Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: results of a randomized clinical trial.

Young children who have experienced early adversity are at risk for developing disorganized attachments. The efficacy of Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), an intervention targeting nurturing care among parents identified as being at risk for neglecting their young children, was evaluated through a randomized clinical trial. Attachment quality was assessed in the Strange Situation for 120 children between 11.

THIS IS MY BABY: FOSTER PARENTS' FEELINGS OF COMMITMENT AND DISPLAYS OF DELIGHT.

This study examined the association between foster parents' commitment to their young foster children and the delight they showed in their interactions with children. Seventy foster parent-child dyads were included as participants. The dyads were videotaped during a play interaction when children were between 9 and 28 months, with delight coded on the basis of foster parents' responses to children.

Spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral data based on a stochastic minimum spanning forest approach.

In this paper, a new method for supervised hyperspectral data classification is proposed. In particular, the notion of stochastic minimum spanning forest (MSF) is introduced. For a given hyperspectral image, a pixelwise classification is first performed.

A thiopurine drug inhibits West Nile virus production in cell culture, but not in mice.

Many viruses within the Flavivirus genus cause significant disease in humans; however, effective antivirals against these viruses are not currently available. We have previously shown that a thiopurine drug, 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside (6MMPr), inhibits replication of distantly related viruses within the Flaviviridae family in cell culture, including bovine viral diarrhea virus and hepatitis C virus replicon. Here we further examined the potential antiviral effect of 6MMPr on several diverse flaviviruses.

A crucial requirement for Hedgehog signaling in small cell lung cancer.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine subtype of lung cancer for which there is no effective treatment. Using a mouse model in which deletion of Rb1 and Trp53 in the lung epithelium of adult mice induces SCLC, we found that the Hedgehog signaling pathway is activated in SCLC cells independently of the lung microenvironment. Constitutive activation of the Hedgehog signaling molecule Smoothened (Smo) promoted the clonogenicity of human SCLC in vitro and the initiation and progression of mouse SCLC in vivo.

Nonconsensus West Nile virus genomes arising during mosquito infection suppress pathogenesis and modulate virus fitness in vivo.

West Nile virus (WNV) is similar to other RNA viruses in that it forms genetically complex populations within hosts. The virus is maintained in nature in mosquitoes and birds, with each host type exerting distinct influences on virus populations. We previously observed that prolonged replication in mosquitoes led to increases in WNV genetic diversity and diminished pathogenesis in mice without remarkable changes to the consensus genome sequence.

A model of oxidative stress management: moderation of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes in SOD1-null Drosophila melanogaster.

The response to oxidative stress involves numerous genes and mutations in these genes often manifest in pleiotropic ways that presumably reflect perturbations in ROS-mediated physiology. The Drosophila melanogaster SOD1-null allele (cSODn108) is proposed to result in oxidative stress by preventing superoxide breakdown. In SOD1-null flies, oxidative stress management is thought to be reliant on the glutathione-dependent antioxidants that utilize NADPH to cycle between reduced and oxidized form.

Canada's first case of a multidrug-resistant Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain, isolated from a skin abscess.

A toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae biovar mitis sequence type 136 (ST136) strain was recovered from a toe infection of an unvaccinated patient recently returned from India. The isolate was resistant to clindamycin, erythromycin (ermX positive), tetracycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, intermediate to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime, and had high MICs for telithromycin and chloramphenicol but was sensitive to other drugs.

Molecular methods and platforms for infectious diseases testing a review of FDA-approved and cleared assays.

The superior sensitivity and specificity associated with the use of molecular assays has greatly improved the field of infectious disease diagnostics by providing clinicians with results that are both accurate and rapidly obtained. Herein, we review molecularly based infectious disease diagnostic tests that are Food and Drug Administration approved or cleared and commercially available in the United States as of December 31, 2010. We describe specific assays and their performance, as stated in the Food and Drug Administration's Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data or the Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety's decision summaries, product inserts, or peer-reviewed literature.

Enterococcus ureasiticus sp. nov. and Enterococcus quebecensis sp. nov., isolated from water.

Three enterococcal isolates, CCRI-16620, CCRI-16986(T) and CCRI-16985(T), originating from water were characterized using morphological, biochemical and molecular taxonomic methods. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis classified all three strains in the Enterococcus faecalis species group. The phylogenetic tree of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the three isolates form two separate branches.

Absence of psychostimulant effects of a supratherapeutic dose of tianeptine: a placebo-controlled study versus methylphenidate in young healthy volunteers.

Objective: The primary objective of the present study was to assess the potential psychostimulant effect of a single oral supratherapeutic dose of tianeptine (75 mg in 1 shot) in young healthy volunteers compared with methylphenidate (40 mg) and placebo.

Method: Eighteen healthy young male and female volunteers with no history of psychostimulant abuse completed this balanced, crossover, placebo-controlled study. Subjective and behavioral effects were assessed before treatment and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 hours after drug intake.

Cutaneous diphtheria in the urban poor population of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: a 10-year review.

Between 1998 and 2007, records from 33 patients with cutaneous diphtheria from Vancouver's inner city were reviewed. Cases were associated with injection drug use and poverty. Coinfections with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Arcanobacterium haemolyticum occurred.

