Utility of Cranial Ultrasound to Investigate Brain Injury in Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy.

Background: With increasing availability of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in high-income countries, cranial ultrasound (cUS) is used less frequently to evaluate infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). This study aimed to correlate findings of brain injury on early postnatal cUS with brain injury on neonatal brain MRI performed as part of routine clinical care for near-term and term infants with moderate to severe HIE.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study comparing early postnatal cUS and later neonatal brain MRI using scoring systems with prognostic validity to assess brain injury in near-term/term infants with moderate or severe HIE.

Advancing our knowledge of placental function and how it relates to the developing fetal brain.

Perinatal medicine has made significant advancements in recent decades. This has improved care and outcomes for infants. As we strive to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes, we must understand the influence the maternal/placental/fetal (MPF) triad has on fetal development and postnatal health and disease.

Use of tissue samples in diagnosing diploid triploid mosaicism.

Diploid triploid mosaicism (DTM) is a rare genetic condition where there is an extra haploid set of chromosomes in mosaic form. We describe an infant for whom DTM was detected antenatally through amniocentesis. Prenatal counselling suggested a guarded prognosis.

Placental pathology and neonatal encephalopathy.

Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide; however, there remain gaps in our knowledge about its pathogenesis. The placenta has been implicated in the pathogenesis of this disease but conclusive evidence related to the placental factors that influence it is sparse. This review aims to outline the current knowledge on the role of the placenta with particular attention to its role in NE as a consequence of hypoxia-ischemia.

Revised antiemetics guidelines and the impact on nutritional status during induction chemotherapy in children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Background: High-risk neuroblastoma (HR NBL) treatment requires intensive induction chemotherapy. The profoundly emetogenic agents used can compromise nutritional status. Our institution introduced a new antiemetic guideline in 2010 incorporating regular dexamethasone, in addition to ondansetron, for all highly emetogenic protocols.

Molecular characterization and environmental mapping of Campylobacter isolates in a subset of intensive poultry flocks in Ireland.

Irish breeder and intensive broiler flocks together with the corresponding poultry farm environment were sampled for the presence of Campylobacter with the aim of identifying potential sources and transmission routes of poultry flock contamination. The genetic diversity of a subset of Campylobacter isolates was examined by analysis of the flaA-short variable region (SVR). Additional discrimination for a further subset of these isolates was achieved using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis.

Identification of the biosynthetic gene cluster for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa antimetabolite L-2-amino-4-methoxy-trans-3-butenoic acid.

L-2-amino-4-methoxy-trans-3-butenoic acid (AMB) is a potent antibiotic and toxin produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a novel biochemical assay combined with site-directed mutagenesis in strain PAO1, we have identified a five-gene cluster specifying AMB biosynthesis, probably involving a thiotemplate mechanism. Overexpression of this cluster in strain PA7, a natural AMB-negative isolate, led to AMB overproduction.

Emergence of secretion-defective sublines of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 resulting from spontaneous mutations in the vfr global regulatory gene.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa undergoes spontaneous mutation that impairs secretion of several extracellular enzymes during extended cultivation in vitro in rich media, as well as during long-term colonization of the cystic fibrosis lung. A frequent type of strong secretion deficiency is caused by inactivation of the quorum-sensing regulatory gene lasR. Here we analyzed a spontaneously emerging subline of strain PAO1 that exhibited moderate secretion deficiency and partial loss of quorum-sensing control.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of an unusual thioredoxin from the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.

Thioredoxin-2 (HP1458) from Helicobacter pylori is a member of the thioredoxin family, but possesses the unusual active-site motif CPDC (compared with CGPC in other thioredoxins). H. pylori is deficient in the glutaredoxin system, making the thioredoxin system the sole reduction system in the bacterium and critical for its ability to survive oxidative stress.