Bacterial urinary tract infections associated with transitional cell carcinoma in dogs.

BackgroundUrinary tract infections (UTI) are believed to be common in dogs with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), but incidence and contributing factors have not been reported.ObjectivesTo determine the frequency and bacterial agents associated with UTI in dogs with TCC and define contributing factors.AnimalsEighty-five dogs with a history of urogenital TCC undergoing treatment with chemotherapy that had at least 1 urine culture performed.MethodsMedical records and culture results were retrospectively reviewed and ultrasound images were reviewed when available. Clinical factors were evaluated statistically for association with positive culture.ResultsFifty-five percent (47/85) of dogs had at least 1 positive culture during the course of treatment. Female dogs (80%, 40/50) were more likely than male dogs (29%, 10/35) to have at least 1 positive culture. Ultrasound examination determined that female dogs were more likely to have urethral (74%, 31/42) or trigonal tumor involvement (71%, 30/42) compared to male dogs (32%, 9/28 and 43%, 12/28, respectively). The most commonly isolated organisms were Staphylococcus spp. (23.9%, 29/121) and Escherichia coli (19.8%, 24/121). Dogs with urethral involvement of TCC were significantly more likely to have at least 1 positive culture than dogs without urethral involvement (75%, 30/40 versus 30%, 9/30).ConclusionsUrinary tract infection is common in dogs with TCC highlighting the importance of regular monitoring for bacterial cystitis in dogs with TCC. In addition, clinical factors such as tumor location and sex may be predictive of positive culture and can help clinicians assess the risk of UTI

An empirical analysis of the effect of commercial motorcycle restriction policy on public health and safety in Lagos State

No Abstrac

Organic Residues Affect Soil P Availability, Cowpea Yield And Nutrient Uptake on a Near Neutral P-Deficient Alfisol in Southwestern Nigeria

In the moist savanna zone of West Africa, it has been suggested that application of organic residues may play central roles in increasing the availability of inherent soil phosphorus and the dissolution and utilization of phosphate rock (PR) by food crops. Laboratory incubation study was carried out with plant residues of different chemical compositions (leaves of Flemingia macrophylla, Leucaena leucocephala, and maize stover (Zea mays L.) in pots containing a P-deficient Alfisol from SW Nigeria with ground Togo PR for 3 months to determine the dynamics of Olsen extractable P in the absence of growing plants. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) was planted in the incubated soils thereafter to evaluate treatment effects on cowpea yield and P uptake. A control treatment (no PR, no plant residues) was included for comparison. The pot trial was laid out as completely randomised design replicated four times. Generally, soil P availability increased with increasing length of incubation. Compared with the initial soil P value of 3.14 mg kg-1, after 12 weeks of incubation Leucaena +PR had the highest soil P (9. 9 mg kg soil-1), followed by Flemingia (7.9 mg kg soil-1) and Flemingia + PR (7.3 mg kg soil-1). Phosphorus availability following incubation of PR was 5.11 mg kg soil-1, 4.2 mg kg soil-1 for the control treatment, and 3.37 mg kg soil-1 for maize stover, which rather immobilized P throughout the incubation period. Cowpea plants grown on Flemingia and Leucaena incubated soils with and without PR produced higher number of pods, grain yield, and shoot dry matter than those grown on PR and maize+PR incubated soils. Total N uptake was not significantly different among the treatments but P and K uptake was significantly higher in plants grown on Leucaena+PR, Leucaena, Flemingia, and Flemingia+PR incubated soils than those grown on the control, PR, and maize+PR incubated soils. These results suggest that plant residues can be selected and incubated in near neutral P-deficient soils to enhance P availability and increase crop yield and P uptake.Key words: Alfisol, cowpea dry matter, length of incubation, Olsen extractable P, plant residues, Togo rock phosphate, West Afric

Performance of Cochorus olitorius as influenced by soil type and organic manure amendments in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State

