Fungal PCR-based diagnostic methods are at risk of contamination. Sample collection containers were investigated for fungal DNA contamination using real-time PCR assays. Up to 18% of blood collection tubes were contaminated with fungal DNA, probably A. fumigatus. Lower proportions of contamination in other vessels were observed. The incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA) is increasing amongst immunocompromised individuals with an estimated one million deaths worldwide (Maschmeyer and Haas 2008).The need for a universally applicable rapid and sensitive diagnostic method is pressing (Denning 1998). PCR based detection of Aspergillus nucleic acids provides a well explored diagnostic technique that could fulfil these criteria (Chen et al 2002, Perlin andZhao 2009). However, Aspergillus is ubiquitous in the environment and DNA contamination in a diagnostic assay can arise from dead or fragmented fungi. Given the costs and side effects of the preferred antifungal therapeutics (Menzin et al 2009), even very low levels of false positive results or contamination have serious consequences. The most convenient source of material for diagnosis is blood. An 8% contamination rate in over 3,000 fungal PCR assays performed on whole blood over 2 years has been reported (Loeffler et al 1999). Contaminating DNA from 12 different Aspergillus species caused a false positive rate of 19% with sources of contamination including DNA extraction and PCR reagents (Palmer et al 2001). Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. We investigated the prevalence of fungal DNA contamination originating from blood collection tubes and a variety of other clinically relevant vessels from a range of manufacturers using a DNA extraction kit that has been proven free from fungal DNA (data not shown) (MycXtra ™ , Myconostica, Manchester, UK). Extracted DNA was tested using a quality controlled commercial molecular beacon (MB) real-time PCR assay that detects Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. (FXG:Resp (Asp+), Myconostica). Positive samples were screened using a second PCR assay with a TaqMan (TM) probe specific for Aspergillus fumigatus only. NIH Public AccessCollection vessels tested and rates of contamination detected are listed in table 1. To test for microbiological contamination, sterile PBS-Tween 80 (1mL) was added to each vessel and agitated on a vortex mixer for 1 minute. An aliquot (100μL) was then spread onto Sabouraud dextrose agar plates and incubated at 30°C for 2 weeks. To test for fungal DNA contamination, molecular grade sterile water (1mL) was added to each vessel and agitated on a ...

BackgroundAs cancer survival rates increase, the challenge of ensuring that cancer survivors reclaim their quality of life (QoL) becomes more important. This paper outlines the research element of a research and training program that is designed to do just that.ObjectiveBridging sectors, disciplines, and geographies, it brings together eight PhD projects and students from across Europe to identify the underlying barriers, test different technology-enabled rehabilitative approaches, propose a model to optimize the patient pathways, and examine the business models that might underpin a sustainable approach to cancer survivor reintegration using technology.MethodsThe program, funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 722012, includes deep disciplinary PhD projects, intersectoral and international secondments, interdisciplinary plenary training schools, and virtual subject-specific education modules.ResultsThe 8 students have now been recruited and are at the early stages of their projects.ConclusionsCATCH will provide a comprehensive training and research program by embracing all key elements—technical, social, and economic sciences—required to produce researchers and project outcomes that are capable of meeting existing and future needs in cancer rehabilitation.

The phenomenon of European migration during the early modern period — whether to overseas locations or across frontiers within Europe — is a complex one. In general, people migrate of their own volition from places of low opportunity or deprivation to areas of higher opportunity, where they hope to find employment or a better life.2 In the early modern period, however, the reasons why people migrated are less clear. Of course, many thousands migrated to improve their circumstances, usually in the hope of returning to make a permanent home in their place of origin. Yet, according to Nicholas Canny, English migration to transatlantic destinations in the early part of the seventeenth century was ‘high-risk subsistence migration’, since both the Chesapeake and the West Indies proved lethal for Europeans. The precise reasons why migrants continued to leave home, when such were the prospects before them, remain opaque to historians.

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