Rv1985c, a promising novel antigen for diagnosis of tuberculosis infection from BCG-vaccinated controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antigens encoded in the region of difference (RD) of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>constitute a potential source of specific antigens for immunodiagnosis. In the present study, recombinant protein Rv1985c from RD2 was cloned, expressed, purified, immunologically characterized and investigated for its potentially diagnostic value for tuberculosis (TB) infection among BCG-vaccinated individuals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>T-cell response to Rv1985c was evaluated by IFN-γ ELISPOT in 56 TB patients, 20 latent TB infection (LTBI) and 30 BCG-vaccinated controls in comparison with the commercial T-SPOT. <it>TB </it>kit. Humoral response was evaluated by ELISA in 117 TB patients, 45 LTBI and 67 BCG-vaccinated controls, including all those who had T-cell assay, in comparison with a commercial IgG kit.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Rv1985c was specifically recognized by cellular and humoral responses from both TB and LTBI groups compared with healthy controls. Rv1985c IgG-ELISA achieved 52% and 62% sensitivity respectively, which outperformed the sensitivity of PATHOZYME-MYCO kit (34%) in detecting active TB (P = 0.011), whereas IFN-γ Rv1985c-ELISPOT achieved 71% and 55% sensitivity in detecting active and LTBI, respectively. Addition of Rv1985c increased sensitivities of ESAT-6, CFP-10 and ESAT-6/CFP-10 combination in detecting TB from 82.1% to 89.2% (P = 0.125), 67.9% to 87.5% (P < 0.001) and 85.7% to 92.9% (P = 0.125), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In conclusion, Rv1985c is a novel antigen which can be used to immunologically diagnose TB infection along with other immunodominant antigens among BCG-vaccinated population.</p

Experimental study on the vertical deformation of sand caused by cyclic withdrawal and recharging of groundwater

Fast urban growth and an ever-increasing frequency of extreme weather-related events demand a better understanding of land subsidence and the potential measures to control it. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the deformation behavior of sand undergoing cyclic withdrawal and recharging of groundwater. A sand-box model with dimensions 1000 mm × 600 mm × 892 mm was used to investigate soil deformation following lowering and rising of the water table. The sand used was Pingtan sand (Fujian, China) a quartzitic formation composed of elongated to slightly spherical grains. Three sand samples with different initial densities, i.e. loose, medium dense and dense, were tested on repeated cycles. The vertical deformation of the sand was measured and the corresponding strain and effective stress were calculated. The observations show that initially the sand behaves as an elastic material with the subsidence caused by water withdrawal being recovered as the soil rebounds during recharging. With further withdrawal–recharging cycles, subsidence becomes larger as plastic deformations as well as time-dependent deformation occur in the soil. The distinct patterns of deformation were identified to be dependent on both the initial density and the number of withdrawal–recharging cycle the sand has been subjected to. The different behavior of the medium dense sample compared to the loose and dense samples, in particular for the first two cycles, indicates that the soil response cannot be explained in respect of the initial void ratio alone and further microstructure considerations were discussed. It is suggested that the orientation of the grains resulting from the sample preparation technique and the consequent induced anisotropy can be used to explain the results herein presented. Finally this paper provides the rationale for a micromechanical interpretation of soil deformation when subjected to changes in stress due to rising or lowering of the water table, which will help in establishing measures to control land subsidence, in particular to assess the efficiency of water recharging following subsidence by withdrawal

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

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Synthesis of Fe3O4/polypyrrole/polyaniline nanocomposites by in-situ method and their electromagnetic absorbing properties

Fe3O4/PPy/PANI (Fe3O4/polypyrrole/polyaniline) nanocomposites with excellent microwave absorbing properties have been successfully synthesized and characterized systematically. In detail, Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared via an environmental friendly, modified co-precipitation method. Afterward, two conductive polymers, PPy and PANI, were deposited onto the surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by in-situ polymerization of pyrrole and aniline. PPy and PANI was “glued” by the strong affinity between the carbonyl groups of PPy and the conjugated chains of PANI. The obtained Fe3O4/PPy/PANI nanocomposites have been found to possess excellent microwave absorbing property with the absorption bandwidth of 10.7 GHz (6.7–17.4 GHz) and maximum reflection loss at 10.1 GHz (−40.2 dB). It proves that the combination of ultra-small Fe3O4 nanoparticles with two different conductive polymers have a great potential in the application of microwave absorbing materials

Facile synthesis of Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide/polyvinyl pyrrolidone ternary composites and their enhanced microwave absorbing properties

In this paper, ternary nanocomposites of Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (Fe3O4/rGO/PVP) as a novel type of electromagnetic microwave absorbing materials were synthesized by a three-step chemical approach. First, Fe3O4 nanospheres were made by solvent thermal method. Successively, the Fe3O4 particles were assembled with rGO after having activated by para-aminobenzoic acid. PVP grafting and reduction of GO happened simultaneously in the third step. It is found that the electromagnetic absorption (EA) performance of synthesized ternary composites with suitable PVP amount had been significantly enhanced comparing to Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/rGO. Merely 15 wt% low loading in paraffin and thin as 2.8 mm can reach effective EA bandwidth (below −10 Db) of 11.2 GHz, and the highest reflection loss reached −67 dB at 10.7 GHz. It was demonstrated that these composites show an effective route to novel microwave absorbing material design. Keywords: Nanocomposite synthesis, Wideband microwave absorbing, Reduced graphene oxide, Polyvinyl pyrrolidon

Decorating MOF-Derived Nanoporous Co/C in Chain-Like Polypyrrole (PPy) Aerogel: A Lightweight Material with Excellent Electromagnetic Absorption

To clear away the harmful effects of the increment of electromagnetic pollution, high performance absorbers with appropriate impedance matching and strong attenuation capacity are strongly desired. In this study, a chain-like PPy aerogel decorated with MOF-derived nanoporous Co/C (Co/C@PPy) has been successfully prepared by a self-assembled polymerization method. With a filler loading ratio of 10 wt %, the composite of Co/C@PPy could achieve a promising electromagnetic absorption performance both in intensity and bandwidth. An optimal reflection loss value of &minus;44.76 dB is achieved, and the effective bandwidth (reflection loss lower than &minus;10 dB) is as large as 6.56 GHz. Furthermore, a composite only loaded with 5 wt % Co/C@PPy also achieves an effective bandwidth of 5.20 GHz, which is even better than numerous reported electromagnetic absorption (EA) materials. The result reveals that the as-fabricated Co/C@PPy&mdash;with high absorption intensity, broad bandwidth, and light weight properties&mdash;can be utilized as a competitive absorber