Oropharyngeal in women; spontaneous clearance and cure after treatment (FemCure).

Objectives: Women attending STI clinics are not routinely tested for oropharyngeal (CT) infections. We aimed to assess spontaneous clearance of oropharyngeal CT and cure after antibiotic treatment in women.

Methods: Women with vaginal or rectal CT (n=560) were recruited at STI clinics in 2016-2017, as part of the FemCure study (prospective cohort study).

Rapid and robust on-scene detection of cocaine in street samples using a handheld near-infrared spectrometer and machine learning algorithms.

On-scene drug detection is an increasingly significant challenge due to the fast-changing drug market as well as the risk of exposure to potent drug substances. Conventional colorimetric cocaine tests involve handling of the unknown material and are prone to false-positive reactions on common pharmaceuticals used as cutting agents. This study demonstrates the novel application of 740-1070 nm small-wavelength-range near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to confidently detect cocaine in case samples.

Diagnostic parameters of modified two-tier testing in European patients with early Lyme disease.

Modified two-tier testing (MTTT) for Lyme borreliosis (i.e. confirmation with an EIA instead of an immunoblot) has been shown to have improved sensitivity compared with standard two-tier testing (STTT) in samples from American patients, without losing specificity.

Modeling consumer exposure to spray products: an evaluation of the ConsExpo Web and ConsExpo nano models with experimental data.

To ensure safe use of chemical substances in consumer products, the exposure of consumers to these substances needs to be evaluated. For this purpose, generally consumer exposure modeling tools are used. To build confidence in such tools, evaluation of their performance with experimental data is indispensable.

Integration of subcellular partitioning and chemical forms to understand silver nanoparticles toxicity to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) under different exposure pathways.

The current understanding of the biological impacts of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is restricted to the direct interactions of the particles with biota. Very little is known about their intracellular fate and subsequent toxic consequences. In this research we investigated the uptake, internal fate (i,e.

Safety and immunogenicity of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in patients with childhood systemic lupus erythematosus: a real-world interventional multi-centre study.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccination in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) patients.

Methods: Volunteer cSLE patients aged 9-20 years and healthy controls (HC) were enrolled to receive a two- or three-dose qHPV vaccination schedule from March 2014 to March 2016. Study visits were performed before the first dose, one month after the second and third doses and one year after the first dose.

A Method to Assess the Relevance of Nanomaterial Dissolution During Reactivity Testing.

The reactivity of particle surfaces can be used as a criterion to group nanoforms (NFs) based on similar potential hazard. Since NFs may partially or completely dissolve over the duration of the assays, with the ions themselves inducing a response, reactivity assays commonly measure the additive reactivity of the particles and ions combined. Here, we determine the concentration of ions released over the course of particle testing, and determine the relative contributions of the released ions to the total reactivity measured.

Remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by biodegradable chelator-induced washing: Efficiencies and mechanisms.

Biodegradable chelators (BCs) are promising substitutes for conventional washing agents in the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil with strong complexing ability and less cost. However, great challenges for the applications of BC-assisted washing still exist, such as the assessment of the factor affecting the efficiency of metal removal and the unclear of the metal removal mechanism. Batch washing was therefore explored to evaluate the potential for four BCs for removing Cd, Pb, and Zn from polluted soils.

Colonizing microbiota protect zebrafish larvae against silver nanoparticle toxicity.

Metal-based nanoparticles exhibiting antimicrobial activity are of emerging concern to human and environmental health. In addition to their direct adverse effects to plants and animals, indirect effects resulting from disruption of beneficial host-microbiota interactions may contribute to the toxicity of these particles. To explore this hypothesis, we compared the acute toxicity of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles (nAg and nZnO) to zebrafish larvae that were either germ-free or colonized by microbiota.

Hepatitis B prevention: Can we learn from the response to HIV/AIDS?

Mirjam Kretzschmar and Marianne van der Sande discuss the accompanying research study by Anna McNaughton and colleagues on strategies to reduce the burden of hepatitis B in African countries.

Rhizosphere Microbiome Assembly and Its Impact on Plant Growth.

Microorganisms colonizing the plant rhizosphere provide a number of beneficial functions for their host. Although an increasing number of investigations clarified the great functional capabilities of rhizosphere microbial communities, the understanding of the precise mechanisms underlying the impact of rhizosphere microbiome assemblies is still limited. Also, not much is known about the various beneficial functions of the rhizosphere microbiome.

The fate and toxicity of Pb-based perovskite nanoparticles on soil bacterial community: Impacts of pH, humic acid, and divalent cations.

Pb-based perovskite nanoparticles (PbPNPs) are amongst others used within highly efficient solar cells. PbPNPs can be released into the environment during their production, recycling or waste processing. In this study we investigated the fate and toxicity of PbPNPs on soil bacterial community under simulated natural environmental conditions across a range of pH, humic acid, and divalent cation concentrations.

Participation, retention, and associated factors of women in a prospective multicenter study on Chlamydia trachomatis infections (FemCure).

Prospective studies are key study designs when attempting to unravel health mechanisms that are widely applicable. Understanding the internal validity of a prospective study is essential to judge a study's quality. Moreover, insights in possible sampling bias and the external validity of a prospective study are useful to judge the applicability of a study's findings.

Spontaneous clearance of accounting for bacterial viability in vaginally or rectally infected women (FemCure).

Objectives: Spontaneous clearance of (CT) infections can occur between diagnosis and treatment. We followed CT patients to assess clearance using a conventional definition (no total CT-DNA, assessed by routine quantitative PCR methods) and a definition accounting for viability, assessed by viability PCR testing.

