Avian mycobacteriosis in chickens from a rural area of Argentina

An outbreak of avian tuberculosis was detected in chickens from a rural area of Chaco Province, northeastern Argentina. The hens were emaciated and presented granulomatous lesions of various sizes throughout the internal organs. The lesions observed in three necropsied birds consisted of granulomas containing alcohol/acid-fast bacilli. All the lesions found were diagnosed histopathologically as tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium were isolated from the cultures and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction techniques

The impact of statistical adjustment on economic profiles of interventional cardiologists

AbstractOBJECTIVESThe objective of this study was to identify preprocedure patient factors associated with percutaneous intervention costs and to examine the impact of these patient factors on economic profiles of interventional cardiologists.BACKGROUNDThere is increasing demand for information about comparative resource use patterns of interventional cardiologists. Economic provider profiles, however, often fail to account for patient characteristics.METHODSData were obtained from Duke Medical Center cost and clinical information systems for 1,949 procedures performed by 13 providers between July 1, 1997, and December 31, 1998. Patient factors that influenced cost were identified using multiple regression analysis. After assessing interprovider variation in unadjusted cost, mixed linear models were used to examine how much cost variability was associated with the provider when patient characteristics were taken into account.RESULTSTotal hospital costs averaged $15,643 (median,$13,809), $6,515 of which represented catheterization laboratory costs. Disease severity, acuity, comorbid illness and lesion type influenced total costs (R2= 38%), whereas catheterization costs were affected by lesion type and acuity (R2= 32%). Patient characteristics varied significantly among providers. Unadjusted total costs were weakly associated with provider, and this association disappeared after accounting for patient factors. The provider influence on catheterization costs persisted after adjusting for patient characteristics. Furthermore, the pattern of variation changed: the adjusted analysis identified three new outliers, and two providers lost their outlier status. Only one provider was consistently identified as an outlier in the unadjusted and adjusted analyses.CONCLUSIONSEconomic profiles of interventional cardiologists may be misleading if they do not adequately adjust for patient characteristics before procedure

Gadolinium and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis: time to tighten practice

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a relatively new entity, first described in 1997. Few cases have been reported, but the disease has high morbidity and mortality. To date it has been seen exclusively in patients with renal dysfunction. There is an emerging link with intravenous injection of gadolinium contrast agents, which has been suggested as a main triggering factor, with a lag time of days to weeks. Risk factors include the severity of renal impairment, major surgery, vascular events and other proinflammatory conditions. There is no reason to believe that children have an altered risk compared to the adult population. It is important that the paediatric radiologist acknowledges emerging information on NSF but at the same time considers the risk:benefit ratio prior to embarking on alternative investigations, as children with chronic kidney disease require high-quality diagnostic imaging

Effector-Triggered Immune Response in Arabidopsis thaliana Is a Quantitative Trait

We identified loci responsible for natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) responses to a bacterial pathogen virulence factor, HopAM1. HopAM1 is a type III effector protein secreted by the virulent Pseudomonas syringae strain Pto DC3000. Delivery of HopAM1 from disarmed Pseudomonas strains leads to local cell death, meristem chlorosis, or both, with varying intensities in different Arabidopsis accessions. These phenotypes are not associated with differences in bacterial growth restriction. We treated the two phenotypes as quantitative traits to identify host loci controlling responses to HopAM1. Genome-wide association (GWA) of 64 Arabidopsis accessions identified independent variants highly correlated with response to each phenotype. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in a recombinant inbred population between Bur-0 and Col-0 accessions revealed genetic linkage to regions distinct from the top GWA hits. Two major QTL associated with HopAM1-induced cell death were also associated with HopAM1-induced chlorosis. HopAM1-induced changes in Arabidopsis gene expression showed that rapid HopAM1-dependent cell death in Bur-0 is correlated with effector-triggered immune responses. Studies of the effect of mutations in known plant immune system genes showed, surprisingly, that both cell death and chlorosis phenotypes are enhanced by loss of EDS1, a regulatory hub in the plant immune-signaling network. Our results reveal complex genetic architecture for response to this particular type III virulence effector, in contrast to the typical monogenic control of cell death and disease resistance triggered by most type III effectors

Rendimiento neto, humedad, cenizas y minerales en hígado y músculos de pollos sometidos a estrés en temporadas estival e invernal

Para evaluar los efectos del estrés sobre la calidad de la canal de polloscriados en jaulas, se compararon lotes control (C) y experimental (E) durante las temporadasestival e invernal. Las aves eran machos provenientes del cruzamiento Rhode Island x PlymouthRock Barrada. El lote E (n = 4) fue sometido 2 veces por semana a maniobras inductorasde estrés, consistentes en sujeción, hacinamiento e inversión corporal durante todo el ciclode crianza, mientras que el lote C (n = 4) continuó su desarrollo en condiciones normales. Lasaves fueron sacrificadas a los 55 días. Se evaluaron los pesos corporales, así como el peso decanal, hígado y músculos de pata y pechuga. Se determinó el rendimiento, humedad, cenizas,macrominerales (Ca, Mg, K) y microminerales (Cu, Fe, Zn) en hígado y músculos. El análisisde la variancia no reveló diferencias significativas atribuibles al estrés, pero en la mayoría delas variables productivas estudiadas (peso final, rendimiento de pata, porcentaje de humedaden pechuga y proporciones de hígado y desperdicios con respecto al peso corporal), se registrarondiferencias significativas entre temporadas (p < 0,05). Cenizas y minerales tambiénfueron significativamente distintos entre temporadas. En período estival se hallaron valoresmás altos de cenizas en hígado y pata, Ca en hígado, Mg en pechuga y pata, Zn en hígado ypechuga y K en hígado, pechuga y pata. Se concluye que las condiciones ambientales fueroncapaces de provocar mayores modificaciones que las atribuidas al estrés

Imaging in the time of NFD/NSF: do we have to change our routines concerning renal insufficiency?

To date there are potential chronology-based but not conclusive reasons to believe that at least some of the gadolinium complexes play a causative role in the pathophysiology of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD). Still, the exact pathogenesis and the risk for patients is unclear beside the obvious connection to moderate to severe renal insufficiency. So far, MR imaging with Gd-enhancement was regarded as the safest imaging modality in these patients—the recent development creates tremendous uncertainty in the MR-community. Nevertheless, one should remember that, despite the over 200 cases of NSF and about 100 with proven involvement of Gd3+, the vast majority of over 200 million patients exposed to gadolinium since the 1980s have tolerated these agents well. Importantly, NSF is a rare disease and does not appear to occur in patients without renal impairment. Many patients and researchers have undergone MR investigations with Gd exposure in the past. For those, it is essential to know about the safety of the agents at normal renal function. We can hope that pharmacoepidemiological and preclinical studies will allow us to better understand the pathophysiology and role of the various MR contrast agents in the near future

Impact of choice of imaging modality accompanying outpatient exercise stress testing on outcomes and resource use after revascularization for acute coronary syndromes

Exercise stress testing is commonly obtained after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) performed for acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We compared the relationships between exercise echocardiography and nuclear testing after ACS-related PCI on outcomes and resource use