An experiment was conducted in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State to evaluate the effect of four soil types (loamy, sand, clay and silt) amended with poultry manure (PM), plant manure (PLM), sheep/goat manure (SGM) and NPK on performance of Cochorus olitorius. It was a factorial experiment in completely randomized design. Pre-treated seeds were planted and watered daily. Agronomic data collected on days after planting were plant height, number of leaves and stem girth. Data were analyzed using generalized linear model of SAS version 9.1. Means were separated by least significant difference at P < 0.05. Results obtained indicated that loamy soil had significantly higher plant height, number of leaves and stem girth than other soil types. Silt had the least values for all the parameters measured. Performance of the soil types were in the order Loam > Sand > Clay > Silt. PLM had significantly higher plant height and stem diameter than PM and NPK but not significantly different from that of SGM. Loamy soil amended with either PLM or SGM performed better for all the parameters measured and therefore recommended in this study.Keywords: Organic manure, plant manure, soil type, Cochorus olitorius.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(33), pp. 5309-5312, 16 August, 201

An evaluation of the role of social identity processes for enhancing health outcomes within UK-based social prescribing initiatives designed to increase social connection and reduce loneliness: a systematic review

The UK's National Health Service has introduced Social Prescribing initiatives to tackle loneliness and ill-health, yet it lacks a theoretical foundation and evidence base for Social Prescribing's effectiveness. Recent research applies the Social Identity Approach to Health (SIAH) to explain Social Prescribing's health benefits, emphasising how social connection unlocks health-enhancing psychological mechanisms. This systematic review therefore aims to assess UK-based Social Prescribing programmes designed to boost social connection and alleviate loneliness, examining programme efficacy and the role of SIAH processes in health outcomes. Following PRISMA guidelines, a narrative synthesis of articles published from May 5, 2006 (when social prescribing was first introduced in the NHS), to April 8, 2024, was conducted, and their quality assessed using CONSORT-SPI (2018). Of these programmes, 10 employed a mixed-methods design, 8 qualitative and 1 quantitative service evaluation, totalling 3,298 participants. Results indicate that Social Prescribing's psychological value lies in quality rather than quantity of social connections, with meaningful connections fostering shared identity, perceived support and self-efficacy, the latter of which sustains social engagement post-programme. The SIAH was a useful tool for mapping mixed-methods findings onto a common theoretical framework to highlight these key proponents. Overall, this review underscores the importance of SIAH-informed Social Prescribing interventions in enhancing social connectedness, reducing loneliness, and promoting overall health

Molecular cloning and transcriptional activity of a new Petunia calreticulin gene involved in pistil transmitting tract maturation, progamic phase, and double fertilization

Calreticulin (CRT) is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed Ca2+-binding protein in multicellular eukaryotes. As an endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein, CRT plays a key role in many cellular processes including Ca2+ storage and release, protein synthesis, and molecular chaperoning in both animals and plants. CRT has long been suggested to play a role in plant sexual reproduction. To begin to address this possibility, we cloned and characterized the full-length cDNA of a new CRT gene (PhCRT) from Petunia. The deduced amino acid sequence of PhCRT shares homology with other known plant CRTs, and phylogenetic analysis indicates that the PhCRT cDNA clone belongs to the CRT1/CRT2 subclass. Northern blot analysis and fluorescent in situ hybridization were used to assess PhCRT gene expression in different parts of the pistil before pollination, during subsequent stages of the progamic phase, and at fertilization. The highest level of PhCRT mRNA was detected in the stigma–style part of the unpollinated pistil 1 day before anthesis and during the early stage of the progamic phase, when pollen is germinated and tubes outgrow on the stigma. In the ovary, PhCRT mRNA was most abundant after pollination and reached maximum at the late stage of the progamic phase, when pollen tubes grow into the ovules and fertilization occurs. PhCRT mRNA transcripts were seen to accumulate predominantly in transmitting tract cells of maturing and receptive stigma, in germinated pollen/growing tubes, and at the micropylar region of the ovule, where the female gametophyte is located. From these results, we suggest that PhCRT gene expression is up-regulated during secretory activity of the pistil transmitting tract cells, pollen germination and outgrowth of the tubes, and then during gamete fusion and early embryogenesis

Sources of Community Health Worker Motivation: A Qualitative Study in Morogoro Region, Tanzania.

