Natural Training Hydration Status, Sweat Rates, and Perception of Sweat Losses During Crossfit Training

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(5): 576-586, 2016. This study assessed 30 male and 20 female well-trained CrossFit (XF) athletes’ natural hydration statuses, fluid intake, and absolute and estimated sweat losses during training sessions lasting 30-47 min. Participants provided a pre-workout urine sample for assessment of hydration by urine specific gravity (USG). Nude pre- and post-workout body mass and fluid intakes were measured to determine sweat losses. To evaluate perception of total sweat loss, participants were asked to estimate their total sweat loss to compare against actual sweat loss. Mean sweat losses did not exceed 1% body mass for men (range = 0.31-1.58% body mass) or women (range = 0.53-1.34% body mass), but sweat rates were nearly double for men (1.663 ± 0.478 L/h) vs. women (0.886 ± 0.274 L/h). Pre-exercise USG indicated euhydration for the majority of participants (32/50 samples = USG \u3c 1.020). Only one participant had a USG \u3e1.030. Mean sweat loss (0.746 ± 0.305 L) and mean sweat loss prediction (0.655 ± 0.404 L) were not significantly different (p = 0.12), and accuracy did not differ (p = 0.44) between men (-9.5 ± 53.7%) and women (+4.3 ± 70.9). No relationship (r = 0.095) was found between sweat loss prediction and fluid intake. Despite high sweat rates, no athletes lost greater than 2% body mass during a strenuous workout. This data combined with consistently normal pre-exercise USG and high fluid intake during exercise suggests ad libitum fluid intake is sufficient to ensure euhydration in the majority of XF participants

High genetic diversity of Babesia canis (Piana & Galli-Valerio, 1895) in a recent local outbreak in Berlin/ Brandenburg, Germany

Canine babesiosis caused by Babesia canis (Piana & Galli-Valerio, 1895) is emerging in new regions in Europe since its vector Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) is expanding its geographic range. In the Berlin/Brandenburg area in northeast Germany, D. reticulatus is highly abundant but in the past only one autochthonous B. canis infection was reported. Since 2015, autochthonous cases were occasionally diagnosed but numbers increased since autumn 2019. The aim of the study was to genotype autochthonous canine Babesia spp. infections from Berlin/Brandenburg. Between 04/2015 and 01/2022, 46 dogs with acute babesiosis were presented to the small animal clinic (one dog was infected twice resulting in 47 samples). There were 32 dogs that had never left Berlin/Brandenburg and 14 others that had not left the region in the 6 weeks prior to disease onset. PCRs targeting the 18S rRNA and the Bc28.1 merozoite surface antigen were positive in 47 and 42 samples, respectively. Sequencing of cloned PCR products identified all samples as B. canis with 17 18S rRNA and 12 Bc28.1 haplotypes. Based on network analysis for 18S rRNA sequences and a previously described polymorphic dinucleotide, samples were assigned to two distinct clusters. One contained 31 and the other 16 samples. Using network analysis, the Bc28.1 haplotypes could also be separated into two clusters differing by at least five polymorphisms. Analyses of sequences from multiple clones indicated the presence of up to five 18S rRNA and eight Bc28.1 haplotypes and thus high parasite variability in an individual host. The genetic diversity could suggest that the parasites in the region have multiple origins, but diversity in individual dogs and dog populations from endemic regions is unknown. The suitability of both markers for genotyping is questionable due to potential intragenomic diversity for the rRNA and high intergenomic variability for the Bc28.1 marker

Autochthonous Babesia canis infections in 49 dogs in Germany

Background Vector-borne diseases are of increasing importance in Germany. Since 2015, autochthonous cases have been increasingly documented in Berlin/Brandenburg. Objectives Describe autochthonous Babesia canis infection in the Berlin/Brandenburg region. Animals Forty-nine dogs with autochthonous B. canis infection. Methods Evaluation of history, clinical signs, laboratory abnormalities, treatment, and outcome. Results Dogs were presented between March and August (9) and September and January (40) in the years 2015-2021. Historical and clinical findings were lethargy (100%), pale mucous membranes (63%), fever (50%), and pigmenturia (52%). Common clinicopathological findings were thrombocytopenia (100%), anemia (85%), intravascular hemolysis (52%), pancytopenia (41%), and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS; 37%). Babesia detection was based on blood smear evaluation (n = 40) and PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene of piroplasms (n = 49). Sequencing indicated 99.47% to 100% identity to B. canis sequences from GenBank. All dogs were treated with imidocarb (2.4-6.3 mg/kg; median, 5 mg/kg); 8 dogs received 1, 35 received 2, and 1 dog each received 3, 4, or 5 injections, respectively. Continued PCR-positive results were detected in 7 dogs after the 1st, in 5 after the 2nd, in 2 after the 3rd, and in 1 28 days after the 4th injection. Four dogs were euthanized and 3 dogs died. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Autochthonous B. canis infections in Berlin/Brandenburg were associated with severe clinicopathological changes, SIRS, and multiorgan involvement. Testing by PCR during and after treatment is advisable to monitor treatment success. Screening of blood donors in high-risk areas and year-round tick protection is strongly recommended

Efficacy of flukicides against Fasciola hepatica and first report of triclabendazole resistance on German sheep farms

Fasciola hepatica infections lead to severe health problems and production losses in sheep farming, if not treated effectively. Triclabendazole has been used extensively over decades due to its unique efficacy range against all definitive hostfluke stages but published data about the susceptibility of F. hepatica to anthelmintics in Germany are lacking. This study aimed to identify current F. hepatica infections in German sheep flocks by coproscopic examinations and to evaluate the efficacy of anthelmintics with a focus on triclabendazole in a field study conducted from 2020 to 2022. Initial screening included 71 sheep farms, many of them with known history of fasciolosis. In this highly biased sample set, the frequency of F. hepatica infection at individual sheep and farm level were 12.8% and 35.2%, respectively. Additionally, eggs of Paramphistominae were found at frequencies of 4.8% and 15.5% at individual sheep and farm level, respectively. Due to low egg shedding intensity, faecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests could only be conducted on a few farms. The efficacy of triclabendazole was tested on 11 farms and albendazole on one farm, including 3–53 sheep/farm. Individual faecal samples were collected before and two weeks after treatment to evaluate the FECR using the sedimentation or FLUKEFINDER® or a modified FLUKEFINDER® method. On all farms a coproantigen reduction test was conducted in parallel. Lacking efficacy of triclabendazole even at double dosage was shown on one farm associated with a high number of animal losses due to acute fasciolosis. On this farm, the Fasciola miracidium development test was additionally performed, revealing a high in vitro ovicidal activity of albendazole while closantel was effective in vivo. On all other farms, sufficient efficacy of triclabendazole was observed. In conclusion, triclabendazole resistance appears not to be widespread on German sheep farms but, when present, can have serious effects on animal health

Molecular detection of Babesia spp. in dogs in Germany (2007–2020) and identification of potential risk factors for infection

Background In Europe, canine babesiosis is most frequently caused by Babesia canis and Babesia vogeli, and occasionally by Babesia gibsoni.. In Germany, B. canis is recognized as endemic. The aims of this study were to assess how often Babesia spp. infections were diagnosed in a commercial laboratory in samples from dogs from Germany, and to evaluate potential risk factors for infection. Methods The database of the LABOKLIN laboratory was screened for Babesia spp.-positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for dogs for the period January 2007–December 2020. Sequencing was performed for positive tests from 2018 and 2019. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effects of sex, season, and year of testing. Questionnaires were sent to the submitting veterinarians to obtain information on travel abroad, tick infestation, and ectoparasite prophylaxis of the respective dogs. Fisher’s exact test was used to calculate statistical significance and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results In total, 659 out of 20,914 dogs (3.2%) tested positive for Babesia spp. by PCR. Of 172 sequenced samples, B. canis was identified in 156, B. vogeli in nine, B. gibsoni in five, and B. vulpes in two. Season had a statistically significant impact on test results when summer/winter (1.6% tested positive) was compared to spring/autumn (4.7%), with peaks in April (5.2%) and October (7.4%) [P < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 3.16]. Sex (male 3.5%, female 2.8%; P = 0.012, OR = 1.49) and age (< 7 years old 4.0%, ≥ 7 years old 2.3%; P < 0.001, OR = 1.76) of the tested dogs also had a statistically significant effect. A statistically significant impact was demonstrated for observed tick attachment (P < 0.001, OR = 7.62) and lack of ectoparasite prophylaxis (P = 0.001, OR = 3.03). The frequency of positive Babesia spp. tests did not significantly differ between the 659 dogs that had never left Germany and the 1506 dogs with known stays abroad (P = 0.088). Conclusions The possibility of canine infection with B. canis needs to be especially taken into consideration in spring and autumn in Germany as the activity of the tick Dermacentor reticulatus, a potential vector for canine babesiosis, is highest in these seasons. Travel and importation of dogs are considered major factors associated with canine babesiosis in Germany. However, autochthonous Babesia spp. infections also occur in a considerable number of dogs in Germany

A Qualitative Market Analysis Applied to Mini-FLOTAC and Fill-FLOTAC for Diagnosis of Helminth Infections in Ruminants

Helminth infections, mainly by gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), are one of the main concerns for animal health, welfare and productivity in grazing ruminant livestock worldwide. The use of a sensitive, precise, accurate, low-cost, and easy-to-perform copromicroscopic technique is of pivotal importance to perform reliable fecal egg count (FEC) and fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT), in order to determine the need of anthelmintic treatment, but also anthelmintic efficacy or resistance. This approach is fundamental to a correct and efficient control of GIN. Unfortunately, in worldwide ruminant farm practice, repeated anthelmintic treatments are carried out, without prior diagnosis of infection, contributing to the spread of Anthelmintic Resistance (AR). Tackling this phenomenon, improving mainly the GIN diagnosis and AR status in farm animals, is a priority of the European COST Action "COMBAR-COMBatting Anthelmintic Resistance in Ruminants" and of the STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium on Animal Health. One of the specific objectives of the COMBAR Working Group 1 (WG1) is to conduct an European market analysis of new diagnostics and develop a business plan for commercial test introduction, leveraging technical know-how of participants. Since the Mini-FLOTAC in combination with the Fill-FLOTAC may be considered a good candidate for a standardized FEC and FECRT in the laboratory, as well as directly in the field, the aim of this study was to conduct SWOT (Strength-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) and PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal) analyses of these tools in 20 European countries involved in the COMBAR WG1, in order to identify the opportunities, barriers, and challenges that might affect the Mini-FLOTAC and Fill-FLOTAC commercialization in Europe

Deep learning-based cancer survival prognosis from RNA-seq data: approaches and evaluations

Background: Recent advances in kernel-based Deep Learning models have introduced a new era in medical research. Originally designed for pattern recognition and image processing, Deep Learning models are now applied to survival prognosis of cancer patients. Specifically, Deep Learning versions of the Cox proportional hazards models are trained with transcriptomic data to predict survival outcomes in cancer patients. Methods: In this study, a broad analysis was performed on TCGA cancers using a variety of Deep Learning-based models, including Cox-nnet, DeepSurv, and a method proposed by our group named AECOX (AutoEncoder with Cox regression network). Concordance index and p-value of the log-rank test are used to evaluate the model performances. Results: All models show competitive results across 12 cancer types. The last hidden layers of the Deep Learning approaches are lower dimensional representations of the input data that can be used for feature reduction and visualization. Furthermore, the prognosis performances reveal a negative correlation between model accuracy, overall survival time statistics, and tumor mutation burden (TMB), suggesting an association among overall survival time, TMB, and prognosis prediction accuracy. Conclusions: Deep Learning based algorithms demonstrate superior performances than traditional machine learning based models. The cancer prognosis results measured in concordance index are indistinguishable across models while are highly variable across cancers. These findings shedding some light into the relationships between patient characteristics and survival learnability on a pan-cancer level

Power grip, pinch grip, manual muscle testing or thenar atrophy - which should be assessed as a motor outcome after carpal tunnel decompression? A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Objective assessment of motor function is frequently used to evaluate outcome after surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However a range of outcome measures are used and there appears to be no consensus on which measure of motor function effectively captures change. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the methods used to assess motor function in randomized controlled trials of surgical interventions for CTS. A secondary aim was to evaluate which instruments reflect clinical change and are psychometrically robust.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The bibliographic databases Medline, AMED and CINAHL were searched for randomized controlled trials of surgical interventions for CTS. Data on instruments used, methods of assessment and results of tests of motor function was extracted by two independent reviewers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-two studies were retrieved which included performance based assessments of motor function. Nineteen studies assessed power grip dynamometry, fourteen studies used both power and pinch grip dynamometry, eight used manual muscle testing and five assessed the presence or absence of thenar atrophy. Several studies used multiple tests of motor function. Two studies included both power and pinch strength and reported descriptive statistics enabling calculation of effect sizes to compare the relative responsiveness of grip and pinch strength within study samples. The study findings suggest that tip pinch is more responsive than lateral pinch or power grip up to 12 weeks following surgery for CTS.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although used most frequently and known to be reliable, power and key pinch dynamometry are not the most valid or responsive tools for assessing motor outcome up to 12 weeks following surgery for CTS. Tip pinch dynamometry more specifically targets the thenar musculature and appears to be more responsive. Manual muscle testing, which in theory is most specific to the thenar musculature, may be more sensitive if assessed using a hand held dynamometer – the Rotterdam Intrinsic Handheld Myometer. However further research is needed to evaluate its reliability and responsiveness and establish the most efficient and psychometrically robust method of evaluating motor function following surgery for CTS.</p

SALMON: Survival Analysis Learning With Multi-Omics Neural Networks on Breast Cancer

Improved cancer prognosis is a central goal for precision health medicine. Though many models can predict differential survival from data, there is a strong need for sophisticated algorithms that can aggregate and filter relevant predictors from increasingly complex data inputs. In turn, these models should provide deeper insight into which types of data are most relevant to improve prognosis. Deep Learning-based neural networks offer a potential solution for both problems because they are highly flexible and account for data complexity in a non-linear fashion. In this study, we implement Deep Learning-based networks to determine how gene expression data predicts Cox regression survival in breast cancer. We accomplish this through an algorithm called SALMON (Survival Analysis Learning with Multi-Omics Neural Networks), which aggregates and simplifies gene expression data and cancer biomarkers to enable prognosis prediction. The results revealed improved performance when more omics data were used in model construction. Rather than use raw gene expression values as model inputs, we innovatively use eigengene modules from the result of gene co-expression network analysis. The corresponding high impact co-expression modules and other omics data are identified by feature selection technique, then examined by conducting enrichment analysis and exploiting biological functions, escalated the interpretation of input feature from gene level to co-expression modules level. Our study shows the feasibility of discovering breast cancer related co-expression modules, sketch a blueprint of future endeavors on Deep Learning-based survival analysis. SALMON source code is available at https://github.com/huangzhii/SALMON/