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Laboratory Confirmation (laboratory + confirmation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Trisomy 21 and Rett syndrome: A double burden

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 7 2004
H Leonard
Abstract: Rett syndrome is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder generally affecting girls. Affected individuals are apparently normal at birth but later pass through a period of regression with loss of hand and communication skills and the development of hand stereotypies and dyspraxia. Mutations in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene, have now been found to cause Rett syndrome in up to 80% of classical cases. We report a girl with Down syndrome, one of three children with birth defects in a family of five. From the age of 18 months she developed symptomatology considered by her primary physician to be very characteristic of Rett syndrome. However, this remained a clinical diagnosis till the age of 12 years. Laboratory confirmation of the dual diagnosis, which includes a R168X mutation in the MECP2 gene in addition to trisomy 21, has now been possible. The presence of one neurological or developmental disorder does not necessarily preclude a diagnosis of Rett syndrome. [source]

First laboratory confirmation of Xylophilus ampelinus in Slovenia,

EPPO BULLETIN, Issue 1 2005
T. Dreo
Bacterial blight of grapevine is caused by a slow-growing bacterium Xylophilus ampelinus. It has been suspected to occur in Slovenia on the basis of visual observation of characteristic symptoms in the 1960s. In the present study, symptoms were recorded in an infected vineyard during three consecutive years (2002/2004). Samples from this vineyard were tested by nested-PCR and isolation of bacteria on media was attempted. In the first year, angular lesions on leaves were highly expressed and an isolate morphologically similar to X. ampelinus was obtained from one sample. It was purified and identified as X. ampelinus using biochemical and nutritional tests, fatty acid analysis, immuno-fluorescence, nested PCR and partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The 16S rDNA sequence showed 99,100% homology to known sequences of X. ampelinus strains, including the type strain. Pathogenicity of the isolate was confirmed in tissue-cultured and potted grapevine plants. In the following two years, symptoms of bacterial blight were only faintly expressed. Using isolation on media and nested-PCR, 23 and 17 extracts prepared from 10 and 8 grapevines, respectively, were analysed. In 2003, no positive sample was found, but X. ampelinus was again isolated and identified by colony morphology and nested-PCR in 2004. [source]

Lead in soil by field-portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry,an examination of paired In Situ and laboratory ICP-AES results

REMEDIATION, Issue 3 2008
David A. Binstock
A major aspect of lead hazard control is the evaluation of soil lead hazards around housing coated with lead-based paint. The use of field-portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF) to do detailed surveying, with limited laboratory confirmation, can provide lead measurements in soil (especially for planning abatement activities) in a far more cost-efficient and timely manner than laboratory analysis. To date, one obstacle to the acceptance of FPXRF as an approved method of measuring lead in soil has been a lack of correspondence between field and laboratory results. In order to minimize the differences between field and laboratory results, RTI International (RTI) has developed a new protocol for field drying and sieving soil samples for field measurement by FPXRF. To evaluate this new protocol, composite samples were collected in the field following both U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines and ASTM International (ASTM) protocols, measured after drying by FPXRF, and returned to the laboratory for confirmatory inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis. Evaluation of study data from several diverse sites revealed no statistical difference between paired FPXRF and ICP-AES measurements using the new method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Prevalence of Cysticercus bovis in Australian cattle

AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 7 2010
BHG Pearse
Objective The first national abattoir survey of Cysticercus bovis (,beef measles') in cattle was conducted in February 2008. Methods During the data collection period, 493,316 cattle were subjected to standard postmortem procedures, including incision of the masseter and heart muscles. On-site veterinarians were asked to record the location of any C. bovis cysts, as well as the National Livestock Identification System ear tag numbers of infected animals. Veterinarians were asked to submit samples for laboratory confirmation by histology and polymerase chain reaction testing. Results Of the 23 samples submitted, none was positive for C. bovis by either diagnostic method. Conclusions Occasional, isolated diagnoses of beef measles are still made in most states of Australia, but since the last regional surveys were conducted 30 years ago, when the estimated prevalence was 50 to 200 per 100,000 cattle slaughtered, the parasite has become extremely rare. [source]