Large outbreak of typhoid fever on a river cruise ship used as accommodation for asylum seekers, the Netherlands, 2022.

On 6 April 2022, the Public Health Service of Kennemerland, the Netherlands, was notified about an outbreak of fever and abdominal complaints on a retired river cruise ship, used as shelter for asylum seekers. The diagnosis typhoid fever was confirmed on 7 April. An extensive outbreak investigation was performed.

Proteomic applications in identifying protein-protein interactions.

There are many things that can be used to characterize a protein. Size, isoelectric point, hydrophobicity, structure (primary to quaternary), and subcellular location are just a few parameters that are used. The most important feature of a protein, however, is its function.

Huntington's Disease Drug Development: A Phase 3 Pipeline Analysis.

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a severely debilitating neurodegenerative disorder in which sufferers exhibit different combinations of movement disorders, dementia, and behavioral or psychiatric abnormalities. The disorder is a result of a trinucleotide repeat expansion mutation that is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. While there is currently no treatment to alter the course of HD, there are medications that lessen abnormal movement and psychiatric symptoms.

COVID-19 outbreaks among crew on commercial ships at the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2020 to 2021.

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, international shipping activity was disrupted as movement of people and goods was restricted. The Port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, remained operational throughout.AimWe describe the burden of COVID-19 among crew on sea-going vessels at the port and recommend improvements in future infectious disease event notification and response at commercial ports.

Extensive Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant among Vaccinated Persons during 7-Day River Cruise, the Netherlands.

We investigated a large outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infections among passengers and crew members (60 cases in 132 persons) on a cruise ship sailing for 7 days on rivers in the Netherlands. Whole-genome analyses suggested a single or limited number of viral introductions consistent with the epidemiologic course of infections. Although some precautionary measures were taken, no social distancing was exercised, and air circulation and ventilation were suboptimal.

Biomarker Analysis of Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Clinical Tissues Using Proteomics.

The relatively recent developments in mass spectrometry (MS) have provided novel opportunities for this technology to impact modern medicine. One of those opportunities is in biomarker discovery and diagnostics. Key developments in sample preparation have enabled a greater range of clinical samples to be characterized at a deeper level using MS.

Evaluating intra-action reviews at points of entry: ongoing learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Long-lasting crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require proper interim evaluation in order to optimize response. The World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Control have recently promoted the in(tra)-action review (IAR) method for this purpose. We systematically evaluated the added value of two IARs performed in the Dutch point of entry (PoE) setting.

Multi-color flow cytometer with PIC-based structured illumination.

We demonstrate a flow cytometer in which structured light illumination is used to attribute fluorescent and scattering signals to their excitation wavelength. A suitable multi-color light source emitting structured illumination patterns at 405, 488, 561 and 640 nm is developed based on a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit and cytometry experiments are conducted with calibration beads. Performance metrics of the novel cytometer are compared with those of a mature, commercial device.

Quantitative analysis of specific androgens in serum and urine samples from male, pre, and postmenopausal subjects using LC-MRM-MS.

Androgens are endogenous hormones that play a crucial role in the paracrine and intracrine hormone system to perform and maintain vital physiological functions. Altered levels of androgens are implicated in many diseases such as sexual dysregulation, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and heart diseases etc. In this manuscript we describe a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) for quantitatively measuring specific androgens such as dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, androsterone sulphate, androstenedione, and dihydrotestosterone in serum and urine samples.

Silicon nitride PIC-based multi-color laser engines for life science applications.

We implement a multi-color laser engine with silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit technology, that combines four fluorophore excitation wavelengths (405 nm, 488 nm, 561 nm, 640 nm) and splits them with variable attenuation among two output fibers used for different microscope imaging modalities. With the help of photonic integrated circuit technology, the volume of the multi-color laser engine's optics is reduced by two orders of magnitude compared to its commercially available discrete optics counterpart. Light multiplexing is implemented by means of a directional coupler based device and variable optical attenuation as well as fiber switching with thermally actuated Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

Omics in Systems Biology: Current Progress and Future Outlook.

Biological research has undergone tremendous changes over the past three decades. Research used to almost exclusively focus on a single aspect of a single molecule per experiment. Modern technologies have enabled thousands of molecules to be simultaneously analyzed and the way that these molecules influence each other to be discerned.

Characterization of Phosphorylated Proteins Using Mass Spectrometry.

Phosphorylation is arguably the most important post-translational modification that occurs within proteins. Phosphorylation is used as a signal to control numerous physiological activities ranging from gene expression to metabolism. Identifying phosphorylation sites within proteins was historically a challenge as it required either radioisotope labeling or the use of phospho-specific antibodies.

