Genome characterization of a new strain of peanut chlorotic streak virus causing chlorotic vein banding disease of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in India

The double-stranded DNA of the chlorotic vein banding isolate of peanut chlorotic streak caulimovirus (PC1SV-CVB), isolated from purified virus, resolved into circular and linear molecules similar to those of other caulimoviruses. A physical map of viral DNA was constructed, which showed the PCLSV-CVB DNA to be circular and composed of approximately 8.2 kbp. A number of restriction sites were found to be shared with a similar caulimovirus, PCLSV. Nevertheless, several differences between physical maps of the 2 viruses suggested that PCLSV-CVB should be considered as a distinct strain of PCLSV. Bam HI-cleaved PCLSV-CVB DNA was cloned into pUC 118 and was infectious when cleaved from the cloning vector and inoculated onto Vigna unguiculata [cowpeas]

Cancer and thrombosis: Managing the risks and approaches to thromboprophylaxis

Patients with cancer are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with patients without cancer. This results from both the prothrombotic effects of the cancer itself and iatrogenic factors, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, indwelling central venous devices and surgery, that further increase the risk of VTE. Although cancer-associated thrombosis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, evidence is accumulating to support the use of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) in the secondary prevention of VTE in patients with cancer. Not only have LMWHs been shown to be at least as effective as coumarin derivatives in this setting, but they have a lower incidence of complications, including bleeding, and are not associated with the practical problems of warfarin therapy. Furthermore, a growing number of studies indicate that LMWHs may improve survival among patients with cancer due to a possible antitumor effect. Current evidence suggests that LMWHs should increasingly be considered for the long-term management of VTE in patients with cancer

Characteristics of maxillofacial injuries resulting from road traffic accidents – a 5 year review of the case records from Department of Maxillofacial Surgery in Katowice, Poland

BACKGROUND: In spite of employing numerous devices improving the safety in motor vehicles, traffic accidents are still among the main reasons of maxillofacial injuries. The maxillofacial injuries remain the serious clinical problem because of the specificity of this anatomical region. The knowledge of etiologic factors and mechanisms of injuries can be helpful in a satisfactory trauma prevention. The aim of this study was to find out the incidence and the pattern of maxillofacial injuries resulting from traffic accidents in the patients treated in the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery (Silesian Medical Academy in Katowice, Poland) from January 2001 to December 2005. METHODS: The material consisted of 1024 case records of patients with maxillofacial injuries treated in the Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Silesian Medical Academy. The detailed analysis was carried out on the case records of 198 patients in the age of 3 to 68 with maxillofacial injuries resulting from traffic accidents. On the basis of data from a history, examination on admission, consultations and radiological examinations, patients' age and gender, we obtained the information on a pattern of injury and detailed description of an accident (the date and the time of an accident, the role of the patient in an accident). RESULTS: The traffic accidents were the cause of 19,93% maxillofacial injuries in the analyzed period of time. Most of the patients had injuries to the soft tissues of the face (22,21%), followed by tooth and alveolar process injuries (20,71%) and mandibular fractures (18,69%). All the types of injuries were more common in men than in women. The majority of the patients were car drivers followed by car passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and motor cyclists. The peak age of the patients was between 18 to 25 years. The prevalent number of accidents resulting in injuries to this region took place in spring, especially between noon and 4 PM. CONCLUSION: Our results exhibit that road traffic accidents remain among the main reasons of maxillofacial injuries following the traumas resulting from assaults and interpersonal violence. This succession of etiologic factors is in accordance with the data from the most developed countries. The relatively high incidence of injuries resulting from traffic accidents indicates the necessity to reinforce legislation aimed to prevent road traffic crashes and thus to reduce maxillofacial injuries among children and adults

Carbogen-induced changes in rat mammary tumour oxygenation reported by near infrared spectroscopy

We have evaluated the ability of steady-state, radially-resolved, broad-band near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to measure carbogen-induced changes in haemoglobin oxygen saturation (SO2) and total haemoglobin concentration in a rat R3230 mammary adenocarcinoma model in vivo. Detectable shifts toward higher saturations were evident in all tumours (n = 16) immediately after the onset of carbogen breathing. The SO2 reached a new equilibrium within 1 min and remained approximately constant during 200–300 s of administration. The return to baseline saturation was more gradual when carbogen delivery was stopped. The degree to which carbogen increased SO2 was variable among tumours, with a tendency for tumours with lower initial SO2 to exhibit larger changes. Tumour haemoglobin concentrations at the time of peak enhancement were also variable. In the majority of cases, haemoglobin concentration decreased in response to carbogen, indicating that increased tumour blood volume was not responsible for the observed elevation in SO2. We observed no apparent relationship between the extent of the change in tumour haemoglobin concentration and the magnitude of the change in the saturation. Near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy provides a rapid, non-invasive means of monitoring spatially averaged changes in tumour haemoglobin oxygen saturation induced by oxygen modifiers. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Characteristics of transposable element exonization within human and mouse

