Internal amplification controls have not been employed in fungal PCR hence potential false negative results

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is subject to false negative results. Samples of fungi with the genes of interest (e.g. a disease or mycotoxin) may be categorized as negative and safe as a consequence. Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that are involved in many fields of human activity such as antibiotic, toxin and food production. Certain taxa are implicated in human, animal and plant diseases. However, fungi are difficult to identify and PCR techniques have been proposed increasingly for this purpose. Internal amplification controls (IACs) will ameliorate the situation and need to become mandatory. These are nucleic acids that posses a sequence which will provide a PCR product (i) using the same primers employed for the target gene, and (ii) that will not coincide on the gel with the product of the target gene. Only one group of workers employed an IAC, to respond to potential inhibition, which was reported in 1995 from this present assessment of numerous reports. Inhibitors in cultures need to be minimized, and secondary metabolites are an obvious source. The fields reviewed herein include medical mycology, mycotoxicology, environmental mycology and plant mycology. The conclusion is that previous reports are compromised because IACs have not been employed in fungal PCR; future research must include this control at an early stage.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Optimising approximate entropy for assessing cardiac dyssynchrony with radionuclide ventriculography

Left ventricular dyssynchrony can be assessed with phase parameters from radionuclide ventriculography (RNVG), including approximate entropy (ApEn). The input values used to calculate ApEn will affect the results significantly, so it is essential to optimise ApEn for the application. However to date, no optimisation for ApEn applied to images has been published. In this paper, generated data were used to simulate patient phase images, allowing the input parameters for ApEn to be tested and optimised in a controlled environment. Clinical images were then used to confirm that the selected parameters were appropriate. The results demonstrate the effect of input parameters for ApEn and the most appropriate use with RNVG phase images. This work demonstrates the importance of optimisation and standardisation when using ApEn as a measure of dyssynchrony

Demonstrating the Potential of Using Bio-Based Sustainable Polyester Blends for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

YesHealthcare applications are known to have a considerable environmental impact and the use of bio-based polymers has emerged as a powerful approach to reduce the carbon footprint in the sector. This research aims to explore the suitability of using a new sustainable polyester blend (Floreon™) as a scaffold directed to aid in musculoskeletal applications. Musculoskeletal problems arise from a wide range of diseases and injuries related to bones and joints. Specifically, bone injuries may result from trauma, cancer, or long-term infections and they are currently considered a major global problem in both developed and developing countries. In this work we have manufactured a series of 3D-printed constructs from a novel biopolymer blend using fused deposition modelling (FDM), and we have modified these materials using a bioceramic (wollastonite, 15% w/w). We have evaluated their performance in vitro using human dermal fibroblasts and rat mesenchymal stromal cells. The new sustainable blend is biocompatible, showing no differences in cell metabolic activity when compared to PLA controls for periods 1-18 days. FloreonTM blend has proven to be a promising material to be used in bone tissue regeneration as it shows an impact strength in the same range of that shown by native bone (just under 10 kJ/m2) and supports an improvement in osteogenic activity when modified with wollastonite.We would like to acknowledge the Medical Research Council in the UK (MRC) for funding this research throughout a MRC Proximity to Discovery award (P2D) with grant number MC_PC_16084. We would also like to acknowledge CONACYT for funding DH RamosRodriguez’s work

On twisted Fourier analysis and convergence of Fourier series on discrete groups

We study norm convergence and summability of Fourier series in the setting of reduced twisted group $C^*$-algebras of discrete groups. For amenable groups, F{\o}lner nets give the key to Fej\'er summation. We show that Abel-Poisson summation holds for a large class of groups, including e.g. all Coxeter groups and all Gromov hyperbolic groups. As a tool in our presentation, we introduce notions of polynomial and subexponential H-growth for countable groups w.r.t. proper scale functions, usually chosen as length functions. These coincide with the classical notions of growth in the case of amenable groups.Comment: 35 pages; abridged, revised and update

Electron Scattering From High-Momentum Neutrons in Deuterium

We report results from an experiment measuring the semi-inclusive reaction $d(e,e'p_s)$ where the proton $p_s$ is moving at a large angle relative to the momentum transfer. If we assume that the proton was a spectator to the reaction taking place on the neutron in deuterium, the initial state of that neutron can be inferred. This method, known as spectator tagging, can be used to study electron scattering from high-momentum (off-shell) neutrons in deuterium. The data were taken with a 5.765 GeV electron beam on a deuterium target in Jefferson Laboratory's Hall B, using the CLAS detector. A reduced cross section was extracted for different values of final-state missing mass $W^{*}$, backward proton momentum $\vec{p}_{s}$ and momentum transfer $Q^{2}$. The data are compared to a simple PWIA spectator model. A strong enhancement in the data observed at transverse kinematics is not reproduced by the PWIA model. This enhancement can likely be associated with the contribution of final state interactions (FSI) that were not incorporated into the model. A ``bound neutron structure function'' $F_{2n}^{eff}$ was extracted as a function of $W^{*}$ and the scaling variable $x^{*}$ at extreme backward kinematics, where effects of FSI appear to be smaller. For $p_{s}>400$ MeV/c, where the neutron is far off-shell, the model overestimates the value of $F_{2n}^{eff}$ in the region of $x^{*}$ between 0.25 and 0.6. A modification of the bound neutron structure function is one of possible effects that can cause the observed deviation.Comment: 33 pages RevTeX, 9 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. C. Fixed 1 Referenc

