title: Preparedness for SARS in the UK in 2003.

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been described as the first major emerging infectious disease of the twenty-first century. Having initially emerged, almost unnoticed, in southern China, it rapidly spread across the globe. It severely tested national public health and health systems. However, it also resulted in rapid, intensive international collaboration, led by the World Health Organization, to elucidate its characteristics and cause and to contain its spread. The UK mounted a vigorous public health response. Some particular issues concerned: the practicalities of implementing exit screening had this been required; the likely efficacy of this and other control measures; the legal base for public health action; and the surge capacity in all systems should the disease have taken hold in the UK. We have used this experience of 2003 to inform our preparation of a framework for an integrated, escalating response to a future re-emergence of SARS according to the levels of disease activity worldwide. Recent cases confirm that SARS has not "gone away". We cannot be complacent about our contingency planning.


title: Laparoscopic esophagogastric circular stapled anastomosis: a modified technique to protect the esophagus.

text: Laparoscopic surgery is increasingly being applied to gastric cancer surgery, including proximal gastrectomy for the resection of cancer located in the upper gastric body. Despite the ease of use of stapling devices for end-to-end anastomosis, esophagogastric anastomosis is complicated by the narrow laparoscopic space, making the placement of an esophageal purse-string suture and anvil insertion into the fragile and contracted esophagus difficult. The aim of this study was to employ a novel esophagogastric anastomosis technique for laparoscopic surgery which may avoid esophageal breakdown. Eleven patients with early gastric cancer within the upper gastric body underwent laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy. The anvil of the stapler was introduced into the esophagus through a small gastrostomy, before transection of the esophagus. The esophageal-to-anterior gastric wall anastomosis was performed using a double-stapling technique, without the need to apply a purse-string suture. The mean operation time was 237 +/- 15 min and estimated blood loss was 39 +/- 21 ml. The postoperative course was uneventful in all 11 patients, with no anastomotic leakage observed. Two patients needed endoscopic balloon dilation of an anastomotic stricture 24 to 28 days postoperatively. This modified procedure of laparoscopic esophagogastric anastomosis after proximal gastrectomy for the resection of cancer is a simple, rapid, and atraumatic technique which reduces the risk of anastomotic insufficiency.


title: Identification of a novel coronavirus possibly associated with acute respiratory syndrome in alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in California, 2007.

text: Alpaca respiratory syndrome (ARS) was first recognized in California in October 2007. This syndrome is characterized by acute respiratory signs, high fever, and occasional sudden death, and has mostly been observed in pregnant alpacas (Vicugna pacos), although all signalments have been affected. A similarity in clinical signs to cases located on the East Coast of the United States was observed; however, a causative agent had not been identified. Preliminary diagnostic submissions to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS) were negative for known bacterial, parasitic, fungal, and viral pathogens, as well as for toxins, making the etiology of this disease unknown. However, based on pathologic findings, a viral or toxic etiology was strongly considered. A novel coronavirus was recovered from lung tissue of a clinical case submitted to CAHFS. The coronavirus identity was confirmed in tissue culture by transmission electron microscopy and by sequence analysis of a conserved region within the viral genome. Statistical analysis calculating a serologic association between the serum virus neutralization antibody titer and coronavirus, the presence of exposure history on 40 animals with a history of ARS, and 167 controls provided an odds ratio of 121 (95% confidence interval: 36.54 and 402.84; P < 0.0001). The findings indicate that the ARS-associated coronavirus described is distinct from the previously reported gastrointestinal-associated coronavirus identified in alpaca herds.


title: Primary bacterial septic peritonitis in cats: 13 cases.

text: The purpose of this paper is to describe the signalment, clinical signs, laboratory results, culture results, and response to treatment for primary septic peritonitis in cats. This is a retrospective study of 12 client-owned animals. Medical records were reviewed for clinical findings, laboratory results, microbial culture results, radiographic findings, diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. The overall mortality rate for this group of cats was 31%, consistent with previous reports of septic peritonitis in cats. All cats that were both bradycardic and hypothermic on presentation did not survive. Other clinicopathological findings were consistent with previously reported cases of septic peritonitis in cats. Results suggest that clinicopathological findings and outcomes in cats with primary septic peritonitis are similar to those in cats with septic peritonitis from a determined cause. A specific mechanism of inoculation has yet to be determined, but an oral source of bacteria is suggested for cats with primary bacterial septic peritonitis.


Fine specificity and genetic restriction of T cell clones specific for mouse hepatitis virus, strain JHM.


title: Host protein interactions with the 3' end of bovine coronavirus RNA and the requirement of the poly(A) tail for coronavirus defective genome replication.

text: RNA viruses have 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) that contain specific signals for RNA synthesis. The coronavirus genome is capped at the 5' end and has a 3' UTR that consists of 300 to 500 nucleotides (nt) plus a poly(A) tail. To further our understanding of coronavirus replication, we have begun to examine the involvement of host factors in this process for two group II viruses, bovine coronavirus (BCV) and mouse hepatitis coronavirus (MHV). Specific host protein interactions with the BCV 3' UTR [287 nt plus poly(A) tail] were identified using gel mobility shift assays. Competition with the MHV 3' UTR [301 nt plus poly(A) tail] suggests that the interactions are conserved for the two viruses. Proteins with molecular masses of 99, 95, and 73 kDa were detected in UV cross-linking experiments. Less heavily labeled proteins were also detected in the ranges of 40 to 50 and 30 kDa. The poly(A) tail was required for binding of the 73-kDa protein. Immunoprecipitation of UV-cross-linked proteins identified the 73-kDa protein as the cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein (PABP). Replication of the defective genomes BCV Drep and MHV MIDI-C, along with several mutants, was used to determine the importance of the poly(A) tail. Defective genomes with shortened poly(A) tails consisting of 5 or 10 A residues were replicated after transfection into helper virus-infected cells. BCV Drep RNA that lacked a poly(A) tail did not replicate, whereas replication of MHV MIDI-C RNA with a deleted tail was detected after several virus passages. All mutants exhibited delayed kinetics of replication. Detectable extension or addition of the poly(A) tail to the mutants correlated with the appearance of these RNAs in the replication assay. RNAs with shortened poly(A) tails exhibited less in vitro PABP binding, suggesting that decreased interactions with the protein may affect RNA replication. The data strongly indicate that the poly(A) tail is an important cis-acting signal for coronavirus replication.


Rigors.


Sudden infant death syndrome.


title: Evaluation of a quantitative real-time PCR for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus in pulmonary diseases.

text: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is known to cause acute lower respiratory tract infections (ARI) in young children and is involved in exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. The role of RSV in stable COPD and the viral load in different respiratory diseases has not been investigated to date. The present authors established and evaluated a quantitative TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction assay specific for RSV subgroup A. Absolute quantification for the determination of viral load input was achieved using a control plasmid. The assay allowed for a quantification over a >6-log range and a detection limit of <10 RSV copies per reaction mixture. The assay was 30 times more sensitive than conventional nested polymerase chain reaction assays. Interassay SD was 1.3 and coefficient of variation 4.7% on average. Clinical specimens from infants with ARI (n=62) and elderly adults with COPD (n=125) were compared for viral loads. A total of 47% RSV-positive samples were found in the ARI study group and 28% in the COPD study group. The viral load of both study groups was found to differ significantly. In the ARI study group the viral load was increased almost 2000-fold, suggesting acute infection in this group and former or latent infection in the COPD group. Respiratory syncytial virus-A specific TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction assay is a sensitive and rapid method for the determination of viral load in clinical samples. It enables differential statements concerning the involvement of respiratory syncytial virus in acute lower respiratory tract infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to be achieved.


title: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection of mice transgenic for the human Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 virus receptor.

text: Animal models for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus infection of humans are needed to elucidate SARS pathogenesis and develop vaccines and antivirals. We developed transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, a functional receptor for the virus, under the regulation of a global promoter. A transgenic lineage, designated AC70, was among the best characterized against SARS coronavirus infection, showing weight loss and other clinical manifestations before reaching 100% mortality within 8 days after intranasal infection. High virus titers were detected in the lungs and brains of transgene-positive (Tg+) mice on days 1 and 3 after infection. Inflammatory mediators were also detected in these tissues, coinciding with high levels of virus replication. Lower virus titers were also detected in other tissues, including blood. In contrast, infected transgene-negative (Tg-) mice survived without showing any clinical illness. Pathologic examination suggests that the extensive involvement of the central nervous system likely contributed to the death of Tg+ mice, even though viral pneumonia was present. Preliminary studies with mice of a second lineage, AC63, in which the transgene expression was considerably less abundant than that in the AC70 line, revealed that virus replication was largely restricted to the lungs but not the brain. Importantly, despite significant weight loss, infected Tg+ AC63 mice eventually recovered from the illness without any mortality. The severity of the disease that developed in these transgenic mice--AC70 in particular--makes these mouse models valuable not only for evaluating the efficacy of antivirals and vaccines, but also for studying SARS coronavirus pathogenesis.


title: Elevated serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in patients with haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.

text: OBJECTIVE Prospective case-control study, undertaken to investigate serum cytokine and chemokine concentrations during all clinical phases and in different clinical types of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). METHODS Serum was collected at various disease phases from patients with HFRS (n = 35) and healthy control subjects (n = 10). Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-4, interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-8, interferon inducible protein-10 (IP-10) and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (also known as 'regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted' [RANTES]) were quantified using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS Serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-8, IP-10 and RANTES (but not IL-4) were significantly higher in patients compared with controls. Highest concentrations were generally found during the febrile, hypotensive and oliguric disease phases, as well as in clinically severe and critical cases. CONCLUSION Serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines increased in line with disease severity in HFRS patients.


title: The spread of pathogens through trade in poultry hatching eggs: overview and recent developments.

text: The international trade in poultry hatching eggs could potentially facilitate the global dissemination of poultry disease. Provided the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on breeding flock hygiene are followed, of those avian diseases currently listed by the OlE, only highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), Newcastle disease (ND), and avian mycoplasmosis (caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum or M. synoviae) should be considered likely to be spread though trade in this commodity. Furthermore, the impact of HPAI and ND on egg production and hatchability will constrain the potential for these agents to be spread by poultry hatching eggs.


