Comparison of three assays for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in SurePath Pap samples and the role of pre- and postcytology testing.

Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are common causes of sexually transmitted infections, and there is interest in screening SurePath liquid-based Pap (L-Pap) samples with Aptima Combo 2 (AC2), Amplicor (AMP), and ProbeTec ET (PT) assays. SurePath L-Pap samples and a cervical swab (CS) were collected from 394 women attending health clinics in Hamilton and Toronto, ON, Canada. L-Pap samples were tested with the three assays prior to being processed for cytology, and the CS sample was tested with AC2. The prevalence of C. trachomatis was 8.9%, and that of N. gonorrhoeae was 1.5%. By using the positives from CS testing, as well as CS negatives corresponding to L-Pap samples that tested positive in 2 of 3 assays, the sensitivities of AC2, AMP, and PT for C. trachomatis in precytology samples were calculated to be 97.1% (34 of 35 positive samples were detected), 91.4% (32 of 35 were detected), and 77.1% (27 of 35 were detected), respectively. Six women were infected with N. gonorrhoeae. After cytology processing, the results of testing the remaining liquid in the L-Pap vial and the cell-enriched fraction for C. trachomatis by AC2 showed positive agreements of 98.9% (kappa [k], 0.93) and 98.7% (k, 0.92), respectively, with the results of testing precytology L-Pap samples. Although all testing showed high specificity, testing for C. trachomatis by AC2 was significantly more sensitive than testing by PT for SurePath samples (P = 0.02). Newer versions of AMP (Cobas 4800) and PT (Q(x) with XTR technology) need published evaluations for detecting C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae in L-Pap samples. C. trachomatis testing can be performed with similar results on pre- and postcytology SurePath samples.

Correction factors for determination of annual average radon concentration in dwellings of Poland resulting from seasonal variability of indoor radon.

The method for the calculation of correction factors is presented, which can be used for the assessment of the mean annual radon concentration on the basis of 1-month or 3-month indoor measurements. Annual radon concentration is an essential value for the determination of the annual dose due to radon inhalation. The measurements have been carried out in 132 houses in Poland over a period of one year. The passive method of track detectors with CR-39 foil was applied. Four thermal-precipitation regions in Poland were established and correction factors were calculated for each region, separately for houses with and without basements.

Accuracy of results obtained by performing a second ligase chain reaction assay and PCR analysis on urine samples with positive or near-cutoff results in the LCx test for Chlamydia trachomatis.

Nucleic acid amplification assays such as the ligase chain reaction and PCR have encountered reproducibility problems. The initial extract and a newly extracted aliquot of urine specimens (n = 120) which had signal-to-cutoff (S/CO) ratios above 0.80 by the LCx Chlamydia assay were retested. Nucleic acid was extracted from an additional urine sample for testing by the AMPLICOR PCR Chlamydia assay. Fifteen percent (18 of 120) of the urine specimens were negative by all repeat tests (initial mean S/CO ratio by the LCx Chlamydia assay, 0.93; S/CO ratio range, 0.80 to 3.30). Repeat testing of the 102 specimens with possible positive results by the LCx Chlamydia assay by use of the initially extracted aliquot confirmed the results for 95 (93.1%) of the specimens; repeat testing of a newly extracted aliquot confirmed the results for 87 (85.3%) of the specimens. Twenty specimens had discordant results by the two repeat LCx Chlamydia assays. A total of 78 of 102 (76.5%) of the specimens were positive by the AMPLICOR PCR, and the AMPLICOR PCR confirmed the results for 82.1% (78 of 95) and 89.6% (78 of 87) of the specimens positive by the two repeat LCx Chlamydia assays, respectively. Some of the discrepancies observed by multiple repeat tests may have been due to specimen mislabeling or contamination during performance of the procedure rather than to the LCx Chlamydia assay. Both assays suffered from a lack of reproducibility on repeat testing with a small proportion of specimens, probably due to the presence of low levels of DNA, the presence of variable amounts of amplification inhibitors, and the loss of DNA during extraction.

