Publications by authors named "Mitchell Ma"

Viscoelastic testing evaluates the formation and lysis of a clot over time, allowing more complete assessment of patient hemostasis in real time, whereas traditional tests, such as prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time, only measure coagulation factor function. Patient-side viscoelastic coagulation monitors are easy to use, portable, and provide faster turnaround time than commercial laboratories. Viscoelastic testing requires only 0.

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Anticoagulant choice can have significant effect on complete blood counts of reptiles and has not been reported in bearded dragons (). Whole blood was collected from 14 captive individuals and aliquoted into separate blood tubes containing dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and lithium heparin. Samples were shipped and processed within 24 h.

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Mass incarceration is a significant structural determinant of health, affecting incarcerated individuals, their families, and communities, with profound racial disparities. Health care professionals have an opportunity to reduce these inequities through abolition medicine. Abolition in health care means rewriting how doctors relate to patients labeled as criminal and is not a new checklist that can be imposed on the existing curriculum.

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Anthropogenic activities have negatively affected many birds, including owls. The Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana (WHL) has seen a 3.2-fold increase in barred owl () cases over the past eight years (2023, 134; 2015, 42).

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Rising rates of female incarceration within the United States are incompatible with the lack of federal standards outlining the rights of incarcerated mothers and their children. A robust body of evidence demonstrates that prison nurseries, programmes designed for mothers to keep their infants under their care during detainment or incarceration, provide essential and beneficial care that could not otherwise be achieved within the current carceral infrastructure. These benefits include facilitation of breastfeeding, bonding during a critical period of child development, and decreased recidivism rates for participants.

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Common blue-tongued skinks () are popular pet reptiles; however, there has been limited research to investigate sedatives for this species. The purpose of this study was to measure the physiologic effects of four combinations of alfaxalone, dexmedetomidine, and midazolam for minor procedures such as intubation and blood collection. Eleven common blue-tongued skinks () were used for this prospective, randomized cross-over study.

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Lactate is an important biochemistry analyte used in human and veterinary medicine to assess tissue perfusion and can be used as a prognostic indicator for certain disease conditions. Whereas lactate is commonly measured using "patient-side" handheld meters, these meters have not been validated for companion avian species. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of agreement between 2 commercially available point-of-care lactate meters and a laboratory benchtop blood analyzer in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots ().

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Current sedation protocols for chelonians can pose a challenge to clinicians because of prolonged induction and recovery times, difficulties in gaining venous access, and natural species variation. This study evaluated the sedative and physiologic effects of intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV) alfaxalone in six wild-caught adult eastern mud turtles (). The turtles received alfaxalone 10 mg/kg IM and IV in a randomized cross-over design.

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High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy in the United States. Late diagnosis and the emergence of chemoresistance have prompted studies into how the tumor microenvironment, and more recently tumor innervation, may be leveraged for HGSC prevention and interception. In addition to stess-induced sources, concentrations of the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) in the ovary increase during ovulation and after menopause.

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Background: Chylothorax is an uncommon medical condition for which limited data are available regarding the contemporary aetiology, management and outcomes. The goal of this study was to better define these poorly characterised features.

Methods: The medical records of adult patients diagnosed with chylothorax at 12 centres across Europe, America and South Africa from 2009-2021 were retrospectively reviewed.

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Epigenetic aberrations, including posttranslational modifications of core histones, are major contributors to cancer. Here, we define the status of histone H2B monoubiquitylation (H2Bub1) in clear cell ovarian carcinoma (CCOC), low-grade serous carcinoma, and endometrioid carcinomas. We report that clear cell carcinomas exhibited profound loss, with nearly all cases showing low or negative H2Bub1 expression.

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Background: Indwelling pleural catheters are an effective treatment option for patients with malignant pleural effusions. Despite their popularity, there remains a paucity of data on the patient experience and key patient-centred outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the experience of patients receiving an indwelling pleural catheter to better inform and identify potential areas for improvement in care.

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Vitamin D is an important hormone that can be acquired through diet, exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, or a combination of these methods. In domestic rabbits (), both methods appear viable, but there is limited research evaluating the effects of UVB on this species. Previous studies found that 12 h of artificial UVB radiation significantly increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) concentrations over time.

