Ultrasound classification of solitary renal cysts in children.

Introduction: Solitary renal cysts are typically incidentally found in children who have undergone renal ultrasound (US). The main concern is a cystic tumor. There is no US-based grading system for children to guide management.

Evaluation and management implications of uncertainty in a multispecies size-structured model of population and community responses to fishing.

Implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries requires advice on trade-offs among fished species and between fisheries yields and biodiversity or food web properties. However, the lack of explicit representation, analysis and consideration of uncertainty in most multispecies models has limited their application in analyses that could support management advice.We assessed the consequences of parameter uncertainty by developing 78 125 multispecies size-structured fish community models, with all combinations of parameters drawn from ranges that spanned parameter values estimated from data and literature.

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF CANINE GASTROINTESTINAL STROMAL TUMORS COMPARED TO OTHER GASTROINTESTINAL SPINDLE CELL TUMORS.

Canine gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are a recent subtype of gastrointestinal spindle cell tumor recognized with the increasing use of immunohistochemistry. To our knowledge, no imaging features have been described in immunostochemically confirmed canine GISTs. The objective of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to describe ultrasonographic features of canine GISTs compared with other spindle cell tumors.

Successful Giant Thymic Cyst Removal: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Giant thymic cysts are a rare clinical entity evolving from smaller benign thymic cysts over many years. Benign thymic cysts account for approximately 3% of all mediastinal masses. There is a paucity of literature regarding benign thymic cyst management, especially when dealing with giant cysts.

Effect of body size on dose reduction with longitudinal tube current modulation in pediatric patients.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether dose reduction by tube current modulation in pediatric abdominal CT depends on patient body size.

Materials And Methods: A 12-month (February 2012 through January 2013) retrospective evaluation of consecutive abdominal 128-MDCT examinations was performed. All studies were performed with longitudinal (z-axis) tube current modulation.

A comparison of mouse parvovirus 1 infection in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice: susceptibility, replication, shedding, and seroconversion.

This study characterized the effects of challenge with a field isolate of mouse parvovirus 1 (MPV1e) in C57BL/6NCrl (B6) and BALB/cAnNCrl (C) mice. We found that C mice were more susceptible to MPV1e infection than were B6 mice; ID50 were 50 to 100 times higher after gavage and 10-fold higher after intraperitoneal injection in B6 as compared with C mice. To evaluate the host strain effect on the pathogenesis of MPV1e, B6 and C mice were inoculated by gavage.

Big data - a 21st century science Maginot Line? No-boundary thinking: shifting from the big data paradigm.

Whether your interests lie in scientific arenas, the corporate world, or in government, you have certainly heard the praises of big data: Big data will give you new insights, allow you to become more efficient, and/or will solve your problems. While big data has had some outstanding successes, many are now beginning to see that it is not the Silver Bullet that it has been touted to be. Here our main concern is the overall impact of big data; the current manifestation of big data is constructing a Maginot Line in science in the 21st century.

Predicting climate-driven regime shifts versus rebound potential in coral reefs.

Climate-induced coral bleaching is among the greatest current threats to coral reefs, causing widespread loss of live coral cover. Conditions under which reefs bounce back from bleaching events or shift from coral to algal dominance are unknown, making it difficult to predict and plan for differing reef responses under climate change. Here we document and predict long-term reef responses to a major climate-induced coral bleaching event that caused unprecedented region-wide mortality of Indo-Pacific corals.

A quality dietary supplement: before you start and after it's marketed--a conference report.

Consumers worldwide are turning to dietary supplements as one part of their personal goal to lead healthier and more active lives. In truth, the quality of life now supersedes the length of life as no one would trade living to one hundred (the last forty with compromised physical abilities and decreased mental acuity) for 80 years of travel, time with family, and intellectual pursuits. If there is the possibility of preventing a disease or debilitating condition through efficient lifestyle changes (additions, subtractions, modifications) and to also avoid the costly and escalating medical and pharmaceutical treatments that accompany having the disease/condition, then a sensible individual would focus on their overall health and wellness…proactively, instead of reactively.

Middle ear barotrauma in hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Introduction: Middle ear barotrauma (MEB) is a common complication of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall incidence of MEB and evaluate for differences in the incidence of MEB at different rates of compression (ROC). The study also sought to identify other potential risk factors for MEB.

Seizure incidence by treatment pressure in patients undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Introduction: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy uses different maximum treatment pressures. A side effect of HBO2 is oxygen toxicity seizure. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall incidence of oxygen toxicity seizure and assess risk at different treatment pressures.

Prevention of needle displacement in multifraction high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy: A prospective volumetric analysis and technical considerations.

Purpose: We conducted a prospective study to evaluate needle displacements between prostate high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy fractions and offer technical recommendations to help prevent displacements from the outset.

Methods And Materials: Planning computed tomography and verification computed tomography scans were obtained at 1-mm slice thickness and prospectively assessed for interfraction needle movement for each fraction of a 2-fraction HDR prostate boost. For both the planning and verification CTs, distances from each needle tip to the centroid of 3 implanted prostate gold seeds were measured.

