A systematic review of criteria used to report complications in soft tissue and oncologic surgical clinical research studies in dogs and cats.

ObjectiveTo evaluate reporting of surgical complications and other adverse events in clinical research articles describing soft tissue and oncologic surgery in dogs and cats.Study designSystematic literature review.SampleEnglish-language articles describing soft tissue and oncologic surgeries in client-owned dogs and cats published in peer-reviewed journals from 2013 to 2016.MethodsCAB, AGRICOLA, and MEDLINE databases were searched for eligible articles. Article characteristics relevant to complications were abstracted and summarized, including reported events, definitions, criteria used to classify events according to severity and time frame, and relevant citations.ResultsOne hundred fifty-one articles involving 10 522 animals were included. Canine retrospective case series of dogs predominated. Ninety-two percent of articles mentioned complications in study results, but only 7.3% defined the term complication. Articles commonly described complications according to time frame and severity, but terminology and classification criteria were highly variable, conflicting between studies, or not provided. Most (58%) reported complications could have been graded with a published veterinary adverse event classification scheme, although common intraoperative complications were notable exceptions.ConclusionDefinitions and criteria used to classify and report soft tissue and oncologic surgical complications are often absent, incomplete, or contradictory among studies.Clinical significanceLack of consistent terminology contributes to inadequate communication of important information about surgical complications. Standardization of terminology and consistency in severity scoring will improve comparative evaluation of clinical research results

Modelling Heteregeneous and Distributed Spatial Datasets in an Update Context

Pages de la publication : CDRom.International audienceThe update of distributed geographic data still poses many problems due essentially to the data's specific characteristics (spatial constituent, topology, for example). We propose a metadata model to aid in the management of different actors located at several sites handling heterogeneous data that are regularly updated. This model is based on the ISO 19115 standard, which is the metadata standard for geographic information

Identification and annotation of conserved promoters and macrophage-expressed genes in the pig genome.

BACKGROUND: The FANTOM5 consortium used Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE) tag sequencing to produce a comprehensive atlas of promoters and enhancers within the human and mouse genomes. We reasoned that the mapping of these regulatory elements to the pig genome could provide useful annotation and evidence to support assignment of orthology. RESULTS: For human transcription start sites (TSS) associated with annotated human-mouse orthologs, 17% mapped to the pig genome but not to the mouse, 10% mapped only to the mouse, and 55% mapped to both pig and mouse. Around 17% did not map to either species. The mapping percentages were lower where there was not clear orthology relationship, but in every case, mapping to pig was greater than to mouse, and the degree of homology was also greater. Combined mapping of mouse and human CAGE-defined promoters identified at least one putative conserved TSS for >16,000 protein-coding genes. About 54% of the predicted locations of regulatory elements in the pig genome were supported by CAGE and/or RNA-Seq analysis from pig macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative mapping of promoters and enhancers from humans and mice can provide useful preliminary annotation of other animal genomes. The data also confirm extensive gain and loss of regulatory elements between species, and the likelihood that pigs provide a better model than mice for human gene regulation and function

Non-equilibrium critical dynamics of bursts in θ and δ rhythms as fundamental characteristic of sleep and wake micro-architecture

Origin and functions of intermittent transitions among sleep stages, including short awakenings and arousals, constitute a challenge to the current homeostatic framework for sleep regulation, focusing on factors modulating sleep over large time scales. Here we propose that the complex micro-architecture characterizing the sleep-wake cycle results from an underlying non-equilibrium critical dynamics, bridging collective behaviors across spatio-temporal scales. We investigate θ and δ wave dynamics in control rats and in rats with lesions of sleep-promoting neurons in the parafacial zone. We demonstrate that intermittent bursts in θ and δ rhythms exhibit a complex temporal organization, with long-range power-law correlations and a robust duality of power law (θ-bursts, active phase) and exponential-like (δ-bursts, quiescent phase) duration distributions, typical features of non-equilibrium systems self-organizing at criticality. Crucially, such temporal organization relates to anti-correlated coupling between θ- and δ-bursts, and is independent of the dominant physiologic state and lesions, a solid indication of a basic principle in sleep dynamics

Dispersed Crude Oil Induces Dysbiosis In the Red Snapper \u3ci\u3eLutjanus campechanus\u3c/i\u3e External Microbiota

The fish external microbiota competitively excludes primary pathogens and prevents the proliferation of opportunists. A shift from healthy microbiota composition, known as dysbiosis, may be triggered by environmental stressors and increases host susceptibility to disease. The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill was a significant stressor event in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite anecdotal reports of skin lesions on fishes following the oil spill, little information is available on the impact of dispersed oil on the fish external microbiota. In this study, juvenile red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) were exposed to a chemically enhanced water-accommodated fraction (CEWAF) of Corexit 9500/DWH oil (CEWAF) and/or the bacterial pathogen Vibrio anguillarum in treatments designed to detect changes in and recovery of the external microbiota. In fish chronically exposed to CEWAF, immunoglobulin M (IgM) expression significantly decreased between 2 and 4 weeks of exposure, coinciding with elevated liver total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Dysbiosis was detected on fish chronically exposed to CEWAF compared to seawater controls, and addition of a pathogen challenge altered the final microbiota composition. Dysbiosis was prevented by returning fish to clean seawater for 21 days after 1 week of CEWAF exposure. Four fish exhibited lesions during the trial, all of which were exposed to CEWAF but not all of which were exposed to V. anguillarum. This study indicates that month-long exposure to dispersed oil leads to dysbiosis in the external microbiota. As the microbiota is vital to host health, these effects should be considered when determining the total impacts of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems

