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To date, there is no clear standard to monitor drug treatment for canine Chagas disease. We used 2 real-time PCR (rtPCR) assays targeting Trypanosoma cruzi kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) and nuclear satellite DNA (nDNA) to detect T. cruzi in canine whole blood. Samples were collected randomly from 131 untreated dogs with unknown T. cruzi infection status in Texas. The kDNA-based rtPCR was slightly more sensitive (diagnostic sensitivity of kDNA = 49% vs. nDNA = 44%; p = 0.5732) but slightly less specific (diagnostic specificity of kDNA = 96% vs. nDNA = 97%; p > 0.9999) than the nDNA-based rtPCR. However, the differences in sensitivity and specificity between the nDNA- and kDNA-based rtPCR assays were not statistically significant. Using the nDNA- and kDNA-based qualitative rtPCR assays to monitor parasitemia from 137 itraconazole- and amiodarone-treated cases with nDNA- and kDNA-based PCR–positive baselines showed that the PCR positive rate decreased to 0% in 30 d. Using kDNA-based quantitative rtPCR to monitor normalized T. cruzi DNA copies in 4 representative dogs demonstrated that drug treatment could reduce parasite loads within 7–30 d. The kDNA-based qualitative rtPCR may be used for routine parasitemia screening of drug-treated Chagas-positive dogs, whereas nDNA-based qualitative rtPCR may be used for confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article used an interdisciplinary approach to a theory of paranoia as a political and cultural survival tool among Blacks in America. Focusing on a particularly contested moment in Black history—the Apollo 11 moon launch and its implications regarding funding for civil rights issues—the article approached its topic from literary, psychological, cultural, and scientific-technological perspectives, both historical and contemporary. The aim was to explore the issue of the post—civil rights “death” of the utility of appeals for full enfranchisement from the federal government and its subsequent impact on Black community life and cultural production. One of the major results of this event—seen here through the late sixties space race—was the rise of sociocultural paranoia as a productive resource in the Black community, as represented through the press, popular discourse, and literary endeavors, most notably the work of writer John A. Williams. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]