Notes

Impact involving Triflumuron on Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae): Lab along with Field Scientific studies.
Diet is an environmental factor in autoimmune disorders, where the immune system erroneously destroys one's own tissues. Estrogen agonist Yet, interactions between diet and autoimmunity remain largely unexplored, particularly the impact of immunogenetics, one's human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele make-up, in this interplay. Here, we interrogated animals and plants for the presence of epitopes implicated in human autoimmune diseases. We mapped autoimmune epitope distribution across organisms and determined their tissue expression pattern. Interestingly, diet-derived epitopes implicated in a disease were more likely to bind to HLA alleles associated with that disease than to protective alleles, with visible differences between organisms with similar autoimmune epitope content. We then analyzed an individual's HLA haplotype, generating a personalized heatmap of potential dietary autoimmune triggers. Our work uncovered differences in autoimmunogenic potential across food sources and revealed differential binding of diet-derived epitopes to autoimmune disease-associated HLA alleles, shedding light on the impact of diet on autoimmunity.A 2-yr sand fly (Diptera Psychodidae) seasonality study was performed in Attica Region, Greece, from June 2017 until November 2018, aiming also to detect the presence of Leishmania infection in the collected sand flies. In total, 701 sand flies were collected from urban areas within the Attica Region using BG-Sentinel traps, set weekly in eight fixed sites. Five species were identified morphologically and molecularly, namely Phlebotomus tobbi (Adler and Theodor), which was most the most commonly collected species, followed by P. Neglectus (Tonnoir), P. papatasi (Scopoli), P. simici (Theodor), and Sergentomyia minuta (Rondani). During both survey years sand fly populations peaked in late August to early September. Fifty-nine monospecific pools were examined for Leishmania detection by analyzing the ITS1 nuclear region using both RFLPs and sequencing, seven of which were found positive. Leishmania DNA was identified as L. infantum in six pools (five P. papatasi and one P. tobbi), whereas in one P. papatasi pool Leishmania DNA was identified as L. tropica. This is the first time that L. tropica has been detected in naturally infected sand flies from the Attica Region as well as in central Greece, while previously it has only been detected in sand flies collected from Central Macedonia (Northern Greece).Epidemiology is a core component of the undergraduate public health curriculum and a critical component of a healthy community and a comprehensive education. Evidence-based, collaborative instructional practices improve student success, reach diverse student populations, and improve learning outcomes. Here we describe the pedagogical approach of an instructional team with which we observed an 18% greater learning gain (95% confidence interval 6.5, 29.5; t = -3.08; P = 0.002), based on pre-/posttesting in a large (approximately 120 students) undergraduate course, than with the prior course offering. There were no differences in DEW rates (defined as receiving a grade of D (scoring 60%-69%) or E (scoring less then 60%) or withdrawing (W)) between the 2 offerings, but the ratio of "A" to "B" grades was higher (by approximately 10%) after deployment of the instructional team (Pearson's χ2 (1 degree of freedom) = 4.17, P = 0.041). In addition, students reported greater satisfaction with the course deploying an instructional team (80.4% positive sentiment in course evaluation comments compared with 76.1% in the prior offering). As students and faculty become more familiar with effective evidence-based instructional practices, improvements in student learning can be achieved and the goal of creating an educated citizenry ready to build a healthy society will be more attainable.
Adoptive transfer of genetically engineered T cells expressing antigen-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs), is an appealing therapeutic approach for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated malignancies of latency type II/III that express EBV-antigens (LMP1/2). Patients who are HLA-A*0101pos could benefit from such products, since no T cells recognizing any EBV-derived peptide in this common HLA allele have been found thus far.

HLA-A*0101-restricted EBV-(LMP2)-specific T-cells were isolated using peptide-MHC-tetramers. Functionality was assessed by production of IFNγ and cytotoxicity when stimulated with EBV-LMP2-expressing cell-lines. Functionality of primary T cells transduced with HLA-A*0101-restricted EBV-LMP2-specific TCRs was optimized by knocking out the endogenous TCR of primary T cells (ΔTCR) using CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

EBV-LMP2-specific T cells were successfully isolated and their TCRs were characterized. TCR gene-transfer in primary T cells resulted in specific peptide-MHC-tetramer binding and reactivity against EBV-LMP2-expressing cell-lines. The mean-fluorescence intensity of peptide-MHC-tetramer binding was increased 1.5-2 fold when the endogenous TCR of CD8pos T cells was knocked out. CD8pos/ΔTCR T cells modified to express EBV-LMP2-specific TCRs showed IFNγ secretion and cytotoxicity towards EBV-LMP2-expressing malignant cell-lines.

We isolated the first functional HLA-A*0101-restricted EBV-LMP2-specific T-cell populations and TCRs, which can potentially be used in future TCR gene-therapy to treat EBV-associated latency type II/III malignancies.
We isolated the first functional HLA-A*0101-restricted EBV-LMP2-specific T-cell populations and TCRs, which can potentially be used in future TCR gene-therapy to treat EBV-associated latency type II/III malignancies.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) serology tests are clinically useful to document prior SARS-CoV-2 infections. Data are urgently needed to select assays with optimal sensitivity at acceptable specificity for antibody detection.

A comparative evaluation was performed of 7 commercial SARS-CoV-2 serology assays on 171 sera from 135 subjects with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (71 hospitalized patients and 64 paucisymptomatic individuals). Kinetics of IgA/IgM/IgG seroconversion to viral N and S protein epitopes were studied from 0 to 54 days after onset of symptoms. Cross-reactivity was verified on 57 prepandemic samples.

Wantai SARS-COV-2 Ab ELISA and Orient Gene COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test showed superior overall sensitivity for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay and EUROIMMUN Anti-SARS-CoV-2 combined IgG/IgA showed acceptable sensitivity (>95%) vs the consensus result of all assays from 10 days post onset of symptoms.
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