ANTI M. leprae IgM ANTIBODY DETERMINATION BY ULTRAMICROIMMUNOENZYMATIC (UMELISA HANSEN) FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING LEPROSY

The relationship between the IgM antibody response, antigenic load as well as the clinical improvement after chemotherapy was studied in order to obtain useful data for the early diagnosis and monitoring leprosy. A level of 82% (94/115) agreement was obtained between IgM UMELISA HANSEN and slitskin smear examination. Discrepant results were observed in 16 patients who showed positive IgM response despite negative by the skin smear examination. In these patients, the IgM response was seen to be associated to the early signal for bacilli recurrence in the skin. In one of these patients the presence of bacilli was demonstrated in the skin, two months after IgM antibodies being detected by UMELISA HANSEN. Also in one of the treated patients positive by both diagnostic techniques, a remarkable decrease in the IgM antibody levels was seen, correlating with a significant clinical improvement. Moreover it was found a direct relationship between the IgM antibody response and bacterial antigenic load, regardless the time elapsed in the disease's evolution.

Criteria for the selection of foster families and monitoring of placements.: Comparative study of the application of the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory-Applicant Version (CFAI-A)

Based on a literature review, this article frames different stages of the foster care process, identifying a set of standardized measures in the American and Portuguese contexts which, if implemented, could contribute towards higher levels of foster success. The article continues with the presentation of a comparative study, based on the application of the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory-Applicant Version (CFAI-A) questionnaire, in the aforementioned contexts. Taking a comparative analyses of CFAI-A's psychometric characteristics in four different samples as a starting point, one discovered that despite the fact that the questionnaire was adapted to Portuguese reality, it kept the quality values presented on the American samples. It specifically shows significant values regarding reliability and validity. This questionnaire, which aims to assess the potential of foster families, also supports the technical staff's decision making process regarding the monitoring and support of foster families, while it also promotes a better decision in the placement process towards the child's integration and development.

Emerging (Bio)Sensing Technology for Assessing and Monitoring Freshwater Contamination – Methods and Applications

Ecological Water Quality - Water Treatment and Reuse

Interdisciplinary knowledge transfer and technological applications for assessment, strengthening and monitoring of timber structures in Europe

COST (European Co-operation in the field of scientific and technical research) is the longest running framework for research co-operation iri Europe, having been established in 1971 by a Ministerial Conference attended by Ministers for Science and Technology from 19 countries. Today COST is used by the scientific communities of 35 European countries to cooperate in exchanging knowledge and technology developed within research projects supported by national or European funds. The main objective of COST is to contribute to the realization of the European Research Área (ERA) anticipating and complementing the activities of the' Framework Programmes, constituting a "bridge" towards the scientific communities of emerging countries, increasing the mobility of researchers across Europe and fostering the establishment of "Networks of Excelience". Another essential objective is the knowledge transfer between the scientific soc'iety and industry. It is widely acknowledged that European scientific performance in relation to investment in science is excellent but technological and commercial performance has steadily worsened. The present paper discusses how the COST Action's instruments, from training schools to short scientific missions and workshops have been used within The COST ACTION FP11O1 Assessment, Reinforcement and Monitoring of Timber Structures to achieve such objectives.

Electron Beam Welding In-Process Control and Monitoring

This work presents the results of an investigation of processes in the melting zone during Electron Beam Welding(EBW) through analysis of the secondary current in the plasma.The studies show that the spectrum of the secondary emission signal during steel welding has a pronounced periodic component at a frequency of around 15–25 kHz. The signal contains quasi-periodic sharp peaks (impulses). These impulses have stochastically varying amplitude and follow each other inseries, at random intervals between series. The impulses have a considerable current (up to 0.5 A). It was established that during electron-beam welding with the focal spot scanning these impulses follow each other almost periodically. It was shown that the probability of occurrence of these high-frequency perturbation increases with the concentration of energy in the interaction zone. The paper also presents hypotheses for the mechanism of the formation of the high-frequency oscillations in the secondary current signal in the plasma.

Understanding and monitoring attitudes of product properties over time

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Informatik, Diss., 2015

Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 2: epitope mapping and biological activity analysis of specific antibodies

Background: Plasmodium falciparum(P. falciparum) merozoite surfaceprotein 2 (MSP-2) is one of bloodstage proteins that are associated withprotection from malaria. MSP-2 consistsof a highly polymorphic centralrepeat region flanked by a dimorphicregion that defines the two allelicfamilies, 3D7 and FC27; N- and Cterminalregions are conserved domains.Long synthetic peptides (LSP)representing the two allelic familiesof MSP-2 and constant regions arerecognized by sera from donors livingin endemic areas; and specific antibodies(Abs) are associated with protectionand active in antibody dependentcellular inhibition (ADCI) in vitro.However, the fine specificity ofAb response to the two allelic familiesof MSP-2 is unknown. Methods: Peptidesrepresenting dimorphic regionof 3D7 and FC27 families and theirC-terminal (common fragment to thetwo families) termed 3D7-D (88 aa),FC27-D (48 aa) and C (40 aa) respectivelywere synthesized. Overlapping20 mer peptides covering dimorphicand constant regions of two familieswere also synthesized for epitopemapping. Human sera were obtainedfrom donors living in malaria endemicareas. SpecificDand CregionsAbs were purified from single or poolhuman sera. Sera from mice were obtainedafter immunization with thetwo families LSP mixture in three differentadjuvants: alhydrogel (Alum),Glucopyranosyl Lipid Adjuvant-Stableoil-in-water Emulsion (GLA-SE)and Virosome. For ADCI, P. falciparum(strain 3D7) parasite wasmaintained in culture at 0.5% parasitemiaand 4% hematocrit in air tightbox at love oxygen (2%) and 37 ºC.Results: We identified several epitopesfrom the dimorphic and constantregions of both families of MSP-2, inmice and humans (adults and children).In human, most recognizedepitopes were the same in differentendemic regions for each domain ofthe two families of MSP-2. In mice,the differential recognition of epitopewas depending on the strain of mouseand interestingly on the adjuvantused. GLA-SE and alum as adjuvantswere more often associated with therecognition of multiple epitopes thanvirosomes. Epitope-specific Abs recognizednative merozoites of P.falciparum and were active in ADCIto block development of parasite.Conclusion: The delineation of a limitednumber of epitopes could be exploitedto develop MSP-2 vaccinesactive on both allelic families ofMSP-2.

Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 2: epitope mapping and fine specificity of human antibody response against non-polymorphic domains.

BACKGROUND: Two long synthetic peptides representing the dimorphic and constant C-terminal domains of the two allelic families of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface proteins 2 are considered promising malaria vaccine candidates. The aim of the current study is to characterize the immune response (epitope mapping) in naturally exposed individuals and relate immune responses to the risk of clinical malaria. METHODS: To optimize their construction, the fine specificity of human serum antibodies from donors of different age, sex and living in four distinct endemic regions was determined in ELISA by using overlapping 20 mer peptides covering the two domains. Immune purified antibodies were used in Western blot and immunofluorescence assay to recognize native parasite derivate proteins. RESULTS: Immunodominant epitopes were characterized, and their distribution was similar irrespective of geographic origin, age group and gender. Acquisition of a 3D7 family and constant region-specific immune response and antibody avidity maturation occur early in life while a longer period is needed for the corresponding FC27 family response. In addition, the antibody response to individual epitopes within the 3D7 family-specific region contributes to protection from malaria infection with different statistical weight. It is also illustrated that affinity-purified antibodies against the dimorphic or constant regions recognized homologous and heterologous parasites in immunofluorescence and homologous and heterologous MSP2 and other polypeptides in Western blot. CONCLUSION: Data from this current study may contribute to a development of MSP2 vaccine candidates based on conserved and dimorphic regions thus bypassing the complexity of vaccine development related to the polymorphism of full-length MSP2.

Assessing, measuring and monitoring local health inequalities

This briefing has been put together by Eastern Region PHO outlining how to measure and monitor health inequalities in a local area, such as a primary care trust (PCT) or a local authority. It has been designed to help support action to tackle health inequalities in new NHS organisations and for Local Area Agreements (LAAs). Click on the link to view the document.

Genomic organization, fine-mapping, and expression of the human islet-brain 1 (IB1)/c-Jun-amino-terminal kinase interacting protein-1 (JIP-1) gene.

Islet-brain 1 (IB1), a regulator of the pancreatic beta-cell function in the rat, is homologous to JIP-1, a murine inhibitor of c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK). Whether IB1 and JIP-1 are present in humans was not known. We report the sequence of the 2133-bp human IB1 cDNA, the expression, structure, and fine-mapping of the human IB1 gene, and the characterization of an IB1 pseudogene. Human IB1 is 94% identical to rat IB1. The tissue-specific expression of IB1 in human is similar to that observed in rodent. The IB1 gene contains 12 exons and maps to chromosome 11 (11p11.2-p12), a region that is deleted in DEFECT-11 syndrome. Apart from an IB1 pseudogene on chromosome 17 (17q21), no additional IB1-related gene was found in the human genome. Our data indicate that the sequence and expression pattern of IB1 are highly conserved between rodent and human and provide the necessary tools to investigate whether IB1 is involved in human diseases.

Characterization and monitoring of the Åknes landslide using terrestrial laser scanning

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) provides high-resolution point clouds of the topography and new TLS instruments with ranges exceeding 300 m or even 1000 m are powerful tools for characterizing and monitoring slope movements. This study focuses on the 35 million m3 Åknes rockslide in Western Norway, which is one of the most investigated and monitored rockslides in the world. The TLS point clouds are used for the structural analysis of the steep, inaccessible main scarp of the rockslide, including an assessment of the discontinuity sets and fold axes. TLS acquisitions in 2006, 2007 and 2008 provide information on 3-D displacements for the entire scanned area and are not restricted like conventional survey instruments to single measurement points. The affine transformation matrix between two TLS acquisitions precisely describes the rockslide displacements and enables their separation into translational components, such as the displacement velocity and direction, and rotational components, like toppling. This study shows the ability of TLS to obtain reliable 3-D displacement information over a large, unstable area. Finally, a possible instability model for the upper part of Åknes rockslide explains the measured translational and rotational displacements by a combination of southward planar sliding along the gneiss foliation, gravitational vertical settlement along the complex, stepped basal sliding surface and northward toppling toward the opened graben structure.

Non-invasive dry mass determination and monitoring at the single cell level with digital holographic microscopy

Digital holography microscopy (DHM) is an optical microscopy technique which allows recording non-invasively the phase shift induced by living cells with nanometric sensitivity. Here, we exploit the phase signal as an indicator of dry mass (related to the protein concentration). This parameter allows monitoring the protein production rate and its evolution during the cell cycle. ©2008 COPYRIGHT SPIE