Air Sac Cystadenoma in a Pet Chicken.

A 2-yr-old female Brahma chicken was presented to the Poultry Mobile Clinic of the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University with a 3-wk onset of a wet sneeze that progressed to wheezing with a whistle-type sound. Upon observation, a cyst was found above the left clavicle in the area around the crop. The bird was euthanatized due to the progressive and chronic nature of the symptoms.

AttentionPert: accurately modeling multiplexed genetic perturbations with multi-scale effects.

Motivation: Genetic perturbations (e.g. knockouts, variants) have laid the foundation for our understanding of many diseases, implicating pathogenic mechanisms and indicating therapeutic targets.

FTY720 requires vitamin B-TCN2-CD320 signaling in astrocytes to reduce disease in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Vitamin B (B) deficiency causes neurological manifestations resembling multiple sclerosis (MS); however, a molecular explanation for the similarity is unknown. FTY720 (fingolimod) is a sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator and sphingosine analog approved for MS therapy that can functionally antagonize S1P. Here, we report that FTY720 suppresses neuroinflammation by functionally and physically regulating the B pathways.

Automated interpretable discovery of heterogeneous treatment effectiveness: A COVID-19 case study.

Testing multiple treatments for heterogeneous (varying) effectiveness with respect to many underlying risk factors requires many pairwise tests; we would like to instead automatically discover and visualize patient archetypes and predictors of treatment effectiveness using multitask machine learning. In this paper, we present a method to estimate these heterogeneous treatment effects with an interpretable hierarchical framework that uses additive models to visualize expected treatment benefits as a function of patient factors (identifying personalized treatment benefits) and concurrent treatments (identifying combinatorial treatment benefits). This method achieves state-of-the-art predictive power for COVID-19 in-hospital mortality and interpretable identification of heterogeneous treatment benefits.

Unraveling the Contact Network Patterns between Commercial Turkey Operation in North Carolina and the Distribution of Species.

Salmonellosis originating from poultry poses a significant threat to human health. Surveillance within production is thus needed to minimize risk. The objectives of this work were to investigate the distribution of spp.

A microfluidic platform for highly parallel bite by bite profiling of mosquito-borne pathogen transmission.

Mosquito bites transmit a number of pathogens via salivary droplets deposited during blood-feeding, resulting in potentially fatal diseases. Little is known about the genomic content of these nanodroplets, including the transmission dynamics of live pathogens. Here we introduce Vectorchip, a low-cost, scalable microfluidic platform enabling high-throughput molecular interrogation of individual mosquito bites.

Characterization of Md5-BAC-REV-LTR virus as Marek's disease vaccine in commercial meat-type chickens: protection and immunosuppression.

Md5-BAC-REV-LTR is a recombinant Marek's disease virus (MDV), with an insertion of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) into the genome of the highly virulent MDV strain rMd5. It has been shown that Md5-BAC-REV-LTR does not induce tumours and confers high protection against challenge with MDV in 15 × 7 chickens. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the protection and safety (in terms of oncogenicity and immunosuppression) of Md5-BAC-REV-LTR in commercial meat-type chickens bearing maternal antibodies against MDV.

Clinical Disparities for Minorities and Foreign-Born Men With Undescended Versus Descended Testicular Germ Cell Tumors.

Background: Few reports have been published regarding the outcomes of patients who develop an undescended testicular malignancy (UTM). Our objective was to analyze the sociodemographic and survival outcomes of patients with UTM and those of with descended testicular malignancy (DTM).

Patients And Methods: All 17 registries constituting the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were analyzed from 1988 to 2008.

Analysis of the transitional flow field over a fixed hummingbird wing.

We analyzed the flow fields characterized by chord-based Reynolds numbers of 5000 to 15,000 over a stationary model of a hummingbird (Calypte anna) wing. Utilizing two experimental techniques, constant-temperature anemometry and stereo particle image velocimetry, the high-fidelity results depict a laminar-to-turbulent transition process that develops over the wing. At both zero and non-zero angles of attack the spectrum of the velocity signals is wide.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck: Incidence and survival trends based on 1973-2007 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data.

Background: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the head and neck (ACCHN) is a rare tumor of minor salivary, parotid, and submandibular glands. The biologic behavior of the disease is poorly understood, and nonsurgical treatment strategies have yet to be standardized. The long-term prognosis continues to be guarded, with an estimated 10-year survival of <60%.

State tort reforms and hospital malpractice costs.

This study explored the relation between state medical liability reform measures, hospital malpractice costs, and hospital solvency. It suggests that state malpractice caps are desirable but not essential for improved hospital financial solvency or viability.

The scaling of myofibrillar actomyosin ATPase activity in apid bee flight muscle in relation to hovering flight energetics.

For all types of locomotion, the overall efficiency with which chemical energy is converted into mechanical work increases with increasing body size. In order to gain insight into the determinants of the scaling of overall efficiency, we measured the scaling of the rate of ATP utilisation during cyclical contractions using glycerinated fibres from the dorsolongitudinal flight muscle of several species of apid bees, covering a ninefold range in body mass. The efficiency of ATP utilisation by the crossbridges is one of the stages that determines the overall efficiency of locomotion.

