Agronomic Evaluation and Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of × spp. Derivative Breeding Lines Presenting Perennial Growth Habits.

The transition from annual to perennial growth habits can contribute to increased sustainability and diversification of staple cropping systems like those based on annual wheat. Amphiploids between and spp. can present a wheat-like morphology and post sexual cycle regrowth.

Clinical predictors of outcome in patients with infective endocarditis receiving outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT).

Objectives: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is increasingly used to treat infective endocarditis (IE) with documented success. This study aims to identify risk factors for treatment failure and poor outcomes in patients with IE treated through OPAT.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all episodes of IE treated over 13 years (September 2006 - September 2019) at a large teaching hospital in Sheffield, UK.

External validity and clinical usefulness of a risk prediction model for 30 day unplanned hospitalization in patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy.

Objectives: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is increasingly used to treat a variety of infections. However, hospital readmissions remain relatively common. We examined the external validity and clinical usefulness of a previously derived risk prediction model for 30 day unplanned hospitalization in patients receiving OPAT.

Sex disparities in health and health care utilization after Parkinson diagnosis: Rethinking PD associated disability.

Objective: To examine sex differences and trends in comorbid disease and health care utilization in individuals with newly diagnosed Parkinson disease (PD).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Over 133,000 Medicare beneficiaries with a new PD diagnosis in 2002 followed through 2008.

Selection for avian leukosis virus integration sites determines the clonal progression of B-cell lymphomas.

Avian leukosis virus (ALV) is a simple retrovirus that causes a wide range of tumors in chickens, the most common of which are B-cell lymphomas. The viral genome integrates into the host genome and uses its strong promoter and enhancer sequences to alter the expression of nearby genes, frequently inducing tumors. In this study, we compare the preferences for ALV integration sites in cultured cells and in tumors, by analysis of over 87,000 unique integration sites.

Pediatric interventional radiology workforce survey: 10-year follow-up.

Background: Pediatric interventional radiology is a distinct subspecialty differing from both pediatric diagnostic radiology and adult interventional radiology. We conducted a workforce survey in 2005 to evaluate the state of pediatric interventional radiology at that time. Since then there have been many advancements to the subspecialty, including the founding of the Society for Pediatric Interventional Radiology (SPIR).

Severe Neurological Complications Associated With Tourette Syndrome.

Background: Tics and Tourette syndrome are common problems evaluated by both the general pediatrician and pediatric neurologist. The common comorbidities of tics are well known, but the severe neurological complications are rare and may not be appreciated.

Methods: This is a retrospective case series and literature review.

Common Viral Integration Sites Identified in Avian Leukosis Virus-Induced B-Cell Lymphomas.

Unlabelled: Avian leukosis virus (ALV) induces B-cell lymphoma and other neoplasms in chickens by integrating within or near cancer genes and perturbing their expression. Four genes--MYC, MYB, Mir-155, and TERT--have previously been identified as common integration sites in these virus-induced lymphomas and are thought to play a causal role in tumorigenesis. In this study, we employ high-throughput sequencing to identify additional genes driving tumorigenesis in ALV-induced B-cell lymphomas.

Chronological Evolution of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Children With Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome.

Objective: To describe and analyze the chronological evolution of the radiological findings in seven children with febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome.

Methods: This is a retrospective study describing the radiological findings and evolution in seven children with febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome who presented from 2009 to 2013. The children all fit the defined clinical criteria for febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome; all had a history of normal psychomotor development who presented with acute-onset catastrophic partial status epilepticus associated with a febrile illness or unspecific infectious process.

Bupropion Overdose Presenting as Status Epilepticus in an Infant.

Background: Bupropion is a monocyclic antidepressant in the aminoketone class, structurally related to amphetamines. The Food and Drug Administration withdrew this product from the market in 1986 after seizures were reported in bulimic patients. It was later reintroduced in 1989 when the incidence of seizures was shown to be dose-related in the immediate release preparation.

Complete genome sequence of an american avian leukosis virus subgroup j isolate that causes hemangiomas and myeloid leukosis.

We report the complete genome sequence of avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) isolate PDRC-59831, which causes myeloid leukosis and hemangiomas in chickens. This is an American ALV-J isolate, which was found in a 38-week-old broiler breeder chicken on a farm in Georgia in 2007.

The MET gene is a common integration target in avian leukosis virus subgroup J-induced chicken hemangiomas.

Unlabelled: Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) is a simple retrovirus that can cause hemangiomas and myeloid tumors in chickens and is currently a major economic problem in Asia. Here we characterize ALV-J strain PDRC-59831, a newly studied U.S.

An unusual cause of flaccid paralysis and coma: baclofen overdose.

Baclofen is a γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist that is commonly prescribed for the treatment of spasticity in children. The clinical indications for baclofen use in the pediatric population have increased in recent years. Prescribing baclofen mandates education regarding abrupt withdrawal and overdose because of the severe clinical reactions this can precipitate.

A computerized standard protocol order entry for pediatric inpatient acute seizure emergencies reduces time to treatment.

Time to treatment of seizures is critical to efficacy. We performed a quality initiative and evaluated time to treatment of inpatient seizure emergencies with first- and second-line medicines before and after implementation of a computerized, standard treatment protocol. Data from 125 patients revealed that 179 seizure episodes required first-line antiepileptic drugs, and the mean time to treatment was 7.