Is it just a marker for increased care?


title: [Epidemiological characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Tianjin and the assessment of effectiveness on measures of control].

text: OBJECTIVE To analyze the epidemiologic characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and to evaluate the effectiveness on its major control measures in Tianjn. METHODS Adopting two case reports 1 and 2, designed by the Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a unified case-tracing table including the map of the distribution of close contacts to SARS patients. With those methods, investigation on patients and their close contacts at hospital wards, families, communities and institutions of the patients were carried out. RESULTS From April 13 through May 8, 2003, there were 175 SARS cases including imported ones, were identified with an incidence rate of 1.9 cases per 100,000. Among them, 14 died with a fatality of 8.0%. The whole process of epidemic in Tianjin was less than one month with the following features: (1) 93.7% of the total SARS cases in Tianjin were directly or indirectly transmitted by a super-spreader. (2) 68.6% of the total SARS patients were concentrated in 3 hospitals A, B and C which was menifastated in 'clustering'. Through study on the rest of the SARS patients, results showed that 16.8% of them were transmitted through family close contact and 2.3% due to contact to colleagues. However, 12.6% of the patients were not able to show evidence that they had any contact to a diagnosed SARS patient. At the early stage of the epidemic, a number of medical practitioners were infected, taking up 38.2% of the total SARS cases. Among the total number of 1 975 medical workers who participated in the SARS medical cares and treatments, 3.4% of them got infected. During the outbreak, all index cases and chains of transmission seemed to be clear, with only 3 patients not able to be traced for the source of infection, taking up 2% of the total SARS patients in Tianjin. Among the 10 index cases, only the super spreader and another one index case transmitted the virus to their contacts but the rest of index cases did not cause any secondary infection. CONCLUSION Though SARS is clinically severe and can be spreaded quickly, the epidemic can be under control within a short period of time if chains of SARS transmission are broken down and effective measures as isolation and quarantine against patients as well as underscoring awareness among the publics in a scientific way, being carried out.


title: [Recent developments in SARS vaccine studies].

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused thousands of human infections worldwide and hundreds of deaths in just a few months. Evidence indicates that SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has been circulating from animals to humans since before the 2002-2003 outbreak, suggesting that another pandemic may occur. This possibility has focused continuous action on SARS vaccine research. Inactivated vaccines, viral and bacterial vector vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, subunit vaccines, DNA vaccines, and live-attenuated virus vaccines have been studied in different animal models. Although different animal models are used in vaccine studies, the most appropriate model for studying SARS is ferret since it develops the typical clinical signs, viral replication patterns and lung pathology compatible with that of SARS pathogenesis in humans. While there is much evidence that various vaccine strategies against SARS are safe and immunogenic, vaccinated animals still display significant disease upon challenge. Moreover, potential vaccine enhancement of SARS have also been shown in some studies. Data from the studies give an important information of the demand for further vaccine development research, especially focusing on mucosal immunization, T-cell immunity and combinations of heterologous vaccines in prime-boost regimens. In this review article developments on SARS vaccines have been discussed under the light of recent literature.


title: Canine parvovirus epidemiology in Bulgaria.

text: Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) emerged in 1978 as one of the most pathogenic etiologic agents in dogs. Under the influence of evolution, the original CPV-2 was replaced, a few years later, by 2 variants, CPV-2a and CPV-2b. In 2000, a new variant, CPV-2c, was detected first in Italy and later in other countries. The current study was conducted to provide data about the CPV types circulating in Bulgaria. Forty-two fecal samples from dogs with clinical signs of parvovirosis, collected between June 2009 and February 2010, were tested for CPV using a rapid test based on detection of CPV antigens and a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of viral DNA. Positive samples were characterized by means of minor groove binder probe PCR assays. Forty samples were positive, of which 30 were identified as CPV-2a, 9 as CPV-2b, and 1 as CPV-2c. The results from this molecular investigation of CPV show the prevalence of type 2a and occurrence of type 2c for the first time in Bulgaria.


docid: wviwdioq

title: Severe acute respiratory syndrome surveillance in Australia.

text: In March 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert recommending active worldwide surveillance for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This paper describes the epidemiological features of cases reported by Australian states and territories to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing between 17 March and 31 July 2003. There were 138 people investigated for SARS: 111 as suspect and 27 as probable. Five probable cases were reported to WHO after review of other possible diagnoses and Australia-specific exclusion criteria had been applied. An additional probable case identified by laboratory testing overseas, but who was not under investigation when in Australia, was also reported to WHO. The method by which surveillance for SARS was rapidly established provided an opportunity to examine Australia's planning and preparedness for future respiratory disease epidemics such as influenza.


docid: ogiwqrxx

title: Bats: important reservoir hosts of emerging viruses.

text: Bats (order Chiroptera, suborders Megachiroptera ["flying foxes"] and Microchiroptera) are abundant, diverse, and geographically widespread. These mammals provide us with resources, but their importance is minimized and many of their populations and species are at risk, even threatened or endangered. Some of their characteristics (food choices, colonial or solitary nature, population structure, ability to fly, seasonal migration and daily movement patterns, torpor and hibernation, life span, roosting behaviors, ability to echolocate, virus susceptibility) make them exquisitely suitable hosts of viruses and other disease agents. Bats of certain species are well recognized as being capable of transmitting rabies virus, but recent observations of outbreaks and epidemics of newly recognized human and livestock diseases caused by viruses transmitted by various megachiropteran and microchiropteran bats have drawn attention anew to these remarkable mammals. This paper summarizes information regarding chiropteran characteristics and information regarding 66 viruses that have been isolated from bats. From these summaries, it is clear that we do not know enough about bat biology; we are doing too little in terms of bat conservation; and there remain a multitude of questions regarding the role of bats in disease emergence.


title: [Influence of physical activity during outbreak on psychological states in adults in the Covid-19 pandemic: a study protocol.]

text: This coronavirus pandemic has placed unprecedented restrictions on people's physical activity and routines. Prolonged home stays may lead to fear, panic, anxiety, and depression states, which in turn, can drive to a reduction of active lifestyles. Hence, determining the psychological response in the general population, and the influence level of home-based physical activity development could be relevant during this exceptional Covid-19 disease quarantine period. A multicenter, cross-sectional, and observational study design will be conducted in 12 Iberoamerican countries expecting to enroll 3,096 participants, through a snowball sampling technique. The study started on March 15th, 2020, and it is expected to be completed in August 2020 through online survey that will include demographic data, health status, psychological impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, mental health status, and level of physical activity. This study will be conducted following the principles established by the protocol, the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Ethical Guidelines for Clinical Research. Data from the study will be disseminated in manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals as well as in abstracts for submission to relevant conferences. Trial registration number: NCT04352517, pre-results.


title: Influenza virus-like particles comprised of the HA, NA, and M1 proteins of H9N2 influenza virus induce protective immune responses in BALB/c mice.

text: Avian influenza viruses represent a growing threat for an influenza pandemic. To develop recombinant vaccine for avian influenza of the H9N2 subtype, we expressed in insect cells virus-like particles (VLPs) consisting of three structural proteins of influenza A/Hong Kong/1073/99 (H9N2) virus. Upon infection of Sf9 cells with recombinant baculoviruses, the hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), and matrix (M1) proteins were co-expressed in the infected cells, self-assembled, and released into the culture medium as VLPs of 80-120nm in diameter. VLPs exhibited functional characteristics of influenza virus including hemagglutination and neuraminidase activities. In BALB/c mice, VLPs elicited serum antibodies specific for influenza A/Hong Kong/1073/99 (H9N2) virus and inhibited replication of the influenza virus after challenge. Thus, VLPs represent a potential strategy for the development of human vaccines against avian influenza H9N2 viruses.


In vivo and in vitro models of demyelinating diseases.


title: Severe acute respiratory syndrome vaccine development: experiences of vaccination against avian infectious bronchitis coronavirus.

