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Prenatal alcohol exposure has a broad range of adverse effects on placental development and function. Additional research on placental development from populations with heavy alcohol exposure should be encouraged. A tissue bank of placentas with detailed assessment of exposure to alcohol, smoking and other relevant data should be considered as a repository to support additional research.

Mortality rates for FASD cases and their siblings were increased and represent a substantial proportion of all cause mortality in North Dakota. Prevention of FASD may be a useful strategy to decrease mortality.

Abrogation of Ron receptor tyrosine kinase function results in defects in macrophage activation and dysregulated acute inflammatory responses in vivo. Several naturally occurring constitutively active alternative forms of Ron have been identified, including from primary human tumors and tumor cell lines. One of these alternative forms, short-form (SF) Ron, is generated from an alternative start site in intron 10 of the Ron gene that eliminates most of the extracellular portion of the receptor and is overexpressed in several human cancers. To test the physiological significance of SF-Ron in vivo, mice were generated that solely express the full-length form of Ron (FL-Ron). Our results show that elimination of the capacity to express SF-Ron in vivo leads to augmented production of IFN-␥ from splenocytes following stimulation ex vivo with either concanavalin A or anti-CD3/T cell receptor monoclonal antibody. Moreover, in a concanavalin A-induced murine model of acute liver injury, FL-Ron mice have increased production of serum INF-␥ and serum alanine aminotransferase levels and worsened liver histology and overall survival compared with wild-type control mice. Taken together, these results suggest for the first time that SF-Ron impacts the progression of inflammatory immune responses in vivo and further support a role for the Ron receptor and its various forms in liver pathophysiology.receptor tyrosine kinases; regulation of cytokine production; animal models of liver injury RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASES (RTK) play a critical role in multiple biological functions including immune system regulation. The Ron receptor is a member of a distinct family of multifunctional RTKs that also includes c-Met. Activation of Ron and Met results in pleiotropic biological responses, including a set of properties allowing cells to undergo "invasive growth" (4, 13, 33). In addition, Ron receptor activity is critical for proper modulation of inflammatory responses to toxic insults in vivo, including the necroinflammatory hepatic injury in an endotoxin-mediated murine model of acute liver failure (5,11,12,27).When mouse Ron (mRon) cDNA was cloned from hematopoietic stem cells, an alternative 1.9-kb short-form Ron (SF-Ron) transcript was identified in addition to the 4.8-kb full-length Ron (FL-Ron) mRNA transcript (9). SF-Ron is expressed in human lung, ovary, and tissues of the gastrointestinal tract and several human cancers and cancer cell lines; however, the tissue-specific expression of SF-Ron has not been fully characterized (1,7,9,22). The transcription start site for SF-Ron mRNA has been localized to intron 10 of the mRon gene (21, 30), and SF-Ron mRNA encodes a truncated Ron protein that possesses a truncated extracellular domain and the entire transmembrane and cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase domains. SF-Ron displays constitutive tyrosine kinase activity (1, 6), and overexpression of SF-Ron results in loss of an epithelial phenotype and aggressive cell behavior (1). Moreover, mouse strains that express SF-Ron transcript in adult bone ...

Background Tinea capitis is a common pediatric dermatophyte infection. Its main pathogen in the United States is Trichophyton tonsurans accounting for greater than 95% of the infections. Other pathogens including Trichophyton violaceum and Trichophyton soudanense are common in Africa. Although rare in the United States, their prevalence is increasing, possibly because of immigration patterns. We evaluated the demographic characteristics, treatments, and resolution among pediatric patients with T. violaceum and T. soudanense infections. Methods Retrospective chart review of patients from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, United States, with cultures positive for T. violaceum and T. soudanense from 1997 to 2014. Age at presentation, ethnic background, date and location of culture, and treatment were extracted. Results In total, 81 children (age <18 years) were identified as positive for T. violaceum and T. soudanense (mean [range] age, 6.0 [1-17] years). Race/ethnicity of 67 patients (82.7%) was African; four, African-American; three, white; two, Asian; and five, unknown. After culture identification, 64 patients (79.0%) received griseofulvin; five, terbinafine; and three, itraconazole; nine patients had no documented oral antifungal therapy. Of 28 patients not lost to follow-up, median time to clinical cure was 2.3 months (interquartile range, 2.8 months).