109 research outputs found
Clostridium difficile-toxin bland köttmarsvin i Perus höglÀnder.
The guinea pig is an important meat-producing animal in Peru as well as in several other South American countries. They are held in different kinds of systems, from the small backyard breeders with few animals to the large commercial farms with thousands of guinea pigs. One of the major issues at the farms is animals dying of unknown causes. Salmonellosis is often considered as a major cause, but samples for confirmation are rarely taken. It has been known for a long time that Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) toxins are lethal to guinea pigs. Several studies have also investigated and confirmed that treatment with antibiotics is a significant risk factor for development of C. difficile infection (CDI) in laboratory animals. C. difficile is a large, anaerobic, gram positive rod with two essential virulence factors, toxin A and toxin B. Until now there appear to be no published studies or reports on the possible occurrence of CDI in meat producing guinea pigs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether C. difficile infection exists in meat producing guinea pigs in the highlands of Peru. The study was performed by taking samples from 77 guinea pigs from 15 farms with 120-5000 animals on each farm, in the Mantaro valley in Peru. The samples were taken either by a rectal swab (22.0 %) or directly from the cecum (77.9 %) at necropsy. The clinical and pathologic findings in the selected animals primarily consisted of signs of diarrhea, poor general condition, ascites, typhlitis and enteritis. Some of the animals had been treated with antibiotics during the last week before the samples were taken. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used to demonstrate the presence of C. difficile toxin A and/or B in the samples. One (1) animal was found toxin positive in the test. It was a neonate male from a large farm that at necropsy showed lesions consistent with severe typhlitis.I Peru, liksom i flera andra Sydamerikanska lĂ€nder Ă€r marsvinet ett viktigt köttproducerande djur. De hĂ„lls i olika system, frĂ„n smĂ„ uppfödningar pĂ„ bakgĂ„rdarna med ett fĂ„tal djur till stora kommersiella farmer med tusentals marsvin. Djur som dör av okĂ€nd anledning Ă€r ett av de stora problemen pĂ„ farmerna. Salmonella antas ofta vara orsaken, men prover för konfirmering tas sĂ€llan. Det Ă€r sedan lĂ€nge kĂ€nt att toxiner producerade av Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) Ă€r dödliga för marsvin. Flera studier har undersökt och konfirmerat att antibiotikabehandling Ă€r en viktig riskfaktor för utvecklandet av C. difficile-infektion (CDI) hos försöksdjur. C. difficile Ă€r en stor, anaerob, grampositiv stav med tvĂ„ huvudsakliga virulensfaktorer, toxin A och toxin B. Inga tidigare rapporter eller studier över förekomst av CDI hos köttproducerande marsvin har pĂ„trĂ€ffats. Syftet med den hĂ€r studien var att undersöka om Clostridium difficile-infektion existerar bland köttproducerande marsvin i de Peruanska höglĂ€nderna. För att studera detta togs prover frĂ„n 77 marsvin frĂ„n 15 olika farmer med 120-5000 djur per farm, i Mantarodalen i Peru. Proverna togs antingen med en rektalsvabb (22.0 %) eller direkt frĂ„n cecum (77.9 %) i samband med obduktion. De kliniska och patologiska fynden hos de utvalda djuren bestod i huvudsak av diarrĂ©, nedsatt allmĂ€ntillstĂ„nd, ascites, tyflit och enterit. NĂ„gra av djuren hade behandlats med antibiotika under veckan före provtagning. En âenzyme immunoassayâ (EIA) anvĂ€ndes för att pĂ„visa förekomsten av C. difficile toxin A och/eller B i proverna. Ett (1) djur var toxinpositivt i testet. Det var en ung hane frĂ„n en stor farm. Vid obduktionen sĂ„gs lesioner överensstĂ€mmande med kraftig tyflit
Cultural perspectives on vaginal birth after previous caesarean section in countries with high and low rates â A hermeneutic study
BackgroundCaesarean section (CS) rates are increasing worldwide, an increase that is multifactorial and not well understood. There is considerable variation in the rates of vaginal birth after prev ..
