Use of the oral sugar test in ponies when performed with or without prior fasting

Background It is recommended that the Oral Sugar Test (OST) for insulin dysregulation (ID) is performed after an overnight fast but fasting is impractical in ponies kept solely at pasture. There are few data on OST repeatability and reliability in ponies. Objectives To report: 1) whether OST results obtained in the morning after an overnight fast or without fasting in the afternoon (FASTING/FED) can be used interchangeably, 2) Tmax[insulin], repeatability and reliability of insulin response to the OST when FASTING or FED, 3) dichotomous agreement (ID/normal) within a small sample when FASTING or FED

Evaluating the quality of environmental impact reporting for proposed tourism-related infrastructure in the protected areas of South Africa: a case study on selected EIA reports.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important planning tool to strengthening environmental policy decisions by encouraging the sustainability of development projects that may lead to adverse environmental impacts and large-scale environmental degradation. The South African National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) (Act No. 107 of 1998) and the 2010 EIA Regulations (GNR 543 and 546) provide minimum requirements for environmental assessment that is classified as basic environmental impact assessment, amongst other instruments. In this case study, the quality of Basic Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (BEIARs) compiled for planned tourism-related infrastructure in and around the Protected Areas (PAs) of the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa was examined. To achieve this goal, the case study adopted a modified Lee and Colley Review Package. The findings of this case study showed that 92% of the BEIARs performed satisfactorily in terms of overall quality while only 54% attained ‘exceptionally good’ quality meanwhile a high proportion of BEIARs were of borderline quality. Moreover, although the degree of legal compliance was relatively high as compared in other EIA studies in South Africa, the more descriptive assessment tasks were conducted typically well as compared to other tasks that required more analytical capabilities. The case study also pinpointed other areas in need of further improvement and refinement so that planned tourism-related facilities do not cause long-term environmental damage in the protected areas of South Africa

The transcriptional profile of coronary arteritis in Kawasaki disease

BackgroundKawasaki Disease (KD) can cause potentially life-threatening coronary arteritis in young children, and has a likely infectious etiology. Transcriptome profiling is a powerful approach to investigate gene expression in diseased tissues. RNA sequencing of KD coronary arteries could elucidate the etiology and the host response, with the potential to improve KD diagnosis and/or treatment.MethodsDeep RNA sequencing was performed on KD (n = 8) and childhood control (n = 7) coronary artery tissues, revealing 1074 differentially expressed mRNAs. Non-human RNA sequences were subjected to a microbial discovery bioinformatics platform, and microbial sequences were analyzed by Metastats for association with KD.ResultsT lymphocyte activation, antigen presentation, immunoglobulin production, and type I interferon response were significantly upregulated in KD arteritis, while the tumor necrosis factor α pathway was not differentially expressed. Transcripts from known infectious agents were not specifically associated with KD coronary arteritis.ConclusionsThe immune transcriptional profile in KD coronary artery tissues has features of an antiviral immune response such as activated cytotoxic T lymphocyte and type I interferon-induced gene upregulation. These results provide new insights into the pathogenesis of KD arteritis that can guide selection of new immunomodulatory therapies for high-risk KD patients, and provide direction for future etiologic studies

Transmission Patterns of HIV and Hepatitis C Virus among Networks of People Who Inject Drugs

The risk-related behaviours and practices associated with injection drug use remain a driver of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission throughout the world. Here we evaluated HIV and HCV transmission patterns in the context of social networks of injection drug users (IDU) recruited from a higher incidence region in order to better understand factors that contribute to ongoing transmission among IDU.IDU recruited through a chain-referral method provided biological specimens for analysis. HIV and HCV positive specimens were sequenced and analyzed using phylogenetic methods (Neighbour-joining and Bayesian) and transmission patterns of HIV and HCV evaluated in the context of the recruitment networks.Among the 407 recruited IDU, HCV and HIV prevalence were 60.6% and 10.1%, respectively; 98% of HIV positive individuals were co-infected with HCV. Thirty-six percent of HCV sequences were associated with clusters, compared to 67% of HIV sequences. Four (16.7%) of the 24 HCV clusters contained membership separated by 2 or fewer recruitment cycles, compared to 10 (41.6%) derived from more than one recruitment component. Two (28.6%) of the 7 HIV clusters contained membership separated by 2 or fewer recruitment cycles while 6 (85.7%) were composed of inter component membership.Few HIV and HCV transmissions coincided with the recruitment networks, suggesting that they occurred in a different social context or a context not captured by the recruitment network. However, among the complete cohort, a higher degree of HIV clustering indicates many are recent infections originating from within current social networks, whereas a larger proportion of HCV infections may have occurred earlier in injecting history and in the context of a different social environment

The consumption of protein-rich foods in older adults: An exploratory focus group study

Objective: Many older adults consume inadequate protein for their needs. This study explored the factors associated with the consumption of high-protein foods in older adults. Methods: Participants over the age of 65 years (n = 28) took part in 1 of 4 focus group discussions on meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, and pulses. Discussions were audio taped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Numerous and various reasons for the consumption and non-consumption of high-protein foods were reported. Many of these reasons result from reductions in chemosensory, dental and physical abilities, and changes in living situation in the older population, and have impact specifically on high-protein foods because of their often hard, perishable and need-to-be-cooked nature, and high cost. Conclusions and Implications: Further work is required to establish the importance of each of thesereasons in relation to protein intakes, to prioritize those of likely greatest impact for increasing intakes. © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior

The transcriptional profile of coronary arteritis in Kawasaki disease.

