Search

Aims: The study aimed to compare the scanning electron microscopic gradings of the endothelium and calcium depositions between proximal, under-bridging, distal, and control segments of the coronary artery with myocardial bridge (MB). Methods: The autopsy of 45 adult hearts with MB among the 243 cases was collected from North Okkalapa General and Teaching Hospital, Yangon. Then, the length and thickness of the MB were measured. The endothelial gradings and elements composition of each specimen was examined by a scanning electron microscope (Phenom Pro X) with energy dispersion X-ray spectrometry (EDS) operated at 15 kV. Results: In the present study, 45 bridges (18.5%) were observed among the 243 hearts. They were located on the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in all cases (100%). The mean length of the MB was 18.3 ± 11.7 mm (range 1.5–59 mm). The mean thickness of the MB was 2.8 ± 1.5 mm (range 1–6.3 mm). In comparing endothelial cell gradings and calcium deposition of four segments, the proximal segment was significantly different from the under-bridging segment, distal segment, and control segment. The under-bridging segment was significantly different gradings from the distal segment (p less than 0.05). Conclusion: The proximal segment was the most endothelial damage site due to hemodynamic effect of the MB. The under-bridging segment was the least endothelial damage site which might be due to the atheroprotective effect of the MB in under segment.

This article contains microbiome data from the upper respiratory tract of patients living with HIV/TB, HIV and TB from Meiktila, a town in Myanmar where there is a high incidence of HIV and TB. Microbiomes were compared for HIV/TB infected and healthy adults from the same population. We collected nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs from a total of 33 participants (Healthy {5}, HIV/TB {8}, HIV {14}, and TB {6}). DNA was extracted from the swabs and subjected to custom single step 16s rRNA sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq platform. The sequencing data is available via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/ PRJNA432583.

Background Highly sensitive, scalable diagnostic methods are needed to guide malaria elimination interventions. While traditional microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are suitable for the diagnosis of symptomatic malaria infection, more sensitive tests are needed to screen for low-density, asymptomatic infections that are targeted by interventions aiming to eliminate the entire reservoir of malaria infection in humans. Methods A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) was developed for multiplexed detection of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene and ribosomal RNA of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Simulated field samples stored for 14 days with sample preservation buffer were used to assess the analytical sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, 1750 field samples from Southeastern Myanmar were tested both by RDT and ultrasensitive RT-PCR. Results Limits of detection (LoD) were determined under simulated field conditions. When 0.3 mL blood samples were stored for 14 days at 28 °C and 80 % humidity, the LoD was less than 16 parasites/mL for P. falciparum and 19.7 copies/µL for P. vivax (using a plasmid surrogate), about 10,000-fold lower than RDTs. Of the 1739 samples successfully evaluated by both ultrasensitive RT-PCR and RDT, only two were RDT positive while 24 were positive for P. falciparum, 108 were positive for P. vivax, and 127 were positive for either P. vivax and/or P. falciparum using ultrasensitive RT-PCR. Conclusions This ultrasensitive RT-PCR method is a robust, field-tested screening method that is vastly more sensitive than RDTs. Further optimization may result in a truly scalable tool suitable for widespread surveillance of low-level asymptomatic P. falciparum and P. vivax parasitaemia. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-015-1038-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.