Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative and progressive illness with no known cure, is the most frequent cause of dementia in older adults. Dementia in AD is usually preceded by a stage of ...cognitive decline known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI has gained attention as an ideal target for prevention and early interventions, considering its reversible characteristic. Here, we propose a magneto-immunoassay based on a low-cost screen-printed electrode for detecting soluble ADAM10 in plasma samples, a potential biomarker for early AD diagnosis. We present a sandwich immunoassay using magnetic beads modified with antibodies to capture ADAM10 from plasma samples and using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as an electrochemical label. The assay was designed to accurately detect ADAM10 in diluted plasma with a limit of detection (LoD) of 32.5 pg/mL and a dynamic linear range of 10.0–1000.0 pg/mL. Twenty-three plasma samples from the elderly, including patients with AD, MCI, and healthy subjects (negative control), were analyzed by the magneto-immunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the ADAM10 levels correlated. This work shows the potential of this protein as a biomarker in the early diagnosis and progression of AD and provides an interesting disposable device with capabilities for applications as point-of-care (PoC) to measure ADAM10 levels.
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•A magneto-immunoassay was developed for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).•The ADAM 10 biomarker was detected in plasma using a simple screen-printed electrode.•The immunoassay showed capability for early diagnosis of AD.
We report that two laboratory colonies of Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes were experimentally unable to transmit ZIKV either up to 21 days post an infectious blood meal or up to ...14 days post intrathoracic inoculation. Infectious viral particles were detected in bodies, heads or saliva by a plaque forming unit assay on Vero cells. We therefore consider it unlikely that Culex mosquitoes are involved in the rapid spread of ZIKV.
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) conditions for testing the susceptibilities of pathogenic
species to antifungal agents are based on a collaborative study that evaluated five ...clinically relevant isolates of
and some antifungal agents. With the advent of molecular identification, there are two basic needs: to confirm the suitability of these testing conditions for all agents and
species and to establish species-specific epidemiologic cutoff values (ECVs) or breakpoints (BPs) for the species. We collected available CLSI MICs/minimal effective concentrations (MECs) of amphotericin B, five triazoles, terbinafine, flucytosine, and caspofungin for 301
, 486
, 75
, and 13
molecularly identified isolates. Data were obtained in 17 independent laboratories (Australia, Europe, India, South Africa, and South and North America) using conidial inoculum suspensions and 48 to 72 h of incubation at 35°C. Sufficient and suitable data (modal MICs within 2-fold concentrations) allowed the proposal of the following ECVs for
and
, respectively: amphotericin B, 4 and 4 μg/ml; itraconazole, 2 and 2 μg/ml; posaconazole, 2 and 2 μg/ml; and voriconazole, 64 and 32 μg/ml. Ketoconazole and terbinafine ECVs for
were 2 and 0.12 μg/ml, respectively. Insufficient or unsuitable data precluded the calculation of ketoconazole and terbinafine (or any other antifungal agent) ECVs for
, as well as ECVs for
and
These ECVs could aid the clinician in identifying potentially resistant isolates (non-wild type) less likely to respond to therapy.
BACKGROUND
Efforts have been made to correctly characterize the role of the immune response in endometriosis. The objective of this study was to analyse the interaction between Th1 and Th2 immune ...response patterns and endometriosis by evaluating a panel of cytokines.
METHODS
Between January 2004 and November 2005, 98 patients, classified into two groups according to the histologically confirmed presence (Group A) or absence of endometriosis (Group B), were evaluated. Interleukins (IL) 2, 4 and 10, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were measured by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood and peritoneal fluid of all patients.
RESULTS
IFN-gamma and IL-10 levels were significantly higher in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis compared to those without endometriosis (P < 0.05). There was a significant alteration in the IL-4/IFN-gamma (P < 0.001), IL-4/IL-2 (P = 0.006), IL-10/IFN-gamma (P < 0.001) and the IL-10/IL-2 ratios (P < 0.001) in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis, with a predominance of IL-4 and IL-10, reflecting a shift towards Th2 immune response despite the increase in IFN-gamma concentrations.
CONCLUSIONS
Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease involving a possible shift towards Th2 immune response component, as demonstrated by the relative increase in cytokines characteristic of this pattern of immune response.
To reduce dependence on petroleum, an alternative route to production of the chemical feedstock 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from renewable lignocellulosic sources is desirable. In this communication, the ...genes encoding the pathway from pyruvate to 2,3-BD (alsS, alsD, and bdhA encoding acetolactate synthase, acetolactate decarboxylase, and butanediol dehydrogenase, respectively) from Bacillus subtilis were engineered into a single tricistronic operon under control of the isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible Pₛₚₐc promoter in a shuttle plasmid capable of replication and expression in either B. subtilis or Escherichia coli. We describe the construction and performance of a shuttle plasmid carrying the IPTG-inducible synthetic operon alsSDbdhA coding for 2,3-BD pathway capable of (i) expression in two important representative model microorganisms, the gram-positive B. subtilis and the gram-negative E. coli; (ii) increasing 2,3-BD production in B. subtilis; and (iii) successfully introducing the B. subtilis 2,3-BD pathway into E. coli. The synthetic alsSDbdhA operon constructed using B. subtilis native genes not only increased the 2,3-BD production in its native host but also efficiently expressed the pathway in the heterologous organism E. coli. Construction of an efficient shuttle plasmid will allow investigation of 2,3-BD production performance in related organisms with industrial potential for production of bio-based chemicals.
