Proširenost virusa virusnog proljeva u tkivima spolnog sustava goveda.

In this study, the cellular localisation and distribution of BVD viral antigens in genital system tissues were investigated in 65 non-pregnant dairy cows and in 65 bulls. For this study genital system tissue samples, taken from slaughtered bulls with no pathological lesions and from females having reproductive problems, were marked using the immunoperoxidase method on their paraffin sections. BVD viral antigens were determined in 15 of the 65 non-pregnant dairy cows (consistent with cell culture results) using the indirect immunoperoxidase method. BVD viral antigens were present in macrophage-like cells in the stroma of the ovaries and uterus. No BVD viral antigens were observed in the samples of testicles, epididymis, vesicula seminalis, or prostate in the male animals. In all animals, including BVDV-positive ones, no pathologic lesions were observed, except periodically non-specific subepithelial or stromal mononuclear cell infiltrations. Most of these cells were seen to be formed by lymphocytes and macrophages.Istražena je lokalizacija i proširenost antigena virusa virusnog proljeva goveda u tkivima spolnog sustava 65 negravidnih mliječnih krava i 65 bikova. U tu svrhu rabljen je imunoperoksidazni test na histološkim rezovima tkiva. Tom metodom pretraženi su uzorci tkiva spolnih organa uzeti od zdravih zaklanih bikova te krava s reprodukcijskim poremećajima. Virusni antigeni dokazani su u 15 od 65 krava (sukladno s uzgojem virusa na staničnoj kulturi). Antigeni su bili prisutni u makrofagima sličnim stanicama unutar strome jajnika i maternice. Virusni antigeni nisu dokazani u uzorcima tkiva testisa, epididimisa, sjemene vrećice i prostate bikova. U pretraženih životinja, uključujući i one pozitivne na virus, nisu zabilježene patološke promjene, osim povremenih nespecifičnih subepitelijalnih ili stromalnih mononuklearnih infiltracija limfocitima i makrofagima

Effect of curing time on selected properties of soil stabilized with fly ash, marble dust and waste sand for road sub-base materials

The properties of sub-base filling materials in highway construction are essential, as they can determine the performance of the road in service. Normally, the existing materials are removed and replaced with new materials that have adequate load-bearing capacity. Rising environmental concern and new environmental legislations have made construction professionals consider other methods. These methods include stabilizing the existing materials with other additives to improve their performance. Additives can be waste materials generated by different industries. In this work, the existing excavated soil is stabilized with waste materials. The wastes consisted of fly ash, marble dust and waste sand. The percentage addition of waste materials was 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (by mass) of the existing soil. The soil/waste specimens were cured for 1, 7, 28, 56, 90 and 112 days before testing. Testing included the dry unit weight and unconfined compressive strength ( qu) as well as X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observation. Also, the California Bearing Ratio values were obtained and are reported in this investigation. The results showed that the qu values increased with the increase in waste materials content. Also, there is tendency for the dry unit weight to increase with the increase in waste materials

Comorbidity, age, race and stage at diagnosis in colorectal cancer: a retrospective, parallel analysis of two health systems

© 2008 Zafar et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background : Stage at diagnosis plays a significant role in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. Understanding which factors contribute to a more advanced stage at diagnosis is vital to improving overall survival. Comorbidity, race, and age are known to impact receipt of cancer therapy and survival, but the relationship of these factors to stage at diagnosis of CRC is less clear. The objective of this study is to investigate how comorbidity, race and age influence stage of CRC diagnosis. Methods : Two distinct healthcare populations in the United States (US) were retrospectively studied. Using the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium database, we identified CRC patients treated at 15 Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals from 2003–2007. We assessed metastatic CRC patients treated from 2003–2006 at 10 non-VA, fee-for-service (FFS) practices. Stage at diagnosis was dichotomized (non-metastatic, metastatic). Race was dichotomized (white, non-white). Charlson comorbidity index and age at diagnosis were calculated. Associations between stage, comorbidity, race, and age were determined by logistic regression. Results : 342 VA and 340 FFS patients were included. Populations differed by the proportion of patients with metastatic CRC at diagnosis (VA 27% and FFS 77%) reflecting differences in eligibility criteria for inclusion. VA patients were mean (standard deviation; SD) age 67 (11), Charlson index 2.0 (1.0), and were 63% white. FFS patients were mean age 61 (13), Charlson index 1.6 (1.0), and were 73% white. In the VA cohort, higher comorbidity was associated with earlier stage at diagnosis after adjusting for age and race (odds ratio (OR) 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58–1.00; p = 0.045); no such significant relationship was identified in the FFS cohort (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.82–1.44; p = 0.57). In both cohorts, no association was found between stage at diagnosis and either age or race. Conclusion : Higher comorbidity may lead to earlier stage of CRC diagnosis. Multiple factors, perhaps including increased interactions with the healthcare system due to comorbidity, might contribute to this finding. Such increased interactions are seen among patients within a healthcare system like the VA system in the US versus sporadic interactions which may be seen with FFS healthcare

The prevalence of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) infections in cattle and existence of persistently infected cattle in the Trakya region

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of BVDV infection and, existence of persistently infected (PI) cattle in the Trakya region