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Background: We aimed to evaluate the relevance of dual target real-time polymerase chain (PCR) assays targeting the rtxA and cpn60 genes of the paediatric pathogen Kingella kingae. We also studied for the first time the clinical and epidemiological features of K. kingae infections in a Danish population. Method: Children with K. kingae-positive cultures were identified from 11,477 children and 86 children younger than 16 years old from whom blood cultures and joint fluid cultures were obtained between January 2010 and November 2016. Results were then compared to microbiological results obtained from 29 joint fluids (28 children) tested by dual target K. kingae real-time PCR from September 2014 to November 2016. Epidemiological data of all children with microbiologically confirmed K. kingae infections were collected. Results: From 2010 to 2016, we diagnosed 17 children with microbiological-proven K. kingae infections. During this period, blood cultures from five children and joint fluid cultures from a single child yielded K. kingae. Dual target K. kingae realtime PCR allowed us to increase the diagnostic yield of K. kingae infections by detecting the organism in 12 of 29 (41.4%) specimens. Notably, the 12 real-time PCR-positive specimens were rtxA-positive whereas only 10 (83.3%) were cpn60-positive. PCR-positive children were significantly younger than PCR-negative children (p-value: .01). A significant seasonal variation was found for patients with proven K. kingae infection (p-value:<.001), with a peak in autumn. Conclusion: Dual target-specific real-time PCR markedly improved the detection of K. kingae in clinical specimens when compared to culture methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The κ-CN genetic variants A, B, and E were purified from milk from homozygous cows, using isoelectric precipitation followed by calcium precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The purified κ-CN variants displayed varying degrees of glycosylation, and were furthermore differentially affected by in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Both antioxidant and angiotensin 1-converting enzyme inhibitory capacity were significantly increased by digestion, with the antioxidant capacity of the E variant being significantly lower ( p < 0.05) than that of the A and B variants. These results suggest that genetic polymophisms in bovine milk protein coding genes may be of significance for nutritional and health-related endpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage-based conception of language is a major tenet in Cognitive Linguistics, but cognitive phonology has not yet been developed sufficiently in this direction. Often, phonemic analysis is carried out at the high level of abstraction of 'a language', disregarding rich patterns of language-internal variation. This paper first argues that cognitive phonology must aim at a higher degree of descriptive refinement, especially in the direction of social variation. Then it goes on to examine the implications of a usage-based and multi-faceted model for a theoretical discussion of the phoneme as a prototype category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "INTRODUCTION" of the Spanish Journal of Linguistics presents an overview of Cognitive Linguistics in Spain, highlighting the importance of the book "Metaphors we live by" by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in 1980. Scholars such as Enrique Bernárdez, Antonio Barcelona, José Luis Cifuentes Honrubia, and Francisco Ruiz de Mendoza introduced Cognitive Linguistics in Spain in the 80s. In the 90s, the Spanish Association of Cognitive Linguistics (AELCO) was founded and new tools and models were developed. The article also mentions contributions on language teaching and the application of Cognitive Linguistics in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) in the present volume. Different studies and linguistic analyses in Spanish are presented, including the study of metonymic processes in Spanish determiners, common errors in the acquisition of idiomatic expressions, the relationship between gesture, prosody, and grammar, the grammaticalization of ascent verbs in English, the acquisition of collocation events in Spanish, semantic change in the domain of smell in American English, the conceptualization of transgender identity in the United States through lexicon, translation, and the role of cognitive linguistics in the ideology and emotions of the translator, and the translation and retranslation of texts from English to Judeo-Spanish from a prototype theory perspective. [Extracted from the article]

To establish a protocol for studying effects of pulmonary exposure in developmental toxicity studies, the effects of intratracheal sham instillation under short-term isoflurane anaesthesia were evaluated with a protocol including multiple instillations during gestation. Twelve time-mated mice (C57BL/6BomTac) were anaesthetized with isoflurane and intratracheally instilled with saline containing 10% bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) on gestation days 8, 11, 15 and 18. In addition, the early effects of the procedure were assessed in naive female mice. Control animals were not handled. Dams were followed until weaning, and the offspring were observed from birth to sexual maturation. The cell composition of BAL was examined in the females early after treatment (3 days) and in the dams at weaning (25 days). DNA damage in BAL and liver cells was determined by the comet assay. The procedure did not