Uterine torsion in the mare: a review and three case reports

When a mare exhibits signs of colic during the last trimester of gestation, uterine torsion should always be part of the differential diagnosis. Uterine torsion is an infrequently occurring but serious complication in pregnant mares. In this article a review is given of the appearance, causes, symptoms, diagnostic examinations, treatment options and prognosis for the mare, as well as for her foal. At the end, three unusual cases are described

An indoor variance-based localization technique utilizing the UWB estimation of geometrical propagation parameters

A novel localization framework is presented based on ultra-wideband (UWB) channel sounding, employing a triangulation method using the geometrical properties of propagation paths, such as time delay of arrival, angle of departure, angle of arrival, and their estimated variances. In order to extract these parameters from the UWB sounding data, an extension to the high-resolution RiMAX algorithm was developed, facilitating the analysis of these frequency-dependent multipath parameters. This framework was then tested by performing indoor measurements with a vector network analyzer and virtual antenna arrays. The estimated means and variances of these geometrical parameters were utilized to generate multiple sample sets of input values for our localization framework. Next to that, we consider the existence of multiple possible target locations, which were subsequently clustered using a Kim-Parks algorithm, resulting in a more robust estimation of each target node. Measurements reveal that our newly proposed technique achieves an average accuracy of 0.26, 0.28, and 0.90 m in line-of-sight (LoS), obstructed-LoS, and non-LoS scenarios, respectively, and this with only one single beacon node. Moreover, utilizing the estimated variances of the multipath parameters proved to enhance the location estimation significantly compared to only utilizing their estimated mean values

Assessment of Prosodic Communicative Efficiency in Parkinson's Disease As Judged by Professional Listeners

This study examines the impact of Parkinson's disease (PD) on communicative efficiency conveyed through prosody. A new assessment method for evaluating productive prosodic skills in Dutch speaking dysarthric patients was devised and tested on 36 individuals (18 controls, 18 PD patients). Three professional listeners judged the intended meanings in four communicative functions of Dutch prosody: Boundary Marking, Focus, Sentence Typing, and Emotional Prosody. Each function was tested through reading and imitation. Interrater agreement was calculated. Results indicated that healthy speakers, compared to PD patients, performed significantly better on imitation of Boundary Marking, Focus, and Sentence Typing. PD patients with a moderate or severe dysarthria performed significantly worse on imitation of Focus than on reading of Focus. No significant differences were found for Emotional Prosody. Judges agreed well on all tasks except Emotional Prosody. Future research will focus on elaborating the assessment and on developing a therapy programme paralleling the assessment

The calcium dynamics of human dental pulp stem cells stimulated with tricalcium silicate-based cements determine their differentiation and mineralization outcome

Calcium (Ca2+) signalling plays an indispensable role in dental pulp and dentin regeneration, but the Ca2+ responses of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) stimulated with tricalcium silicate-based (TCS-based) dental biomaterials remains largely unexplored. The objective of the present study was to identify and correlate extracellular Ca2+ concentration, intracellular Ca2+ dynamics, pH, cytotoxicity, gene expression and mineralization ability of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) stimulated with two different TCS-based biomaterials: Biodentine and ProRoot white MTA. The hDPSCs were exposed to the biomaterials, brought in contact with the overlaying medium, with subsequent measurements of extracellular Ca2+ and pH, and intracellular Ca2+ changes. Messenger RNA expression (BGLAP, TGF-β, MMP1 and BMP2), cytotoxicity (MTT and TUNEL) and mineralization potential (Alizarin red and Von Kossa staining) were then evaluated. Biodentine released significantly more Ca2+ in the α-MEM medium than ProRoot WMTA but this had no cytotoxic impact on hDPSCs. The larger Biodentine-linked Ca2+ release resulted in altered intracellular Ca2+ dynamics, which attained a higher maximum amplitude, faster rise time and increased area under the curve of the Ca2+ changes compared to ProRoot WMTA. Experiments with intracellular Ca2+ chelation, demonstrated that the biomaterial-triggered Ca2+ dynamics affected stem cell-related gene expression, cellular differentiation and mineralization potential. In conclusion, biomaterial-specific Ca2+ dynamics in hDPSCs determine differentiation and mineralization outcomes, with increased Ca2+ dynamics enhancing mineralization

Intelligent hydrogel design: Towards more performing hydrogel processing

Despite their highly attractive properties, 3D printing of hydrogel materials can be rather challenging. Herein, we present a novel hydrogel material that can be easily processed into three-dimensional scaffolds using different 3D printing technologies. An acrylate-terminated, urethane-based PEG was prepared by reacting PEG 2000 with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and monoacrylated PEG (336 g/mol) in a 1:2:2 molar ratio (WO 2017/005613 A1). For melt 3D-printing, pure polymer was used (Tm 38°C). For bioprinting, a 50 wt% solution with 3 wt% Laponite was used. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Stadsgeschiedenis in buitenlandse tijdschriften (2018)

Cities, Migration and Global Interdependenc