Studies On The Human And Bovine Spinal Cord Protein

This report contributes to the knowledge of antiencephalitogenic spinal cord protein (SCP) with respect to three major areas of study: (1) the purification and characterization of human SCP; (2) the nature of the association of SCP with nervous tissue components and (3) purification of cyanogen bromide-derived peptides of bovine SCP.;Human SCP and a protein immunochemically identical to SCP (SCP-PN) were purified from spinal cords and peripheral nerves with 0.15 M sodium chloride, carboxy-methyl cellulose chromatography and gel filtration on Sephadex G-50 superfine. SCP and SCP-PN had estimated molecular weights of 13,700 and 14,700 daltons, respectively and had similar amino acid compositions. The isoelectric point of SCP-PN was estimated to be 9.9. Immunodiffusion analyses with anti-human SCP sera or anti-bovine SCP sera revealed that human SCP and SCP-PN are each composed of two different antigenic forms. Each antigenic form contains a distinct immunogenic domain that is identical to one of the immunogenic sites on bovine SCP.;Bovine SCP-PN is identical to the P(,2) protein found in purified peripheral nerve myeline. The bovine SCP-PN content of 0.3 M NaCl extracts of whole tissue was 1.3 mg per g of tissue. Approximately 0.33 mg of SCP-PN was found in the soluble fraction of 0.8 M sucrose homogenates of bovine peripheral nerves. Densitometry data indicated that SCP-PN decreased from 19% of the total myelin protein to less than 1% when purified myelin was extracted with 0.3 M sodium chloride or 0.05 M hydrochloric acid. The basic proteins SCP-PN and lysozyme bound to myelin and sodium chloride-extracted myeline when they were added to a suspension of myelin in 0.8 M sucrose. Pepsin, an acidic protein, did not bind to myelin. The results suggest that in 0.8 M sucrose, positively charged SCP-PN can bind to negatively charged myelin. Myelin-associated SCP-PN behaves like a peripheral membrane protein.;This interpretation is consistent with earlier research in which bovine SCP-PN was localized by immunohistological techniques in axons of peripheral nerves but not in myelin sheaths surrounding the axons. The histological fixatives acetone and 95% ethanol/ether did not render SCP-PN in whole tissue insoluble in saline. This result indicates that if a tissue section is washed with saline after fixation with acetone or 95% ethanol/ether, then most of the SCP-PN in the tissue section could be solubilized. . . . (Author\u27s abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of school.) UM

Moodle: An Effective Tool for Creating a Blended Learning Environment in a Nursing Context

Education at tertiary level is constantly changing and evolving as it incorporates newer methodologies and technologies, and more and more colleges and universities are adopting a blended approach to instruction and learning in response to this. The continuous advances and improvements in technology in addition to the increasing competence and confidence of students in using the new technologies makes the transition to a blended learning environment less challenging than in the past. However, as technology improves, the range of options available to select from increases. As online learning has gone more mainstream, it is important to choose an educational Learning Management System (LMS) tailored to an institution's mission and educational goals. This paper will look at one LMS Moodle, and the benefits of adopting it as the primary vehicle for delivering content online, in support of the traditional classroom-based learning, in a nursing university setting

Evaluation of a pilot police led suicide early alert surveillance strategy in the United Kingdom.

Introduction: Those bereaved by suicide are at increased risk of psychological harm, which can be reduced with the provision of timely support. This paper outlines an evaluation of a pilot police-led suicide strategy, in comparison to a coroner-led suicide strategy looking at the number, and length of time it takes for deaths to be recorded for each strategy. Additionally, the police-led strategy offers timely contact from support services for bereaved individuals. We examined what impact this offer of support had on the capacity of support services. Methods: A mixed methods evaluation compared how long it took for suspected suicides to be recorded using both strategies. The number of referrals received by support services during the pilot strategy were compared to those from previous years. A feedback focus group, and interviews, were held with key stakeholders. Results: The coroner-strategy was more consistent at identifying suspected suicides, however reports were filed quicker by the police. Bereaved individuals were willing to share contact details with police officers and consent for referral to support services which lead to increased referrals. The focus group and interviews revealed that the pilot police strategy needs better integration into routine police practice. Conclusions: This strategy has the potential to deliver a real benefit to those bereaved by suicide, however there are still aspects which could be improved

Prevalence and Association of the Laboulbenialean Fungus \u3ci\u3eHesperomyces virescens\u3c/i\u3e (Laboulbeniales: Laboulbeniaceae) on Coccinellid Hosts (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Kentucky, USA

The laboulbenialean fungi occur throughout the world and are closely associated with a range of arthropods, including many coleopteran hosts. Throughout the summer of 2004, coccinellids were collected from a Bluegrass savanna woodland ecosystem, dominated by blue ash Fraxinus quadrangulata and Chinkapin Oak Quercus muehlenbergii, and the adults were examined for the presence of Hesperomyces virescens using binocular and scanning electron microscopy. Over 80% of adult Harmonia axyridis, a species previously reported as having a persistent association with the fungus, were infected. No significant differences were observed in incidence on male and female hosts, however, the distribution of fungus differed between sexes. Female H. axyridis had a greater percentage of infection on their elytron compared to other parts of their body whilst male infection was concentrated around their elytra, legs and abdomen. Although infection rates were significantly lower, we report, for the first time, the presence of this fungus on the hosts Cycloneda munda, Brachiacantha quadripunctata and Psyllobora vigintimaculata. This is the first study documenting the incidence of this insect-associated fungus with these native coccinellids of North America. In the samples collected from the Bluegrass savanna, two species (Coleomegilla maculata and Hyperaspis signata) were not infected by this fungus

