A survey of dystocia in the Boxer breed

BACKGROUND: Dystocia occurs more commonly in some breeds of dogs than others. The Boxer breed is one of the highrisk breeds for whelping problems. The aim of this study was to document some reproductive parameters and the frequency of dystocia in Boxers. METHODS: Two questionnaires were sent to the breeders of Boxers in Sweden during 1994 to 1997. Data from 253 whelpings and 1671 pups was received, which constitutes 56.5% of all Boxer litters registered with the Swedish Kennel Club during these years. Data was analysed using Chi-square test, and Fischer's exact test. RESULTS: Dystocia occurred in 32% of the individual bitches, and in 27.7% of all the whelpings. Caesarian section was performed in 22.8% of all the whelpings and in 80.1% of the cases of dystocia. Medical treatment was tried in 20 cases but was successful only in 5 (25%). The dystocia was of maternal origin in 68.6% and of fetal origin in 28.6% of cases. The most common reasons for dystocia were primary uterine inertia (60%) and malpresentation of the fetus (26%). Dystocia increased with increasing age of the bitch from four years of age. Average litter size was 6.6 (± 2.2) pups born, and 5.0 (± 2.1) pups registered. Pup mortality was 24%. Stillbirths accounted for 6.1% of the pup deaths and 1% died in the neonatal period, while 15.6% of the pups were euthanised, the majority because they had disqualifying white coat colour. Cryptorchidism was observed in 9.8% of the male pups born and in 13.4% of the male pups that were registered. CONCLUSION: The Boxer suffers a high frequency of dystocia, mainly due to uterine inertia, but also fetal malpresentation. Breeders should be adviced to include easy whelpings in their breeding program

Combining EGM2008 and SRTM/DTM2006.0 residual terrain model data to improve quasigeoid computations in mountainous areas devoid of gravity data

A global geopotential model, like EGM2008, is not capable of representing the high-frequency components of Earth?s gravity field. This is known as the omission error. In mountainous terrain, omission errors in EGM2008, even when expanded to degree 2,190, may reach amplitudes of10cm and more for height anomalies. The present paper proposes the utilisation of high-resolution residual terrain model (RTM) data for computing estimates of the omission error in rugged terrain. RTM elevations may be constructed as the difference between the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation model and the DTM2006.0 spherical harmonic topographic expansion. Numerical tests, carried out in the German Alps with a precise gravimetric quasigeoid model (GCG05) and GPS/levelling data as references, demonstrate that RTM-based omission error estimatesimprove EGM2008 height anomaly differences by 10cm in many cases. The comparisons of EGM2008-only height anomalies and the GCG05 model showed 3.7 cm standard deviation after a bias-fit. Applying RTM omission error estimates to EGM2008 reduces the standard deviation to 1.9 cm which equates to a significant improvement rate of 47%. Using GPS/levelling data strongly corroborates thesefindings with an improvement rate of 49%. The proposed RTM approach may be of practical value to improve quasigeoid determination in mountainous areas without sufficient regional gravity data coverage, e.g., in parts of Asia, South America or Africa. As a further application, RTMomission error estimates will allow refined validation of global gravity field models like EGM2008 from GPS/levelling data

Buracos negros: uma intrevista com Hubert Godard

International audienceTradução Joana Ribeiro da Silva Tavares e Marito Olsson-Forsberg): Hubert Godard, Patricia Kuypers, « Des trous noirs », Nouvelles de danse. Scientifiquement danse,*, n° 53, Contredanse, Bruxelles, 2006, p. 56-75. Trabalhando há mais de vinte anos entre as áreas da dança, das técnicas somáticas e da pesquisa médica, Hubert Godard é um pesquisador de referência no campo da análise do movimento humano. Nessa entrevista, ele apresenta os pontos gerais de sua pesquisa. A discussão principal trata da relação entre o corpo em movimento e o espaço ao redor dele. Segundo Godard, é a percepção do espaço que determina a possibilidade do movimento corporal. Ele descreve esse espaço subjetivo como uma construção baseada nos hábitos de percepção, que constituem nossa história pessoal. Eventos traumáticos podem causar deficiências nessa esfera de percepção - os referidos buracos negros - que vão influenciar nossa postura, nosso esquema corporal e nossos movimentos. Alguns casos de escoliose são relatados como exemplo. O texto conduz à conclusão sobre as possíveis aplicações desses resultados na reeducação e na pedagogia da dança