text: Vaccines against infectious bronchitis of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) have arguably been the most successful, and certainly the most widely used, of vaccines for diseases caused by coronaviruses, the others being against bovine, canine, feline and porcine coronaviruses. Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), together with the genetically related coronaviruses of turkey (Meleagris gallopovo) and ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), is a group 3 coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus being tentatively in group 4, the other known mammalian coronaviruses being in groups 1 and 2. IBV replicates not only in respiratory tissues (including the nose, trachea, lungs and airsacs, causing respiratory disease), but also in the kidney (associated with minor or major nephritis), oviduct, and in many parts of the alimentary tract--the oesophagus, proventriculus, duodenum, jejunum, bursa of Fabricius, caecal tonsils (near the distal end of the tract), rectum and cloaca (the common opening for release of eggs and faeces), usually without clinical effects. The virus can persist, being re-excreted at the onset of egg laying (4 to 5 months of age), believed to be a consequence of the stress of coming into lay. Genetic lines of chickens differ in the extent to which IBV causes mortality in chicks, and in respect of clearance of the virus after the acute phase. Live attenuated (by passage in chicken embryonated eggs) IBV strains were introduced as vaccines in the 1950s, followed a couple of decades later by inactivated vaccines for boosting protection in egg-laying birds. Live vaccines are usually applied to meat-type chickens at 1 day of age. In experimental situations this can result in sterile immunity when challenged by virulent homologous virus. Although 100% of chickens may be protected (against clinical signs and loss of ciliary activity in trachea), sometimes 10% of vaccinated chicks do not respond with a protective immune response. Protection is short lived, the start of the decline being apparent 9 weeks after vaccination with vaccines based on highly attenuated strains. IBV exists as scores of serotypes (defined by the neutralization test), cross-protection often being poor. Consequently, chickens may be re-vaccinated, with the same or another serotype, two or three weeks later. Single applications of inactivated virus has generally led to protection of <50% of chickens. Two applications have led to 90 to 100% protection in some reports, but remaining below 50% in others. In practice in the field, inactivated vaccines are used in laying birds that have previously been primed with two or three live attenuated virus vaccinations. This increases protection of the laying birds against egg production losses and induces a sustained level of serum antibody, which is passed to progeny. The large spike glycoprotein (S) comprises a carboxy-terminal S2 subunit (approximately 625 amino acid residues), which anchors S in the virus envelope, and an amino-terminal S1 subunit (approximately 520 residues), believed to largely form the distal bulbous part of S. The S1 subunit (purified from IBV virus, expressed using baculovirus or expressed in birds from a fowlpoxvirus vector) induced virus neutralizing antibody. Although protective immune responses were induced, multiple inoculations were required and the percentage of protected chickens was too low (<50%) for commercial application. Remarkably, expression of S1 in birds using a non-pathogenic fowl adenovirus vector induced protection in 90% and 100% of chickens in two experiments. Differences of as little as 5% between the S1 sequences can result in poor cross-protection. Differences in S1 of 2 to 3% (10 to 15 amino acids) can change serotype, suggesting that a small number of epitopes are immunodominant with respect to neutralizing antibody. Initial studies of the role of the IBV nucleocapsid protein (N) in immunity suggested that immunization with bacterially expressed N, while not inducing protection directly, improved the induction of protection by a subsequent inoculation with inactivated IBV. In another study, two intramuscular immunizations of a plasmid expressing N induced protective immunity. The basis of immunity to IBV is not well understood. Serum antibody levels do not correlate with protection, although local antibody is believed to play a role. Adoptive transfer of IBV-infection-induced alphabeta T cells bearing CD8 antigen protected chicks from challenge infection. In conclusion, live attenuated IBV vaccines induce good, although short-lived, protection against homologous challenge, although a minority of individuals may respond poorly. Inactivated IBV vaccines are insufficiently efficacious when applied only once and in the absence of priming by live vaccine. Two applications of inactivated IBV are much more efficacious, although this is not a commercially viable proposition in the poultry industry. However, the cost and logistics of multiple application of a SARS inactivated vaccine would be more acceptable for the protection of human populations, especially if limited to targeted groups (e.g. health care workers and high-risk contacts). Application of a SARS vaccine is perhaps best limited to a minimal number of targeted individuals who can be monitored, as some vaccinated persons might, if infected by SARS coronavirus, become asymptomatic excretors of virus, thereby posing a risk to non-vaccinated people. Looking further into the future, the high efficacy of the fowl adenovirus vector expressing the IBV S1 subunit provides optimism for a live SARS vaccine, if that were deemed to be necessary, with the possibility of including the N protein gene.


title: Coronavirus: how a large RNA viral genome is replicated and transcribed.

text: Coronaviruses are important human and animal pathogens and contain an extraordinarily long (27-31 kb) RNA genome. Its RNA synthesis involves complex mechanisms of regulation, similar to those of DNA viruses. In this treatise, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) is used as a model for the discussion of the mechanism of viral RNA synthesis. We show that MHV RNA synthesis requires interactions of multiple RNA components, which are likely mediated by protein-RNA and protein-protein, as well as RNA-RNA, interactions. This virus also provides a unique example of a discontinuous transcription mechanism, which involves a trans-acting RNA component. Finally, study of the cis-acting signals for the various steps of RNA synthesis revealed an insight into the regulation of viral RNA synthesis. This discussion suggests that the regulation of RNA synthesis in coronavirus is more complex than previously thought possible for RNA viruses. Coronavirus RNA transcription and replication may serve as a paradigm of RNA synthesis for RNA viruses in general.


title: The provision of sophisticated critical care beyond the hospital: lessons from physiology and military experiences that apply to civil disaster medical response.

text: OBJECTIVE The provision of sophisticated medical care in an austere environment is challenging. During and after a mass casualty event, it is likely that critical care services will be needed beyond an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. The objective of this article is to explore existing ICU care systems such as military aeromedical transport that may be applicable to disaster medicine and to providing critical care outside of an ICU setting. RESULTS The U.S. Air Force Critical Care Aeromedical Transport (CCAT) Teams were developed in 1994 in response to an unmet military need for long-range air transport of critically ill and injured patients. This system has transported several thousand ICU patients and is an applicable model for the future development of extrahospital critical care capabilities needed during a disaster. We also discuss civilian aeromedical critical care systems, the types of medical devices used, and their applicability to disaster medical response. CONCLUSION The U.S. Air Force CCAT Team program, as well as many civilian critical care air ambulance services, provides a workable starting point for the development of disaster medical critical care response capabilities for disaster medical systems.


title: Tongue rotation for reconstruction after rostral hemiglossectomy for excision of a liposarcoma of the rostral quadrant of the tongue in a dog.

text: A 15-year-old female beagle dog was presented for a lingual liposarcoma. Full staging of the disease did not show any evidence of metastasis. A tongue rotation for reconstruction after rostral hemiglossectomy was performed after removal of the mass. This surgical technique may be useful in tongue reconstruction after trauma or tumor excision.


title: Influenza virus NS vectors expressing the mycobacterium tuberculosis ESAT-6 protein induce CD4+ Th1 immune response and protect animals against tuberculosis challenge.

text: Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Since the effectiveness of the only available tuberculosis vaccine, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is suboptimal, there is a strong demand to develop new tuberculosis vaccines. As tuberculosis is an airborne disease, the intranasal route of vaccination might be preferable. Live influenza virus vaccines might be considered as potential vectors for mucosal immunization against various viral or bacterial pathogens, including M. tuberculosis. We generated several subtypes of attenuated recombinant influenza A viruses expressing the 6-kDa early secretory antigenic target protein (ESAT-6) of M. tuberculosis from the NS1 reading frame. We were able to demonstrate the potency of influenza virus NS vectors to induce an M. tuberculosis-specific Th1 immune response in mice. Moreover, intranasal immunization of mice and guinea pigs with such vectors induced protection against mycobacterial challenge, similar to that induced by BCG vaccination.


title: Immunological characterization of the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a novel infectious disease caused by the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). There are four major structural proteins in the SARS-CoV, including the nucleocapsid, spike, membrane, and small envelope proteins. In this study, two sets of truncated fragments of spike protein were generated, the first were approximately 210-bp nonoverlapping fragments and the second were overlapping segments of 750 to 900 bp. From these 23 fragments, we identified a fragment of 259 amino acids (amino acids 441 to 700) that is a major immunodominant epitope. This fragment was highly expressed, and the purified fragment C could detect all 33 SARS patient serum samples tested, collected from 7 to 60 days after the onset of fever, but had no reactivity with all 66 healthy human serum samples tested. Thus, fragment C of spike protein was identified as an immunodominant antigen and could be used for serological detection of SARS-CoV infection.


title: Coronavirus-like particles and other agents in the faeces of children in Efate, Vanuatu.

text: Between June 1979 and July 1980, faecal specimens were collected from 100 children in Efate, Vanuatu, and examined for the presence of virus-like particles by direct negative staining electron microscopy. Of the children, 40 were hospital patients 22 of whom had gastroenteritis and 18 had other illnesses. The remaining 60 children were apparently healthy controls. Coronavirus-like particles were the most common agents encountered and were detected in approximately 20% of all three groups of children. Particles with the morphological features of calicivirus, astrovirus, adenovirus and parvovirus were also detected.


title: Emerging treatment options for venous ulceration in today's wound care practice.

text: UNLABELLED Lower-extremity ulcers represent the largest group of ulcers presenting to an outpatient wound care clinic and, of those, ulcers due to venous insufficiency and venous hypertension make up the largest subgroup of these ulcers. Interventions for chronic venous ulcers have evolved to painless, minimally invasive, office-based procedures performed under local anesthesia. Recent advances in the endovascular management of lower-extremity superficial venous insufficiency have the potential to significantly enhance initial and long-term management of these patients, as minimally invasive procedures provide faster recoveries and fewer procedural risks. Early intervention for venous insufficiency has been shown to significantly decrease long-term ulcer recurrence rates, and may increase healing of venous ulcers as well. PURPOSE The purpose of this review and algorithm is to enhance understanding of venous ulceration and its underlying causes. Venous anatomy and pathophysiology will be reviewed. The etiology of chronic venous ulceration will be examined. Current practice guidelines and clinical outcomes will be reviewed. The newest treatment options, including minimally invasive therapy will be described. The current literature will be reviewed. A new algorithm for treatment that integrates the endovascular treatment of venous insufficiency into the current standard care for venous leg ulceration will be proposed. METHOD A literature review was performed to review all current treatments for venous ulceration. Treatments that have Level I evidence (with a grade of recommendation of A or B) to support their use for venous leg ulceration were selected for incorporation into a new treatment algorithm. The level-of-evidence and strength-of-recommendation scheme used in the algorithm is based upon the system used by the Wound Healing Society in its chronic wounds clinical practice guidelines. CONCLUSION It is intended that this new algorithm and approach to treatment will improve the immediate care of venous leg ulcer patients, reduce recurrence rates, increase patient satisfaction, and potentially expedite initial wound healing in the outpatient wound clinic setting.


title: Possible relationship between streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A and Kawasaki syndrome in patients older than six months of age.

