Tailored Functionalization of Plasmonic AgNPs/C:H:N:O Nanocomposite for Sensitive and Selective Detection.

We report here on the development of tailored plasmonic AgNPs/C:H:N:O plasma polymer nanocomposites for the detection of the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia afzelii, with high selectivity and sensitivity. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles, generated by a gas aggregation source, are incorporated onto a C:H:N:O plasma polymer matrix, which is deposited by magnetron sputtering of a nylon 6.6.

Low cost and real-time surveillance of enteric infection and diarrhoeal disease using rapid diagnostic tests in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Background: Real-time disease surveillance is an important component of infection control in at-risk populations. However, data on cases or from lab testing is often not available in many low-resource settings. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), including immunochromatographic assays, may provide a low cost, expedited source of infection data.

Socio-occupational conditions and health of fishers exposed to the oil disaster-crime in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Objective: To describe the sociodemographic, socio-occupational profile, and effects on the health of artisanal fishers from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, affected by the oil disaster-crime in Brazil in 2019.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study, carried out in 16 municipalities on the coast of Pernambuco, with a sample made up of 1,259 artisanal fishers. A questionnaire containing 14 blocks was used, including socioeconomic issues, exposure to oil, among others.

Interplay between vertebrate adaptive immunity and bacterial infectivity genes: Bank vole MHC versus Borrelia afzelii OspC.

Coevolution of parasites with their hosts may lead to balancing selection on genes involved in determining the specificity of host-parasite interactions, but examples of such specific interactions in wild vertebrates are scarce. Here, we investigated whether the polymorphic outer surface protein C (OspC), used by the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia afzelii, to manipulate vertebrate host innate immunity, interacts with polymorphic major histocompatibility genes (MHC), while concurrently eliciting a strong antibody response, in one of its main hosts in Europe, the bank vole. We found signals of balancing selection acting on OspC, resulting in little differentiation in OspC variant frequencies between years.