Clinical features and long-term follow-up of 70 cases of canine idiopathic eosinophilic lung disease.

BACKGROUND: Canine idiopathic eosinophilic lung disease (ELD) is sparsely documented in the literature. METHODS: Clinical presentation and outcome of dogs diagnosed with ELD (eosinophilic bronchitis or eosinophilic bronchopneumonia) were reviewed. Subgroups were made based on chronicity of clinical signs and findings of thoracic imaging: NCI (no changes in thoracic imaging), BRON (bronchial/peribronchial pattern), INT (bronchointerstitial/interstitial/alveolar). RESULTS: Seventy cases were included. There were more young to adult, crossbreed and female dogs. Compared with the other two groups NCI dogs showed lower bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophilic pleocytosis and absence of circulating eosinophilia, bronchiectasis or death due to respiratory disease. All dogs responded clinically to corticosteroids. Median treatment duration was four months. Remission (no clinical signs after treatment discontinuation for >one month) and long-term remission (>six months) was achieved in 60 per cent, and 51 per cent of patients, respectively. Relapse occurred in 26 per cent of cases after remission but was rare (3 per cent) after long-term remission. The one-year, two-year and four-year survival to death due to respiratory disease was 98 per cent, 97 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prognosis and initial clinical response for ELD was generally good although achievement of long-term remission was only seen in 51 per cent of dogs. Different outcomes based on chronicity of signs, corticosteroid dose, thoracic imaging abnormalities and other clinical variables were not appreciated

ePortfolio to support professional development during experiential learning placements: Guided by students-as-partners theory, enabled through students-as-partners practice

This case study applies a students-as-partners focus to the use of ePortfolio concepts during experiential learning placements. In describing our project and as evident here, in referring to ePortfolio in the singular, we cite it as an abstract concept, while the plural reference marks practice, in this study taking the form of studentgenerated instances of ePortfolio use, in particular as detailed in the ePortfolios experiences of two final-year students on experiential placement in a pharmacy programme. These two students used their ePortfolio to document and reflect critically on their experiential placements, showcasing their own studentgenerated ePortfolios at a symposium co-hosted by student partners, their placement preceptor, and other mentors. This student co-developed case study summarises key findings, including how the use of ePortfolio can support learner agency, and outlines recommendations for further incorporating ePortfolio use in experiential learning contexts. While grounded in the context of an undergraduate pharmacy programme, much of the study will resonate with colleagues based in International Journal for Students as Partners Vol. 7, Issue 2. October 2023 Roche, C., Abria, L., Farrell, O., Johnston, J., Penny Light, T., McKibben, A., Reast, A., & Yancey, K. B. (2023). “ePortfolio to support professional development during experiential learning placements: Guided by students-as-partners theory, enabled through students-as-partners practice” International Journal for other disciplines aligned with competency frameworks. The staff-student collaborative approach explored in this case study is likely of interest to students, educators, preceptors, tutors, mentors, and others developing curricula with an ePortfolio component

How healthy and affordable are foods and beverages sold in school canteens? A cross-sectional study comparing menus from Victorian primary schools

Abstract Objective: Government policy guidance in Victoria, Australia, encourages schools to provide affordable, healthy foods in canteens. This study analysed the healthiness and price of items available in canteens in Victorian primary schools and associations with school characteristics. Design: Dietitians classified menu items (main, snack and beverage) using the red, amber and green traffic light system defined in the Victorian government’s School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy. This system also included a black category for confectionary and high sugar content soft drinks which should not be supplied. Descriptive statistics and regressions were used to analyse differences in the healthiness and price of main meals, snacks and beverages offered, according to school remoteness, sector (government and Catholic/independent) size, and socio-economic position. Setting: State of Victoria, Australia Participants: A convenience sample of canteen menus drawn from three previous obesity prevention studies in forty-eight primary schools between 2016 and 2019. Results: On average, school canteen menus were 21 % ‘green’ (most healthy – everyday), 53 % ‘amber’ (select carefully), 25 % ‘red’ (occasional) and 2 % ‘black’ (banned) items, demonstrating low adherence with government guidelines. ‘Black’ items were more common in schools in regional population centres. ‘Red’ main meal items were cheaper than ‘green’% ‘black’ (banned) items, demonstrating low adherence with government guidelines. ‘Black’ items were more common in schools in regional population centres. ‘Red’ main meal items were cheaper than ‘green’ (mean difference –$0·48 (95$0·91 (–1·27, –0·57)) main meal items. In about 50 % of schools, the mean price of ‘red’ main meal, beverages and snack items were cheaper than ‘green’ items, or no ‘green’ alternative items were offered. Conclusion: In this sample of Victorian canteen menus, there was no evidence of associations of healthiness and pricing by school characteristics except for regional centres having the highest proportion of ‘black’ (banned) items compared with all other remoteness categories examined. There was low adherence with state canteen menu guidelines. Many schools offered a high proportion of ‘red’ food options and ‘black’ (banned) options, particularly in regional centres. Unhealthier options were cheaper than healthy options. More needs to be done to bring Victorian primary school canteen menus in line with guidelines