eta-prime photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 1.527 to 2.227 GeV

Differential cross sections for the reaction gamma p -> eta-prime p have been measured with the CLAS spectrometer and a tagged photon beam with energies from 1.527 to 2.227 GeV. The results reported here possess much greater accuracy than previous measurements. Analyses of these data indicate for the first time the coupling of the etaprime N channel to both the S_11(1535) and P_11(1710) resonances, known to couple strongly to the eta N channel in photoproduction on the proton, and the importance of j=3/2 resonances in the process.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the Deuteron Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments

Inclusive electron scattering off the deuteron has been measured to extract the deuteron structure function F2 with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The measurement covers the entire resonance region from the quasi-elastic peak up to the invariant mass of the final-state hadronic system W~2.7 GeV with four-momentum transfers Q2 from 0.4 to 6 (GeV/c)^2. These data are complementary to previous measurements of the proton structure function F2 and cover a similar two-dimensional region of Q2 and Bjorken variable x. Determination of the deuteron F2 over a large x interval including the quasi-elastic peak as a function of Q2, together with the other world data, permit a direct evaluation of the structure function moments for the first time. By fitting the Q2 evolution of these moments with an OPE-based twist expansion we have obtained a separation of the leading twist and higher twist terms. The observed Q2 behaviour of the higher twist contribution suggests a partial cancellation of different higher twists entering into the expansion with opposite signs. This cancellation, found also in the proton moments, is a manifestation of the "duality" phenomenon in the F2 structure function

First measurement of direct f0(980)f_0(980) photoproduction on the proton

We report on the results of the first measurement of exclusive $f_0(980)$ meson photoproduction on protons for $E_\gamma=3.0 - 3.8$ GeV and $-t = 0.4-1.0$ GeV$^2$. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The resonance was detected via its decay in the $\pi^+ \pi^-$ channel by performing a partial wave analysis of the reaction $\gamma p \to p \pi^+ \pi^-$. Clear evidence of the $f_0(980)$ meson was found in the interference between $P$ and $S$ waves at $M_{\pi^+ \pi^-}\sim 1$ GeV. The $S$-wave differential cross section integrated in the mass range of the $f_0(980)$ was found to be a factor of 50 smaller than the cross section for the $\rho$ meson. This is the first time the $f_0(980)$ meson has been measured in a photoproduction experiment

International Epidemiology of Carbapenemase-Producing Escherichia coli

Background: Carbapenemase-producing (CP) Escherichia coli (CP-Ec) are a global public health threat. We aimed to describe the clinical and molecular epidemiology and outcomes of patients from several countries with CP-Ec isolates obtained from a prospective cohort. Methods: Patients with CP-Ec were enrolled from 26 hospitals in 6 countries. Clinical data were collected, and isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing. Clinical and molecular features and outcomes associated with isolates with or without metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) were compared. The primary outcome was desirability of outcome ranking (DOOR) at 30 days after the index culture. Results: Of the 114 CP-Ec isolates in Consortium on resistance against carbapenems in Klebsiella and other Enterobacterales-2 (CRACKLE-2), 49 harbored an MBL, most commonly blaNDM-5 (38/49, 78%). Strong regional variations were noted with MBL-Ec predominantly found among patients in China (23/49). Clinically, MBL-Ec were more often from urine sources (49% vs 29%), less often met criteria for infection (39% vs 58%, P =. 04), and had lower acuity of illness when compared with non-MBL-Ec. Among patients with infection, the probability of a better DOOR outcome for a randomly selected patient with MBL-Ec as compared with non-MBL-Ec was 62% (95% CI: 48.2-74.3%). Among infected patients, non-MBL-Ec had increased 30-day (26% vs 0%; P =. 02) and 90-day (39% vs 0%; P =. 001) mortality compared with MBL-Ec. Conclusions: Emergence of CP-Ec was observed with important geographic variations. Bacterial characteristics, clinical presentations, and outcomes differed between MBL-Ec and non-MBL-Ec. Mortality was higher among non-MBL isolates, which were more frequently isolated from blood, but these findings may be confounded by regional variations