The potential impact of new Andean dams on Amazon fluvial ecosystems

Increased energy demand has led to plans for building many new dams in the western Amazon, mostly in the Andean region. Historical data and mechanistic scenarios are used to examine potential impacts above and below six of the largest dams planned for the region, including reductions in downstream sediment and nutrient supplies, changes in downstream flood pulse, changes in upstream and downstream fish yields, reservoir siltation, greenhouse gas emissions and mercury contamination. Together, these six dams are predicted to reduce the supply of sediments, phosphorus and nitrogen from the Andean region by 69, 67 and 57% and to the entire Amazon basin by 64, 51 and 23%, respectively. These large reductions in sediment and nutrient supplies will have major impacts on channel geomorphology, floodplain fertility and aquatic productivity. These effects will be greatest near the dams and extend to the lowland floodplains. Attenuation of the downstream flood pulse is expected to alter the survival, phenology and growth of floodplain vegetation and reduce fish yields below the dams. Reservoir filling times due to siltation are predicted to vary from 106–6240 years, affecting the storage performance of some dams. Total CO2 equivalent carbon emission from 4 Andean dams was expected to average 10 Tg y-1 during the first 30 years of operation, resulting in a MegaWatt weighted Carbon Emission Factor of 0.139 tons C MWhr-1. Mercury contamination in fish and local human populations is expected to increase both above and below the dams creating significant health risks. Reservoir fish yields will compensate some downstream losses, but increased mercury contamination could offset these benefits

Formação contínua de professores: uma análise com base em artigos, dissertações e teses

Resumo: O trabalho apresenta resultados de um estudo que analisou a produção acadêmica sobre formação contínua de professores, com base na análise de dissertações e teses defendidas em Programas de Pós-Graduação vinculados às áreas de Educação e Ensino e de artigos publicados em periódicos nessas áreas. No foco do estudo, estiveram presentes a frequência da pesquisa, os programas de pós-graduação, as áreas de origem, níveis de ensino e sujeitos envolvidos. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar características da pesquisa sobre a formação contínua do professor que atua nos cursos de licenciatura em matemática. A partir do agrupamento dos trabalhos em duas categorias, pesquisa sobre formação contínua de professores e sobre formação do professor formador de professores de Matemática, foi possível inferir que, a formação contínua do professor, em particular a formação do professor que atua nos cursos de licenciatura em matemática ainda é um campo marcado por escassez de pesquisas.Palavras-chave: Formação contínua; Formação de professores; Professor de matemática. Continuous training of teachers: on based the analysis of articles, dissertations and thesesAbstract: The paper presents results of study that analyzed the academic production on continuous training of teachers, based on the analysis of dissertations and theses defended in Graduate Programs linked to areas of education and teaching, and articles published in journals in these areas. The focus of the study were the frequency of the research, post graduate programs, areas of origin, education levels and the subjects involved. The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of research on the continuous training of teacher’s that acts in the courses of Bachelor's degree in mathematics. From the grouping of jobs into two categories, research on continuous teacher training and on training the trainer professor of mathematics teachers, it was possible to infer on the continuous training of teachers, in particular the formation of the teacher who acts the degree in mathematics courses is still a field marked by lack of research.Keywords: Continuous formation; Training of teachers; Mathematics teacher.

How do we estimate survival? External validation of a tool for survival estimation in patients with metastatic bone disease-decision analysis and comparison of three international patient populations.

