Increasing Social Communication by Teaching Texting to Autistic Children.

Objectives: In the present study, we increased the social communication of four autistic children by teaching texting conversation skills on smart phones.

Methods: A multiple baseline design across two dyads was used to assess the texting conversation intervention, with additional generalization probes taken across texting partners and FaceTime® sessions. One-month maintenance probes were also assessed.

Impact of lithiated cobalt oxide and phosphate nanoparticles on rainbow trout gill epithelial cells.

Metal oxide and phosphate nanoparticles (NPs) are ubiquitous in emerging applications, ranging from energy storage to catalysis. Cobalt-containing NPs are particularly important, where their widespread use raises questions about the relationship between composition, structure, and potential for environmental impacts. To address this gap, we investigated the effects of lithiated metal oxide and phosphate NPs on rainbow trout gill epithelial cells, a model for environmental exposure.

Patient characteristics associated with venous thromboembolic events: a cohort study using pooled electronic health record data.

Objective: To demonstrate the potential of de-identified clinical data from multiple healthcare systems using different electronic health records (EHR) to be efficiently used for very large retrospective cohort studies.

Materials And Methods: Data of 959 030 patients, pooled from multiple different healthcare systems with distinct EHR, were obtained. Data were standardized and normalized using common ontologies, searchable through a HIPAA-compliant, patient de-identified web application (Explore; Explorys Inc).

Comparison of 5 surgical techniques for partial liver lobectomy in the dog for intraoperative blood loss and surgical time.

Objective: To compare surgical time and intraoperative blood loss for 5 partial liver lobectomy techniques in the dog.

Study Design: Experimental in vivo study.

Animals: Dogs (n=10).

Postmortem evaluation of surgery site leakage by use of in situ isolated pulsatile perfusion after partial liver lobectomy in dogs.

Objective: To evaluate postmortem surgery site leakage by use of in situ isolated pulsatile perfusion after partial liver lobectomies.

Animals: 10 healthy mixed-breed male dogs.

Procedures: Dogs were anesthetized, and 5 surgical techniques (pretied suture loop, energy-based sealer-divider, harmonic scalpel, suction with clip application, or suction with use of a thoracoabdominal stapler) were used to perform 5 partial liver lobectomies in each dog.

Magnitude-dependent variation in peak height balance at heterozygous STR loci.

When the smaller of two peaks at an STR locus is less than 70% the magnitude of the larger peak at that locus, the disparity is typically taken to be an indication that there is more than one contributor of template DNA to the sample being tested. An analysis of 1,763 heterozygous allele pairs suggests that a peak height imbalance threshold that varies with the magnitude of the peaks being evaluated at a locus is superior to a fixed threshold. Identifying samples that are likely to be mixtures and those that are likely to have arisen from a single source is accomplished more reliably when a statistically based, magnitude-dependent peak height imbalance threshold is used.

Cardiac evaluation of clinically healthy captive maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus).

The objective of this project was to determine radiographic vertebral heart sizes and electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic measurements in healthy anesthetized maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus). The wolves, housed at the White Oak Conservation and Smithsonian National Zoo Conservation and Research Centers, were being anesthetized for annual examinations. Cardiac auscultation, thoracic radiographs, a standard 6-lead ECG, and echocardiography were performed on the wolves while they were under general anesthesia.

Horse allergens: An underestimated risk for allergic sensitization in an urban atopic population without occupational exposure.

Background: Data on allergic sensitization to horse allergen in modern urban areas are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of allergic sensitization and the modality of exposure to horse allergens in atopic patients living in an urban area and without occupational exposure to horse and/or horse-derived materials.

Methods: From among 1822 consecutive outpatients, we selected all subjects who had an immediate skin reaction to horse dander.

Run-specific limits of detection and quantitation for STR-based DNA testing.

STR-based DNA profiling is an exceptionally sensitive analytical technique that is often used to obtain results at the very limits of its sensitivity. The challenge of reliably distinguishing between signal and noise in such situations is one that has been rigorously addressed in numerous other analytical disciplines. However, an inability to determine accurately the height of electropherogram baselines has caused forensic DNA profiling laboratories to utilize alternative approaches.

Rabbit allergens: a significant risk for allergic sensitization in subjects without occupational exposure.

Background: Although rabbits are becoming popular as pets, data about the characteristics of allergic sensitization to rabbit allergens in patients without professional exposure are scarce.

Aims Of The Study: To determine the characteristics of allergic sensitization to pet rabbits, and the role of direct and indirect exposure to rabbits and rabbit allergens in non-professionally exposed patients.

