The Interaction of Management with Botanical Composition of Irrigated Grass-Legume Pasture Mixtures in the Intermountain West USA

Beef produced on semi-arid range and milk produced in confinement are the main agricultural commodities in the semi-arid western USA. The studies reported here were undertaken to determine the suitability of irrigated pasture as an alternative to traditional beef and dairy production systems. The clipping and grazing studies were not run concurrently or within the same field, but were successive steps in selecting mixtures best-suited for rotational stocking of irrigated pastures in the Intermountain West. Summaries of productivity data have been reported elsewhere (MacAdam, 2002; MacAdam et al., 2004)

Burn Injury Reduces Neutrophil Directional Migration Speed in Microfluidic Devices

Thermal injury triggers a fulminant inflammatory cascade that heralds shock, end-organ failure, and ultimately sepsis and death. Emerging evidence points to a critical role for the innate immune system, and several studies had documented concurrent impairment in neutrophil chemotaxis with these post-burn inflammatory changes. While a few studies suggest that a link between neutrophil motility and patient mortality might exist, so far, cumbersome assays have prohibited exploration of the prognostic and diagnostic significance of chemotaxis after burn injury. To address this need, we developed a microfluidic device that is simple to operate and allows for precise and robust measurements of chemotaxis speed and persistence characteristics at single-cell resolution. Using this assay, we established a reference set of migration speed values for neutrophils from healthy subjects. Comparisons with samples from burn patients revealed impaired directional migration speed starting as early as 24 hours after burn injury, reaching a minimum at 72–120 hours, correlated to the size of the burn injury and potentially serving as an early indicator for concurrent infections. Further characterization of neutrophil chemotaxis using this new assay may have important diagnostic implications not only for burn patients but also for patients afflicted by other diseases that compromise neutrophil functions

Chiropractic care for paediatric and adolescent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychostimulants are first line of therapy for paediatric and adolescent AD/HD. The evidence suggests that up to 30% of those prescribed stimulant medications do not show clinically significant outcomes. In addition, many children and adolescents experience side-effects from these medications. As a result, parents are seeking alternate interventions for their children. Complementary and alternative medicine therapies for behavioural disorders such as AD/HD are increasing with as many as 68% of parents having sought help from alternative practitioners, including chiropractors.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The review seeks to answer the question of whether chiropractic care can reduce symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity for paediatric and adolescent AD/HD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Electronic databases (Cochrane CENTRAL register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Index to Chiropractic Literature) were searched from inception until July 2009 for English language studies for chiropractic care and AD/HD. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to select studies. All randomised controlled trials were evaluated using the Jadad score and a checklist developed from the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The search yielded 58 citations of which 22 were intervention studies. Of these, only three studies were identified for paediatric and adolescent AD/HD cohorts. The methodological quality was poor and none of the studies qualified using inclusion criteria.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To date there is insufficient evidence to evaluate the efficacy of chiropractic care for paediatric and adolescent AD/HD. The claim that chiropractic care improves paediatric and adolescent AD/HD, is only supported by low levels of scientific evidence. In the interest of paediatric and adolescent health, if chiropractic care for AD/HD is to continue, more rigorous scientific research needs to be undertaken to examine the efficacy and effectiveness of chiropractic treatment. Adequately-sized RCTs using clinically relevant outcomes and standardised measures to examine the effectiveness of chiropractic care verses no-treatment/placebo control or standard care (pharmacological and psychosocial care) are needed to determine whether chiropractic care is an effective alternative intervention for paediatric and adolescent AD/HD.</p

Long-term follow-up of patients treated with coronary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction

Long-term follow-up data for patients treated with coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for acute myocardial infarction are limited. Therefore the long-term outcome of 336 consecutive patients treated with PTCA at a median of 4.5 hours (range 0.5 to 48 hours) from symptom onset was evaluated. The in-hospital mortality was 11.1% (37 patients). Follow-up is complete for 293 of 299 (98%) hospital survivors at a median of 24 months. Of patients discharged, the mean age was 55 +/- 11 years, 49% received intravenous thrombolytic therapy, 53% had multivessel coronary artery disease, and the mean ejection fraction was 48 +/- 10%. Post-discharge survival was 96.1% at 1 year and 93.6% at 2 years by life table analysis. Post-discharge survival was independently predicted by no prior myocardial infarction (96.9% versus 87.3% 2-year survival, p p = 0.02]). For patients with analyzable ventriculograms at hospital discharge, ejection fraction &gt;= 40% was also a significant independent predictor of survival (98.1% versus 85.8% 2-year survival, p = 0.01). For patients with a successful PTCA, time from symptom onset to catheterization and angioplasty 4 hours was also an independent predictor of outcome (97.1% versus 91.4% 2-year survival; p = 0.04). Freedom from recurrent myocardial infarction was achieved in 95.2% of patients at 1 year and in 93.1% at 2 years. The only independent predictors of recurrent nonfatal myocardial infarction were a history of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.004), and multivessel coronary artery disease (p = 0.03). During follow-up, 7.1% of patients had repeat PTCA and 11.0% had coronary artery bypass surgery. Independent predictors of late revascularization were a history of prior myocardial infarction and an age p &lt; 0.05). At latest follow-up, 27.3% of patients reported symptoms of angina pectoris (mean angina CLASS = 1.8 +/- 0.8). The only independent predictor of late angina was a closed infarct artery at hospital discharge. We conclude that post-discharge survival in this group of patients trreated with angioplasty in the setting of an acute myocardial infarction was 93% at 2 years, and that survival may be as high as 97% in patients without prior myocardial infarction and in patients treated successfully within 4 hours of symptom onset. Further symptoms of ischemia are not uncommon despite an 18% incidence of repeat angioplasty or bypass surgery at 2 years' time.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27821/1/0000227.pd