Identification of an avian polyomavirus associated with Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae).

Little is known about viruses associated with Antarctic animals, although they are probably widespread. We recovered a novel polyomavirus from Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) faecal matter sampled in a subcolony at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica. The 4988 nt Adélie penguin polyomavirus (AdPyV) has a typical polyomavirus genome organization with three ORFs that encoded capsid proteins on the one strand and two non-structural protein-coding ORFs on the complementary strand.

Thrombotic microangiopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus: efficacy of eculizumab.

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a severe disorder with poor outcomes. The cause is unknown for many patients, although TMA is associated with connective tissue disorders, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). While uncommon, TMA is one of the most serious complications of SLE and in many cases may be resistant to therapy.

Animal models of herpes simplex virus immunity and pathogenesis.

Herpes simplex viruses are ubiquitous human pathogens represented by two distinct serotypes: herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 (HSV-1); and HSV type 2 (HSV-2). In the general population, adult seropositivity rates approach 90% for HSV-1 and 20-25% for HSV-2. These viruses cause significant morbidity, primarily as mucosal membrane lesions in the form of facial cold sores and genital ulcers, with much less common but more severe manifestations causing death from encephalitis.

Primary care in nursing homes revisited: survey of the experiences of primary care physicians.

The Irish Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) published National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in 2009. We reported on experiences of general practitioners (GPs) in Dublin caring for nursing home patients (NHPs) in 2006. We revisit these experiences following publication of HIQA's standards.

Computational modeling of individual differences in behavioral estimates of cochlear nonlinearities.

Temporal masking curves (TMCs) are often used to estimate cochlear compression in individuals with normal and impaired hearing. These estimates may yield a wide range of individual differences, even among subjects with similar quiet thresholds. This study used an auditory model to assess potential sources of variance in TMCs from 51 listeners in Poling et al.

Acute childhood asthma in Galway city from 1985-2005: relationship to air pollution and climate.

We examine the relationship of air pollution and climatic variables to asthma admission rates of children in Galway city over a 21 year period. Paediatric asthma admissions were recorded from 1985-2005, and admission rates per thousand calculated for pre-school (1-4 years), school aged (5-14 years) and all children (1-14 years) on a monthly and annual basis. These data were compared to average monthly and annual climatic variables (rainfall, humidity, sunshine, wind speed and temperature) and black smoke levels for the city.

Trends in percutaneous coronary intervention and angiography in Ireland, 2004-2011: Implications for Ireland and Europe.

Background/objectives: To study temporal trends in crude and age standardised rates of cardiac catheterisation and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in Ireland, 2004-2011.

Methods: Two data sources were used: a) a survey of publicly and privately funded hospitals with cardiac catheter laboratories to obtain the annual number of procedures performed and b) anonymised data from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) for angiography and PCI in acute publicly funded hospitals; age standardised rates were calculated to study trends over time.

Results: From 2004 to 2011 the crude rate of angiography and PCI increased by 47.

Investigating turkey enteric coronavirus circulating in the Southeastern United States and Arkansas during 2012 and 2013.

Periodic monitoring of poultry flocks in the United States via molecular diagnostic methods has revealed a number of potential enteric viral pathogens in continuous circulation in turkeys and chickens. Recently turkey integrators in the Southeastern United States and Arkansas experienced an outbreak of moderate to severe enteritis associated with turkey enteric coronavirus (TCoV), and numerous enteric samples collected from turkey flocks in these areas tested positive for TCoV via real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR (RRT-PCR). This report details the subsequent sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the TCoV spike glycoprotein and the comparison of outbreak-associated isolates to sequences in the public database.

The ecosystem approach to fisheries: management at the dynamic interface between biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

The emergence of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) was characterized by the adoption of objectives for maintaining ecosystem health alongside those for fisheries. The EAF was expected to meet some aspirations for biodiversity conservation, but health was principally linked to sustainable use rather than lower levels of human impact. Consequently, while policies including EAF concepts identified objectives for fisheries management and biodiversity conservation, the wording often reflected unresolved societal and political debates about objectives and gave imprecise guidance on addressing inevitable trade-offs.

The anoikis effector Bit1 displays tumor suppressive function in lung cancer cells.

The mitochondrial Bit1 (Bcl-2 inhibitor of transcription 1) protein is a part of an apoptotic pathway that is uniquely regulated by integrin-mediated attachment. As an anoikis effector, Bit1 is released into the cytoplasm following loss of cell attachment and induces a caspase-independent form of apoptosis. Considering that anoikis resistance is a critical determinant of transformation, we hypothesized that cancer cells may circumvent the Bit1 apoptotic pathway to attain anchorage-independence and tumorigenic potential.

Psychophysical auditory filter estimates reveal sharper cochlear tuning in musicians.

Musicianship confers enhancements to hearing at nearly all levels of the auditory system from periphery to percept. Musicians' superior psychophysical abilities are particularly evident in spectral discrimination and noise-degraded listening tasks, achieving higher perceptual sensitivity than their nonmusician peers. Greater spectral acuity implies that musicianship may increase auditory filter selectivity.