Detecting 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infection: availability of diagnostic testing led to rapid pandemic response.

Diagnostic tests for detecting emerging influenza virus strains with pandemic potential are critical for directing global influenza prevention and control activities. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received US Food and Drug Administration approval for a highly sensitive influenza polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Devices were deployed to public health laboratories in the United States and globally. Within 2 weeks of the first recognition of 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed and began distributing a new approved pandemic influenza H1N1 PCR assay, which used the previously deployed device platform to meet a >8-fold increase in specimen submissions. Rapid antigen tests were widely used by clinicians at the point of care; however, test sensitivity was low (40%-69%). Many clinical laboratories developed their own pandemic influenza H1N1 PCR assays to meet clinician demand. Future planning efforts should identify ways to improve availability of reliable testing to manage patient care and approaches for optimal use of molecular testing for detecting and controlling emerging influenza virus strains.

Arabidopsis TSO1 regulates directional processes in cells during floral organogenesis.

Flowers of the previously described Arabidopsis tso1-1 mutant had aberrant, highly reduced organs in place of petals, stamens, and carpels. Cells of tso1-1 flowers had division defects, including failure in cytokinesis, partial cell wall formation, and elevated nuclear DNA content. We describe here two new tso1 alleles (tso1-3 and tso1-4), which caused defects in ovule development, but had little effect on gross floral morphology. Early ovule development occurred normally in tso1-3 and tso1-4, but the shapes and alignments of integument cells became increasingly more disordered as development progressed. tso1-3 ovules usually lacked embryo sacs due to a failure to form megaspore mother cells. The cell division defects described for the strong tso1-1 mutant were rarely observed in tso1-3 ovules. The aberrations in tso1-3 mutants primarily resulted from a failure in directional expansion of cells and/or coordination of this process among adjacent cells. Effects of tso1-3 appeared to be independent of effects of other ovule development mutations, with the exception of leunig, which exhibited a synergistic interaction. The data are consistent with TSO1 acting in processes governing directional movement of cellular components, indicating a likely role for TSO1 in cytoskeletal function.

Interactions among genes regulating ovule development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The INNER NO OUTER (INO) and AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) genes are essential for ovule integument development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Ovules of ino mutants initiate two integument primordia, but the outer integument primordium forms on the opposite side of the ovule from the normal location and undergoes no further development. The inner integument appears to develop normally, resulting in erect, unitegmic ovules that resemble those of gymnosperms. ino plants are partially fertile and produce seeds with altered surface topography, demonstrating a lineage dependence in development of the testa. ant mutations affect initiation of both integuments. The strongest of five new ant alleles we have isolated produces ovules that lack integuments and fail to complete megasporogenesis. ant mutations also affect flower development, resulting in narrow petals and the absence of one or both lateral stamens. Characterization of double mutants between ant, ino and other mutations affecting ovule development has enabled the construction of a model for genetic control of ovule development. This model proposes parallel independent regulatory pathways for a number of aspects of this process, a dependence on the presence of an inner integument for development of the embryo sac, and the existence of additional genes regulating ovule development.

[Hospitalized psychiatric population in the Mexican Institute of the Social Security, 1971-1976]. / Estudio comparativo de población psiquiátrica hospitalaria en el Instituto Mexicano del Serguro Social, 1971-1976.

This paper emphasizes the importance of having an objective registration system for clinical cases in a psychiatric hospital. For this purpose, special sheets were designed to register all cases comparing the years 1971 and 1976. During these years, 1 202 and 1 835 cases were obtained. Data included: age, sex, marital status, schooling, occupation, diagnosis, psychiatric family history and therapy. The results for those years are shown.

INNER NO OUTER regulates abaxial- adaxial patterning in Arabidopsis ovules.

The Arabidopsis INNER NO OUTER (INO) gene is essential for formation and asymmetric growth of the ovule outer integument. INO encodes a member of the newly described YABBY family of putative transcription factors that contain apparent Cys(2)-Cys(2) zinc-finger domains and regions of similarity to the high mobility group (HMG) transcription factors. In wild-type plants, INO is expressed specifically on one side of the central region of each ovule primordium in the cells that give rise to the outer integument. Alterations in the INO expression pattern in mutant backgrounds implicate INO as a positive regulator of its own expression, and ANT, HLL, BEL1, and SUP as direct or indirect negative regulators that help to establish the spatial pattern of INO expression. We hypothesize that INO is necessary for polarity determination in the central part of the ovule. Maintenance of polarity in other parts of ino ovules indicates the existence of additional regulators and provides further evidence that the ovule is a compound structure.