Equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy: prevalence, impact, and management.

Equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder affecting many horse breeds. Clinical signs include a symmetric ataxia and an abnormal stance at rest, similar to cervical vertebral compressive myelopathy, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, and equine herpesvirus 1 myeloencephalopathy. This review will provide an update on the disease prevalence, management, impact, and ongoing research

The Association Between Advanced Maternal Age and Short Interpregnancy Intervals on Preterm Labor

Background: Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal and infant mortality and has become a major health concern due to the increasing rates of infant deaths in the United States (WHO, 2017). Studying maternal risk factors for preterm labor provides insight to this obscure condition and can assist in the identification of high risk women, as well as facilitate appropriate pregnancy planning. Purpose: Although research can be found on interpregnancy intervals and maternal age as independent risk factors for premature labor, gaps exist within the relation of these variables. This study was done to investigate whether there is a significant risk association between advanced maternal age (35 years and older) and short interpregnancy intervals on premature labor, that deems transferring out of a low risk birthing center to a more advanced hospitalized setting. Methodology: De-identified data regarding obstetric history, medical history, and pregnancy morbidity was abstracted from women who delivered at Baby + Co., a birthing center in Nashville, Tennessee, between the years of 2015 and 2018. The population set included 1001 women, 5 of which delivered preterm. Means and standard deviations for the two groups were calculated, and two sided t-tests and corresponding p-values were calculated. Result: There was no statistical significance regarding maternal age and preterm transfers (p-value of 0.762). However, there was a positive correlation between short interpregnancy intervals and preterm birth (p-value .007). Discussion: Due to the low risk population included in this study, there is a need for additional research conducted within a higher risk population set to determine the significance and interaction between advanced maternal age and short interpregnancy intervals on preterm labor

A study of the usefulness of Skylab EREP data for earth resources studies in Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. Preliminary results show that the high resolution imagery has, potentially, an operational role in geological surveying and the design of major engineering works, and is much more promising in this regard than the low resolution Skylab and ERTS-1 imagery

Best-first heuristic search for multicore machines

To harness modern multicore processors, it is imperative to develop parallel versions of fundamental algorithms. In this paper, we compare different approaches to parallel best-first search in a shared-memory setting. We present a new method, PBNF, that uses abstraction to partition the state space and to detect duplicate states without requiring frequent locking. PBNF allows speculative expansions when necessary to keep threads busy. We identify and fix potential livelock conditions in our approach, proving its correctness using temporal logic. Our approach is general, allowing it to extend easily to suboptimal and anytime heuristic search. In an empirical comparison on STRIPS planning, grid pathfinding, and sliding tile puzzle problems using 8-core machines, we show that A*, weighted A* and Anytime weighted A* implemented using PBNF yield faster search than improved versions of previous parallel search proposals

An exploratory investigation of third graders\u27 perceptions of bullying

The purpose of this study is to investigate students\u27 views regarding a variety of topics related to bullying. Different methods were used to gather information regarding the students\u27 opinions. The students shared their ideas through the use of surveys, writing samples, and interviews. This study\u27s results determined students\u27 beliefs about bullying as well as their awareness of its occurrence. Students were able to provide accurate definitions of bullying. Students were also able to discuss several appropriate ways to react to bullying. Results of this study contribute more to the understanding of students\u27 perspectives about the topic of bullying in the school setting

UNDERSTANDING WHY INDIVIDUALS USE CLUB DRUGS AT RAVES AND ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC EVENTS: A PEER CLUSTER THEORY APPROACH

Raves and Electronic Dance Music (EDM) events are part of a growing culture of entertainment for young people around the world. The dangers of these events include fatalities related to drug use, overheating, dehydration and lack of harm reduction services. This study explores drug use at rave events through a survey examining EDM attendee experiences. Using a binary logistic regression model, this investigation examines the relative importance of five factors: (1) peer group drug use and (2) peer influence on behavior, drawn from peer cluster theory, (3) presence of security features that may dissuade drug use controls for rational choices, (4) the presence of drugs at events, and (5) the social supply of drugs accounting for drug networks enabling the supply of illicit drugs to participants. The results of the study suggest that peer groups heavily impact an individual’s decision to use drugs at an event. Peer group drug use was strongly correlated with individual drug use at the EDM. Peer influence on drugs and alcohol use was also correlated with individual drug use. Security and drug presence overall were not found to be significant. The social supply of drugs was present within the peer groups, and found significant once peer group drug use was removed. Due to the current restrictions on raves set by the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003, action should be taken to ensure harm prevention resources are available at all events. Future research should be conducted to expand the literature on club drug use at rave events and peer groups formed around the rave and EDM culture

In vivo imaging reveals transient microglia recruitment and functional recovery of photoreceptor signaling after injury.

Microglia respond to damage and microenvironmental changes within the central nervous system by morphologically transforming and migrating to the lesion, but the real-time behavior of populations of these resident immune cells and the neurons they support have seldom been observed simultaneously. Here, we have used in vivo high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy with and without adaptive optics to quantify the 3D distribution and dynamics of microglia in the living retina before and after local damage to photoreceptors. Following photoreceptor injury, microglia migrated both laterally and vertically through the retina over many hours, forming a tight cluster within the area of visible damage that resolved over 2 wk. In vivo OCT optophysiological assessment revealed that the photoreceptors occupying the damaged region lost all light-driven signaling during the period of microglia recruitment. Remarkably, photoreceptors recovered function to near-baseline levels after the microglia had departed the injury locus. These results demonstrate the spatiotemporal dynamics of microglia engagement and restoration of neuronal function during tissue remodeling and highlight the need for mechanistic studies that consider the temporal and structural dynamics of neuron-microglia interactions in vivo