The Relationship between Systemic Racism, Residential Segregation, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Deaths in the United States.

Introduction: Although Black Americans are not substantially more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19, hospitalization rates and death rates are considerably higher than for White Americans. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between systemic racism generally, and residential segregation in particular, and racial/ethnic disparities in deaths due to COVID-19.

Methods: To assess racial disparities in COVID-19 and systemic racism in US states, we calculated descriptive statistics and bivariate Pearson correlations.

Costs, Evidence, Context and Values: Journalists' and Policy Experts' Recommendations for U.S. Health Policy Coverage.

Health policy plays a critical role in determining a state's or nation's overall population health, and health system change has been a priority for a majority of Americans for at least a decade. News coverage can influence health policy development, but little research has examined the quality of that coverage, in part because no consensus exists regarding what information health policy stories should include. This paper describes a series of in-depth interviews with eight health policy experts and 12 experienced journalists who have covered health policy.

Further studies of neuroangiostrongyliasis (rat lungworm disease) in Australian dogs: 92 new cases (2010-2020) and results for a novel, highly sensitive qPCR assay.

The principal aim of this study was to optimize the diagnosis of canine neuroangiostrongyliasis (NA). In total, 92 cases were seen between 2010 and 2020. Dogs were aged from 7 weeks to 14 years (median 5 months), with 73/90 (81%) less than 6 months and 1.

One Step Forward, One Step Back: Changes in News Coverage of Medical Interventions.

During 2005-2013, the award-winning website HealthNewsReview.org offered reviews of major media outlets' news stories related to health interventions, including tests, treatments, dietary changes, and prescription drugs. The reviews offered a measure by which the public and journalists themselves could assess the completeness and usefulness of health coverage across 10 criteria for quality reporting.

Assessing U.S. Health Journalists' Beliefs About Medical Overtreatment and the Impact of Related News Coverage.

The United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world, but often experiences poorer health outcomes and lower patient satisfaction than other developed countries. One possible explanation for this paradox is overtreatment, the use of medical tests and treatment for which harms outweigh benefits. Because journalists play a key role in informing people about the health care system, including issues such as overtreatment, it is important to understand how they define the issue and its importance.

Differentiation between dogs with thrombosis and normal dogs using the overall hemostasis potential assay.

Objective: To determine whether the overall hemostasis potential (OHP) and calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) were significantly different between dogs with thrombosis and normal dogs.

Animals: Ten dogs with clinical evidence of thromboembolic disease had both OHP and CAT performed. Forty healthy control dogs had OHP performed, and 23 of these also had CAT performed.

Bronchial stent placement in a dog with bronchomalacia and left atrial enlargement.

A 13-year-old neutered male Maltese was referred for paroxysms of coughing and cyanosis, with radiographic evidence of bronchial disease and cardiomegaly. Investigation with echocardiography, bronchoscopy, fluoroscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage led to a diagnosis of myxomatous mitral valve degeneration with insufficiency, ISACHC class II heart failure and bronchomalacia with severe left mainstem bronchial collapse. Persistence of intractable cough despite medical therapy prompted placement of a stent in the left mainstem bronchus.

Evaluation and modification of the overall hemostasis potential assay for use with canine plasma.

Objective: To optimize the overall hemostasis potential (OHP) assay for use with canine platelet-poor plasma and determine reference intervals in healthy dogs.

Animals: 40 healthy dogs.

Procedures: Blood was collected from the dogs into citrated tubes, and platlet-poor plasma was obtained.

Competing with the conventional wisdom: newspaper framing of medical overtreatment.

Overtreatment, defined as the use of medical tests, products, and services that are not medically necessary or beneficial to the patient, may account for as much as 30% of all U.S. health care expenditures.

Regulatory light chain phosphorylation and N-terminal extension increase cross-bridge binding and power output in Drosophila at in vivo myofilament lattice spacing.

The N-terminal extension and phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) independently improve Drosophila melanogaster flight performance. Here we examine the functional and structural role of the RLC in chemically skinned fibers at various thick and thin filament lattice spacings from four transgenic Drosophila lines: rescued null or control (Dmlc2(+)), truncated N-terminal extension (Dmlc2(Δ2-46)), disrupted myosin light chain kinase phosphorylation sites (Dmlc2(S66A,S67A)), and dual mutant (Dmlc2(Δ2-46; S66A,S67A)). The N-terminal extension truncation and phosphorylation sites disruption mutations decreased oscillatory power output and the frequency of maximum power output in maximally Ca(2+)-activated fibers compressed to near in vivo inter-thick filament spacing, with the phosphorylation sites disruption mutation having a larger affect.

Chronic heart failure decreases cross-bridge kinetics in single skeletal muscle fibres from humans.

Skeletal muscle function is impaired in heart failure patients due, in part, to loss of myofibrillar protein content, in particular myosin. In the present study, we utilized small-amplitude sinusoidal analysis for the first time in single human skeletal muscle fibres to measure muscle mechanics, including cross-bridge kinetics, to determine if heart failure further impairs contractile performance by altering myofibrillar protein function. Patients with chronic heart failure (n = 9) and controls (n = 6) were recruited of similar age and physical activity to diminish the potentially confounding effects of ageing and muscle disuse.

