A Functional ABCC11 Allele Is Essential in the Biochemical Formation of Human Axillary Odor

The characteristic human axillary odor is formed by bacterial action on odor precursors that originate from apocrine sweat glands. Caucasians and Africans possess a strong axillary odor ,whereas many Asians have only a faint acidic odor. In this study, we provide evidence that the gene ABCC11 (MRP8), which encodes an apical efflux pump, is crucial for the formation of the characteristic axillary odor and that a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 538G → A, which is prominent among Asian people, leads to a nearly complete loss of the typical odor components in axillary sweat. The secretion of amino-acid conjugates of human-specific odorants is abolished in homozygotic carriers of the SNP, and steroidal odorants and their putative precursors are significantly reduced. Moreover, we show that ABCC11 is expressed and localized in apocrine sweat glands. These data point to a key function of ABCC11 in the secretion of odorants and their precursors from apocrine sweat glands. SNP 538G → A, which also determines human earwax type, is present on an extended haplotype, which has reached >95% frequency in certain populations in recent human evolution. A strong positive selection in mate choice for low-odorant partners with a dysfunctional ABCC11 gene seems a plausible explanation for this striking frequency of a loss-of-function allele

Diagnostic performance of the AID line probe assay in the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and drug resistance in Romanian patients with presumed TB.

BACKGROUND: The AID line probe assay has shown promising evaluation data on the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as well as 1st- and 2nd-line drug resistance, using isolates and selected clinical samples in previous studies. METHODS: The diagnostic performance of three AID-modules (AID INH/RIF, AID FQ/EMB and AID AG) was analyzed in sputum samples from patients with presumed tuberculosis against culture methods and phenotypic drug resistance as reference standards.Results59 patients had culture-confirmed tuberculosis. All AID modules showed moderate sensitivity (46/59, 78.0%, 65.3-87.7) and very good specificity (100%, 95.5%, 93.7%). There was a high proportion of invalid tests, resulting in 32.6%, 78.3% and 19.6% of 46 AID-positive tuberculosis cases, who could not be assessed for drug resistance by the AID INH/RIF-, AID FQ/EM- and AID AG-module, respectively. A small number of patients showed drug resistance by reference standards: Three MDR-TB cases plus three, one and one patients with resistance to streptomycin, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides, respectively. The AID-assay detected all MDR-TB cases, two of three streptomycin-resistant TB cases, one of one of fluoroquinolone-resistant and missed one aminoglycoside-resistant TB case. DISCUSSION: The high proportion of invalid results precludes the use of the AID-assay from direct sputum-based tuberculosis and drug-resistance testing

Swabian MOSES 2021: An interdisciplinary field campaign for investigating convective storms and their event chains

The Neckar Valley and the Swabian Jura in southwest Germany comprise a hotspot for severe convective storms, causing tens of millions of euros in damage each year. Possible reasons for the high frequency of thunderstorms and the associated event chain across compartments were investigated in detail during the hydro-meteorological field campaign Swabian MOSES carried out between May and September 2021. Researchers from various disciplines established more than 25 temporary ground-based stations equipped with state-of-the-art in situ and remote sensing observation systems, such as lidars, dual-polarization X- and C-band Doppler weather radars, radiosondes including stratospheric balloons, an aerosol cloud chamber, masts to measure vertical fluxes, autosamplers for water probes in rivers, and networks of disdrometers, soil moisture, and hail sensors. These fixed-site observations were supplemented by mobile observation systems, such as a research aircraft with scanning Doppler lidar, a cosmic ray neutron sensing rover, and a storm chasing team launching swarmsondes in the vicinity of hailstorms. Seven Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs) were conducted on a total of 21 operating days. An exceptionally high number of convective events, including both unorganized and organized thunderstorms such as multicells or supercells, occurred during the study period. This paper gives an overview of the Swabian MOSES (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) field campaign, briefly describes the observation strategy, and presents observational highlights for two IOPs

Concept for Markerless 6D Tracking Employing Volumetric Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical tracking systems are widely used, for example, to navigate medical interventions. Typically, they require the presence of known geometrical structures, the placement of artificial markers, or a prominent texture on the target’s surface. In this work, we propose a 6D tracking approach employing volumetric optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. OCT has a micrometer-scale resolution and employs near-infrared light to penetrate few millimeters into, for example, tissue. Thereby, it provides sub-surface information which we use to track arbitrary targets, even with poorly structured surfaces, without requiring markers. Our proposed system can shift the OCT’s field-of-view in space and uses an adaptive correlation filter to estimate the motion at multiple locations on the target. This allows one to estimate the target’s position and orientation. We show that our approach is able to track translational motion with root-mean-squared errors below 0.25 mm and in-plane rotations with errors below 0.3°. For out-of-plane rotations, our prototypical system can achieve errors around 0.6°.partially funded by Forschungszentrum Medizintechnik Hambur

Dünenmonitoring bei Sturmflutereignissen

Das Forschungsvorhaben PADO (Prozesse und Auswirkungen von Dünendurchbrüchen an der deutschen Ostseeküste) hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, wesentliche Erkenntnisse zur Dünendynamik und dem Verhalten von Dünen in Durchbruchsituationen zu generieren. Damit soll das Bemessungskonzept für Dünen und kombinierte Küstenschutzsysteme verbessert werden.Hierfür wurde ein für ein jährliches Sturmflutereignis bemessenes großmaßstäbliches Dünenbauwerk am Strand von Rostock Warnemünde errichtet. Das Bauwerk wurde durch ein auftretendes Hochwasser bis zum Versagen (Dünendurchbruch) belastet und dabei durch eine umfangreiche Instrumentierung überwacht. Mit einem 3D-Messkonzept konnte die Dünenoberfläche kontinuierlich vermessen und die stattgefundenen Prozesse, wie die Breschenbildung, erfasst werden. Die gewonnenen Daten dienen unter anderem als Grundlage für die Kalibrierung numerischer Modelle sowie für weiterführende Untersuchungen langfristiger Folgen eines Dünendurchbruchs auf das Hinterland. Hierbei wird das Hauptaugenmerk auf die damit verbundene Versalzung und den möglichen Aussüÿungsprozess gelegt. Darüber hinaus nden auf Basis der überschwemmten Gebiete sozioökonomische Auswertungen statt, bei denen technische, hydrologische und ökonomische Bewertungen der durch Dünen geschützten Küstenregionen durchgeführt werden

Antibody responses to yellow fever vaccine in 9 to 11-month-old Malian and Ghanaian children

Background: The World Health Organization recommends use of a single yellow fever (YF) vaccine dose for life and fractional doses in outbreaks when there are limited vaccine stocks. In endemic regions, this vaccine is given as part of routine infant immunization programs around 9 months of age. There is a need to better understand immune responses when vaccinating infants particularly in contexts where the child may be malnourished. Methods: Data from 393 Malian and Ghanaian infants who concomitantly received measles and YF vaccines at 9 to 11 months of age were retrospectively analyzed. Response to YF vaccine was examined for association with nutritional status at time of vaccination, sex, age, pre-vaccination titers and season of vaccination. Results: Neutralizing antibodies following vaccination were unaffected by season of vaccination, sex, pre-vaccination titers or nutritional status, though there was a trend to higher titers in males and children with higher height for age z-scores. Seroconversion rates differed significantly between countries (63.5 in Ghana vs. 91.0% in Mali). Conclusion: Longitudinal, prospective studies are needed to optimize the use of YF vaccine in infants in endemic settings. There may be a need for booster vaccinations and to compare various vaccine preparations to optimize the use of available vaccines