Equine piroplasmosis status in the UK: an assessment of laboratory diagnostic submissions and techniques.

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) has historically been of minor concern to UK equine practitioners, primarily due to a lack of competent tick vectors. However, increased detection of EP tick vector species in the UK has been reported recently. EP screening is not currently required for equine importation, and when combined with recent relaxations in movement regulations, there is an increased risk regarding disease incursion and establishment into the UK.

Employer knowledge of federal requirements for recording work-related injuries and illnesses: Implications for occupational injury surveillance data.

Background: Accuracy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) data is dependent on employer compliance with workplace injury and illness recordkeeping requirements. Characterization of employer recordkeeping can inform efforts to improve the data.

Methods: We interviewed representative samples of SOII respondents from four states to identify common recordkeeping errors and to assess employer characteristics associated with limited knowledge of the recordkeeping requirements and non compliant practices.

Hyalomma ticks on northward migrating birds in southern Spain: Implications for the risk of entry of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus to Great Britain.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a zoonotic virus transmitted by Hyalomma ticks, the immature stages of which may be carried by migratory birds. In this study, a total of 12 Hyalomma ticks were recovered from five of 228 migratory birds trapped in Spring, 2012 in southern Spain along the East Atlantic flyway. All collected ticks tested negative for CCHFV.

Quality of life improves with return of voice in tracheostomy patients in intensive care: An observational study.

Purpose: To measure patient-reported change of mood, communication-related quality of life, and general health status with return of voice among mechanically ventilated tracheostomy patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Materials And Methods: A prospective observational study in a tertiary ICU was conducted. Communication-related quality of life was measured daily using the Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale.

Return of Voice for Ventilated Tracheostomy Patients in ICU: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Early-Targeted Intervention.

Objectives: A cuffed tracheostomy tube facilitates prolonged mechanical ventilation and weaning but usually leads to prolonged voicelessness, which can be one of the most negative experiences of hospitalization. No randomized trials have examined the effects of targeted early communication intervention for the restoration of voice in ventilated tracheostomy patients in the ICU.

Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial.

Detection of Mycoplasma genitalium from male primary urine specimens: an epidemiologic dichotomy with Trichomonas vaginalis.

A total of 2750 male urines subjected to a transcription-mediated amplification (TMA)-based Mycoplasma genitalium assay yielded 188 positive results (6.84%). This rate was similar to Chlamydia trachomatis (6.

Are potential organ donors missed on general wards? A 6-month audit of hospital deaths.

Objective: To determine whether potential organ donors are being missed on general wards by the DonateLife Audit, which concentrates on patients dying in emergency departments and intensive care units.

Design, Setting And Patients: Six-month (1 July to 31 December 2012) retrospective audit of patient deaths in a 700-bed metropolitan Australian tertiary referral and teaching hospital.

Main Outcome Measure: Potential organ donor suitability as assessed by a panel of organ donation specialists.

Spotted fever group rickettsiae in Dermacentor reticulatus and Haemaphysalis punctata ticks in the UK.

Background: Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae have recently been identified for the first time in UK ticks. This included the findings of Rickettsia helvetica in Ixodes ricinus and Rickettsia raoultii in Dermacentor reticulatus. This paper further investigates the occurrence of SFG rickettsiae in additional geographically distinct populations of D.

Retrospective assessment of transcription-mediated amplification-based screening for Trichomonas vaginalis in male sexually transmitted infection clinic patients.

Transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) enhances detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis from rectal and pharyngeal sources. The utility of TMA for detection of Trichomonas vaginalis has recently been described. We report on the performance of TMA for detection of sexually transmitted infection (STI) agents from extraurogenital sources, with a focus on T.

Importance of Fungicide Seed Treatment and Environment on Seedling Diseases of Cotton.

The importance of fungicide seed treatments on cotton was examined using a series of standardized fungicide trials from 1993 to 2004. Fungicide seed treatments increased stands over those from seed not treated with fungicides in 119 of 211 trials. Metalaxyl increased stands compared to nontreated seed in 40 of 119 trials having significant fungicide responses, demonstrating the importance of Pythium spp.

A clinical audit of the management of patients with a tracheostomy in an Australian tertiary hospital intensive care unit: Focus on speech-language pathology.

Speech-language pathologists manage communication and swallowing disorders, both of which can occur in patients after tracheostomy insertion. An audit on the incidence and timing of speech-language pathology intervention for adults with tracheostomies has not previously been published. Data were retrospectively extracted from the medical records of all patients who were tracheostomized at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW, Australia, from October 2007 for 1 year.

Optimizing phylogenetic networks for circular split systems.

We address the problem of realizing a given distance matrix by a planar phylogenetic network with a minimum number of faces. With the help of the popular software SplitsTree4, we start by approximating the distance matrix with a distance metric that is a linear combination of circular splits. The main results of this paper are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a network with a single face.

Sclerotinia blight resistance in Virginia-type peanut transformed with a barley oxalate oxidase gene.

Transgenic peanut lines expressing oxalate oxidase, a novel enzyme to peanut, were evaluated for resistance to Sclerotinia blight in naturally infested fields over a 5-year period. Area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) for transgenic lines in single rows planted with seed from single-plant selections averaged 78, 83, and 90% lower than nontransgenic parents in 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively. In addition, AUDPC in 14 transgenic lines planted with bulked seed in two-row plots averaged 81% lower compared with nontransgenic parents in 2005 and 86% lower in 16 transgenic lines in 2006.

Method to introduce mannitol powder to intubated patients to improve sputum clearance.

Background: Poor sputum clearance is a common problem encountered in intubated patients, which may cause airway obstruction, hypoxaemia, and increased risk of lower respiratory tract infection. This may result in longer intensive care unit (ICU) stay or even death. Dry powder mannitol has been shown to improve sputum clearance, and thus we developed a system to deliver it to intubated patients.

The feasibility of developing a risk assessment for the impact of climate change on the emergence of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in livestock in Europe: a review.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is one of the most widespread of all medically important arboviruses with ticks of the Hyalomma spp. serving as the main vectors. Infection of livestock by CCHFV serves as a route of exposure to humans, as a reservoir of disease and as a route of importation.

Treatment of obesity hypoventilation syndrome and serum leptin.

Background: Leptin is a protein produced by adipose tissue that circulates to the brain and interacts with receptors in the hypothalamus to inhibit eating. In obese humans, serum leptin is up to four times higher than in lean subjects, indicating that human obesity is associated with a central resistance to the weight-lowering effects of leptin. Although the leptin-deficient mouse (ob/ob) develops obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), in humans with OHS, serum leptin is a better predictor of awake hypercapnia in obesity than the body mass index (BMI).