ASQ-3 scores are sensitive to small differences in age in a Peruvian infant population.

OBJECTIVE: The Ages and Stages Questionnaires Edition 3 (ASQ-3) are a well-validated international screen for developmental delays in young children. However, previous studies demonstrate variable scores between children eligible to take the same ASQ-3 interval. This study aimed to determine a relationship between age and ASQ-3 score for each screening interval. METHODS: This was a baseline exploratory cross-sectional study of infants under 2 years old evaluated for the Peruvian social programme Cuna Más. Participants were included in Cuna Más if they lived in districts with fewer than 2000 inhabitants or 400 homes, indicating a predominantly rural population. The appropriate ASQ-3 screening interval was administered to each subject. Subjects were divided into four 2-week chronological subgroups based on age within each 2-month screening window and aggregated across all 12 screening intervals. Fisher's exact test, analysis of variance and Bonferonni post hoc test were used to compare differences between age subgroups. Linear regression was performed to assess the relationship between ASQ-3 score and both aggregated and disaggregated age subgroup. RESULTS: A total of 5850 Peruvian infants were evaluated in 2013. Mean age was 13 ± 6.6 months, 50.7% were male and mean maternal education was 6.6 ± 4.0 years; 34.8% infants were stunted, 7.8% were underweight, 0.9% were wasted and 2% had age adjusted greater than 35 days for prematurity for ASQ-3 interval assignment. Mean total ASQ-3 was 42.2 ± 8.2. The ASQ-3 allocated 49.6% with suspected delay in one or more developmental areas. Before and after adjusting for wealth quintile, maternal education level, infant nutritional status and prematurity adjustment, age subgroup remained significantly associated with total ASQ-3 score (ß = 1.8, CI: 1.7-2.0, P < 0.001), sectional ASQ-3 score (all P < 0.001) and inversely associated with one or more scores indicating suspected developmental delay (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The ASQ-3 may underestimate the sensitivity of child development to small differences in age in this population.

A field programmable gate array-based time-resolved scaler for collinear laser spectroscopy with bunched radioactive potassium beams.

A new data acquisition system including a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based time-resolved scaler was developed for laser-induced fluorescence and beam bunch coincidence measurements. The FPGA scaler was tested in a collinear laser-spectroscopy experiment on radioactive (37)K at the BEam COoler and LAser spectroscopy (BECOLA) facility at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. A 1.29 µs bunch width from the buncher and a bunch repetition rate of 2.5 Hz led to a background suppression factor of 3.1 × 10(5) in resonant photon detection measurements. The hyperfine structure of (37)K and its isotope shift relative to the stable (39)K were determined using 5 × 10(4) s(-1) (37)K ions injected into the BECOLA beam line. The obtained hyperfine coupling constants A((2)S(1/2)) = 120.3(1.4) MHz, A((2)P(1/2)) = 15.2(1.1) MHz, and A((2)P(3/2)) = 1.4(8) MHz, and the isotope shift δν(39, 37) = -264(3) MHz are consistent with the previously determined values, where available.

Genome analysis of 17 extensively drug-resistant strains reveals new potential mutations for resistance.

We report the whole-genome sequence of an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) strain of Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) lineage. This strain is phenotypically resistant to aminoglycosides, but carries no related mutations in rrs, tlyA, and eis. Through genome analysis comparison with 16 XDR strains, we found 218 non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) shared that could confer resistance.

Functional Analysis Using Whole-Genome Sequencing of a Drug-Sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain from Peru.

We report the whole-genome sequence of a Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) lineage drug-sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain from Peru, INS-SEN. The functional analysis revealed more mutations in secondary metabolite biosynthesis, transport, and catabolism (clusters of orthologous groups [COG] category Q) than for other LAM-sensitive strains. This study contributes to the understanding of the genomic diversity of drug-sensitive M. tuberculosis.

Evidence of Clonal Expansion in the Genome of a Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolate from Peru.

We report the genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis INS-MDR from Peru, a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) lineage strain. Our analysis showed mutations related to drug resistance in the rpoB (D516V), katG (S315T), kasA (G269S), and pncA (Q10R) genes. Our evidence suggests that INS-MDR may be a clonal expansion related to the African strain KZN 1435.

Whole-Genome Sequencing and Comparative Analysis of Yersinia pestis, the Causative Agent of a Plague Outbreak in Northern Peru.

The plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the Y. pestis strain INS, which was isolated from swollen lymph gland aspirate (bubo aspirate) of an infected patient from a pneumonic outbreak in 2010 in northern Peru.

Whole Genome Sequencing and Comparative Analysis of Bartonella bacilliformis Strain INS, the Causative Agent of Carrion's Disease.

Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiological agent of human bartonellosis, which is highly endemic to Peru. Here, we report the first genome that was sequenced and analyzed from an isolate of B. bacilliformis strain INS, which originally was isolated from the blood of an infected patient with an acute phase of Carrion's disease from Jaén-Cajamarca, Peru.