Insertion of transposed elements within mammalian genes is thought to be an important contributor to mammalian evolution and speciation. Insertion of transposed elements into introns can lead to their activation as alternatively spliced cassette exons, an event called exonization. Elucidation of the evolutionary constraints that have shaped fixation of transposed elements within human and mouse protein coding genes and subsequent exonization is important for understanding of how the exonization process has affected transcriptome and proteome complexities. Here we show that exonization of transposed elements is biased towards the beginning of the coding sequence in both human and mouse genes. Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed that exonization of transposed elements can be population-specific, implying that exonizations may enhance divergence and lead to speciation. SNP density analysis revealed differences between Alu and other transposed elements. Finally, we identified cases of primate-specific Alu elements that depend on RNA editing for their exonization. These results shed light on TE fixation and the exonization process within human and mouse genes.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Dental management considerations for the patient with an acquired coagulopathy. Part 1: Coagulopathies from systemic disease

Current teaching suggests that many patients are at risk for prolonged bleeding during and following invasive dental procedures, due to an acquired coagulopathy from systemic disease and/or from medications. However, treatment standards for these patients often are the result of long-standing dogma with little or no scientific basis. The medical history is critical for the identification of patients potentially at risk for prolonged bleeding from dental treatment. Some time-honoured laboratory tests have little or no use in community dental practice. Loss of functioning hepatic, renal, or bone marrow tissue predisposes to acquired coagulopathies through different mechanisms, but the relationship to oral haemostasis is poorly understood. Given the lack of established, science-based standards, proper dental management requires an understanding of certain principles of pathophysiology for these medical conditions and a few standard laboratory tests. Making changes in anticoagulant drug regimens are often unwarranted and/or expensive, and can put patients at far greater risk for morbidity and mortality than the unlikely outcome of postoperative bleeding. It should be recognised that prolonged bleeding is a rare event following invasive dental procedures, and therefore the vast majority of patients with suspected acquired coagulopathies are best managed in the community practice setting

Clinical Characterization of CNGB1-Related Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa.

IMPORTANCE: There are limited published data on the phenotype of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) related to CNGB1 variants. These data are needed both for prognostic counseling of patients and for understanding potential treatment windows. OBJECTIVE: To describe the detailed clinical and molecular genetic findings in a series of patients with RP with likely pathogenic variants in CNGB1. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this case series, 10 patients from 9 families underwent full ophthalmologic examination. Molecular investigations included whole-exome analysis in 6 patients. The study was conducted from April 17, 2013, to March 3, 2016, with final follow-up completed on March 2, 2016, and data were analyzed from October 27, 2014, to March 29, 2016. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Results of ophthalmologic examination and molecular genetic analysis of CNGB1. RESULTS: In this case series, 7 women and 3 men from 9 families with a mean (SD) age of 47.4 (13.2) years identified as having CNGB1 variants were included in this study; there was a mean (SD) follow-up length of 3.7 (2.8) years. The first clinical presentation was with nyctalopia in childhood with visual field loss documented later at a mean (SD) age of 33.2 (8.0) years. All patients had preserved best-corrected visual acuity into adulthood, with a mean of 0.1 logMAR (Snellen equivalent, 20/25) in each eye (logMAR range, 0.0 to 0.3 [Snellen 20/20 to 20/40] in the right eye and -0.1 to 0.3 [Snellen 20/16 to 20/40] in the left eye). Fundus examination revealed midperipheral retinal pigment epithelial atrophy and intraretinal pigment migration. Optical coherence tomography of the macula demonstrated complete preservation of the inner segment ellipsoid band in 1 patient, with variable lateral extent in the other patients corresponding to the diameter of a paracentral ring of increased fundus autofluorescence. Electrophysiologic testing in 6 patients confirmed a rod-cone dystrophy phenotype. Molecular investigations identified a previously reported missense variant (p.[N986I]) and 7 variants not previously reported in disease including 4 nonsense (p.[(Q88*], p.[Q222*], p.[Q318*], and p.[R729*]), 2 frameshift (p.[A1048fs*13], p.[L849Afs*3]), and a splice site variant (c.761 + 2T>A). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The data from this study suggest that visual acuity and foveal structure in patients with RP are preserved into adult life such that a lengthy window of opportunity should exist for intervention with novel therapies

Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnea: Gold Standard for Diagnosing Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction in Athletes?

In athletes, a secure diagnos is of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is dependent on objective testing. Evaluating spirometric indices of airflow before and following an exercise bout is intuitively the optimal means for the diagnosis; however, this approach is recognized as having several key limitations. Accordingly, alternative indirect bronchoprovocation tests have been recommended as surrogate means for obtaining a diagnosis of EIB. Of these tests, it is often argued that the eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) challenge represents the ‘gold standard’. This article provides a state-of-the-art review of EVH, including an overview of the test methodology and its interpretation. We also address the performance of EVH against the other functional and clinical approaches commonly adopted for the diagnosis of EIB. The published evidence supports a key role for EVH in the diagnostic algorithm for EIB testing in athletes. However, its wide sensitivity and specificity and poor repeatability preclude EVH from being termed a ‘gold standard’ test for EIB