A serological investigation of caseous lymphadenitis in four flocks of sheep

A double antibody sandwich ELISA developed by ID-DLO, Lelystad to detect Corynebocterium pseudotuberculosis infection was used on 329 sheep from four pedigree Suffolk flocks in which clinical cases of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) had occurred. At subsequent necropsy, typical CLA lesions were seen in 133 sheep, and the diagnosis was confirmed on culture. Lesions were most commonly seen in lungs (n = 46), parotid lymph nodes (n = 44), prescapular lymph nodes (n = 38) and mediastinal lymph nodes (n = 31). The sensitivity of the ELISA test for detecting culture-positive sheep was 0.88, while the specificity of the test was 0.55. The antibody ELISA detected 87.5 per cent of sheep that had CLA lesions restricted to internal organs only. It was concluded that the ELISA test has a valuable role in detecting sheep with both clinical and subclinical CLA

Comparison of the effects of E coli STa with E coli LT, Clostridium difficile toxin A and osmotic burdens on small intestinal fluid transport: additional proof that STa is not a secretory enterotoxin

Using a recirculation procedure to perfuse anaesthetised rat jejunum, E. coli STa enterotoxin can be shown to inhibit net fluid absorption profoundly, while not causing net fluid secretion, provided fluid measurement is by mass or volume. This observation contradicts many reports of STa causing secretion, implying that the recovered volume technique in the anaesthetised animal over a period of some hours cannot detect secretion because of conjectured or unspecified flaws. Experiments are presented here confirming the viability of the perfusion protocol used in this laboratory but also demonstrate that if secretion were to be occurring, the recovered volume protocol would detect it. It will only return a negative finding, if secretion does not occur. To this end, the effect of two secretory toxins on intestinal fluid movement in a closed loop preparation were studied to demonstrate that the anaesthetic, intestinal preparation or perfusion duration did not hinder the demonstration of net secretion when the intestine was exposed to E. coli LT and C. difficile toxin A.. It is evident that STa itself only reduces net absorption but can appear to be secretory if driving forces such as luminal osmotic pressure or capillary hydrostatic pressure through vasodilatation are introduced, as was likely to have occurred with pithing and theophylline. The recognition that STa is a non-secretory enterotoxin necessarily falsifies several alternative methods that claim to demonstrate secretion. Since STa is not secretory many other substances identified by these methods need also not be secretory and alternative explanations must be found to explain their action. The importance of recognising that action on the small intestine cannot be attributed to a secretory mechanism within the enterocyte adds further weight to the concept that where net secretion does occur, the likely mechanism for it is a combination of increased vasodilatation together with increased hydraulic conductivity

The Role of Exosomal miR-181c-3p Within the Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1034/thumbnail.jp

The signalling effect of eco-labels in modern coastal tourism

As the demand for environmentally sustainable tourism grows, eco-labels are becoming increasingly popular as a signal of environmental quality. However, the existence of a causal link between awarding a seaside eco-label and the increase in tourism flows is still under discussion in the literature. In this article, we gauge the signalling impact of a specific eco-label, the Blue Flag award, using detailed data on tourism flows to seaside Italian destinations during the period 2008-2012. We adopt a recent econometric modelling strategy - the synthetic control method - in shaping estimation results and testing the sensitivity and robustness of our results. We find that being awarded the Blue Flag increases the flow of domestic tourists for up to three seasons after assignment. However, we find no effect for the flow of international tourists. Investigating the mechanisms driving the results, we find that the award of a Blue Flag only positively affects the flow of domestic tourists when it is used as a driver of organisation, coordination and integrated management of the tourism supply

The provision of adult intensive care in Northern Ireland with reference to the role of high dependency care.

In 1991 an audit of Intensive Care Services was carried out by the Northern Ireland Intensive Care Group. In conjunction with this regional overview, all patients in the Regional Intensive Care Unit, (RICU) in the Royal Victoria Hospital were assessed daily, over a 10 month period in 1990-91 and classified as conforming to either intensive care or high dependency status. These data were then used to compare adult intensive care service in Northern Ireland with recent national and international recommendations on intensive care. Ten units in Northern Ireland were surveyed. In regard to national or international guidelines, all ten were deficient to some degree. Four units had significant deficiencies; small patient numbers, lack of 'dedicated' 24 hr medical cover and or deficiencies in the provision of appropriate monitoring and or equipment. There was a large diversity in casemix among the ten units surveyed which suggested differing admission criteria. The bed occupancy of RICU was 100%. Refused admissions constituted a further 13% of unresourced workload. The lack of physically separate, dedicated high dependency unit facilities meant that 26% of bed days were devoted to HDU care (usually for "improved" intensive care unit patients not yet ready for discharge to a general ward. Achieving nationally recommended intensive care standards (on a regional basis) is probably only possible if a number of the smaller intensive care units are redesignated as high dependency units, and patients requiring intensive care are concentrated in a smaller number of larger ICUs. This will increase the frequency of interhospital transfer of critically ill patients

Automorphisms of Real 4 Dimensional Lie Algebras and the Invariant Characterization of Homogeneous 4-Spaces

The automorphisms of all 4-dimensional, real Lie Algebras are presented in a comprehensive way. Their action on the space of $4\times 4$, real, symmetric and positive definite, matrices, defines equivalence classes which are used for the invariant characterization of the 4-dimensional homogeneous spaces which possess an invariant basis.Comment: LaTeX2e, 23 pages, 2 Tables. To appear in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical & Genera

Structural changes that occur upon photolysis of the Fe(II)a3–CO complex in the cytochrome ba3-oxidase of Thermus thermophilus: A combined X-ray crystallographic and infrared spectral study demonstrates CO binding to CuB

AbstractThe purpose of the work was to provide a crystallographic demonstration of the venerable idea that CO photolyzed from ferrous heme-a3 moves to the nearby cuprous ion in the cytochrome c oxidases. Crystal structures of CO-bound cytochrome ba3-oxidase from Thermus thermophilus, determined at ~2.8–3.2Å resolution, reveal a Fe–C distance of ~2.0Å, a Cu–O distance of 2.4Å and a Fe–C–O angle of ~126°. Upon photodissociation at 100K, X-ray structures indicate loss of Fea3–CO and appearance of CuB–CO having a Cu–C distance of ~1.9Å and an O–Fe distance of ~2.3Å. Absolute FTIR spectra recorded from single crystals of reduced ba3–CO that had not been exposed to X-ray radiation, showed several peaks around 1975cm−1; after photolysis at 100K, the absolute FTIR spectra also showed a significant peak at 2050cm−1. Analysis of the ‘light’ minus ‘dark’ difference spectra showed four very sharp CO stretching bands at 1970cm−1, 1977cm−1, 1981cm−1, and 1985cm−1, previously assigned to the Fea3–CO complex, and a significantly broader CO stretching band centered at ~2050cm−1, previously assigned to the CO stretching frequency of CuB bound CO. As expected for light propagating along the tetragonal axis of the P43212 space group, the single crystal spectra exhibit negligible dichroism. Absolute FTIR spectrometry of a CO-laden ba3 crystal, exposed to an amount of X-ray radiation required to obtain structural data sets before FTIR characterization, showed a significant signal due to photogenerated CO2 at 2337cm−1 and one from traces of CO at 2133cm−1; while bands associated with CO bound to either Fea3 or to CuB in “light” minus “dark” FTIR difference spectra shifted and broadened in response to X-ray exposure. In spite of considerable radiation damage to the crystals, both X-ray analysis at 2.8 and 3.2Å and FTIR spectra support the long-held position that photolysis of Fea3–CO in cytochrome c oxidases leads to significant trapping of the CO on the CuB atom; Fea3 and CuB ligation, at the resolutions reported here, are otherwise unaltered. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Respiratory Oxidases

Low Back Pain in the Emergency Medicine Department: A Flipped Classroom Module.

IntroductionCurrent residency didactic schedules that are built upon hour-long, lecture-based presentations are incongruous with adult learning theory and the needs of millennial generation residents. An alternative to the traditional lecture, the flipped classroom involves viewing a short video lecture at home, followed by an active discussion during class time. This module was developed for emergency medicine residents and rotating medical students without previous training on the subject.MethodsThe at-home portion of the module was designed to be delivered at home, while the in-class discussion was designed to be carried out over 30-45 minutes during a regularly scheduled didactic time. Small-group size may be determined by faculty availability, though groups of five are optimal. There is no requirement for faculty preparation prior to the in-class session. Associated materials include objectives, the at-home video, a discussion guide for faculty facilitators, a case-based handout for students and residents, and assessment questions. We assessed our module with a pretest, immediate posttest, and the posttest again after 90 days.ResultsThe mean pretest score was 66%, mean posttest score 76%, and mean retention test score 66%. There was an immediate increase of 10%, which did not remain at 90 days.DiscussionWe developed a flipped classroom module that can be implemented in any emergency medicine residency or clerkship. It addresses the theoretical challenges posed to traditional conference didactics by increasing the focus on problem solving and self-directed learning