Alpha-chloralose poisoning in cats: clinical findings in 25 confirmed and 78 suspected cases
Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the clinical picture in cats with alpha-chloralose (AC) intoxication and to confirm AC in serum from suspected cases of AC poisoning. Methods Suspected cases of AC poisoning were identified in patient records from a small animal university hospital from January 2014 to February 2020. Clinical signs of intoxication described in respective records were compiled, the cats were graded into four intoxication severity scores and hospitalisation time and mortality were recorded. Surplus serum from select cases in late 2019 and early 2020 was analysed to detect AC with a quantitative ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis, and the AC concentration was compared with the respective cat's intoxication severity score. Results Serum from 25 cats was available for analysis and AC poisoning was confirmed in all. Additionally, 78 cats with a clinical suspicion of AC intoxication were identified in the patient records, most of which presented from September to April. The most common signs of intoxication were ataxia, tremors, cranial nerve deficits and hyperaesthesia. The prevalence of clinical signs and intoxication severity differed from what has previously been reported, with our population presenting with less severe signs and no deaths due to intoxication. The majority had a hospitalisation time <48 h, irrespective of intoxication severity score. Conclusions and relevance This study describes the clinical signs and prognosis in feline AC intoxication. There were no mortalities in confirmed cases, indicating that AC-poisoned cats have an excellent prognosis when treated in a timely manner. Recognition of AC intoxication as a differential diagnosis for acute onset of the described neurological signs in areas where AC exposure is possible may influence clinical decision-making and help avoid excessive diagnostic procedures. A severe clinical picture upon presentation could be misinterpreted as a grave prognosis and awareness about AC poisoning may avoid unnecessary euthanasia
Development and Validation of a Quantitative UHPLC-MS-MS Method for the Determination of Alpha-Chloralose in Feline Blood and Application on Blood Samples Collected from Cats with Symptoms of Alpha-Chloralose Poisoning
Alpha-chloralose (AC) is used as a rodenticide as well as an anesthetic agent in laboratory animals. It was previously also used as an avicide. Detection of AC in blood samples or in body tissues collected postmortem is key for the diagnosis of clinical cases and a requirement for surveillance of secondary toxicosis, including potential cases in wild animals. Reports on poisoning of humans and non-laboratory animals confirmed by the detection of AC or its metabolites are available, however poisoning of domestic animals are rarely available. Furthermore, reports on clinical cases in domestic animals rarely report quantifications of AC in blood or body tissues. The present study describes the validation of a quantitative Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS-MS) method that can be used in cases of suspected AC poisoning in cats. The validation study showed the method to be fit for purpose. In serum, the limit of quantification was 100 ng/mL and the limit of detection was 30 ng/mL. The new analytical method was applied on blood samples collected from 20 individual cats with a preliminary clinical diagnosis of acute AC poisoning. AC was confirmed in all 20 feline blood samples, and the concentration range of AC was 538-17,500 ng/mL. The quantitative method developed in this study was found to be a fast and selective method for confirmation of AC poisoning using blood samples from cats
A systematic literature review of computer-based behavioural change interventions to inform the design of an online vbac intervention for the optibirth european randomised trial (Project health â f3 â 2012-305208)
A CANDELS - 3D-HST Synergy: Resolved Star Formation Patterns at 0.7 < z < 1.5
We analyze the resolved stellar populations of 473 massive star-forming
galaxies at 0.7 < z < 1.5, with multi-wavelength broad-band imaging from
CANDELS and Halpha surface brightness profiles at the same kiloparsec
resolution from 3D-HST. Together, this unique data set sheds light on how the
assembled stellar mass is distributed within galaxies, and where new stars are
being formed. We find the Halpha morphologies to resemble more closely those
observed in the ACS I band than in the WFC3 H band, especially for the larger
systems. We next derive a novel prescription for Halpha dust corrections, which
accounts for extra extinction towards HII regions. The prescription leads to
consistent SFR estimates and reproduces the observed relation between the
Halpha/UV luminosity ratio and visual extinction, both on a pixel-by-pixel and
on a galaxy-integrated level. We find the surface density of star formation to
correlate with the surface density of assembled stellar mass for spatially
resolved regions within galaxies, akin to the so-called 'main sequence of star
formation' established on a galaxy-integrated level. Deviations from this
relation towards lower equivalent widths are found in the inner regions of
galaxies. Clumps and spiral features, on the other hand, are associated with
enhanced Halpha equivalent widths, bluer colors, and higher specific star
formation rates compared to the underlying disk. Their Halpha/UV luminosity
ratio is lower than that of the underlying disk, suggesting the ACS clump
selection preferentially picks up those regions of elevated star formation
activity that are the least obscured by dust. Our analysis emphasizes that
monochromatic studies of galaxy structure can be severely limited by
mass-to-light ratio variations due to dust and spatially inhomogeneous star
formation histories.Comment: Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal, 18 pages, 1 table, 10 figure
3D-HST+CANDELS : the evolution of the galaxy size-mass distribution since z=3
Spectroscopic+photometric redshifts, stellar mass estimates, and rest-frame colors from the 3D-HST survey are combined with structural parameter measurements from CANDELS imaging to determine the galaxy size-mass distribution over the redshift range 0 < z < 3. Separating early- and late-type galaxies on the basis of star-formation activity, we confirm that early-type galaxies are on average smaller than late-type galaxies at all redshifts, and we find a significantly different rate of average size evolution at fixed galaxy mass, with fast evolution for the early-type population, R effâ(1 + z)â1.48, and moderate evolution for the late-type population, R effâ(1 + z)-0.75Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Imprints, Vol. 3
Imprints, Vol. 3
Laura Lundgren, Stephen F Austin State UniversitySandra L. Standley, Stephen F Austin State UniversityMelissa Miller, Stephen F Austin State UniversityCurtis Simmons, Stephen F Austin State UniversityVaughn Hamilton, Stephen F Austin State UniversitySteve Geissen, Stephen F Austin State UniversityEdward Shelton, Stephen F Austin State UniversityJames L. Choron, Stephen F Austin State UniversityAnderson Kelley, Stephen F Austin State UniversityAndrew J. Urbanus, Stephen F Austin State UniversityGordon Garrett Conner, Stephen F Austin State UniversityJames Chionsini Jr., Stephen F Austin State UniversityPaul M. Thomason, Stephen F Austin State UniversityCarol McBrayerJessica Anton, Stephen F Austin State University
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Imprints is the official publication for Sigma Tau Delta, the honorary English fraternity. The editors welcome creative works submitted by contributors and also publish winners of the annual T. E. Ferguson Writing Contest. Especially welcom are poems, fiction pieces and essays of no more than 5,000 words in length. At this time, we would like to express our gratitude to David Whitescarver, Sigma Tau Delta faculty advisor, for his unrelenting optimism and valuable help in the preparation of this journal
Challenges and opportunities for general practice specific CME in Europe - a narrative review of seven countries
Background: Several changes have led to general practitioners (GPs) working in a more differentiated setting today and being supported by other health professions. As practice changes, primary care specific continuing medical education (CME) may also need to adapt. By comparing different primary care specific CME approaches for GPs across Europe, we aim at identifying challenges and opportunities for future development.
Methods: Narrative review assessing, analysing and comparing CME programs for general practitioners across different north-western European countries (UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Germany, Switzerland, and France). Templates containing detailed items across seven dimensions of country-specific CME were developed and used. These dimensions are role of primary care within the health system, legal regulations regarding CME, published aims of CME, actual content of CME, operationalisation, funding and sponsorship, and evaluation.
Results: General practice specific CME in the countries under consideration are presented and comparatively analysed based on the dimensions defined in advance. This shows that each of the countries examined has different strengths and weaknesses. A clear pioneer cannot be identified. Nevertheless, numerous impulses for optimising future GP training systems can be derived from the examples presented.
Conclusions: Independent of country specific CME programs several fields of potential action were identified: the development of curriculum objectives for GPs, the promotion of innovative teaching and learning formats, the use of synergies in specialist GP training and CME, the creation of accessible yet comprehensive learning platforms, the establishment of clear rules for sponsorship, the development of new financing models, the promotion of fair competition between CME providers, and scientifically based evaluation.
Keywords: Continuing medical education; Curriculum; General practice; Narrative review; Program evaluation
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