Epidemiology,Molecular Epidemiology and Evolution of Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus

The bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is an enveloped, negative sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the pneumovirus genus within the family Paramyxoviridae. BRSV has been recognized as a major cause of respiratory disease in young calves since the early 1970s. The analysis of BRSV infection was originally hampered by its characteristic lability and poor growth in vitro. However, the advent of numerous immunological and molecular methods has facilitated the study of BRSV enormously. The knowledge gained from these studies has also provided the opportunity to develop safe, stable, attenuated virus vaccine candidates. Nonetheless, many aspects of the epidemiology, molecular epidemiology and evolution of the virus are still not fully understood. The natural course of infection is rather complex and further complicates diagnosis, treatment and the implementation of preventive measures aimed to control the disease. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which BRSV is able to establish infection is needed to prevent viral and disease spread. This review discusses important information regarding the epidemiology and molecular epidemiology of BRSV worldwide, and it highlights the importance of viral evolution in virus transmission.     

Effects of epidural analgesia on labor length, instrumental delivery, and neonatal short-term outcome

Purpose

We aimed to clarify whether the short-term adverse neonatal outcomes associated with epidural analgesia are due to the epidural analgesia itself or to the instrumental delivery.

Methods

A retrospective case–control study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between epidural analgesia, labor length, and perinatal outcomes. A total of 350 pregnant women at term who delivered under epidural analgesia (cases) were compared with 1400 patients without epidural analgesia (controls).

Results

Vacuum extraction (6.5 vs. 2.9 %) and cesarean section (19.9 vs. 11.1 %) were more frequently performed in the cases than controls (p < 0.001). Using a Kaplan–Meier algorithm, it was determined that the mean lengths of the 1st and 2nd stages of labor and the overall durations of labor and delivery were significantly longer in cases compared with controls. A Cox regression analysis showed that the longer labor remained even after adjustment for parity. The neonatal variables stratified by mode of delivery were not different in cases and controls, except for a slightly lower umbilical arterial pH in spontaneous delivery for the cases group. However, the Apgar scores and umbilical arterial pH were significantly lower in the neonates delivered by vacuum extraction compared with those in the neonates delivered by spontaneous delivery or cesarean section, regardless of whether epidural analgesia was performed. A multivariable analysis showed that vacuum extraction much more consistently affected the arterial pH than the analgesia itself (the β coefficients were ?0.036 for epidural analgesia vs. ?0.050 for vacuum extraction).

Conclusion

Epidural analgesia was associated with slowly progressing labor, thus resulting in an increased rate of instrumental delivery. This instrumental delivery appears to adversely affect the neonatal outcomes more strongly than the analgesia itself.     

Re-evaluation of non-palpable scalene lymph node biopsy for the staging of non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the most suitable candidates for scalene lymph node biopsy to detect non-palpable scalene lymph node metastasis (N(3)-scalene) in non-small cell lung cancer patients. METHODS: Standard cervical mediastioscopies and ipsilateral scalene lymph node biopsies were performed preoperatively by a single surgeon on 121 consecutive patients with non-small cell lung cancer scheduled to have surgical resection between January 1997 and August 2002, who had neither evidence of distant metastasis on imaging diagnosis nor palpable supraclavicular lymph nodes. RESULTS: N(3)-scalene was detected in six patients (5.0%), who all had non-squamous cell carcinoma, including one (1.0%) out of 98 patients with negative standard cervical mediastinoscopy and five (21.7%) out of the remaining 23 patients with positive mediastinal lymph node involvement. There was a significant difference in the incidence of the N(3)-scalene between the two groups (P<0.01). Five patients with N(3)-scalene had metastatic lesions in the multilevel mediastinal lymph node station on the same side as the cancer (multilevel N(2)), and accounted for 31.3% of 16 patients with multilevel N(2) disease. The N(3)-scalene was detected in 5 (45.5%) of 11 patients with lung cancer classified as non-squamous cell carcinoma with multilevel N(2) disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that non-palpable scalene lymph node biopsy is indicated for lung cancer patients diagnosed as having non-squamous cell carcinoma with mediastinoscopic multilevel N(2) disease.     