Mating system variation in hybrid zones: Facilitation, barriers and asymmetries to gene flow

Plant mating systems play a key role in structuring genetic variation both within and between species. In hybrid zones, the outcomes and dynamics of hybridization are usually interpreted as the balance between gene flow and selection against hybrids. Yet, mating systems can introduce selective forces that alter these expectations; with diverse outcomes for the level and direction of gene flow depending on variation in outcrossing and whether the mating systems of the species pair are the same or divergent. We present a survey of hybridization in 133 species pairs from 41 plant families and examine how patterns of hybridization vary with mating system. We examine if hybrid zone mode, level of gene flow, asymmetries in gene flow and the frequency of reproductive isolating barriers vary in relation to mating system/s of the species pair. We combine these results with a simulation model and examples from the literature to address two general themes: (1) the two-way interaction between introgression and the evolution of reproductive systems, and (2) how mating system can facilitate or restrict interspecific gene flow. We conclude that examining mating system with hybridization provides unique opportunities to understand divergence and the processes underlying reproductive isolation

The involvement of acidic nucleoplasmic DNA-binding protein (and-1) in the regulation of prereplicative complex (pre-RC) assembly in human cells

DNA replication in all eukaryotes starts with the process of loading the replicative helicase MCM2–7 onto chromatin during late mitosis of the cell cycle. MCM2–7 is a key component of the prereplicative complex (pre-RC), which is loaded onto chromatin by the concerted action of origin recognition complex, Cdc6, and Cdt1. Here, we demonstrate that And-1 is assembled onto chromatin in late mitosis and early G(1) phase before the assembly of pre-RC in human cells. And-1 forms complexes with MCM2–7 to facilitate the assembly of MCM2–7 onto chromatin at replication origins in late mitosis and G(1) phase. We also present data to show that depletion of And-1 significantly reduces the interaction between Cdt1 and MCM7 in G(1) phase cells. Thus, human And-1 facilitates loading of the MCM2–7 helicase onto chromatin during the assembly of pre-RC

Characterizing photonic crystal waveguides with an expanded k-space evanescent coupling technique

We demonstrate a direct, single measurement technique for characterizing the dispersion of a photonic crystal waveguide (PCWG) using a tapered fiber evanescent coupling method. A highly curved fiber taper is used to probe the Fabry-Pérot spectrum of a closed PCWG over a broad k-space range, and from this measurement the dispersive properties of the waveguide can be found. Waveguide propagation losses can also be estimated from measurements of closed waveguides with different lengths. The validity of this method is demonstrated by comparing the results obtained on a ‘W1’ PCWG in chalcogenide glass with numerical simulation

230 Th normalization: new insights on an essential tool for quantifying sedimentary fluxes in the modern and quaternary ocean

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Costa, K. M., Hayes, C. T., Anderson, R. F., Pavia, F. J., Bausch, A., Deng, F., Dutay, J., Geibert, W., Heinze, C., Henderson, G., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Hoffmann, S., Jaccard, S. L., Jacobel, A. W., Kienast, S. S., Kipp, L., Lerner, P., Lippold, J., Lund, D., Marcantonio, F., McGee, D., McManus, J. F., Mekik, F., Middleton, J. L., Missiaen, L., Not, C., Pichat, S., Robinson, L. F., Rowland, G. H., Roy-Barman, M., Alessandro, Torfstein, A., Winckler, G., & Zhou, Y. 230 Th normalization: new insights on an essential tool for quantifying sedimentary fluxes in the modern and quaternary ocean. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35(2), (2020): e2019PA003820, doi:10.1029/2019PA003820.230Th normalization is a valuable paleoceanographic tool for reconstructing high‐resolution sediment fluxes during the late Pleistocene (last ~500,000 years). As its application has expanded to ever more diverse marine environments, the nuances of 230Th systematics, with regard to particle type, particle size, lateral advective/diffusive redistribution, and other processes, have emerged. We synthesized over 1000 sedimentary records of 230Th from across the global ocean at two time slices, the late Holocene (0–5,000 years ago, or 0–5 ka) and the Last Glacial Maximum (18.5–23.5 ka), and investigated the spatial structure of 230Th‐normalized mass fluxes. On a global scale, sedimentary mass fluxes were significantly higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (1.79–2.17 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence) relative to the Holocene (1.48–1.68 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence). We then examined the potential confounding influences of boundary scavenging, nepheloid layers, hydrothermal scavenging, size‐dependent sediment fractionation, and carbonate dissolution on the efficacy of 230Th as a constant flux proxy. Anomalous 230Th behavior is sometimes observed proximal to hydrothermal ridges and in continental margins where high particle fluxes and steep continental slopes can lead to the combined effects of boundary scavenging and nepheloid interference. Notwithstanding these limitations, we found that 230Th normalization is a robust tool for determining sediment mass accumulation rates in the majority of pelagic marine settings (>1,000 m water depth).We thank Zanna Chase and one anonymous reviewer for valuable feedback. K. M. C. was supported by a Postdoctoral Scholarship at WHOI. L. M. acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council grant DP180100048. The contribution of C. T. H., J. F. M., and R. F. A. were supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (US‐NSF). G. H. R. was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/L002434/1). S. L. J. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants PP002P2_144811 and PP00P2_172915). This study was supported by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) project, which in turn received support from the Swiss Academy of Sciences and the US‐NSF. This work grew out of a 2018 workshop in Aix‐Marseille, France, funded by PAGES, GEOTRACES, SCOR, US‐NSF, Aix‐Marseille Université, and John Cantle Scientific. All data are publicly available as supporting information to this document and on the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/28791