Correction to: Neurocognitive functioning and health‑related quality of life of children after pediatric intensive care admission: a systematic review

Quality of Life Research -     

Evaluating Differences in Whole Blood,Serum, and Urine Screening Tests for Zika Virus,Puerto Rico,USA, 2016

We evaluated nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) for Zika virus on whole-blood specimens compared with NAAT on serum and urine specimens among asymptomatic pregnant women during the 2015–2016 Puerto Rico Zika outbreak. Using NAAT, more infections were detected in serum and urine than in whole blood specimens.     

TrkC Is Essential for Nephron Function and Trans-Activates Igf1R Signaling

BackgroundInjury to kidney podocytes often results in chronic glomerular disease and consecutive nephron malfunction. For most glomerular diseases, targeted therapies are lacking. Thus, it is important to identify novel signaling pathways contributing to glomerular disease. Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 3 (TrkC) is expressed in podocytes and the protein transmits signals to the podocyte actin cytoskeleton.MethodsNephron-specific TrkC knockout (TrkC-KO) and nephron-specific TrkC-overexpressing (TrkC-OE) mice were generated to dissect the role of TrkC in nephron development and maintenance.ResultsBoth TrkC-KO and TrkC-OE mice exhibited enlarged glomeruli, mesangial proliferation, basement membrane thickening, albuminuria, podocyte loss, and aspects of FSGS during aging. Igf1 receptor (Igf1R)–associated gene expression was dysregulated in TrkC-KO mouse glomeruli. Phosphoproteins associated with insulin, erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase (Erbb), and Toll-like receptor signaling were enriched in lysates of podocytes treated with the TrkC ligand neurotrophin-3 (Nt-3). Activation of TrkC by Nt-3 resulted in phosphorylation of the Igf1R on activating tyrosine residues in podocytes. Igf1R phosphorylation was increased in TrkC-OE mouse kidneys while it was decreased in TrkC-KO kidneys. Furthermore, TrkC expression was elevated in glomerular tissue of patients with diabetic kidney disease compared with control glomerular tissue.ConclusionsOur results show that TrkC is essential for maintaining glomerular integrity. Furthermore, TrkC modulates Igf-related signaling in podocytes.     

Efficient propagation of single gene deleted recombinant Sendai virus vectors

Recombinant Sendai virus vectors (SeVV) have become an attractive tool for basic virological as well as for gene transfer studies. However, to (i) reduce the cellular injury induced by basic recombinant SeV vectors (encoding all six SeV genes as being present in SeV wild-type (wt) genomes) and to (ii) improve SeV vector safety, deletions of viral genes are necessary for the construction of superior SeVV generations. As a strong expression system recombinant replication-incompetent adenoviruses, coding for SeV proteins hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), fusion (F), or matrix (M), were generated and successfully employed for the propagation of single gene deleted (DeltaHN, DeltaF, DeltaM) recombinant SeVV. Further investigations of the propagation procedures required for single gene deleted recombinant SeVV demonstrated (i) modifications of the cell culture medium composition as well as (ii) incubation with vitamin E as crucial steps for the enhancement of SeVV-DeltaHN, -DeltaF, or -DeltaM viral particle yield. Such optimized propagation procedures even led to a successful propagation of HN-deleted viral particles (SeVV-DeltaHN), which has not been reported before.     

Pharmacokinetics and safety of intravitreally delivered etanercept

Background The anti-inflammatory drug etanercept may be an effective therapeutic agent in diabetic retinopathy. In order to further evaluate its potential, the pharmacokinetics and safety of this drug after intravitreal delivery were investigated.Methods After intravitreal administration of etanercept in rabbits, clinical examination, electroretinography (ERG), visually evoked potentials (VEP) and histology were evaluated. The pharmacokinetics and distribution of etanercept were analyzed using fluorescence-coupled protein at 0, 2, 4, and 8 weeks after injection in vitreous, retina, and choroid.Results No adverse effects and signs of toxicity were found. Etanercept showed peak concentrations after 4 weeks in the retina and choroid.Conclusions Intravitreally delivered etanercept is safe and results in high concentrations in the retina and choroid over a long period of time.     

Children's health care: Book and media reviews

Let's Remember Corky, Fine, Polly Delson, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 1981. Paperback, unpaged, $4.75.

The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, Viorst, Judith, Hartford, Atheneum, 1971. Paperback, 20 pages, illustrated by Erik Blegvad.

Jasper Enters the Hospital, 16½ mins., The Day of Jasper's Operation, 13½ mins., Wellness: It's Not Magic, 15 mins., Video Cassettes‐ 16 mm. Available from: Kids Corner, 2027 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907, (303) 475–2499.

First Do No Harm, produced by Pierce Atkins Corporation, 45 mins., S400 (purchase), S45 (daily rental). Distributed by Children's Hospital National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20010.

Pediatric Diagnostic Procedures With Guidelines for Preparing Children for Clinical Tests, Droske, Susan C. and Francis, Sally A. Toronto, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1981.

The Children's Medical Series ‐ a series of eight videotapes with Susan Linn and her puppets.     

Profiling of synthesis‐related impurities of the synthetic cannabinoid Cumyl‐5F‐PINACA in seized samples of e‐liquids via multivariate analysis of UHPLC−MSn data

Vaping of synthetic cannabinoids via e‐cigarettes is growing in popularity. In the present study, we tentatively identified 12 by‐products found in a pure sample of the synthetic cannabinoid Cumyl‐5F‐PINACA (1‐(5‐fluoropentyl)‐N‐(2‐phenylpropan‐2‐yl)‐1H‐indazole‐3‐carboxamide), a prevalent new psychoactive substance (NPS) in e‐liquids, via high‐resolution mass spectrometry fragmentation experiments (HRMS/MS). Furthermore, we developed a procedure to reproducibly extract this synthetic cannabinoid and related by‐products from an e‐liquid matrix via chloroform and water. The extracts were submitted to flash chromatography (F‐LC) to isolate the by‐products from the main component. The chromatographic impurity signature was subsequently assessed by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS) and evaluated by automated integration. The complete sample preparation sequence (F‐LC + UHPLC–MS) was validated by comparing the semi‐quantitative signal integrals of the chromatographic impurity signatures of five self‐made e‐liquids with varying concentrations of Cumyl‐5F‐PINACA [0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0% (w/w)], giving an average relative standard deviation of 6.2% for triplicate measurements of preparations of the same concentration and 10.5% between the measurements of the five preparations with different concentrations. Lastly, the chromatographic signatures of 14 e‐liquid samples containing Cumyl‐5F‐PINACA from police seizures and Internet test purchases were evaluated via hierarchical cluster analysis for potential links. For the e‐liquid samples originating from test purchases, it was found that the date of purchase, the identity of the online shop, and the brand name are the critical factors for clustering of samples.