Impacts of poultry house environment on poultry litter bacterial community composition.

Viral and bacterial pathogens are a significant economic concern to the US broiler industry and the ecological epicenter for poultry pathogens is the mixture of bedding material, chicken excrement and feathers that comprises the litter of a poultry house. This study used high-throughput sequencing to assess the richness and diversity of poultry litter bacterial communities, and to look for connections between these communities and the environmental characteristics of a poultry house including its history of gangrenous dermatitis (GD). Cluster analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed differences in the distribution of bacterial phylotypes between Wet and Dry litter samples and between houses.

Roles of avian herpesvirus microRNAs in infection, latency, and oncogenesis.

MicroRNAs have been reported for the avian herpesviruses Marek's disease virus 1 (MDV1; oncogenic), Marek's disease virus 2 (MDV2; non-oncogenic), herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), and infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). No obvious phylogenetic relationships exist among the avian herpesvirus microRNAs, but the general genomic locations of microRNA clusters are conserved, with microRNAs being located in the repeat regions of the genomes. In some cases, microRNAs are antisense to open reading frames.

Emerging roles of chicken and viral microRNAs in avian disease.

Background: MicroRNAs are short RNAs (~22 nt) expressed by plants, animals and viruses that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally, and their importance is highlighted by distinct patterns of expression in many physiological processes, including development, hematopoeisis, stress resistance, and disease. Our group has characterized the microRNAs encoded by the avian herpesviruses; namely, oncogenic Marek's disease (MD) virus (MDV1), non-oncogenic MDV (MDV2) herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), and infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV).

Methods: MicroRNAs encoded by the avian herpesviruses were identified using next generation sequencing technologies (454, Illumina).

A microRNA of infectious laryngotracheitis virus can downregulate and direct cleavage of ICP4 mRNA.

Viral microRNAs regulate gene expression using either translational repression or mRNA cleavage and decay. Two microRNAs from infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), iltv-miR-I5 and iltv-miR-I6, map antisense to the ICP4 gene. Post-transcriptional repression by these microRNAs was tested against a portion of the ICP4 coding sequence cloned downstream of firefly luciferase.

MicroRNAs of Gallid and Meleagrid herpesviruses show generally conserved genomic locations and are virus-specific.

Many herpesviruses, including Marek's disease viruses (MDV1 and MDV2), encode microRNAs. In this study, we report microRNAs of two related herpesviruses, infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) and herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), as well as additional MDV2 microRNAs. The genome locations, but not microRNA sequences, are conserved among all four of these avian herpesviruses.

Sequence conservation and differential expression of Marek's disease virus microRNAs.

Marek's disease virus (MDV), a herpesvirus that causes a lymphoproliferative disorder in chickens, encodes a number of microRNAs derived primarily from two locations in the MDV genome. One cluster of microRNA genes flanks the meq oncogene, and a second cluster is found within the latency-associated transcript (LAT) region. The sequences of MDV microRNAs from a collection of field and reference strains with various levels of virulence were compared and found to be highly conserved.

Deep sequencing of chicken microRNAs.

Background: The use of new, deep sequencing technologies has greatly accelerated microRNA discovery. We have applied this approach to the identification of chicken microRNAs and to the comparison of microRNAs in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) infected with Marek's disease virus (MDV) to those present in uninfected CEF.

Results: We obtained 125,463 high quality reads that showed an exact match to the chicken genome.

Marek's disease virus up-regulates major histocompatibility complex class II cell surface expression in infected cells.

Many herpesviruses modulate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) expression on the cell surface as an immune evasion mechanism. We report here that Marek's disease virus (MDV), a lymphotrophic avian alphaherpesvirus, up-regulates MHC class II cell surface expression in infected cells, contrary to all other herpesviruses examined to date. This MDV-induced class II up-regulation was detected both in vitro and in vivo.

Marek's disease virus encodes MicroRNAs that map to meq and the latency-associated transcript.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small (approximately 22-nucleotide) regulatory molecules that block translation or induce degradation of target mRNAs. These have been identified in a wide range of organisms, including viruses. In particular, the oncogenic gammaherpesviruses Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr virus encode miRNAs that could potentially regulate either viral or host genes.

Chicken genomics resource: sequencing and annotation of 35,407 ESTs from single and multiple tissue cDNA libraries and CAP3 assembly of a chicken gene index.

Its accessibility, unique evolutionary position, and recently assembled genome sequence have advanced the chicken to the forefront of comparative genomics and developmental biology research as a model organism. Several chicken expressed sequence tag (EST) projects have placed the chicken in 10th place for accrued ESTs among all organisms in GenBank. We have completed the single-pass 5'-end sequencing of 37,557 chicken cDNA clones from several single and multiple tissue cDNA libraries and have entered 35,407 EST sequences into GenBank.

Marek's disease virus-encoded Meq gene is involved in transformation of lymphocytes but is dispensable for replication.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) causes an acute lymphoproliferative disease in chickens, resulting in T cell lymphomas in visceral organs and peripheral nerves. Earlier studies have determined that the repeat regions of oncogenic serotype 1 MDV encode a basic leucine zipper protein, Meq, which structurally resembles the Jun/Fos family of transcriptional activators. Meq is consistently expressed in MDV-induced tumor cells and has been suggested as the MDV-associated oncogene.