The conceptualisation of health and disease in veterinary medicine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The concept of health, as well as the concept of disease, is central in veterinary medicine. However, the definitions "health" and "disease" are not generally acknowledged by veterinarians. The aim of this study was to examine how the concepts "health" and "disease" are defined in veterinary textbooks.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Veterinary textbooks in several disciplines were investigated, but only textbooks with explicit definitions of the concepts were selected for examination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighty out of the 500 relevant books within veterinary medicine were written for non-veterinarians. Eight percent of the books had an explicit definition of health and/or disease. More frequently, textbooks written for non veterinarians did have definitions of health or disease, compared to textbooks written for professionals. A division of health definitions in five different categories was suggested, namely:</p> <p>1. Health as normality, 2. Health as biological function, 3. Health as homeostasis, 4. Health as physical and psychological well-being and 5. Health as productivity including reproduction.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Few veterinary textbooks had any health or disease definition at all. Furthermore, explicit definitions of health stated by the authors seemed to have little impact on how health and disease are handled within the profession. Veterinary medicine would probably gain from theoretical discussions about health and disease.</p

Genomic Instability Is Associated with Natural Life Span Variation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Increasing genomic instability is associated with aging in eukaryotes, but the connection between genomic instability and natural variation in life span is unknown. We have quantified chronological life span and loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) in 11 natural isolates of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that genomic instability increases and mitotic asymmetry breaks down during chronological aging. The age-dependent increase of genomic instability generally lags behind the drop of viability and this delay accounts for ∼50% of the observed natural variation of replicative life span in these yeast isolates. We conclude that the abilities of yeast strains to tolerate genomic instability co-vary with their replicative life spans. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative evidence that demonstrates a link between genomic instability and natural variation in life span

Extinction Debt in Source-Sink Metacommunities

In an increasingly modified world, understanding and predicting the consequences of landscape alteration on biodiversity is a challenge for ecologists. To this end, metacommunity theory has developed to better understand the complexity of local and regional interactions that occur across larger landscapes. While metacommunity ecology has now provided several alternative models of species coexistence at different spatial scales, predictions regarding the consequences of landscape alteration have been done exclusively for the competition-colonization trade off model (CC). In this paper we investigate the effects of landscape perturbation on source-sink metacommunities. We show that habitat destruction perturbs the equilibria among species competitive effects within the metacommunity, driving both direct extinctions and an indirect extinction debt. As in CC models, we found a time lag for extinction following habitat destruction that varied in length depending upon the relative importance of direct and indirect effects. However, in contrast to CC models, we found that the less competitive species are more affected by habitat destruction. The best competitors can sometimes even be positively affected by habitat destruction, which corresponds well with the results of field studies. Our results are complementary to those results found in CC models of metacommunity dynamics. From a conservation perspective, our results illustrate that landscape alteration jeopardizes species coexistence in patchy landscapes through complex indirect effects and delayed extinctions patterns

Trans-specialization understanding in international technology alliances: The influence of cultural distance

In the information age, the firm's performance hinges on combining partners' specialist knowledge to achieve value co-creation. Combining knowledge from different specialties could be a costly process in the international technology alliances (ITAs) context. We argue that the combination of different specializations requires the development of "trans-specialization understanding" (TSU) instead of the internalization of partners' specialist knowledge. This article examines the extent to which inter-firm governance in ITAs shapes TSU, and whether the development of TSU is endangered by cultural distance. We hypothesize that relational governance, product modularity, and cultural distance influence TSU development, which in turn influences firm performance. We collected data from 110 non-equity ITAs between software and hardware firms participating in the mobile device sector. We analyzed the data using partial least squares path modeling. Our findings suggest that TSU largely depends on product modularity and relational governance in alliances. However, while cultural distance negatively moderates the path from relational governance to TSU, it has no effect on the relationship between product modularity and TSU. Based on this, we conclude that product modularity can substitute for relational governance when strong relational norms are not well-developed in international alliances. Thus cultural distance does not invariably amount to a liability in ITAs

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Anterior Chamber Retained Lens Fragments After Cataract Surgery: A Case Series and Narrative Review

Majid Moshirfar,1&ndash; 3 Adam L Lewis,4 James H Ellis,5 Shannon E McCabe,1,6 Yasmyne C Ronquillo,1 Phillip C Hoopes Sr1 1Hoopes Vision Research Center, Hoopes Vision, Draper, UT, USA; 2John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 3Utah Lions Eye Bank, Murray, UT, USA; 4Kansas City University, Kansas City, MO, USA; 5University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 6Mission Hills Eye Center, Pleasant Hill, CA, USACorrespondence: Majid MoshirfarMedical Director Hoopes Vision Research Center, Hoopes Vision, 11820 S. State Street Suite #200, Draper, UT, 84020, USATel +1 801-568-0200Fax +1 801-563-0200Email [email protected]: Retained lens fragments in the anterior chamber following cataract extraction (CE) with phacoemulsification are rare but can lead to significant patient morbidity. Our study aimed to identify risk factors associated with retained lens fragments.Methods: Patients who underwent cataract surgery and subsequently identified to have retained lens fragments in the anterior segment were included. Incidence per year, patient demographics, visual acuity, ocular biometrics, surgical technique, surgeon performing CE, and outcomes were collected retrospectively and compared to a control group.Results: Twenty-four patients were identified with retained lens fragments, with an incidence of 0.10%. The mean age was 76 years &plusmn; 6.72 (60&ndash; 80) compared to 63 &plusmn; 11.41 (22&ndash; 86) in the control group (p &lt; 0.001). Patients with UDVA 20/150 or worse experienced a greater average improvement in visual acuity compared to patients with UDVA better than 20/150 (logMAR 0.46 vs logMAR 0.05). The mean intraocular pressures before (CE), after CE but before fragment removal, and following fragment removal were 14 mmHg &plusmn; 2.59, 19 mmHg &plusmn; 8.20, and 11 mmHg &plusmn; 2.75, respectively. Twenty-two patients presented with inferiorly located fragments. Statistically significant biometrics include mean anterior chamber depth (3.1 mm &plusmn; 0.37 vs 3.33 mm &plusmn; 0.39, p = 0.01) and lens thickness (4.77 mm &plusmn; 0.44 vs 4.35 mm &plusmn; 0.44, p = &lt; 0.001). Yearly incidence rates per surgeon ranged from 0.00% to 0.85%. In 2003 and 2004, one surgeon had significantly higher incidence rates (0.31 and 0.40%) compared to the average combined rate of all surgeons throughout the study (0.10), with p values of 0.001 and 0.003, respectively. The mean number of days between CE and fragment removal was 26 &plusmn; 40 (1&ndash; 138).Conclusion: Increased patient age, shallow anterior chamber depth, and thick lens may be risk factors for retained lens fragments. There may be additional surgeon-specific risk factors. Phacoemulsification technique (Divide-and-Conquer versus Horizontal Chop) showed no significant difference.Keywords: retained lens fragments, phacoemulsification, cataract surgery, complications of cataract surgery, refractory corneal edem