High‐Frequency Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrate Measurements Reveal Differences in Storm Hysteresis and Loading in Relation to Land Cover and Seasonality

Storm events dominate riverine loads of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate and are expected to increase in frequency and intensity in many regions due to climate change. We deployed three high‐frequency (15 min) in situ absorbance spectrophotometers to monitor DOC and nitrate concentration for 126 storms in three watersheds with agricultural, urban, and forested land use/land cover. We examined intrastorm hysteresis and the influences of seasonality, storm size, and dominant land use/land cover on storm DOC and nitrate loads. DOC hysteresis was generally anticlockwise at all sites, indicating distal and plentiful sources for all three streams despite varied DOC character and sources. Nitrate hysteresis was generally clockwise for urban and forested sites, but anticlockwise for the agricultural site, indicating an exhaustible, proximal source of nitrate in the urban and forested sites, and more distal and plentiful sources of nitrate in the agricultural site. The agricultural site had significantly higher storm nitrate yield per water yield and higher storm DOC yield per water yield than the urban or forested sites. Seasonal effects were important for storm nitrate yield in all three watersheds and farm management practices likely caused complex interactions with seasonality at the agricultural site. Hysteresis indices did not improve predictions of storm nitrate yields at any site. We discuss key lessons from using high‐frequency in situ optical sensors

Chronic Losartan Administration Reduces Mortality and Preserves Cardiac but Not Skeletal Muscle Function in Dystrophic Mice

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a degenerative disorder affecting skeletal and cardiac muscle for which there is no effective therapy. Angiotension receptor blockade (ARB) has excellent therapeutic potential in DMD based on recent data demonstrating attenuation of skeletal muscle disease progression during 6–9 months of therapy in the mdx mouse model of DMD. Since cardiac-related death is major cause of mortality in DMD, it is important to evaluate the effect of any novel treatment on the heart. Therefore, we evaluated the long-term impact of ARB on both the skeletal muscle and cardiac phenotype of the mdx mouse. Mdx mice received either losartan (0.6 g/L) (n = 8) or standard drinking water (n = 9) for two years, after which echocardiography was performed to assess cardiac function. Skeletal muscle weight, morphology, and function were assessed. Fibrosis was evaluated in the diaphragm and heart by Trichrome stain and by determination of tissue hydroxyproline content. By the study endpoint, 88% of treated mice were alive compared to only 44% of untreated (p = 0.05). No difference in skeletal muscle morphology, function, or fibrosis was noted in losartan-treated animals. Cardiac function was significantly preserved with losartan treatment, with a trend towards reduction in cardiac fibrosis. We saw no impact on the skeletal muscle disease progression, suggesting that other pathways that trigger fibrosis dominate over angiotensin II in skeletal muscle long term, unlike the situation in the heart. Our study suggests that ARB may be an important prophylactic treatment for DMD-associated cardiomyopathy, but will not impact skeletal muscle disease

The practical politics of sharing personal data

The focus of this paper is upon how people handle the sharing of personal data as an interactional concern. A number of ethnographic studies of domestic environments are drawn upon in order to articulate a range of circumstances under which data may be shared. In particular a distinction is made between the in situ sharing of data with others around you and the sharing of data with remote parties online. A distinction is also drawn between circumstances of purposefully sharing data in some way and circumstances where the sharing of data is incidental or even unwitting. On the basis of these studies a number of the organisational features of how people seek to manage the ways in which their data is shared are teased out. The paper then reflects upon how data sharing practices have evolved to handle the increasing presence of digital systems in people’s environments and how these relate to the ways in which people traditionally orient to the sharing of information. In conclusion a number of ways are pointed out in which the sharing of data remains problematic and there is a discussion of how systems may need to adapt to better support people’s data sharing practices in the future

Cardiac troponin I levels in canine pyometra

BACKGROUND: Myocardial injury may contribute to unexpected deaths due to pyometra. To detect myocardial damage, measurement of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is currently the most sensitive and specific method. The aims of the present study were to evaluate presence of myocardial damage in canine pyometra by analysis of cTnI, to explore whether myocardial injury was associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and to evaluate whether other clinical or laboratory parameters were associated with cTnI increase. METHODS: Preoperative plasma levels of cTnI were investigated in 58 female dogs with pyometra and 9 controls. The value of physical examination findings, haematological, serum biochemical and pro-inflammatory (CRP and TNF-α) parameters as possible predictors of increased cTnI levels was also evaluated. RESULTS: Seven dogs with pyometra (12%) and one control dog (11%) had increased levels of cTnI. In the pyometra group, the levels ranged between 0.3–0.9 μg l(-1 )and in the control dog the level was 0.3 μg l(-1). The cTnI levels did not differ significantly between the two groups. No cardiac abnormalities were evident on preoperative physical examinations. Four of the pyometra patients died within two weeks of surgery, of which two were examined post mortem. In one of these cases (later diagnosed with myocarditis and disseminated bacterial infection) the cTnI levels increased from 0.9 μg l(-1 )preoperatively to 180 μg l(-1 )the following day when also heart arrhythmia was also detected. The other patient had cTnI levels of 0.7 μg l(-1 )with no detectable heart pathology post mortem. CTnI increase was not associated with presence of SIRS. There was a trend for the association of cTnI increase with increased mortality. No preoperative physical examination findings and few but unspecific laboratory parameters were associated with increased cTnI levels. CONCLUSION: Increased cTnI levels were observed in 12% of the dogs with pyometra. The proportions of dogs with cTnI increase did not differ significantly in the pyometra group compared with the control group. CTnI increase was not associated with presence of SIRS. A trend for association of cTnI increase and mortality was observed. Preoperative physical examination findings and included laboratory parameters were poor predictors of increased cTnI levels

The influence of biological maturity on dynamic force-time variables and vaulting performance in young female gymnasts

Jumping and rebounding are important prerequisites that underpin the high impact loading gymnastics skills (e.g. acrobatic series, tumbling etc.) (Suchomel et al. 2016). Further, three of the four artistic disciplines that female gymnasts compete in (vault, beam and floor exercise) are heavily reliant on explosive lower-limb rebounding and jumping activities, which all utilize various expressions of the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) (Moeskops et al. 2019). Consequently, rebounding and jumping performance of artistic gymnasts are commonly assessed to identify key determinants of the sport (Dallas G et al. 2013; Marina et al. 2013; Marina M. and F.A. 2013; Suchomel et al. 2016), determine physical profiles (Pion et al. 2015; Vandorpe et al. 2012) and evaluate the efficacy of training interventions (Colclough et al. 2018; Hall et al. 2016; Marina and Jemni 2014; Moeskops et al. 2018b)