Publications by authors named "Will K"

Article Synopsis
  • Common sampling methods for sows, like serum and tonsil scraping, raise animal welfare concerns and can be labor-intensive; the innovative Tonsil-Oral-Scrubbing (TOSc) collector allows easier and quicker fluid retrieval without snaring the animals.* -
  • A field study was conducted to compare detection rates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) RNA in four sample types (TOSc, serum, oral fluids, and tonsil scraping) at different time points after live-virus inoculation in 61 sows.* -
  • Results showed that tonsil scraping had the highest PRRSV RNA positivity, while TOSc also performed well compared to oral fluids and serum; however, both TOSc
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Piglet pre-weaning mortality (PWM) is a significant issue in the U.S. swine industry, causing economic losses and raising sustainability and animal welfare concerns.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study assessed the effects of dexamethasone treatment on farrowing performance and piglet traits in the first 5 days of life in multiparous sows, a high-risk group for stillbirths and prolonged farrowing. In this study, 185 multiparous sows (parity 4.25 ± 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Team-based care has been linked to key outcomes associated with the Quadruple Aim and a key driver of high-value patient-centered care. Use of the electronic health record (EHR) and machine learning have significant potential to overcome previous barriers to studying the impact of teams, including delays in accessing data to improve teamwork and optimize patient outcomes.

Methods: This study utilized a large EHR dataset (n=316,542) from an urban health system to explore the relationship between team composition and patient activation, a key driver of patient engagement.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fossil record suggests some insect species have a marked longevity. The oldest fossils purported to represent extant insect species are from the Oligocene and Eocene. One of the most cited fossils is the extant tiger beetle Tetracha carolina (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) that was identified over a century ago by Walther Horn in Eocene Baltic amber.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A new species of the carabid beetle genus Latreille is described from the Central Valley, Los Angeles Basin, and surrounding areas of California. is a distinctive species, a relatively large member of the subgenus Notaphus Dejean, and within a member of the LeConte species group. It has faint spots on the elytra and a large, convex, rounded prothorax.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study evaluated the relationship between the steroidal anti-inflammatory action of dexamethasone treatment in primiparous sows and farrowing and piglet performance in the first 5 d of life. For this purpose, 234 gilts were selected on the day of farrowing and distributed among three treatments: CON - control, without dexamethasone treatment; DexaPF - treatment with dexamethasone (20 mg im) per female at the moment of copious colostrum secretion (pre-farrowing); and DexaFO - treatment with dexamethasone (20 mg im), per female when the first piglet was born (farrowing onset). All females and their litters were evaluated regarding farrowing duration, obstetric interventions, colostrum yield and intake, newborn piglet traits, and piglet performance until 5 d of age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exercise is widely recognized as prophylaxis for osteoporosis. However, exactly which type of exercise is best to prevent loss of bone mass remains undefined. To find an appropriate form of treadmill exercise that would ameliorate postmenopausal loss of cortical and trabecular structures, we compared various training regimen in ovariectomized (OVX) C57BL/6J mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study evaluated the effect of different single fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) protocols on gestation length, farrowing distribution (synchrony), and piglet performance. In Study 1, 866 sows were assigned to two groups: Multiple AI (n = 484) - multiple artificial insemination (AI) at 24 h intervals during estrus; and FTAI+MultAI (n = 382) - OvuGel® 96 h post-weaning and single FTAI 22-24 h later. In Study 2, FTAI protocols were retrospectively analyzed: pLH - sows received 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Over the years, reproductive efficiency in the swine industry has focused on reducing the sperm cell number required per sow. Recent advances have included the identification of subfertile boars, new studies in extended semen quality control, new catheters and cannulas for intrauterine artificial insemination (AI), and fixed-time AI under commercial use. Therefore, it is essential to link field demands with scientific studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy is a major complication of septic shock and contributes to its high mortality. This pilot study investigated myocardial tissue differentiation in critically ill, sedated, and ventilated patients with septic shock using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR).

