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We evaluated if postmortem cloacal and oral swabs could replace brain tissue as a specimen for West Nile virus (WNV) detection. WNV was detected in all three specimen types from 20 dead crows and jays with an average of >10(5) WNV PFU in each. These findings suggest that testing cloacal or oral swabs might be a low-resource approach to detect WNV in dead birds.
To evaluate transmission dynamics, we exposed 25 bird species to West Nile virus (WNV) by infectious mosquito bite. We monitored viremia titers, clinical outcome, WNV shedding (cloacal and oral), seroconversion, virus persistence in organs, and susceptibility to oral and contact transmission. Passeriform and charadriiform birds were more reservoir competent (a derivation of viremia data) than other species tested. The five most competent species were passerines: Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), and House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). Death occurred in eight species. Cloacal shedding of WNV was observed in 17 of 24 species, and oral shedding in 12 of 14 species. We observed contact transmission among four species and oral in five species. Persistent WNV infections were found in tissues of 16 surviving birds. Our observations shed light on transmission ecology of WNV and will benefit surveillance and control programs.
To evaluate the role of Culex mosquitoes as enzootic and epidemic vectors for WNV, we identified the source of vertebrate blood by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing portions of the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA. All Cx. restuans and 93% of Cx. pipiens acquired blood from avian hosts; Cx. salinarius fed frequently on both mammals (53%) and birds (36%). Mixed-blood meals were detected in 11% and 4% of Cx. salinarius and Cx. pipiens, respectively. American robin was the most common source of vertebrate blood for Cx. pipiens (38%) and Cx. restuans (37%). American crow represented <1% of the blood meals in Cx. pipiens and none in Cx. restuans. Human-derived blood meals were identified from 2 Cx. salinarius and 1 Cx. pipiens. Results suggest that Cx. salinarius is an important bridge vector to humans, while Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuans are more efficient enzootic vectors in the northeastern United States.
Botulinum toxin chemodenervation has evolved greatly over the past 30 years since its introduction in the 1970s for the management of strabismus. Among ophthalmic plastic surgeons, botulinum toxins are often used as the first line treatment for facial dystonias. These toxins are also efficacious for the temporary management of various other conditions including keratopathies (through so called chemo-tarsorraphy), upper eyelid retraction, orbicularis overaction-induced lower eyelid entropion, gustatory epiphora, Frey's syndrome, and dynamic facial rhytids such as lateral canthal wrinkles (crow's feet), glabellar creases and horizontal forehead lines. This article describes the pharmacology, reconstitution techniques and common current applications of botulinum toxins in ophthalmic plastic surgery.
We evaluated the potential for several North American mosquito species to transmit the newly introduced West Nile (WN) virus. Mosquitoes collected in the New York City Metropolitan Area during the recent (1999) WN outbreak were allowed to feed on chickens infected with WN virus isolated from a crow that had died during this outbreak. These mosquitoes were tested approximately 2 weeks later to determine infection, dissemination, and transmission rates. Culex pipiens mosquitoes were highly susceptible to infection, and nearly all individuals with a disseminated infection did transmit WN virus by bite. In contrast, Aedes vexans were only moderately susceptible to oral infection; however, those individuals inoculated with WN virus did transmit virus by bite.
Serum samples from 15 species of rodents and 33 species of birds were tested for agglutinins against Coxiella burnetii by the microagglutination test. Of 759 rodents tested, 21 (3%) were seropositive. Antibody positive rodents included muskrats, Ondatra zebethica, (11%), Rattus spp. (10%), Beechey ground squirrels, Otospermophilus beecheyi, (6%), wood rats, Neotoma fuscipes, (5%), and Peromyscus spp. (2%). Of 583 birds tested, 118 (20%) were seropositive. This included white crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys, gold crowned sparrows, Z. atricapilla, and English sparrows, Passer domesticus, (68% in the composite); coots, Fulica americana, (29%); blackbirds, Euphagus cyanocephalus, (33%); crows, Corvus brachyrhyncos, (29%); robins, Turdus migratorius, (16%); pigeons, Columba fasciata, (10%); and mallard ducks, Anas platyrhynchos, (7%). There was a tendency for the seropositive animals to have been collected in the vicinity of endemically infected livestock.
