A loop-mediated isothermal amplification test for yaws: a multi-country diagnostic accuracy evaluation.

Background: To meet the WHO target of eradicating yaws by 2030, highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tools are needed. A multiplex Treponema pallidum-Haemophilus ducreyi loop-mediated isothermal amplification (TPHD-LAMP) test holds promise as a near-patient diagnostic tool for yaws and H ducreyi. We conducted a prospective evaluation in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and the Republic of the Congo to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the TPHD-LAMP test, as well as to assess its acceptability, feasibility, and cost.

Multidisciplinary management of orthopaedic trauma - are we adhering to the guidelines?

Introduction: A multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to polytrauma patients minimises morbidity and mortality. This project assesses the extent to which British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma guidelines for the management of the frail Orthopaedic patient are currently being met.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of all Trauma and Orthopaedic patients in multiple medical institutions over a 2-week capture period from 1 March 2022 until 14 March 2022 inclusive.

Consensus on managing open ankle fractures in the frail patient.

Aims: Ankle fractures are common injuries and the third most common fragility fracture. In all, 40% of ankle fractures in the frail are open and represent a complex clinical scenario, with morbidity and mortality rates similar to hip fracture patients. They have a higher risk of complications, such as wound infections, malunion, hospital-acquired infections, pressure sores, veno-thromboembolic events, and significant sarcopaenia from prolonged bed rest.

Model analysis of multiple breath nitrogen washout data: robustness to variations in breathing pattern.

We recently developed a model-based method for analyzing multiple breath nitrogen washout data that does not require identification of Phase-III. In the present study, we assessed the effect of irregular breathing patterns on the intra-subject variabilities of the model parameters. Nitrogen fraction at the mouth was measured in 18 healthy and 20 asthmatic subjects during triplicate performances of multiple breath nitrogen washout, during controlled (target tidal volume 1 L at 8-12 breaths per minute) and free (unrestricted) breathing.

Diagnostics to support the eradication of yaws-Development of two target product profiles.

Background: Yaws is targeted for eradication by 2030, using a strategy based on mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin. New diagnostics are needed to aid eradication. Serology is currently the mainstay for yaws diagnosis; however, inaccuracies associated with current serological tests makes it difficult to fully assess the need for and impact of eradication campaigns using these tools.

LAMP4yaws: , loop mediated isothermal amplification - protocol for a cross-sectional, observational, diagnostic accuracy study.

Introduction: Yaws, caused by the bacterium subsp. is a neglected tropical disease targeted for eradication by 2030. Improved diagnostics will be essential to meet this goal.

Controlled free breathing for multiple-breath nitrogen washout in asthma.

https://bit.ly/3lmri4A.

Controlled free breathing for multiple breath nitrogen washout in healthy adults.

Multiple breath nitrogen washout (MBNW) quantifies ventilation heterogeneity. Two distinct protocols are currently used for MBNW testing: "controlled breathing", with targeted tidal volume ( ) and respiratory rate (RR); and "free breathing", with no constraints on breathing pattern. Indices derived from the two protocols (functional residual capacity (FRC), lung clearance index (LCI), , ) have not been directly compared in adults.

Conjunctival Scarring, Corneal Pannus, and Herbert's Pits in Adolescent Children in Trachoma-endemic Populations of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Background: In the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the sign trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) is common, but ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is not. It is therefore debatable whether azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA), the recommended antibiotic treatment strategy for trachoma's elimination as a public health problem, is necessary in this setting. We set out to estimate what proportion of adolescents were at risk of progression of trachomatous scarring.

Ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection, anti-Pgp3 antibodies and conjunctival scarring in Vanuatu and Tarawa, Kiribati before antibiotic treatment for trachoma.

Introduction: In the peri-elimination setting, the positive predictive value of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), the primary marker used to determine need for antibiotics for trachoma, is suboptimal. Here, three non-TF measures are used to compare two regions where TF prevalence exceeds the threshold for intervention, but where the Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) prevalence is different.

Methods: Population prevalence of trachoma was measured in Vanuatu (n = 3470) and Kiribati (n = 2922).

Optimising the use of molecular tools for the diagnosis of yaws.

Background: Yaws is a neglected tropical disease and results in lesions of skin, soft tissues and bones. PCR plays an important part in surveillance.

Methods: Children suspected to have yaws were enrolled.

Absence of Serological Evidence of Exposure to among Children Suggests Yaws Is No Longer Endemic in Kiribati.