Methods: Three outpatient STI clinics included CT-diagnosed women (The Netherlands, 2016-2017, FemCure study); participants had vaginal CT (vCT) and rectal CT (rCT) (group A: n=155), vCT and were rectally untested (group B: n=351), single vCT (group C: n=25) or single rCT (group D: n=29).

Understanding Dissolution Rates via Continuous Flow Systems with Physiologically Relevant Metal Ion Saturation in Lysosome.

Dissolution rates of nanomaterials can be decisive for acute in vivo toxicity (via the released ions) and for biopersistence (of the remaining particles). Continuous flow systems (CFSs) can screen for both aspects, but operational parameters need to be adjusted to the specific physiological compartment, including local metal ion saturation. CFSs have two adjustable parameters: the volume flow-rate and the initial particle loading.

Development of a quantitative structure-activity relationship model for mechanistic interpretation and quantum yield prediction of singlet oxygen generation from dissolved organic matter.

Singlet oxygen (O) is capable of degrading organic contaminants and inducing cell damage and inactivation of viruses. It is mainly generated through the interaction of dissolved oxygen with excited triplet states of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural waters. The present study aims at revealing the underlying mechanism of O generation and providing a potential tool for predicting the quantum yield of O (Φ) generation from DOM by constructing a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model.

Offspring toxicity of silver nanoparticles to Arabidopsis thaliana flowering and floral development.

Many studies have considered silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) cytotoxicity to mammalian and human cell lines and plant growth. However, only few studies considered toxic effects of AgNPs on plant offspring, especially on flowering. Arabidopsis thaliana was treated with 12.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates of the Beijing and East-African Indian lineage induce fundamentally different host responses in mice compared to H37Rv.

Substantial differences exist in virulence among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in preclinical TB models. In this study we show how virulence affects host responses in mice during the first four weeks of infection with a mycobacterial strain belonging to the Beijing, East-African-Indian or Euro-American lineage. BALB/c mice were infected with clinical isolates of the Beijing-1585 strain or the East-African Indian (EAI)-1627 strain and host responses were compared to mice infected with the non-clinical H37Rv strain of the Euro-American lineage.

The promoted dissolution of copper oxide nanoparticles by dissolved humic acid: Copper complexation over particle dispersion.

Humic substances are the dominant dissolved organic matter fraction in the aqueous phase of environmental media. They would inevitably react with chemicals released into the environment. The influence of dissolved humic acid (DHA) on the dissolution and dispersion of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs, 50 nm, 49.

Insights into the transcriptional responses of a microbial community to silver nanoparticles in a freshwater microcosm.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used because of their excellent antibacterial properties. They are, however, easily discharged into the water environment, causing potential adverse environmental effects. Meta-transcriptomic analyses are helpful to study the transcriptional response of prokaryotic and eukaryotic aquatic microorganisms to AgNPs.

An across-species comparison of the sensitivity of different organisms to Pb-based perovskites used in solar cells.

Organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are promising candidates as photovoltaic cells. Recently, they have attracted significant attention due to certified power conversion efficiencies exceeding 23%, low-cost engineering, and superior electrical/optical characteristics. These PSCs extensively utilize a perovskite-structured composite with a hybrid of Pb-based nanomaterials.

Use of viral load to improve survey estimates of known HIV-positive status and antiretroviral treatment coverage.

Objective: To compare alternative methods of adjusting self-reported knowledge of HIV-positive status and antiretroviral (ARV) therapy use based on undetectable viral load (UVL) and ARV detection in blood.

Design: Post hoc analysis of nationally representative household survey to compare alternative biomarker-based adjustments to population HIV indicators.

Methods: We reclassified HIV-positive participants aged 15-64 years in the 2012 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS) who were unaware of their HIV-positive status by self-report as aware and on antiretroviral treatment if either ARVs were detected or viral load was undetectable (<550 copies/ml) on dried blood spots.

Disease modeling for public health: added value, challenges, and institutional constraints.

Public health policymakers face increasingly complex questions and decisions and need to deal with an increasing quantity of data and information. For policy advisors to make use of scientific evidence and to assess available intervention options effectively and therefore indirectly for those deciding on and implementing public health policies, mathematical modeling has proven to be a useful tool. In some areas, the use of mathematical modeling for public health policy support has become standard practice at various levels of decision-making.

Multilaboratory Comparison of Pneumococcal Multiplex Immunoassays Used in Immunosurveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae across Europe.

Surveillance studies are required to estimate the impact of pneumococcal vaccination in both children and the elderly across Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends use of enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) as standard methods for immune surveillance of pneumococcal antibodies. However, as levels of antibodies to multiple serotypes are monitored in thousands of samples, a need for a less laborious and more flexible method has evolved.

Do the joint effects of size, shape and ecocorona influence the attachment and physical eco(cyto)toxicity of nanoparticles to algae?

We systematically investigated how the combinations of size, shape and the natural organic matter (NOM)-ecocorona of gold (Au) engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) influence the attachment of the particles to algae and physical toxicity to the cells. Spherical (10, 60 and 100 nm), urchin-shaped (60 nm), rod-shaped (10 × 45, 40 × 60 and 50 × 100 nm), and wire-shaped (75 × 500, 75 × 3000 and 75 × 6000 nm) citrate-coated and NOM-coated Au-ENPs were used. Among the spherical particles only the spherical 10 nm Au-ENPs caused membrane damage to algae.