text: BACKGROUND We previously investigated antibody titers against four kinds of superantigens [streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SPEA), streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin C, toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 and staphylococcal enterotoxin B] in patients with Kawasaki syndrome (KS) younger than 6 months of age and reported a relationship between toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 and KS patients. In this study we have investigated antibody titers in KS patients older than 6 months of age. METHODS Serum of 81 patients with KS older than 6 months of age, before intravenous gamma-globulin therapy, and 88 normal age-matched children were used in this study. The IgG antibody titers against four kinds of superantigens were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS The KS patients showed significantly elevated mean SPEA titer (P = 0.006) and significantly higher incidence of high SPEA (P = 0.0024) compared with the controls. The SPEA titer in KS patients showed a significant positive correlation with the number of days from onset of illness (P = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS The elevated antibody titer against superantigens of KS patients older than 6 months of age was different from that of KS patients younger than 6 months of age. Our results suggest that KS patients' exposure to SPEA occurred a few weeks before the onset of KS. SPEA may be one of the possible etiologic agents of KS among patients older than 6 months of age in Kagoshima, Japan.


title: Rabies among African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in the Masai Mara, Kenya.

text: A pack of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) ranging to the north of the Masai Mara National Reserve in southwestern Kenya was monitored from 1988 to 1989. During a 6-week period (August 1-September 13, 1989), 21 of 23 members of this pack died. Seven carcasses were retrieved, of which 4 were suitable for necropsy and histopathologic examination. Gross findings varied among individuals and included multiple bite wounds, synovitis, lymphadenopathy, submandibular, cervical, and vocal cord edema, blood in bronchi, bronchioles, stomach, and intestine, and interioventral lung lobe consolidation. Histologic examination of 2 available brain samples revealed nonsuppurative encephalitis with eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Negri bodies). An additional brain sample tested positive for rabies via a fluorescent antibody test. Other histologic features included severe suppurative bronchopneumonia, myocarditis, and lymphoid depletion of the lymph nodes, tonsils, and spleen. A 304-base pair (bp) nucleotide sequence from the N gene and a 310-bp sequence from the G gene from rabies isolates of 4 wild dogs indicated that infection was with a rabies variant common among domestic dogs in Kenya and Tanzania.


title: Kawasaki disease: diagnosis, management and cardiac sequelae.

text: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute self-limiting systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology and the most common cause of acquired coronary disease in children aged 6 months to 5 years. The inflammatory process results in coronary arteritis, aneurysmal lesions, arterial thrombotic occlusion or even sudden death. The diagnostic tests are unknown but treatment with immunoglobulin and aspirin is effective at reducing cardiac complications from 25 to 4.7% in the UK. Myocardial, endocardial or pericardial inflammation may occur acutely or many years later and abnormalities of myocardial blood flow may require ongoing medication, interventional catheterization or even cardiac surgery. There are several new drugs that may have important roles to play in managing KD in children and young adults.


title: Nidovirus sialate-O-acetylesterases: evolution and substrate specificity of coronaviral and toroviral receptor-destroying enzymes.

text: Many viruses achieve reversible attachment to sialic acid (Sia) by encoding envelope glycoproteins with receptor-binding and receptor-destroying activities. Toroviruses and group 2 coronaviruses bind to O-acetylated Sias, presumably via their spike proteins (S), whereas other glycoproteins, the hemagglutinin-esterases (HE), destroy Sia receptors by de-O-acetylation. Here, we present a comprehensive study of these enzymes. Sialate-9-O-acetylesterases specific for 5-N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid, described for bovine and human coronaviruses, also occur in equine coronaviruses and in porcine toroviruses. Bovine toroviruses, however, express novel sialate-9-O-acetylesterases, which prefer the di-O-acetylated substrate 5-N-acetyl-7(8),9-di-O-acetylneuraminic acid. Whereas most rodent coronaviruses express sialate-4-O-acetylesterases, the HE of murine coronavirus DVIM cleaves 9-O-acetylated Sias. Under the premise that HE specificity reflects receptor usage, we propose that two types of Sias serve as initial attachment factors for coronaviruses in mice. There are striking parallels between orthomyxo- and nidovirus biology. Reminiscent of antigenic shifts in orthomyxoviruses, rodent coronaviruses exchanged S and HE sequences through recombination to extents not appreciated before. As for orthomyxovirus reassortants, the fitness of nidovirus recombinant offspring probably depends both on antigenic properties and on compatibility of receptor-binding and receptor-destroying activities.


title: Indirect transmission of bovine viral diarrhoea virus at calving and during the postparturient period.

text: Two trials were designed to investigate whether bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) could be transmitted after the birth of persistently infected calves, even if they were removed immediately after birth. In trial 1, 11 calves were actively exposed to fetal fluids and uterine lochia collected from cows that had delivered calves persistently infected with type 1 BVDV. One calf that was exposed to a sample taken on the day of calving seroconverted. In trial 2, six calves were housed in stables where persistently infected calves were being born and then removed immediately from their dams and from the stable unit within two to three hours. One of four calves in close contact with the cows after delivery seroconverted and one of two calves housed within the same stable unit became infected.


title: Purification and concentration of viruses associated with transmissible (coronaviral) enteritis of turkeys (bluecomb).

text: Purification and concentration of viruses contained in pathogenic material was accomplished by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Electron microscopy was also performed. Viruses recovered from intestinal preparations of both affected and unaffected turkey poults had a density of 1.16 to 1.17. The viruses resembled myxoviruses, paramyxoviruses, or oncornaviruses morphologically. In addition, preparations from bluecomb-affected poults were found to contain viruses indistinguishable from known coronaviruses. No such virus particles were seen in the control preparations. Data are presented to indicate an etiologic relationship between the coronavirus and transmissible enteritis of turkeys.


title: Factors influencing readmission after pancreaticoduodenectomy: a multi-institutional study of 1302 patients.

text: OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND Morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) have significantly decreased over recent decades. Despite this progress, early readmission rates after PD have been reported as high as 50%. Few reports have delineated factors associated with readmission after PD. METHODS The medical records of 6 high-volume institutions were reviewed for patients who underwent PD between 2005 and 2010. Data collection included patient characteristics, medical comorbidities, and perioperative factors. Analysis included readmissions up to 90 days after PD. RESULTS A total of 1302 patients underwent PD across all institutions. The 30-day and 90-day readmission rates were 15% and 19%, respectively. The most common reasons for 30-day readmission included infectious complications (n = 65) and delayed gastric emptying (n = 29). The most common reasons for readmission after 90 days included wound infections and intra-abdominal abscess (n = 75) and failure to thrive (n = 38). On multivariate analysis, factors associated with higher readmission rates included a preoperative diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, higher transfusion requirements, and postoperative complications including intra-abdominal abscess and pancreatic fistula (all P < 0.02). Factors not associated with higher readmission rates included advanced age, body mass index, cardiovascular/pulmonary comorbidities, diabetes, steroid use, Whipple type (standard vs pylorus preserving PD), preoperative endobiliary stenting, and vascular reconstruction. CONCLUSIONS These multi-institutional data represent a large experience of PD without the biases typically of single center studies. Factors related to infection, nutritional status, and delayed gastric emptying were the most common reasons for readmission after PD. Postoperative complications including pancreatic fistula predicted higher rates of readmission.


title: Method for the quantitative measurement of collecting lymphatic vessel contraction in mice.

text: Collecting lymphatic vessels are critical for the transport of lymph and its cellular contents to lymph nodes for both immune surveillance and the maintenance of tissue-fluid balance. Collecting lymphatic vessels drive lymph flow by autonomous contraction of smooth muscle cells that cover these vessels. Here we describe methods using intravital microscopy to image and quantify collecting lymphatic vessel contraction in mice. Our methods allow for the measurement of the strength of lymphatic contraction of an individual lymphangion in a mouse, which has not yet been demonstrated using other published methods. The ability to study murine collecting lymphatic vessel contraction-using the methods described here or other recently published techniques-allows the field to dissect the molecular mechanisms controlling lymphatic pumping under normal and pathological conditions using the wide variety of molecular tools and genetic models available in the mouse. We have used our methods to study lymphatic contraction in physiological and inflammatory conditions. The methods described here will facilitate the further study of lymphatic function in other pathological conditions that feature lymphatic complications.


title: Development of vaccines for Marburg hemorrhagic fever.

text: Marburg (MARV) and Ebola viruses (EBOV) emerged from the rainforests of Central Africa more than 30 years ago causing outbreaks of severe and, usually, fatal hemorrhagic fever. EBOV has garnered the lion's share of the attention, fueled by the higher frequency of EBOV outbreaks, high mortality rates and importation into the USA, documented in such popular works as the best-selling novel 'The Hot Zone'. However, recent large outbreaks of hundreds of cases of MARV infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola with case fatalities approaching 90% dramatically highlight its lethal potential. Although no vaccines or antiviral drugs for MARV are currently available, remarkable progress has been made over the last few years in developing potential countermeasures against MARV in nonhuman primate models. In particular, a vaccine based on attenuated recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus was recently shown to have both preventive and postexposure efficacy.


title: Early Dengue infection and outcome study (EDEN) - study design and preliminary findings.

text: INTRODUCTION Dengue is a major public health problem in Singapore. Age-specific dengue morbidity rates are highest in the young adult population, unlike in many other Southeast Asian countries where dengue is mainly a paediatric disease. Hence, the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on dengue diagnosis and management which were developed using the paediatric experiences, may not be suitable for the management of adult dengue infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Early DENgue (EDEN) infection and outcome study is a collaborative longitudinal study to investigate epidemiological, clinical, viral and host-specific features of early dengue-infected adults, in an effort to identify new early markers for prognostication. Patients presenting with early undifferentiated fever were included in the study. We carried out an interim analysis to look for early indicators of severe disease. RESULTS During the period of this interim study analysis, 455 febrile patients were recruited. Of these, 133 were confirmed as acute dengue cases based on dengue-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results. There were significant clinical and epidemiological differences between dengue and febrile non-dengue cases. Nine per cent of the dengue cases experienced persistent tiredness, drowsiness and loss of appetite beyond 3 weeks of illness. Quantitation of viral loads using the crossover (Ct) value of real-time RT-PCR correlated with the duration of symptoms. More than half of both primary and secondary dengue cases were hospitalised. There was no dengue-related mortality in this study. CONCLUSION The duration of illness and prolonged symptom duration in 9% of the subjects indicate that the burden of dengue illness is substantially different from other non-dengue febrile illness in our study cohort. Our study also highlights the paucity of early prognostic markers for dengue fever in adults.


