We present an attractive new system for the specific and sensitive detection of the malaria causing Plasmodium parasites. The system relies on isothermal conversion of single DNA cleavage-ligation events catalyzed specifically by the Plasmodium enzyme topoisomerase I to micrometer sized products detectable at the single-molecule level. Combined with a droplet-microfluidics Lab-on-a-Chip platform, this design allowed for sensitive, specific and quantitative detection of all human malaria causing Plasmodium species in single drops of unprocessed blood with a detection limit of less than one parasite/μL. Moreover, the setup allowed for detection of Plasmodium parasites in non-invasive saliva samples from infected patients. During recent years malaria transmission has declined worldwide and with this the number of patients with low-parasite density has increased. Consequently, the need for accurate detection of even a few parasites is becoming increasingly important for the continued combat against the disease. We believe that the presented droplet-microfluidics platform, which has a high potential for adaptation to point-of-care setups suitable for low-resource settings may contribute significantly to meet this demand. Moreover, potential future adaptation of the presented setup for the detection of other microorganisms may form the basis for the development of a more generic platform for diagnosis, fresh water- or food quality control or other purposes within applied or basic science.

Schizoaffective disorder is not simply a subgroup of either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia but may be genetically linked to both, with schizoaffective disorder being a subtype of each or a genetic intermediate form.

The aims of the present study were to quantify colostrum intake (CI) of piglets using the D2O dilution technique, to develop a mechanistic model to predict CI, to compare these data with CI predicted by a previous empirical predictive model developed for bottle-fed piglets, and to study how composition of diets fed to gestating sows affected piglet CI, sow colostrum yield (CY), and colostrum composition. In total, 240 piglets from 40 litters were enriched with D2O. The CI measured by D2O from birth until 24 h after the birth of first-born piglet was on average 443 g (SD 151). Based on measured CI, a mechanistic model to predict CI was developed using piglet characteristics (24-h weight gain [WG; g], BW at birth [BWB; kg], and duration of CI [D; min]: CI, g=-106+2.26 WG+200 BWB+0.111 D-1,414 WG/D+0.0182 WG/BWB (R2=0.944). This model was used to predict the CI for all colostrum suckling piglets within the 40 litters (n=500, mean=437 g, SD=153 g) and was compared with the CI predicted by a previous empirical predictive model (mean=305 g, SD=140 g). The previous empirical model underestimated the CI by 30% compared with that obtained by the new mechanistic model. The sows were fed 1 of 4 gestation diets (n=10 per diet) based on different fiber sources (low fiber [17%] or potato pulp, pectin residue, or sugarbeet pulp [32 to 40%]) from mating until d 108 of gestation. From d 108 of gestation until parturition, sows were fed 1 of 5 prefarrowing diets (n=8 per diet) varying in supplemented fat (3% animal fat, 8% coconut oil, 8% sunflower oil, 8% fish oil, or 4% fish oil+4% octanoic acid). Sows fed diets with pectin residue or sugarbeet pulp during gestation produced colostrum with lower protein, fat, DM, and energy concentrations and higher lactose concentrations, and their piglets had greater CI as compared with sows fed potato pulp or the low-fiber diet (P<0.05), and sows fed pectin residue had a greater CY than potato pulp-fed sows (P<0.05). Prefarrowing diets affected neither CI nor CY, but the prefarrowing diet with coconut oil decreased lactose and increased DM concentrations of colostrum compared with other prefarrowing diets (P<0.05). In conclusion, the new mechanistic predictive model for CI suggests that the previous empirical predictive model underestimates CI of sow-reared piglets by 30%. It was also concluded that nutrition of sows during gestation affected CY and colostrum composition.

BackgroundChow and Liu showed that the maximum likelihood tree for multivariate discrete distributions may be found using a maximum weight spanning tree algorithm, for example Kruskal's algorithm. The efficiency of the algorithm makes it tractable for high-dimensional problems.ResultsWe extend Chow and Liu's approach in two ways: first, to find the forest optimizing a penalized likelihood criterion, for example AIC or BIC, and second, to handle data with both discrete and Gaussian variables. We apply the approach to three datasets: two from gene expression studies and the third from a genetics of gene expression study. The minimal BIC forest supplements a conventional analysis of differential expression by providing a tentative network for the differentially expressed genes. In the genetics of gene expression context the method identifies a network approximating the joint distribution of the DNA markers and the gene expression levels.ConclusionsThe approach is generally useful as a preliminary step towards understanding the overall dependence structure of high-dimensional discrete and/or continuous data. Trees and forests are unrealistically simple models for biological systems, but can provide useful insights. Uses include the following: identification of distinct connected components, which can be analysed separately (dimension reduction); identification of neighbourhoods for more detailed analyses; as initial models for search algorithms with a larger search space, for example decomposable models or Bayesian networks; and identification of interesting features, such as hub nodes.

Estimation of milk production in lactating sows by determination of deuterated water turnover in three piglets per litter.The milk intake in piglets from four lactating sows was measured in three 48 h periods, starting on days 3, 10 and 17 of lactation, using the deuterium oxide (D 2 O) dilution technique. The milk intake was estimated from the water turnover in the piglets corrected for the production of metabolic water. The water turnover was estimated from the water dilution space and the fractional turnover of body water, determined by the rate of D 2 O dilution. To determine the magnitude of isotopic recycling, a randomly selected piglet in each litter was not enriched with D 2 O. Milk production of the four lactating sows was also measured by the weigh -suckle-weigh (WSW) method on days 4, 11 and 18 of lactation. The average daily milk production determined by the D 2 O dilution technique (9.91 9 0.69 kg) was higher (P B 0.05) than that determined by the uncorrected WSW method (8.65 9 0.81 kg). Different procedures for selecting piglets were evaluated to obtain the best possible estimation of total milk production from three piglets in each litter. The total milk production of a sow based on three piglets in the litter was obtained from a quadratic model of the relationship between milk intake and daily gain. When the daily gain of all piglets were known the Pearson correlation between milk production determined for the whole litter (n ¼ 1) and only three median piglets was 0.98.