Patients with Essential thrombocythaemia have an increased prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies which may be associated with thrombosis

A significant proportion of patients with Essential Thrombocythaemia (ET) have thrombotic complications which have an important impact upon the quality, and duration of their life. We performed a retrospective cross sectional study of the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) in 68 ET patients. Compared to 200 elderly controls (> 50 years) there was a significant increase in anticardiolipin IgM (p < 0.0001) and anti β2 glycoprotein I (anti-β2GPI) IgM (p < 0.0001) antibodies in ET. Thrombosis occurred in 10/20 with APA and 12/48 without, p = 0.04, relative risk 2.0 (95% confidence intervals 1.03-3.86); these patients did not differ in terms of other clinical features. The prevalence of thrombosis in patients with dual APA (6/7) was significant when compared to those with single APA (p = 0.02) and the remaining patients (p < 0.0002). Also anti-β2GPI IgM antibodies either alone, or in combination with another APA, were associated with thrombosis (p = 0.02). These results suggest that the prevalence of APA in ET and their influence upon thrombotic risk merit investigation in a larger study

Uniqueness Typing for Resource Management in Message-Passing Concurrency

We view channels as the main form of resources in a message-passing programming paradigm. These channels need to be carefully managed in settings where resources are scarce. To study this problem, we extend the pi-calculus with primitives for channel allocation and deallocation and allow channels to be reused to communicate values of different types. Inevitably, the added expressiveness increases the possibilities for runtime errors. We define a substructural type system which combines uniqueness typing and affine typing to reject these ill-behaved programs

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Analysis of the pre-incident education and subsequent performance of emergency medical responders to the Volendam café fire

Objective At this moment, in the Netherlands, rescue workers are not given any specific standardized training in disaster response or disaster management.After the café fire in Volendam, the Netherlands, on New Year’s Eve 2000, around 200 rescue workers were deployed on-site. The aim of this study is to investigate the rescue workers’ experiences with regard to their level of preparation for the emergency response. Methods In 2002, 30 members of the medical and paramedical personnel were requested to participate in a structured interview, focused on education, task perception, triage and registration. Results Twenty-seven participated. Twenty-two rescue workers received previous training in emergency medicine. During the alarm phase, 11 rescue workers had a clear perception of their tasks. Twenty-four were involved in triage and injury assessment. Three rescue workers used a protocol for triage and 15 for injury assessment. Twenty-five rescue workers gave on-scene treatment and 15 used a protocol. Eight registered their findings. Conclusions Preparation for the emergency response lacked standardized procedures. The use of triage protocols was extremely poor, as was documentation of actions. Slightly more than half of the personnel followed treatment protocols. It is advisable that all rescue workers become familiar with the basic uniform principles and protocols regarding disaster management. A dedicated and standardized national disaster management course is needed for all rescue workers

Pulmonary activation of coagulation and inhibition of fibrinolysis after burn injuries and inhalation trauma

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary coagulopathy is intrinsic to pneumonia and other forms of acute lung injury. We hypothesized patients with burn injuries and inhalation trauma to have similar alterations in pulmonary coagulation and fibrinolysis. METHODS: We performed a prospective study on changes in pulmonary and systemic thrombin generation and fibrinolytic activity in patients with burn injuries and inhalation trauma requiring mechanical ventilation. Nondirected bronchial lavage was performed on alternate days. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation for nonpulmonary reasons who did not meet the North American European Consensus Conference criteria for acute lung injury functioned as control patients. RESULTS: We studied 13 patients with burn injuries and inhalation trauma and 15 control patients. On admission, patients with burn injuries and inhalation trauma showed a significant increase in thrombin generation in the airways compared with control patients, as reflected by increased lavage fluid levels of thrombin-antithrombin complexes and fibrin degradation products, and decreased lavage fluid levels of activated protein C and antithrombin. Simultaneously, burn patients showed a significant decrease in fibrinolytic activity, as reflected by decreased lavage fluid levels of plasminogen activator activity. Pulmonary coagulopathy persisted throughout the period of mechanical ventilation and was accompanied by similar changes in systemic coagulation and fibrinolysis. There was no significant correlation between changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis and the extent of burn injury. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with burn injuries and inhalation trauma requiring mechanical ventilation show a distinct and sustained procoagulant and antifibrinolytic shift in the pulmonary compartment. Pulmonary coagulopathy could be an important therapeutic target in these patients

Reply to Comment on “Distribution of Ixodes scapularis in Northwestern Ontario: Results from Active and Passive Surveillance Activities in the Northwestern Health Unit Catchment Area”

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Distribution of Ixodes scapularis in Northwestern Ontario: Results from Active and Passive Surveillance Activities in the Northwestern Health Unit Catchment Area

The range of Ixodes scapularis is expanding in Ontario, increasing the risk of Lyme disease. As an effective public health response requires accurate information on disease distribution and areas of risk, this study aims to establish the geographic distribution of I. scapularis and its associated pathogen, B. burgdorferi, in northwestern Ontario. We assessed five years of active and passive tick surveillance data in northwestern Ontario. Between 2013 and 2017, 251 I. scapularis were submitted through passive surveillance. The submission rate increased over time, and the proportion infected with B. burgdorferi was 13.5%. Active tick surveillance from 2014 to 2016 found few I. scapularis specimens. In 2017, 102 I. scapularis were found in 10 locations around the city of Kenora; 60% were infected with B. burgdorferi, eight tested positive for A. phagocytophilum, and one for POWV. I. scapularis ticks were found in 14 locations within the Northwestern Health Unit area, with seven locations containing B. burgdorferi-positive ticks. We found abundant I. scapularis populations in the southern portion of northwestern Ontario and northward expansion is expected. It is recommended that I. scapularis populations continue to be monitored and mitigation strategies should be established for rural northern communities

Effects of reproductive stage and 11-ketotestosterone on LPL mRNA levels in the ovary of the shortfinned eel

To understand the dynamics of lipid uptake into the ovary and the potential role that lipoprotein lipase plays in this event, changes in LPL transcript abundance during oogenesis were measured in both wild-caught and pituitary homogenate-induced artificially maturing eels. Also, the effects of 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) on LPL mRNA levels were investigated in vivo and in vitro. Normalized ovarian LPL transcript abundance increased as oogenesis advanced, and it rose particularly rapidly during midvitellogenesis, corresponding to pronounced increases in ovarian lipid deposits and LPL activity. Furthermore, LPL mRNA levels were dramatically increased following 11-KT treatment in vivo, findings that were reinforced as trends in ovarian tissue incubated in vitro. Ovarian LPL appears to be directly involved in the uptake of lipids into the eel ovary, an involvement that appears to be controlled, at least in part, by the androgen 11-KT