Indicators of the molecular pathogenesis of virulent Newcastle disease virus in chickens revealed by transcriptomic profiling of spleen

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has caused significant outbreaks in South-East Asia, particularly in Indonesia in recent years. Recently emerged genotype VII NDVs (NDV-GVII) have shifted their tropism from gastrointestinal/respiratory tropism to a lymphotropic virus, invading lymphoid organs including spleen and bursa of Fabricius to cause profound lymphoid depletion. In this study, we aimed to identify candidate genes and biological pathways that contribute to the disease caused by this velogenic NDV-GVII. A transcriptomic analysis based on RNA-Seq of spleen was performed in chickens challenged with NDV-GVII and a control group. In total, 6361 genes were differentially expressed that included 3506 up-regulated genes and 2855 down-regulated genes. Real-Time PCR of ten selected genes validated the RNA-Seq results as the correlation between them is 0.98. Functional and network analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) showed altered regulation of ElF2 signalling, mTOR signalling, proliferation of cells of the lymphoid system, signalling by Rho family GTPases and synaptogenesis signalling in spleen. We have also identified modified expression of IFIT5, PI3K, AGT and PLP1 genes in NDV-GVII infected chickens. Our findings in activation of autophagy-mediated cell death, lymphotropic and synaptogenesis signalling pathways provide new insights into the molecular pathogenesis of this newly emerged NDV-GVII

A rare cause of dyspepsia: a case report of gastric diverticulum

A gastric diverticulum is an outpouching from the gastric mucosa. It is extremely rare. It is normally asymptomatic, but some may present with non-specific abdominal pain. A combination of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and radiological contrast study such as oral barium study and computed tomography are needed to make a definite diagnosis and to rule out other associated pathology. Although treatment with medical therapy has been reported to be effective, the use of open and laparoscopic resection also yields a good outcome in the management of complicated gastric diverticulum. We present a case of symptomatic gastric diverticulum which has been successfully treated with medical therapy

Factors associated with deep surgical site infection in spinal surgery

Introduction: Surgical site infection (SSI) rate in spinal surgery ranges from 1% to 9%, depending on the type of procedure and institution. SSI gives rise to increased morbidity, poorer outcomes and increased healthcare costs. Various risk factors have been reported in the literature but there is no such related report from Malaysia. This pilot study aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of deep surgical site infections which require surgical debridement in patients who had undergone spinal surgeries. Materials and Methods: Patients who had undergone spinal surgery at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan from the 1st January 2016 to the 31st December 2017 were included in this study. Associations between SSI and risk factors were analysed with IBM SPSS version 21. Age, body mass index, number of vertebral level involvement, hemoglobin reduction and white blood cell count were analysed by the student t-test while gender, smoking status, spinal cord involvement, fracture dislocation at thoraco-lumbar junction and history of pre-operative blood product transfusion were analysed by Fisher’s exact test. Results: Four (17%) out of 24 patients developed deep SSI which required surgical debridement. Fracture dislocation at the thoraco-lumbar junction (p=0.008) and history of pre-operative blood product transfusion (p=0.003) were associated with deep SSI. Conclusions: This study highlighted different risk factors associated with deep SSI in spinal surgeries. A larger study is needed to further confirm these findings

Heterotopic ossification of the hip post reamed intramedullary femoral nail: a case report

Hetorotopic Ossification (HO) is abnormal formation of bone in the soft tissue. Heterotopic ossification of the hip following reamed interlocking medullary nail is uncommon and it has received little attention from the clinician. We take this opportunity to report a young man who presented with symptomatic heterotopic ossification of the hip eight months post antegrade reamed interlocking medullary nail which failed conservative treatment. Reamed intramedullary nailing and delayed mobilization are the contributing factors in this patient. The pathophysiology of this condition is not fully understood. As a result, there is no consensus in the prevention of heterotopic ossification in such patients. Similarly, the management of this condition also is lacking but resection is the treatment of choice for symptomatic patient

Assessing Matched Normal and Tumor Pairs in Next-Generation Sequencing Studies

Next generation sequencing technology has revolutionized the study of cancers. Through matched normal-tumor pairs, it is now possible to identify genome-wide germline and somatic mutations. The generation and analysis of the data requires rigorous quality checks and filtering, and the current analytical pipeline is constantly undergoing improvements. We noted however that in analyzing matched pairs, there is an implicit assumption that the sequenced data are matched, without any quality check such as those implemented in association studies. There are serious implications in this assumption as identification of germline and rare somatic variants depend on the normal sample being the matched pair. Using a genetics concept on measuring relatedness between individuals, we demonstrate that the matchedness of tumor pairs can be quantified and should be included as part of a quality protocol in analysis of sequenced data. Despite the mutation changes in cancer samples, matched tumor-normal pairs are still relatively similar in sequence compared to non-matched pairs. We demonstrate that the approach can be used to assess the mutation landscape between individuals

