Predominance of G9P[8] rotavirus strains throughout France, 2014-2017.

OBJECTIVES: Group A rotavirus is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. A prospective surveillance network has been set up in France to investigate rotavirus infections and to detect the emergence of potentially epidemic strains. METHODS: From 2014 to 2017, rotavirus-positive stool samples were collected from 2394 children under 5 years old attending the paediatric emergency units of 13 large hospitals. Rotaviruses were genotyped by RT-PCR with regard to their outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7. RESULTS: Genotyping of 2421 rotaviruses showed that after a marked increase in G9P[8] (32.1%) during the 2014-2015 season, G9P[8] became the predominant genotype during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons with detection rates of 64.1% and 77.3%, respectively, whereas G1P[8] were detected at low rates of 16.8% and 6.6%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial rotavirus VP7 and VP4 coding genes revealed that all of these G9P [8] strains belonged to the lineage III and the P [8]-3 lineage, respectively, and shared the same genetic background (G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E1-H1) as did most of previously detected G9P[8] strains and particularly the emerging G9P[8] strains from the 2004-2005 season in France. CONCLUSIONS: G9P[8] rotaviruses have become the predominant circulating genotype for the first time since their emergence a decade ago. In the absence of rotavirus immunization programmes in France, our data give an insight into the natural fluctuation of rotavirus genotypes in a non-vaccinated population and provide a base line for a better interpretation of data in European countries with routine rotavirus vaccination.

Sequence analysis of a 33.1 kb fragment from the left arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome X, including putative proteins with leucine zippers, a fungal Zn(II)2-Cys6 binuclear cluster domain and a putative alpha 2-SCB-alpha 2 binding site.

In the framework of the European BIOTECH project for sequencing the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome, we have determined the nucleotide sequence of the left part of the cosmid clone 232 and the cosmid clone 233 provided by F. Galibert (Rennes Cedex, France). We present here 33,099 base pairs of sequence derived from the left arm of chromosome X of strain S288C. This sequence reveals 17 open reading frames (ORFs) with more than 299 base pairs, including the published sequences for ARG3, LIGTR/LIG1, ORF2, ACT3 and SCP160. Two other ORFs showed similarity with S. cerevisiae genes: one with the CAN1 gene coding for an arginine permease, and one with genes encoding the family of transcriptional activators containing a fungal Zn(II)2-Cys6 binuclear cluster domain like that found in Ppr1p or Ga14p. Both putative proteins contain a leucine zipper motif, the Can1p homologue has 12 putative membrane-spanning domains and a putative alpha 2-SCB-alpha 2 binding site. In a diploid disruption mutant of ORF J0922 coding for the transcriptional activator homologue, no colonies appeared before 10 days after transformation and then grew slowly. In contrast, haploid disruption mutants showed a growth phenotype like wild-type cells. One ORF showed weak similarity to the rad4 gene product of Schizosaccharomyces pombe and is essential for yeast growth. Five ORFs showed similarity to putative genes on the right arm of chromosome XI of S. cerevisiae. Two of them have similarity to each other and belong to a family of extracellular proteins that groups mammalian SCP/Tpx-1, insects Ag3/Ag5, plants PR-1 and fungi Sc7/Sc14.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Clinical symptoms and diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis]. / Klinik und Diagnostik der Felinen Infektiösen Peritonitis.

Body effusions from 197 cats and blood serum samples from 252 cats, where Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) was part of the differential diagnosis, were analysed. The diagnoses were confirmed by clinical follow up or histopathology. The final diagnosis FIP was always confirmed by histopathology. The median age of cats with FIP was 1.6 years. FIP was responsible for 41% of the body effusions, whereas malignomas caused 24%, cardial insufficiencies 14% and purulent serositis 12% of the body effusions. The rivalta test was highly sensitive for FIP. Predictive value of a negative result was 100%, predictive value of a positive result was 84%. In half of the cases with purulent serositis and in 20% of malignomas rivalta reacted positive. The cardial insufficiencies were negative for rivalta. Coronavirus antigen could be demonstrated by immunofluorescence in 34 of 49 body effusions caused by FIP, whereas in the 50 body effusions caused by other diseases no coronavirus antigen was detected. An albumin globulin ratio of < 0.6 was highly diagnostic for an inflammatory process, nearly exclusively for FIP. An albumin globulin ratio of > or = 0.8 almost excluded FIP. Only a negative or very high (1:1600) FIP titer could contribute to confirm diagnosis. Low and medium titers, however, should not be interpreted.