Quality of requests for serum digoxin concentrations: experience from an Australian regional health service.

What Is Already Known About This Subject: * Therapeutic drug monitoring of serum digoxin concentrations (SDC) is considered useful in enhancing the therapeutic benefits of digoxin and minimizing the incidence of adverse drug reactions. * The quality of requests for SDC has been reported to be generally unsatisfactory. However, studies have focused on few information parameters.

High lift function of the pteroid bone and forewing of pterosaurs.

The pteroid bone is a rod-like element found only in pterosaurs, the flying reptiles of the Mesozoic. It articulated at the wrist, and supported a membranous forewing in front of the inner part of the wing spar. The function of this bone, particularly its orientation, has been much debated.

The practice of polypharmacy involving herbal and prescription medicines in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and gastrointestinal disorders in Jamaica.

The interference in the metabolism of a drug by another drug, food or other foreign chemical is commonly observed and often leads to clinically significant adverse drug reactions. In Jamaica, there is an extensive use of natural products as medicines, although there is little information on whether natural medicines are used along with prescription medicines, which might increase the likelihood of drug adversities. This current pilot survey was initiated to gain information on the prevalence of such polypharmacy practices.

How to perform measurements in a hovering animal's wake: physical modelling of the vortex wake of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta.

The vortex wake structure of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, was investigated using a vortex ring generator. Based on existing kinematic and morphological data, a piston and tube apparatus was constructed to produce circular vortex rings with the same size and disc loading as a hovering hawkmoth. Results show that the artificial rings were initially laminar, but developed turbulence owing to azimuthal wave instability.

The aerodynamics of revolving wings II. Propeller force coefficients from mayfly to quail.

High force coefficients, similar to those observed for revolving model hawkmoth wings in the accompanying paper (for which steady leading-edge vortices are directly observed), are apparent for revolving model (mayfly, bumblebee and quail) and real (quail) animal wings ranging in Reynolds number (Re) from 1100 to 26000. Results for bumblebee and hawkmoth wings agree with those published previously for Drosophila (Re approximately 200). The effect of aspect ratio is also tested with planforms based on hawkmoth wings adjusted to aspect ratios ranging from 4.

The aerodynamics of revolving wings I. Model hawkmoth wings.

Recent work on flapping hawkmoth models has demonstrated the importance of a spiral 'leading-edge vortex' created by dynamic stall, and maintained by some aspect of spanwise flow, for creating the lift required during flight. This study uses propeller models to investigate further the forces acting on model hawkmoth wings in 'propeller-like' rotation ('revolution'). Steadily revolving model hawkmoth wings produce high vertical ( approximately lift) and horizontal ( approximately profile drag) force coefficients because of the presence of a leading-edge vortex.

The mechanical power output of the flight muscles of blue-breasted quail (Coturnix chinensis) during take-off.

Blue-breasted quail (Coturnix chinensis) were filmed during take-off flights. By tracking the position of the centre of mass of the bird in three dimensions, we were able to calculate the power required to increase the potential and kinetic energy. In addition, high-speed video recordings of the position of the wings over the course of the wing stroke, and morphological measurements, allowed us to calculate the aerodynamic and inertial power requirements.

The novel aerodynamics of insect flight: applications to micro-air vehicles.

The wing motion in free flight has been described for insects ranging from 1 to 100 mm in wingspan. To support the body weight, the wings typically produce 2-3 times more lift than can be accounted for by conventional aerodynamics. Some insects use the fling mechanism: the wings are clapped together and then flung open before the start of the downstroke, creating a lift-enhancing vortex around each wing.

A computational fluid dynamic study of hawkmoth hovering.

A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling approach is used to study the unsteady aerodynamics of the flapping wing of a hovering hawkmoth. We use the geometry of a Manduca sexta-based robotic wing to define the shape of a three-dimensional 'virtual' wing model and 'hover' this wing, mimicking accurately the three-dimensional movements of the wing of a hovering hawkmoth. Our CFD analysis has established an overall understanding of the viscous and unsteady flow around the flapping wing and of the time course of instantaneous force production, which reveals that hovering flight is dominated by the unsteady aerodynamics of both the instantaneous dynamics and also the past history of the wing.

The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. II. Aerodynamic consequences of kinematic and morphological variation.

Mean lift coefficients have been calculated for hawkmoth flight at a range of speeds in order to investigate the aerodynamic significance of the kinematic variation which accompanies changes in forward velocity. The coefficients exceed the maximum steady-state value of 0.71 at all except the very fastest speeds, peaking at 2.

The mechanics of flight in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. I. Kinematics of hovering and forward flight.

High-speed videography was used to record sequences of individual hawkmoths in free flight over a range of speeds from hovering to 5 ms-1. At each speed, three successive wingbeats were subjected to a detailed analysis of the body and wingtip kinematics and of the associated time course of wing rotation. Results are presented for one male and two female moths.