Isolation and molecular characterization of bovine enteroviruses in Egypt.

Enteroviruses belong to the Picornaviridae family and infect a wide range of mammals including cattle. Bovine enterovirus (BEV) has recently been reclassified into E and F serotypes. BEV was first isolated in Egypt in 1966 although it has been known in other countries since the 1950s. In this study, BEV-F2 was isolated from calves with severe diarrhea and the isolated viruses were subjected to molecular characterization. Illumina sequencing of one of the isolates revealed the presence of a complete BEV-F genome sequence. The phylogenetic analysis revealed nucleotide substitutions along the genome in comparison with other known strains of BEV-F (HQ663846, AY508697 and DQ092795). Two primer sets were designed from the 3D and 5'NTR regions and used for the examination of the remaining isolates, which were confirmed to be of the BEV-F2 serotype. The availability of the complete genome sequence of this virus adds to the sequence database of the members of Picornaviridae and should be useful in future molecular studies of BEV.

Quality of life in major depressive disorder before/after multiple steps of treatment and one-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the impact of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its treatment on quality of life (QOL). METHOD: From the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial, we analyzed complete data of 2280 adult MDD out-patients at entry/exit of each level of antidepressant treatments and after 12 months of entry to follow-up. QOL was measured using the QOL Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q). The proportions of patients scoring 'within-normal' QOL (within 10% of Q-LES-Q community norms) and those with 'severely impaired' QOL (>2 SD below Q-LES-Q community norms) were analyzed. RESULTS: Before treatment, no more than 3% of MDD patients experienced 'within-normal' QOL. Following treatment, statistically significant improvements were detected; however, the proportion of patients achieving 'within-normal' QOL did not exceed 30%, with >50% of patients experiencing 'severely impaired' QOL. Although remitted patients had greater improvements compared with non-remitters, 32-60% continued to experience reduced QOL. 12-month follow-up data revealed that the proportion of patients experiencing 'within-normal' QOL show a statistically significant decrease in non-remitters. CONCLUSION: Symptom-focused treatments of MDD may leave a misleading impression that patients have recovered when, in fact, they may be experiencing ongoing QOL deficits. These findings point to the need for investigating specific interventions to ameliorate QOL in MDD.