Pitfalls of rubella serology while on the brink of elimination: evaluation of national data,Belgium, 2017

BackgroundIn Belgium, rubella serology is frequently requested in women of childbearing age, despite high vaccination coverage and a near-absence of congenital rubella cases. Different test kits are available and should be standardised by an international standard preparation.AimTo analyse and compare rubella serology practices in Belgian laboratories.MethodsAs part of the mandatory External Quality Assessment programme for rubella serology in Belgium, the national public health institute, Sciensano, sent a voluntary questionnaire concerning anti-rubella IgM/IgG analyses in women aged 15 to 45 years in 2017 to 130 laboratories.ResultsThe questionnaire response rate was 83.8% (109/130). The majority of 169,494 IgG analyses were performed on Roche (55%), Abbott (17%) and Diasorin (13%) analysers. Not all laboratories used the proposed international cut-off of 10 IU/mL. Assumed median seroprevalence ranged from 76.3% with Liaison (Diasorin) to 96.3% with Modular (Roche). Despite very low rubella incidence in Belgium, 93 laboratories performed 85,957 IgM analyses, with 748 positive and 394 grey zone results. The National Reference Centre for Measles, Mumps and Rubella virus and the National Reference Centre for Congenital infections did not confirm any positive rubella cases in 2017.ConclusionThis retrospective analysis shows that rubella serology results may differ considerably according to the assay used. It is therefore important to use the same test when comparing results or performing follow-up testing. The number of anti-rubella IgM analyses was very high. Incorrect use of IgM for screening women of childbearing age can lead to unwarranted anxiety and overuse of confirmation tests.     

Tandem duplication (1) (q11 → q22) in a male infant with multiple congenital malformations

An inverted tandem duplication of 1q11-q22 was found in a male infant with severely retarded psychomotor development, growth retardation, and multiple congenital malformations. Trisomy for this segment of chromosome 1 has not been previously reported.     

Behavioural awareness,interaction and counselling education in audiological rehabilitation: development of methods and application in a pilot study

In conventional audiological rehabilitation, the hearing therapist interacts with the hearing-impaired person and with significant others. In order to strengthen the personality and self-confidence of the hearing-impaired individual, a different strategy was designed and implemented whereby the pedagogic interaction was directed only towards the hearing-impaired individual, who in turn worked as a tutor/aid/counsellor to the communication partner. On the basis of an interactive communication model, new methods for rehabilitation of subjects with moderate hearing impairment were developed and evaluated in a pilot study on 13 men with noise-induced hearing loss. A course programme was developed with three main active components: (1) increased insight and knowledge; (2) education as counsellors with the ability to focus on the problems of the communication partner; and (3) motivation to change through group discussion and reflexive conversation. Increased insight and knowledge were obtained through test and training experiences in a sound environmental chamber, tutorials and discussions. The pedagogic training focused on helping the hearing-impaired subjects to become able communication counsellors in relation to their interlocutors. An act-react, offensive-defensive paradigm was used in conjunction with transactional analysis. Results of the pilot study were evaluated using questionnaires, interviews and a method of dialogue analysis. The results were evaluated for the hearing-impaired and the partner and in recordings of conversations in the home environment. There were clearly positive cognitive and emotional effects seen in the inquiries and interviews. The observations from the dialogue analysis indicated only small effects, with the exception of the two individuals with the most pronounced functional impairment, for whom dialogue was improved after the course. It was concluded that these new methods could contribute new possibilities in rehabilitation programmes, emphasizing the shared responsibility for communication and the unique competence and abilities of the hearing-impaired person.     

The measurement of anxiety through computerized content analysis--automation of the Gottschalk-Gleser Test

The Gottschalk-Gleser Content analysis for the measurement of anxiety and hostility has proven to be a valid and reliable content analytic method for the quantification of affects in many studies. It was used world-wide, German scales have been available since 1980. Especially in the field of psychosomatic medicine a lot of research was done. The certain use of this method, however, needs an extensive training and the application takes an enormous amount of time. For these reasons a computer program for the Gottschalk-Gleser analysis was developed in English language, whereas for German texts such a program has not been available up to this date. This report describes the development of a computer based anxiety measurement method in German--the Dresden Anxiety Dictionary (Dresdner Angstw?rterbuch, DAW). The DAW is designed as a category system for use with different content analytic software. The test of reliability and validity, using 160 clinical texts, shows that the DAW is a reliable and valid method that can be used in different fields.     

Different approaches in the assessment of audiological rehabilitation: a meta-theoretical perspective

The aim of this article is to highlight some elements (e.g. the view on truth, causality, context and methods) in three different meta-theoretical approaches to assessment and to discuss their implications: external realism, critical realism, and anti-realism. Although there are many differences between external realism and anti-realism, their main shortcoming is the failure to answer one of the basic questions in assessment research: 'What works for whom in what circumstances?' In order to answer this question, one needs a deep-structure ontology and a theory including mechanisms and contexts, which one finds in critical realism. An adequate approach to an evaluation process can be described as follows. The point of departure is a theory describing how mechanisms work in context and what the expected outcomes are. Hypotheses are formulated suggesting answers to the question 'What might work for whom in what circumstances? Data are collected in order to answer the question. Different methods are used which can shed light on the phenomenon. The outcome of the evaluation process is to find the conditions under which a specific outcome is produced.     

Mice with targeted disruption of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p8</Emphasis>gene show increased sensitivity to lipopolysaccharide and DNA microarray analysis of livers reveals an aberrant gene expression response

Background  

p8 is a DNA-binding protein induced in many tissues in response to LPS treatment. Hence, p8 could be a mediator of LPS-associated effects or, on the contrary, p8 expression may be part of the protective mechanism of the tissues in response to LPS. Finally, p8 expression in response to LPS could also be a simple epiphenomenon.