Application of Modified Shell Vial Culture Procedure for Arbovirus Detection

The isolation of arboviruses from patient's low titer sera can be difficult. Here we compared the detection efficiency of Dengue (DEN), Yellow Fever (YF), Saint Louis Encephalitis (SLE), West Nile (WN), Ilheus (ILH), Group C (GC), Oropouche (ORO), Mayaro (MAY) and Venezuela Encephalitis Equine (VEE) viruses using a Modified Shell Vial Culture (MSVC) protocol to a Standard Cell Culture (SCC) protocol. First the MSVC and SCC protocols were compared using five dilutions for each of the following stock viruses: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4, YF, SLE, WN, ILH, GC, ORO, MAY and VEE. Next, patients' original sera from which viruses (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, YF, GC, ORO, MAY and VEE) had been previously isolated were compare by the two methods using five sera dilutions. In addition, seven sera that were positive for DEN-3 by RT-PCR and negative by SCC were processed by MSVC. The MSVC protocol was consistently 1-2 logs higher virus dilution more sensitive for virus detection than the SCC protocol for all stock Flaviviruses tested (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4, YF, SLE, WN and ILH). MSVC was equal to or one log more sensitive for virus detection than SCC for the stock Bunyaviruses (GC and ORO). For the stock Alphavirus MAY, MSVC was equally or one log more sensitive for virus detection than SCC, while for VEE SCC was equally or one log more sensitive for virus detection than MSVC. MSVC was consistently one to two sera dilutions more sensitive than SCC for the detection of Flaviviruses from patients' sera. Both methods were approximately equally sensitive for the detection of Bunyaviruses from patients' sera and equal or one dilution less sensitive for the detection of Alphaviruses from patients' sera. Additionally, MSVC detected DEN virus in five of seven DEN-3 RT-PCR positive, SCC negative patients' sera

Protein Expression in the Nucleus Accumbens of Rats Exposed to Developmental Vitamin D Deficiency

Introduction: Developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency is a candidate risk factor for schizophrenia. Animal models have confirmed that DVD deficiency is associated with a range of altered genomic, proteomic, structural and behavioural outcomes in the rat. Because the nucleus accumbens has been implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, in the current study we examined protein expression in this region in adult rats exposed to DVD deficienc

Contributions of Dopamine-Related Genes and Environmental Factors to Highly Sensitive Personality: A Multi-Step Neuronal System-Level Approach

Traditional behavioral genetic studies (e.g., twin, adoption studies) have shown that human personality has moderate to high heritability, but recent molecular behavioral genetic studies have failed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) with consistent effects. The current study adopted a multi-step approach (ANOVA followed by multiple regression and permutation) to assess the cumulative effects of multiple QTLs. Using a system-level (dopamine system) genetic approach, we investigated a personality trait deeply rooted in the nervous system (the Highly Sensitive Personality, HSP). 480 healthy Chinese college students were given the HSP scale and genotyped for 98 representative polymorphisms in all major dopamine neurotransmitter genes. In addition, two environment factors (stressful life events and parental warmth) that have been implicated for their contributions to personality development were included to investigate their relative contributions as compared to genetic factors. In Step 1, using ANOVA, we identified 10 polymorphisms that made statistically significant contributions to HSP. In Step 2, these polymorphism's main effects and interactions were assessed using multiple regression. This model accounted for 15% of the variance of HSP (p<0.001). Recent stressful life events accounted for an additional 2% of the variance. Finally, permutation analyses ascertained the probability of obtaining these findings by chance to be very low, p ranging from 0.001 to 0.006. Dividing these loci by the subsystems of dopamine synthesis, degradation/transport, receptor and modulation, we found that the modulation and receptor subsystems made the most significant contribution to HSP. The results of this study demonstrate the utility of a multi-step neuronal system-level approach in assessing genetic contributions to individual differences in human behavior. It can potentially bridge the gap between the high heritability estimates based on traditional behavioral genetics and the lack of reproducible genetic effects observed currently from molecular genetic studies

Comparison of virus detection in sera by SCC and MSVC.

<p>Comparison of virus detection in sera by SCC and MSVC.</p

Comparison of stock virus detection by SCC and MSVC.

<p>Comparison of stock virus detection by SCC and MSVC.</p

Design, development, and evaluation of printed educational materials for evidence-based practice dissemination

Printed educational materials (PEMs) are one of the most common dissemination strategies for communicating information about evidence-based practices (EBPs) to healthcare professionals and organizations; however, evidence is conflicting regarding the conditions and circumstances in which PEMs are effective in achieving desired outcomes. The effectiveness of PEMs is largely dependent on the manner in which they are developed. This article reports on the findings from a comprehensive review of the literature regarding best practices for creating PEMs for health professionals and illustrates how these practices were used to design, develop, and evaluate an informational packet to disseminate information about motivational interviewing. The informational packet was disseminated to 92 community health organizations not currently implementing motivational interviewing. Evaluation surveys were completed by 212 healthcare directors and providers to examine quality and perceived helpfulness of the packets, intention to use information from the packet, and sharing of the packet with others. Associations between these and individual and organizational characteristics were also assessed. Overall, the packet was perceived as appropriate and helpful in making a decision to implement motivational interviewing. For example, 84.9% of participants stated that the content was 'about right'. Three-quarters (75.9%) of participants reported plans to use the information in the packet and almost half (46.7%) reported talking about the packet with others in the organizations. Higher levels of baseline interest in motivational interviewing adoption were significantly related to packet use and wanting to utilize additional resources presented in the packet. Positive attitudes toward EBPs were also significantly related to the desire to obtain resources in the packet. Perceptions of the packet did not differ by type of community health organization (i.e., community health center, community behavioral health organization) or whether the individual was a director or provider. Results indicated that PEMs can be a useful tool to disseminate EBP information to healthcare professionals particularly if they have a prior interest in the EBP and have general attitudes supportive of EBPs. Recommendations for the improvement of future PEMs are discussed

Best practices for customer service representatives

A project consisting of shadowing customer service representatives in the Prime Brokerage (PB) and International Prime Broker (IPB) branches within the Prime Brokerage department at Morgan Stanley. This, with the function of catalog their activities, find best practices that could be implemented in either or both locations, and to help employees to get a better understanding of how both branches work and what their differences are; the latter one being the main objective of our project. Findings and recommendations were made, and differences between both branches were identified. Best practices include hardware and software upgrades as well as educational programs. By following these, savings of up to US$4 million could be achieved per year