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Introduction: We present findings from the International Collaborative Effusion database, a European Respiratory Society clinical research collaboration. Nonspecific pleuritis (NSP) is a broad term that describes chronic pleural inflammation. Various aetiologies lead to NSP, which poses a diagnostic challenge for clinicians.

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Reptile Dermatology.

Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract

May 2023

Reptiles are being presented more frequently to veterinarians because they increase in popularity. As with domestic pets, dermatologic conditions are common findings in captive reptiles and can be associated with husbandry and nutritional deficiencies, infectious diseases, and neoplasia. To have success with these cases, it is important to take a stepwise and strategic approach, starting with a thorough anamnesis and physical examination.

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Objective: Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBB) is a commonly performed procedure to obtain parenchymal lung tissue during bronchoscopy. Pneumothorax is among the most common serious complications of TBB. The objective of this study was to assess whether location of TBB correlated with development of post-procedural pneumothorax.

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Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1) open reading frame 1 protein (ORF1p) expression is a common feature of many cancer types, including high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC). Here, we report that ORF1p is not only expressed but also released by ovarian cancer and primary tumor cells. Immuno-multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry assays showed that released ORF1p is confidently detectable in conditioned media, ascites, and patients' plasma, implicating ORF1p as a potential biomarker.

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Objective: To measure the performance of multiparametric (mp) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify intraprostatic tumour deposits using a systematic and targeted MR-guided transperineal prostate biopsy technique.

Materials And Methods: Patients underwent a combined systematic and targeted MR-guided transperineal biopsy procedure in the dorsal lithotomy position under general anaesthesia. Systematic biopsies were spaced 10 mm or less apart and additional biopsies targeted any Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) 3, 4 or 5 lesions identified on mpMRI.

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Bayesian inference and decision analysis can be used to identify the most probable differential diagnosis and use those probabilities to identify the best choice of diagnostic or treatment among several alternatives. In this retrospective case analysis, we surveyed three experts on the prior probability of several differential diagnoses, given the signalment and history of a ferret presenting for lethargy and anorexia, and the conditional probability of different clinical findings (physical, bloodwork, imaging, etc.), given a diagnosis.

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Background: In February 2021, over one hundred scientists and policy experts participated in a web-based Workshop to discuss the ways that divergent evaluations of evidence and scientific uncertainties are used to delay timely protection of human health and the environment from exposures to hazardous agents. The Workshop arose from a previous workshop organized by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in 2008 and which also drew on case studies from the EEA reports on 'Late Lessons from Early Warnings' (2001, 2013). These reports documented dozens of hazardous agents including many chemicals, for which risk reduction measures were delayed for decades after scientists and others had issued early and later warnings about the harm likely to be caused by those agents.

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Obesity, which is the most common spontaneous nutritional disorder in cats, is a known risk factor for the development of diabetes mellitus and has been linked to insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and altered adipose-derived hormone secretion in cats. The objective of this study was to monitor and report changes in the results of serial intravenous glucose tolerance testing (IVGTT) and other metabolic parameters in 4 obese cats over a 4-year period. Serial IVGTT, insulin sensitivity indices, adipokine concentrations, and lipid profiles were evaluated.

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Objective:  The main aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of stifle exploratory using either a stifle distractor (SD method) or a combination of Hohmann and Senn retractors (HS method) for diagnosing canine medial meniscal tears in cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles.

Study Design:  Fifteen pairs of canine cadaveric pelvic limbs were used and cranial cruciate ligament were transected in all stifles. Paired limbs were then randomly assigned to one of five groups based on the tears created in the caudal pole of the medial meniscus: no tear, peripheral detachment, or a variation in three vertical longitudinal tears.

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Background: Research in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has shown promising results with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) of oligometastatic disease, wherein distant disease may be limited to one or a few distant organs by host factors. Traditionally, PET/CT has been used in detecting metastatic disease and avoiding futile surgical intervention, however, sensitivity and specificity is limited to only 81 and 79%, respectively. Mediastinal staging still identifies occult nodal disease in up to 20% of NSCLC patients initially thought to be operative candidates.

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