Role of environmental poliovirus surveillance in global polio eradication and beyond

Environmental poliovirus surveillance (ENV) means monitoring of poliovirus (PV) transmission in human populations by examining environmental specimens supposedly contaminated by human faeces. The rationale is based on the fact that PV-infected individuals, whether presenting with disease symptoms or not, shed large amounts of PV in the faeces for several weeks. As the morbidity:infection ratio of PV infection is very low, this fact contributes to the sensitivity of ENV which under optimal conditions can be better than that of the standard acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance. The World Health Organization has included ENV in the new Strategic Plan of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for years 2010-2012 to be increasingly used in PV surveillance, supplementing AFP surveillance. In this paper we review the feasibility of using ENV to monitor wild PV and vaccine-derived PV circulation in human populations, based on global experiences in defined epidemiological situation

Outcome Measures in Adult Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus:A Systematic Review

Objectives:Core outcome domains (CODs) for treatment of adult vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) have recently been established through a Delphi study. A number of measuring tools are available for evaluating VLS. The aim of this study is to identify available standardized measurement tools for the major CODs for VLS that have recently been defined, namely, physical findings and quality of life (QoL) specific to VLS. Materials and Methods: A systematic search through September 8, 2023, for measuring tools applicable to VLS regarding physical findings and QoL including sexual function or sexual well-being and self-image was performed. Results: Thirty-five studies were included in the systematic review describing 26 tools covering the following 6 outcome domains: QoL-general health, QoL-lichen sclerosus specific, symptoms, clinical signs, emotional impact, and sexual functioning. Conclusions: In current research, there is no uniformity in use of measurement tools for evaluating VLS. The established CODs to evaluate treatment of VLS are applicable for evaluating disease course as well. A comprehensive study to reach consensus regarding measurement of physical findings, QoL-lichen sclerosus specific, sexuality, and self-image taking the predetermined CODs and other factors such as age into account is needed.</p

Characterization of fastidious adenovirus types 40 and 41 by DNA restriction enzyme analysis and by neutralizing monoclonal antibodies.

The DNA of 48 strains of adenovirus type 40 (Ad40) and of 128 strains of adenovirus type 41 (Ad41), isolated between 1971 and 1986 from various countries, was characterized by restriction enzyme analysis using nine and ten restriction endonucleases respectively. Five new DNA variants of Ad40 and 18 new DNA variants of Ad41 were detected. Most of the restriction sites which differed among the various DNA variants appeared to be distributed at random over the entire length of the viral genomes of the two serotypes. The number of restriction sites by which two DNA variants differed from each other was used as a measure of their relatedness. Several clusters of closely related DNA variants were observed for each of the two serotypes. The 35 DNA variants of Ad40 and Ad41 were used to test monoclonal antibody preparations for their range of reactivity in a neutralization assay. One monoclonal antibody (5-8), raised against Ad40 strain Dugan, showed type-specific neutralization of all 11 Ad40 DNA variants tested. Six monoclonal antibodies, raised against Ad41 strain Tak, neutralized different proportions of the variants of Ad41. Two of these preparations (1-21 and 3-19) neutralized all 24 Ad41 DNA variants, while a third (1-23) reacted with only 12 Ad41 variants. Three other monoclonal antibody preparations (3-10, 3-18, 7-14) reacted specifically with only 6 of these 12 variants. The patterns of reactivity with the monoclonal antibody preparations correlated with the presence or absence of a HindIII restriction site at 56 map units and of an EcoRI restriction site at 52 map units on the Ad41 DNA. This region of the adenovirus DNA codes for the hexon protein, which is known to contain the type-specific neutralizing antigenic determinants

Outcome Measures in Adult Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus:A Case Series of Women Diagnosed as Juveniles