There is a renewed interest in community health workers (CHWs) in Tanzania, but also a concern that low motivation of CHWs may decrease the benefits of investments in CHW programs. This study aimed to explore sources of CHW motivation to inform programs in Tanzania and similar contexts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 CHWs in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded prior to translation and thematic analysis. The authors then conducted a literature review on CHW motivation and a framework that aligned with our findings was modified to guide the presentation of results. Sources of CHW motivation were identified at the individual, family, community, and organizational levels. At the individual level, CHWs are predisposed to volunteer work and apply knowledge gained to their own problems and those of their families and communities. Families and communities supplement other sources of motivation by providing moral, financial, and material support, including service fees, supplies, money for transportation, and help with farm work and CHW tasks. Resistance to CHW work exhibited by families and community members is limited. The organizational level (the government and its development partners) provides motivation in the form of stipends, potential employment, materials, training, and supervision, but inadequate remuneration and supplies discourage CHWs. Supervision can also be dis-incentivizing if perceived as a sign of poor performance. Tanzanian CHWs who work despite not receiving a salary have an intrinsic desire to volunteer, and their motivation often derives from support received from their families when other sources of motivation are insufficient. Policy-makers and program managers should consider the burden that a lack of remuneration imposes on the families of CHWs. In addition, CHWs' intrinsic desire to volunteer does not preclude a desire for external rewards. Rather, adequate and formal financial incentives and in-kind alternatives would allow already-motivated CHWs to increase their commitment to their work

Higgs Low-Energy Theorem (and its corrections) in Composite Models

The Higgs low-energy theorem gives a simple and elegant way to estimate the couplings of the Higgs boson to massless gluons and photons induced by loops of heavy particles. We extend this theorem to take into account possible nonlinear Higgs interactions resulting from a strong dynamics at the origin of the breaking of the electroweak symmetry. We show that, while it approximates with an accuracy of order a few percents single Higgs production, it receives corrections of order 50% for double Higgs production. A full one-loop computation of the gg->hh cross section is explicitly performed in MCHM5, the minimal composite Higgs model based on the SO(5)/SO(4) coset with the Standard Model fermions embedded into the fundamental representation of SO(5). In particular we take into account the contributions of all fermionic resonances, which give sizeable (negative) corrections to the result obtained considering only the Higgs nonlinearities. Constraints from electroweak precision and flavor data on the top partners are analyzed in detail, as well as direct searches at the LHC for these new fermions called to play a crucial role in the electroweak symmetry breaking dynamics.Comment: 30 pages + appendices and references, 12 figures. v2: discussion of flavor constraints improved; references added; electroweak fit updated, results unchanged. Matches published versio

Antiferromagnetic spintronics

Antiferromagnetic materials are magnetic inside, however, the direction of their ordered microscopic moments alternates between individual atomic sites. The resulting zero net magnetic moment makes magnetism in antiferromagnets invisible on the outside. It also implies that if information was stored in antiferromagnetic moments it would be insensitive to disturbing external magnetic fields, and the antiferromagnetic element would not affect magnetically its neighbors no matter how densely the elements were arranged in a device. The intrinsic high frequencies of antiferromagnetic dynamics represent another property that makes antiferromagnets distinct from ferromagnets. The outstanding question is how to efficiently manipulate and detect the magnetic state of an antiferromagnet. In this article we give an overview of recent works addressing this question. We also review studies looking at merits of antiferromagnetic spintronics from a more general perspective of spin-ransport, magnetization dynamics, and materials research, and give a brief outlook of future research and applications of antiferromagnetic spintronics.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Regional disparities in the beneficial effects of rising CO2 concentrations on crop water productivity

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2]) are expected to enhance photosynthesis and reduce crop water use1. However, there is high uncertainty about the global implications of these effects for future crop production and agricultural water requirements under climate change. Here we combine results from networks of field experiments1, 2 and global crop models3 to present a spatially explicit global perspective on crop water productivity (CWP, the ratio of crop yield to evapotranspiration) for wheat, maize, rice and soybean under elevated [CO2] and associated climate change projected for a high-end greenhouse gas emissions scenario. We find CO2 effects increase global CWP by 10[0;47]%–27[7;37]% (median[interquartile range] across the model ensemble) by the 2080s depending on crop types, with particularly large increases in arid regions (by up to 48[25;56]% for rainfed wheat). If realized in the fields, the effects of elevated [CO2] could considerably mitigate global yield losses whilst reducing agricultural consumptive water use (4–17%). We identify regional disparities driven by differences in growing conditions across agro-ecosystems that could have implications for increasing food production without compromising water security. Finally, our results demonstrate the need to expand field experiments and encourage greater consistency in modelling the effects of rising [CO2] across crop and hydrological modelling communities