Inflammatory mechanisms contributing to pancreatic cancer development

OBJECTIVE: Pancreatic cancer is the most deadly of all gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, yet relatively little is known regarding mechanisms of tumor development including the role of inflammation. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) increases the risk of developing cancer by 10- to 20-fold; mediators of the chronic inflammatory process and the surrounding fibrotic stroma likely support a transformation to malignancy, yet the exact mechanisms remain undefined. The purpose of our present study was to determine potential inflammatory components in epithelial and stromal cells that may contribute to both CP and pancreatic cancers. METHODS: Specimens of normal pancreas, CP, and pancreatic cancer were examined using laser-capture microdissection (LCM), gene array, and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Gene array analysis from LCM-dissected tissues demonstrated: (i) increased expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), an activator of the inflammatory factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and (ii) decreased expression of IkappaB (an inhibitor of NF-kappaB) in CP ductal cells compared with normal ducts. Compared with CP, cancers demonstrated: (i) increased expression of tumor related genes including S100A4, cyclin E1, and epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, and (ii) expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2, a pro-invasive factor for tumor cells, which was not present in the CP stroma. Increased staining of both the p50 NF-kappaB subunit and IKKalpha kinase (a protein that allows activation of NF-kappaB) was noted in CP and cancers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that similar inflammatory components and downstream effectors are present in CP and pancreatic cancers. Importantly, these findings suggest that a common pathway for pancreatic cancer development may be through a chronic inflammatory process including stroma formation. These findings may lead to novel strategies for pancreatic cancer prophylaxis based on inhibition of inflammatory mediators.     

Can laparoscopic antireflux surgery improve the quality of life in children with neurologic and neuromuscular handicaps?

Purpose

Children with neurologic and neuromuscular handicaps frequently have various symptoms related to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease. The long-term efficacy of antireflux surgery remains controversial in such children with GER. The clinical results of such patients who underwent laparoscopic fundoplication were examined in the current study.

Methods

Between 1997 and 2003, laparoscopic fundoplication was performed in 56 handicapped children (mean age, 6 years), and gastrostomy was performed concurrently in 52. The main symptoms were emesis/hematemesis in 40 and respiratory symptoms, including repeated respiratory infection and distress, in 31.

Results

There were no severe postoperative complications or operative mortality. Emesis/hematemesis was controlled adequately in those without recurrence. Respiratory symptoms were controlled unsuccessfully in 16 patients (52%), 8 of whom required further respiratory care including nasal airway tube, tracheostomy, and laryngotracheal separation. Recurrence of GER disease occurred in 10 patients, 7 of whom underwent a second Nissen fundoplication successfully. Thirteen died within the median follow-up period of 14 months.

Conclusions

Laparoscopic fundoplication is effective in controlling emesis/hematemesis, but its efficacy is limited in terms of respiratory problems in handicapped children. Further refinements in diagnostic and treatment strategies are mandatory to improve the quality of life in such patients.     

Enhanced brain signal variability in children with autism spectrum disorder during early childhood

Extensive evidence shows that a core neurobiological mechanism of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves aberrant neural connectivity. Recent advances in the investigation of brain signal variability have yielded important information about neural network mechanisms. That information has been applied fruitfully to the assessment of aging and mental disorders. Multiscale entropy (MSE) analysis can characterize the complexity inherent in brain signal dynamics over multiple temporal scales in the dynamics of neural networks. For this investigation, we sought to characterize the magnetoencephalography (MEG) signal variability during free watching of videos without sound using MSE in 43 children with ASD and 72 typically developing controls (TD), emphasizing early childhood to older childhood: a critical period of neural network maturation. Results revealed an age‐related increase of brain signal variability in a specific timescale in TD children, whereas atypical age‐related alteration was observed in the ASD group. Additionally, enhanced brain signal variability was observed in children with ASD, and was confirmed particularly for younger children. In the ASD group, symptom severity was associated region‐specifically and timescale‐specifically with reduced brain signal variability. These results agree well with a recently reported theory of increased brain signal variability during development and aberrant neural connectivity in ASD, especially during early childhood. Results of this study suggest that MSE analytic method might serve as a useful approach for characterizing neurophysiological mechanisms of typical‐developing and its alterations in ASD through the detection of MEG signal variability at multiple timescales. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1038–1050, 2016. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc .     

Micro-segmental hair analysis: detailed procedures and applications in forensic toxicology

Forensic Toxicology - Since the 1980s, the detection sensitivity of mass spectrometers has increased by improving the analysis of drugs in hair. Accordingly, the number of hair strands required for...