Publications by authors named "Carl Mayers"

Earlier global detection of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants gives governments more time to respond. However, few countries can implement timely national surveillance, resulting in gaps in monitoring. The United Kingdom implemented large-scale community and hospital surveillance, but experience suggests it might be faster to detect new variants through testing England arrivals for surveillance.

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Many vaccines have been developed from live attenuated forms of bacterial pathogens or from killed bacterial cells. However, an increased awareness of the potential for transient side-effects following vaccination has prompted an increased emphasis on the use of sub-unit vaccines, rather than those based on whole bacterial cells. The identification of vaccine sub-units is often a lengthy process and bioinformatics approaches have recently been used to identify candidate protein vaccine antigens.

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We describe a targeted approach for the production of biological recognition elements capable of fast, specific detection of anthrax spores on biosensor surfaces. The aim was to produce single chain antibodies (scFvs) to EA1, a Bacillus anthracis S-layer protein that is also present, although not identical, in related to Bacillus species. The aim of the work was to produce antibodies that would detect B.

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Salicylic acid (SA)-induced resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) results from inhibition of systemic virus movement and is induced via a signal transduction pathway that also can be triggered by antimycin A, an inducer of the mitochondrial enzyme alternative oxidase (AOX). In Arabidopsis thaliana, inhibition of CMV systemic movement also is induced by SA and antimycin A. These results indicate that the mechanisms underlying induced resistance to CMV in tobacco and A.

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Side effects to botulinum antitoxins, including anaphylaxis and serum sickness, are common. This is due to the immunogenicity of the antitoxin, which can be measured by the production of anti-immunoglobulin antibodies. An ideal botulinum antitoxin would elicit a minimal production of anti-immunoglobulin antibodies from a patient, aiding its safety.

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