The incidence of myocardial injury following post-operative Goal Directed Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that Goal Directed Therapy (GDT) results in improved outcome following major surgery. However, there is concern that pre-emptive use of inotropic therapy may lead to an increased incidence of myocardial ischaemia and infarction. METHODS: Post hoc analysis of data collected prospectively during a randomised controlled trial of the effects of post-operative GDT in high-risk general surgical patients. Serum troponin T concentrations were measured at baseline and on day 1 and day 2 following surgery. Continuous ECG monitoring was performed during the eight hour intervention period. Patients were followed up for predefined cardiac complications. A univariate analysis was performed to identify any associations between potential risk factors for myocardial injury and elevated troponin T concentrations. RESULTS: GDT was associated with fewer complications, and a reduced duration of hospital stay. Troponin T concentrations above 0.01 microg l-1 were identified in eight patients in the GDT group and six in the control group. Values increased above 0.05 microg l-1 in four patients in the GDT group and two patients in the control group. There were no overall differences in the incidence of elevated troponin T concentrations. The incidence of cardiovascular complications was also similar. None of the patients, in whom troponin T concentrations were elevated, developed ECG changes indicating myocardial ischaemia during the intervention period. The only factor to be associated with elevated troponin T concentrations following surgery was end-stage renal failure. CONCLUSION: The use of post-operative GDT does not result in an increased incidence of myocardial injury

Rare parasitic copepods (Siphonostomatoida: Lernanthropidae) from Egyptian Red Sea fishes

© The Author(s) 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The attached file is the published version of the article

Incidence and duration of total occlusion of the radial artery in newborn infants after catheter removal

The incidence and duration of total occlusion of the radial artery after catheter removal was determined using repeated Doppler flow measurements. Thirty-two newborn infants with birthweights ranging from 945 g to 3890 g (median 1935 g) and gestational age ranging from 26 to 40 weeks (median 32 weeks) were studied. In 20 out of 32 infants (63%), complete occlusion of the radial artery occurred. The number of occlusions were not related to birthweight, gestational age or duration of cannulation. In all infants, blood flow in the radial artery resumed within 1-29 days after catheter removal. The duration of occlusion was directly related to the duration of cannulation and inversely related to birthweight. This study demonstrates a high frequency of total occlusion of the radial artery in newborn infants after percutaneous radial artery cannulation. In the majority of infants with a radial artert catheter, blood flow to the tissue distal to the cannulation site is dependent solely on the existence of an adequate arterial palmar collateral circulation

Police Strategies and Suspect Responses in Real-Life Serious Crime Interviews

This research focuses exclusively on real-life taped interviews with serious crime suspects and examines the strategies used and types of questions asked by police, and suspects’ responses to these. The information source was audio-tape-recorded interviews with 56 suspects. These recordings were obtained from 11 police services across England and Wales and were analysed using a specially designed coding frame. It was found that interviewers employed a range of strategies with presentation of evidence and challenge the most frequently observed. Closed questions were by far the most frequently used, and open questions, although less frequent, were found to occur more during the opening phases of the interviews. The frequency of ineffective question types (e.g. negative, repetitive, multiple) was low. A number of significant associations were observed between interviewer strategies and suspect responses. Rapport/empathy and open-type questions were associated with an increased likelihood of suspects admitting the offence whilst describing trauma, and negative questions were associated with a decreased likelihood

Endocytic pathways: combined scanning ion conductance and surface confocal microscopy study

We introduce a novel high resolution scanning surface confocal microscopy technique that enables imaging of endocytic pits in apical membranes of live cells for the first time. The improved topographical resolution of the microscope together with simultaneous fluorescence confocal detection produces pairs of images of cell surfaces sufficient to identify single endocytic pits. Whilst the precise position and size of the pit is detected by the ion conductance microscope, the molecular nature of the pit, e.g. clathrin coated or caveolae, is determined by the corresponding green fluorescent protein fluorescence. Also, for the first time, we showed that flotillin 1 and 2 can be found co-localising with ~200-nm indentations in the cell membrane that supports involvement of this protein in endocytosis

Genomic Restructuring in the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour: Chromosome Painting and Gene Mapping Provide Clues to Evolution of a Transmissible Tumour

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a fatal, transmissible malignancy that threatens the world's largest marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil, with extinction. First recognised in 1996, DFTD has had a catastrophic effect on wild devil numbers, and intense research efforts to understand and contain the disease have since demonstrated that the tumour is a clonal cell line transmitted by allograft. We used chromosome painting and gene mapping to deconstruct the DFTD karyotype and determine the chromosome and gene rearrangements involved in carcinogenesis. Chromosome painting on three different DFTD tumour strains determined the origins of marker chromosomes and provided a general overview of the rearrangement in DFTD karyotypes. Mapping of 105 BAC clones by fluorescence in situ hybridisation provided a finer level of resolution of genome rearrangements in DFTD strains. Our findings demonstrate that only limited regions of the genome, mainly chromosomes 1 and X, are rearranged in DFTD. Regions rearranged in DFTD are also highly rearranged between different marsupials. Differences between strains are limited, reflecting the unusually stable nature of DFTD. Finally, our detailed maps of both the devil and tumour karyotypes provide a physical framework for future genomic investigations into DFTD

