Detection of selected vector-borne pathogens in domestic animals, ectoparasites, and their owners in a rural community in Southwest Guatemala.

Vector-borne pathogens, which are transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods to animals and people, are common in tropical regions where, combined with economic factors, can cause significant public health burden. A community-level study was undertaken in southwestern Guatemala to assess the presence of vector-borne pathogens in blood samples from humans (n = 98), their animals (n = 90), and ectoparasites (n = 83) over a period of 2 weeks. Human capillary blood was collected from participant's index finger, and animal venous blood (chickens, pigs, dogs, and cats) was collected from the jugular or cephalic veins at the enrollment period of a concurrent study.

Preliminary Characterization of a Novel Aerosol Jet-Printed Strain Sensor for Feasibility Assessment in a Variable Stiffness Arterial Simulator Application.

Wearable strain sensors are widespread in many fields, including the biomedical field where they are used for their stretchability and ability to be applied to non-regular surfaces. The study of the propagation speed of the pressure wave generated by the heartbeat within vessels, i.e.

Evaluating the significance of Toxoplasma gondii sporozoite antibodies in cats: a pilot study.

Background: People can acquire Toxoplasma gondii infection by ingestion of sporulated oocysts passed in cat feces; whether this route is common in cats is unknown. The primary objectives of this study were to (a) adapt a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of T. gondii tachyzoite IgG antibodies in feline sera to detect T.

Comparative Approach to Performance Estimation of Pulsed Wave Doppler Equipment Based on Kiviat Diagram.

Quality assessment of ultrasound medical systems is a demanding task due to the high number of parameters to quantify their performance: in the present study, a Kiviat diagram-based integrated approach was proposed to effectively combine the contribution of some experimental parameters and quantify the overall performance of pulsed wave Doppler (PWD) systems for clinical applications. Four test parameters were defined and assessed through custom-written measurement methods based on image analysis, implemented in the MATLAB environment, and applied to spectral images of a flow phantom, i.e.

Quorum Quenching Approaches against Bacterial-Biofilm-Induced Antibiotic Resistance.

With the widespread phenomenon of antibiotic resistance and the diffusion of multiple drug-resistant bacterial strains, enormous efforts are being conducted to identify suitable alternative agents against pathogenic microorganisms. Since an association between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance phenotype has been observed, a promising strategy pursued in recent years focuses on controlling and preventing this formation by targeting and inhibiting the Quorum Sensing (QS) system, whose central role in biofilm has been extensively demonstrated. Therefore, the research and development of Quorum Quenching (QQ) compounds, which inhibit QS, has gradually attracted the attention of researchers and has become a new strategy for controlling harmful microorganisms.