Methods And Results: Fifteen patients with septic shock were prospectively recruited from the intensive care unit.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We found distinct and consistently placed, species- and sex-specific abrasions of the cuticle on museum specimens of 14 species of the Bonelli, 1810 (Carabidae, Pterostichini) subgenusHypherpes Chaudoir, 1838. We deduced that these marks are generated during mating and, therefore, can be used to distinguish between preserved specimens of beetles that had previously mated at the time of capture and those that had not mated. In addition to describing and detailing the occurrence of the marks and providing evidence that they are the result of mating, we demonstrate their utility for inferring life history using a museum voucher collection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Team-based care delivered by an interprofessional team has been shown to be an effective strategy for caring for diverse, complex patient populations. Interprofessional teams can improve outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance the patient experience through patient-centered care. Nurses are essential members of healthcare teams within and across settings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rational design of dynamic hydrogels with desirable viscoelastic behaviors relies on an in-depth understanding of the principles correlating molecular parameters and macroscopic properties. To quantitatively elucidate such principles, a series of dynamic covalent hydrogels crosslinked via hydrazone bonds is designed. The exchange rate of the hydrazone bond is tuned by varying the concentration of an organic catalyst, while maintaining the crosslinking density unchanged.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A wide variety of intracellular membraneless compartments are formed via liquid-liquid phase separation of charged proteins and nucleic acids. Understanding the stability of these compartments, while accounting for the compositional heterogeneity intrinsic to cellular environments, poses a daunting challenge. We combined experimental and theoretical efforts to study the effects of nonstoichiometric mixing on coacervation behavior and accurately measured the concentrations of polyelectrolytes and small ions in the coacervate and supernatant phases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Oodini precinctive to New Caledonia are reviewed with nine species recognized, of which seven are newly described in two genera. Five species are described in the genus Chaudoir: , , , , and In the genus Heller two species, and , are described. In order to place cladistically the newly described species in a genus, a phylogenetic analysis of a matrix of 36 characters of adult morphology was conducted including exemplar species of three putative outgroup genera, six putative ingroup thryptocerine oodine genera, and all oodine species from New Caledonia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Host-associated microbiomes can play important roles in the ecology and evolution of their insect hosts, but bacterial diversity in many insect groups remains poorly understood. Here we examine the relationship between host environment, host traits, and microbial diversity in three species in the ground beetle family (Coleoptera: Carabidae), a group of roughly 40,000 species that synthesize a wide diversity of defensive compounds. This study used 16S amplicon sequencing to profile three species that are phylogenetically distantly related, trophically distinct, and whose defensive chemical secretions differ: Anisodactylus similis LeConte, 1851, Pterostichus serripes (LeConte, 1875), and Brachinus elongatulus Chaudoir, 1876.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Comprehensive, high-value patient-centered care incorporates many facets of the health care system that are beyond the realm of traditional medical knowledge and/or clinical skills.

Methods: We describe a novel, learning program integrating systems-based practice curricula into competency-based interprofessional continuing education curriculum for health care professionals. The program incorporated experiential, team-based learning through the development of quality improvement projects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study evaluated the applicability of intrauterine artificial insemination (IUAI) in gilts and the impact of age at insemination and different body characteristics of gilts on the success rate for cannula insertion. Additionally, reproductive performance was evaluated for IUAI and cervical artificial insemination (CAI), considering different semen dose sizes. A total of 636 gilts were assigned in a 2 × 2 factorial design: two artificial insemination techniques (CAI and IUAI) and two semen dose sizes (1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bombardier beetles are well-known for their remarkable defensive mechanism. Their defensive apparatus consists of two compartments known as the reservoir and the reaction chamber. When challenged, muscles surrounding the reservoir contract sending chemical precursors into the reaction chamber where they mix with enzymes resulting in an explosive discharge of a hot noxious chemical spray containing two major quinones: 1,4-benzoquinone and 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (toluquinone).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hydrocyanic acid (HCN) is a well-known defensive allomone in the chemical arsenal of millipedes in the order Polydesmida. The presence of HCN in the headspace vapor of adult Xystocheir dissecta (Wood, 1867), a common millipede from the San Francisco Bay Area, was traced by laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). To accomplish this, the headspace vapor surrounding caged, live millipedes was allowed to diffuse passively over gold-nanoparticle (AuNP) deposits placed at various distances from the emitting source.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The taxonomic position of Pristodactyla advena LeConte, 1848 (= "Acalathus" advena in the sense of previous authors) is discussed in light of a novel review of the morphological characters of Calathina and closely related taxa. All Acalathus Semenov, 1889 species and all other Dolichina share the distinct character state of having the sensory pits of the apical gonocoxites reduced or absent, while these pits are well-developed in P. advena.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Darlington described based on from New Guinea. In this review, is described from Leyte Island, Philippines, (Straneo, 1943) is transferred from Andrewes, and inclusion of (Jedlička, 1935) in the genus is confirmed. Characteristics of and genera that have been proposed as closely related to are discussed and a unique character, the post-ocular sulcus, shared among species of and is proposed as a synapomorphy for these two genera.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF