SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among people living with HIV in the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort, 2020-2022.

Objectives: People living with HIV (PLWH) are a risk group for severe symptoms and higher mortality during COVID-19. We analyzed the dynamic rise of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence induced by coinfections and vaccinations in PLWH in the first three years of the pandemic in Germany and compared it with corresponding data available for the general population.

Methods: Each month on average 93 blood samples from the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort, a prospective longitudinal multicenter study that includes PLWH whose date of seroconversion is well defined, were received.

tANCHOR-cell-based assay for monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies rapidly adaptive to various receptor-binding domains.

Conventional neutralizing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mimic the protein-protein interaction between angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the receptor-binding domain (RBD). However, an easy and rapidly adaptative ELISA-based system for testing neutralizing antibodies against upcoming SARS-CoV-2 variants is urgently needed. In this study, we closed this gap by developing a tANCHOR-cell-based RBD neutralization assay that avoids time-consuming protein expression and purification followed by coating on ELISA plates.

The Effect of Heavy Metals on Conjugation Efficiency of an F-Plasmid in .

Conjugation, the process by which conjugative plasmids are transferred between bacteria, is regarded as a major contributor to the spread of antibiotic resistance, in both environmental and clinical settings. Heavy metals are known to co-select for antibiotic resistance, but the impact of the presence of these metals on conjugation itself is not clear. Here, we systematically investigate the impact that five heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, and zinc) have on the transfer of an IncF conjugative plasmid in .

Loading equine oocytes with cryoprotective agents captured with a finite element method model.

Cryopreservation can be used to store equine oocytes for extended periods so that they can be used in artificial reproduction technologies at a desired time point. It requires use of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) to protect the oocytes against freezing injury. The intracellular introduction of CPAs, however, may cause irreversible osmotic damage.

Transport processes in equine oocytes and ovarian tissue during loading with cryoprotective solutions.

Background: Rational design of cryopreservation strategies for oocytes and ovarian cortex tissue requires insights in the rate at which cryoprotective agents (CPA) permeate and concomitant water transport takes place. The aim of the current study was to investigate possible differences in permeation kinetics of different CPAs (i.e.