Classic scrapie in sheep with the ARR/ARR prion genotype in Germany and France

In the past, natural scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infections have essentially not been diagnosed in sheep homozygous for the A136R154R171 haplotype of the prion protein. This genotype was therefore assumed to confer resistance to BSE and classic scrapie under natural exposure conditions. Hence, to exclude prions from the human food chain, massive breeding efforts have been undertaken in the European Union to amplify this gene. We report the identification of 2 natural scrapie cases in ARR/ARR sheep that have biochemical and transmission characteristics similar to cases of classic scrapie, although the abnormally folded prion protein (PrP(Sc)) was associated with a lower proteinase-K resistance. PrP(Sc) was clearly distinct from BSE prions passaged in sheep and from atypical scrapie prions. These findings strongly support the idea that scrapie prions are a mosaic of agents, which harbor different biologic properties, rather than a unique entity.     

Evaluation of Turkish seaweeds for antiprotozoal, antimycobacterial and cytotoxic activities

As part of our continuing research on seaweeds, crude MeOH extracts of two green, three brown and six red algae collected from Marmara, Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas were screened. Four parasitic protozoa, i.e. Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, T. cruzi, Leishmania donovani and the tubercle bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used as test organisms for the in vitro assays. The selective toxicity of the extracts was also determined against mammalian L6 cells. All seaweed extracts were active against T. brucei rhodesiense; the Dasya pedicellata extract was the most potent (IC₅₀ value 0.37 µg/mL). The same extract also weakly inhibited the growth of T. cruzi (IC₅₀ 62.02 µg/mL). All seaweed extracts also showed leishmanicidal activity (IC₅₀ values 16.76–69.98 µg/mL). The majority of the extracts also exhibited antiplasmodial potential and the most potent extracts were those from D. pedicellata (IC₅₀ 0.38 µg/mL), Codium bursa (IC₅₀ 1.38 µg/mL) and Caulerpa rasemosa (IC₅₀ 3.12 µg/mL). One brown and two red algal extracts showed some weak activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MIC values 125–256 µg/mL). Except for the extract of Dasya pedicellata, none of the extracts displayed any cytotoxicity. This is the second study investigating the antiprotozoal activities of Turkish marine algae and identifies Dasya pedicellata, an understudied algal species, as a candidate for further studies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Obesity surgery makes patients healthier and more functional: real world results from the United Kingdom National Bariatric Surgery Registry

Background

The National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) is the largest bespoke database in the field in the United Kingdom.

Maternal neutralizing antibodies against a CRF01_AE primary isolate are associated with a low rate of intrapartum HIV-1 transmission

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1 provides a model for studying the role of passively acquired antibodies in preventing HIV infection. We determined the titers of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against six primary isolates of clades B and CRF01_AE in sera from 45 transmitting and 45 nontransmitting mothers matched for the main independent factors associated with MTCT in Thailand. A lower risk of MTCT, particularly for intrapartum transmission, was associated only with higher NAb titers against the CRF01_AE strain, MBA. The envelope glycoprotein of this strain showed an unusually long V2 domain of 63 amino acids, encoding six potential N-linked glycosylation sites. We provided experimental data indicating that the extended V2 domain contributed to the higher level of resistance to neutralization by mothers' sera in this strain. Taken together the data suggest that some primary isolates with specific properties may be useful indicators for identifying protective antibodies.     

Professionals’ Perspectives about the Challenges of Using Interpreters in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews

Interpreters play a crucial role in many investigative interviews with child complainants of sexual abuse; however, little has been written about the interpreting process from the perspective of the interviewers. This study elicited interviewers’ perspectives about the challenges of using interpreters, with the aim of understanding how investigative interviews could be improved. The participants consisted of 21 investigative interviewers and prosecutors of child abuse cases (from a range of jurisdictions) who use interpreters on a regular basis. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the professionals about the interpreting process revealed two main challenges particular to child abuse interviews, namely the interpreters’ lack of preparedness to deal with the traumatic and sensitive nature of children's abuse histories, and an insufficient understanding of ‘best-practice’ child interview process. The recommendations focus on the need for more specialised training for, and screening of, interpreters, and more extensive use of pre-conferencing to familiarise children with the interpreter-mediated interview process.