Incidental Findings in Computed Tomography Examination of the Head in Rabbits and Guinea Pigs

(1) Background: Rabbits and guinea pigs are popular pet animals and often undergo computed tomography (CT) examination for assessment of pathologies of the head. The goal of the study was to review CT examinations of the heads of rabbits and guinea pigs to identify and classify incidental findings. (2) Methods: 60 CT studies of the heads of rabbits and 65 of guinea pigs presented at 2 Institutions were reviewed and the indications for the study recorded. (3) Results: The presence of CT findings not directly related to the reason for the CT examination was present in 40/60 (66.7%) studies of rabbits and in 42/65 (64.4%) studies of guinea pigs. Most commonly, the incidental findings involved the ears, in 24/60 studies in rabbits and in 29/65 studies in guinea pigs. Incidental findings involved the nasal cavities, respectively, in 9 and 7 rabbits and guinea pigs. Soft tissue mineralization was present in 11 rabbits and 17 guinea pigs. (4) Conclusions: Based on the present study, incidental findings detected on CT studies are often present in rabbits and guinea pigs. Veterinarians should be aware of the possible clinical impact of these findings

Ultrasonographic Diagnosis of Urachal Anomalies in Cats and Dogs: Retrospective Study of 98 Cases (2009–2019)

This retrospective study investigated the prevalence of different urachal anomalies (UA) in cats (n = 60) and dogs (n = 38) and their association with clinical symptoms and urinalysis alterations. Among UA, the vesicourachal diverticulum was the most prevalent UA diagnosed in both cats (96.7%) and dogs (89.5%): the intramural vesicourachal diverticulum was diagnosed in 76.7% of cats and 71.1% of dogs, followed by extramural vesicourachal diverticulum (20.0% and 18.4% respectively). In both cats and dogs, bladder wall diffuse or regional thickening was the most prevalent alteration. The most common alterations of the urinary bladder content were urolithiasis sediment in cats (33.3%) and in dogs (31.6%). Dogs with UA were more often asymptomatic (p = 0.01). No difference was found in cats. Stranguria, hematuria, and urethral obstruction were the most frequently reported clinical signs, while hematuria and leukocyturia were the most prevalent abnormalities at urinalysis. In conclusion, our study confirmed UA as uncommon, and often incidental findings, with a high prevalence of animals without clinical signs

Association between EEG Paroxysmal Abnormalities and Levels of Plasma Amino Acids and Urinary Organic Acids in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abnormalities in the plasma amino acid and/or urinary organic acid profile have been reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity has been proposed as a mechanism to explain dysfunctional brain networks in ASD, as also suggested by the increased risk of epilepsy in this disorder. This study explored the possible association between presence of EEG paroxysmal abnormalities and the metabolic profile of plasma amino acids and urinary organic acids in children with ASD. In a sample of 55 children with ASD (81.8% male, mean age 53.67 months), EEGs were recorded, and 24 plasma amino acids and 56 urinary organic acids analyzed. EEG epileptiform discharges were found in 36 (65%) children. A LASSO regression, adjusted by age and sex, was applied to evaluate the association of plasma amino acids and urinary organic acids profiles with the presence of EEG epileptiform discharges. Plasma levels of threonine (THR) (coefficient = −0.02, p = 0.04) and urinary concentration of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaric acid (HMGA) (coefficient = 0.04, p = 0.02) were found to be associated with the presence of epileptiform discharges. These results suggest that altered redox mechanisms might be linked to epileptiform brain activity in ASD

SCAMPI: Service platform for soCial Aware Mobile and Pervasive computIng

Allowing mobile users to find and access resources available in the surrounding environment opportunistically via their smart devices could enable them to create and use a rich set of services. Such services can go well beyond what is possible for a mobile phone acting alone. In essense, access to diverse resources such as raw computational power, social networking relationships, or sensor readings across a set of different devices calls for distributed task execution. In this paper, we discuss the SCAMPI architecture designed to support distributed task execution in opportunistic pervasive networks. The key elements of the architecture include leveraging human social behavior for efficient opportunistic interaction between a variety of sensors, personal communication devices and resources embedded in the local environment. The SCAMPI architecture abstracts resources asservice components following a service-oriented model. This enables composing rich applications that utilize a collection of service components available in the environment

Wireless sensor networks: applications and challenges of ubiquitous sensing

Sensor networks offer a powerful combination of distributed sensing, computing and communication. They lend themselves to countless applications and, at the same time, offer numerous challenges due to their peculiarities, primarily the stringent energy constraints to which sensing nodes are typically subjected. The distinguishing traits of sensor networks have a direct impact on the hardware design of the nodes at at least four levels: power source, processor, communication hardware, and sensors. Various hardware platforms have already been designed to test the many ideas spawned by the research community and to implement applications to virtually all fields of science and technology. We are convinced that CAS will be able to provide a substantial contribution to the development of this exciting field