BACKGROUND As the United States embraces electronic health records (EHRs), improved emergency medical services (EMS) information systems are also a priority; however, little is known about the experiences of EMS agencies as they adopt and implement electronic patient care report (e-PCR) systems. We sought to characterize motivations for adoption of e-PCR systems, challenges associated with adop...

Leishmania chagasi, transmitted mainly by Lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies, causes visceral leishmaniasis and atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis in Latin America. Successful vector control depends upon determining vectorial capacity and understanding Leishmania transmission by sand flies. As microscopic detection of Leishmania in dissected sand fly guts is laborious and time-consuming, highly spe...

It is estimated that 25 to 50% of the crops harvested worldwide are contaminated with mycotoxins. Because of the toxic and carcinogenic potential of mycotoxins, there is an urgent need to develop detection methods that are rapid and highly specific. The highly advanced physico-chemical methods for the analysis of mycotoxins in use, have the disadvantage that highly sophisticated clean-up and/or...

Observations from human microbiome studies are often conflicting or inconclusive. Many factors likely contribute to these issues including small cohort sizes, sample collection, and handling and processing differences. The field of microbiome research is moving from 16S rDNA gene sequencing to a more comprehensive genomic and functional representation through whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of co...

A t(1;19)(q23;p13) is detected cytogenetically in approximately 5% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALLs) and its presence has been associated with an increased risk of relapse in several previously-completed Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) clinical trials. The t(1;19) fuses E2A to PBX1 in more than 95% of cases and this molecular abnormality can be reliably identified by polymerase c...

haematologica/journal of hematology vol. 88(09):september 2003 1079 Five patients relapsed at different points (from 8 to 27 months) of CR. In three of them (n. 4, 8 and 9) consistent PCRpositivity was observed during 10, 20 and 15 months before relapse. One patient (n. 11) was not studied during the 4 months before relapse. Thus, no patient relapsed after durable PCR-negativity. We believe tha...

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized the genetic landscape. It is a lengthy, labor-intensive process that yields results never before achieved. As a result, it is imperative that the quality of the DNA sample be evaluated from the start, as most NGS sample preparation protocols require PCR amplification to generate DNA libraries prior to sequencing. The likelihood of artifact gen...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR), first described in 1985, is a highly sensitive and specific technique used for the detection of nucleic acids [55]. The inventor of this technology earned a Nobel prize for his achievement [43,44], which has revolutionised research and diagnostic possibilities. Qualitative PCR is a well established and straightforward technology, but quantification of specif...

AIM To investigative whether clinical manifestations of anterior uveitis are associated with the viral load of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in the aqueous humor in patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) and zoster sine herpete (ZSH). METHODS After informed consent was given, an aliquot of aqueous humor was collected from patients with VZV anterior uveitis (n = 8). Genomic DNA of the h...

Besides the application of conventional qualitative PCR as a valuable tool to enrich or identify specific sequences of nucleic acids, a new revolutionary technique for quantitative PCR determination has been introduced recently. It is based on real-time detection of PCR products revealed as a homogeneous accumulating signal generated by specific dyes. However, as far as we know, the influence o...