Concurrent radiological and ultrasonographical findings in the forelimb proximal sesamoid bones and adjacent suspensory ligament branches in yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbred sales horses.

Background: Changes in the proximal sesamoid bones (sesamoids) and the insertional region of the adjacent suspensory ligament branch (branch) are of particular importance in young Thoroughbreds sold at public auction. Little is known about the prevalence of concurrent ultrasonographical branch change, relative to the various grades of radiological sesamoid appearance.

Objective: To examine the existence of concurrent radiological and ultrasonographical findings in individual sesamoid-branch units in sales horses; to determine whether there are any radiological findings that are consistently accompanied by a particular degree of insertional branch change, and to provide practical recommendations as to when suspensory branch ultrasonography may be warranted in a sales environment.

Ultrasonography of the suspensory ligament branches in yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbred sales horses: Prevalence, progression of findings and associations with racing performance.

Background: Equine suspensory ligament branch (branch) ultrasonography is becoming increasingly commonplace presale. No ultrasonographical branch reference data exists for Thoroughbred sales horses.

Objectives: To define the prevalence of ultrasonographical findings in the forelimb suspensory branches of yearling and 2-year-old sales Thoroughbreds and to analyse associations with racing performance.

Radiological findings in the proximal sesamoid bones of yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbred sales horses: Prevalence, progression and associations with racing performance.

Background: Radiological findings in the proximal sesamoid bones (sesamoids) are a persistent source of controversy at Thoroughbred sales, due to inconsistent classification and conflicting assignment of potential clinical importance.

Objectives: To define the prevalence of sesamoid findings on sales repository radiographs in yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbreds and to analyse associations with racing performance. To track the changes in sesamoid findings between 1 and 2 years of age in horses that present for sale at both ages.

Subchondral lucencies of the medial femoral condyle in yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbred sales horses: Prevalence, progression and associations with racing performance.

Background: Subchondral lucencies (SCLs) in the distal aspect of the medial femoral condyle (MFC) of young Thoroughbred horses are a source of controversy on presale radiographs. There is limited scientific evidence regarding the risk of progression and impact on future racing performance.

Objectives: To (1) identify the prevalence of MFC SCLs on sales repository radiographs in yearling and 2-year-old Thoroughbreds; (2) identify any association between grade of MFC SCL and future racing performance and (3) monitor changes in MFC SCL grades between yearling and 2-year-old sales.

Audit of upper gastrointestinal tract series examinations for diagnosing intestinal malrotation in a resource-limited radiology department in Southern Africa.

Background: Intestinal malrotation is a congenitally acquired condition of abnormally rotated proximal small bowel in neonates and infants. Prompt recognition prevents lifethreatening complications. A structured approach to diagnosing malrotation at UGIS is required for accurate diagnosis.

Assessing contributions of cold-water refuges to reproductive migration corridor conditions for adult Chinook Salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River, USA.

Diadromous fish populations face multiple challenges along their migratory routes. These challenges include suboptimal water quality, harvest, and barriers to longitudinal and lateral connectivity. Interactions among factors influencing migration success make it challenging to assess management options for improving migratory fish conditions along riverine migration corridors.

Revitalising audit and feedback to improve patient care.

Audit and feedback are widely used in quality improvement. argue that their full potential to improve patient care could be realised through a more evidence based and imaginative approach

Biomarker-guided antibiotic stewardship in suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAPrapid2): a randomised controlled trial and process evaluation.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most common intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infection, yet accurate diagnosis remains difficult, leading to overuse of antibiotics. Low concentrations of IL-1β and IL-8 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid have been validated as effective markers for exclusion of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The VAPrapid2 trial aimed to determine whether measurement of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid IL-1β and IL-8 could effectively and safely improve antibiotic stewardship in patients with clinically suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Regulation and adaptation of endocrine axes at high altitude.

As a model of extreme conditions, eight healthy women, part of a 40-member Nepal mountain-climbing expedition, were monitored for dynamic endocrine adaptations. Endocrine measurements were made at frequent intervals over a 6-10-h period at four altitudes: 450 m, 4,800 m (base camp), 6,050 m, and again at 4,800 m (on descent) after an acclimatization (A) period (4,800 mA). Quantified hormones were growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PROL), cortisol (Cort), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and free thyroxine.

Dynamic Pituitary-Adrenal Interactions in the Critically Ill after Cardiac Surgery.

Context: Patients with critical illness are thought to be at risk of adrenal insufficiency. There are no models of dynamic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in this group of patients and thus current methods of diagnosis are based on aggregated, static models.

Objective: To characterize the secretory dynamics of the HPA axis in the critically ill (CI) after cardiac surgery.

Implanted Monitor Alerting to Reduce Treatment Delay in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome Events.

Background: Increased pre-hospital delay during acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events contributes to worse outcome.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an implanted cardiac monitor with real-time alarms for abnormal ST-segment shifts to reduce pre-hospital delay during ACS events.

