Method of detecting pseudorabies virus specific serum antibody by use of a universal diagnostic antigen

A method of testing serum from swine vaccinated against pseudorabies virus with viral envelope-based subunit vaccines to determine the presence of antibodies to infecting pseudorabies virus in wihch an immunoassay is performed on the swine serum using a pseudorabies virus antigen preparation comprising nucleocapsid proteins of the pseudorabies virus. The universal diagnostic antigen is one or more nucleocapsid proteins having relative molecular weights of approximately 23 k, 34 k, 41 k, 63 k and 140 k

Quantitative Microbiology of the Scalp in Non-Dandruff, Dandruff, and Seborrheic Dermatitis

The composition of the scalp microflora was assessed quantitatively in normal individuals and in patients with dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis, disorders characterized by increasing scalin. Three organisms were constantly found: (1) Pityrosporum, (2) aerobic cocci, and (3) Corynebacterium acnes. Pitrosporum (mainly Pityrosporum ovale) made up 46% of the total microflora in normals, 74% in dandruff, and 83% in seborrheic dermatitis. The geometric mean number of organisms per cm2 in non-dandruff subjects was 5.04 × 105; 9.22 × 105 in dandruff subjects; and 6.45 × 105 in those with seborrheic dermatitis. The cocci were dominantly Baird-Parkertype SII and no quantitative or qualitative change occurred in the scaling disorders. C. acnes comprised 26% of the flora on the normal scalp, 6% in dandruff, and only 1% in seborrheic dermatitis. These results differ significantly from previous reports which describe a much more complex microflora and suggest an etiologic role for microorganisms in dandruff

A Moderated Nonlinear Factor Model for the Development of Commensurate Measures in Integrative Data Analysis

Integrative data analysis (IDA) is a methodological framework that allows for the fitting of models to data that have been pooled across two or more independent sources. IDA offers many potential advantages including increased statistical power, greater subject heterogeneity, higher observed frequencies of low base-rate behaviors, and longer developmental periods of study. However, a core challenge is the estimation of valid and reliable psychometric scores that are based on potentially different items with different response options drawn from different studies. In Bauer and Hussong (2009) we proposed a method for obtaining scores within an IDA called moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA). Here we move significantly beyond this work in the development of a general framework for estimating MNLFA models and obtaining scale scores across a variety of settings. We propose a five step procedure and demonstrate this approach using data drawn from n=1972 individuals ranging in age from 11 to 34 years pooled across three independent studies to examine the factor structure of 17 binary items assessing depressive symptomatology. We offer substantive conclusions about the factor structure of depression, use this structure to compute individual-specific scale scores, and make recommendations for the use of these methods in practice

Characterization of the humoral immune response to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus infection

Abstract. The development of the humoral immune response against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus was monitored by an indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test, immunoperoxidase monolayer assay (IPMA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and serum virus neutralization (SVN) test over a 105-day period in 8 pigs experimentally infected with ATCC strain VR-2402. Specific antibodies against PRRS virus were first detected by the IFA test, IPMA, ELISA, and the SVN test 9-11, 5-9, 9-13, and 9-28 days postinoculation (PI), respectively, and reached their maximum values by 4-5, 5-6, 4-6, and 10-11 weeks PI, respectively, thereafter. After reaching maximum value, all assays showed a decline in antibody levels. Assuming a constant rate of antibody decay, it was estimated by regression analysis that the ELISA, IFA, IPMA, and SVN antibody titers would approach the lower limits of detection by approximately days 137, 158, 324, and 356 PI, respectively. In this study, the immunoperoxidase monolayer assay appeared to offer slightly better performance relative to the IFA test, ELISA, and SVN test in terms of earlier detection and slower rate of decline in antibody titers. Western immunoblot analysis revealed that antibody specific for the 15-kD viral protein was present in all pigs by 7 days PI and persisted throughout the 105-day observation period. Initial detection of antibodies to the 19-, 23-, and 26-kD proteins varied among pigs, ranging from 9 to 35 days PI. Thereafter, the antibody responses to these 3 viral proteins of PRRS virus continued to be detected throughout the 105-day study period. These results clearly indicate that the 15-kD protein is the most immunogenic of the 4 viral proteins identified and may provide the antigenic basis for the development of improved diagnostic tests for the detection of PRRS virus antibodies

Triheteromeric NMDA Receptors at Hippocampal Synapses

NMDA receptors are composed of two N1 and two N2 subunits. Constituent N2 subunits control pharmacological and kinetic characteristics of the receptor. Although NMDA receptors in hippocampal or cortical neurons are often thought of as diheteromeric, containing only one type of N2 subunit, triheteromeric receptors with more than one type of N2 subunit also have been reported. However, the relative contribution of di- and triheteromeric NMDA receptors at synapses has been difficult to assess. Because wild-type hippocampal principal neurons express N1, N2A and N2B, we used cultured hippocampal principal neurons from N2A and N2B-knockout mice as templates for diheteromeric synaptic receptors. Summation of N1/N2B and N1/N2A excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) could not account for the deactivation kinetics of wild-type EPSCs however. To make a quantitative estimate of NMDA receptor subtypes at wild-type synapses, we used the deactivation kinetics, as well as the effects of the competitive antagonist NVP-AAM077. Our results indicate that three types of NMDA receptors contribute to the wild-type EPSC, with at least two-thirds being triheteromeric receptors. Functional isolation of synaptic triheteromeric receptors revealed deactivation kinetics and pharmacology distinct from either diheteromeric receptor subtype. Because of differences in open probability, synaptic triheteromeric receptors outnumbered N1/N2A receptors by 5.8 to 1 and N1/N2B receptors by 3.2 to 2 1. Our results suggest that triheteromeric NMDA receptors must be either preferentially assembled or preferentially localized at synapses

Propionibacterium Levels In Patients With And Without Acne Vulgaris

Propionibacterium species were quantified on the foreheads and cheeks of persons with and without acne in three age groups: 11 to 15, 16 to 20, and 21 to 25. Propionibacteria were virtually absent in the pubertal non-acne group compared to a geometric mean density of 114,800 per sq cm in the acne group. A similar sharp difference existed between the acne subjects and normals in the age range of 16 to 20 years: 85,800 organisms per sq cm compared to 588 per sq cm. Patients with acne and normal subjects over age 21 showed no difference in Propionibacterium levels. In acne patients, while there was a trend for lower levels, no significant difference was seen as the severity of inflammation increased

The Microbiology of the Human Axilla and Its Relationship to Axillary Odor

The axillary microflora of 229 subjects was characterized quantitatively and the results correlated with whether the odor was pungent body odor or instead a faint “acid odor.” The axillary flora was found to be a stable mixture of Micrococcaceac, aerobic diphtheroids and Propionibacteria. Significantly higher numbers of bacteria were recovered from the axillae of those with pungent axillary odor than in those with acid odor. Aerobic diphtheroids in high numbers were recovered in all subjects having typical body odor. These included lipophilic as well as large-colony diphtheroids.When droplets of apocrine sweat placed on the forearm were inoculated with various bacteria which reside in the axilla, only diphtheroids generated typical body odor. Cocci produced a sweaty odor attributable to isovalerie acid