affect gestation or viability, growth and sexual maturation of the offspring. Lung markers of inflammation and DNA damage were comparable in control and treated dams. Livers of the anaesthetized and instilled females, dams and their offspring displayed no induction of DNA damage. Intratracheal instillation under isoflurane anaesthesia did not induce observable effects in pregnant mice or their offspring. We suggest that this procedure can be used as a means of exposure through the airways in studies of developmental toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It was recently implied that prenatal stress and fetal exposure to glucocorticoids may interfere with hearing ability and noise induced hearing loss in adulthood. In the present study pregnant Wistar rats were stressed during gestation by Chronic Mild Stress (CMS, a variable schedule of different stressors) or by dexamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid, i.e. a pharmacological stressor). At birth, but not at weaning, the dexamethasone offspring exhibited significantly decreased body weight compared to both control offspring and progeny from dams exposed to CMS during pregnancy. As adults, male offspring were exposed to 105 dB sound pressure level (SPL) wide band noise either continuously for eight hours or for two hours per day on three consecutive days. Oto-acoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses were recorded before and after exposure to noise. Neither prenatal chronic stress nor prenatal dexamethasone exposure was associated with significantly enhanced noise induced hearing loss compared to controls, and these results were consistent in both subsets of animals. Our data do not support previous reports that prenatal exposure to mild stress nor to dexamethasone is detrimental to the hearing organ per se. However, hearing may be modulated by prenatal stressors under certain circumstances, of which the timing and degree are probably the most important. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Diagnostic accuracy of laboratory-developed PCR after overnight enrichment for the detection of vanB vancomycin-resistant enterococci was evaluated on 537 rectal swabs. Defining Ct-values of 27-34 (40 samples, 7 % inconclusive), we found an excellent sensitivity of 98,3 % and specificity of 99,7 % for the remaining 497 samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of insoluble aggregates in acidic whey protein isolate (WPI) beverages during storage is a quality concern. Earlier studies showed that changes in processing methods from 95 °C for 180 s–120 °C for 20 s could prevent it. In the present study, WPI drinks were stored for up to 12 months and insoluble aggregates formed in re-solubilised WPI and its liquid phase analysed by proteomics. Insoluble aggregates were found to be enriched in caseinomacropeptides (CMP). Increased peptide formation by weak acid hydrolysis, especially of CMP, was found at 120 °C. Further enhanced hydrolysis of CMP was obtained by deamidation as well as by the presence of the genetic variant A of CMP. Batch variations may therefore be assigned to variations in CMP as well as variations in the distribution of genetic variants of A and B in different WPI batches used for the production of the WPI products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work has been to construct and evaluate a system for recording distortion product otoacoustic emissions in rats at ultrasonic frequencies up to at least 50 kHz. The paper primarily describes the design of the acoustic probe system, as this is the most critical part. An acoustic ear simulator was developed and used for the subsequent calibration of the stimulus signals. A detachable probe system was provided in order to allow for visual inspection of the probe fitting in the ear canal prior to the final placement of the acoustic probe. Test/retest performance was evaluated by comparing DP-grams and I/O curves in 12 anaesthetized Wistar rats in two sessions separated approximately by one week. The between subject variance of the 12 tested rats appeared to be very modest, thus making the setup suitable for testing, for instance, ototoxicity of drugs or detection of cochlear damage due to noise exposures in rodents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostic real time reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) is usually done using nucleic acid (NA) purified from the sample. In the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic reagents and utensils for NA purification has been in short supply. This has generated interest in methods that eliminate the need for NA purification. To investigate if addition of detergent to rRT-PCR master mix (MM) enabled in-well direct lysis and detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical eSwab specimens. IGEPAL-CA-630 (IGEPAL) was added to SARS-CoV-2 MM to 0.3 % final concentration and crude sample was added directly to the PCR well containing MM. Cycle of positivity (Cp) and categorical agreement was compared in samples tested in standard rRT-PCR after NA purification and in in-well lysis, direct rRT-PCR. In-well lysis direct rRT-PCR detected SARS-CoV-2 in 27/30 previously SARS-CoV-2+ samples with an average bias of 3.26 cycles (95 %CI: 0.08–6.43 cycles). All 30 previously test negative samples remained negative when tested in in-well lysis, direct PCR. Supplementation of detergent to MM was shown to be useful for the detection of SARS CoV-2 in eSwab specimens (COPAN) by direct rRT-PCR without prior NA purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]