On the static and dynamic properties of flax and Cordenka epoxy composites

Fibre reinforced composites have excellent specific properties and are widely sought after by engineers seeking to reduce mass. However, end of life disposal is a significant problem and so research into more sustainable natural fibre composites is extremely topical. This paper examines the applicability of natural fibre composites for high performance structural applications. Woven flax and regenerated cellulose (Cordenka) textiles were pre-impregnated with commercially available epoxy resins and consolidated into test laminates in an autoclave to determine their static (compressive, tensile, flexural) and dynamic (energy absorption) properties. The range of compressive strengths was 77.5–299.6 MPa. Tensile strengths ranged from 63 to 92.6 MPa and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) from 10.7 to 23.3 MPa. Specific energy absorption (SEA) varied between 21.2–34.2 kJ/kg. Biotex flax combined with MTM49 resin matched the SEA of T300 carbon fibre using the same resin system and layup. This work has demonstrated that natural fibre composites have significant scope for use in structural applications but additional work is required on fibre to matrix bonding in order to maximise their properties whilst remaining an environmentally credible option

Heavy quark flavour dependence of multiparticle production in QCD jets

After inserting the heavy quark mass dependence into QCD partonic evolution equations, we determine the mean charged hadron multiplicity and second multiplicity correlators of jets produced in high energy collisions. We thereby extend the so-called dead cone effect to the phenomenology of multiparticle production in QCD jets and find that the average multiplicity of heavy-quark initiated jets decreases significantly as compared to the massless case, even taking into account the weak decay products of the leading primary quark. We emphasize the relevance of our study as a complementary check of $b$-tagging techniques at hadron colliders like the Tevatron and the LHC.Comment: Version revised, accepted for publication in JHEP, 21 pages and 7 figure

Factors associated with deep surgical site Infection following Spinal surgery: a pilot study

Introduction: Surgical site infection (SSI) is the most common healthcare-related infection in surgical patients. Patients who have undergone spinal surgeries and have contracted postoperative SSI face increased morbidity and mortality, which invariably leads to additional burden on the healthcare system and higher costs. The risk factors for the increase in SSI in patients who have undergone spinal surgery have been investigated in numerous studies but no studies have been performed in Malaysia. The aim of this pilot study is to determine the incidence and factors associated with deep SSIs in patients that have undergone spinal surgeries. Methods : This retrospective study includes all patients who underwent spinal surgeries at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, Kuantan, from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017. Patients with an active spinal infection, polytrauma, and open fractures were excluded from this study. Patient characteristics and laboratory investigations were extracted to determine the risk factors for deep SSI events. Associations between SSI and risk factors were analyzed with SPSS V21.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Results: The univariate analysis indicated that fracture dislocation at the thoraco-lumbar junction (p=0.008) and a history of preoperative blood product transfusion (p=0.003) were associated with deep SSI. Other factors such as age (p=0.162), gender (p=0.262), body mass index (p=0.215), smoking status (0.272), number of vertebrae involved in the surgery (p=0.837), spinal cord involvement (p=0.259), postoperative hemoglobin reduction (p=0.816), and preoperative white blood cell count (p=0.278) were not associated with deep SSI. Conclusions: This pilot study highlights the factors associated with deep SSI in spinal surgeries. A larger study is needed to further confirm these findings

An Introduction to the Chandra Carina Complex Project

The Great Nebula in Carina provides an exceptional view into the violent massive star formation and feedback that typifies giant HII regions and starburst galaxies. We have mapped the Carina star-forming complex in X-rays, using archival Chandra data and a mosaic of 20 new 60ks pointings using the Chandra X-ray Observatory's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, as a testbed for understanding recent and ongoing star formation and to probe Carina's regions of bright diffuse X-ray emission. This study has yielded a catalog of properties of >14,000 X-ray point sources; >9800 of them have multiwavelength counterparts. Using Chandra's unsurpassed X-ray spatial resolution, we have separated these point sources from the extensive, spatially-complex diffuse emission that pervades the region; X-ray properties of this diffuse emission suggest that it traces feedback from Carina's massive stars. In this introductory paper, we motivate the survey design, describe the Chandra observations, and present some simple results, providing a foundation for the 15 papers that follow in this Special Issue and that present detailed catalogs, methods, and science results.Comment: Accepted for the ApJS Special Issue on the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP), scheduled for publication in May 2011. All 16 CCCP Special Issue papers are available at http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html through 2011 at least. 43 pages; 18 figure

Star forming dwarf galaxies

Star forming dwarf galaxies (SFDGs) have a high gas content and low metallicities, reminiscent of the basic entities in hierarchical galaxy formation scenarios. In the young universe they probably also played a major role in the cosmic reionization. Their abundant presence in the local volume and their youthful character make them ideal objects for detailed studies of the initial stellar mass function (IMF), fundamental star formation processes and its feedback to the interstellar medium. Occasionally we witness SFDGs involved in extreme starbursts, giving rise to strongly elevated production of super star clusters and global superwinds, mechanisms yet to be explored in more detail. SFDGs is the initial state of all dwarf galaxies and the relation to the environment provides us with a key to how different types of dwarf galaxies are emerging. In this review we will put the emphasis on the exotic starburst phase, as it seems less important for present day galaxy evolution but perhaps fundamental in the initial phase of galaxy formation.Comment: To appear in JENAM Symposium "Dwarf Galaxies: Keys to Galaxy Formation and Evolution", P. Papaderos, G. Hensler, S. Recchi (eds.). Lisbon, September 2010, Springer Verlag, in pres