title: Isolation and identification of autoagglutinating serogroup O:11 Aeromonas strains in the clinical laboratory.

text: We evaluated the extent to which serogroup O:11 Aeromonas strains could be recovered from both clinical and environmental specimens and the cultural parameters that affected the phenotypic marker (autoagglutination) associated with this group. Of over 200 Aeromonas strains screened, serogroup O:11 was identified only among the phenospecies A. hydrophila and A. sobria and was associated with clinical isolates more frequently than with environmental strains. Blood and wound isolates accounted for almost 50% of all O:11 strains identified. The autoagglutination phenotype associated with O:11 strains could be detected in most commercial liquid media, under a wide range of growth temperatures, and within 15 min of incubation at 100 degrees C. The results suggest that clinical laboratories can recognize this important group of Aeromonas strains by two simple tests.


title: Diagnosis of enzootic pneumonia in Danish cattle: reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of bovine respiratory syncytial virus in naturally and experimentally infected cattle.

text: A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed for detection of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) in lung tissue of naturally and experimentally infected cattle. Primers were selected from the gene coding the F fusion protein, which is relatively conserved among BRSV isolates. The RT-PCR assay was highly specific, it yielded positive reactions only when performed on BRSV-infected cell cultures or tissues. The detection limit of the RT-PCR assay was assessed as 5 TCID50. BRSV was detected in tissues of the respiratory tract and in the tracheobroncheal lymph node of calves euthanized 2-8 days after experimental infection with BRSV, whereas samples of other tissues and samples from mock-infected animals were negative at all time points. Examination of lung samples from 8 different regions of the lungs revealed that although the virus was most often found in the cranioventral lobules, it was frequently present in all lung lobules. Microbiologic examinations of all acute fatal cases of pneumonia (135 animals) in cattle submitted for diagnostic purposes during 1 year revealed that Actinomyces pyogenes (11%), Haemophilus somnus (10%), Pasteurella sp. (7%), and Pasteurella haemolytica (7%) were the most common bacterial agents found in the lungs. BRSV was identified using a conventional antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 23 (17%) animals. The established BRSV-specific RT-PCR assay yielded positive results for the same 23 animals. In addition, 10 animals that were negative with the ELISA were positive with the RT-PCR assay. These results indicates that the RT-PCR assay can be a sensitive, reliable alternative to conventional diagnostic procedures.


title: RNA recombination of murine coronaviruses: recombination between fusion-positive mouse hepatitis virus A59 and fusion-negative mouse hepatitis virus 2.

text: It has previously been shown that the murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) undergoes RNA recombination at a relatively high frequency in both tissue culture and infected animals. Thus far, all of the recombination sites had been localized at the 5' half of the RNA genome. We have now performed a cross between MHV-2, a fusion-negative murine coronavirus, and a temperature-sensitive mutant of the A59 strain of MHV, which is fusion positive at the permissive temperature. By selecting fusion-positive viruses at the nonpermissive temperature, we isolated several recombinants containing multiple crossovers in a single genome. Some of the recombinants became fusion negative during the plaque purification. The fusion ability of the recombinants parallels the presence or absence of the A59 genomic sequences encoding peplomers. Several of the recombinants have crossovers within 3' end genes which encode viral structural proteins, N and E1. These recombination sites were not specifically selected with the selection markers used. This finding, together with results of previous recombination studies, indicates that RNA recombination can occur almost anywhere from the 5' end to the 3' end along the entire genome. The data also show that the replacement of A59 genetic sequences at the 5' end of gene C, which encodes the peplomer protein, with the fusion-negative MHV-2 sequences do not affect the fusion ability of the recombinant viruses. Thus, the crucial determinant for the fusion-inducing capability appears to reside in the more carboxyl portion of the peplomer protein.


The returned traveller.


Open tracheostomy in a suspect severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patient: brief technical communication.


title: Preoperative embolization of hypervascular thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spinal column tumors: technique and outcomes from a single center.

text: The existing literature on preoperative spine tumor embolization is limited in size of patient cohorts and diversity of tumor histologies. This report presents our experience with preoperative embolization of hypervascular thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spinal column tumors in the largest series to date. We conducted a retrospective review of 228 angiograms and 188 pre-operative embolizations for tumors involving thoracic, lumbar and sacral spinal column. Tumor vascularity was evaluated with conventional spinal angiography and was graded from 0 (same as normal adjacent vertebral body) to 3 (severe tumor blush with arteriovenous shunting). Embolic materials included poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) particles and detachable platinum coils and rarely, liquid embolics. The degree of embolization was graded as complete, near-complete, or partial. Anesthesia records were reviewed to document blood loss during surgery. Renal cell carcinoma (44.2%), thyroid carcinoma (9.2%), and leiomyosarcoma (6.6%) were the most common tumors out of a total of 40 tumor histologies. Hemangiopericytoma had the highest mean vascularity (2.6) of all tumor types with at least five representative cases followed by renal cell carcinoma (2.0) and thyroid carcinoma (2.0). PVA particles were used in 100% of cases. Detachable platinum coils were used in 51.6% of cases. Complete, near-complete, and partial embolizations were achieved in 86.1%, 12.7%, and 1.2% of all cases, respectively. There were no new post-procedure neurologic deficits or other complications with long-term morbidity. The mean intra-operative blood loss for the hypervascular tumors treated with pre-operative embolization was 1745 cc. Preoperative embolization of hypervascular thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine tumors can be performed with high success rates and a high degree of safety at high volume centers.


docid: qlhntpob

title: Plasma glucose levels and diabetes are independent predictors for mortality and morbidity in patients with SARS.

text: AIMS To investigate the relationships between a known history of diabetes and ambient fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels with death and morbidity rates in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). METHODS In this retrospective analysis, the clinical and biochemical characteristics of 135 patients who had died from SARS, 385 survivors of SARS and 19 patients with non-SARS pneumonia were compared. RESULTS All patients were treated according to a predefined protocol. Before steroid treatment, the mean FPG level was significantly higher in the SARS group (deceased vs. survivors vs. non-SARS pneumonia group: 9.7 +/- 5.2 vs. 6.5 +/- 3.0 vs. 5.1 +/- 1.0 mmol/l, P < 0.01). In the SARS group, the percentage of patients with a known history of diabetes was significantly higher in the deceased patients than in the survivors (21.5% vs. 3.9%, P < 0.01). Among patients with no known history of diabetes and before commencement of steroid therapy, those who had hypoxaemia (SaO(2) < 93%) had higher FPG levels than those who did not have hypoxia in both the survivor (8.7 +/- 4.9 vs. 6.3 +/- 2.1 mmol/l, P < 0.001) and deceased (9.8 +/- 4.8 vs. 7.2 +/- 1.5 mmol/l, P < 0.001) groups. A known history of diabetes [odds ratio (OR) 3.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4, 6.3; P = 0.005] and FPG > or = 7.0 mmol/l before steroid treatment (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.4, 7.7, P = 0.006) were independent predictors of death. During the course of the illness, FPG levels were negatively associated with SaO(2) (beta =-0.682 +/- 0.305, P = 0.025, general estimation equation model) in SARS patients. Survival analysis showed that FPG was independently associated with an increased hazard ratio (HR) of mortality (HR = 1.1, 95% CI 1.0, 1.1, P = 0.001) and hypoxia (HR = 1.1, 95% CI 1.0, 1.1, P = 0.002) after controlling for age and gender. CONCLUSIONS A known history of diabetes and ambient hyperglycaemia were independent predictors for death and morbidity in SARS patients. Metabolic control may improve the prognosis of SARS patients.


docid: urvramxr

title: Form and representation in clinical case reports.


docid: zbhhnhxj

title: Positive selection of the TRIM family regulatory region in primate genomes.

text: Viral selection pressure has acted on restriction factors that play an important role in the innate immune system by inhibiting the replication of viruses during primate evolution. Tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) family members are some of these restriction factors. It is becoming increasingly clear that gene expression differences, rather than protein-coding regions changes, could play a vital role in the anti-retroviral immune mechanism. Increasingly, recent studies have created genome-scale catalogues of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs), which demark potentially functional regulatory DNA. To improve our understanding of the molecular evolution mechanism of antiviral differences between species, we leveraged 14 130 DHSs derived from 145 cell types to characterize the regulatory landscape of the TRIM region. Subsequently, we compared the alignments of the DHSs across six primates and found 375 DHSs that are conserved in non-human primates but exhibit significantly accelerated rates of evolution in the human lineage (haDHSs). Furthermore, we discovered 31 human-specific potential transcription factor motifs within haDHSs, including the KROX and SP1, that both interact with HIV-1 Importantly, the corresponding haDHS was correlated with antiviral factor TRIM23 Thus, our results suggested that some viruses may contribute, through regulatory DNA differences, to organismal evolution by mediating TRIM gene expression to escape immune surveillance.


title: RNA isolation and quantitative PCR from HOPE- and formalin-fixed bovine lymph node tissues.

text: The use of ribonucleic acid (RNA) extracted from Hepes glutamic acid buffer-mediated organic solvent protection effect (HOPE)-fixed tissues in quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is fairly novel. We compared qRT-PCR analysis of formalin- and HOPE-fixed, paraffin-embedded lymph node tissues from Mycobacterium bovis-infected cattle by extracting total RNA using a commercial kit (Ambion) and a Trizol method. RNA extracted from HOPE-fixed tissues showed comparable quantities between the commercial kit (82.7-107.9 microg/ml total RNA) and the Trizol method (87-161.1 microg/ml total RNA), displaying a high degree of integrity when analyzed by electrophoresis. RNA extracted from formalin-fixed tissues using the commercial kit produced similar concentrations (80.6-145.7 microg/ml total RNA) in comparison to the HOPE tissue; however, the integrity was compromised. Extraction of RNA from the formalin-fixed tissues using Trizol was unsuccessful. Following qRT-PCR for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), total RNA from HOPE-fixed tissues showed higher levels of target messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) (4.05 x 10(-2)pg/100 ng total RNA using the commercial kit and 6.45 x 10(-2)pg/100 ng total RNA using Trizol) in comparison to formalin-fixed tissues (5.69 x 10(-4)pg/100 ng total RNA). This could be attributed to RNA degradation by exposure to formalin fixation. In conclusion, the HOPE fixative proved to be a better source for RNA extraction from cattle lymph nodes and subsequent qRT-PCR.