Bioflocculant production by Virgibacillus sp. Rob isolated from the bottom sediment of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

A bioflocculant-producing marine bacterium previously isolated from marine sediment of Algoa Bay was screened for flocculant production. Comparative analysis of 16S rDNA sequence identified the isolate to have 99% similarity to Virgibacillus sp. XQ-1 and it was deposited in the GenBank as Virgibacillus sp.

Keratinocytes are cell targets of West Nile virus in vivo.

West Nile virus (WNV) replicates in the skin; however, cell targets in the skin have not been identified. In the current studies, WNV infected the epidermis and adnexal glands of mouse skin, and the epidermal cells were identified as keratinocytes by double labeling for WNV antigen and keratin 10. Inoculation of mice with WNV replicon particles resulted in high levels of replication in the skin, suggesting that keratinocytes are an initial target of WNV.

Persistence of virus-specific immune responses in the central nervous system of mice after West Nile virus infection.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) persists in humans and several animal models. We previously demonstrated that WNV persists in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice for up to 6 months post-inoculation. We hypothesized that the CNS immune response is ineffective in clearing the virus.

Intervening With Foster Parents to Enhance Biobehavioral Outcomes Among Infants and Toddlers.

Children in foster care face a number of challenges that threaten their ability to form attachment relationships with foster parents and to regulate their behavior and biology. The authors describe the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) intervention, an evidence-based intervention aimed at helping foster children develop trusting relationships with foster parents and develop better biological and behavioral regulation. The authors present research that led to the development of the ABC intervention, outcome research of randomized clinical trials, and a case example of a foster parent and child who participated in the ABC intervention.

Mosquito saliva causes enhancement of West Nile virus infection in mice.

West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted to vertebrate hosts primarily by infected Culex mosquitoes. Transmission of arboviruses by the bite of infected mosquitoes can potentiate infection in hosts compared to viral infection by needle inoculation. Here we examined the effect of mosquito transmission on WNV infection and systematically investigated multiple factors that differ between mosquito infection and needle inoculation of WNV.

Trends in quality of care and barriers to improvement in the Indian Health Service.

Background: Although Native Americans experience substantial disparities in health outcomes, little information is available regarding healthcare delivery for this population.

Objective: To analyze trends in ambulatory quality of care and physician reports of barriers to quality improvement within the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Design: Longitudinal analysis of clinical performance from 2002 to 2006 within the IHS, and a physician survey in 2007.

Maternal sensitivity: within-person variability and the utility of multiple assessments.

In this study, we examined within-person variability in maternal sensitivity among a culturally diverse sample of high-risk mother-infant dyads (N = 25). We also examined incremental increases in effect sizes between maternal sensitivity and two related variables, attachment state of mind and child removal from the home, as a function of increasing observations of maternal sensitivity. The dyads were videotaped during 10 1-hour-long home visits and maternal sensitivity was coded using the abbreviated (25-item) version of the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS).

DRUG FOCUS: S 18986: A positive allosteric modulator of AMPA-type glutamate receptors pharmacological profile of a novel cognitive enhancer.

Alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) type glutamate receptors are critical for synaptic plasticity and induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), considered as one of the synaptic mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Positive allosteric modulators of AMPA receptors could provide a therapeutic approach to the treatment of cognitive disorders resulting from aging and/or neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease (AD). Several AMPA potentiators have been described in the last decade, but for the moment their clinical efficacy has not been demonstrated due to the complexity of the target, AMPA receptors, and the difficulty in studying cognition in animals and humans.

Examining infants' cortisol responses to laboratory tasks among children varying in attachment disorganization: stress reactivity or return to baseline?

Cortisol is a hormone involved in mounting a stress response in humans. The evidence of stress reactivity among young children has been mixed, however. In the present study, the order of two laboratory tasks (i.

Multilocus sequence typing identifies evidence for recombination and two distinct lineages of Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

We describe the development of a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme for Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the causative agent of the potentially fatal upper respiratory disease diphtheria. Global changes in diphtheria epidemiology are highlighted by the recent epidemic in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and also by the emergence of nontoxigenic strains causing atypical disease. Although numerous techniques have been developed to characterize C.

Antibiotic producing potentials of three freshwater actinomycetes isolated from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Crude extracts of three actinomycetes species belonging to Saccharopolyspora (TR 046 and TR 039) and Actinosynnema (TR 024) genera were screened for antibacterial activities against a panel of several bacterial strains. The extracts showed antibacterial activities against both gram-negative and gram-positive test bacteria with inhibition zones ranging from 8 to 28 mm (TR 046); 8 to15 mm (TR 039); and 10 to 13 mm (TR 024). The minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 0.

Corynebacterium macginleyi conjunctivitis in Canada.

This report describes for the first time Corynebacterium macginleyi as a cause of conjunctivitis in Canada, where menaquinone analysis was done as part of the strain characterization. This species is typically isolated from ocular surfaces of patients from Europe and Japan. The isolate was resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin.

Cross-linking of ΔF508-CFTR promotes its trafficking to the plasma membrane.

CFTR is a cAMP-activated chloride channel responsible for agonist stimulated chloride and fluid transport across epithelial surfaces.(1) Mutations in the CFTR gene lead to cystic fibrosis (CF) which affects the function of secretory organs like the intestine, the pancreas, the airways and the sweat glands. Most of the morbidity and mortality in CF has been linked to a decrease in airway function.