Current use and acceptability of novel diagnostic tests for active tuberculosis : a worldwide survey

CITATION: Amicosante, M., et al. 2017. Current use and acceptability of novel diagnostic tests for active tuberculosis : a worldwide survey. Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia, 43(5):380-392, doi:10.1590/S1806-37562017000000219.The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132017000500380&lng=en&tlng=enObjective: To determine the current use and potential acceptance (by tuberculosis experts worldwide) of novel rapid tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis that are in line with World Health Organization target product profiles. Methods: A multilingual survey was disseminated online between July and November of 2016. Results: A total of 723 individuals from 114 countries responded to the survey. Smear microscopy was the most commonly used rapid tuberculosis test (available to 90.9% of the respondents), followed by molecular assays (available to 70.7%). Only a small proportion of the respondents in middle- and low-income countries had access to interferon-gamma-release assays. Serological and lateral flow immunoassays were used by more than a quarter (25.4%) of the respondents. Among the respondents who had access to molecular tests, 46.7% were using the Xpert assay overall, that proportion being higher in lower middle-income countries (55.6%) and low-income countries (76.6%). The data also suggest that there was some alignment of pricing for molecular assays. Respondents stated they would accept novel rapid tuberculosis tests if available, including molecular assays (acceptable to 86.0%) or biomarker-based serological assays (acceptable to 81.7%). Simple biomarker-based assays were more commonly deemed acceptable in middle- and lowincome countries. Conclusions: Second-generation molecular assays have become more widely available in high- and low-resource settings. However, the development of novel rapid tuberculosis tests continues to be considered important by tuberculosis experts. Our data also underscore the need for additional training and education of end users.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132017000500380Publisher's versio

Inclusion of diverse populations in genomic research and health services: Genomix workshop report

Clinical genetic services and genomic research are rapidly developing but, historically, those with the greatest need are the least to benefit from these advances. This encompasses low-income communities, including those from ethnic minority and indigenous backgrounds. The “Genomix” workshop at the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) 2016 conference offered the opportunity to consider possible solutions for these disparities from the experiences of researchers and genetic healthcare practitioners working with underserved communities in the USA, UK and Australia. Evident from the workshop and corresponding literature is that a multi-faceted approach to engaging communities is essential. This needs to be complemented by redesigning healthcare systems that improves access and raises awareness of the needs of these communities. At a more strategic level, institutions involved in funding research, commissioning and redesigning genetic health services also need to be adequately represented by underserved populations with intrinsic mechanisms to disseminate good practice and monitor participation. Further, as genomic medicine is mainstreamed, educational programmes developed for clinicians should incorporate approaches to alleviate disparities in accessing genetic services and improving study participation

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Early maternal deprivation affects dentate gyrus structure and emotional learning in adult female rats

Rationale: Stress elicits functional and structural changes in the hippocampus. Early life stress is one of the major risk factors for stress-related pathologies like depression. Patients suffering from depression show a reduced hippocampal volume, and in women, this occurs more often when depression is preceded by childhood trauma. However, the underlying mechanisms that account for a reduced hippocampal volume are unknown. Objective: We examined the effects of maternal absence on structure and function of the hippocampus in female offspring. Methods: We studied whether 24 h of maternal deprivation (MD) on postnatal day 3 altered adult neurogenesis, individual neuronal morphology and dentate gyrus (DG) structure in young adult female rats. In addition, functional alterations were addressed by studying synaptic plasticity in vitro, and spatial as well as emotional learning was tested. Results: Adult females that were subjected to MD revealed significant reductions in DG granule cell number and density. In addition, DG neurons were altered in their dendritic arrangement. No effects on the rate of adult neurogenesis were found. Furthermore, MD did not alter synaptic plasticity in vitro, neither under normal nor high-stress conditions. In addition, spatial learning and contextual fear conditioning were comparable between control and MD animals. However, MD animals showed an improved amygdala-dependent fear memory. Conclusion: Although early life stress exposure did not impair hippocampus-dependent functioning in female offspring, it irreversibly affected DG structure by reducing cell numbers. This may be relevant for the reduced hippocampal volume observed in depression and the increased vulnerability of women to develop depression