Do no harm: do thyself no harm.


title: Hospital stays, hospital charges, and in-hospital deaths among infants with selected birth defects--United States, 2003.

text: Birth defects (BDs) are conditions that 1) result from a malformation, deformation, or disruption in one or more parts of the body; 2) are present at birth; and 3) have a serious, adverse effect on health, development, or functional ability. BDs are leading causes of pediatric hospitalizations, medical expenditures, and infant mortality. To estimate national hospital charges and rates of in-hospital deaths for a greater number of specific BDs than estimated in previous reports, investigators at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and CDC used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2003 Kids' Inpatient Database (KID), developed and distributed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. KID is a 10% sample of hospital discharges after uncomplicated births and an 80% sample of all other pediatric discharges from 36 participating states. Data are weighted to represent all pediatric hospitalizations in the United States. The investigators analyzed hospital stays during 2003 for newborn infants with any of 35 BDs. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated substantial variation among BDs regarding average length of stay, average hospital charge, and the incidence of in-hospital deaths. Average length of stay was greatest for infants with surgically repaired gastroschisis or omphalocele. Average hospital charges were highest for infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and common truncus arteriosus. Although anencephaly, trisomy 13, and trisomy 18 were associated with the highest rates of in-hospital death, the largest total numbers of deaths associated with neonatal hospitalizations occurred in infants with diaphragmatic hernia and renal agenesis. Further studies are needed to distinguish outcomes for infants with isolated and multiple defects and to assess longer-term outcomes.


title: Detection of Reovirus type 3 by use of fluorogenic nuclease reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

text: Reovirus type 3 (Reo-3) can infect numerous rodent species and induces the clinical syndrome 'oily skin disease' in neonatal mice, and is a common contaminant of biological materials. The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay has proven useful for the detection of Reo-3 in rodents and contaminated biological materials. Fluorogenic nuclease reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays (fnRT-PCR) combine RT-PCR with an internal fluorogenic hybridization probe, thereby potentially enhancing specificity and eliminating post-PCR processing. Therefore, an fnRT-PCR assay specific for Reo-3 was developed by targeting primer and probe sequences to a unique region of the Reo-3 M3 gene. The fnRT-PCR detected both strains of Reo-3 (Dearing and Abney), but did not detect Reovirus types 1 or 2, other viruses in the family Reoviridae, or other RNA viruses that naturally infect rodents. The fnRT-PCR detected less than 1 fg of target template and detected viral RNA in tissues obtained from mice experimentally infected with Reo-3. The assay also displayed comparable sensitivity when compared to the mouse antibody production test commonly used to detect viral contamination of biological materials. In conclusion, this fnRT-PCR assay offers a potentially high-throughput diagnostic assay for detecting Reo-3 RNA in infected mice and contaminated biological materials.


title: Change in infection control practices and awareness of hospital medical staff in the aftermath of SARS.

text: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic illustrated the crucial role of infection surveillance and control measures in the combat of any highly transmissible disease. We conducted an interview survey of 121 medical staff 145 doctors, 46 staff nurses and 30 medical assistants) in a state hospital in Malaysia three months after the end of SARS epidemic (from October to December 2003). Staff was grouped according to those directly involved in the care of suspected SARS patients [S+ group n=41] and those who were not [S- group; n=80]. On hand washing following sneezing, coughing and touching patients, the proportions of medical staff that reported an increase after the SARS crisis were 22.3%, 16.5% and 45.5% respectively. On wearing masks, gloves, and aprons when meeting potentially infectious patients, the proportions that reported an increase were 39.7%, 47.1% and 32.2% respectively. Significantly more staff in S+ than S- group reported these increases. Sixty percent of staff was aware of changes in hospital infection control policies after SARS; 93.4% was aware of notifying procedures, and 81.8% was aware of whom to notify in the hospital. Regarding infection isolation ward, Infectious Control Nurse and Infection Control Committee Chairman in the hospital, the proportions of staff that could correctly name them were 39.7%, 38.3% and 15.7% respectively. Significantly more in S+ than S- group could do so. However, more than half the staff claimed ignorance on the knowledge of infection isolation ward (56.2%), Infection Control Nurse (57.9%) and Chairman (65.3%). Our findings demonstrated that SARS crisis had some positive impact on the infection control practices and awareness of medical staff especially on those with direct SARS involvement. Implications for future control of infectious diseases are obvious.


title: Coding sequence of coronavirus MHV-JHM mRNA 4.

text: A coding sequence at the 5' end of mRNA 4 of the coronavirus MHV-JHM was determined by M13/chain-terminator sequencing of cloned cDNA. An open reading frame of 417 bases with the potential to encode a polypeptide of mol. wt. 15 200 (139 residues) was identified. The 3' end of the open reading frame overlapped by 16 bases the start of an open reading frame found in mRNA 5. The translation product of mRNA 4 was predicted to be a basic polypeptide rich in threonine. It had a large hydrophobic region near the amino terminus and a basic carboxy terminus. An intracellular, virus-specific polypeptide, which has been previously described having a mol. wt. of 14 000 to 14 500 has the size and charge characteristics of such a translation product.


title: Massive Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Patients with COVID-19; Report of Three Cases.

text: COVID-19 is a novel infectious disease, which has challenged people all around the world. As of today, healthcare practitioners and researchers have made great effort to understand the characteristics and clinical presentations of the disease; however, the existing literature is still incomplete in this regard. A growing body of evidence indicates that coagulopathies and thromboembolic events are of utmost importance in COVID-19 patients and are related to poor prognosis. Here, we report three ICU admitted cases of COVID-19, in which massive pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) occurred a few days after disease onset. Unfortunately, one of the patients did not survive and two were treated; one with thrombectomy and other with antithrombotic agents. It seems that severe cases of COVID-19 are at risk for developing PTE and in-charge physicians should be prepared and plan for anticoagulant prophylaxis using low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH).


title: Seroepidemiologic study of human coronavirus OC43 infections in Italy.

text: Human Coronavirus OC43 from suckling mouse brain (SMB) suspension has been adapted to grow in human embryonic lung fibroblast cell cultures. Complement-fixing and hemagglutinating antigens were prepared from infected cell cultures and used in parallel with the same antigens from SMB for a study of the prevalence of OC43 antibody in Northern Italy as well as for the serodiagnosis of recent OC43 infections and reinfections. Results show (i) a higher sensitivity of the hemagglutination-inhibition as compared to the complement fixation test both for antibody detection in seroepidemiological studies and serodiagnosis of acute infections, (ii) a high prevalence of OC43 antibody in Northern Italy, so that only exceptionally are people older than 12 years seronegative, (iii) a high rate of OC43 reinfections during the winter-spring season 1976/77 in a population sample with preexisting antibody (iv) a good quality of reagents prepared from cell cultures, and hence free of contaminating mouse viruses, such as mouse hepatitis virus.


title: Treatment of de novo femoro-popliteal lesions with a new Drug Coated Balloon: early experience of a single Center in the first 50 patients.

text: Angioplasty with drug-coated balloon (DCB) is an emerging and reliable method for the treatment of femoro-popliteal lesions. We report our experience with the Stellarex™ DCB in the first 50 patients. Methods From July 2015 to November 2017, 50 patients (41 M, 9F), medium age (64 ± 7.4 year) were subject to 33 angioplasties (PTAs) for femoro-popliteal lesions with a paclitaxel-coated balloon (Stellarex™). Based upon clinical data sixteen patients had severe claudication (56% - Rutherford class 3); ten patients suffered from ischemic rest pain (34% - Rutherford class 4); and five presented minor tissue loss (10% - Rutherford class 5). 42% of patients showed femoro-popliteal lesion TASC-II B, and 58% presented lesions pertaining to TASC-II C. Results Immediate technical success was 100% without perioperative complications. Primary patency rate was 94% at twelve months. In three cases restenosis (6%) was detected within a year from procedure, and a further PTA DCB was performed with primary assisted patency rates of 100% at twelve months. Two patients underwent major lower limb amputation. Three patients died during follow-up and one patient was lost at follow-up. Conclusion DCB angioplasty with Stellarex™ is a viable alternative to traditional endovascular procedures proving satisfactory primary patency rates at twelve months. Based on our experience, treatment with DCB is a first choice technique for non-complex de novo lesions of the femoro - popliteal tract.


title: What are the chances? Evaluating risk and benefit information in consumer health materials.