The pathogenicity of a vaccinia recombinant virus expressing the rabies glycoprotein (VVTGgRAB) was tested in several wild animal species which could compete with the natural rabies host, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in consuming vaccine baits in Europe. The following species were included in this study: wild boar (Sus scrofa), Eurasian badger (Meles meles), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), common vole (Microtus arvalis), field vole (Microtus agrestis), water vole (Arvicola terrestris), common buzzard (Buteo buteo), kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), carrion crow (Corvus corone), magpie (Pica pica) and jay (Garrulus glandarius). During the observation period, the 107 animals given the VVTGgRAB vaccine orally did not show any clinical signs. Daily monitoring for 28 days and postmortem examination did not result in the detection of pox lesions in the oral mucosa or the skin in mammals or the unfeathered portions of birds. VVTGgRAB seems to multiply in the mammalian species tested, since rabies seroconversion was observed in all of them. Birds failed to develop demonstrable rabies virus-neutralizing antibody. A seroconversion against vaccinia virus was observed in two of four wild boars. Serological results obtained in badgers and wild boars also demonstrates the absence of direct or indirect horizontal transmission of the recombinant virus. The potential of the recombinant virus for the immunization of badgers against rabies also was investigated. Only 50% of the badgers orally administered with 1 x 10(8.3) TCID50 of this vaccine were protected against rabies.
Attempts were made to reproduce avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) in a number of test animals in order to determine the source of the causative agent for birds and to find a suitable animal model for future studies. Submerged vegetation, plankton, invertebrates, forage fish, and sediments were collected from three lakes with ongoing outbreaks of AVM and fed to American coots (Fulica americana), mallard ducks and ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos), quail (Coturnix japonica), and laboratory mice either via gavage or ad libitum. Tissues from AVM-affected coots with brain lesions were fed to ducklings, kestrels (Falco sparverius), and American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Two mallards that ingested one sample of Hydrilla verticillata along with any biotic or abiotic material associated with its external surface developed brain lesions consistent with AVM, although neither of the ducks had clinical signs of disease. Ingestion of numerous other samples of Hydrilla from the AVM affected lakes and a lake with no prior history of AVM, other materials (sediments, algae, fish, invertebrates, and water from affected lakes), or tissues from AVM-affected birds did not produce either clinical signs or brain lesions in any of the other test animals in our studies. These results suggest that waterbirds are most likely exposed to the causative agent of AVM while feeding on aquatic vegetation, but we do not believe the vegetation itself is the agent. We hypothesize that the causative agent of AVM might either be accumulated by aquatic vegetation, such as Hydrilla, or associated with biotic or abiotic material on its external surfaces. In support of that hypothesis, two coots that ingested Hydrilla sampled from a lake with an ongoing AVM outbreak in wild birds developed neurologic signs within 9 days (ataxia, limb weakness, and incoordination), and one of two coots that ingested Hydrilla collected from the same site 13 days later became sick and died within 38 days. None of these three sick coots had definitive brain lesions consistent with AVM by light microscopy, but they had no gross or histologic lesions in other tissues. It is unclear if these birds died of AVM. Perhaps they did not ingest a dose sufficient to produce brain lesions or the lesions were ultrastructural. Alternatively, it is possible that a separate neurotoxic agent is responsible for the morbidity and mortality observed in these coots.
At UCLA Medical Center's heart failure center, a comprehensive management program is showing startling results in slashing costly hospital readmissions and dramatically improving clinical outcomes. Learn how the basic components at most large hospitals can be brought together to create the synergies and successes that UCLA is crowing about.
Many important reports have been published during these several years in Japan in the field of neuroimmunology. Serum vascular endothelial factor (VEGF) levels in Crow-Fukase (POEMS) syndrome were about 15 to 30 times than those in the control subjects and other neurological disorders. The overproduction of VEGF may be relevant to the pathogenesis of most of the manifestations including neuropathy. We speculate that VEGF may affect the blood nerve barrier by increasing microvascular hyperpermeability and thereby increasing endoneural pressure subsequent to edema. In Isaacs' syndrome, voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) were suppressed by anti-VGKC antibodies. The patch clamp study indicate that the pathophysiology of the suppression of VGKC seems to be due to the increased degradation of VGKC. By the recent nationwide survey, the total number of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) patients in Japan is now estimated as 1,432. A most likely pathological mechanism of HAM is that cytotoxic T lymphocytes attack the HTLV-I infected lymphocytes infiltrating the central nervous system, resulting a surrounding nervous tissue damage by bystander mechanism.