BACKGROUND: Kawasaki Disease (KD) can cause potentially life-threatening coronary arteritis in young children, and has a likely infectious etiology. Transcriptome profiling is a powerful approach to investigate gene expression in diseased tissues. RNA sequencing of KD coronary arteries could elucidate the etiology and the host response, with the potential to improve KD diagnosis and/or treatment. METHODS: Deep RNA sequencing was performed on KD (n = 8) and childhood control (n = 7) coronary artery tissues, revealing 1074 differentially expressed mRNAs. Non-human RNA sequences were subjected to a microbial discovery bioinformatics platform, and microbial sequences were analyzed by Metastats for association with KD. RESULTS: T lymphocyte activation, antigen presentation, immunoglobulin production, and type I interferon response were significantly upregulated in KD arteritis, while the tumor necrosis factor α pathway was not differentially expressed. Transcripts from known infectious agents were not specifically associated with KD coronary arteritis. CONCLUSIONS: The immune transcriptional profile in KD coronary artery tissues has features of an antiviral immune response such as activated cytotoxic T lymphocyte and type I interferon-induced gene upregulation. These results provide new insights into the pathogenesis of KD arteritis that can guide selection of new immunomodulatory therapies for high-risk KD patients, and provide direction for future etiologic studies

Through Thick and Thin: Kinematic and Chemical Components in the Solar Neighbourhood

We search for the existence of chemically-distinct stellar components in the solar neighbourhood using published data. Extending earlier work, we show that when the abundances of Fe, alpha elements, and the r-process element Eu are considered, stars separate neatly into two groups that delineate the traditional thin and thick disk of the Milky Way. The group akin to the thin disk is traced by stars with [Fe/H]>-0.7 and alpha/Fe<0.2. The thick disk-like group overlaps the thin disk in [Fe/H] but has higher abundances of alpha elements and Eu. Stars in the range -1.5<[Fe/H]<-0.7 with low [alpha/Fe] ratios, however, seem to belong to a separate, dynamically-cold, non-rotating component that we associate with tidal debris. The kinematically-hot stellar halo dominates the sample for [Fe/H]<-1.5. These results suggest that it may be possible to define the main dynamical components of the solar neighbourhood using only their chemistry, an approach with a number of interesting consequences. The kinematics of thin disk stars is then independent of metallicity: their average rotation speed remains roughly constant in the range -0.7<[Fe/H]<+0.4, a result that argues against radial migration having played a substantial role in the evolution of the thin disk. The velocity dispersion of stars assigned to the thin disk is also independent of [Fe/H], implying that the familiar increase in velocity dispersion with decreasing metallicity is the result of the increased prevalence of the thick disk at lower metallicities, rather than of the sustained operation of a dynamical heating mechanism. The substantial overlap in [Fe/H] and, probably, stellar age, of the various components might affect other reported trends in the properties of stars in the solar neighbourhood.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, some clarifications after referee report. Conclusions unchange

Automated analysis of atrial late gadolinium enhancement imaging that correlates with endocardial voltage and clinical outcomes: A 2-center study

This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation PG/10/37/28347, RG/10/11/28457, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre funding, and the ElectroCardioMaths Programme of the Imperial BHF Centre of Research Excellence

Development of a gas chromatography - mass spectrometry method for the determination of carbon disulfide in the atmosphere

[EN] Carbon disulfide (CS2), a relevant reduced sulfur compound in air, is well-known for its malodor and its significant effect on global atmospheric chemistry. Therefore, a reliable method for determining CS2 in atmospheric samples has been developed based on solid-phase sampling and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Two types of solid-phase sampling supports (Orbo-32 and SKC) and the elution with organic solvents - hexane and toluene - were evaluated for low-volume outdoor sampling. Recovery studies and the standard addition method were carried out to demonstrate the proper determination of CS2 in the absence of the influence of interferences such as ozone, hydrogen sulfide or water - important atmospheric pollutants. The proposed methodology was validated by performing experiments in a high-volume smog chamber and by comparison with two reference optical methods, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) installed in these facilities. Satisfactory analytical parameters were reported: fast analysis, a correct repeatability of 6±1% and reproducibility of 14±3%, and low detection limits of 0.3-0.9pgm-3. Finally, the method was successfully applied to industrial samples near a pulp factory area, where a high correlation between industrial emissions and reported carbon disulfide concentrations were observed. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.The research leading to these results received funding from the Centro de Investigacion del Medio Ambiente (CIMA), Consejeria de Medio Ambiente, Gobierno de Cantabria. The Instituto Universitario CEAM-UMH is partly supported by Generalitat Valenciana, Fundacion Bancaja, and the projects GRACCIE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010) and FEEDBACKS (Prometeo - Generalitat Valenciana). We also acknowledged the European Community's Seventh Framework Program under the grant agreement no. 228335 (Eurochamp2), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, through INNPLANTA project: PCT-440000-2010-003 and the EUPHORE staff for their support in the chamber experiments. The authors also thank J.T.B. for his contribution.Borrás García, EM.; Ródenas, M.; Dieguez, J.; Pérez-García, M.; Lomba, R.; Lavin, J.; Tortajada-Genaro, LA. (2012). Development of a gas chromatography - mass spectrometry method for the determination of carbon disulfide in the atmosphere. Microchemical Journal. 101:37-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2011.10.002S374210