Field and laboratory comparative evaluation of rapid malaria diagnostic tests versus traditional and molecular techniques in India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge in most tropical countries. Microscopy remains the gold standard for diagnosing malaria infections in clinical practice and research. However, microscopy is labour intensive, requires significant skills and time, which causes therapeutic delays. The objective of obtaining result quickly from the examination of blood samples from patients with suspected malaria is now made possible with the introduction of rapid malaria diagnostic tests (RDTs). Several RDTs are available, which are fast, reliable and simple to use and can detect <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>and non-falciparum infections or both. A study was conducted in tribal areas of central India to measure the overall performance of several RDTs for diagnosis of <it>P. falciparum </it>and non-falciparum infections in comparison with traditional and molecular techniques. Such data will be used to guide procurement decisions of policy makers and programme managers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five commercially available RDTs were tested simultaneously in field in parallel with peripheral blood smears in outbreak-affected areas. The evaluation is designed to provide comparative data on the performance of each RDT. In addition, molecular method i.e. polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was also carried out to compare all three methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 372 patients with a clinical suspicion of malaria from Bajag Primary Health Centre (PHC) of district Dindori and Satanwada PHC of district Shivpuri attending the field clinics of Regional Medical Research Centre were included in the study. The analysis revealed that the First Response Malaria Antigen pLDH/HRP2 combo test was 94.7% sensitive (95% CI 89.5-97.7) and 69.9% specific (95% CI 63.6-75.6) for <it>P. falciparum</it>. However, for non-falciparum infections (<it>Plasmodium vivax</it>) the test was 84.2% sensitive (95% CI 72.1-92.5) and 96.5% specific (95% CI 93.8-98.2). The Parascreen represented a good alternative. All other RDTs were relatively less sensitive for both <it>P. falciparum </it>and non-falciparum infections.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results in this study show comparative performance between microscopy, various RDTs and PCR. Despite some inherent limitation in the five RDTs tested, First Response clearly has an advantage over other RDTs. The results suggest that RDTs could play and will play an important role in malaria diagnosis.</p

Analysis of cod-liver oil adulteration using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

Analysis of the adulteration of cod-liver oil with much cheaper oil-like animal fats has become attractive in recent years. This study highlights an application of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as a nondestructive and fast technique for the determination of adulterants in cod-liver oil. Attenuated total reflectance measurements were made on pure cod-liver oil and cod-liver oil adulterated with different concentrations of lard (0.5–50% v/v in cod-liver oil). A chemometrics partial least squares (PLS) calibration model was developed for quantitative measurement of the adulterant. Discriminant analysis method was used to classify cod-liver oil samples from common animal fats (beef, chicken, mutton, and lard) based on their infrared spectra. Discriminant analysis carried out using seven principal components was able to classify the samples as pure or adulterated cod-liver oil based on their FTIR spectra at the selected fingerprint regions (1,500–1,030 cm−1)

Therapeutic efficacy of artemether–lumefantrine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria from three highly malarious states in India

Additional file 1. Flowchart showing site-wise enrolment and follow-up profile

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Affects the Rat Gut Microbiome

We have analysed whether pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) alters the rat faecal microbiota. Wistar rats were injected with the VEGF receptor antagonist SU5416 (20 mg/kg s.c.) and followed for 2 weeks kept in hypoxia (10% O2, PAH) or injected with vehicle and kept in normoxia (controls). Faecal samples were obtained and microbiome composition was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. No effect of PAH on the global microbiome was found (α- or β-diversity). However, PAH-exposed rats showed gut dysbiosis as indicated by a taxonomy-based analysis. Specifically, PAH rats had a three-fold increase in Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio. Within the Firmicutes phylum, there were no large changes in the relative abundance of the bacterial families in PAH. Among Bacteroidetes, all families were less abundant in PAH. A clear separation was observed between the control and PAH clusters based on short chain fatty acid producing bacterial genera. Moreover, acetate was reduced in the serum of PAH rats. In conclusion, faecal microbiota composition is altered as a result of PAH. This misbalanced bacterial ecosystem might in turn play a pathophysiological role in PAH by altering the immunologic, hormonal and metabolic homeostasis.This study is supported by grants from Mineco (SAF2014-55399-R, SAF2014-55523-R, SAF2016-77222 and SAF2017-84494-C2-1R), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI15/01100), with funds from the European Union (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER). M.C., G.M-P. and S.E-R. are funded by Universidad Complutense, Fondo de Garantía Juvenil (Comunidad de Madrid) and Ciberes grant with funds from Fundación Contra la Hipertensión Pulmonar, a FPU grant from Ministerio de Educación, respectively. J.L.I.G is a CNIC IPP COFUND Fellow and has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the FP7/2007-2013 under REA grant agreement n° 600396. The CNIC is supported by MEIC-AEI and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MEIC award SEV-2015-0505)

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Erratum: “Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in 2015–2017 LIGO Data” (2019, ApJ, 879, 10)

Due to an error at the publisher, in the published article the number of pulsars presented in the paper is incorrect in multiple places throughout the text. Specifically, "222" pulsars should be "221." Additionally, the number of pulsars for which we have EM observations that fully overlap with O1 and O2 changes from "168" to "167." Elsewhere, in the machine-readable table of Table 1 and in Table 2, the row corresponding to pulsar J0952-0607 should be excised as well. Finally, in the caption for Table 2 the number of pulsars changes from "188" to "187.

Searches for gravitational waves from known pulsars at two harmonics in 2015-2017 LIGO data

International audienceWe present a search for gravitational waves from 222 pulsars with rotation frequencies ≳10 Hz. We use advanced LIGO data from its first and second observing runs spanning 2015–2017, which provides the highest-sensitivity gravitational-wave data so far obtained. In this search we target emission from both the l = m = 2 mass quadrupole mode, with a frequency at twice that of the pulsar’s rotation, and the l = 2, m = 1 mode, with a frequency at the pulsar rotation frequency. The search finds no evidence for gravitational-wave emission from any pulsar at either frequency. For the l = m = 2 mode search, we provide updated upper limits on the gravitational-wave amplitude, mass quadrupole moment, and fiducial ellipticity for 167 pulsars, and the first such limits for a further 55. For 20 young pulsars these results give limits that are below those inferred from the pulsars’ spin-down. For the Crab and Vela pulsars our results constrain gravitational-wave emission to account for less than 0.017% and 0.18% of the spin-down luminosity, respectively. For the recycled millisecond pulsar J0711−6830 our limits are only a factor of 1.3 above the spin-down limit, assuming the canonical value of 1038 kg m2 for the star’s moment of inertia, and imply a gravitational-wave-derived upper limit on the star’s ellipticity of 1.2 × 10−8. We also place new limits on the emission amplitude at the rotation frequency of the pulsars

GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a ∼30 M_⊙ black hole merged with a ∼8 M_⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs