2015 ACVIM Small Animal Consensus Statement on Seizure Management in Dogs

This report represents a scientific and working clinical consensus statement on seizure management in dogs based on current literature and clinical expertise. The goal was to establish guidelines for a predetermined, concise, and logical sequential approach to chronic seizure management starting with seizure identification and diagnosis (not included in this report), reviewing decision‐making, treatment strategies, focusing on issues related to chronic antiepileptic drug treatment response and monitoring, and guidelines to enhance patient response and quality of life. Ultimately, we hope to provide a foundation for ongoing and future clinical epilepsy research in veterinary medicine

A jump-growth model for predator-prey dynamics: derivation and application to marine ecosystems

This paper investigates the dynamics of biomass in a marine ecosystem. A stochastic process is defined in which organisms undergo jumps in body size as they catch and eat smaller organisms. Using a systematic expansion of the master equation, we derive a deterministic equation for the macroscopic dynamics, which we call the deterministic jump-growth equation, and a linear Fokker-Planck equation for the stochastic fluctuations. The McKendrick--von Foerster equation, used in previous studies, is shown to be a first-order approximation, appropriate in equilibrium systems where predators are much larger than their prey. The model has a power-law steady state consistent with the approximate constancy of mass density in logarithmic intervals of body mass often observed in marine ecosystems. The behaviours of the stochastic process, the deterministic jump-growth equation and the McKendrick--von Foerster equation are compared using numerical methods. The numerical analysis shows two classes of attractors: steady states and travelling waves.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures. Final version as published. Only minor change

The measurement of stress and phase fraction distributions in pre and post-transition Zircaloy oxides using nano-beam synchrotron X-ray diffraction

Zircaloy-4 oxide stress profiles and tetragonal:monoclinic oxide phase fraction distributions were studied using nano-beam transmission X-ray diffraction. Continuous stress relief and phase transformation during the first cycle of oxide growth was observed. The in-plane monoclinic stress was shown to relax strongly up to each transition, whereas in-plane tetragonal stress-relief (near the metal-oxide interface) was only observed post transition. The research demonstrates that plasticity in the metal and the development of a band of in-plane cracking both relax the monoclinic in-plane stress.The observations are consistent with a model of transition in which in-plane cracking becomes interlinked prior to transition. These cracks, combined with the development of cracks with a through-thickness component (driven primarily by plasticity in the metal) and/or a porous network of fine cracks (associated with phase transformation), form a percolation path through the oxide layer. The oxidising species can then percolate from the oxide surface to the metal/oxide interface, at which stage transition then ensues

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