Yaws is a neglected tropical disease targeted for eradication by 2020. Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation, was previously endemic for yaws but lacks recent data from which its current endemicity status could be determined. This study tested antibody responses to to determine if transmission of yaws is taking place among children in Kiribati.

A systematic review of historical and contemporary evidence of trachoma endemicity in the Pacific Islands.

Introduction: Trachoma is endemic in several Pacific Island countries. The aims of this study were to (a) identify future trachoma mapping needs in the Pacific and (b) to examine whether any temporal trends in trachoma prevalence could be ascertained from the historical literature on trachoma in the Pacific Islands.

Methods: Human studies of trachoma and eye care in the Pacific Islands were identified from a systematic search of PubMed, EMbase, Scopus and Web of Science databases.

Measurement duration impacts variability but not impedance measured by the forced oscillation technique in healthy, asthma and COPD subjects.

The forced oscillation technique (FOT) is gaining clinical acceptance, facilitated by more commercial devices and clinical data. However, the effects of variations in testing protocols used in FOT data acquisition are unknown. We describe the effect of duration of data acquisition on FOT results in subjects with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy controls.

Picocyanobacterial community structure of freshwater lakes and the Baltic Sea revealed by phylogenetic analyses and clade-specific quantitative PCR.

Phylogenetic relationships among picocyanobacteria from the Syn/Pro clade sensu Sánchez-Baracaldo et al. (2005) were determined using small subunit (ssu) rDNA sequences from novel culture isolates together with environmental samples from the Baltic Sea and seven freshwater lakes. The picocyanobacterial community comprised members of previously identified clades and of two previously undescribed clades.

Is blinding the endoscopists to bowel preparations in randomized-controlled trials a reality?

Background: A number of studies compared the quality, efficacy and tolerability of oral sodium phosphate (NaP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based solutions in preparation for colonoscopy. The primary aim of this study was to explore whether endoscopists can be effectively blinded to the type of bowel preparation.

Methods: We recruited 3 experienced endoscopists and 57 outpatients (18-65 years old) undergoing colonoscopy.

Genetic diversity within populations of cyanobacteria assessed by analysis of single filaments.

We have developed a technique for determining the genetic structure of populations of filamentous cyanobacteria. The sequence diversity at specific gene loci is first characterised in a range of clonal cultures; subsequent analysis involves individual trichomes collected directly from natural populations. This technique has been used to examine the population genetic structure of Nodularia in the Baltic Sea and Planktothrix in Lake Zürich.

Spontaneous mutations in gas vesicle genes of Planktothrix spp. affect gas vesicle production and critical pressure.

Wild-type strains of the cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens have a cluster of gas vesicle (gvp) genes with repeats of alternating gvpA and gvpC. The gvpC occurs in three length variants, all with the same 3'-sequence, OmegaC. Spontaneous non-buoyant mutants had lost some of the alternating gvpAC copies and their gvpC genes had a novel 3'-end sequence, PsiC; additional gvpC genes terminating in this sequence were also found in the wild-type and representatives of other GV genotypes.

Allele-specific PCR shows that genetic exchange occurs among genetically diverse Nodularia (cyanobacteria) filaments in the Baltic Sea.

Some cyanobacteria have been shown to exchange genetic information under laboratory conditions, but it has not been clear whether such genetic exchange occurs in the natural environment. To address this, a population genetic study was carried out on the filamentous diazotrophic cyanobacterium Nodularia in the Baltic Sea. Nodularia filaments were collected from 20 widely distributed sampling stations in the Baltic Sea during June and July 1998.

The diversity of gas vesicle genes in Planktothrix rubescens from Lake Zürich.

Part of the gas vesicle gene cluster was amplified by PCR from three strains of Planktothrix rubescens isolated from Lake Zürich, Switzerland. Each contains multiple alternating copies of gvpA and gvpC. All of the gvpA sequences in the different strains are identical.

Some factors affecting the airborne survival of bacteria outdoors.

Airborne survival of two pseudomonads and a reference strain of Escherichia coli (strain MRE 162) was studied outdoors using a modified microthread technique. When cells of E. coli were suspended as clusters, survival was much greater than single cells, particularly outdoors.

The effect of colony age on PCR fingerprinting.

The pattern of DNA fragments produced by the polymerase chain reaction using arbitrary primers is strongly influenced by the age of the colonies sampled. We show that the number, clarity and reproducibility of the bands produced is optimal when very young colonies are sampled.