The following list contains samples of geologic interest that were processed from February 1974 through May 1980 at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. The archaeologic samples processed during the same period will be published in our next date list. The benzene liquid scintillation technique was used following laboratory procedures previously reported by Coleman (1973; 1974).

This article reports on archaeologic samples processed from February 1974 through May 1980 at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is not routinely isolated in cell cultures, and thus detection of HHV-8-specific antibodies is usually performed. In this study, we performed recombinant antigens ORF66- and ORFK12-based Western blot strip assays and ELISA, and surveyed the seroprevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in HIV-positive and -negative patients. In serum samples from patients with positive plasma HHV-8 DNA, the sensitivity of the Western blot strip assay was 100% for the anti-ORF66 antibodies and 83.3% for the anti-ORFK12 antibodies. In addition, ORF66-based ELISA showed higher levels of specificity (87.3%) and sensitivity (84.8%) than ORFK12-based ELISA. Moreover, the area under the receiver-operating characteristics curves (AUROC) was 0.76 for ORF66-based ELISA and 0.66 for ORFK12-based ELISA. The seroprevalence of HHV-8 antibodies to ORF66 and/or ORFK12 in the HIV-infected patients (55%, 97/176) was significantly higher than in the DM patients (45%, 135/301) (P = 0.03) and the HIV-/DM-negative group (11%, 11/100) (P < 0.01). In the HIV-infected patients, the seropositivity of the HHV-8-specific antibody was 30% to both antigens, 19% to ORFK12 and 5.7% to ORF66. Importantly, HHV-8 seropositivity in the HIV-infected patients was significantly associated with the transmission method of intravenous injection and high levels of HIV RNA loading (P < 0.01), but not with gender, CD4 cell numbers or AIDS symptoms. This study assessed the sensitivity and specificity of ORF66 and ORFK12 for the detection of HHV-8 antibodies, providing novel antigens for the diagnosis of HHV-8 infection and epidemiology of HHV-8 seroprevalence.