Methods: In the ALERTS (AngeLmed Early Recognition and Treatment of STEMI) pivotal study, subjects at high risk for recurrent ACS events (n = 907) were randomized to control (Alarms OFF) or treatment groups for 6 months, after which alarms were activated in all subjects (Alarms ON).

Individual Based Modelling of Fish Migration in a 2-D River System: Model Description and Case Study.

Context: Diadromous fish populations in the Pacific Northwest face challenges along their migratory routes from declining habitat quality, harvest, and barriers to longitudinal connectivity. These stressors complicate the prioritization of proposed management actions intended to improve conditions for migratory fishes including anadromous salmon and trout.

Objectives: We describe a multi-scale hybrid mechanistic-probabilistic simulation model linking migration corridor conditions to fish fitness outcomes.

A novel measure of glucose homeostasis (or loss thereof) comprising the joint dynamics of glucose, insulin, glucagon, and cortisol.

Quantification of disturbances in glucose-insulin homeostasis has been the cornerstone of appraising insulin resistance and detecting early-stage diabetes. Metabolic homeostasis arises from feedback and feed-forward interactions among (at least) all four of glucose, insulin, glucagon, and cortisol. Quantifying such tetrapartite interactions in the fasting (endogenously regulated) state overnight could elucidate very early regulatory disruption.

A Prognostic Signature for Lower Grade Gliomas Based on Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs.

Diffuse low-grade and intermediate-grade gliomas (together known as lower grade gliomas, WHO grade II and III) develop in the supporting glial cells of brain and are the most common types of primary brain tumor. Despite a better prognosis for lower grade gliomas, 70% of patients undergo high-grade transformation within 10 years, stressing the importance of better prognosis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are gaining attention as potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago.

Approximately 74 thousand years ago (ka), the Toba caldera erupted in Sumatra. Since the magnitude of this eruption was first established, its effects on climate, environment and humans have been debated. Here we describe the discovery of microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff-ashfall from the Toba eruption-in two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa, a region in which there is evidence for early human behavioural complexity.

General ecological models for human subsistence, health and poverty.

The world's rural poor rely heavily on their immediate natural environment for subsistence and suffer high rates of morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. We present a general framework for modelling subsistence and health of the rural poor by coupling simple dynamic models of population ecology with those for economic growth. The models show that feedbacks between the biological and economic systems can lead to a state of persistent poverty.

Pyelonephritis can lead to life-threatening complications.

Acute pyelonephritis is suggested by the constellation of fever (temperature ≥ 38.5° C), flank pain (typically unilateral), nausea and vomiting, and costovertebral angle tenderness. Complaints typical of lower UTI are variably present.

Optimization of protein recovery from bovine lung by pH shift process using response surface methodology.

Background: Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in a sequential manner to optimize solubilization and precipitation conditions in the recovery of protein from bovine lung using pH shift.

Results: Separate D-optimal designs were employed for protein solubilization and precipitation. Independent variables investigated for protein solubilization were time (10-120 min), temperature (4-20 °C), pH (8.

The effects of potato and rice starch as substitutes for phosphate in and degree of comminution on the technological, instrumental and sensory characteristics of restructured ham.

The effects of sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), two sources of starch (potato starch: PS and rice starch: RS) and comminution degree (CD) on the technological, instrumental and sensory characteristics of reformed hams were studied using response surface methodology. Both starches reduced cook loss and decreased ham flavour intensity, but RS had stronger effects on instrumental measures of texture, while PS was associated with improved juiciness when low/no added STPP was included. Coarsely ground meat, processed 100% with the kidney plate was associated with slightly increased cook loss, reduced texture profile analysis parameters and a more intense ham flavour compared to the other treatment (80% ground with a kidney plate plus 20% with a 9mm plate).

Long-Term Survival After Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the long-term survival rates of patients undergoing isolated first-time coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) by off-pump CABG with the long-term survival rates in patients undergoing CABG using cardioplegic cardiopulmonary bypass techniques.

Methods: All patients undergoing isolated CABG at a single center (Manchester Heart Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom) between 2000 and 2014 were included. Propensity score matching was performed on the basis of on demographic variables.

Automated Overnight Closed-Loop Control Using a Proportional-Integral-Derivative Algorithm with Insulin Feedback in Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes at Diabetes Camp.

Objective: This study determined the feasibility and efficacy of an automated proportional-integral-derivative with insulin feedback (PID-IFB) controller in overnight closed-loop (OCL) control of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes over multiple days in a diabetes camp setting.

Research Design And Methods: The Medtronic (Northridge, CA) Android™ (Google, Mountain View, CA)-based PID-IFB system consists of the Medtronic Minimed Revel™ 2.0 pump and Enlite™ sensor, a control algorithm residing on an Android phone, a translator, and remote monitoring capabilities.