Backyard pigs are a reservoir of zoonotic hepatitis E virus in southern Brazil.

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of acute hepatitis worldwide. There is no seroprevalence study in backyard farms, which are characterized by suboptimal hygienic conditions in Brazil. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence and genetic diversity of HEV in backyard pigs in Brazil. Methods: Swine serum samples collected in 2012 (n=731) and 2014 (n=713) were analysed. The presence of anti-HEV immunoglobulin G in pig serum was evaluated by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed and phylogenetic analyses were carried out based on the partial ORF1 and ORF2 coding regions. Results: Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 77.6% (567/731; 95% confidence interval [CI] 74.5 to 90.6%) of serum samples in 2012 and 65.5% (467/713; 95% CI 62.0 to 69.0%) in 2014. The herd seroprevalence was 91.7% (187/204; 95% CI 91% to 99%) in 2012 and 83.7% (164/196; 95% CI 78% to 89%) in 2014. Further, HEV RNA was detected in 0.8% (6/713) of samples from 2014. Phylogenetic analysis showed three different genotype 3 subtypes with high similarity to human HEV strains. Conclusions: This study showed that backyard pigs are a reservoir of HEV and alerts us to the need to control infection and spillover from backyard farms. GenBank accession numbers: MF438128-MF438135.

Early symptoms and long-term clinical outcomes of distal limb's cutaneous arterio-venous malformations: a retrospective multicentre study of 19 adult patients.

INTRODUCTION: Cutaneous arterio-venous malformations (AVM) are high-flow vascular malformations made up of a direct link between arteries and veins without intermediary capillary space. 'Distal limb's AVM', which mean involving hands or feet, are rare and their functional prognosis is often poor. Little is known about their early clinical symptoms. The objectives of this study were to identify early clinical symptoms of distal limb's cutaneous AVMs and to determine their long-term clinical outcome. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out including adult patients who had distal limb's AVM, who were followed up between January 2000 and November 2013 in two regional tertiary care centres. The information was collected from patients' clinical records and completed by a structured telephone questionnaire. RESULTS: Nineteen patients were included in the study: four (21%) with foot AVM and 15 (79%) with hand AVM. The first clinical symptoms were as follows: swelling (47%), pain (47%), one or several venous dilatations (37%) and rarely abnormal skin colour, hyperthermia and pulsating sensation. The median diagnosis delay was 9 years after the onset of first manifestations. Amongst the 17 patients who underwent a treatment, 53% had embolotherapy session(s), 12% surgery and 35% had both. After an average follow-up of 57.6 months, 31% of the 13 patients contacted who were receiving treatment were in complete remission; 31% had partial remission; 15% had relapse after initial improvement and 23% had treatment failure. Overall, 74% of patients had a serious development of the AVM: 37% had digital or hand amputation, and 42% remained symptomatic and/or unstable. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that initial manifestations of distal limb's AVMs are discreet and non-specific, leading to a diagnosis delay of about 10 years, with poor prognosis. Doctors should evoke the diagnosis earlier, when these symptoms are shown: pain and/or swelling, sometimes with a large vein.

Novel microsatellite DNA markers indicate strict parthenogenesis and few genotypes in the invasive willow sawfly Nematus oligospilus.

Invasive organisms can have major impacts on the environment. Some invasive organisms are parthenogenetic in their invasive range and, therefore, exist as a number of asexual lineages (=clones). Determining the reproductive mode of invasive species has important implications for understanding the evolutionary genetics of such species, more especially, for management-relevant traits. The willow sawfly Nematus oligospilus Förster (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) has been introduced unintentionally into several countries in the Southern Hemisphere where it has subsequently become invasive. To assess the population expansion, reproductive mode and host-plant relationships of this insect, microsatellite markers were developed and applied to natural populations sampled from the native and expanded range, along with sequencing of the cytochrome-oxidase I mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) region. Other tenthredinids across a spectrum of taxonomic similarity to N. oligospilus and having a range of life strategies were also tested. Strict parthenogenesis was apparent within invasive N. oligospilus populations throughout the Southern Hemisphere, which comprised only a small number of genotypes. Sequences of mtDNA were identical for all individuals tested in the invasive range. The microsatellite markers were used successfully in several sawfly species, especially Nematus spp. and other genera of the Nematini tribe, with the degree of success inversely related to genetic divergence as estimated from COI sequences. The confirmation of parthenogenetic reproduction in N. oligospilus and the fact that it has a very limited pool of genotypes have important implications for understanding and managing this species and its biology, including in terms of phenotypic diversity, host relationships, implications for spread and future adaptive change. It would appear to be an excellent model study system for understanding evolution of invasive parthenogens that diverge without sexual reproduction and genetic recombination.

[Amicrobial pustulosis of the skin folds and autoimmune erythroblastopenia]. / Pustulose aseptique des plis et érythroblastopénie auto-immune.

INTRODUCTION: Amicrobial pustulosis of the skin folds represents a new entity within the spectrum of neutrophilic dermatoses. This disease is characterized by acute onset of pustular lesions in the skin folds, association with an autoimmune disorder, and improvement under systemic corticosteroids. OBSERVATION: A 24-year-old woman had been presenting pustular dermatosis for several months involving the inguinal folds and the scalp. The pustules coalesced to form oozing and crusting plaques. Eczematous lesions were located on the trunk. She also presented macrocytic anemia related to autoimmune erythroblastopenia. Bacteriological culture was negative. Antinuclear antibodies were found with anti-SSA specificity. Histopathological examination of a skin biopsy specimen showed pustules in the epidermis together with an inflammatory dermal infiltrate. Cutaneous direct immunofluorescence testing was negative. The patient responded to systemic corticosteroids. DISCUSSION: Thirty-six cases of amicrobial pustulosis of the skin folds have been reported in the literature. All but two previously reported patients were females with an autoimmune disorder (chiefly systemic lupus erythematosus). The clinical picture is characterized by aseptic pustular lesions of the major and minor skin folds of the scalp and the anogenital area associated with eczematous lesions. Diagnostic criteria have recently been proposed. This disease responds to systemic corticosteroids. We report a new case of amicrobial pustulosis of the skin folds associated with autoimmune erythroblastopenia, which to the best of our knowledge has been described only once in the literature.

[Sweet's syndrome as the presenting manifestation of relapsing polychondritis]. / Syndrome de Sweet révélant une polychondrite atrophiante.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent inflammatory episodes involving various cartilages. The clinical course of RP is variable, and dermatologic manifestations are uncommon. We report a 73-year-old patient who presented with a neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet's syndrome) as the initial manifestation of RP. There was no evidence for a myelodysplastic syndrome, as it has been previously reported with RP, but the patient was followed-up for an indolent and untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Complete remission was obtained with oral corticosteroids. This report highlights the clinical spectrum of the RP.

[Cutaneous, mucosal and systemic pyoderma gangrenosum]. / Pyoderma gangrenosum cutanéomuqueux et systémique.

BACKGROUND: Extracutaneous and mucosal involvement is rare in neutrophilic dermatoses. We report a case of cutaneous-mucosal and systemic pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) revealing myelodysplasic syndrome. CASE REPORT: A 56-year-old man was hospitalised for an inflammatory abdominal plaque with an ulcerated centre that appeared rapidly in a setting of fever of 40 degrees C, odynophagia, weight loss and arthritis of the ankle. Despite surgical abdominal repair and combined dual antibiotics, the patient remained febrile and the ulcer size continued to increase. The edges were raised, purple and necrotic. Examination revealed vegetative legions with a purple edge on the lower lip and tongue. Histological examination of the skin and mucosal biopsy samples was consistent with a diagnosis of PG. A chest-abdomen CT scan showed mesenteric panniculitis and interstitial lung disease. The bone marrow sample revealed an appearance of chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia with myelofibrosis and excessively high blast levels. Systemic corticosteroids rapidly resulted in apyrexia with healing of the cutaneous, mucosal and visceral lesions. The patient presented secondary worsening of his acute myeloid leukaemia type-IV requiring bone marrow rescue. DISCUSSION: Extracutaneous involvement in neutrophilic dermatoses is rare but takes a number of different forms. We report a case of a patient presenting multifocal PG with cutaneous, mucosal, joint, mesenteric and pulmonary involvement. Oral lesions seen in PG generally affect the palate and they are commonly associated with inflammatory intestinal diseases. Our case is original in terms of the inaugural character of the mucosal lesions, their burgeoning appearance and their location on the lips and tongue.

The failure to discriminate: superparasitism of Trichoplusia ni Hübner by a generalist tachinid parasitoid.

Parasitoids are dependent on their hosts, which provide all of the resources for larval development. Parasitoid fitness, therefore, is directly related to the host quality, as determined by host size, age and health (e.g. parasitisation status); and this can only be assessed by the female parasitoid during host selection. Most studies of parasitoid-host interactions have focused on hymenopteran parasitoids rather than dipterans that are believed to be less discriminating during host selection. We assessed the impact of host quality and superparasitism on parasitoid fitness in Compsilura concinnata Meigen, a gregarious tachinid dipteran parasitoid, and its lepidopteran host the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni Hübner. Female C. concinnata parasitised all host stages of T. ni that were presented to them, but emergence rates were higher from older hosts. Females readily superparasitised hosts. The number of flies emerging was higher from hosts parasitised at later instars, and flies emerged earlier from heavily superparasitised hosts. Superparasitism decreased parasitoid pupal weight and development time, indicating intra-host competition between parasitoid larvae and skewed the parasitoid sex ratio in favour of males. Host discrimination does not seem to be well developed in C. concinnata. Hosts are superparasitised despite the effects of superparasitism on offspring and sex ratio. This could be due to the wide host range of C. concinnata; avoiding high superparasitism could occur naturally due to host switching and, therefore, developing host discrimination mechanisms for one host species may not be crucial.

[Basan's syndrome: Congenital absence of dermatoglyphs and milia]. / Absence de dermatoglyphes et grains de milium congénitaux: un nouveau cas de syndrome de Basan.

BACKGROUND: White micropapules are uncommon on the face newborns and are mainly due to sebaceous hyperplasia, or more rarely to milia. In some cases they may result from milia and profuse milia suggest rare diseases. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a newborn presenting with profuse congenital milia on the face that resolved spontaneously within a few months. DISCUSSION: This eruption revealed Basan's syndrome, a rare, autosomal dominant inherited dermatosis described as the association of profuse facial milia, acral bullae, absence of dermatoglyphs, and palmoplantar hypohydrosis.

[Pyodermatitis-pyostomatitis vegetans with nasal involvement]. / Pyostomatite-pyodermatite végétante avec atteinte nasale.

BACKGROUND: Pyodermatitis-pyostomatitis vegetans (PPV) is a rare chronic disorder often associated with inflammatory bowel disease. We report an isolated case involving the oral, labial and nasal mucosa. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 28-year-old man, in good general condition, presented with a 2-year history of painless stomatitis. The physical examination revealed pustular and exophytic lesions of the jugal, gingival and palatine mucosa on an erythematous background, as well as some pustular and crusted lesions of the lower lip and nostrils. Histopathological analysis revealed epithelial hyperplasia and a suprabasal cleft with some signs of acantholysis and numerous neutrophils and eosinophils. Direct and indirect immunofluorescence assay was negative. There was no associated bowel disease. We concluded on a diagnosis of PPV of younger subjects. The lesions disappeared with oral corticosteroids but with steroid dependency. DISCUSSION: PPV is a rare dermatosis associated in more than 75% of cases with inflammatory bowel disease, usually ulcerative colitis. Lesions of the oral mucosa are a constant finding and are characterised by aseptic pustules on an erythematous background. Skin lesions are pustular and more or less exophytic. To our knowledge, there have been no reports to date of intranasal lesions of PPV.

Positive association between resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis and overwintering survival of cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Development of resistance to insecticides has generally been associated with fitness costs that may be magnified under challenging conditions. Lepidopterans which are resistant to the biopesticide Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) have been shown to have reduced fitness, such as lower survival when subjected to overwintering stress. Recently, resistance to Btk has been found in some populations of Trichoplusia ni Hübner in greenhouses in British Columbia. This situation provides an opportunity to investigate potential trade-offs between overwintering survival and insecticide resistance in a major pest species. Here, we assess the survival and eventual fecundity of Btk resistant and susceptible T. ni pupae exposed to cool temperatures. Contrary to our expectations, resistant T. ni had higher overwintering survival than susceptible individuals. This is the first account of a potential advantage associated with Btk resistance. Resistant and susceptible moths had reduced fecundity and smaller progeny after cold exposure compared to controls, and this may counteract the survival advantage. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that this is sufficient to select out the resistant phenotype in the presence of strong selection for resistance and in the absence of immigration of susceptible moths. The appearance of resistance without evidence of a trade-off in overwintering survival presents a major challenge to management in production greenhouses.

Transformation of pharmaceutical compounds upon milling and comilling: the role of T(g).

Milling is a usual process used in the course of drug formulation, which however may change the physical nature of the end product. The diversity of the transformations of organic compounds upon milling has been widely demonstrated in the pharmaceutical literature. However, no effort has still been devoted to study the correlation between the nature of the transformation and the milling conditions. Results clarifying such transformations are shortly reviewed with special attention paid to the temperature of milling. The importance of the position of the glass transition temperature compared with that of milling is demonstrated. It is shown that decreasing the milling temperature leads to an increase of the amorphization tendency whereas milling above T(g) can produce a crystal-to-crystal transformation between polymorphic varieties. These observations contradict the usual suggestion that milling transforms the physical state only by a heating effect which induces a local melting. Equilibrium thermodynamics does not seem appropriate for describing the process. The driven alloys concept offers a more rational framework to interpret the effect of the milling temperature. Other results are also presented, which demonstrate the possibility for milling to form low temperature solid-state alloys that offer new promising ways to stabilize amorphous molecular solids.

Cyclofunctionalization and free-radical-based hydrogen-transfer reactions. An iterative reaction sequence applied to the synthesis of the C(7)-C(16) subunit of zincophorin.

The strategy considered herein features an iodocyclofunctionalization/hydrogen-transfer reaction sequence for the elaboration of propionate motifs. Proceeding with excellent yield and diastereoselectivity, the synthetic sequence proposed gives access to the anti-anti dipropionate motif when the reduction step is performed under the control of the exocyclic effect. The tandem sequence is applied successfully to the synthesis of the C(7)-C(16) subunit of zincophorin, and iteration of the process gives the desired anti-anti-anti-anti polypropionate stereopentad. Modifications of the reaction sequence--including phenylselenocyclofunctionalization, carbonate hydrolysis, and chelation-controlled radical reduction reactions--lead to the formation of the anti-syn dipropionate motif with remarkable diastereocontrol.

Factors associated with risk of stress urinary incontinence in women.

The purpose of this study was to investigate risk factors for stress urinary incontinence. Using a case-control method, 140 women with and without stress urinary incontinence were recruited from three private physician practices and interviewed by telephone. The final sample included 94 cases and 46 controls, with a mean age of 51.5 and 54.3 years, respectively. Having any vaginal birth versus having only cesarean sections was associated with a substantial increase in risk for stress urinary incontinence. Episiotomy or tear during delivery was associated with a 3.78-fold increase in risk, but high parity (four or greater) was not a strong predictor. Having a mother with stress urinary incontinence was associated with a substantial increase in risk. Statistically significant associations were also found for multiple urinary tract infections.