Higher rates of laboratory-confirmed cases of syphilis in Western Canadian blood donors compared with Eastern Canadian blood donors following a period of societal re-opening.

Background And Objectives: There is a growing infectious syphilis outbreak in Western Canada. Although blood donors are screened for syphilis risks, some blood donors will still be confirmed test-positive for syphilis. This study compares the characteristics of confirmed test-positive syphilis donations in both Western Canada and Eastern Canada, November 2022-August 2023.

Salt-Induced Doping and Templating of Laser-Induced Graphene Supercapacitors.

The use of inexpensive and widely available CO lasers to selectively irradiate polymer films and form a graphene foam, termed laser-induced graphene (LIG), has incited significant research attention. The simple and rapid nature of the approach and the high conductivity and porosity of LIG have motivated its widespread application in electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors. However, nearly all high-performance LIG-based supercapacitors reported to date are prepared from costly, petroleum-based polyimide (Kapton, PI).

Probing Sulfur Deposition onto Carbon Nanomaterials from Aqueous, Elemental Sulfur Sols for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Sulfur cathodes for lithium-sulfur batteries often rely on integrating sulfur with high surface area carbonaceous materials. Nanoscale mixing is typically achieved by a lengthy, high-temperature melt imbibition approach that employs carbon nanomaterials in an aggregated solid form. In this work, we present a simple strategy to coat carbon nanomaterials with sulfur in a cost-effective, room-temperature process using inexpensive elemental sulfur.

Unicompartmental vs. segmental bicompartmental vs. total knee replacement: comparison of clinical outcomes.

Purpose: Combined medial tibiofemoral and symptomatic patellofemoral osteoarthritis is not amenable to unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR). Total knee replacement (TKR) is an invasive option in younger adults with high functional demands. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of patients who have undergone UKR, bicompartmental knee replacement (BKR) and TKR up to 2 years post-operatively.

A case series of inactivated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccination associated with positive West Nile virus blood donor screening nucleic acid tests.

Background: West Nile Virus (WNV) is a member of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) serocomplex within the Flaviviridae family. We report four whole blood donors and one plasma donor with WNV nucleic acid test (NAT)-reactive donations between September 2018 and November 2019, following recent Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccination.

Case Series: Cases 1 and 4 had reactive WNV NAT donations 1 day after receiving the JEV vaccine.

Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Blood Donors and Risk to Patients in the United States and Canada.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute hepatitis worldwide including large water-borne outbreaks, zoonotic infections and transfusion transmissions. Several countries have initiated or are considering blood donor screening in response to high HEV-RNA donation prevalence leading to transfusion-transmission risk. Because HEV transmission is more common through food sources, the efficacy of blood donor screening alone may be limited.

[Concept frame for curricular innovation in health care schools].

We herein describe the conceptual dimension of the curricular innovation process carried out in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile. We describe the context of innovation. The theoretical pertinence and relevance of a competence driven curriculum for health care professionals is discussed.

Using differential mobility spectrometry to measure ion solvation: an examination of the roles of solvents and ionic structures in separating quinoline-based drugs.

Understanding the mechanisms and energetics of ion solvation is critical in many scientific areas. Here, we present a methodlogy for studying ion solvation using differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) coupled to mass spectrometry. While in the DMS cell, ions experience electric fields established by a high frequency asymmetric waveform in the presence of a desired pressure of water vapor.

[The educational change in medical schools].

This paper reports the reflections of a group of members of the University of Chile Faculty of Medicine, about the changes in teaching methods that medical schools should incorporate. In a complex scenario, not only new and better knowledge should be transmitted to students but also values, principles, critical reasoning and leadership, among others. In the first part, a proposal to understand this educational development in the context of complex universities, incorporating pedagogical skills and reviewing institutional leadership, is carried out.

Conserved TcR beta chain usage for a single MHC class II-restricted heat shock protein peptide.

Previously we have shown that the T-cell response against the HLA-DR3 (17)-restricted heat shock protein (Mr 65 000)-derived peptide amino acids (aa) 3-13 (hsp65 aa 3-13) is recognized by the exclusive usage of the TRBV5 gene as well as a conserved CDR3 region in a tuberculoid leprosy patient. In the present study we analyzed the TcR of T-cell clones specific for hsp65 aa 3-13 derived from three healthy individuals with a response level similar to that of the leprosy patient. We show that unlike the tuberculoid leprosy patient, healthy high responders have a diverse T-cell response to hsp65 aa 3-13.

Affinity, specificity and T-cell-receptor diversity of melanoma-specific CTL generated in vitro against a single tyrosinase epitope.

MHC-class-I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) specific for tumor-associated antigens expressed by malignant cells are important components of the immune response against cancer. Recently, tumor-specific CTL could be generated in vitro, with responding lymphocytes from the blood of healthy blood donors. In the present study, we confirm that peptide-specific stimulation in vitro can induce high-affinity CTL capable of recognizing tumor cells expressing the appropriate tumor antigen.

