Low Sensitivity of BinaxNOW RSV in Infants

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of hospitalization in infants. Early detection of RSV can optimize clinical management and minimize use of antibiotics. BinaxNOW RSV (BN) is a rapid antigen detection test that is widely used. We aimed to validate the sensitivity of BN in hospitalized and nonhospitalized infants against the gold standard of molecular diagnosis. METHODS: We evaluated the performance of BN in infants with acute respiratory tract infections with different degrees of disease severity. Diagnostic accuracy of BN test results were compared with molecular diagnosis as reference standard. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-two respiratory samples from 148 children from October 2017 to February 2019 were studied. Sixty-six (40.7%) samples tested positive for RSV (30 hospitalizations, 31 medically attended episodes not requiring hospitalization, and 5 nonmedically attended episodes). Five of these samples tested positive with BN, leading to an overall sensitivity of BN of 7.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.3%-16.5%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 96.2%-100%). Sensitivity was low in all subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: We found a low sensitivity of BN for point-of-care detection of RSV infection. BinaxNOW RSV should be used and interpreted with caution

Global molecular diversity of RSV - the "INFORM RSV" study

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a global cause of severe respiratory morbidity and mortality in infants. While preventive and therapeutic interventions are being developed, including antivirals, vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, little is known about the global molecular epidemiology of RSV. INFORM is a prospective, multicenter, global clinical study performed by ReSViNET to investigate the worldwide molecular diversity of RSV isolates collected from children less than 5 years of age. Methods: The INFORM study is performed in 17 countries spanning all inhabited continents and will provide insight into the molecular epidemiology of circulating RSV strains worldwide. Sequencing of > 4000 RSV-positive respiratory samples is planned to detect temporal and geographical molecular patterns on a molecular level over five consecutive years. Additionally, RSV will be cultured from a subset of samples to study the functional implications of specific mutations in the viral genome including viral fitness and susceptibility to different monoclonal antibodies. Discussion: The sequencing and functional results will be used to investigate susceptibility and resistance to novel RSV preventive or therapeutic interventions. Finally, a repository of globally collected RSV strains and a database of RSV sequences will be created.</div

Secondary-structure prediction revisited: Theoretical β-sheet propensity and coil propensity represent structures of amyloids and aid in elucidating phenomena involved in interspecies transmission of prions

Prions are unique infectious agents, consisting solely of abnormally-folded prion protein (PrPSc). However, they possess virus-like features, including strain diversity, the ability to adapt to new hosts and to be altered evolutionarily. Because prions lack genetic material (DNA and RNA), these biological phenomena have been attributed to the structural properties of PrPSc. Therefore, many structural models of the structure of PrPSchave been proposed based on the limited structural information available, regardless of the incompatibility with high-resolution structural analysis. Recently hypothesized models consist solely of β- sheets and intervening loops/kinks; i.e. parallel in-register β-sheet and β-solenoid models. Owing to the relative simplicity of these structural models of PrPSc, we hypothesized that numerical conversion of the primary structures with a relevant algorithm would enable quantitative comparison between PrPs of distinct primary structures. We therefore used the theoretical values of β-sheet (Pβ) and random-coil (Pc) propensity calculated by secondary structure prediction with a neural network, to analyze interspecies transmission of prions. By reviewing experiments in the literature, we ascertained the biological relevance of Pβ and Pc and found that these classical parameters surprisingly carry substantial information of amyloid structures. We also demonstrated how these parameters could aid in interpreting and explaining phenomena in interspecies transmissions. Our approach can lead to the development of a versatile tool for investigating not only prions but also other amyloids

За кадры. 1970. № 27 (1462)

Победители соревнования. Впереди идут ФТФ, ЭМФ, ХТФ / А. Гагарин [и др.]Человек высокого долга / А. ПортягинНужна перестройка / М. Ф. ПолетикаПамятник ко дню Победы / Р. Горская"Вестник высшей школы". Краткий обзорСтуденческая юбилейная / О. СтепановаБригантина поднимат паруса / Н. ФедороваДождь и снег - не помеха / О. ВолодинаЕсли готовите снимок на выставку... / Г. ХлопковНе выходят на благоустройство / Б. ДерчанскийКомнату - на все пять летВесенняя лирика. Тяжелый снег пропитан соком... / С. ЯковлевВесенняя лирика. Граница - это не только нейтраль... / В. БояриновВесенняя лирика. В тебе мне нравится твоя твердость... / А. ШипелеваВесенняя лирика. Короткий разговор / О. ФедюшинаНаедине с природой / А. СобанинДебоширы наказаны / И. И. КаляцкийНовые книги о В. И. ЛенинеНа первом месте - комсомольцы АВТФ / Г. Гогу