Methods: From among 1124 consecutive outpatients, we selected all subjects with an immediate skin reaction to rabbit dander.

Working towards healthy air in dwellings in Europe.

Poor indoor air quality has been implicated in the increase in allergic and respiratory diseases seen in industrialized countries in recent decades. Although air pollution in the workplace is well studied, much less is known about the consequences of poor air quality in homes. In an attempt to halt or slow down the increase in allergic and respiratory diseases, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA) carried out the EU-funded project entitled 'Towards Healthy Air in Dwellings in Europe' (THADE).

Biomechanical and histologic comparison of single-layer continuous Cushing and simple continuous appositional cystotomy closure by use of poliglecaprone 25 in rats with experimentally induced inflammation of the urinary bladder.

Objective: To biomechanically and histologically compare single-layer continuous Cushing and simple continuous appositional cystotomy closure in rats with xylene-induced cystitis.

Animals: 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats.

Procedure: Rats were anesthetized, their urinary bladders catheterized and evacuated, and xylene instilled in each bladder for 5 minutes and then aspirated.

Investigation of the effects of deracoxib and piroxicam on the in vitro viability of osteosarcoma cells from dogs.

Objective: To determine whether exposure of canine osteosarcoma cells to deracoxib or piroxicam results in decreased viability, whether the cytotoxic effects of deracoxib and piroxicam involve induction of apoptosis, and whether deracoxib is a more potent inhibitor of osteosarcoma cell growth than piroxicam.

Sample Population: 1 fibroblast and 3 osteosarcoma cell lines.

Procedure: Cell counts and viability assays were performed using osteosarcoma cells (POS, highly metastatic POS, and canine osteosarcoma cell 31) and fibroblasts after 72 hours of incubation with deracoxib at concentrations of 0.

Investigation of the effect of pamidronate disodium on the in vitro viability of osteosarcoma cells from dogs.

Objective: To determine the effect of pamidronate disodium on the in vitro viability of osteosarcoma cells and non-neoplastic cells from dogs.

Sample Population: 3 osteosarcoma and 1 fibroblast cell lines derived from dogs.

Procedure: Cell counts and cell viability assays were performed in cultures of osteosarcoma cells (POS, HMPOS, and COS31 cell lines) and fibroblasts after 24, 48, and 72 hours of incubation with pamidronate at concentrations of 0.

Evaluation of oxidative stress markers for the early diagnosis of allograft rejection in feline renal allotransplant recipients with normal renal function.

The purpose of this study was to identify oxidative damage to renal allografts during graft rejection by evaluating changes in oxidative markers and plasma lactate levels in feline renal allotransplant recipients. Heterotopic renal allotransplantations were performed between 8 adult feline cross-matched donors. Following 14 d of immunosuppression, the drugs were discontinued to allow allograft rejection.

The effect of the bisphosphonate alendronate on viability of canine osteosarcoma cells in vitro.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of alendronate on the viability of canine osteosarcoma cells and nonneoplastic canine cells. The sample population was composed of canine osteosarcoma tumor cells. Osteosarcoma cells and canine fibroblasts were maintained in culture under standard conditions.

Severe systemic allergic reaction induced by accidental skin contact with cow milk in a 16-year-old boy. A case report.

The symptoms of food allergy are rarely induced by skin contact. A 16-year-old boy was referred to our Allergology Centre after an episode of systemic symptoms triggered by accidental skin contact with a drop of cow milk (CM) dripped from a sandwich containing fresh cheese. The patient had been allergic to CM from the age of 24 months and had experienced several episodes of urticaria-angioedema after the ingestion of tiny or "hidden" amounts of CM proteins.

Effect of thalidomide on growth and metastasis of canine osteosarcoma cells after xenotransplantation in athymic mice.

Objective: To determine whether thalidomide inhibits the growth of primary and pulmonary metastatic canine osteosarcoma in mice after xenotransplantation.

Animals: Athymic nude mice.

Procedure: Canine osteosarcoma cells were injected SC in 50 mice.

Systematic differences in electropherogram peak heights reported by different versions of the GeneScan software.

DNA profiling using STRs on the 310 and 3100 Genetic Analyzers routinely generates electropherograms that are analyzed with the GeneScan software available from the instrument's manufacturer, Applied Biosystems. Users have been able to choose from three different smoothing options that have been known to result in significant differences in the peak heights that are reported. Improvements in the underlying algorithm of the most recent version of the software also result in significant and somewhat predictable differences in peak height values.