observed lower median Ct values of E and N gene in symptomatic cases. In a random forest model, the total number of symptoms, respiratory symptoms, and age were most strongly associated with low Ct values. In conclusion, certain symptoms and age were associated with lower Ct values. Ct values can be used as a pragmatic approach in estimating infectivity at the first notification of a case and, thus, in guiding containment measures.</p

<i>TGM1</i>, <i>TGM3</i> and <i>TGM5</i> gene expression in the skin of AD patients and healthy controls.

<p>TGM transcript levels (A, E and I) of healthy controls (HC, n = 10) non lesional skin of AD patients (NL, n = 7) and lesional skin from AD patients (L, n = 10). Horizontal bars represent median values in each group and data is presented on a logaritmic scale. For IHC analysis of the TG protein expression, skin sections from nine AD patients and ten healthy controls were stained. Representative staining from one healthy control and one patient is shown in the figure for TG1 (B–D), TG3 (F–H) and TG5 (J–L) expression. Scale bar represents 50 µm.</p