Laryngeal hemiplegia in the horse : an update

Laryngeal hemiplegia is a progressive upper airway dysfunction in the horse. It is not only seen in thoroughbred racehorses but also in warmblood horses, draft horses and in potties. The condition is most frequently seen on the left side. The left laryngeal recurrent nerve gradually loses function and the function of the left cricoarythenoideus dorsalis muscle is compromised. This condition is most often idiopathic. It possibly leads to exercise intolerance but a respiratory noise is often the primary complaint of the owner. Right sided laryngeal hemiplegia is almost always related to other pathologies causing the nerve to malfunction. The diagnosis is not always easy because of the restricted availability of endoscopy in the field. A better understanding of laryngeal ultrasound examination might offer a new possibility in diagnosing laryngeal hemiplegia. If abnormal inspiratory sound is the only problem, laser treatment alone can be satisfactory. If the horse shows clear signs of exercise intolerance, further treatment is needed. If correctly executed, the outcome of laryngoplasty is good. Other techniques, like nerve grafting and pacemakers, are being explored and might even be regarded as better alternative treatments in the future, as these are more physiologic compared to laryngoplasty. In sporthorses presented with idiopathic laryngeal neuropathy without postoperative complications, the prognosis is good

Quality of life in children surviving cancer: A personality and multi-informant perspective [IF: 1.5]

Objective: To describe quality of life (QoL) of children surviving cancer in relation to their personality, using self- and maternal reports and examining differences with healthy referents. Method: Sixty-seven children who survived childhood cancer were compared with eighty-one healthy children on QoL and personality characteristics. Results: Children who survived cancer reported higher QoL than healthy children, whereas there were no differences for personality. Two main effects emerged for informant with children rating themselves as less neurotic and more conscientious than their mothers. The correspondence between mothers and children was substantially higher for survivors for QoL and personality ratings. QoL and trait measures share substantial variance, and personality traits significantly predict QoL. Parental personality ratings explained child QoL beyond children's personality ratings. Conclusions: Personality traits contribute to quality of life, indicating that personality significantly influences child's quality of life beyond the experience of a negative life event such as surviving cancer and its treatment. From a diagnostic perspective, parental trait ratings are informative in addition to children's ratings of personality to understand children's QoL

General and maladaptive traits in a Five-Factor Framework for DSM-5 in a university student sample

The relationships between two measures proposed to describe personality pathology, that is the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-3) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), are examined in an undergraduate sample (N = 240). The NEO inventories are general trait measures, also considered relevant to assess disordered personality, whereas the PID-5 measure is specifically designed to assess pathological personality traits, as conceptualized in the DSM-5 proposal. A structural analysis of the 25 PID-5 traits confirmed the factor structure observed in the U.S. derivation sample, with higher order factors of Negative Affectivity, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Psychoticism. A joint factor analysis of, respectively, the NEO domains and their facets with the PID-5 traits showed that general and maladaptive traits are subsumed under an umbrella of five to six major dimensions that can be interpreted from the perspective of the five-factor model or the Personality Psychopathology Five. Implications for the assessment of personality pathology and the construction of models of psychopathology grounded in personality are discussed

Binary recurrences for which powers of two are discriminating moduli

Given a sequence of distinct positive integers $w_0 , w_1, w_2, \ldots$ and any positive integer $n$, we define the discriminator function $\mathcal{D}_{\bf w}(n)$ to be the smallest positive integer $m$ such that $w_0,\ldots, w_{n-1}$ are pairwise incongruent modulo $m$. In this paper, we classify all binary recurrent sequences $\{w_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ consisting of different integer terms such that $\mathcal{D}_{\bf w}(2^e)=2^e$ for every $e\geq 1.$ For all of these sequences it is expected that one can actually give a fairly simple description of $\mathcal{D}_{\bf w}(n)$ for every $n\ge 1.$ For two infinite families of such sequences this has been done already in 2019 by Faye, Luca and Moree, respectively Ciolan and Moree

Bionomics of the Established Exotic Mosquito Species Aedes koreicus in Belgium, Europe

Adults of an exotic mosquito, Aedes (Finlaya) koreicus (Edwards) (Diptera: Culicidae) were identified by morphology and genotyping from one site in Belgium in 2008. In late summer of that year, the occurrence of adults and immature stages reconfirmed its presence. This is the first record of this species outside its native range and in particular in Europe. Two subsites of the original location were prospected from April until October 2009 with different traps to evaluate the extent of its presence and establishment in the area and to understand the dynamics of the species' population. Next to Ae. koreicus, 15 other mosquito species were collected. Adult individuals of Ae. koreicus were found from May to September and larvae were still found early October. Larvae were mainly retrieved from artificial containers both in 2008 as in 2009. Containers with eggs and/or larvae were found up to 4 km away from the initial location, indicating the species is spreading locally. Though the introduction route is unknown, it may have occurred via international trade as a large industrial center was located nearby. A comparison of different climatic variables between locations in Belgium with Ae. koreicus and putative source locations in South Korea, revealed similarities between winter temperatures and the number of freezing days and nights in four consecutive years (2004-2008), while humidity and precipitation values differed strongly. The introduction of a new potential disease vector into Europe seems to be a result of proper entrance points, created by intense worldwide trade and suitable environmental condition

The SASSCAL contribution to climate observation, climate data management and data rescue in Southern Africa

A major task of the newly established "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management" (SASSCAL; www.sasscal.org) and its partners is to provide science-based environmental information and knowledge which includes the provision of consistent and reliable climate data for Southern Africa. Hence, SASSCAL, in close cooperation with the national weather authorities of Angola, Botswana, Germany and Zambia as well as partner institutions in Namibia and South Africa, supports the extension of the regional meteorological observation network and the improvement of the climate archives at national level. With the ongoing rehabilitation of existing weather stations and the new installation of fully automated weather stations (AWS), altogether 105 AWS currently provide a set of climate variables at 15, 30 and 60 min intervals respectively. These records are made available through the SASSCAL WeatherNet, an online platform providing near-real time data as well as various statistics and graphics, all in open access. This effort is complemented by the harmonization and improvement of climate data management concepts at the national weather authorities, capacity building activities and an extension of the data bases with historical climate data which are still available from different sources. These activities are performed through cooperation between regional and German institutions and will provide important information for climate service related activities