Routing of Network Traffic on a Per-Application Basis

Wireless applications in certain domains, e.g., automotive, Internet-of-Things (IoT), etc., consume substantial amounts of bandwidth. A user accustomed to data consumption on a mobile device may be surprised to find the substantially larger amounts of data consumed via telemetry by wireless devices and sensors on their automobile. Reciprocally, a car manufacturer may not want a customer to pay for telemetry. This disclosure describes techniques to route network traffic to specific network interfaces on a per-application basis. The techniques can be implemented in a device operating system, and provide mechanisms for users and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to separate data costs for usage of various applications, thereby enabling a robust, secure, and connected experience

Utility of clinical features with fine needle aspiration biopsy for diagnosis of Warthin tumor.

BACKGROUND:Conservative management of Warthin tumor (WT) may be a viable alternative to surgery, but there are concerns of missed malignancies on fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). The purpose of this study is to measure the sensitivity and positive predictive value of FNAB for WT, and to identify clinical features associated with WT that can aid in this diagnosis. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients from January 1, 2006 to April 30, 2017 at a tertiary care center in London, Ontario, Canada. All patients with a diagnosis of WT on FNAB or resection were included. Electronic medical records were identified for 177 patients that fit the criteria. Study outcomes included the sensitivity and positive predictive value of FNAB alone for WT, and, when including clinical features associated with WT. RESULTS: The mean age of patients in this study was 63.2 years (SD 10.4); 115 (65%) were male, and 157 (89%) were past or present smokers. The measured sensitivity and positive predictive value of FNAB for WT were 95.8 and 97.2% respectively. Two cases were classified as WT on FNAB but confirmed at resection as mucoepidermoid carcinoma and acinic cell carcinoma. When only patients with multifocal, bilateral or incidental tumors were assessed, sensitivities and positive predictive values for each were 100%. Isolating for inferior pole location also resulted in a positive predictive value of 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity and positive predictive value of FNAB for WT in this study are high, with two false negatives on FNAB. Multifocal, bilateral, incidentaloma and inferior pole location were identified as potential clinical features that may increase the diagnostic confidence for WT, strengthening the argument for conservative management in these patients. Overall, this study serves as an initial exploration into whether clinical features may be included with FNAB results to improve the sensitivity and positive predictive value of diagnosing WT. Further research is necessary before these findings can be translated into clinical practice

Fast volume reconstruction from motion corrupted stacks of 2D slices

Capturing an enclosing volume of moving subjects and organs using fast individual image slice acquisition has shown promise in dealing with motion artefacts. Motion between slice acquisitions results in spatial inconsistencies that can be resolved by slice-to-volume reconstruction (SVR) methods to provide high quality 3D image data. Existing algorithms are, however, typically very slow, specialised to specific applications and rely on approximations, which impedes their potential clinical use. In this paper, we present a fast multi-GPU accelerated framework for slice-to-volume reconstruction. It is based on optimised 2D/3D registration, super-resolution with automatic outlier rejection and an additional (optional) intensity bias correction. We introduce a novel and fully automatic procedure for selecting the image stack with least motion to serve as an initial registration target. We evaluate the proposed method using artificial motion corrupted phantom data as well as clinical data, including tracked freehand ultrasound of the liver and fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging. We achieve speed-up factors greater than 30 compared to a single CPU system and greater than 10 compared to currently available state-of-the-art multi-core CPU methods. We ensure high reconstruction accuracy by exact computation of the point-spread function for every input data point, which has not previously been possible due to computational limitations. Our framework and its implementation is scalable for available computational infrastructures and tests show a speed-up factor of 1.70 for each additional GPU. This paves the way for the online application of image based reconstruction methods during clinical examinations. The source code for the proposed approach is publicly available

Aquatic Mammals

Abstract The waters of the Inner Moray Firth were designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2005 for the conservation of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in northeast Scotland. However, the long-term conservation of this population requires monitoring throughout its entire known range. Opportunistic photo-identification of bottlenose dolphins occurred during 65 cetacean surveys conducted between 1999 and 2008 in the coastal waters of Aberdeenshire. A total of 88 bottlenose dolphin photo-identification encounters resulted in one to 45 animals identified per survey. The minimum annual total population size based on marked animals alone was 62 individuals, and the discovery curve indicated that the population has not yet been adequately sampled. Of 40 highly distinctive adult animals, the annual sighting rate ranged from 0.167 (seen in one year only) to 1.000 (seen every year). The cumulative monthly sighting rate varied from 0.091 (photographed in one month only) to 0.636 (photographed during seven of the 11 combined survey months in the 2001 to 2008 study period). The overall seasonal occurrence of dolphins off Aberdeenshire peaked during May and June, when 65% of distinctively marked animals were recorded per month (combined data for 2001 to 2008). Eighty-four percent of distinctively marked dolphins were matched with those photographed in the Inner Moray Firth, while 93% were matched with those photographed in the southern Outer Moray Firth. Despite its opportunistic nature, the photo-identification study provided valuable information on a population of bottlenose dolphins in a poorly studied part of their range. The high percentage of matches with dolphins from the Moray Firth SAC indicates that over half of the known northeast Scotland population uses the Aberdeenshire region, and some individuals do so regularly. The frequent occurrence off Aberdeen of bottlenose dolphins from a protected SAC has repercussions for the conservation and management of the population and for the effectiveness of the SAC for their longterm protection