Identifying the factors influencing the development of bilateral investment treaties with health safeguards: a Machine Learning-based link prediction approach.

A network analysis approach, complemented by machine learning (ML) techniques, is applied to analyse the factors influencing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) at the country level. Using the Electronic Database of Investment Treaties, BITs with health safeguards from 167 countries were charted, resulting in 534 connections with countries as nodes and their BITs as edges. Network analysis found that, on average, a country established BITs with six other nations.

Gender Distribution of Course Material Authors in a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program.

The gender distribution of authors in the health sciences literature has been well documented. We explored whether this distribution persists among library course reserves for a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, as course reserves are veterinary faculty members' own teaching materials. Such a bibliometric analysis of course reserves provides a novel method of examining curricular materials.

Investigation of Veterinary Student and Faculty Perspectives of Factors Affecting In-Person Lecture Attendance.

A proposal was submitted to our institution's curriculum committee to discontinue lecture livestreaming to increase attendance, and we performed a study to investigate factors affecting lecture attendance. In January 2022, the faculty and students were surveyed to explore their perspectives on the impact that student attendance has on both the student and faculty lecture experience. We included a subset of common questions to allow for comparison.

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA): a genetic resource for vertebrate animals.

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA) is a freely available curated knowledgebase that contains information and facilitates research on inherited traits and diseases in animals. For the past 29 years, OMIA has been used by animal geneticists, breeders, and veterinarians worldwide as a definitive source of information. Recent increases in curation capacity and funding for software engineering support have resulted in software upgrades and commencement of several initiatives, which include the enhancement of variant information and links to human data resources, and the introduction of ontology-based breed information and categories.

in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA).

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA is a freely available information resource, which includes information for inherited traits/diseases (collectively called phenes). The database focuses on Mendelian traits and their likely causal variants (mutations). Some of these Mendelian traits are favored by humans, e.

The Vertebrate Breed Ontology: Towards Effective Breed Data Standardization.

Background –: Limited universally adopted data standards in veterinary science hinders data interoperability and therefore integration and comparison; this ultimately impedes application of existing information-based tools to support advancement in veterinary diagnostics, treatments, and precision medicine.

Hypothesis/objectives –: Creation of a Vertebrate Breed Ontology (VBO) as a single, coherent logic-based standard for documenting breed names in animal health, production and research-related records will improve data use capabilities in veterinary and comparative medicine.

Animals –: No live animals were used in this study.

An NLP-based novel approach for assessing national influence in clause dissemination across bilateral investment treaties.

International investment agreements (IIAs) promote foreign investment. However, they can undermine crucial health programs, creating a dilemma for governments between corporate and public health interests. For this reason, including clauses that safeguard health has become an essential practice in IIAs.

Use of short videos and case studies to enhance student confidence in biochemistry knowledge and application in a large lecture biochemistry course in first year veterinary curriculum.

Large lecture courses are an efficient way to convey material to many students but have potential limitations, most notably the tendency for them to promote passive learning opportunities rather than active pedagogies. The curriculum at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, like many veterinary schools, contains many large lecture courses in the pre-clinical curriculum. This objective of this study was to use two active pedagogical interventions in a first-year lecture course named Veterinary Biochemistry and Metabolism that drew connections between basic science and several veterinary diseases.

Carbohydrate pellets to assess insulin dysregulation in horses.

Background: A glycemic challenge test is used for the diagnosis of insulin dysregulation (ID) in horses and ponies. Different forms of the test exist where the administrative route and dose of glucose vary, which makes interpretation of results challenging.

Hypothesis/objectives: To evaluate the palatability of, and blood glucose and insulin responses to, carbohydrate pellets fed as an oral glucose test (OGT), and to establish the diagnostic threshold for ID when using the pellets.

Can veterinary medicine improve diversity in post-graduate training programs? Current state of academic veterinary medicine and recommendations on best practices.