Abstract BACKGROUND: We recently developed a clinical decision support tool, capable of estimating the likelihood of survival at 3 and 12 months following surgery for patients with operable skeletal metastases. After making it publicly available on www.PATHFx.org , we attempted to externally validate it using independent, international data. METHODS: We collected data from patients treated at 13 Italian orthopaedic oncology referral centers between 2010 and 2013, then applied to PATHFx, which generated a probability of survival at three and 12-months for each patient. We assessed accuracy using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC), clinical utility using Decision Curve Analysis (DCA), and compared the Italian patient data to the training set (United States) and first external validation set (Scandinavia). RESULTS: The Italian dataset contained 287 records with at least 12 months follow-up information. The AUCs for the three-month and 12-month estimates was 0.80 and 0.77, respectively. There were missing data, including the surgeon's estimate of survival that was missing in the majority of records. Physiologically, Italian patients were similar to patients in the training and first validation sets. However notable differences were observed in the proportion of those surviving three and 12-months, suggesting differences in referral patterns and perhaps indications for surgery. CONCLUSIONS: PATHFx was successfully validated in an Italian dataset containing missing data. This study demonstrates its broad applicability to European patients, even in centers with differing treatment philosophies from those previously studied

Integrating Machine Learning for Planetary Science: Perspectives for the Next Decade

Machine learning (ML) methods can expand our ability to construct, and draw insight from large datasets. Despite the increasing volume of planetary observations, our field has seen few applications of ML in comparison to other sciences. To support these methods, we propose ten recommendations for bolstering a data-rich future in planetary science.Comment: 10 pages (expanded citations compared to 8 page submitted version for decadal survey), 3 figures, white paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-203

Increased S-nitrosylation and proteasomal degradation of caspase-3 during infection contribute to the persistence of adherent invasive escherichia coli (AIEC) in immune cells

Adherent invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) have been implicated as a causative agent of Crohn's disease (CD) due to their isolation from the intestines of CD sufferers and their ability to persist in macrophages inducing granulomas. The rapid intracellular multiplication of AIEC sets it apart from other enteric pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium which after limited replication induce programmed cell death (PCD). Understanding the response of infected cells to the increased AIEC bacterial load and associated metabolic stress may offer insights into AIEC pathogenesis and its association with CD. Here we show that AIEC persistence within macrophages and dendritic cells is facilitated by increased proteasomal degradation of caspase-3. In addition S-nitrosylation of pro- and active forms of caspase-3, which can inhibit the enzymes activity, is increased in AIEC infected macrophages. This S-nitrosylated caspase-3 was seen to accumulate upon inhibition of the proteasome indicating an additional role for S-nitrosylation in inducing caspase-3 degradation in a manner independent of ubiquitination. In addition to the autophagic genetic defects that are linked to CD, this delay in apoptosis mediated in AIEC infected cells through increased degradation of caspase-3, may be an essential factor in its prolonged persistence in CD patients

Fibroblasts—a key host cell type in tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis

Tumor initiation, growth, invasion, and metastasis occur as a consequence of a complex interplay between the host environment and cancer cells. Fibroblasts are now recognized as a key host cell type involved in host–cancer signaling. This review discusses some recent studies that highlight the roles of fibroblasts in tumor initiation, early progression, invasion, and metastasis. Some clinical studies describing the prognostic significance of fibroblast-derived markers and signatures are also discussed

Gene polymorphisms of superoxide dismutases and catalase in diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reactive oxygen species generated by hyperglycaemia modify structure and function of lipids, proteins and other molecules taking part in chronic vascular changes in diabetes mellitus (DM). Low activity of scavenger enzymes has been observed in patients with DM. Protective role of scavenger enzymes may be deteriorated by oxidative stress. This study was undertaken to investigate the association between gene polymorphisms of selected antioxidant enzymes and vascular complications of DM.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant differences in allele and genotype distribution among T1DM, T2DM and control persons were found in SOD1 and SOD2 genes but not in CAT gene (p < 0,01). Serum SOD activity was significantly decreased in T1DM and T2DM subjects compared to the control subjects (p < 0,05). SOD1 and SOD2 polymorphisms may affect SOD activity. Serum SOD activity was higher in CC than in TT genotype of SOD2 gene (p < 0,05) and higher in AA than in CC genotype of SOD1 gene (p < 0,05). Better diabetes control was found in patients with CC than with TT genotype of SOD2 gene. Significantly different allele and genotype frequencies of SOD2 gene polymorphism were found among diabetic patients with macroangiopathy and those without it. No difference was associated with microangiopathy in all studied genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of our study demonstrate that oxidative stress in DM can be accelerated not only due to increased production of ROS caused by hyperglycaemia but also by reduced ability of antioxidant defense system caused at least partly by SNPs of some scavenger enzymes.</p