Abstract Combining the results of behavioral, neuronal immediate early gene activation, lesion and neuroanatomical experiments, we have presently investigated the role of the superior colliculus (SC) ...in predatory hunting. First, we have shown that insect hunting is associated with a characteristic large increase in Fos expression in the lateral part of the intermediate gray layer of the SC (SCig). Next, we have shown that animals with bilateral NMDA lesions of the lateral parts of the SC presented a significant delay in starting to chase the prey and longer periods engaged in other activities than predatory hunting. They also showed a clear deficit to orient themselves toward the moving prey and lost the stereotyped sequence of actions seen for capturing, holding and killing the prey. Our Phaseolus vulgaris -leucoagglutinin analysis revealed that the lateral SCig, besides providing the well-documented descending crossed pathway to premotor sites in brainstem and spinal cord, projects to a number of midbrain and diencephalic sites likely to influence key functions in the context of the predatory behavior, such as general levels of arousal, motivational level to hunt or forage, behavioral planning, appropriate selection of the basal ganglia motor plan to hunt, and motor output of the primary motor cortex. In contrast to the lateral SC lesions, medial SC lesions produced a small deficit in predatory hunting, and compared to what we have seen for the lateral SCig, the medial SCig has a very limited set of projections to thalamic sites related to the control of motor planning or motor output, and provides conspicuous inputs to brainstem sites involved in organizing a wide range of anti-predatory defensive responses. Overall, the present results served to clarify how the different functional domains in the SC may mediate the decision to pursue and hunt a prey or escape from a predator.
As the pathogenic effects of a parasite on its hosts can strongly influence its epidemiology, we compared the life-histories of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2)-infected and uninfected
Aedes aegypti ...females. Unexposed mosquitoes lived longer than exposed ones, but those infected lived longer than exposed but negative (as assayed by Real-Time quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR qRT-PCR) mosquitoes. Infected mosquitoes from a long-established laboratory colony presented more viral RNA copies at death than those from the F1-generation of a field population from Rio de Janeiro. The mortality of infected colony-mosquitoes was independent of the number of viral RNA copies at death, whereas in the field population, longevity decreased with the number of viral RNA copies, suggesting that F1 of field mosquitoes are less tolerant to infection than the laboratory-colony. Infected females had a lower fecundity than controls. F1 of field mosquitoes were more likely to lay eggs than the colony; egg-laying success was strongly affected by mosquito age for both mosquito populations: from 49.28 in the first clutch to 20.7 in the fifth. Overall, DENV-2 reduced
Aedes aegypti survival and fecundity, clearly affecting vectorial capacity and consequently transmission intensity.
In the Amazonian rain forest, major parts of trees and
shrubs are covered by epiphytic cryptogams of great taxonomic variety, but
their relevance in biosphere–atmosphere exchange, climate processes, ...and
nutrient cycling is largely unknown. As cryptogams are poikilohydric
organisms, they are physiologically active only under moist conditions.
Thus, information on their water content (WC) as well as temperature and light
conditions experienced by them are essential to analyze their impact on
local, regional, and even global biogeochemical processes. In this study, we
present data on the microclimatic conditions, including water content,
temperature, and light conditions experienced by epiphytic bryophytes along
a vertical gradient, and combine these with above-canopy climate data
collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in the Amazonian rain forest between October 2014 and
December 2016. While the monthly average of above-canopy light intensities
revealed only minor fluctuations over the course of the year, the light
intensities experienced by the bryophytes varied depending on the location
within the canopy, probably caused by individual shading by vegetation. In
the understory (1.5 m), monthly average light intensities were similar
throughout the year, and individual values were extremely low, remaining
below 3 µmol m−2 s−1 photosynthetic photon flux density
more than 84 % of the time. Temperatures showed only minor
variations throughout the year, with higher values and larger
height-dependent differences during the dry season. The indirectly assessed
water content of bryophytes varied depending on precipitation, air
humidity, dew condensation, and bryophyte type. Whereas bryophytes in the
canopy were affected by diel fluctuations of the relative humidity and
condensation, those close to the forest floor mainly responded to rainfall
patterns. In general, bryophytes growing close to the forest floor were
limited by light availability, while those growing in the canopy had to
withstand larger variations in microclimatic conditions, especially during
the dry season. For further research in this field, these data may be
combined with CO2 gas exchange measurements to investigate the role of
bryophytes in various biosphere–atmosphere exchange processes, and could be
a tool to understand the functioning of the epiphytic community in greater
detail.
A spark-resistant bulk-micromegas chamber for high-rate applications Alexopoulos, T.; Burnens, J.; de Oliveira, R. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
06/2011, Letnik:
640, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
We report on the design and performance of a spark-resistant bulk-micromegas chamber. The principle of this design lends itself to the construction of large-area muon chambers for the upgrade of the ...detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN for luminosities in excess of 10
34
cm
−2
s
−1 or other high-rate applications.
At least one climate model predicts severe reductions of rainfall over Amazonia during this century. Long-term throughfall exclusion (TFE) experiments represent the best available means to ...investigate the resilience of the Amazon rainforest to such droughts. Results are presented from a 7 yr TFE study at Caxiuanã National Forest, eastern Amazonia. We focus on the impacts of the drought on tree mortality, wood production and above-ground biomass. Tree mortality in the TFE plot over the experimental period was 2.5% yr⁻¹ compared with 1.25% yr⁻¹ in a nearby control plot experiencing normal rainfall. Differences in stem mortality between plots were greatest in the largest (> 40 cm diameter at breast height (dbh)) size class (4.1 % yr⁻¹ in the TFE and 1.4% yr⁻¹ in the control). Wood production in the TFE plot was 30% lower than in the control plot. Together, these changes resulted in a loss of 37.8 ± 2.0 Mg carbon (C) ha⁻¹ in the TFE plot (2002-2008), compared with no change in the control. These results are remarkably consistent with those from another TFE (at Tapajós National Forest), suggesting that eastern Amazonian forests may respond to prolonged drought in a predictable manner.
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