BackgroundAdenoviruses are the second most prevalent cause of acute lower respiratory infection of viral origin in children under four years of age in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical features and outcome of acute lower respiratory infection associated with different adenovirus genotypes in children.MethodsTwenty-four cases of acute lower respiratory infection and adenovirus diagnosis reported in a pediatric unit during a two-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Adenovirus was detected by antigen detection and isolation in HEp-2 cells. Adenovirus DNA from 17 isolates was studied by restriction enzyme analysis with Bam HI and Sma I.ResultsSubgenus b was found in 82.3% of the cases, and subgenus c in 17.7%. Within subgenus b, only genotype 7 was detected, with genomic variant 7h in 85.7% (12/14) and genomic variant 7i in 14.3% (2/14).Mean age was 8.8 ±; 6 months, and male to female ratio was 3.8: 1. At admission, pneumonia was observed in 71% of the cases and bronchiolitis in 29%. Malnutrition occurred in 37% of the cases; tachypnea in 79%; chest indrawing in 66%; wheezing in 58%; apneas in 16%; and conjunctivitis in 29%. Blood cultures for bacteria and antigen detection of other respiratory viruses were negative.During hospitalization, fatality rate was 16.7% (4 /24). Of the patients who died, three had Ad 7h and one Ad 7i. Thus, fatality rate for adenovirus type 7 reached 28.6% (4/14).ConclusionsThese results show the predominance of adenovirus 7 and high lethality associated with the genomic variants 7h and 7i in children hospitalized with acute lower respiratory infection.

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Critical fusion frequencies have been evaluated in heterochromatic red-green flicker as a function of red-green luminous modulation defined by mL = (R-G)/(R+G)%, at five different mean luminance levels, two test sizes (2 degrees and 5 degrees) and square wave stimuli. The extreme values mL = +/- 100 correspond to ordinary light-dark flicker (red or green); mL = 0 corresponds to pure chromatic flicker, and any other values correspond to simultaneous luminous and chromatic flicker. To implement the stimuli we have developed a new stimuli generator (AVICO, colour vision analyser) using bicolour LEDs as the light source and electronic control of the luminances and frequencies. The results for any luminance level and both test sizes show a minimum critical fusion frequency in the case of pure chromatic flicker (photometric match condition) and a critical fusion frequency which is slightly higher in the green extreme (mL = -100) than in the red (mL = +100). The shape of the variation between the minimum and the extremes is consistent with the results recently reported by Swanson and the theoretical models for the luminance channel response to heterochromatic flicker.

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Access to the world's cultures through the media, and the preservation of cultural products in the frame of changes and migrations, present both benefits and challenges to musicians and educators. The author notes the effects of media coverage of a cultural phenomenon as typically selective, incomplete, inaccurate, and distorted by the producers, and advises that "the owners" of culture be consulted for a valid representation or image of themselves. She draws on local examples of Latin American music genres, blends of indigenous, European, and African expressions, to argue the need by teachers to recognize that no tradition remains identical in time, that cultural fusion is inevitable, and that it is the responsibility of the musical and educational communities to be present a realistic representation of a musical culture, including its roots and transformations.