Causal Agent Investigation and Treatment of Dogs Diagnosed with Discospondylitis in a Endemic Region.

Discospondylitis is a well-recognized disease in dogs, but the relative prevalence of causal infectious agents and efficiency of relevant diagnostic tests are not well-established. Medical record review identified 117 dogs diagnosed with discospondylitis in our clinic over a 5-year period. In 32 dogs, discospondylitis was diagnosed as an incidental imaging finding; 24 of these dogs had concomitant neoplasia.

Do incoming residents vary in measures of emotional status even prior to residency training?

Objectives: To determine whether Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Burnout scores differ by specialty in incoming residents.

Methods: This is a single-site, prospective, cross-sectional study. Three validated survey instruments, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Emotional and Social Competency Inventory, were written into a survey platform as a single 125-question Qualtrics survey.

Greater aortic inflammation and calcification in abdominal aortic aneurysmal disease than atherosclerosis: a prospective matched cohort study.

Objective: Using combined positron emission tomography and CT (PET-CT), we measured aortic inflammation and calcification in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), and compared them with matched controls with atherosclerosis.

Methods: We prospectively recruited 63 patients (mean age 76.1±6.

Real-world Effectiveness and Safety of Vedolizumab for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The Scottish Vedolizumab Cohort.

Background & Aims: Vedolizumab is an anti-a4b7 monoclonal antibody that is licensed for the treatment of moderate to severe Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The aims of this study were to establish the real-world effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Methods: This was a retrospective study involving seven NHS health boards in Scotland between June 2015 and November 2017.

The currency, completeness and quality of systematic reviews of acute management of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: A comprehensive evidence map.

Objective: To appraise the currency, completeness and quality of evidence from systematic reviews (SRs) of acute management of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: We conducted comprehensive searches to March 2016 for published, English-language SRs and RCTs of acute management of moderate to severe TBI. Systematic reviews and RCTs were grouped under 12 broad intervention categories.

Genetic Influences on Patient-Oriented Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Living Systematic Review of Non-Apolipoprotein E Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms.

There is a growing literature on the impact of genetic variation on outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Whereas a substantial proportion of these publications have focused on the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, several have explored the influence of other polymorphisms. We undertook a systematic review of the impact of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in non-apolipoprotein E (non-APOE) genes associated with patient outcomes in adult TBI).

Blood-Based Protein Biomarkers for the Management of Traumatic Brain Injuries in Adults Presenting to Emergency Departments with Mild Brain Injury: A Living Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Accurate diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is critical to effective management and intervention, but can be challenging in patients with mild TBI. A substantial number of studies have reported the use of circulating biomarkers as signatures for TBI, capable of improving diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision making beyond current practice standards. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to comprehensively and critically evaluate the existing body of evidence for the use of blood protein biomarkers (S100 calcium binding protein B [S100B], glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], neuron specific enolase [NSE], ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 [UCH-L1].

Quality Early Education and Child Care From Birth to Kindergarten.

High-quality early education and child care for young children improves physical and cognitive outcomes for the children and can result in enhanced school readiness. Preschool education can be viewed as an investment (especially for at-risk children), and studies show a positive return on that investment. Barriers to high-quality early childhood education include inadequate funding and staff education as well as variable regulation and enforcement.

Biphasic appearance of corticated and decorticated ascarid egg shedding in untreated horse foals.

Parascaris spp. infects foals worldwide and may cause airway inflammation in addition to small intestinal impaction and rupture. It is observed that acquired immunity eliminates ascarid burdens beginning at about 6 months of age, and current evidence suggests that a single parasite generation propagates in each foal crop.

An ultrasonographic scoring method for transabdominal monitoring of ascarid burdens in foals.

Reasons For Performing Study: Parascaris spp. infections can lead to life-threatening small intestinal impactions in foals. Currently available diagnostic techniques cannot estimate the magnitude of an ascarid burden, and hence identify foals potentially at risk of developing impactions.

Taxane-containing regimens for metastatic breast cancer.

Background: It is generally accepted that taxanes are among the most active chemotherapy agents in the management of metastatic breast cancer. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2003.

Objectives: The objective of this review was to compare taxane-containing chemotherapy regimens with regimens not containing a taxane in the management of women with metastatic breast cancer.

Extraordinary hydrogen evolution and oxidation reaction activity from carbon nanotubes and graphitic carbons.

The hydrogen evolution reaction, 2H(+) + 2e(–) → H2, and its converse, the hydrogen oxidation reaction, H2 → 2H(+) + 2e(–), are central to any realization of a hydrogen economy. Various forms of carbon have been used for decades as the precious metal catalyst support in these reactions. Here we report the unexpected result that single-wall carbon nanotubes and some graphitic carbons, activated by brief exposure to electrochemical potentials that induce hydrogen evolution in intercalating acids combined with extended soak times in such acids, acquire an activity for these reactions that exceeds that of known nonprecious metal catalysts.

Improved transfer of graphene for gated Schottky-junction, vertical, organic, field-effect transistors.

An improved process for graphene transfer was used to demonstrate high performance graphene enabled vertical organic field effect transistors (G-VFETs). The process reduces disorder and eliminates the polymeric residue that typically plagues transferred films. The method also allows for purposely creating pores in the graphene of a controlled areal density.

All the dope on nanotube films.

Transparent, conducting, nanotube thin films have shown promise in a number of applications, the range of which has just been increased significantly. Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have done much in recent years to advance the understanding and application of these films. In this issue of ACS Nano, Blackburn and colleagues report their study of the doping power of n-type charge transfer donor dopants, finding that hydrazine effects n-type doping approximately comparable in strength to the p-type doping induced by nitric acid.

Low-voltage, low-power, organic light-emitting transistors for active matrix displays.

Intrinsic nonuniformity in the polycrystalline-silicon backplane transistors of active matrix organic light-emitting diode displays severely limits display size. Organic semiconductors might provide an alternative, but their mobility remains too low to be useful in the conventional thin-film transistor design. Here we demonstrate an organic channel light-emitting transistor operating at low voltage, with low power dissipation, and high aperture ratio, in the three primary colors.

Color purity in polymer electrochromic window devices on indium-tin oxide and single-walled carbon nanotube electrodes.

Dual polymer absorptive/transmissive electrochromic (EC) window devices have been assembled using the solution-processable and high-EC-contrast polymer PProDOT-(CH(2)OEtHx)(2) as the EC material, along with a non-color-changing electroactive polymer, poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy-4-yl methacrylate) (PTMA), as the counter electrode material. Indium-tin oxide (ITO) and highly transmissive single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) film coated glass electrodes are used as electrode substrates. The use of the EC/non-color-changing polymer combination allowed us to construct window devices that rapidly switch between magenta and highly transmissive (>95% T for ITO and approximately 79% T for SWNT) states with large optical modulation (>71% DeltaT for ITO and 66% DeltaT for SWNT).

An epidemic of illicit fentanyl deaths in Cook County, Illinois: September 2005 through April 2007.

Between September 2005 and April 2007, 350 fentanyl intoxication deaths were investigated and certified by the Cook County Medical Examiners Office. Investigations revealed that the majority of these fatalities were by intravenous injection of a white powder followed by a rapid collapse. The fentanyl was clandestinely produced in a lab in Toluca, Mexico and sold by the Mickey Cobra street gang.

Role for CD21 in the establishment of an extracellular HIV reservoir in lymphoid tissues.

Follicular dendritic cells (FDC) represent a major extracellular reservoir for HIV. A better understanding of the mechanisms of virion attachment to FDC may offer new avenues for reducing viral burdens in infected individuals. We used a murine model to investigate the establishment of extracellular HIV reservoirs in lymph nodes (LN).

Taxane containing regimens for metastatic breast cancer.

Background: It is generally accepted that taxanes are among the most active chemotherapy agents in the management of metastatic breast cancer.

Objectives: To identify and review the randomised evidence comparing taxane containing chemotherapy regimens with regimens not containing a taxane in the management of women with metastatic breast cancer.

Search Strategy: The specialised register maintained by the Editorial Base of the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group was searched on 2nd May 2003 using the codes for "advanced breast cancer", "chemotherapy".

Compromised B cell responses to influenza vaccination in HIV-infected individuals.

Background: Yearly influenza vaccination, although recommended for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, has not received thorough evaluation in the era of antiretroviral therapy. We assessed the impact of HIV disease on B cell responses to influenza vaccination.

Methods: Sixty-four HIV-infected and 17 HIV-negative individuals received the 2003-2004 trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine.

The development of the Indian vision function questionnaire: questionnaire content.

Aim: To elicit problem statements describing the consequences of vision impairment as a first step towards the development of a vision related quality of life instrument for use in India

Methods: 46 focus groups were conducted in three regions of India. Separate focus groups were held for men and women and according to disease categories: cataract (24), glaucoma (six), diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration (10), and "mixed low vision" (six). Facilitators followed a topic guide and sessions were audio taped and transcribed.

Decreased survival of B cells of HIV-viremic patients mediated by altered expression of receptors of the TNF superfamily.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to numerous perturbations of B cells through mechanisms that remain elusive. We performed DNA microarray, phenotypic, and functional analyses in an effort to elucidate mechanisms of B cell perturbation associated with ongoing HIV replication. 42 genes were up-regulated in B cells of HIV-viremic patients when compared with HIV-aviremic and HIV-negative patients, the majority of which were interferon (IFN)-stimulated or associated with terminal differentiation.

Decreased survival of B cells of HIV-viremic patients mediated by altered expression of receptors of the TNF superfamily.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to numerous perturbations of B cells through mechanisms that remain elusive. We performed DNA microarray, phenotypic, and functional analyses in an effort to elucidate mechanisms of B cell perturbation associated with ongoing HIV replication. 42 genes were up-regulated in B cells of HIV-viremic patients when compared with HIV-aviremic and HIV-negative patients, the majority of which were interferon (IFN)-stimulated or associated with terminal differentiation.

Taxane containing regimens for metastatic breast cancer.

Background: It is generally accepted that taxanes are among the most active chemotherapy agents in the management of metastatic breast cancer.

Objectives: To identify and review the randomised evidence comparing taxane containing chemotherapy regimens with regimens not containing a taxane in the management of women with metastatic breast cancer.

Search Strategy: The specialised register maintained by the Editorial Base of the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group was searched on 2nd May 2003 using the codes for "advanced breast cancer", "chemotherapy".