(C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“There are several reports suggesting that genetic factors contribute to the severity of infection with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Infants hospitalized

with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) due to RSV are at a significantly increased risk for both recurrent wheezing and childhood asthma. Uteroglobin-related protein 1 (UGRP1) is a secretory protein expressed in the airways, and speculated to have anti-inflammatory activity. The presence of the -112G/A polymorphism in the UGRP1 promoter was found to have a significant correlation with asthma phenotype. Also plasma UGRP1 levels were shown to be associated both with this polymorphism and the Raf inhibitor severity of asthma. The study population consisted

of 62 previously healthy infants, <= 12 months learn more of age, who were hospitalized with RSV LRTI, and a control group of 99 healthy adults. Genotyping was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism. UGRP1 serum levels were determined using ELISA. There were no significant differences in the overall distribution of UGRP1 -112G/A polymorphism genotypes or alleles between the hospitalized infants and healthy adults. A comparison of serum UGRP1 concentration measured at the time of admission and discharge between patients with and without the -112A allele revealed that there was no relation between the presence of the -112A allele and serum UGRP1 in hospitalized infants with RSV infection. Furthermore, there was no relationship between severity of RSV infection and genotype or serum UGRP1 concentration. These results suggest that UGRP1 does not have a major role in the development of severe RSV infection. J. Med. Virol. 83:1086-1092, 2011. (C) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.”
“Ito T, Ostry DJ. Speech sounds alter facial skin sensation. J Neurophysiol Apoptosis inhibitor 107: 442-447, 2012. First published October 19, 2011; doi:10.1152/jn.00029.2011.-Interactions between auditory and

somatosensory information are relevant to the neural processing of speech since speech processes and certainly speech production involves both auditory information and inputs that arise from the muscles and tissues of the vocal tract. We previously demonstrated that somatosensory inputs associated with facial skin deformation alter the perceptual processing of speech sounds. We show here that the reverse is also true, that speech sounds alter the perception of facial somatosensory inputs. As a somatosensory task, we used a robotic device to create patterns of facial skin deformation that would normally accompany speech production. We found that the perception of the facial skin deformation was altered by speech sounds in a manner that reflects the way in which auditory and somatosensory effects are linked in speech production. The modulation of orofacial somatosensory processing by auditory inputs was specific to speech and likewise to facial skin deformation.