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First Case of Systemic Coronavirus Infection in a Domestic Ferret (Mustela putorius furo) in Peru.
A domestic ferret from Lima, Peru, died after ten days of non-specific clinical signs. Based on pathology, immunohistochemistry and molecular analysis, ferret systemic coronavirus (FRSCV)-associated disease was diagnosed for the first time in South America. This report highlights the potential spread of pathogens by the international pet trade
Induction of cortical plasticity and improved motor performance following unilateral and bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex
BACKGROUND: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive technique that modulates the excitability of neurons within the primary motor cortex (M1). Research shows that anodal-tDCS applied over the non-dominant M1 (i.e. unilateral stimulation) improves motor function of the non-dominant hand. Similarly, previous studies also show that applying cathodal tDCS over the dominant M1 improves motor function of the non-dominant hand, presumably by reducing interhemispheric inhibition. In the present study, one condition involved anodal-tDCS over the non-dominant M1 (unilateral stimulation) whilst a second condition involved applying cathodal-tDCS over the dominant M1 and anodal-tDCS over non-dominant M1 (bilateral stimulation) to determine if unilateral or bilateral stimulation differentially modulates motor function of the non-dominant hand. Using a randomized, cross-over design, 11 right-handed participants underwent three stimulation conditions: 1) unilateral stimulation, that involved anodal-tDCS applied over the non-dominant M1, 2) bilateral stimulation, whereby anodal-tDCS was applied over the non-dominant M1, and cathodal-tDCS over the dominant M1, and 3) sham stimulation. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was performed before, immediately after, 30 and 60 minutes after stimulation to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying any potential after-effects on motor performance. Motor function was evaluated by the Purdue pegboard test. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in motor function following unilateral and bilateral stimulation when compared to sham stimulation at all-time points (all P 0.05). Furthermore, changes in corticomotor plasticity were not related to changes in motor performance. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that tDCS induced behavioural changes in the non-dominant hand as a consequence of mechanisms associated with use-dependant cortical plasticity that is independent of the electrode arrangement
The impact of body mass index and gender on the development of infectious complications in polytrauma patients
Purpose
The aim was to test the impact of body mass
index (BMI) and gender on infectious complications after
polytrauma.
Methods
A total of 651 patients were included in this
retrospective study, with an Injury Severity Score
(ISS) C16 and age C16 years. The sample was subdivided
into three groups: BMI\25 kg/m2, BMI 25–30 kg/m2, and
BMI[30 kg/m2, and a female and a male group. Infectious
complications were observed for 31 days after admission.
Data are given as mean ± standard errors of the means.
Analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis test, v2 tests, and
Pearson’s correlation were used for the analyses and the
significance level was set at P\0.05.
Results
The overall infection rates were 31.0 % in the
BMI\25 kg/m2 group, 29.0 % in the BMI 25–30 kg/m2
group, and 24.5 % in the BMI[30 kg/m2 group
(P = 0.519). The female patients developed significantly
fewer infectious complications than the male patients (26.8
vs. 73.2 %; P\0.001). The incidence of death was significantly
decreased according to the BMI group (8.8 vs.
7.2 vs. 1.5 %; P\0.0001) and the female population had a
significantly lower mortality rate (4.1 vs. 13.4 %;
P\0.0001). Pearson’s correlations between the Abbreviated
Injury Scale (AIS) score and the corresponding
infectious foci were not significant.
Conclusion
Higher BMI seems to be protective against
polytrauma-associated death but not polytrauma-associated
infections, and female gender protects against both polytrauma-
associated infections and death. Understanding
gender-specific immunomodulation could improve the
outcome of polytrauma patients
A partially supervised physical activity program for adult and adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (SURfit): study design of a randomized controlled trial [NCT02730767]
Clinical relevance of routine semen analysis and controversies surrounding the 2010 World Health Organization criteria for semen examination
Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases
The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of
aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs)
can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves
excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological
concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can
lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl
radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic
inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the
involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a
large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and
inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation
of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many
similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e.
iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The
studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic
and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and
lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and
longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is
thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As
systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have
multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent
patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of
multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the
decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference
A partially supervised physical activity program for adult and adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (SURfit): study design of a randomized controlled trial [NCT02730767].
BACKGROUND
Beyond survival of nowadays >80%, modern childhood cancer treatment strives to preserve long-term health and quality of life. However, the majority of today's survivors suffer from short- and long-term adverse effects such as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, obesity, osteoporosis, fatigue, depression, and reduced physical fitness and quality of life. Regular exercise can play a major role to mitigate or prevent such late-effects. Despite this, there are no data on the effects of regular exercise in childhood cancer survivors from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Primary outcome of the current RCT is therefore the effect of a 12-months exercise program on a composite cardiovascular disease risk score in childhood cancer survivors. Secondary outcomes are single cardiovascular disease risk factors, glycaemic control, bone health, body composition, physical fitness, physical activity, quality of life, mental health, fatigue and adverse events (safety).
METHODS
A total of 150 childhood cancer survivors aged ≥16 years and diagnosed ≥5 years prior to the study are recruited from Swiss paediatric oncology clinics. Following the baseline assessments patients are randomized 1:1 into an intervention and control group. Thereafter, they are seen at month 3, 6 and 12 for follow-up assessments. The intervention group is asked to add ≥2.5 h of intense physical activity/week, including 30 min of strength building and 2 h of aerobic exercises. In addition, they are told to reduce screen time by 25%. Regular consulting by physiotherapists, individual web-based activity diaries, and pedometer devices are used as motivational tools for the intervention group. The control group is asked to keep their physical activity levels constant.
DISCUSSION
The results of this study will show whether a partially supervised exercise intervention can improve cardiovascular disease risk factors, bone health, body composition, physical activity and fitness, fatigue, mental health and quality of life in childhood cancer survivors. If the program will be effective, all relevant information of the SURfit physical activity intervention will be made available to interested clinics that treat and follow-up childhood cancer patients to promote exercise in their patients.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
Prospectively registered in clinicaltrials.gov [ NCT02730767 ], registration date: 10.12.2015
A debate on current eating disorder diagnoses in light of neurobiological findings: is it time for a spectrum model?
“Pumping iron”—how macrophages handle iron at the systemic, microenvironmental, and cellular levels
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