Epidemiology of diabetes mellitus among 193,435 cats attending primary-care veterinary practices in England

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common endocrine disease of cats. The prevalence of DM in cats in England is not well‐defined. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence and identify risk factors for DM in a large population of cats attending primary‐care practices. ANIMALS: A cohort of 193,563 cats in the VetCompass Programme attending 118 primary‐care practices in England. METHODS: Cross‐sectional analysis of cohort clinical data. Data were extracted covering September 1st 2009 and August 31st 2014. Period prevalence of DM was calculated. Associations between risk factors and DM were assessed using logistic regression modelling. RESULTS: Of 1,128 DM cases were identified among 194,563 cats (period prevalence 0.58%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.54–0.61). Multivariable modelling indicated that Tonkinese (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.8–9.6; P = .001), Norwegian Forest (odds ratio [OR] 3.5; 95% CI 1.3–9.6; P = .001) and Burmese (OR 3.0; 95% CI 2.0–4.4; P < .001) cats had increased odds of DM compared with crossbred cats. DM odds increased as bodyweight categories increased above 4 kg (P < .001), as cats aged beyond 6 years old (P < .001) and in insured cats (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.6–2.4; P < .001) but sex was not significantly associated with DM. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Diabetes mellitus is an important component of the primary‐care practice caseload with 1‐in‐200 cats affected. An increased risk of DM in certain cat breeds supports a genetic predisposition. These results can guide future research and preventative healthcare

Large scale surface structure formed during GaAs (001) homoepitaxy

Atomic force microscopy studies have been performed on GaAs (001) homoepitaxy films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Multilayered features are seen to evolve when the growth conditions favor island nucleation. As the epilayer thickness is increased these features grow in all dimensions but the angle of inclination remains approximately constant at 1°. The mounding does not occur on surfaces grown in step flow. We propose that the multilayered features are an unstable growth mode which relies on island nucleation and the presence of a step edge barrier.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70983/2/APPLAB-64-7-860-1.pd

Distance to range edge determines sensitivity to deforestation

It is generally assumed that deforestation affects a species consistently across space, however populations near their geographic range edge may exist at their niche limits and therefore be more sensitive to disturbance. We found that both within and across Atlantic Forest bird species, populations are more sensitive to deforestation when near their range edge. In fact, the negative effects of deforestation on bird occurrences switched to positive in the range core (>829 km), in line with Ellenberg’s rule. We show that the proportion of populations at their range core and edge varies across Brazil, suggesting deforestation effects on communities, and hence the most appropriate conservation action, also vary geographically

Orientation of the Stripe Formed by the Two-Dimensional Electrons in Higher Landau Levels

Effect of periodic potential on the stripe phase realized in the higher Landau levels is investigated by the Hartree-Fock approximation. The period of the potential is chosen to be two to six times of the fundamental period of the stripe phase. It is found that the stripe aligns perpendicularly to the external potential in contrast to a naive expectation and hydrodynamic theory. Charge modulation towards the Wigner crystallization along the stripe is essential for the present unexpected new result.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, two figures included in the tex

Evidence of strong stabilizing effects on the evolution of boreoeutherian (Mammalia) dental proportions.

The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar-molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore how these dental traits vary across mammals more broadly, focusing on terrestrial taxa in the clade of Boreoeutheria (Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria). We measured the postcanine teeth of N = 1,523 boreoeutherian mammals spanning six orders, 14 families, 36 genera, and 49 species to test hypotheses about associations between dental proportions and phylogenetic relatedness, diet, and life history in mammals. Boreoeutherian postcanine dental proportions sampled in this study carry conserved phylogenetic signal and are not associated with variation in diet. The incorporation of paleontological data provides further evidence that dental proportions may be slower to change than is dietary specialization. These results have implications for our understanding of dental variation and dietary adaptation in mammals

Anisotropy and periodicity in the density distribution of electrons in a quantum-well

We use low temperature near-field optical spectroscopy to image the electron density distribution in the plane of a high mobility GaAs quantum well. We find that the electrons are not randomly distributed in the plane, but rather form narrow stripes (width smaller than 150 nm) of higher electron density. The stripes are oriented along the [1-10 ] crystal direction, and are arranged in a quasi-periodic structure. We show that elongated structural mounds, which are intrinsic to molecular beam epitaxy, are responsible for the creation of this electron density texture.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Quantum Hall ferromagnets, cooperative transport anisotropy, and the random field Ising model

We discuss the behaviour of a quantum Hall system when two Landau levels with opposite spin and combined filling factor near unity are brought into energetic coincidence using an in-plane component of magnetic field. We focus on the interpretation of recent experiments under these conditions [Zeitler et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 866 (2001); Pan et al, Phys. Rev. B 64, 121305 (2001)], in which a large resistance anisotropy develops at low temperatures. Modelling the systems involved as Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets, we suggest that this transport anisotropy reflects domain formation induced by a random field arising from isotropic sample surface roughness.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to Physical Review

Density Induced Interchange of Anisotropy Axes at Half-Filled High Landau Levels

We observe density induced 90$^{\circ}$ rotations of the anisotropy axes in transport measurements at half-filled high Landau levels in the two dimensional electron system, where stripe states are proposed ($\nu$=9/2, 11/2, etc). Using a field effect transistor, we find the transition density to be $2.9\times10^{11}$cm$^{-2}$ at $\nu$=9/2. Hysteresis is observed in the vicinity of the transition. We construct a phase boundary in the filling factor-magnetic field plane in the regime $4.4<\nu<4.6$. An in-plane magnetic field applied along either anisotropy axis always stabilizes the low density orientation of the stripes.Comment: 1 revtex file, 3 eps figure

EUROnu-WP6 2010 Report

This is a summary of the work done by the Working Package 6 (Physics) of the EU project "EUROnu" during the second year of activity of the project.Comment: 82 pages, 51 eps figure

The UK's Global Health Respiratory Network: Improving respiratory health of the world's poorest through research collaborations.

Respiratory disorders are responsible for considerable morbidity, health care utilisation, societal costs and approximately one in five deaths worldwide [1-4]. Yet, despite this substantial health and societal burden – which particularly affects the world’s poorest populations and as such is a major contributor to global health inequalities – respiratory disorders have historically not received the policy priority they warrant. For example, despite causing an estimated 1000 deaths per day, less than half of the world’s countries collect data on asthma prevalence (http://www.globalasthmareport.org/). This is true for both communicable and non-communicable respiratory disorders, many of which are either amenable to treatment or preventable