Current methods for the detection of Plasmodium parasite species infecting humans

Malaria is the world’s fatal parasitic disease. The ability to quickly and accurately identify malaria infection in challenging environments is crucial to allow efficient administration of the best treatment regime for human patients. If those techniques are accessible and efficient, global detection of Plasmodium species will become more sensitive, allowing faster and more precise action to be taken for disease control strategies. Recent advances in technology have enhanced our ability to diagnose different species of Plasmodium parasites with greater sensitivity and specificity. This literature review provides a summary and discussion of the current methods for the diagnosis and identification of Plasmodium spp. in human blood samples. So far not a single method is precise, but advanced technologies give consistent identification of a Plasmodium infection in endemic regions. By using the power of the recent methods, we can provide a broader understanding of the multiplicity of infection and or transmission dynamics of Plasmodium spp. This will result in improved disease control strategies, better-informed policy, and effective treatment for malaria-positive patients

Young infants' visual fixation patterns in addition and subtraction tasks support an object tracking account

Investigating infants' numerical ability is crucial to identifying the developmental origins of numeracy. Wynn (1992) Nature, 358, 749-750, claimed that 5-month-old infants understand addition and subtraction as indicated by longer looking at outcomes that violate numerical operations (i.e., 1 + 1 = 1, or 2 – 1 = 2). However, her claim is contentious, with others suggesting that her results might reflect a familiarity preference for the initial array, or that they could be explained in terms of object tracking. To cast light on this controversy, Wynn’s conditions were replicated with conventional looking time supplemented with eye tracker data. In the incorrect outcome of 2 in a subtraction event (2 – 1 = 2) infants looked selectively at the incorrectly present object, a finding that is not predicted by an initial array preference account or a symbolic numerical account, but which is consistent with a perceptual object tracking account. It appears that young infants can track at least one object over occlusion, and this may form the precursor of numerical ability

Haemoglobin and Hematinic Status Before and After Bariatric Surgery over 4 years of Follow-Up

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-03-02, rev-recd 2020-08-17, accepted 2020-08-18, registration 2020-08-19, pub-electronic 2020-09-01, online 2020-09-01, pub-print 2021-02Publication status: PublishedFunder: University of ManchesterAbstract: Purpose: Bariatric surgery is associated with deficiencies of vitamins and minerals, and patients are routinely advised supplements postoperatively. We studied prevalence of vitamin B12, folate and iron deficiencies and anaemia before and after bariatric surgery over 4 years of follow-up. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 353 people with obesity, including 257 (72.8%) women, who underwent gastric bypass (252, 71.4%) or sleeve gastrectomy (101, 28.6%) at our National Health Service bariatric centre in Northwest England. Results: At baseline, mean (standard error) age was 46.0 (0.6) years, body mass index 53.1 (0.4) kg/m2, serum vitamin B12 400.2 (16.4) pg/L, folate 7.7 (0.2) μg/L, iron 12.0 (0.3) μmol/L, ferritin 118.3 (8.4) μg/L and haemoglobin 137.9 (0.8) g/L. Frequency of low vitamin B12 levels reduced from 7.5% preoperatively to 2.3% at 48 months (P < 0.038). Mean folate levels increased from baseline to 48 months by 5.3 μg/L (P < 0.001) but frequency of low folate levels increased from 4.7% preoperatively to 10.3% (P < 0.048). Ferritin levels increased from baseline to 48 months by 51.3 μg/L (P < 0.009). Frequency of low ferritin levels was greater in women (39.1%) than in men (8.9%) at baseline (P < 0.001) and throughout the study period. Haemoglobin was low in 4.6% of all patients at baseline with no significant change over the study period. Conclusion: There were notable rates of haematinic insufficiencies in bariatric surgical candidates preoperatively. Our study lends further support to regular supplementation with vitamin B12, folic acid, and iron in people undergoing bariatric surgery

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Current methods for the detection of antimalarial drug resistance in Plasmodium parasites infecting humans

•Summary of the methods currently available for the detection of antimalarial drug resistance within blood samples of human patients.•No single method is perfect for every application, many newly developed methods give promise for a more reliable and efficient characterisation of a Plasmodium resistance.•Deeper understanding of the evolutionary and spaciotemporal dynamics of this disease.Malaria is the world's deadliest parasitic disease. Great progress has been made in the fight against malaria over the past two decades, but this has recently begun to plateau, in part due to the global development of antimalarial drug resistance. The ability to track drug resistance is necessary to achieve progress in treatment, disease surveillance and epidemiology, which has prompted the development of advanced diagnostic methods. These new methods provide unprecedented access to information that can help to guide public health policies. Development of new technologies increases the potential for high throughput and reduced costs of diagnostic tests; improving the accessibility of tools to investigate the forces driving disease dynamics and, ultimately, clinical outcomes for malaria patients and public health. This literature review provides a summary of the methods currently available for the detection of antimalarial drug resistance from the examination of patients’ blood samples. While no single method is perfect for every application, many of the newly developed methods give promise for more reliable and efficient characterisation of Plasmodium resistance in a range of settings. By exploiting the strengths of the tools available, we can develop a deeper understanding of the evolutionary and spatiotemporal dynamics of this disease. This will translate into more effective disease control, better-informed policy, and more timely and successful treatment for malaria patients

Muscle invasive bladder cancer in the elderly:Treatment and prognosis in a prospective cohort study

275 Background: As the prevalence of bladder cancer increases amongst the elderly, nearly 1 in 3 muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) cases are in patients aged &gt;80 years (Taylor JA, III, Kuchel GA. Nat Clin Pract Urol 2009; 6(3):135-1440). However, radical cystectomy remains as the gold standard treatment for MIBC (Yafi FA, Kassouf W. Can Urol Assoc J 2009; 3(5):409-412). In this study we examined treatment patterns and outcomes patients aged &gt;80 years from a prospective study of bladder cancer. Methods: The Bladder Cancer Prognosis Programme (BCPP) is a 5 year prospective cohort study (2006-2011) with 1191 patients confirmed as having newly-diagnosed bladder cancer. Recruitment took place at 9 urological centres within the West Midlands region, UK. From this cohort we identified 67 patients aged &gt;/=80 years with newly diagnosed MIBC. Study records include overall and disease specific survival, time to disease recurrence and radiotherapy (RT) treatment. Simple descriptive statistics were used to describe the outcomes. Results: This cohort consisted of 46 male and 21 female patients with a median age of 83 (IQR=81, 87; range=80, 94). Only 4 (6%) patients underwent cystectomy and 36 (53%) underwent RT. Median survival data is summarised in the table below. Conclusions: Despite guidelines, practising urologists in the West Midlands region do not offer cystectomy to the vast majority of MIBC patients aged &gt;80 years. Furthermore, in this patient cohort, OS was shorter than BCSS by 10 months, suggesting that quality of life after diagnosis will be far more important than cure rates due to deaths from other causes. Of particular note is that the group receiving RT had longer OS and BCSS than the rest of the cohort. This indicates that RT could be a far more appropriate standard of care in the elderly than surgery, which is clearly of limited applicability in this growing demographic. Clinical trial information: 06/MRE04/65. [Table: see text] </jats:p