Blood viral load in the diagnostic workup of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Background: There is limited data on the role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) blood quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in the diagnostic workup of congenital CMV (cCMV) infection.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine if CMV blood qPCR at the time diagnosis could differentiate between symptomatic and asymptomatic infants according to the recent consensus classification.

Study Design: Retrospective study of children diagnosed with cCMV infection at CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Canada, between 2008 and 2016.

Reconstitution of protective immune responses against cytomegalovirus and varicella zoster virus does not require disease development in pediatric recipients of umbilical cord blood transplantation.

CMV and varicella zoster virus (VZV) are significant causes of morbidity and mortality following umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). However, the kinetics of reconstitution and protective potential of antiviral cell-mediated immune responses following UCBT remain poorly characterized. In this study, the reconstitution of CMV- and VZV-specific T cell responses was assessed using IFN-γ ELISPOT in 28 children who underwent UCBT to treat hematological or inherited disorders.

Disseminated herpes simplex virus type 1 primary infection in a healthy individual.

Background: Primary herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection usually involves one mucosal region.

Objective: To describe an unusual disseminated HSV-1 infection involving two mucosal sites in a healthy man.

Results: Primary HSV infection involved oral and genital mucosa and was associated with viremia, hepatitis and rash.

Regulatory gene candidates and gene expression analysis of cold acclimation in winter and spring wheat.

Freezing tolerance in plants develops through acclimation to cold by growth at low, above-freezing temperatures. Wheat is one of the most freezing-tolerant plants among major crop species and the wide range of freezing tolerance among wheat cultivars makes it an excellent model for investigation of the genetic basis of cold tolerance. Large numbers of genes are known to have altered levels of expression during the period of cold acclimation and there is keen interest in deciphering the signaling and regulatory pathways that control the changes in gene expression associated with acquired freezing tolerance.