Based on the character of degeneration and change of the aging skin, reconstruction and repair of the skin structure are performed with a method of subdermal incision in order to increase the content of collagen protein and replace the degenerates collagen in the dermis. The animal experiment shows that the treated skin contracts by nearly thirty percent (P < 0.01) at 15 days after surgery. The epidermis becomes thicker and the dermis contains more fiberoblasts and collagen than that of preoperation. Seven patients were treated with the method. Afterwards their crow's feet deformity and the wrinkles of the nasolabial groove almost disappeared.
Midface aging is characterized by soft-tissue ptosis with loss of cheek projection. Subperiosteal midface lifts may reposition the soft-tissue mounds and improve the tear trough, but may not fill the lateral cheeks in patients with significant jowls or poor bony support. Correction with alloplastic implants is helpful, but may not be accepted by many patients. During subperiosteal midface lifts, the author often excises Bichat's fat pad to decrease the jowl and to diminish face fullness. He has modified this approach and used a vascularized Bichat's fat flap to aid lateral cheek projection while still improving lower face fullness and the jowl. For the last 4 years, close to 150 patients undergoing subperiosteal midface lifts have had vascularized Bichat's fat pad flaps. The jowls were marked preoperatively. All patients had complete cheek undermining either through a buccal sulcus incision or through a crow's-foot incision, or through a muscle-sparing limited lower blepharoplasty incision. Bichat's fat pad is identified in its pocket medial to the masseter tendon. Mobilization of Bichat's fat pad is done by blunt dissection, preserving its thin fascial envelope. The "hernial saclike" pocket, excluding Stensen's duct and the buccal branches of the facial nerve, is identified and protected. Suspension is accomplished by fixation with 3-0 polydioxanone sutures either to the temporalis fascia (via the temporal incisions), to the arcus marginalis, or to the suborbicularis oculi fat pad. Fixation technique is dependent on where the fat pad is needed and the surgeon's preference. Fat pad repositioning is accomplished with a minor learning curve. The most common problems are tearing of the fat pad during fixation and temporary numbness of the long buccal nerve. Attention to leaving the capsule intact and gentle handling is essential to fixation. Nevertheless, in some patients with poor-quality fat pads, fixation is extremely difficult. Four-year results have been excellent. Further studies with magnetic resonance imaging of postoperative patients are necessary to assess longevity. Bichat's fat pad provides autologous vascularized tissue for midface fill. Placement may be lateral for cheek augmentation or medial for deep nasolabial folds. Jowl improvement also occurs with the removal of Bichat's fat pad from its pocket.
Modern neurosurgery has long had a strong laboratory foundation, and much of this tradition can be traced to the Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Founded with the basic goals of investigating the causes and symptoms of disease and establishing the crucial role that surgeons may play in the treatment of disease, the Hunterian laboratory has adhered to these tenets, despite the dramatic changes in neurosurgery that have occurred in the last 100 years. Named for the famous English surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793), the Hunterian laboratory was conceived by William Welch and William Halsted as a special laboratory for experimental work in surgery and pathology. In 1904, Harvey Cushing was appointed by Halsted to direct the laboratory. With the three primary goals of student education, veterinary surgery that stressed surgical techniques, and meticulous surgical and laboratory record-keeping, the laboratory was quite productive, introducing the use of physiological saline solutions, describing the anatomic features and function of the pituitary gland, and establishing the field of endocrinology. In addition, the original development of hanging drop tissue culture, fundamental investigations into cerebrospinal fluid, and countless contributions to otolaryngology by Samuel Crowe all occurred during this "crucible" period. In 1912, Cushing was succeeded by Walter Dandy, whose work on experimental hydrocephalus and cerebrospinal fluid circulation led to the development of pneumoencephalography. The early days of neurosurgery evolved with close ties to general surgery, and so did the Hunterian laboratory. After Dandy began devoting his time to clinical work, general surgeons (first Jay McLean and then, in 1922, Ferdinand Lee) became the directors of the laboratory. Between 1928 and 1942, more than 150 original articles were issued from the Hunterian laboratory; these articles described significant advances in surgery, including pioneering research on calcium metabolism by William MacCallum and Carl Voegtlin and seminal preclinical work by Alfred Blalock and Vivian Thomas that led to the famous "blue baby" operation in 1944. With the introduction of the operating microscope in the 1950s, much of the focus in neurosurgical science shifted from the laboratory to the operating room. The old Hunterian building was demolished in 1956. The Hunterian laboratory for surgical and pathological research was rebuilt on its original site in 1987, and the Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory was reestablished in 1991, with a focus on novel treatments for brain tumors. The strong tradition of performing basic research with clinical relevance has continued.
