The role of the P2X7 receptor on bone loss in a mouse model of inflammation-mediated osteoporosis

In inflammatory autoimmune diseases, bone loss is frequent. In most cases, secondary osteoporosis is caused by treatment with systemic glucocorticoid. However, the pathogenesis behind the bone loss is presumed multifactorial. We aimed to elucidate the role of the P2X7 receptor on bone mineral density (BMD), microarchitecture, and bone strength in a standardized mouse model of inflammation-mediated osteoporosis (IMO). In total 146 mice completed our protocol, 70 wild type (WT) mice and 76 P2X7−/− (knockout, KO). BMD at the femur and spine decreased significantly from baseline to day 20 in the WT IMO mice (p < 0.01). In the WT vehicle, KO vehicle and KO IMO, no significant BMD changes were found. Bone strength showed a lower mid-shaft max strength (p = 0.038) and also a non-significant trend towards lower strength at the femoral neck of the WT IMO group. Trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and connectivity density (CD) after 20 days were significantly decreased in the WT IMO group (p = 0.001). In contrast, the WT vehicle and KO vehicle, BV/TV and CD did no change at 20 days. Cortical bone revealed no significant microarchitectural changes after 20 days in the WT IMO group, whereas the total cortical area increased significantly in WT vehicle and KO IMO after 20 days (5.2% and 8.8%, respectively). In conclusion, the P2X7 receptor KO mice did not respond to inflammation with loss of BMD whereas the WT mice had a significant loss of BMD, bone strength and trabecular microarchitecture, demonstrating a role for the P2X7 receptor in inflammatory bone loss

Estimation of efficiency of the use of financial resources on enterprises

Стаття присвячена дослідженню теоретичних та практичних питань аналітичного забезпечення управління використанням фінансових ресурсів підприємств. Запропоновані комплексні показники оцінки даного процесуThe article is devoted to research of theoretical and practical questions of the analytical providing of management the use of financial resources of enterprises. The complex indexes of estimation of this process are offere

Improving Readability of Swedish Electronic Health Records through Lexical Simplification: First Results

Abstract This paper describes part of an ongoing effort to improve the readability of Swedish electronic health records (EHRs). An EHR contains systematic documentation of a single patient&apos;s medical history across time, entered by healthcare professionals with the purpose of enabling safe and informed care. Linguistically, medical records exemplify a highly specialised domain, which can be superficially characterised as having telegraphic sentences involving displaced or missing words, abundant abbreviations, spelling variations including misspellings, and terminology. We report results on lexical simplification of Swedish EHRs, by which we mean detecting the unknown, out-ofdictionary words and trying to resolve them either as compounded known words, abbreviations or misspellings

Serum levels of perfluorinated compounds and sperm Y:X chromosome ratio in two European populations and in Inuit from Greenland.

This study investigated whether perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), which exhibit reproductive toxicity in experimental animals, affect sperm sex chromosome ratio. The Y:X ratio was determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Serum concentrations of PFOA and PFOS were measured in 607 men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Data was analyzed by linear and nonlinear regression. We observed no associations between PFOA and Y:X ratio (p=0.845 in a linear model, p=0.296 in a nonlinear model). A positive nonlinear association between PFOS and Y:X ratio was observed (p=0.016), with no association in a linear model (p=0.118). Analyzing the populations separately, a negative trend between categorized PFOS exposure and Y:X ratio was observed for the Inuit (B=-0.002, p=0.044). In conclusion, there was a negative trend between Y:X ratio and PFOS in the Inuit, while there was no association between PFOA and the Y:X ratio in adult men

Endangered subspecies of the reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus witherbyi and E. s. lusitanica) in Iberian Peninsula have different genetic structures