Intrauterine transfusions affect fetal T-cell immunity.

Intrauterine transfusion (IUT) therapy is the treatment of choice in severe hemolytic disease of the fetus. This treatment automatically implies the introduction of alloantigens in the fetal circulation, which might potentially influence the unprimed fetal immune system. The present study provides evidence that the fetal immune system is indeed prone to modulations of the T-cell receptor BV (TCRBV) repertoire as a result of IUT treatment.

Skewing of TCR V genes to CD4+ and CD8+ subsets of T lymphocytes is not determined by amino acid composition of CDR3.

TCR V genes show differing expression patterns, termed skewing, in CD4+ and CD8+ subsets of T lymphocytes. To determine which elements of the TCR V regions contribute to these observed TCR V gene skewing patterns, we have performed an in-depth analysis, taking advantage of RT-PCR and DNA sequencing, which was focused on the multi-member TCRBV6 gene family. These studies allowed us to evaluate the contributions of the various elements, that constitute the TCR beta chain variable region, to the observed TCR V gene skewing patterns.

Molecular analysis of the T-cell receptor beta-chain repertoire in early rheumatoid arthritis: heterogeneous TCRBV gene usage with shared amino acid profiles in CDR3 regions of T lymphocytes in multiple synovial tissue needle biopsies from the same joint.

To gain insight into the nature of the immune response with respect to accumulation and composition of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in synovial tissue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we have determined the nucleotide sequence of TCRBV regions transcribed by T lymphocytes derived from synovial tissue. Synovial tissue was obtained by needle biopsies from three different sites of the same joint in two early RA patients. We found that the TCRBV region repertoire among synovial tissue-infiltrating mononuclear cells was heterogeneous when the different biopsies taken from each patient were compared.

Clonal dominance and selection for similar complementarity determining region 3 motifs among T lymphocytes responding to the HLA-DR3-associated Mycobacterium leprae heat shock protein 65-kd peptide 3-13.

In order to establish whether specific MHC class II-peptide complexes are capable of selecting TCR V regions, we investigated in detail the TCR beta chain used in the recognition of HLA-DR3 restricted hsp65 peptide 3-13 in a tuberculoid leprosy patient. Using RT-PCR, a clear dominance of the TCRBV5 gene family was observed in a hsp65 peptide 3-13-specific T-cell line; however, not in fresh, unstimulated PBMCs, PHA-stimulated PBMCs, or a T-cell line specific for tetanus toxoid. DNA sequence analysis of the TCR V regions, comprising TCRBV5 genes, derived from the hsp65 peptide 3-13-specific T-cell line revealed the exclusive usage of the TCRBV55S1 gene segment and a predominance of one V-D-J gene rearrangement, which is indicative of clonal expansion of these T lymphocytes.

Limited restriction in the TCR-alpha beta V region usage of antigen-specific clones. Recognition of myelin basic protein (amino acids 84-102) and Mycobacterium bovis 65-kDa heat shock protein (amino acids 3-13) by T cell clones established from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of monozygotic twins and HLA-identical individuals.

We have analyzed the TCR-alpha beta repertoire specific for a given peptide/MHC complex by using pairs of HLA-identical individuals ranging from monozygotic twins to unrelated individuals to examine the contribution of genetic background and HLA expression in shaping the potential response to a single antigenic epitope. This panel has been previously defined, demonstrating that the concordance of the peripheral TCR-alpha beta repertoires directly correlates to the level of relation and HLA identity. We have analyzed peptide-specific T cell clones derived from T cell lines from these individuals specific for MHC class II-restricted peptides: Mycobacterium bovis 65-kDa heat shock protein (65-kDa hsp) amino acids (aa) 3-13 (DR3-restricted), and myelin basic protein aa 84-102 (DR2-restricted).

Evidence for selective in vivo expansion of synovial tissue-infiltrating CD4+ CD45RO+ T lymphocytes on the basis of CDR3 diversity.

In this study we have analyzed the TCR V alpha and V beta regions at the DNA level in the CD4+CD45RO+ memory T cell population of synovial tissue infiltrating T lymphocytes of three rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and one patient with chronic arthritis. Cell lines of CD4+CD45RO+, CD4+CD45RO-, CD8+CD45RO+ and CD8+CD45RO- T lymphocyte populations were generated following FACS cell sorting of freshly isolated synovial tissue mononuclear cell infiltrates (STMC) and of freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of these patients. The phenotypic and molecular analyses have revealed the following.

T-cell receptor V-gene usage in synovial fluid lymphocytes of patients with chronic arthritis.

In this study we analyzed the usage frequencies of the TCR V-gene segments by alpha beta+ T cells present in synovial fluid of 17 patients with chronic arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis. The results of this study, obtained from semiquantitative PCR analyses, showed that in all patients most of the TCR V alpha- and V beta-gene segments could be detected both in fresh PBMCs and in fresh SFMCs. The relative frequencies of use of these V-region genes were variable between the different patients.