To study the influence of bonding agent on fracture strength of Plat-II castable ceramic crowns bonded to molars, we tested the specimens in vitro with Panavia 21 resin bonding agent and porcelite dual cure cement. The results showed that the fracture loading (845.8 +/- 137.1 N) of crowns bonded with Panavia 21 bonding agent was higher than that (534.0 +/- 58.7 N) of crows bonded with porcelite dual cure cement. The difference between the two agents was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The crowns bonded with Panavia 21 agent had higher strength than bite forces. These suggest that costable ceramic crowns could be bonded with Panavia 21 resin agent in clinical practice.
Nuphar comprises 13 species of aquatic perennials distributed in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The European species N. lutea and N. pumila in Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany are pollinated by bees and flies, including apparent Nuphar specialists. This contrasts with reports of predominant beetle pollination in American N. advena and N. polysepala. We studied pollination in N. ozarkana in Missouri and N. advena in Texas to assess whether (1) there is evidence of pollinator shifts associated with floral-morphological differences between Old World and New World species as hypothesized by Padgett, Les, and Crow (American Journal of Botany 86: 1316-1324. 1999) and (2) whether beetle pollination characterizes American species of Nuphar. Ninety-seven and 67% of flower visits in the two species were by sweat bees, especially Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) nelumbonis. Syrphid fly species visiting both species were Paragus sp., Chalcosyrphus metallicus, and Toxomerus geminatus. The long-horned leaf beetle Donacia piscatrix was common on leaves and stems of N. ozarkana but rarely visited flowers. Fifteen percent of visits to N. advena flowers were by D. piscatrix and D. texana. The beetles' role as pollinators was investigated experimentally by placing floating mesh cages that excluded flies and bees over N. advena buds about to open and adding beetles. Beetles visited 40% of the flowers in cages, and flowers that received visits had 69% seed set, likely due to beetle-mediated geitonogamy of 1st-d flowers. Experimentally outcrossed 1st-d flowers had 62% seed set, and open-pollinated flowers 76%; 2nd-d selfed or outcrossed flowers had low seed sets (9 and 12%, respectively). Flowers are strongly protogynous and do not self spontaneously. Flowers shielded from pollinators set no seeds. A comparison of pollinator spectra in the two Old World and three New World Nuphar species studied so far suggests that the relative contribution of flies, bees, and beetles to pollen transfer in any one population depends more on these insects' relative abundances (and in the case of Donacia, presence) and alternative food sources than on stamen length differences between Old World and New World pond-lilies.
In 1880, during a sojourn at Constantine, Alphonse Laveran discovered the etiological agent of human malaria. During his microscopic observations of the parasite in freshly collected blood, Laveran's attention was attracted to the movement of flagellar bodies in the preparations. For Laveran these flagellar bodies corresponded to living organisms, in fact he considered them the most characteristic stage of the parasite; perhaps the sexual form of the parasite. In 1884, back in Paris at the military hospital Val de Grâce, A. Laveran showed these flagellated bodies to Pasteur, Roux and Chamberland who all thought that is was impossible not to recognize a living body in this mass of protoplasm displacing the surrounding red blood cells with its protruding flagella. As early as 1890, Elie Metchnikoff established a link between the flagellar bodies of Laveran and the stealthy stage of parasitic Coccidia infecting the intestinal epithelium of salamanders. It was the Pasteuriens and a few others scientists like Danilewski and Pfeiffer who firmly believed that the flagellar forms were indeed a normal stage during the hematozoan life cycle. On the contrary, Grassi and the Italian school, as well as the French protozoologist Labbé were convinced that the flagellar bodies corresponded to a degenerative form of the parasite provoked by the exposure of the parasites to air during slide preparation. In early 1896, P-L Simond joined Metchnikoff's laboratory and was assigned to study salamander coccidia in order to clarify the nature of the flagellar bodies. In a very short period of time, Simond clearly demonstrated that the coccidia had two types of life cycles; one of which resulted in the formation of flagellar bodies. Simond called the flagellar bodies "chromatozoites" due to the important quantities of chromatin twisted around the flagellum. From these observations and the sperm-like movement of the chromatozoites, Simond put forth the hypothesis that the chromatozoites were the male sexual forms of the parasite. He noted that they were found in all species of coccidia, as well as in the different species of malaria causing hematozoans of man and birds. Simond went even further in his interpretation to suggest that malaria parasites undergo sexual reproduction. This was indeed true, but Simond thought erroneously that sexual reproduction in hematozoans would result in the formation of resistant spores like in the Coccidia. The sexual reproduction hypothesis of malaria parasites was also formulated independently a year later by W. G. MacCallum (1898) working in the United States on Halteridium, a hematozoan infecting crows. Initially MacCallum was not aware of Simond's work, but later gave Simond full credit for his work on Coccidia. Furthermore, MacCallum observed for the first time the chromatozoite (microgamete) enter a female element (macrogamete) to form a mobile worm-like stage of the parasite know today as the ookinete. In his writings Simond is very modest, giving most of the credit to his mentors Metchnikoff and Laveran, but Laveran in an article which appeared in 1899 recognizes P.-L. Simond as the first person having put forth the hypothesis that the flagellar bodies of hematozoans causing human and bird malaria were the male forms of the parasite destined to fertilize the female elements.
