Arteriovenous fistula creation and care in an office-based practice compared with hospital-based care.

Objective: This study evaluates and compares outcomes of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) created in a dialysis access-dedicated office-based laboratory (OBL) and outpatient hospital setting.

Methods: All consecutive outpatient surgical autologous AVFs created at an academic hospital, community hospital, and an OBL from 2016 to 2020 were reviewed. Demographics, comorbidities, surgical procedure, complications, maturation, patency, and procedures for maintenance were assessed from time of surgical evaluation to the latest available documentation.

Sampling flying bats with thermal and near-infrared imaging and ultrasound recording: hardware and workflow for bat point counts.

Bat communities can usually only be comprehensively monitored by combining ultrasound recording and trapping techniques. Here, we propose bat point counts, a novel, single method to sample all flying bats. We designed a sampling rig that combines a thermal scope to detect flying bats and their flight patterns, an ultrasound recorder to identify echolocating bat calls, and a near-infrared camera and LED illuminator to photograph bat morphology.

ChiroVox: a public library of bat calls.

Recordings of bat echolocation and social calls are used for many research purposes from ecological studies to taxonomy. Effective use of these relies on identification of species from the recordings, but comparative recordings or detailed call descriptions to support identification are often lacking for areas with high biodiversity. The ChiroVox website (https://www.

Bat point counts: A novel sampling method shines light on flying bat communities.

Emerging technologies based on the detection of electro-magnetic energy offer promising opportunities for sampling biodiversity. We exploit their potential by showing here how they can be used in bat point counts-a novel method to sample flying bats-to overcome shortcomings of traditional sampling methods, and to maximize sampling coverage and taxonomic resolution of this elusive taxon with minimal sampling bias. We conducted bat point counts with a sampling rig combining a thermal scope to detect bats, an ultrasound recorder to obtain echolocation calls, and a near-infrared camera to capture bat morphology.

Flower-visiting insects of genus (Myrtales: Melastomataceae) at the Fushan Botanical Garden, Taiwan.

Background: We investigated the diversity and behaviour of insects that visit flowers of four native (Family Melastomataceae) species of Taiwan and a horticultural hybrid species at the Fushan Botanical Garden, Taiwan biweekly from May to August 2020. Visits of flower-visiting insects were classified into seven behavioural categories, based on the insects' behaviour and positions on the flower. The data are further assigned into four insect-flower interactions, namely pollination, herbivory, commensalism and neutralism.

Systemic Thrombolysis as Initial Treatment of COVID-19 Associated Acute Aortoiliac and Lower Extremity Arterial Thrombosis.

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) patients with associated thromboembolic events have demonstrated poor outcomes despite the use of anticoagulation therapy and surgical intervention. We present a COVID-19 patient with acute limb ischemia, secondary to extensive thrombosis of an aortic aneurysm, iliac arteries, and infrainguinal arteries. Initial treatment with systemic thrombolysis, which restored patency of the aortoiliac occlusion, was followed by open thrombectomies of the infrainguinal occlusions.

Frailty in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Risk of Exacerbations and Hospitalizations.

Background: Frailty is a complex clinical syndrome associated with vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. While frailty is thought to be common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the relationship between frailty and COPD-related outcomes such as risk of acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) and hospitalizations is unclear.

Purpose: To examine the association between physical frailty and risk of acute exacerbations, hospitalizations, and mortality in patients with COPD.

BCG vaccination-induced emergency granulopoiesis provides rapid protection from neonatal sepsis.

Death from sepsis in the neonatal period remains a serious threat for millions. Within 3 days of administration, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination can reduce mortality from neonatal sepsis in human newborns, but the underlying mechanism for this rapid protection is unknown. We found that BCG was also protective in a mouse model of neonatal polymicrobial sepsis, where it induced granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) within hours of administration.

Recommendations for Preoperative Management of Frailty from the Society for Perioperative Assessment and Quality Improvement (SPAQI).

Frailty is an age-related, multi-dimensional state of decreased physiologic reserve that results in diminished resiliency and increased vulnerability to stressors. It has proven to be an excellent predictor of unfavorable health outcomes in the older surgical population. There is agreement in recommending that a frailty evaluation should be part of the preoperative assessment in the elderly.

The systematic position of Hypsugo macrotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) and a new record from Peninsular Malaysia.

The Southeast Asian species of Hypsugo are rare bats, except for H. cadornae and H. pulveratus, which are distributed throughout the Indomalayan region.

Isolated blunt abdominal aortic injury without concomitant abdominal injuries treated with endovascular stent grafting.