The American Association of Veterinary Clinicians (AAVC) convened a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity working group in March 2021 to address the limited diversity (including but not limited to ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity) in clinical post-DVM graduate training programs and academic faculty. Concurrent with a working group formation, the AAVC developed a strategic plan. The central mission of the AAVC is to develop, support, and connect academic leaders to fuel the future of the veterinary medical profession.

Variables Influencing Intravenous Catheterization Success by Final-Year Veterinary Students in the Emergency Room.

Successful placement of intravenous catheters (IVC) is a basic and essential clinical skill for veterinary students. The purposes of this study were to determine the overall success rate for IVC placement in cats and dogs when final-year veterinary students are performing the procedure in a clinical setting, to determine if self-assessed experience level affects IVC placement success rates, and to identify factors affecting student success with this procedure. Final-year students were asked to complete an anonymous survey following each catheter placement attempt during their 3-week core emergency medicine rotation.

Effect of early or late blood sampling on thyrotropin releasing hormone stimulation test results in horses.

Background: Diagnosis of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) using the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test requires blood collection 10 minutes after TRH injection; it is unknown if small differences in timing affect test results.

Objective: To determine whether early or late sampling results in a significant (≥10%) difference in plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentration compared to standard 10-minute sampling.

Animals: Twenty-four healthy adult horses with unknown PPID status.

Evidence-Based Approach to Switching to a Pass-Fail System for Clinical Year Veterinary Student Grading.

Veterinary schools have traditionally used letter grading systems to assess the performance of students on clinical rotations, but pass-fail grading may enhance the learning environment and student well-being. When a decision to switch grading systems is discussed, concerns are often raised about the effect of removing clinical year grades from final grade point average (GPA) calculations. In order to inform the decision making at our institution, retrospective analysis of the effects of clinical year grades on GPA was performed.

Risk of adverse events due to high volumes of local anesthesia during Mohs micrographic surgery.

General guidelines for the maximum amounts of locally injected lidocaine exist; however, there is a paucity of data in the Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) literature. This study aimed to determine the safety and adverse effects seen in patients that receive larger amounts of locally injected lidocaine. A retrospective chart review of 563 patients from 1992 to 2016 who received over 30 mL of locally injected lidocaine was conducted.

Effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone stimulation testing on the oral sugar test in horses when performed as a combined protocol.

Background: The use of parallel dynamic tests to identify insulin dysregulation (ID) and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) in horses could have better diagnostic utility than measuring baseline hormone concentrations, if the tests do not alter diagnostic interpretation of one another.

Hypothesis: Performing a thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test before an oral sugar test (OST) would not affect results of OST.

Animals: Twenty-six healthy university-owned horses.

CT Fluoroscopic-Guided Coil Localization of Lung Nodules prior to Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgical Resection Reduces Complications Compared to Hook Wire Localization.

Purpose: To compare the safety and efficacy of hook wire versus microcoil localization of pulmonary nodules prior to video-assisted thoracoscopic resection (VATS).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective comparative review was conducted of 46 patients (26 hook wire and 20 microcoil) who underwent computed tomography fluoroscopic-guided nodule localizations prior to VATS in a single center between January 2012 and August 2016. Nodule characteristics, procedural details, clinical outcomes, and pathologic findings were collected.

ECEIM consensus statement on equine metabolic syndrome.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a widely recognized collection of risk factors for endocrinopathic laminitis. The most important of these risk factors is insulin dysregulation (ID). Clinicians and horse owners must recognize the presence of these risk factors so that they can be targeted and controlled to reduce the risk of laminitis attacks.

Local dynamic stability of the lower extremity in novice and trained runners while running intraditional and minimal footwear.

Background: Understanding how footwear cushioning influences movement stability may be helpful in reducing injuries related to repetitive loading.

Research Question: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between running experience and midsole cushioning on local dynamic stability of the ankle, knee and hip.

Methods: Twenty-four trained and novice runners were recruited to run on a treadmill for five minutes at the same relative intensity.