We aimed to assess the reliability of a screening questionnaire for Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis (APTB) in a population of sheltered homeless persons (HP). Participants from two homeless shelters completed a questionnaire specially designed to identify patients at high-risk of APTB (available at www.tb-screen.ch), underwent a Chest X-ray (CXR), and provided sputum samples. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning was subsequently performed on those which had images consistent with APTB. Microscopical examination, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and culture testing were applied for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex detection. Additionally, we retrospectively selected 16 HP hospitalised in our hospital between 2017 and 2019 with biologically confirmed tuberculosis and typical CXR images, and retrospectively documented a screening questionnaire by reviewing their medical files. Overall, the population (n = 383 HP) was predominantly migrants (87%). Forty-seven individuals (11.7%) had positive screening questionnaire scores and four (2.4%) displayed abnormal CXR features consistent with APTB. Three of them three underwent CT scanning that ruled out APTB and one was lost to follow-up. None tested positive through microbiological investigation. Fifteen (of 16, 93.8%) hospitalised patients with biologically confirmed APTB had a positive screening questionnaire score. The sensitivity and specificity of questionnaire for confirmed APTB were 93.8% and 87.7%, respectively. Screening questionnaires can be used as a first assessment tool in people arriving at homeless shelters and to refer those screening positive for a CXR.
To compare the repertoire of anti-beta-Coronavirus antibodies detected in dental pulp samples (systemic immunity) collected from individuals from the early 19th century previously investigated for dental calculus (local immunity) serological response, We investigated 10 dental pulp samples collected from 10 individuals excavated from a 1810-1813 military site in Charleville-Mézières, France. The samples had previously been investigated for dental calculus serology. Dental pulp serology performed under a mini-blot format, incorporated one positive and one negative control, and conjugated antibodies against the five classes of immunoglobulins. Dental pulp IgE serological response reliability was assessed by in silico analyses. Controls yielded expected results. Anti-Coronavirus antibodies were detected in three individuals, comprising anti-beta Coronavirus IgE in three individuals, IgG in two individuals, and IgA in one individual. IgA and IgG anti-alpha Coronavirus were each detected in one individual. These results agreed with those previously obtained from the same 10 individuals with anti-beta-Coronavirus pooled IgG/IgA/IgM dental calculus paleoserology. Dental pulp paleoserology confirmed Coronavirus exposure in three individuals from the start of the 19th century in France. Translating these data into the modern medical literature, we propose that two centuries ago, some individuals suffered a yet unidentified beta-Coronavirus infection.
A set S of vertices in a graph G is a dominating set of G if every vertex not in S has a neighbor in S, where two vertices are neighbors if they are adjacent. The domination number, gamma(G), of G is the minimum cardinality among all dominating sets of G. Given a set S of vertices of a graph G, two vertices are located by S if they have distinct sets of neighbors in S. Moreover, if S locates every pair of vertices not in S, then it is called a locating set of G. A locating dominating set of G is both a dominating and a locating set of G. The locating domination number, gamma LD(G), is the minimum cardinality among all locating dominating sets of G. A notable conjecture in the study of locating dominating sets is to show that the locating domination number of an isolate-free and twin-free graph G of order n is at most 2n. So far, the best approximation to this 1 2n-upper bound conjecture is known to 8n. In fact, much in line with the conjecture, an even stronger reformulation proposed in the literature is to ask if it is possible to partition the vertex set of an isolate-free and twin-free graph into two locating sets. However, such partitions into locating sets may not exist if the graph is also allowed to have twins. Continuing with this line of research, we show that if G is an isolate-free (and not necessarily twin-free) graph, then the vertex set of G can be partitioned into a dominating set and a locating dominating set. As a consequence, we infer that every isolate-free graph G of order n satisfies gamma(G) + gamma LD(G) <= n, and we show that the last bound is tight. Moreover, our proof of the existence of a partition of the vertex set of an isolate-free graph into a dominating and a locating dominating set also provides a polynomial-time algorithm to construct such a partition.
Bartonella species are host-associated Pseudomonadota causing various human diseases and a broad range of clinical manifestations. These bacteria are primarily maintained in animal reservoirs and transmitted to humans through direct contact or via haematophagous vectors. In this study, six novel Bartonella species - Bartonella numerosa sp. nov. strain CB178T (=CSUR B1106T=JCM 36790T), Bartonella vaga sp. nov. strain CB169T (=CSUR B1103T=JCM 36788T), Bartonella occidentalis sp. nov. strain CB175T (=CSUR B1104T=JCM 36789T), Bartonella rhinolophi sp. nov. strain CB74T (=CSUR B1102T=JCM 36787T), Bartonella eidoli sp. nov. strain CB189T (=CSUR B1105T=JCM 36791T) and Bartonella propinqua sp. nov. strain CB54T (=CSUR B1101T=JCM 36786T) - were isolated from Eidolon helvum, Rhinolophus fumigatus and Epomophorus gambianus bats in Senegal. Phylogenetic analyses of these species reveal their widespread distribution across Africa. Notably, B. vaga, isolated from E. helvum, clusters with rodent-associated Bartonella strains. This highlights the importance of studying both hosts, which may serve as reservoirs for Bartonella species and potentially contribute to the emergence of zoonotic diseases. All strains are Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming. The predominant cellular fatty acids of strains CB169T, CB175T, CB74T and CB54T were C18 : 1 ω7c, C18 : 0 and C16 : 0, except for strains CB178T and CB189T, in which C18 : 1 ω7c, C16 : 0 and C18 : 0 were dominant.