In the fall of 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) was isolated for the first time in the Western Hemisphere during an outbreak of neurologic disease in humans, horses, and wild and zoo birds in the northeastern United States. Chickens are a potential reservoir for WNV, and little is known about the pathogenicity of WNV in domestic chickens. Seven-week-old chickens derived from a specific-pathogen-free flock were inoculated subcutaneously with 1.8 x 10(3) 50% tissue culture infectious dose of a crow isolate of WNV in order to observe clinical signs and evaluate the viremic phase, gross and microscopic lesions, contact transmission, and immunologic response. There were no observable clinical signs in the WNV-inoculated chickens during the 21-day observation period. However, histopathologic examination of tissues revealed myocardial necrosis, nephritis, and pneumonitis at 5 and 10 days postinoculation (DPI); moderate to severe nonsuppurative encephalitis also was observed in brain tissue from one of four inoculated birds examined at 21 DPI. WNV was recovered from blood plasma for up to 8 DPI. Virus titers as high as 10(5)/ml in plasma were observed at 4 DPI. Fecal shedding of virus was detected in cloacal swabs on 4 and 5 DPI only. The WNV also was isolated from myocardium, spleen, kidney, lung, and intestine collected from chickens euthanatized at 3, 5, and 10 DPI. No virus was isolated from inoculated chickens after 10 DPI. Antibodies specific to WNV were detected in inoculated chickens as early as 5 DPI by the plaque reduction neutralization test and 7 DPI by the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Chickens placed in contact with inoculated chickens at 1 DPI lacked WNV-specific antibodies, and no WNV was isolated from their blood plasma or cloacal swabs throughout the 21 days of the experiment.
The estimates of inbreeding derived from pedigrees and frequency of isonymous marriages (i.e., between persons of the same surname) are compared using genealogical and isonymic information from 4,899 marriages recorded between 1763 and 1972 in 4 rural villages of the French Jura region (a mountainous area near the Swiss border). Before the second half of the 20th century, the two kinds of estimates show a different temporal evolution. The mean inbreeding coefficient based on pedigrees increases between 1763 and 1852 and reaches a maximum between 1853 and 1882 (alpha = 0.0028), with a very low percentage (< 1%) the result of remote kinship. The mean inbreeding coefficient based on isonymy is always higher, with a maximum observed between 1793 and 1822 (F = 0.0200), and it remains roughly the same between 1763 and 1882 (F = 0.0150), with a high percentage resulting from a random component (Fr), a consequence of the small population size and genetic drift. After 1883, the 2 mean coefficients decrease. This discordance is largely explained by the poor quality, for the first periods, of the genealogical data base, which ignores the more remote links of kinship, justifying the use of the model of Crow and Mange (1965) to explore consanguinity during the more ancient periods. The temporal evolution of the repeated pairs of surnames index (RP) confirms the recent evolution of the marital structure of the valley. Moreover, it appears that isonymous marriages and repeated and unique pairs of surnames constitute 3 distinct matrimonial groups characterized by both a different mean coefficient of inbreeding (alpha) and a different rate of endogamy.