The Extraction of 3D Shape from Texture and Shading in the Human Brain

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the human cortical areas involved in processing 3-dimensional (3D) shape from texture (SfT) and shading. The stimuli included monocular images of randomly shaped 3D surfaces and a wide variety of 2-dimensional (2D) controls. The results of both passive and active experiments reveal that the extraction of 3D SfT involves the bilateral caudal inferior temporal gyrus (caudal ITG), lateral occipital sulcus (LOS) and several bilateral sites along the intraparietal sulcus. These areas are largely consistent with those involved in the processing of 3D shape from motion and stereo. The experiments also demonstrate, however, that the analysis of 3D shape from shading is primarily restricted to the caudal ITG areas. Additional results from psychophysical experiments reveal that this difference in neuronal substrate cannot be explained by a difference in strength between the 2 cues. These results underscore the importance of the posterior part of the lateral occipital complex for the extraction of visual 3D shape information from all depth cues, and they suggest strongly that the importance of shading is diminished relative to other cues for the analysis of 3D shape in parietal regions

Relaciones de caso y extensión de la concordancia en el español peninsular y el portugués europeo

Western Andalusian and European Portuguese only rely on a single plural pronoun in their address system (ustedes/vocês) which can induce two different agreement types: (i) the second person plural (following the semantics of the address system) and (ii) the third person plural (following their syntax). These two agreement patterns have not been studied in depth and, consequently, we did not know what factors underlie this variation in agreement. In this paper, I study the linguistic spread of these agreement patterns as well as the theoretical factors that led to this variation in use

Pathogenic copy number variants and SCN1A mutations in patients with intellectual disability and childhood-onset epilepsy

Background Copy number variants (CNVs) have been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability (ID), autism, epilepsy and psychiatric disease. There are few studies of CNVs in patients with both ID and epilepsy. Methods We evaluated the range of rare CNVs found in 80 Welsh patients with ID or developmental delay (DD), and childhood-onset epilepsy. We performed molecular cytogenetic testing by single nucleotide polymorphism array or microarray-based comparative genome hybridisation. Results 8.8 % (7/80) of the patients had at least one rare CNVs that was considered to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic. The CNVs involved known disease genes (EHMT1, MBD5 and SCN1A) and imbalances in genomic regions associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (16p11.2, 16p13.11 and 2q13). Prompted by the observation of two deletions disrupting SCN1A we undertook further testing of this gene in selected patients. This led to the identification of four pathogenic SCN1A mutations in our cohort. Conclusions We identified five rare de novo deletions and confirmed the clinical utility of array analysis in patients with ID/DD and childhood-onset epilepsy. This report adds to our clinical understanding of these rare genomic disorders and highlights SCN1A mutations as a cause of ID and epilepsy, which can easily be overlooked in adults

p53 and ovarian carcinoma survival: an Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium study

Our objective was to test whether p53 expression status is associated with survival for women diagnosed with the most common ovarian carcinoma histotypes (high-grade serous carcinoma [HGSC], endometrioid carcinoma [EC], and clear cell carcinoma [CCC]) using a large multi-institutional cohort from the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis (OTTA) consortium. p53 expression was assessed on 6,678 cases represented on tissue microarrays from 25 participating OTTA study sites using a previously validated immunohistochemical (IHC) assay as a surrogate for the presence and functional effect of TP53 mutations. Three abnormal expression patterns (overexpression, complete absence, and cytoplasmic) and the normal (wild type) pattern were recorded. Survival analyses were performed by histotype. The frequency of abnormal p53 expression was 93.4% (4,630/4,957) in HGSC compared to 11.9% (116/973) in EC and 11.5% (86/748) in CCC. In HGSC, there were no differences in overall survival across the abnormal p53 expression patterns. However, in EC and CCC, abnormal p53 expression was associated with an increased risk of death for women diagnosed with EC in multivariate analysis compared to normal p53 as the reference (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36-3.47, p = 0.0011) and with CCC (HR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.11-2.22, p = 0.012). Abnormal p53 was also associated with shorter overall survival in The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I/II EC and CCC. Our study provides further evidence that functional groups of TP53 mutations assessed by abnormal surrogate p53 IHC patterns are not associated with survival in HGSC. In contrast, we validate that abnormal p53 IHC is a strong independent prognostic marker for EC and demonstrate for the first time an independent prognostic association of abnormal p53 IHC with overall survival in patients with CCC

CCNE1 and survival of patients with tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma: An Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium study

BACKGROUND: Cyclin E1 (CCNE1) is a potential predictive marker and therapeutic target in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). Smaller studies have revealed unfavorable associations for CCNE1 amplification and CCNE1 overexpression with survival, but to date no large-scale, histotype-specific validation has been performed. The hypothesis was that high-level amplification of CCNE1 and CCNE1 overexpression, as well as a combination of the two, are linked to shorter overall survival in HGSC. METHODS: Within the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium, amplification status and protein level in 3029 HGSC cases and mRNA expression in 2419 samples were investigated. RESULTS: High-level amplification (>8 copies by chromogenic in situ hybridization) was found in 8.6% of HGSC and overexpression (>60% with at least 5% demonstrating strong intensity by immunohistochemistry) was found in 22.4%. CCNE1 high-level amplification and overexpression both were linked to shorter overall survival in multivariate survival analysis adjusted for age and stage, with hazard stratification by study (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08-1.47, p = .034, and HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05-1.32, p = .015, respectively). This was also true for cases with combined high-level amplification/overexpression (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.09-1.47, p = .033). CCNE1 mRNA expression was not associated with overall survival (HR, 1.00 per 1-SD increase; 95% CI, 0.94-1.06; p = .58). CCNE1 high-level amplification is mutually exclusive with the presence of germline BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants and shows an inverse association to RB1 loss. CONCLUSION: This study provides large-scale validation that CCNE1 high-level amplification is associated with shorter survival, supporting its utility as a prognostic biomarker in HGSC