La Crosse Virus in Aedes japonicus japonicus Mosquitoes in the Appalachian Region,United States

La Crosse virus (LACV), a leading cause of arboviral encephalitis in children in the United States, is emerging in Appalachia. For local arboviral surveillance, mosquitoes were tested. LACV RNA was detected and isolated from Aedes japonicus mosquitoes. These invasive mosquitoes may significantly affect LACV range expansion and dynamics.     

The SWAL–QOL and SWAL–CARE Outcomes Tool for Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Adults: III. Documentation of Reliability and Validity

Advances in the measurement of swallowing physiologic parameters have been clinician-driven, as has the development of intervention techniques to modify swallowing pathophysiology. However, a critical element to determining the success of such efforts will be established by the patients themselves. We conceptualized, developed, and validated the SWAL–QOL, a 93-item quality-of-life and quality-of-care outcomes tool for dysphagia researchers and clinicians. With 93 items, the SWAL–QOL was too long for practical and routine use in clinical research and practice. We used an array of psychometric techniques to reduce the 93-item instrument into two patient-centered outcomes tools: (1) the SWAL–QOL, a 44-item tool that assesses ten quality-of-life concepts, and (2) the SWAL–CARE, a 15-item tool that assesses quality of care and patient satisfaction. All scales exhibit excellent internal-consistency reliability and short-term reproducibility. The scales differentiate normal swallowers from patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia and are sensitive to differences in the severity of dysphagia as clinically defined. It is intended that the standardization and publication of the SWAL–QOL and the SWAL–CARE will facilitate their use in clinical research and clinical practice to better understand treatment effectiveness as a critical step toward improving patients' quality of life and quality of care.     

The relationship between left ventricular function assessed by multigated radionuclide test and cardiopulmonary exercise test in patients with ischemic heart disease

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare the oxygen pulse curve (O(2)P-C) as measured during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) with left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) rest-exercise response as measured by multigated equilibrium (99m)Tc radionuclide cineangiography (MUGA) in patients with different degrees of ischemic heart disease (IHD). PATIENTS: Forty-six patients (39 men and 7 women; mean plus minus 1 SD age, 59.2 plus minus 11 years) with IHD, with no hypertrophic, valvular, or pericardial disease. METHODS: A supine bicycle ergometer with increments of 25 W every 2 min was used for MUGA, and an electronically braked cycle ergometer was used for upright symptoms-limited CPET. Exercise was increased by 10 to 20 W/min until the target heart rate (HR) was reached (similar peak HR for both studies). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The O(2)P-C was scored on a 10-point scale as follows: type A, normal curve (10 points); type B, normal-shaped curve with low values (8 points); type C, low and flat curve (5 points); type D, descending curve (3 points). Findings for the MUGA study were classified into four groups by the degree of ischemic response: group 1 (control), normal diastolic function (n = 10), LVEF > 55%, LVEF during exercise minus LVEF at rest [DeltaLVEF] greater-than-or-equal 5%; group 2, mild ischemia (n = 10), LVEF > 55%, < 0 DeltaLVEF < 5%, diastolic dysfunction at exercise (prominent "A" waves); group 3, LV dysfunction (n = 9), LVEF < or = 35% at rest; and group 4, significant ischemia (n = 17), LVEF > 55%, DeltaLVEF < 0, diastolic dysfunction. A highly significant relationship between the O(2)P-C score and the MUGA grouping was observed by Fisher's Exact Test and Pearson's linear regression line (p < 0.001; R = - 0.89). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise-responded O(2)P-C might serve as a good noninvasive, physiologically based, parameter to distinguish between IHD patients with normal and impaired LV function.     

Ecologic studies of Venezuelan encephalitis virus and isolations of Nepuyo and Patois viruses during 1968-1973 at a marsh habitat near the epicenter of the 1969 outbreak in Guatemala.

Ecologic studies of Venezuelan encephalitis (VE) virus at a marsh habitat near the epicenter of the 1969 outbreak in Guatemala revealed that the virus was enzootic there. VE virus was isolated yearly during 1968-1973 from sentinel hamsters exposed during the rainy seasons and from mosquitoes collected during July and August 1970. Hamsters yielded 41 strains of VE virus and virus was detected within 2 km of the edge of the marsh, in its interior, and at its western extreme 18 km from the central study site at La Avellana. One strain of virus came from a hamster that died in the dry season of January 1970. Culex mosquitoes yielded 20 strains of VE virus and Mansonia and Aedes one each. Culex (Melanoconion) and Aedes taeniorhynchus were most prevalent near the marsh. Hemagglutination-inhitibion (HI) and neutralization antibody tests of sera showed that wild terrestrial mammals (opossums and rodents), humans, and dogs, but not wild birds, were frequently infected. Seven of 16 susceptible residents of villages at the edge of the marsh developed antibodies without symptoms during an 18-month period between September 1971 and February 1973. Only 1 of 5 sentinel rabbits, and none of 30 sentinel chickens developed VE HI antibody during August-September 1971, a period when virus activity was readily detected by the use of sentinel hamsters. Five strains of group C arbovirus (one identified as Nepuyo) were recovered from sentinel hamsters during 1968 to 1970, and one strain of Nepuyo virus was isolated from the blood of a person with a febrile illness during 1972. Two strains of Patois group arboviruses were isolated from Culex mosquitoes during 1970.     

Effect of Specific Foods, Beverages, and Spices on Amount of Ileostomy Output in Human Subjects

To measure the effect of various selected foods on the amount of ileal excreta, 37 metabolic balance studies were performed on seven subjects who had normal functioning ileostomies for ulcerative colitis. Although this investigation was conducted with the subjects living at home and selecting their own diet, metabolic balance techniques were carefully observed. The diet was identical in the 3-day control and 3-day experimental period except for the alteration of one aspect of the diet in the experimental period. The substances tested were those often either interdicted for or avoided by ileostomates. Only seven (five fruits, one vegetable, and prune juice) of the 37 dietary substances significantly increased the ileal effluent. Excessive water intake, alcohol beverages, fried foods, and spices did not increase ileostomy output. A small but significant loss of sodium and in some instances potassium was observed with prune juice and some fruits that statistically increased ileal output. Although a limited number of foods were studied, application of the results suggests that many dietary substances generally avoided by or interdicted for ileostomates did not significantly increase the amount of ileal excreta when objective measurements are made.     

Immunocytochemical evidence for the occurrence of insulin in the frontal ganglion of a Lepidopteran insect, the tobacco hornworm moth, Manduca sexta L

The frontal ganglion of the adult forms of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, was investigated immunocytochemically for the occurrence of the gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP) neurohormonal peptides, namely insulin, nerve growth factor, epidermal growth factor, insulin C-peptide, somatostatin, glucagon, glicentin, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), polypeptide YY (PYY), secretin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), gastrin, cholecystokinin (CCK), enkephalin, alpha- and beta-endorphins, substance P, neurotensin, bombesin, motilin, ACTH, serotonin, and calcitonin. Among all the antisera tested, positive immunostaining was obtained with anti-insulin B-chain serum only. The insulin B-chain immunoreactivity was localized in 4-6 large (30-40 microns) neurons, in the neuropile, and in the recurrent nerve. It is speculated that the insulin-like immunoreactive material may be transported to the neurohaemal organ (corpora cardiaca) through the nervi cardiaco-somatogastrici.