Blunt injury of the abdominal aorta is a rare event, seen in only 0.07% to 0.17% of all blunt traumas.

Thumb-pads up-a new species of thick-thumbed bat from Sumatra (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Glischropus).

To date, three species of the genus Glischropus are recognized from the Indomalayan zoogeographic region-G. bucephalus from the Indochinese subregion, G. tylopus from the Sundaic subregion (Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Moluccas) and G.

Bird and bat predation services in tropical forests and agroforestry landscapes.

Understanding distribution patterns and multitrophic interactions is critical for managing bat- and bird-mediated ecosystem services such as the suppression of pest and non-pest arthropods. Despite the ecological and economic importance of bats and birds in tropical forests, agroforestry systems, and agricultural systems mixed with natural forest, a systematic review of their impact is still missing. A growing number of bird and bat exclosure experiments has improved our knowledge allowing new conclusions regarding their roles in food webs and associated ecosystem services.

Innominate artery injury from disseminated tuberculosis.

A 49-year-old man presented with chest pain and was found to have hemorrhage and drainage from a chest wound secondary to disseminated tuberculosis involving the sternum and ankle. He then developed acute hemorrhage from an innominate artery pseudoaneurysm originating just below a severely diseased sternoclavicular junction. A staged approach was used to manage his pathology given the life-threatening bleeding and his debilitated condition.

Coil embolization as a treatment alternative for dialysis-associated steal syndrome.

Steal syndrome is a rare but serious complication of arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) created as well as the angioplasty technique used for its maturation and can have severe consequences if left untreated. Standard treatment options generally lead to loss of fistula access, although newer practices such as coil embolization are being utilized to conserve the AVF. Here we illustrate a case of a 65-year-old man with end-stage renal disease on dialysis, who had a Brescia-Cimino (radiocephalic) AV fistula created and subsequently underwent balloon-assisted maturation for an underdeveloped fistula.

A comparison between standard and high density Resilient AneuRx in reducing aneurysm sac pressure in a chronic canine model.

Objectives: Low intra-aneurysm sac pressure has been shown to correlate with sac shrinkage following endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) whereas high pressure results in sac enlargement. The Resilient AneuRx (RSA) has higher density Dacron compared with the standard AneuRx (STA) and was developed in an attempt to reduce type 4 and 5 endoleaks, thereby more effectively reducing sac pressure. The purpose of this study is to compare the ability of RSA and STA in reducing sac pressure in a chronic canine aneurysm model.

The clinical diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy.

Background: Thrombocytopenia is common in critically ill patients who receive continuous renal replacement therapy. Often, these patients receive heparin therapy and the diagnosis of heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is considered as a potential etiology. No data regarding the clinical diagnosis of HIT is available for patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy.

Tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors differentially affect vascular endothelial growth factor and endostatin levels in women with breast cancer.

Purpose: Circulating and cellular proangiogenic and antiangiogenic proteins such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endostatin contribute to the local angiogenic balance. We explored the effects of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors on concentrations of VEGF and endostatin in plasma, serum, and platelet releasate (induced by platelet activation).

Experimental Design: VEGF and endostatin concentrations were measured with a quantitative immunoassay before and after 1 to 5 weeks of treatment in 30 women with breast cancer treated with either tamoxifen (n = 14) or aromatase inhibitors (n = 16).

Home care evolution in alberta: how have palliative clients fared?

This study compared palliative and non-palliative home care clients, services and providers, and described changes over a decade of health system reform (1991/92-2000/01). Complete individual-anonymous data from Alberta's home care database were analyzed. Over these 10 years, 7.

The possibilities and the realities of home care.

Background: An analysis of a provincial home care dataset, comparing home care client, service, and providers in 1991/92 through 2000/01, was undertaken to describe changes over the decade, and permit a more informed discussion of home care in relation to Canadian health policy developments and health system reforms.

Methods: After data were obtained upon request from Alberta's Ministry of Health and Wellness, descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were undertaken using the SPSS computer program. Logistic regression was used to compare multiple client characteristics in the first and last years.

Smoking-induced ventral striatum dopamine release.

Objective: Substantial evidence from animal models demonstrates that dopamine release in the ventral striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. The authors used [(11)C]raclopride bolus-plus-continuous-infusion positron emission tomography (PET) to determine smoking-induced ventral striatum dopamine release in humans.

Method: Twenty nicotine-dependent smokers (who smoked > or =15 cigarettes/day) underwent a [(11)C]raclopride bolus-plus-continuous-infusion PET session.