Complications of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in dogs and cats receiving corticosteroid treatment

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroid treatment is commonly required in veterinary patients for treatment of inflammatory, immune‐mediated, neurologic, and neoplastic diseases, which also may require assisted enteral nutrition via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate complications associated with PEG use in dogs and cats receiving corticosteroid treatment. ANIMALS: Forty‐two animals were included in the study: 12 dogs and 2 cats in the steroid group and 26 dogs and 2 cats in the control group. METHODS: Medical records, between January 2006 and March 2015, were reviewed. Patients were included if the PEG tube was in use for at least 24 hours and if complete medical records were available. Patients were assigned to the control group if they were not treated with corticosteroids during PEG use or to the steroid group if they had received corticosteroids during PEG tube use. Complications were classified as minor, moderate, and major in severity. Maximum severity complication rate was compared between groups. RESULTS: The general prevalence of complications was found to be similar between groups (P = .306), but in the steroid group, 43% of the cases developed a major severity complication compared with 18% of the control group (P = .054). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Owners of dogs and cats receiving corticosteroids, in which PEG is planned, should be counseled about possible complications beyond those associated with PEG tube usage alone

Quantum Mechanical Treatment of Variable Molecular Composition: From "Alchemical" Changes of State Functions to Rational Compound Design

"Alchemical" interpolation paths, i.e.~coupling systems along fictitious paths that without realistic correspondence, are frequently used within materials and molecular modeling and simulation protocols for the estimation of relative changes in state functions such as free energies. We discuss alchemical changes in the context of quantum chemistry, and present illustrative numerical results for the changes of HOMO eigenvalues of the He atom due to a linear alchemical teleportation---the simultaneous annihilation and creation of nuclear charges at different locations. To demonstrate the predictive power of alchemical first order derivatives (Hellmann-Feynman) the covalent bond potential of hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride is investigated, as well as the van-der-Waals binding in the water-water and water-hydrogen fluoride dimer, respectively. Based on converged electron densities for one configuration, the versatility of alchemical derivatives is exemplified for the screening of entire binding potentials with reasonable accuracy. Finally, we discuss constraints for the identification of non-linear coupling potentials for which the energy's Hellmann-Feynman derivative will yield accurate predictions

Ellipsometric measurement of liquid film thickness

The immediate objective of this research is to measure liquid film thickness from the two equilibrium phases of a monotectic system in order to estimate the film pressure of each phase. Thus liquid film thicknesses on the inside walls of the prism cell above the liquid level have been measured elliposmetrically for the monotectic system of succinonitrile and water. The thickness varies with temperature and composition of each plane. The preliminary results from both layers at 60 deg angle of incidence show nearly uniform thickness from about 21 to 23 C. The thickness increases with temperature but near 30 C the film appears foggy and scatters the laser beam. As the temperature of the cell is raised beyond room temperature it becomes increasingly difficult to equalize the temperature inside and outside the cell. The fogging may also be an indication that solution, not pure water, is adsorbed onto the substrate. Nevertheless, preliminary results suggest that ellipsometric measurement is feasible and necessary to measure more accurately and rapidly the film thickness and to improve thermal control of the prism walls

Metal-Insulator Transition Tuned by External Gates in Hall Systems with Constrictions

The nature of a metal-insulator transition tuned by external gates in quantum Hall (QH) systems with point constrictions, as reported in recent experiments of Roddaro et al [1], is examined. We attribute this phenomenon to a splitting of the integer edge into conducting and insulating stripes, the latter wide enough to allow for the stability of the edge structure. Inter-channel impurity scattering and inter-channel Coulomb interactions do not destabilize this picture.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Serum Biochemical Phenotypes in the Domestic Dog

The serum or plasma biochemical profile is essential in the diagnosis and monitoring of systemic disease in veterinary medicine, but current reference intervals typically take no account of breed-specific differences. Breed-specific hematological phenotypes have been documented in the domestic dog, but little has been published on serum biochemical phenotypes in this species. Serum biochemical profiles of dogs in which all measurements fell within the existing reference intervals were retrieved from a large veterinary database. Serum biochemical profiles from 3045 dogs were retrieved, of which 1495 had an accompanying normal glucose concentration. Sixty pure breeds plus a mixed breed control group were represented by at least 10 individuals. All analytes, except for sodium, chloride and glucose, showed variation with age. Total protein, globulin, potassium, chloride, creatinine, cholesterol, total bilirubin, ALT, CK, amylase, and lipase varied between sexes. Neutering status significantly impacted all analytes except albumin, sodium, calcium, urea, and glucose. Principal component analysis of serum biochemical data revealed 36 pure breeds with distinctive phenotypes. Furthermore, comparative analysis identified 23 breeds with significant differences from the mixed breed group in all biochemical analytes except urea and glucose. Eighteen breeds were identified by both principal component and comparative analysis. Tentative reference intervals were generated for breeds with a distinctive phenotype identified by comparative analysis and represented by at least 120 individuals. This is the first large-scale analysis of breed-specific serum biochemical phenotypes in the domestic dog and highlights potential genetic components of biochemical traits in this species