Characterization of a universal screening approach for congenital CMV infection based on a highly-sensitive, quantitative, multiplex real-time PCR assay.

The majority of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infections are asymptomatic at birth and therefore not diagnosed. Approximately 10-15% of these infants develop late-onset hearing loss and other developmental disorders. Implementation of a universal screening approach at birth may allow early initiation of symptomatic interventions due to a closer follow-up of infants at risk and offers the opportunity to consider treatment of late-onset disease.

The behaviour of irrigation induced Se in the groundwater-soil-plant system in Punjab, India.

Selenium is of special interest in different research fields due to its narrow range between beneficial and toxic effects. On a global scale, Se deficiency is more widespread. Biofortification measures have successfully been applied to specifically increase Se concentrations in food crops.

Selenium distribution and speciation in plant parts of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) from a seleniferous area of Punjab, India.

The concentration, distribution, and speciation of selenium in different parts of wheat and Indian mustard, grown in a seleniferous area in Punjab, were investigated using synchrotron based (XAS) and classical acid digestion and extraction methods. The analyses revealed a high Se enrichment in all investigated plant parts, with Se levels in the range of 133-931 mg/kg (dry weight, dw). Such high Se enrichment is mainly due to the considerable amounts of easily available Se detected in the soil, which are renewed on a yearly basis to some extent via irrigation.

Comparison of virtual phenotype and HIV-SEQ program (Stanford) interpretation for predicting drug resistance of HIV strains.

Objective: Drug resistant HIV strains can be identified by genotypic analysis. The prediction of resistance from the HIV pol sequence, however, requires expert interpretation which is currently provided by various interpretation programs. In the present study, the comparability of two of these programs was investigated.