The influence of caesium-137 distribution in Poland's north-eastern ecosystem on effective dose 10 years after the Chernobyl disaster.

A comparison is presented of particular methods of exposure in the first year after the Chernobyl disaster and ten years later. This comparison shows that the population exposure due to the presence of radiocaesium in the environment results from the presence of caesium contained in the soil, which provides 68% of the dose (as compared to 32% in 1987) while the influence of diet has been reduced to 32% (from 68%). The exposure from caesium-137 contained in the air has dropped from 14% to 0. The effective dose from caesium has been 50 times smaller than that from environmental sources of the natural radiation estimated for the region under study to be 1.61 mSv x y(-1).

Indoor radon concentrations in Poland as determined in short-term (two-day) measurements.

The aim of the present work was to obtain a pattern of 222Rn concentration distributions in typical buildings in Poland. In the investigations, the environmental passive detectors of the PICO-RAD type were used. The study encompassed buildings that were typical for Poland. The distribution of airborne 222Rn concentrations indoors is of a log-normal type. A total 1171 detectors were measured. Measurements were made in 319 basements, the remaining 852 measurements were carried out in the inhabited part of the houses. The radon concentrations in the basements in Bq x m(-3) ranged from 6 to 1300 with the arithmetic mean AM = 60, geometric mean GM = 30 and median M = 28, whereas those in the inhabited parts of the house (above the ground level) were: AM = 25, GM = 17 and M = 16 with the highest record value of 420.

Comparison of a polymer conjugate-enhanced enzyme immunoassay to ligase chain reaction for diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis in endocervical swabs.

Two endocervical swabs from each of 1,123 women were collected into manufacturer-supplied transport tubes and tested for Chlamydia trachomatis by a polymer conjugate-enhanced (PCE) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (IDEIA PCE Chlamydia; DAKO) and a ligase chain reaction assay (LCx Chlamydia; Abbott). After confirmation by the EIA blocking test, the sensitivity of the IDEIA PCE remained at 91.8% and the specificity increased from 98.2 to 99.8% compared to LCx.

Study of 222Rn concentrations in drinking water in the north-eastern hydroregions of Poland.

This paper presents the results of radon concentration measurements in the drinking water from the municipal water supply system and private wells located in the north-eastern part of Poland. The measurements were carried out on 643 samples using a liquid scintillation method. The mean value was found to be 5262 Bq m-3 with a maximum of 38347 Bq m-3. The samples were obtained from different water-bearing levels, i.e. surface water, deep borehole water and well water and have respective mean values of 3398, 5178 and 6155 Bq m-3. In 57 water samples, a guideline maximum level of 11,000 Bq m-3 was found to be exceeded. The observed radon concentration in water can contribute to a 2% increase in indoor radon concentration.

Evaluation of the NucliSens Basic Kit for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in genital tract specimens using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification of 16S rRNA.

We evaluated a new RNA amplification and detection kit, the NucliSens Basic Kit (Organon Teknika), for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in genitourinary specimens. The Basic Kit provides an open platform for RNA amplification and detection and contains isolation reagents for nucleic acid extraction, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) reagents (enzymes and buffers), and a generic ruthenium-labeled probe for electrochemiluminescent (ECL) detection of amplified product. Using freshly purified and titrated stocks of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae and in vitro-generated RNA transcripts for sensitivity determinations, the Basic Kit detected 1 inclusion-forming unit of C. trachomatis, 1 CFU of N. gonorrhoeae, and 100 RNA molecules of 16S rRNA for both bacteria. The clinical performance of the Basic Kit was evaluated by testing a total of 250 specimens for N. gonorrhoeae by culture and NASBA and a total of 96 specimens for C. trachomatis by PCR and NASBA. The Basic Kit detected 139 of 142 N. gonorrhoeae culture-positive specimens and gave a negative result for 73 of 74 culture-negative specimens, for a sensitivity and specificity of 97.9 and 98.7%, respectively. For C. trachomatis, the Basic Kit detected 24 of 24 PCR-positive specimens and gave a negative result for 71 of 72 PCR-negative specimens, for a sensitivity and specificity of 100 and 98.6%, respectively. The Basic Kit also detected specimens containing both N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis, using a multiplex NASBA assay using primers for both bacteria. The NucliSens Basic Kit offers a versatile platform for the development of sensitive RNA detection assays for sexually transmitted diseases.

