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Fe de erratas. The fifth author's name is spelled incorrectly. The correct name is: Carlos A. Valencia-Hernandez. The correct citation is: Hernández C, Cucunubá Z, Flórez C, Olivera M, Valencia-Hernandez C.A., Zambrano P, et al. (2016) Molecular Diagnosis of Chagas Disease in Colombia: Parasitic Loads and Discrete Typing Units in Patients from Acute and Chronic Phases. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(9): e0004997. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004997, Background: The diagnosis of Chagas disease is complex due to the dynamics of parasitemia in the clinical phases of the disease. The molecular tests have been considered promissory because they detect the parasite in all clinical phases. Trypanosoma cruzi presents significant genetic variability and is classified into six Discrete Typing Units TcI-TcVI (DTUs) with the emergence of foreseen genotypes within TcI as TcIDom and TcI Sylvatic. The objective of this study was to determine the operating characteristics of molecular tests (conventional and Real Time PCR) for the detection of T. cruzi DNA, parasitic loads and DTUs in a large cohort of Colombian patients from acute and chronic phases. Methodology/Principal Findings: Samples were obtained from 708 patients in all clinical phases. Standard diagnosis (direct and serological tests) and molecular tests (conventional PCR and quantitative PCR) targeting the nuclear satellite DNA region. The genotyping was performed by PCR using the intergenic region of the mini-exon gene, the 24Sa, 18S and A10 regions. The operating capabilities showed that performance of qPCR was higher compared to cPCR. Likewise, the performance of qPCR was significantly higher in acute phase compared with chronic phase. The median parasitic loads detected were 4.69 and 1.33 parasite equivalents/mL for acute and chronic phases. The main DTU identified was TcI (74.2%). TcIDom genotype was significantly more frequent in chronic phase compared to acute phase (82.1% vs 16.6%). The median parasitic load for TcIDom was significantly higher compared with TcI Sylvatic in chronic phase (2.58 vs.0.75 parasite equivalents/ml). Conclusions/Significance: The molecular tests are a precise tool to complement the standard diagnosis of Chagas disease, specifically in acute phase showing high discriminative power. However, it is necessary to improve the sensitivity of molecular tests in chronic phase. The frequency and parasitemia of TcIDom genotype in chronic patie

Background: Seroepidemiological studies have reported associations between exposure to sexually transmitted organisms and prostate cancer risk. This study sought DNA evidence of candidate organisms in archival prostate cancer tissues with the aim of assessing if a subset of these cancers show any association with common genital infections. Method(s): 221 archival paraffin-embedded tissue blocks representing 128 histopathologically confirmed prostate cancers comprising 52 " aggressive" (Gleason score >= 7) and 76 " non-aggressive" (Gleason score <= 6) TURP or radical prostatectomy specimens were examined, as well as unaffected adjacent tissue when available. Representative tissue sections were subjected to DNA extraction, quality tested and screened by PCR for HSV-1, HSV-2, XMRV, BKV, HPV, Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Trichomonas vaginalis. Result(s): 195 of 221 DNA samples representing 49 " aggressive" and 66 " non-aggressive" prostate cancer cases were suitable for analysis after DNA quality assessment. Overall, 12.2% (6/49) aggressive and 7.6% (5/66) non-aggressive cases were positive for any of the candidate organisms. Mycoplasma genitalium DNA was detected in 4/66 non-aggressive, 5/49 aggressive cancers and in one cancer-unaffected adjacent tissue block of an aggressive case. Ureaplasma urealyticum DNA was detected in 0/66 non-aggressive and 1/49 aggressive cancers and HSV DNA in 1/66 non-aggressive and 0/49 aggressive cancers. This study did not detect BKV, XMRV, T. vaginalis, U. parvum, C. trachomatis or HPV DNA. Conclusion(s): The low prevalence of detectable microbial DNA makes it unlikely that persistent infection by the selected candidate microorganisms contribute to prostate cancer risk, regardless of tumour phenotype.Copyright © 2014 Yow et al.

Background: Seroepidemiological studies have reported associations between exposure to sexually transmitted organisms and prostate cancer risk. This study sought DNA evidence of candidate organisms in archival prostate cancer tissues with the aim of assessing if a subset of these cancers show any association with common genital infections. Method(s): 221 archival paraffin-embedded tissue blocks representing 128 histopathologically confirmed prostate cancers comprising 52 " aggressive" (Gleason score >= 7) and 76 " non-aggressive" (Gleason score <= 6) TURP or radical prostatectomy specimens were examined, as well as unaffected adjacent tissue when available. Representative tissue sections were subjected to DNA extraction, quality tested and screened by PCR for HSV-1, HSV-2, XMRV, BKV, HPV, Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Trichomonas vaginalis. Result(s): 195 of 221 DNA samples representing 49 " aggressive" and 66 " non-aggressive" prostate cancer cases were suitable for analysis after DNA quality assessment. Overall, 12.2% (6/49) aggressive and 7.6% (5/66) non-aggressive cases were positive for any of the candidate organisms. Mycoplasma genitalium DNA was detected in 4/66 non-aggressive, 5/49 aggressive cancers and in one cancer-unaffected adjacent tissue block of an aggressive case. Ureaplasma urealyticum DNA was detected in 0/66 non-aggressive and 1/49 aggressive cancers and HSV DNA in 1/66 non-aggressive and 0/49 aggressive cancers. This study did not detect BKV, XMRV, T. vaginalis, U. parvum, C. trachomatis or HPV DNA. Conclusion(s): The low prevalence of detectable microbial DNA makes it unlikely that persistent infection by the selected candidate microorganisms contribute to prostate cancer risk, regardless of tumour phenotype.Copyright © 2014 Yow et al.

This review is a critical overview of advances in proteomics applied in food technology, which may be classified into two main topics: (i) authentication of food components as a tool to comply with food-labeling regulations and policies; and, (ii) food-technology research, mainly for the development of fast, reliable methods to detect and to identify spoilage and/or pathogenic microorganisms in food and for the study of changes in food components as a consequence of food processing.