For quantitative assessment of virus particles in patient plasma samples various assays are commercially available. Typical performance characteristics for such assays are sensitivity, precision and the range of linearity. In order to assess these properties it is common practice to divide the range of inputs into subranges in order to apply different statistical models to evaluate these proper...

background: due to some limitations of serological methods in diagnosis of patients infected with hiv-1 (human immunodeficiency virus) and hcv (hepatitis c virus), it is profoundly important to use molecular methods for the detecting of these infectious agents. however, the most significant problems are the exorbitant cost of these methods and the need of a thermocycler which is an expensive in...

A molecular beacon-based real-time NASBA (QNASBA) assay for detection and identification of Listeria monocytogenes has been developed. A correlation between targeting highly accessible mRNA sequences and QNASBA efficiency and sensitivity was demonstrated. The assay targets a sequence from the mRNA transcript of the hly gene which is specific for this bacterium; and includes an internal amplific...

BACKGROUND Man to mosquito transmission of malaria depends on the presence of the sexual stage parasites, gametocytes, that often circulate at low densities. Gametocyte densities below the microscopical threshold of detection may be sufficient to infect mosquitoes but the importance of submicroscopical gametocyte carriage in different transmission settings is unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FI...

AIM To investigate the value of RNA detection by nucleic acid sequence based amplification (NASBA) for the monitoring of Chlamydia trachomatis infections after antibiotic treatment. METHODS Cervical smears (n = 97) and urine specimens (n = 61) from 25 C trachomatis positive female patients were analysed for the presence of C trachomatis 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) by NASBA and C trachomatis plas...

  Background: Due to some limitations of serological methods in diagnosis of patients infected with HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus) and HCV (hepatitis C virus), it is profoundly important to use molecular methods for the detecting of these infectious agents. However, the most significant problems are the exorbitant cost of these methods and the need of a thermocycler which is an expensive...

PURPOSE Trastuzumab is the cornerstone for treatment of women with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer, both in the adjuvant and in the metastatic settings. The accurate assessment of HER2 is, therefore, critical to identifying patients who may benefit from trastuzumab-based therapy. This project aimed to determine the optimal scoring method for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay. ...

Chapter abstracts How to Order Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) is a powerful and rapid technique for nucleic acid amplification. The accumulation of specific products in a reaction is monitored continuously during cycling. This is usually achieved by monitoring changes in fluorescence within the PCR tube. This essential manual presents a comprehensive guide to the most appropriate and up-to-date technol...

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) was applied in combination with a fluorescein-conjugated molecular beacon specific for a sequence flanked by transcript-specific primers in order to monitor hblC enterotoxin gene expression in real-time from milk separately contaminated with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus circulans. Maximal enterotoxin expression was n...