LC-MS-sMRM method development and validation of different classes of pain panel drugs and analysis of clinical urine samples.

Urine drug testing (UDT) is an important analytical/bio-analytical technique that has inevitably become an integral and vital part of a testing programme for diagnostic purposes. This manuscript presents a tailor-made LC-MS/MS quantitative assay method development and validation for a custom group of 33 pain panel drugs and their metabolites belonging to different classes (opiates, opioids, benzodiazepines, illicit, amphetamines, etc.) that are prescribed in pain management and depressant therapies.

Mass Spectrometry Techniques: Principles and Practices for Quantitative Proteomics.

In the current omics-age of research, major developments have been made in technologies that attempt to survey the entire repertoire of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites present within a cell. While genomics has led to a dramatic increase in our understanding of such things as disease morphology and how organisms respond to medications, it is critical to obtain information at the proteome level since proteins carry out most of the functions within the cell. The primary tool for obtaining proteome-wide information on proteins within the cell is mass spectrometry (MS).

Should the ultrasound probe replace your stethoscope? A SICS-I sub-study comparing lung ultrasound and pulmonary auscultation in the critically ill.

Background: In critically ill patients, auscultation might be challenging as dorsal lung fields are difficult to reach in supine-positioned patients, and the environment is often noisy. In recent years, clinicians have started to consider lung ultrasound as a useful diagnostic tool for a variety of pulmonary pathologies, including pulmonary edema. The aim of this study was to compare lung ultrasound and pulmonary auscultation for detecting pulmonary edema in critically ill patients.

Preparation of the Low Molecular Weight Serum Proteome for Mass Spectrometry Analysis.

The ability to cure or manage many diseases is highly dependent on the ability to correctly diagnose them at the earliest possible stage. Diagnosis relies heavily on biomarkers whether these be visual symptoms or molecules found within samples acquired from the patient. For conditions that lack useful biomarkers, researchers are often faced with the task of sifting through very complex biological samples (i.

WDR5, BRCA1, and BARD1 Co-regulate the DNA Damage Response and Modulate the Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition during Early Reprogramming.

Differentiated cells are epigenetically stable, but can be reprogrammed to pluripotency by expression of the OSKM transcription factors. Despite significant effort, relatively little is known about the cellular requirements for reprogramming and how they affect the properties of induced pluripotent stem cells. We have performed high-content screening with small interfering RNAs targeting 300 chromatin-associated factors and extracted colony-level quantitative features.

Automated Chemical Sensing Unit Integration for Parallel Optical Interrogation.

We report the integration of an automated chemical optical sensing unit for the parallel interrogation of 12 BICELLs in a sensing chip. The work was accomplished under the European Project Enviguard (FP7-OCEAN-2013-614057) with the aim of demonstrating an optical nano-biosensing unit for the in-situ detection of various chemical pollutants simultaneously in oceanic waters. In this context, we designed an optical sensing chip based on resonant nanopillars (R-NPs) transducers organized in a layout of twelve biophotonic sensing cells (BICELLs).

Integrated proteotranscriptomics of breast cancer reveals globally increased protein-mRNA concordance associated with subtypes and survival.

Background: Transcriptome analysis of breast cancer discovered distinct disease subtypes of clinical significance. However, it remains a challenge to define disease biology solely based on gene expression because tumor biology is often the result of protein function. Here, we measured global proteome and transcriptome expression in human breast tumors and adjacent non-cancerous tissue and performed an integrated proteotranscriptomic analysis.

LC-MS-sMRM Method Development and Validation of Different Classes of Pain Panel Drugs and Analysis of Clinical Urine Samples.

Urine Drug Testing (UDT) is an important analytical/bio-analytical technique that has inevitably become an integral and vital part of a testing program for diagnostic purposes. This manuscript presents a tailor-made LC-MS/MS quantitative assay method development and validation for a custom group of 33 pain panel drugs and their metabolites belonging to different classes (opiates, opioids, benzodiazepines, illicit, amphetamines, etc.) that are prescribed in pain management and depressant therapies.

Quantitation of Monophosphorylated Lipid A in the Oil-in-Water Adjuvant Delivery Systems Using Transesterification and GC-MS.

Vaccine delivery systems play pivotal role in effective antigen delivery. These systems often contain adjuvants that stimulate specific immune response and are important for vaccines' efficacy and safety. Oil-in-water vaccine delivery lipid emulsion systems containing monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) as immune modulator have been extensively investigated in vaccine trials.