text: Much consumer health information addresses issues of disease risk or treatment risks and benefits, addressing questions such as "How effective is this treatment?" or "What is the likelihood that this test will give a false positive result?" Insofar as it addresses outcome likelihood, this information is essentially quantitative in nature, which is of critical importance, because quantitative information tends to be difficult to understand and therefore inaccessible to consumers. Information professionals typically examine reading level to determine the accessibility of consumer health information, but this measure does not adequately reflect the difficulty of quantitative information, including materials addressing issues of risk and benefit. As a result, different methods must be used to evaluate this type of consumer health material. There are no standard guidelines or assessment tools for this task, but research in cognitive psychology provides insight into the best ways to present risk and benefit information to promote understanding and minimize interpretation bias. This paper offers an interdisciplinary bridge that brings these results to the attention of information professionals, who can then use them to evaluate consumer health materials addressing risks and benefits.


title: Lesions in the small intestine of newborn pigs inoculated with porcine, feline, and canine coronaviruses.

text: The infectivity and pathogenicity to newborn pigs of antigenically related coronaviruses from pigs (transmissible gastroenteritis virus; TGEV), cats (feline infectious peritonitis virus; FIPV), and dogs (canine gastroenteritis virus; CGEV) were studied by light, scanning electron, and immunofluorescence microscopy. Hysterectomy-derived, 12-hour-old pigs were orally given tissue culture or frozen preparations of 6 coronavirus strains (3 porcine, 2 feline, and 1 canine). The pigs were killed at regular intervals between 24 and 144 hours after exposure. Virulent TGEV and virulent FIPV produced necrosis of villous epithelium, resulting in villous atrophy in the jejunum and the ileum. Similar, but less extensive and severe lesions, were produced by the 4 other viruses. Coronaviral antigens were identified by immunofluorescence in villous epithelial cells of pigs that had been inoculated with virulent TGEV, attenuated TGEV, virulent FIPV, and tissue culture-adapted FIPV. In contrast, coronaviral antigens were not induced by the small plaque variant TGEV and virulent CGEV in the villous epithelium, but rather in cells of the lamina propria and crypt epithelium.


title: A candidate modified-live bovine coronavirus vaccine: safety and immunogenicity evaluation.

text: A modified-live vaccine against the respiratory form of bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infection was developed by progressive attenuation of a respiratory strain (438/06-TN). The vaccine was found to be safe as four colostrum-deprived newborn calves remained healthy after oronasal administration of ten doses of the vaccine. The immunogenicity of the vaccine was assessed by intramuscular injection of one vaccine dose to 30 BCoV-antibody negative 2-3-month-old calves. At 30 days post-vaccination, all vaccinated calves displayed high antibody titres against BCoV. Sequence analysis of the S gene of wild-type and cell-adapted 438/06-TN strain detected 10 nucleotide changes, 9 of which were non-synonymous.


title: Disifin (sodium tosylchloramide) and Toll-like receptors (TLRs): evolving importance in health and diseases.

text: Disifin has emerged as a unique and very effective agent used in disinfection of wounds, disinfection of surfaces, materials and water, and other substances contaminated with almost every type of pathogenic microorganism ranging from viruses, bacteria, fungi and yeast, and, very possibly, protozoan parasites, as well. The major active component of Disifin is tosylchloramide sodium (chloramine T). However, the mechanism by which Disifin suppresses the activities of pathogenic microbial agents remains enigmatic. The molecular mechanisms, and the receptors and the signal transducing pathways responsible for the biological effects of Disifin are largely unknown. Despite considerable advances, enormous investigative efforts and large resources invested in the research on infectious diseases, microbial infection still remains a public health problem in many parts of the world. The exact nature of the pathogenic agents responsible for many infectious diseases, and the nature of the receptors mediating the associated inflammatory events are incompletely understood. Recent advances in understanding the molecular basis for mammalian host immune responses to microbial invasion suggest that the first line of defense against microbes is the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by a family of transmembrane pattern-recognizing and signal transducing receptor proteins called Toll-like receptors (TLRs). The TLR family plays an instructive role in innate immune responses against microbial pathogens, as well as the subsequent induction of adaptive immune responses. TLRs mediate recognition and inflammatory responses to a wide range of microbial products and are crucial for effective host defense by eradication of the invading pathogens. Now, recent updates demonstrated the ability of Disifin-derived products, Disifin-Animal and Disifin-Pressant to effectively suppress the progression and activities of Chikungunya fever and that of avian influenza A virus [A/cardialis/Germany/72, H7N1: the agent of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)] infection, respectively. Overall, the above findings led me to suggest that Disifin and TLRs may mechanistically overlap in the processes of executing their functions against pathogenic microbial organisms. Thus, elucidating and better understanding of the molecular underpinnings responsible for the biochemical effects of Disifin-products, and the nature and mode of the interaction(s) of Disifin with TLRs in the process of exerting their biological effects may open a novel dimension in the research of infectious diseases, which may provide novel therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of infectious diseases.


title: COVID-19 Case Detection: Cuba's Active Screening Approach.

text: Meningitis, neuropathy, HIV, dengue-since the 1960s, Cuba has faced its share of epidemics. More recently, Cuban health pro-fessionals tackled domestic outbreaks of H1N1 (2009) and Zika (2016), and worked alongside colleagues from around the world to stem Ebola in West Africa; all three were categorized by WHO as public health emergencies of international concern. In December 2019, China reported its fi rst cluster of pneumo-nia cases, later identifi ed as the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19. In January 2020, Cuban authorities convened a multi-sector working group coordinated by the Ministry of Pub-lic Health (MINSAP) and Civil Defense to tailor its national epi-demic control plan to confront the rapidly-spreading disease. The plan features a national reporting system and database, with standard protocols including early case detection, contact tracing and regularly-scheduled public health messaging. In late January, no fewer than six ministries, plus the National Sports and Recreation Institute, Customs, Immigration and national media outlets, came together to adapt domestic proto-cols and design multi-phase control and response mechanisms to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus.


An opportunity for change.


Risk of cancer from mobile phones is unclear.


title: The transmembrane domain of a carboxyl-terminal anchored protein determines localization to the endoplasmic reticulum.

text: UBC6 is a C-terminal membrane-anchored (type IV) protein, native to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where it is found in the endoplasmic reticulum. When expressed in mammalian cells, this novel ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme also localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum. UBC6 lacks a lumenal domain and contains no known endoplasmic reticulum retention signals. Analysis of chimeric proteins in which the cytosolic domain of UBC is linked to a heterologous transmembrane domain, or in which the UBC6 transmembrane domain is appended to an unrelated soluble protein, led to the determination that the transmembrane domain of UBC6 plays a dominant role in its compartmental localization. The basis for the transmembrane domain-mediated subcellular targeting of UBC6 was evaluated by lengthening the wild type UBC6 hydrophobic segment from 17 to 21 amino acids, which resulted in re-targeting to the Golgi complex. A further increase in length to 26 amino acids allowed this modified protein to traverse the secretory pathway and gain expression at the plasma membrane. These findings are consistent with models in which, in the absence of dominant cytosolic or lumenal targeting determinants, proteins may be sorted within the secretory pathway based on interactions between their transmembrane domains and the surrounding lipid bilayer.


title: JHM infections in rats as a model for acute and subacute demyelinating disease.

text: An animal model with different central nervous system (CNS) disease processes associated with demyelination is described which provides a basis to analyse the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to these disorders. Intracerebral infection of rats with the murine coronavirus strain JHM can result in an acute encephalomyelitis with a short incubation period or in subacute to chronic encephalomyelitis occurring after prolonged incubation. The most prominent finding of the latter two diseases consists of typical demyelinated lesions distributed in selected areas of the CNS. The induction of high rates of animals with demyelination depends both on properties of the virus used for infection and host factors such as age and immune status. A high number of rats with demyelination was obtained by intracerebral inoculation of temperature sensitive mutants into suckling rats with maternal JHM antibodies.


docid: cszhodhx

title: Deduced amino acid sequence and potential O-glycosylation sites for the bovine coronavirus matrix protein.

text: The nucleotide sequence of the matrix (M) protein gene of the bovine coronavirus (BCV) was determined by sequencing cDNA clones derived from genomic RNA. The gene was found to map at the 5' side of the nucleocapsid protein gene and its sequence predicts a protein of 230 amino acids having a molecular weight of 26,376. The BCV M protein shares extensive sequence homology with the matrix protein of the mouse hepatitis coronavirus (MHV) but differs notably in the amino terminal region external to the virion envelope where BCV apparently uses at least two of its six potential O-glycosylation sites.


title: Right-siting of medical care: role of the internist.

text: General internal medicine is now an essential service, and may in time be the main vehicle of delivery of healthcare to an ageing population, since resources are finite. One model for an equitable system of healthcare delivery may be the integration of General Internal Medicine as the core matrix, around which the various subspecialties deliver quality care. This is now a reality in many hospitals, where all subspecialists serve for varying periods in general medical wards, some even achieving dual accreditation. This promotes integration rather than fragmentation of services. Subspecialties will thrive, for the general workload will also be shared by internists in an equitable fashion. The obvious beneficiaries are the patients, and the health economics will also benefit the funding bodies. The services provided by internists must also be expanded into new fields, e.g. medicine for disasters, so as to promote cost-effective medical care, research and teaching, and also to achieve right-siting of patient care. It must also be emphasised that the specialties remain integral parts of the matrix, so that all departments complement one another, rather than compete with each other. The collegiality engendered is essential for a more congenial workplace, so as to promote staff retention.


Financing and organization of China's health care.


