Record Size Female Coyote, Canis latrans

On 11 March 2004 we recaptured and re-radio-collared an 8-9 yr old, 25.1 kg (55.3 lb), 157 cm long (tip of nose to tail tip) female Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans) in the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that was originally captured in November 1998. This is believed to be the largest female Coyote ever recorded

Omalizumab decreases exacerbation frequency, oral intake of corticosteroids and peripheral blood eosinophils in atopic patients with uncontrolled asthma.

Omalizumab is a humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody approved in 2005 by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) for the treatment of severe persistent allergic asthma, which remains inadequately controlled despite optimal therapy with high doses of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β2-adrenergic agonists. Within this context, the present observational study refers to 16 patients currently treated with omalizumab at the Respiratory Unit of "Magna Græcia" University Hospital located in Catanzaro, Italy, whose anti- IgE therapy was started in the period included between March 2007 and February 2010, thus lasting at least 10 months. After 40 weeks of add-on treatment with omalizumab, very relevant decreases were detected, in comparison with pre-treatment mean (± standard deviation) values, in monthly exacerbation numbers (from 1.1 ± 0.6 to 0.2 ± 0.4; p < 0.01) and oral corticosteroid consumption (from 22.6 ± 5.0 to 1.2 ± 2.9 mg/day of prednisone; p < 0.01). These changes were associated with stable improvements in lung function, expressed as increases of both FEV1 (from 53.6 ± 14.6% to 77.0 ± 14.9% of predicted values; p < 0.01) and FEV1/FVC ratio (from 56.3 ± 9.5% to 65.8 ± 9.2%; p < 0.01). Moreover, in 5 patients who persistently had increased numbers of eosinophils (mean ± SD: 15.9 ± 8.0% of total WBC count; absolute number: 1,588.0 ± 956.9/μl) despite a long-lasting therapy with inhaled and systemic corticosteroids, the peripheral counts of these cells decreased down to near normal levels (mean ± SD: 6.3 ± 2.3% of total WBC count; absolute number: 462.0 ± 262.3/μl) after 16 weeks of treatment with omalizumab. Therefore, this descriptive evaluation confirms the efficacy of add-on omalizumab therapy in selected patients with exacerbation-prone, chronic allergic uncontrolled asthma, requiring a continuous intake of oral corticosteroids

Behavior of a forest of NiFe nanowires in KOH and NaCl solution for water electrolysis

The present work investigates the behavior of nanostructured electrodes consisting of an array of nanowires of NiFe alloy in KOH + 0.5 M NaCl solution. The aim is to explore the possibility of using these electrodes for hydrogen production by seawater electrolysis. Seawater splitting requires a highly selective electrode on the anode side, where the evolution of molecular chlorine or the formation of other active chlorine compounds can compete with the oxygen evolution reaction. Nanostructured electrodes, obtained by template electrosynthesis, were tested at room temperature in KOH + 0.5 M NaCl solution, and the results were compared with those obtained in pure KOH. The results showed that the presence of NaCl does not affect the electrocatalytic behavior of the nanostructured NiFe alloy. Furthermore, the chemical–physical characterizations carried out after the long-term galvanostatic tests, have shown that the nanostructured electrodes are also stable in terms of morphology and composition. In addition, the solution used to perform the long-term galvanostatic tests was analyzed to investigate the possible formation of chlorine compounds. The absence of these compounds, together with the measured potential value measured for the oxygen evolution reaction, which was always lower than the thermodynamic redox potential for the hypochlorite formation reaction, leads us to conclude that these electrodes are potentially suitable for seawater electrolysis

Associations between systemic bone mineral density and early knee cartilage changes in middle-aged adults without clinical knee disease: a prospective cohort study

Background: Osteoarthritis has a high prevalence in people with high bone mineral density (BMD). Nevertheless, whether high systemic BMD predates early structural features of knee osteoarthritis is unclear. This study examined the association between systemic BMD and knee cartilage defect progression and cartilage volume loss in middle-aged people without clinical knee disease.Methods: Adults (n = 153) aged 25-60 years had total body, lumbar spine, and total hip BMD assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline (2005-2008), and tibial cartilage volume and tibiofemoral cartilage defects assessed by magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and follow up (2008-2010).Results: Higher spine BMD was associated with increased risk for progression of medial (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.10, 1.91) and lateral (OR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.00, 1.67) tibiofemoral cartilage defects. Total hip BMD was also positively associated with the progression of medial (OR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.10, 2.41) and lateral (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.08, 2.18) tibiofemoral cartilage defects. Greater total body, spine, and total hip BMD were associated with increased rate of lateral tibial cartilage volume loss (for every 1 g/10 cm2 increase in total body BMD: B = 0.44%, 95% CI 0.17%, 0.71%; spine BMD: 0.17%, 95% CI 0.04%, 0.30%; total hip BMD: 0.29%, 95% CI 0.13%, 0.45%), with no significant associations for medial tibial cartilage volume loss.Conclusion: In middle-aged people without clinical knee disease, higher systemic BMD was associated with increased early knee cartilage damage. Further work is needed to clarify the effect of systemic BMD at different stages of the pathway from health through to disease in knee osteoarthritis, as new therapies targeting bone are developed for the management of knee osteoarthritis

Detection of EGFR-Activating and T790M Mutations Using Liquid Biopsy in Patients With EGFR-Mutated Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Whose Disease Has Progressed During Treatment With First- and Second-Generation Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: A Multicenter Real-Life Retrospective Study

Epidermal growth factor receptor T790M detection using liquid biopsy was evaluated in a real-life setting in 120 advanced non–small-cell lung cancer patients whose disease had progressed during first- or second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The T790M detection rate was 25.8% using liquid biopsy and 49.2% after tissue rebiopsy. Liquid biopsies performed before disease progression according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors were all negative for T790M and T790M positivity was higher in cases of extrathoracic metastatic sites