The main actors involved in parasitization of Heliothis virescens larva

At the moment of parasitization by another insect, the host Heliothis larva is able to defend itself by the activation of humoral and cellular defenses characterized by unusual reactions of hemocytes in response to external stimuli. Here, we have combined light and electron microscopy, staining reactions, and immunocytochemical characterization to analyze the activation and deactivation of one of the most important immune responses involved in invertebrates defense, i.e., melanin production and deposition. The insect host/parasitoid system is a good model to study these events. The activated granulocytes of the host insect are a major repository of amyloid fibrils forming a lattice in the cell. Subsequently, the exocytosed amyloid lattice constitutes the template for melanin deposition in the hemocel. Furthermore, cross-talk between immune and neuroendocrine systems mediated by hormones, cytokines, and neuromodulators with the activation of stress-sensoring circuits to produce and release molecules such as adrenocorticotropin hormone, alpha melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and neutral endopeptidase occurs. Thus, parasitization promotes massive morphological and physiological modifications in the host insect hemocytes and mimics general stress conditions in which phenomena such as amyloid fibril formation, melanin polymerization, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and activation of the adrenocorticotropin hormone system occur. These events observed in invertebrates are also reported in the literature for vertebrates, suggesting that this network of mechanisms and responses is maintained throughout evolution

Increased Secreted Amyloid Precursor Protein-α (sAPPα) in Severe Autism: Proposal of a Specific, Anabolic Pathway and Putative Biomarker

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in verbal communication, social interactions, and the presence of repetitive, stereotyped and compulsive behaviors. Excessive early brain growth is found commonly in some patients and may contribute to disease phenotype. Reports of increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other neurotrophic-like factors in autistic neonates suggest that enhanced anabolic activity in CNS mediates this overgrowth effect. We have shown previously that in a subset of patients with severe autism and aggression, plasma levels of the secreted amyloid-β (Aβ) precursor protein-alpha form (sAPPα) were significantly elevated relative to controls and patients with mild-to-moderate autism. Here we further tested the hypothesis that levels of sAPPα and sAPPβ (proteolytic cleavage products of APP by α- and β-secretase, respectively) are deranged in autism and may contribute to an anabolic environment leading to brain overgrowth. We measured plasma levels of sAPPα, sAPPβ, Aβ peptides and BDNF by corresponding ELISA in a well characterized set of subjects. We included for analysis 18 control, 6 mild-to-moderate, and 15 severely autistic patient plasma samples. We have observed that sAPPα levels are increased and BDNF levels decreased in the plasma of patients with severe autism as compared to controls. Further, we show that Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42, and sAPPβ levels are significantly decreased in the plasma of patients with severe autism. These findings do not extend to patients with mild-to-moderate autism, providing a biochemical correlate of phenotypic severity. Taken together, this study provides evidence that sAPPα levels are generally elevated in severe autism and suggests that these patients may have aberrant non-amyloidogenic processing of APP

Genomic comparisons reveal biogeographic and anthropogenic impacts in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus): a dietary-specialist species distributed across heterogeneous environments

The Australian koala is an iconic marsupial with highly specific dietary requirements distributed across heterogeneous environments, over a large geographic range. The distribution and genetic structure of koala populations has been heavily influenced by human actions, specifically habitat modification, hunting and translocation of koalas. There is currently limited information on population diversity and gene flow at a species-wide scale, or with consideration to the potential impacts of local adaptation. Using species-wide sampling across heterogeneous environments, and high-density genome-wide markers (SNPs and PAVs), we show that most koala populations display levels of diversity comparable to other outbred species, except for those populations impacted by population reductions. Genetic clustering analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction reveals a lack of support for current taxonomic classification of three koala subspecies, with only a single evolutionary significant unit supported. Furthermore, similar to 70% of genetic variance is accounted for at the individual level. The Sydney Basin region is highlighted as a unique reservoir of genetic diversity, having higher diversity levels (i.e., Blue Mountains region; AvHe(corr)-0.20, PL% = 68.6). Broad-scale population differentiation is primarily driven by an isolation by distance genetic structure model (49% of genetic variance), with clinal local adaptation corresponding to habitat bioregions. Signatures of selection were detected between bioregions, with no single region returning evidence of strong selection. The results of this study show that although the koala is widely considered to be a dietary-specialist species, this apparent specialisation has not limited the koala's ability to maintain gene flow and adapt across divergent environments as long as the required food source is available