Barriers to vaccine use in small ruminants and poultry in Tanzania.

Vaccination is an important disease prevention and control measure; however, vaccine adoption by livestock farmers in Tanzania is still low. This cross-sectional study examined the challenges to vaccine use faced by livestock owners and animal health professionals (AHPs) in Tanzania. A questionnaire was administered to 216 households that kept small ruminants and poultry and 19 AHPs' data were collected electronically via the survey platform Qualtrics, and descriptive statistics were performed.

Prediction of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation From Complexity Analysis of the Sinus Rhythm ECG: A Retrospective Case/Control Pilot Study.

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, conveying a stroke risk comparable to persistent AF. It poses a significant diagnostic challenge given its intermittency and potential brevity, and absence of symptoms in most patients. This pilot study introduces a novel biomarker for early PAF detection, based upon analysis of sinus rhythm ECG waveform complexity.

ECG Restitution Analysis and Machine Learning to Detect Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Insight from the Equine Athlete as a Model for Human Athletes.

Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent arrhythmia in both equine and human athletes. Currently, this condition is diagnosed via electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring which lacks sensitivity in about half of cases when it presents in paroxysmal form. We investigated whether the arrhythmogenic substrate present between the episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) can be detected using restitution analysis of normal sinus-rhythm ECGs.

The complexity of clinically-normal sinus-rhythm ECGs is decreased in equine athletes with a diagnosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Equine athletes have a pattern of exercise which is analogous to human athletes and the cardiovascular risks in both species are similar. Both species have a propensity for atrial fibrillation (AF), which is challenging to detect by ECG analysis when in paroxysmal form. We hypothesised that the proarrhythmic background present between fibrillation episodes in paroxysmal AF (PAF) might be detectable by complexity analysis of apparently normal sinus-rhythm ECGs.

The application of Lempel-Ziv and Titchener complexity analysis for equine telemetric electrocardiographic recordings.

The analysis of equine electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings is complicated by the absence of agreed abnormality classification criteria. We explore the applicability of several complexity analysis methods for characterization of non-linear aspects of electrocardiographic recordings. We here show that complexity estimates provided by Lempel-Ziv '76, Titchener's T-complexity and Lempel-Ziv '78 analysis of ECG recordings of healthy Thoroughbred horses are highly dependent on the duration of analysed ECG fragments and the heart rate.

Diagnosing Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Are Biomarkers the Solution to This Elusive Arrhythmia?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest sustained arrhythmia globally and results in significantly increased morbidity and mortality including a fivefold risk of stroke. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) constitutes approximately half of all AF cases and is thought to represent an early stage of the disease. This intermittent form of atrial arrhythmia can be a challenge to identify and as a result many affected individuals are not prescribed appropriate antithrombotic therapy and hence are at risk of stroke and thromboembolism.

Characterization of recombinant hERG K(+) channel inhibition by the active metabolite of amiodarone desethyl-amiodarone.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of desethyl-amiodarone (DEA), the major metabolite of the class III antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone, on human ether-à-go-go-related gene (hERG) encoded potassium channel current.

Materials And Methods: Whole-cell patch clamp recordings were made at 37 degrees C of ionic current (I(hERG)) carried by recombinant hERG channels expressed in HEK-293 cells.

Results: Desethyl-amiodarone inhibited I(hERG) with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of approximately 158 nmol/L, compared with approximately 47 nmol/L for amiodarone.

Suppression of TRPC3 leads to disappearance of store-operated channels and formation of a new type of store-independent channels in A431 cells.

In most non-excitable cells, calcium (Ca(2+)) release from the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP(3))-sensitive intracellular Ca(2+) stores is coupled to Ca(2+) influx through the plasma membrane Ca(2+) channels whose molecular composition is poorly understood. Several members of mammalian TRP-related protein family have been implicated to both receptor- and store-operated Ca(2+) influx. Here we investigated the role of the native transient receptor potential 3 (TRPC3) homologue in mediating the store- and receptor-operated calcium entry in A431 cells.

Functional properties of endogenous receptor- and store-operated calcium influx channels in HEK293 cells.

Activation of phospholipase C (PLC)-mediated signaling pathways in non-excitable cells causes the release of calcium (Ca2+) from inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores and activation of Ca2+ influx via plasma membrane Ca2+ channels. The properties and molecular identity of plasma membrane Ca2+ influx channels in non-excitable cells is a focus of intense investigation. In the previous studies we used patch clamp electrophysiology to describe the properties of Ca2+ influx channels in human carcinoma A431 cell lines.

Plasma membrane calcium channels in human carcinoma A431 cells are functionally coupled to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor-phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate complexes.

In most nonexcitable cells, calcium (Ca(2+)) release from inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP(3))-sensitive intracellular Ca(2+) stores is coupled to Ca(2+) influx (calcium release-activated channels (I(CRAC))) pathway. Despite intense investigation, the molecular identity of I(CRAC) and the mechanism of its activation remain poorly understood. InsP(3)-dependent miniature calcium channels (I(min)) display functional properties characteristic for I(CRAC).

Association of some potential hormone response elements in human genes with the Alu family repeats.

Short interspersed repeats of the Alu family located in promoters of some human genes contain high-affinity binding sites for thyroid hormone receptor, retinoic acid receptor and estrogen receptor. The standard binding sites for the receptors represent variants of duplicated AGGTCA motif with different spacing and orientation (direct, DR, or inverted, IR), and Alu sequences were found to have functional DR-4, DR-2 or variant IR-3/IR-17 elements. In this study we analyzed distribution and abundance of the elements in a set of human genomic sequences from GenBank and their association with Alu repeats.

Regulation of the miniature plasma membrane Ca(2+) channel I(min) by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors.

I(min) is a plasma membrane-located, Ca(2+)-selective channel that is activated by store depletion and regulated by inositol 1,4, 5-trisphosphate (IP(3)). In the present work we examined the coupling between I(min) and IP(3) receptors in excised plasma membrane patches from A431 cells. I(min) was recorded in cell-attached mode and the patches were excised into medium containing IP(3).