Identity and dynamics of mammary stem cells during branching morphogenesis

During puberty, the mouse mammary gland develops into a highly branched epithelial network. Owing to the absence of exclusive stem cell markers, the location, multiplicity, dynamics and fate of mammary stem cells (MaSCs), which drive branching morphogenesis, are unknown. Here we show that morphogenesis is driven by proliferative terminal end buds that terminate or bifurcate with near equal probability, in a stochastic and time-invariant manner, leading to a heterogeneous epithelial network. We show that the majority of terminal end bud cells function as highly proliferative, lineage-committed MaSCs that are heterogeneous in their expression profile and short-term contribution to ductal extension. Yet, through cell rearrangements during terminal end bud bifurcation, each MaSC is able to contribute actively to long-term growth. Our study shows that the behaviour of MaSCs is not directly linked to a single expression profile. Instead, morphogenesis relies upon lineage-restricted heterogeneous MaSC populations that function as single equipotent pools in the long term.This work was supported by an ERC consolidator grant (648804); research grants from the Dutch Organization of Scientific Research (NWO; 823.02.017), the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF; HUBR 2009 -4621), the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR; 13- 0297) (all J.v.R) ,the Wellcome Trust (grant number 098357/Z/12/Z; BDS and 110326/Z/15/Z; EH ) and equipment grants (175.010.2007.00 and 834.11.002) from the Dutch Organization of Scientific Research (NWO). EH is funded by a Junior Research Fellowship from Trinity College, Cambridge University, a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and acknowledges the Bettencourt-Schueller Young Researcher Prize for support. CLGJS is funded by a Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds PhD Fellowship

Development and validation of an epitope-blocking ELISA using an anti-haemagglutinin monoclonal antibody for specific detection of antibodies in sheep and goat sera directed against peste des petits ruminants virus

International audiencePeste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a contagious and economically important disease affecting production of small ruminants (i.e., sheep and goats). Taking into consideration the lessons learnt from the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP), PPR is now targeted by the international veterinary community as the next animal disease to be eradicated. To support the African continental programme for the control of PPR, the Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Centre of the African Union (AU-PANVAC) is developing diagnostics tools. Here, we describe the development of a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bELISA) that allows testing of a large number of samples for specific detection of antibodies directed against PPR virus in sheep and goat sera. The PPR bELISA uses an anti-haemagglutinin (H) monoclonal antibody (MAb) as a competitor antibody, and tests results are interpreted using the percentage of inhibition (PI) of MAb binding generated by the serum sample. PI values below or equal to 18% (PI ae 18%) are negative, PI values greater than or equal to 25% (PI ae 25%) are positive, and PI values greater than 18% and below 25% are doubtful. The diagnostic specificity (DSp) and diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) were found to be 100% and 93.74%, respectively. The H-based PPR-bELISA showed good correlation with the virus neutralization test (VNT), the gold standard test, with a kappa value of 0.947. The H-based PPR-bELISA is more specific than the commercial kit ID ScreenA (R) PPR Competition (N-based PPR-cELISA) from IDvet (France), but the commercial kit is slightly more sensitive than the H-based PPR-bELISA. The validation process also indicated good repeatability and reproducibility of the H-based PPR-bELISA, making this new test a suitable tool for the surveillance and sero-monitoring of the vaccination campaign

Species diversification – which species should we use?

Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics; Particle tracking detectors; Gaseous detectors; Calorimeters; Cherenkov detectors; Particle identification methods; Photon detectors for UV. visible and IR photons; Detector alignment and calibration methods; Detector cooling and thermo-stabilization; Detector design and construction technologies and materials. The LHCb experiment is dedicated to precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva). The initial configuration and expected performance of the detector and associated systems. as established by test beam measurements and simulation studies. is described. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA