In vitro effect of canine hyperimmune sera on TNFa activity

[Introduction]: Septic shock in dogs is caused by cardiovascular and vasomotor failure associated with an uncontrolled intrinsic release of inflammatory mediators [1–5]. The syndrome is characterized by cardiovascular dysfunction, vascular permeability alterations, pulmonary oedema and tissue hypoxia resulting from microthrombi which may culminate in disseminated intravascular coagulation and catastrophic multiple organ failure [6,7]. Systemic bacterial infection, particularly by Gram-negative enterobacteria, haemorrhagic trauma, gastric dilation/volvulus and pancreatitis are the major underlying causes leading tosepsis [8,9]. Because of haemodynamic instability and associated hypovolemia, fluid replacement therapy is generally applied to restore effective circulating volume. The use of fresh frozen plasma has been recommended in cases of coagulopathies as it has been recognized to assist restoration of haemodynamic stability [1,5,10,11]. There is increasing evidence that the drivers of the haemodynamic instability are inflammatory mediators (particularly TNFa) activated primarily by bacterial endotoxin [3,4,12,13]

Optimal subgroup selection

In clinical trials and other applications, we often see regions of the feature space that appear to exhibit interesting behaviour, but it is unclear whether these observed phenomena are reflected at the population level. Focusing on a regression setting, we consider the subgroup selection challenge of identifying a region of the feature space on which the regression function exceeds a pre-determined threshold. We formulate the problem as one of constrained optimisation, where we seek a low-complexity, data-dependent selection set on which, with a guaranteed probability, the regression function is uniformly at least as large as the threshold; subject to this constraint, we would like the region to contain as much mass under the marginal feature distribution as possible. This leads to a natural notion of regret, and our main contribution is to determine the minimax optimal rate for this regret in both the sample size and the Type I error probability. The rate involves a delicate interplay between parameters that control the smoothness of the regression function, as well as exponents that quantify the extent to which the optimal selection set at the population level can be approximated by families of well-behaved subsets. Finally, we expand the scope of our previous results by illustrating how they may be generalised to a treatment and control setting, where interest lies in the heterogeneous treatment effect.Comment: 65 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Annals of Statistic

The effects of an experimental programme to support students’ autonomy on the overt behaviours of physical education teachers

Although the benefits of autonomy supportive behaviours are now well established in the literature, very few studies have attempted to train teachers to offer a greater autonomy support to their students. In fact, none of these studies has been carried out in physical education (PE). The purpose of this study is to test the effects of an autonomy-supportive training on overt behaviours of teaching among PE teachers. The experimental group included two PE teachers who were first educated on the benefits of an autonomy supportive style and then followed an individualised guidance programme during the 8 lessons of a teaching cycle. Their behaviours were observed and rated along 3 categories (i.e., autonomy supportive, neutral and controlling) and were subsequently compared to those of three teachers who formed the control condition. The results showed that teachers in the experimental group used more autonomy supportive and neutral behaviours than those in the control group, but no difference emerged in relation to controlling behaviours. We discuss the implications for schools of our findings

Preventing weed spread: a survey of lifestyle and commercial landholders about Nassella trichotoma in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia

Nassella trichotoma (Nees) Hack. ex Arechav. (common name, serrated tussock) occupies large areas of south-eastern Australia and has considerable scope for expansion in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. This highly invasive grass reduces pasture productivity and has the potential to severely affect the region’s economy by decreasing the livestock carrying capacity of grazing land. Other potential consequences of this invasion include increased fuel loads and displacement of native plants, thereby threatening biodiversity. Rural property owners in the Northern Tablelands were sent a mail questionnaire that examined use of measures to prevent new outbreaks of the weed. The questionnaire was sent to professional farmers as well as lifestyle farmers (owners of rural residential blocks and hobby farms) and 271 responses were obtained (a response rate of 18%). Key findings were respondents’ limited capacity to detect N. trichotoma, and low adoption of precautions to control seed spread by livestock, vehicles and machinery. This was particularly the case among lifestyle farmers. There have been considerable recent changes to biosecurity governance arrangements in New South Wales, and now is an ideal time for regulators and information providers to consider how to foster regional communities’ engagement in biosecurity, including the adoption of measures that have the capacity to curtail the spread of N. trichotoma

Known-groups validity of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) in adolescents and young adults with special healthcare needs

To examine known-groups validity of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Short Forms (SFs) for adolescents and young adults with special health care needs (SHCN) using data collected from the PROMIS Linking Study

Continuum Surface Energy from a Lattice Model

We investigate connections between the continuum and atomistic descriptions of deformable crystals, using certain interesting results from number theory. The energy of a deformed crystal is calculated in the context of a lattice model with general binary interactions in two dimensions. A new bond counting approach is used, which reduces the problem to the lattice point problem of number theory. The main contribution is an explicit formula for the surface energy density as a function of the deformation gradient and boundary normal. The result is valid for a large class of domains, including faceted (polygonal) shapes and regions with piecewise smooth boundaries.Comment: V. 1: 10 pages, no fig's. V 2: 23 pages, no figures. Misprints corrected. Section 3 added, (new results). Intro expanded, refs added.V 3: 26 pages. Abstract changed. Section 2 split into 2. Section (4) added material. V 4, 28 pages, Intro rewritten. Changes in Sec.5 (presentation only). Refs added.V 5,intro changed V.6 address reviewer's comment

Surface Deformations as Indicators of Deep Ebullition Fluxes in a Large Northern Peatland

Peatlands deform elastically during precipitation cycles by small (+/- 3 cm) oscillations in surface elevation. In contrast, we used a Global Positioning System network to measure larger oscillations that exceeded 20 cm over periods of 4 - 12 hours during two seasonal droughts at a bog and fen site in northern Minnesota. The second summer drought also triggered 19 depressuring cycles in an overpressured stratum under the bog site. The synchronicity between the largest surface deformations and the depressuring cycles indicates that both phenomena are produced by the episodic release of large volumes of gas from deep semi-elastic compartments confined by dense wood layers. We calculate that the three largest surface deformations were associated with the release of 136 g CH4 m(-2), which exceeds by an order of magnitude the annual average chamber fluxes measured at this site. Ebullition of gas from the deep peat may therefore be a large and previously unrecognized source of radiocarbon depleted methane emissions from northern peatlands

Responsiveness to Change in PROMIS

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the responsiveness to change of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) asthma impact, pain interference, fatigue, depressive symptoms, mobility, and peer relationship scales to a legacy scale, the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ).MethodsTwo hundred and twenty-nine child-parent dyads from public insurance programs were enrolled. PROMIS pediatric short forms (SFs) and the PAQLQ were used to measure health-related quality of life across four time points (T1–T4) over 2 years. The Asthma Control and Communication Instrument was used to measure the change in asthma control, and the Global Rating of Change (GRC) Index for breathing problems and overall health was used to measure the change in health status. Responsiveness was tested by comparing the changes in health-related quality of life with the changes in asthma control and health status over time using t tests, generalized estimating equations, and relative validity approaches. Magnitudes of the responsiveness between the Pediatric PROMIS and PAQLQ were assessed through statistical significance, Cohen's d effect size (ES), and standardized response mean (SRM).ResultsThe PROMIS asthma impact scale and all PAQLQ scales exhibited significant responsiveness (p'sConclusionsThe PROMIS asthma impact SF indicated similar responsiveness to the PAQLQ scales. Due to its brevity and responsiveness, the PROMIS asthma impact SF is useful for clinical practice or research