Quantitative detection of HIV-1 RNA using NucliSens EasyQ HIV-1 assay

HIV-1 RNA viral load has become the major biological marker for disease prognosis and outcome of antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the new CE marked NucliSens EasyQ HIV-1 assay with NucliSens HIV-1 QT assay (reference method). NucliSens EasyQ HIV-1 (EasyQ) couples nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) with real-time detection using molecular beacons utilizing the NucliSens EasyQ analyzer. NASBA is a sensitive, isothermal, transcription-based amplification system designed specifically for the detection of RNA targets. There was significant correlation (r = 0.878, P < 0.0001) between the two different assays in the analysis of clinical samples and the frequency of concordant results (log difference <0.5) was 74%. The two assays detected HIV-1 RNA in 81 specimens, and neither detected (below the lower detection limit, 400 copies/ml for NucliSens HIV-1 QT and 500 IU/ml for EasyQ) HIV-1 RNA in 12 specimens. Three clinical specimens had detectable HIV-1 RNA using the EasyQ only, and two specimens had detectable HIV-1 RNA using the NucliSens HIV-1 QT only. The EasyQ procedure can analyze 48 clinical samples within 6 h. The coefficient of variation of EasyQ ranged from 3.0 to 9.5 % (3 % at 4.9 log; 5.7 % at 3.7 log; 9.5 % at 2.7 log)

Amethod to detect major serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus,”

Abstract Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) is an isothermal technique that allows the rapid amplification of specific regions of nucleic acid obtained from a diverse range of sources. It is especially suitable for amplifying RNA sequences. A rapid and specific NASBA technique was developed, allowing the detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus genetic material in a range of sample material, including preserved skin biopsy material from infected animals, vaccines prepared from denatured cell-free material, and cell-free antigen-based detection kits. A single pair of DNA oligonucleotide primers was able to amplify examples of all major FMD virus subtypes. The amplified viral RNA was detected by electrochemiluminescence. The method was at least as sensitive as existing cell-free antigen detection methods.

Facile Size-Tunable Fabrication of Functional Tin Dioxide Nanostructures by Multiple Size Reduction Lithography

A novel ultraviolet (UV)-assisted imprinting procedure that employs photosensitive tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate is presented for the facile size-tunable fabrication of functional tin dioxide (SnO2) nanostructures by varying annealing temperatures. These imprinted SnO2 nanostructures were also used as new masters for size reduction lithography. SnO2 lines down to 40 nm wide were obtained from a silicon master with 200 nm wide lines by simply performing size reduction lithography twice. This leads to 80 and 87.5% reduction in the width and height of imprinted lines, respectively. An imprinted pattern annealed at 400 degrees C demonstrated transmittance greater than 90% over the range of 350-700 nm, which is high enough to make the pattern useful as a transparent SnO2 mold. This demonstrated approach allows the accessibility to size-tunable molds, eliminating the need for conventional expensive imprinting masters with very fine structures, as well as functional SnO2 nanostructures, potentially useful in applications where ordered surface nanostructures are required, such as photonic crystals, biological sensors, and model catalysts