Recovery of a persistent Canine distemper virus expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein from cloned cDNA.

Wild-type A75/17-Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly virulent strain, which induces a persistent infection in the central nervous system (CNS) with demyelinating disease. Wild-type A75/17-CDV, which is unable to replicate in cell lines to detectable levels, was adapted to grow in Vero cells and was designated A75/17-V. Sequence comparison between the two genomes revealed seven nucleotide differences located in the phosphoprotein (P), the matrix (M) and the large (L) genes. The P gene is polycistronic and encodes two auxiliary proteins, V and C, besides the P protein. The mutations resulted in amino acid changes in the P and V, but not in the C protein, as well as in the M and L proteins. Here, a rescue system was developed for the A75/17-V strain, which was shown to be attenuated in vivo, but retains a persistent infection phenotype in Vero cells. In order to track the recombinant virus, an additional transcription unit coding for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was inserted at the 3' proximal position in the A75/17-V cDNA clone. Reverse genetics technology will allow us to characterize the genetic determinants of A75/17-V CDV persistent infection in cell culture.

Alteration and recovery of arm usage in daily activities after rotator cuff surgery.

BACKGROUND: The objective measurement of dominant/nondominant arm use proportion in daily life may provide relevant information on healthy and pathologic arm behavior. This prospective case-control study explored the potential of such measurements as indicators of upper limb functional recovery after rotator cuff surgery. METHODS: Data on dominant/nondominant arm usage were acquired with body-worn sensors for 7 hours. The postsurgical arm usage of 21 patients was collected at 3, 6, and 12 months after rotator cuff surgery in the sitting, walking, and standing postures and compared with a reference established with 41 healthy subjects. The results were calculated for the dominant and nondominant surgical side subgroups at all stages. The correlations with clinical scores were calculated. RESULTS: Healthy right-handed and left-handed dominant arm usage was 60.2% (±6.3%) and 53.4% (±6.6%), respectively. Differences in use of the dominant side were significant between the right- and left-handed subgroups for sitting (P = .014) and standing (P = .009) but not for walking (P = .328). The patient group showed a significant underuse of 10.7% (±8.9%) at 3 months after surgery (P < .001). The patients recovered normal arm usage within 12 months, regardless of surgical side. The arm underuse measurement was weakly related to function and pain scores. CONCLUSION: This study provided new information on arm recovery after rotator cuff surgery using an innovative measurement method. It highlighted that objective arm underuse measurement is a valuable indicator of upper limb postsurgical outcome that captures a complementary feature to clinical scores.

Multivitamins/multiminerals in Switzerland: a first assessment The fallacy of slimming products: a case analysis in Switzerland

Purpose: To assess the composition and compliance with legislation of multivitamin/multiminerals (MVM) in Switzerland. Methods: Information on the composition of vitamin/minerals supplements was obtained from the Swiss drug compendium, the Internet, pharmacies, parapharmacies and supermarkets. MVM was defined as the presence of at least 5 vitamins and/or minerals. Results: 95 MVM were considered. The most frequent vitamins were B6 (73.7%), C (71.6%), B2 (69.5%) and B1 (67.4%); the least frequent were K (17.9%), biotin (51.6%), pantothene (55.8%) and E (56.8%). Around half of MVMs provided >150% of the ADI for vitamins. The most frequent minerals were zinc (66.3%), calcium (55.8%), magnesium (54.7%) and copper (48.4%), and the least frequent were fluoride (3.2%), phosphorous (17.9%) and chrome (22.1%). Only 25% of MVMs contained iodine. More than two thirds of MVMs provided between 15 and 150% of the ADI for minerals, and few MVMs provided >150% of the ADI. While few MVMs provided <15% of the ADI for vitamins, a considerable fraction did so for minerals (32.7% for magnesium, 26.1% for copper and 22.6% for calcium). Conclusion: There is a great variability regarding the composition and amount of MVMs in Switzerland. Several MVM do not comply with the Swiss legislation.