In the Iberian Peninsula, populations of two subspecies of the Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus have become increasingly fragmented during the last decades when suitable habitats have been lost and/or the populations have gone extinct. Presently, both subspecies are endangered. We estimated the amount of genetic variation and population structure in order to define conservation units and management practices for these populations. We found that the subspecies lusitanica has clearly reduced genetic variation in nuclear and mitochondrial markers, has a drastically small effective population size and no genetic differentiation between populations. In contrast, the subspecies witherbyi is significantly structured, but the populations still hold large amounts of variation even though the effective population sizes are smaller than in the non-endangered subspecies schoeniclus. We suggest several management units for the Iberian populations. One unit includes subspecies lusitanica as a whole; the other three units are based on genetically differentiated populations of witherbyi. The most important genetic conservation measure in the case of lusitanica is to preserve the remaining habitats in order to at least maintain the present levels of gene flow. In the case of the three management units within witherbyi, the most urgent conservation measure is to improve the habitat quality to increase the population sizes.This project would not have been possible without the help of many people, among them A. Rodriguez, D. Bigas, P. Vicens, J. Segura, M. Suarez, J. L. Martinez, V. Urios, M. Rebassa, C. Torralvo, J. L. Hernandez, M. Carregal, P. Alcazar, J. L. Canto, J. Ramirez,, D. Alonso, J. Arizaga, F. Arcos, H. Rguibi, Acciona-Trasnmediterranea, and many others who helped us with the difficult task of sampling Reed Buntings and who sent us their samples. We apologize if we have forgotten someone. "Arcea Xestion de Recursos Naturais S. L." was of inestimable value in obtaining most of the samples from Galicia in 2008, in getting funding from the "Xunta de Galicia", and in helping us with the discussion of the results. We would like to thank the authorities of Daimiel National Park, Marjal Pego-Oliva Natural Park, S'Albufera de Mallorca Natural Park, Delta de L'Ebre Natural Park, "Consejeria de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de Castilla La Mancha", "Servicio de Conservacion de la Diversidad del Gobierno de Navarra", "Direccion Xeral de Conservacion da Natureza de la Xunta Galicia and "Servei de Conservacio de la Biodiversitat de la Generalitat Valenciana" for the facilities to work in protected areas and for the appropriate permits to obtain the samples. The people from these protected areas were always very nice and helped us with the fieldwork. This study was funded by projects CGL2005-02041/BOS of the "Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia" of Spain, and SC000207, Orden 14-12-2005 of the "Consejeria de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural de la Junta de Castilla La Mancha", Spain, through the "Ayudas para la realizacion de actuaciones de apoyo a la conservacion de las areas y recursos naturales protegidos, Orden 14-12-2005". The "Direccion Xeral de Conservacion da Natureza de la Xunta de Galicia", Spain, funded part of the fieldwork in NW Iberian Peninsula during the development of the Recovery plan for Emberiza schoeniclus lusitanica in Galicia. The experiments comply the current laws of the countries (Spain, Portugal and Finland) where they were done.Kvist, L.; Ponnikas, S.; Belda Perez, EJ.; Encabo, I.; Martinez, E.; Onrubia, A.; Hernandez, JM.... (2011). Endangered subspecies of the reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus witherbyi and E. s. lusitanica) in Iberian Peninsula have different genetic structures. 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Post-operative antibiotics for cutaneous abscess after incision and drainage: Variations in clinical practice

Background. Acute cutaneous abscess is a common surgical condition that mostly requires incision and drainage. Despite this, there is no standardized national or international guidance on post-operative antibiotics prescription. Traditionally, antibiotics are not indicated unless complications and/or risk factors such as immunocompromisation, diabetes or cellulitis exist. We aimed to study the local practice for post-operative antibiotics prescription for cutaneous abscesses in a UK university teaching hospital. Methods. Retrospective data collection for emergency general surgical admissions for a period of 6 months was carried out. All patients with cutaneous abscesses were included in this analysis. Scrotal, breast and limb abscesses were excluded. Patients’ demographics, co-morbidities and complications, including local (cellulitis, necrosis) and systemic (e.g sepsis), were studied. Approval for access to patient data was granted by the local clinical governance department prior to the commencement of this study. Computations were performed using IBM SPSS version 26. Chi square (X 2), Pearson correlation (r), one or two samples t-test (one or two tailed) were applied. Results. A total of 148 patients were included. The mean age was 40 years (55 % males). The most common site of abscess was perianal (27.7 %), followed by pilonidal (20.3 %) and axilla (16.9 %). A total of 107 (73 %) were managed surgically with incision and drainage, and of these 92 (86 %) were managed within 24 h. Altogether, 83 (76 %) were prescribed post-operative antibiotics, while only 25 (23 %) had indications. The most used post-operative empirical antibiotics was co-amoxiclav (59 %). There was a significant relationship between ‘abscess site’ × ‘antibiotics’ [X 2 (36)=54.8, P=0.023]. A total of 103 patients’ average duration of post-operative antibiotics was 7.2 (sd 2.9) days. Ten patients subject to readmission spent an average of 8.4 (sd 3.8) days on antibiotics. Conclusions. There were variations in clinical practice regarding post-operative antibiotic prescription for cutaneous abscesses. Research is required in the future in cooperation with microbiologists to develop a standardized evidence-based treatment protocol for the management of such a common surgical condition