New mental health legislation.


title: Recent progress in the characterization of avian enteric viruses.

text: Despite the importance of the poultry gut, remarkably little is known about the complex gut microbial community. Enteric disease syndromes such as runting-stunting syndrome in broiler chickens and poult enteritis complex in young turkeys are difficult to characterize and reproduce in the laboratory. A great deal of work has been done to characterize the bacterial population in the poultry gut, leading to useful performance-based interventions such as direct-fed microbial preparations. Advances in the application of rapid molecular diagnostics and the advent of the next generation of nucleic acid sequencing have allowed researchers to begin to decipher the microbial community in complex environmental samples. Researchers have made great strides recently in placing names to some of the unknown and undescribed small viruses in the poultry gut such as parvoviruses, picornaviruses, picobirnavirus, and calicivirus. Investigation into the novel avian astroviruses continues, and recent progress has been made in the molecular characterization of the avian rotaviruses. This review will focus on the recent advances that have been made in the discovery, description, and characterization of the multitude of viruses that reside in the poultry gut.


title: TLR2 and MyD88 contribute to Lactobacillus casei extract-induced focal coronary arteritis in a mouse model of Kawasaki disease.

text: BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease is the most common cause of acquired cardiac disease and acute vasculitis in children, targets the coronary arteries, and can occasionally be fatal. The pathogenesis and the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. After injection of Lactobacillus casei cell-wall extract (LCCWE), mice develop a focal coronary arteritis that histopathologically resembles Kawasaki disease, but the mechanism remains unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that signaling by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) through their key downstream adaptor molecule myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is required for the cellular activation and coronary arteritis produced by LCCWE. METHODS AND RESULTS Bone marrow-derived macrophages from TLR2- or MyD88-deficient mice were unresponsive to LCCWE-induced stimulation. In contrast, macrophages obtained from TLR4-deficient mice produced the same amount of interleukin-6 as macrophages from wild-type mice after stimulation with LCCWE. Intraperitoneal injection of LCCWE produced severe focal coronary arteritis in TLR4(-/-) and C57BL/6 control mice but not in TLR2(-/-) or MyD88(-/-) mice. Collectively, these results indicate that LCCWE is a potent inducer of nuclear factor-kappaB via TLR2 but not TLR4 and that this activation proceeds via the MyD88-dependent signaling pathway. In vivo studies suggest that TLR2(-/-) mice are protected from LCCWE-induced coronary arteritis and that this protection is mediated through the adaptor molecule MyD88. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide important insights into the molecular signaling in this mouse model of coronary arteritis. We show here that LCCWE-induced coronary arteritis is dependent on intact TLR2 and MyD88 signaling.


title: [The prevalence of antibodies to influenza virus and respiratory coronavirus in fattening pigs in Spain].

text: The presence of antibodies to two influenza viruses of the type A (H1N1 and H3N2) and to a porcine respiratory coronavirus was investigated in a study lasting a year. 735 blood serum samples were collected from 79 closed pig fattening farms in the province Segovia (Spain). Hemagglutination inhibition was used with influenza viruses. The percentage of positive results was 78.5% and 62.5% respectively for the serotypes H1N1 and H3N2. A clear reduction in the spread of antibodies was observed in the autumn. The ELISA technique was used with the porcine respiratory coronavirus. As antigen we used the antigenically related transmissible porcine gastroenteritis virus. Using this technique 87% of the sera were positive. Some of these sera with representative ELISA values were confirmed by means of serum neutralisation and radioimmune precipitation of the viral proteins. The incidence of these antibodies remained unchanged over the whole year of the investigation.


title: [Hemagglutination inhibition test for the diagnosis of coronavirus infection in cattle].

text: The main aim of the work was to obtain a viral corpuscle suspension with high hemagglutinating activity to be used as an antigen in HAI tests. The bovine coronavirus SC-1 strain was cultivated on ovine foetal renal cells and gave a suspension with a hemagglutinating titer of 1:64-1:128. A monospecific anti-coronavirus immune serum to be used in the HAI test, too, was prepared by hyperimmunization of a gnotobiotic calf. Its hemagglutinating and neutralizing titers were of 1:2560 and, respectively, 8.5 log. The HAI test was performed using the following reagents: the coronavirus suspension as a hemagglutinating antigen, a 1% suspension of mouse red blood corpuscles, the monospecific anti-coronavirus immune serum as a positive control, and a negative serum. 265 serum samples were investigated, collected from cows and calves in 18 farms where neonatal gastroenteritis was diagnosed. In 72.4% out of these samples there were positive results in the IHA test.


title: Epidemiology of acute lung injury.

text: PURPOSE OF REVIEW Acute lung injury and its extreme manifestation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, complicate a wide variety of serious medical and surgical conditions, only some of which affect the lung directly. Despite recent evidence-based advances in clinical management, acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome are associated with significant mortality. Detailed epidemiology is essential in guiding the recruitment of patients into trials of new therapeutic interventions, thereby improving outcome and allowing directed allocation of scarce resources. RECENT FINDINGS The incidence of acute lung injury in the United States overall (17-64 per 100,000 person-years) seems to be higher than in Europe, Australia, and other developed countries (17-34 per 100, 000 person-years). The mortality rates for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome range from 34 to 58%. The hypothesis that pulmonary and extrapulmonary acute respiratory distress syndromes are different disease entities continues to gain momentum. A genetic predisposition to acute respiratory distress syndrome may contribute to its pathogenesis and outcome. SUMMARY Recent epidemiologic studies of the incidence of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome have indicated a similar incidence in developed societies, and they confirm that mortality is falling in comparison with a decade ago. The awaited publication of new consensus guidelines for the definition of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome may render new studies necessary.


title: Maintenance of pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells persistently infected with murine coronavirus.

text: A persistently coronavirus-infected embryonic stem (ES) cell line A3/MHV was established by infecting an ES cell line, A3-1, with mouse hepatitis virus type-2. Although almost all A3/MHV cells were found infected, both A3/MHV and A3-1 cells expressed comparable levels of cell surface differentiation markers. In addition, A3/MHV cells retained the ability to form embryoid bodies. These results suggest that persistent coronavirus infection does not affect the differentiation of ES cells.


title: [Chest pain and dyspnea during the recovery period of COVID-19 pneumonia].

text: A 31-year-old non-smoking male patient admitted with and intubated for COVID-19 pneumonia experienced acute chest pain and dyspnea during his recovery period. He was diagnosed with a pneumothorax based on major bullae formation due to COVID-19. The bullae were not visible after extubation and developed rapidly within a few days.


title: Current status of severe acute respiratory syndrome in China.

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), also called infectious atypical pneumonia, is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel variant of coronavirus (SARS-associated coronavirus, SARS-CoV). It is mainly characterized by pulmonary infection with a high infectivity and fatality. SARS is swept across almost all the continents of the globe, and has currently involved 33 countries and regions, including the mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America and Europe. On June 30, 2003, an accumulative total reached 8450 cases with 810 deaths. SARS epidemic was very rampant in March, April and May 2003 in the mainland of China and Hong Kong. Chinese scientists and healthcare workers cooperated closely with other scientists from all over the world to fight the disease. On April 16, 2003, World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared that SARS-CoV was an etiological agent of SARS. Currently, there is no specific and effective therapy and prevention method for SARS. The main treatments include corticosteroid therapy, anti-viral agents, anti-infection, mechanical ventilation and isolation. This disease can be prevented and controlled, and it is also curable. Under the endeavor of the Chinese Government, medical staffs and other related professionals, SARS has been under control in China, and Chinese scientists have also made a great contribution to SARS research. Other studies in developing new detection assays and therapies, and discovering new drugs and vaccines are in progress. In this paper, we briefly review the current status of SARS in China.


title: Should lCU COVID-19 patients empirically receive therapeutic doses of anticoagulant?

text: not available.


title: From mice to humans - murine intelligence for human CD8+ T cell vaccine design.

text: There has been considerable progress in the design of vaccines capable of safely and effectively inducing CD8(+) T cells for prophylaxis and treatment of chronic infectious diseases and cancer. Much of what is known about CD8(+) T cell-mediated immunity has come from pioneering work in mice; this broad overview discusses recent work in mouse systems where lessons may be drawn for human vaccine development. The areas highlighted include antivector immunity, immunodominance, dendritic cell biology and targeting, the role of Toll-like receptors and their exploitation by novel adjuvants, the role of CD4(+) T cell help, regulatory T cells and, finally, some comments on the different requirements of prophylactic versus therapeutic vaccines.


What you don't know really can hurt you.


title: A review of DNA viral infections in psittacine birds.

text: To date, several DNA viral infections have been reported in psittacine birds. Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is characterized by symmetric feather dystrophy and loss and development of beak deformities. PBFD is caused by beak and feather virus, which belongs to the Circoviridae, and is the most important infection in psittacine birds worldwide. Avian polyomavirus infection causes acute death, abdominal distention, and feather abnormalities. Pacheco's disease (PD), which is caused by psittacid herpesvirus type 1, is an acute lethal disease without a prodrome. Psittacine adenovirus infections are described as having a clinical progression similar to PD. The clinical changes in psittacine poxvirus-infected birds include serious ocular discharge, rhinitis, and conjunctivitis, followed by the appearance of ulcerations on the medial canthi of the eyes. Internal papillomatosis of parrots (IPP) is a tumor disease characterized by progressive development of papillomas in the oral and cloacal mucosa. IPP has been suggested to caused by papillomavirus or herpesvirus. However, information about these diseases is limited. Here we review the etiology, clinical features, pathology, epidemiology, and diagnosis of these DNA viruses.


Enteric coronavirus in symptomless homosexuals.


title: Identification of two neutralizing regions on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike glycoprotein produced from the mammalian expression system.

text: The Spike (S) protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) plays important roles in viral pathogenesis and potentially in the development of an effective vaccine against this virulent infectious disease. In this study, the codon-optimized S gene of SARS-CoV was synthesized to construct DNA vaccine plasmids expressing either the full-length or segments of the S protein. High titer S-specific immunoglobulin G antibody responses were elicited in rabbits immunized with DNA against various segments of the S protein. Two neutralizing domains were identified on the S protein, one at the N terminus (Ser12-Thr535) and the other near the C terminus (Arg797-Ile1192).


International infectious disease surveillance during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: process and outcomes.