Mandibular form and position in 10-year-old boys.

It is unclear whether malocclusion characterized by jaw discrepancy is caused by variations in mandibular position, mandibular size, or a combination of the two. To clarify the situation, the mandibular outlines of 124 10-year-old boys, equally divided among the Angle classes, were generated from cephalograms with a computer plotting technique. The mean plots for each of the groups were superimposed on S-N and Go-Gn. These showed mandibular form and size to be similar in the Class I and Class III groups and in both divisions of Class II. The position of Class III mandibles was more anterior and rotated forward in relation to the cranial base compared with the other groups. Statistical analysis confirmed these findings. There was evidence to support the idea that Class II, Division 2 malocclusion is largely a dentoalveolar rather than a skeletal entity.

High throughput grating VUV filter for the measurement of weak spectral lines in the presence of monochromatic background.

The design and characteristics of an optical filter using a holographic grating in combination with a multiple entrance and exit slit arrangement are described. The instrument transmits VUV radiation at Ar(I) 106.6 nm and Kr(I) 123.6 nm while excluding the hydrogen Lyman-alpha at 121.6 nm. The transmission at 123.6 nm is approximately 10%, if averaged over the circular entrance aperture of 28-mm diameter without correcting for the blocking by the masks. The corresponding transmission at 121.6 nm is 0.0001 or less. The concept with selective blocking of one wavelength and transmission at another using a multiple slit arrangement is transferable to any line pair. The 123.6-nm grating efficiency has been assessed as 37%.

Effects of lindane treatment on drug metabolizing enzymes and liver weight of CF1 mice in which it evoked hepatomas and in non-susceptible rodents.

In CF1 mice lindane treatment led to a significant increase in liver tumor incidence whilst in Osborne-Mendel rats it was not carcinogenic. Although somewhat less clear, the test in B6C3F1 mice led to the conclusion that under the conditions of the bioassay lindane was not carcinogenic for this strain. In this study, the specific activities of some enzymes which are thought to be involved in the metabolism of lindane were studied in these different strains in order to investigate whether differences exist in the activities of these enzymes. Because the enzyme pattern may change after lindane treatment during the carcinogenicity studies, we also investigated the enzyme activities in animals treated for 3 days or 3 months with various doses of lindane. The influence of lindane treatment on the relative liver weight was also determined. B6C3F1 mice showed no increase in absolute or relative liver weight even after 3 months of treatment with the highest tolerated dose of lindane. However, in the susceptible CF1 strain lindane led to a large increase of the absolute and relative liver weight in both sexes, whilst a smaller increase was observed in Osborne-Mendel rats. Basal glutathione-S-transferase activity was higher in males than in females in all three strains, bearing no apparent relationship to susceptibility for tumor formation. However, after treatment with the highest dose of lindane a 5-6-fold induction of this enzyme activity was observed in female CF1 mice, which then together with the male CF1 mice had a higher glutathione-S-transferase activity than untreated and treated B6C3F1 mice and Osborne-Mendel rats. Whether lindane or one of its metabolites is activated by conjugation with glutathione remains to be established. After treatment of the animals with high doses of lindane detergent-treated rat liver microsomes showed a higher UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activity than mouse liver microsomes. This high activity could lead to a rapid conjugation of phenols derived from lindane. The most striking difference observed in this study was the fact that together with the larger increase in absolute and relative liver weight, untreated and treated CF1 mice showed higher monooxygenase activity and, after treatment with lindane, lower epoxide hydrolase activity than rats. Whether the high monooxygenase and rather low epoxide hydrolase activity will lead to an accumulation of reactive epoxides derived from lindane remains to be clarified.