Alternative S2 hinge regions of the myosin rod affect myofibrillar structure and myosin kinetics.

The subfragment 2/light meromyosin "hinge" region has been proposed to significantly contribute to muscle contraction force and/or speed. Transgenic replacement of the endogenous fast muscle isovariant hinge A (exon 15a) in Drosophila melanogaster indirect flight muscle with the slow muscle hinge B (exon 15b) allows examination of the structural and functional changes when only this region of the myosin molecule is different. Hinge B was previously shown to increase myosin rod length, increase A-band and sarcomere length, and decrease flight performance compared to hinge A.

Aging enhances indirect flight muscle fiber performance yet decreases flight ability in Drosophila.

We investigated the effects of aging on Drosophila melanogaster indirect flight muscle from the whole organism to the actomyosin cross-bridge. Median-aged (49-day-old) flies were flight impaired, had normal myofilament number and packing, barely longer sarcomeres, and slight mitochondrial deterioration compared with young (3-day-old) flies. Old (56-day-old) flies were unable to beat their wings, had deteriorated ultrastructure with severe mitochondrial damage, and their skinned fibers failed to activate with calcium.

Sensitivity analysis and evaluation of MicroFacPM: a microscale motor vehicle emission factor model for particulate matter emissions.

A microscale emission factor model (MicroFacPM) for predicting real-time site-specific motor vehicle particulate matter emissions was presented in the companion paper titled "Development of a Microscale Emission Factor Model for Particulate Matter (MicroFacPM) for Predicting Real-Time Motor Vehicle Emissions". The emission rates discussed are in mass per unit distance with the model providing estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter.

An alternative domain near the ATP binding pocket of Drosophila myosin affects muscle fiber kinetics.

We examined the importance of alternative versions of a region near the ATP binding site of Drosophila myosin heavy chain for muscle mechanical properties. Previously, we exchanged two versions of this region (encoded by alternative exon 7s) between the indirect flight muscle myosin isoform (IFI) and an embryonic myosin isoform (EMB) and found, surprisingly, that in vitro solution actin-activated ATPase rates were increased (higher Vmax) by both exon exchanges. Here we examined the effect of increased ATPase rate on indirect flight muscle (IFM) fiber mechanics and Drosophila locomotion.

Congenital portosystemic shunts in dogs and cats.

Congenital portosystemic shunts (PPS) are abnormal vascular communications that allow blood from the intestine to bypass the liver, and are classified as intrahepatic or extrahepatic. Clinical signs are generally related to the nervous, gastrointestinal or urinary systems, and are often vague. In addition, changes present on routine blood analysis are often mild and non-specific.

Diagnosis of feline haemoplasma infection in Australian cats using a real-time PCR assay.

A total of 147 cats from the Sydney area of Australia that had blood samples submitted to veterinary laboratories were tested using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay able to detect and distinguish the two feline haemoplasma species. This sample number included two cats diagnosed with feline haemoplasma infection by routine blood smear examination. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate associations between haemoplasma infection, age, sex, breed, haematocrit (HCT) values and anaemia status.

Inefficacy of selegiline in treatment of canine pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.

Objective: To evaluate selegiline, a monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor, for treating dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.

Design: Prospective clinical trial using client-owned dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism treated at The University Veterinary Centre, Sydney, from September 1999 to July 2001.

Procedure: Eleven dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism treated with selegiline were monitored at days 10, 30 and 90 by clinical examination, tetracosactrin stimulation testing, urinary corticoid:creatinine ratio measurement and client questionnaire.

A retrospective analysis of feline bronchoalveolar lavage cytology and microbiology (1995-2000).

A retrospective study of 88 bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from 80 cats presenting to the University of Sydney Veterinary Centre between 1995 and 2000 was performed. Bronchoalveolar lavage cytology and microbiology in conjunction with other diagnostic aids and patient records were used to classify cases as lower respiratory tract infections (LTRIs), LRTI revisits, feline bronchial disease, cardiac disease, neoplastic disease and multisystemic disease. Cases for which a definitive diagnosis could not be made were classified as inconclusive.

The use of real-time PCR in the diagnosis and monitoring of Mycoplasma haemofelis copy number in a naturally infected cat.

A 5-year-old male neutered cat was diagnosed with severe anaemia due to acute Mycoplasma haemofelis infection. Inflammatory respiratory disease was present concurrently. The cat was treated successfully using a fresh transfusion of whole blood and a 6 week course of doxycycline.

Trilostane treatment in dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of trilostane in treating dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.

Design: Prospective clinical trial using client-owned dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism treated at University Veterinary Centre, Sydney from September 1999 to July 2001.

Procedure: Thirty dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism treated with trilostane, a competitive inhibitor of 3beta-HSD, were monitored at days 10, 30 and 90 then 3-monthly by clinical examination, tetracosactrin stimulation testing, urinary corticoid:creatinine ratio measurement and by client questionnaire.