OBJECTIVES: Studies on the consequences of juvenile vulvar lichen sclerosus (JVLS) in adulthood are limited. A number of measuring tools are available for analyzing adult vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS), but these have not been applied in studies on JVLS. The aim is to study physical findings, quality of life, sexual well-being, and self-image in adult women with a history of juvenile VLS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult women with a biopsy proven history of JVLS were recruited to be examined and surveyed using available standardized measurement tools. This took place in an outpatient setting by physicians who were not involved in the treatment of participants. RESULTS: Twenty-seven women (median age 29 years) with a history of JVLS and median time since biopsy of 19.5 years were recruited. Of these women, 59% currently had symptoms, 63% had signs of active disease, and 85% had moderate to severe architectural changes. Despite these residual signs, vulvar specific-quality of life and vulvar self-image scored favorably while generic health-related quality of life was somewhat effected. CONCLUSIONS: JVLS has consequences in adulthood involving physical findings and vulvar quality of life. The use of standardized outcome measures for clinical practice and research purposes facilitates a better understanding of the sequelae to JVLS.</p

Characterization of fastidious adenovirus types 40 and 41 by DNA restriction enzyme analysis and by neutralizing monoclonal antibodies.

The DNA of 48 strains of adenovirus type 40 (Ad40) and of 128 strains of adenovirus type 41 (Ad41), isolated between 1971 and 1986 from various countries, was characterized by restriction enzyme analysis using nine and ten restriction endonucleases respectively. Five new DNA variants of Ad40 and 18 new DNA variants of Ad41 were detected. Most of the restriction sites which differed among the various DNA variants appeared to be distributed at random over the entire length of the viral genomes of the two serotypes. The number of restriction sites by which two DNA variants differed from each other was used as a measure of their relatedness. Several clusters of closely related DNA variants were observed for each of the two serotypes. The 35 DNA variants of Ad40 and Ad41 were used to test monoclonal antibody preparations for their range of reactivity in a neutralization assay. One monoclonal antibody (5-8), raised against Ad40 strain Dugan, showed type-specific neutralization of all 11 Ad40 DNA variants tested. Six monoclonal antibodies, raised against Ad41 strain Tak, neutralized different proportions of the variants of Ad41. Two of these preparations (1-21 and 3-19) neutralized all 24 Ad41 DNA variants, while a third (1-23) reacted with only 12 Ad41 variants. Three other monoclonal antibody preparations (3-10, 3-18, 7-14) reacted specifically with only 6 of these 12 variants. The patterns of reactivity with the monoclonal antibody preparations correlated with the presence or absence of a HindIII restriction site at 56 map units and of an EcoRI restriction site at 52 map units on the Ad41 DNA. This region of the adenovirus DNA codes for the hexon protein, which is known to contain the type-specific neutralizing antigenic determinants

Comparison of beam combiners for a synthetic aperture imaging telescope

Future astronomical space missions will comprise a constellation of several optical telescopes to detect exo-planets by interferometric nulling of starlight. The Darwin mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASAs Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer both consist of a free-flying collection of telescopes and a beam combiner. As such, the constellation provides a co-phased array of telescopes that can also be used for aperture synthesis imaging. This imaging technique relies on recording intensity interference patterns, in which the layout of the beam combination optics and the detector play a key role. Several designs for beam combination have been proposed in the literature. In this article, we compare these beam combiners by rigorously simulating the imaging process of a weak stellar source, taking into account the photon arrival statistics, an imperfect detection process and the image reconstruction from the recorded data. The results are presented as the to be expected reconstruction error in the luminous intensity distribution function of a wide-field stellar source versus the provided amount of photons. Using these results, the optimum design of the combination beam combiner and detector array can be identified

Structured analysis of histopathological characteristics of vulvar lichen sclerosus in a juvenile population

Genital lichen sclerosus (LS), a chronic noninfectious dermatosis, is not rare in pediatric dermatology. The histopathological diagnosis in children and adults in both genital and nongenital LS is considered to be the same and encompasses a broad range of possible characteristics. Clinical manifestations and treatment options of genital LS in children are different depending on gender. The vast majority of boys are treated with circumcision, making for a larger amount of information on the histopathology of genital LS in boys, whereas substantial information on the histopathology of juvenile vulvar LS is lacking. In girls, vulvar LS almost always persists beyond puberty and, therefore, presents a particular challenge to clinicians and cause for concern for the patient. Vulvar LS in childhood and adolescence (juveniles) is underreported, and there are uncertainties with regard to the long-term course of the disease when it occurs at an age when the vulva is still developing. The present study investigates biopsi