Macroscopic progression of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> infection in the guinea pig model.

<p>Guinea pigs were subcutaneously infected in the ear (A-F) or in the back (G-K) with approximately 4log₁₀ CFU of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 98–912. The macroscopic progression of the lesions at the site of infection was photographed over the course of experimental infection in the ear: (A) 4days; (B) 8days; (C) 14days; (D) 18days; (E) 26days; (F) 35days; or in the back (G) 8days; (H) 12days; (I) 16days; (J) 21days; (K) 35days. Arrowheads represent the site of subcutaneous <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> infection. One experiment representative of three total experiments is shown. Scale: 1cm.</p

Histological overview of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> infected skin in the guinea pig model.

<p>Guinea pigs were subcutaneously infected in the ear with 4.5 log₁₀ CFU of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 98–912. Histological sections of ears collected at different time points were stained with HE. Magnification of images 4x. At day 4 (A) and day 8 (B), edema (dotted line) and necrosis (full line), associated with a surrounding inflammatory, infiltrate were the predominant features. By day 8, necrosis expanded throughout the tissue, resulting in epidermal ulceration (triangles). Day 14 (C) and day 18 (D), were characterized by the presence of an eschar (arrows) over the wounded surface and epidermal hyperplasia (asterisks). By day 26 (E) and day 35 (F), complete repethilialization was evident, as well as epidermal hyperplasia and elongation of rete ridges (asterisks).</p

Evolution of bacterial viability of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> in the guinea-pig model.

<p>Guinea pigs were subcutaneously infected (A) in the ear with <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 98–912; (B) in the back with <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 98–912; (C) in the back with <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 1615 or (D) in the ear with a high initial infectious dose of <i>M</i>. <i>ulcerans</i> strain 98–912. At different time points post-infection, infected tissue was harvested and viable bacterial counts were performed. Dashed line represents the detection limit. Data points represent the mean ± SEM (n = 4–5) for each time point. One experiment representative of three total experiments is shown. Statistical significance was calculated with One way ANOVA, post-hoc Tukey test. Presented p-values correspond to the comparison of all time points with the last time point for which the bacterial load is above the dashed line (** p<0.01; ***p<0.001).</p

General characteristics of Buruli ulcer (BU) patients and healthy controls.

<p>General characteristics of Buruli ulcer (BU) patients and healthy controls.</p

Genotype distributions and association test results of SNPs in the <i>PARK2</i> gene among BU patients and age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

<p>Genotype distributions and association test results of SNPs in the <i>PARK2</i> gene among BU patients and age- and gender-matched healthy controls.</p

Haploview pairwise analysis of Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) between NOD2 gene SNPs (A) and PARK2 gene SNPs (B).

<p>The r2 colour scheme was used. Measures of r2 = 0 are represented in white (not significant); 0</p

Methods of assessing binder removal time in PIM

Approaches to determining the time required to remove the organic vehicle from powder injection moldings are assessed in terms of their practical viability and associated errors, The binder used was a polyacetal that can be removed by a catalytic shrinking unreacted core reaction in the solid state with minimal disruption to the organisation of particles, The complete removal time can be obtained by direct observation of the binder-powder inferface, by gravimetric methods, by calculation from model equations, from temperature differences caused by enthalpy changes or by measuring the reaction product concentration in the gas stream, A new method based on the temperature sensitivity of the gas outlet after-burner to the presence of degradation products was developed and used successfully, The influence of the amount of material in the oven is also discussed and is occommodated by the new method

Age, gender, clinical BU lesion, and lesion location.

<p>Age (≤15 years old, >15 years old), gender, and clinical BU forms according to lesion distribution throughout the three major areas of the body (lower limbs, upper limbs, and head+trunk).</p

Time-delay to seek medical care related to severe BU forms.

<p>(A) multifocality (multifocal vs. unifocal lesions); (B) lesion size (≤15cm vs. >15cm); (C) WHO Category (Category 3 vs. category 1+2). Circles represent the outliers and asterisks represent the extreme outliers. Statistical significance was calculated using Welch's <i>t</i>-test. Differences with a p-value of ≤0.05 were considered significant.</p

Univariate analysis of the effect of age and gender on severe BU forms in 476 laboratory-confirmed BU treated patients at CDTUB—Allada from 2005 to 2013 (binary logistic regression).

<p>Univariate analysis of the effect of age and gender on severe BU forms in 476 laboratory-confirmed BU treated patients at CDTUB—Allada from 2005 to 2013 (binary logistic regression).</p