Comparison of three nonradiographic methods of mixed dentition analysis in cleft lip and palate patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the application of mixed dentition analyses in cleft lip and palate patients differed from noncleft patients and to investigate which method provided the most accurate prediction in cleft lip and palate patients. METHODS: Study casts of 30 cleft lip and palate patients and 30 noncleft patients were used in this study. Each patient had dental casts at two stages of dental development. The methods compared included the Moyers, the Tanaka & Johnston (T/J) and the Boston University (BU) prediction methods. RESULTS: Analyses for both groups indicated that the predicted values yielded by each method were significantly different from one another but were all significantly correlated with actual tooth size. Moyers 50% and BU had the smallest mean difference values and no significant difference between the predicted and actual values for both cleft and noncleft control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Types of cleft had no effect on the size of the mandibular permanent canines and premolars. The application of mixed dentition analyses in cleft lip and palate patients does not differ from noncleft patients. Both Moyers 50% and the BU method have high accuracy and correlation in prediction of unerupted teeth in both groups.

Pooling cervical swabs and testing by ligase chain reaction are accurate and cost-saving strategies for diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis.

Specimen pooling to achieve efficiency when testing urine specimens for Chlamydia trachomatis nucleic acids has been suggested. We pooled endocervical swabs from 1,288 women and also tested individual swabs by ligase chain reaction (LCR). Out of 53 positive specimens, pools of 4 or 8 specimens missed two positives, providing 96.2% accuracy compared to individual test results. Dilution and positive-control spiking experiments showed that negative specimens with inhibitors of LCR in the pool reduced the signal. Conversely, two extra positives, detected only through pooling, were negative by individual testing but became positive after storage, suggesting that fresh positive specimens with labile inhibitors may be positive in a pool because of dilution of inhibitors. For this population of women with a 4% prevalence of C. trachomatis infection, substantial savings in cost of reagents (55 to 63%) and technologist time (50 to 63%) made pooling strategies a desirable alternative to individual testing.

[The measurement of radon in kindergarten and infant nursery buildings in East-North Poland]. / Pomiary stezenia radonu w budynkach przedszkoli i zlobków w regionie pólnocno-wschodniej Polski.

The measurements of radon concentration in 58 buildings of day nursery schools and kindergartens were performed in the six province of the East North Poland. The measurements of indoor radon were performed by means of a charcoal canister (Pico-Rad). The concentration ranged from 4.5 to 320 Bq/m3 and have arthimetic average 24.5 Bq/m3, geometric average 15.7 Bq/m3, median 15 Bq/m3. The highest average values were observed in Suwalki Province and Olsztyn Province. The results of all these measurements do not exceeded the limit of the Polish law.

Natural radioactivity of building components and materials used in Bialystok province.

The paper presents the results of the measurements of natural radioactivity of building components and materials used in the North-East part of Poland performed by the Department of Biophysics, Medical Academy of Bialystok. The natural radioactivity (40K, 224Ra and 232Th) of 133 samples was measured and the qualifying coefficients f1 and f2 were calculated. All measured samples of different materials had radioactivity level below legally accepted value. The lowest values of f1 and f2 were observed in prefabricated building materials; and they were lower then in traditional red brick. Only one sample of furnace slag had increased value of natural radioactivity, which was higher than legally permitted level.

Accurate and systematic numerical recording system for the identification of various types of lip and maxillary clefts (RPL system).

Inaccuracies exist in identifying and recording various types of oral cleft. One of the major reasons for this problem is that no efficient or universally accepted recording system presently exists. The RPL system introduced in this article provides an accurate and systematic numerical recording for the identification of various types of lip and maxillary clefts. The simplicity of the system allows quick and efficient data storage and retrieval.