Characterization of a Colostrum Replacer Containing IgG Concentrate and Growth Factors

The objective of this study was to characterize absorption of colostrum replacer (CR) or supplement (CS) containing fractions of bovine plasma. Immunoglobulin concentrate (IGC) was prepared from abattoir blood to a final purity of approximately 90% IgG. Blood was also processed to produce a fraction containing elevated concentrations of IGF-I and TGF-β (GF). Both IGC and GF were spray-dried and blended with other ingredients to produce CR (30% IgG) or CS (15% IgG) containing 0 or 5% GF. Forty Holstein bull calves were assigned to one of five treatments: 1) Pooled colostrum (MC) - 1.9 L of pooled colostrum at 1 and 8 h of age; 2) Low supplement (LC) - 1.9 L of CS at 1 and 8 h of age to provide 150 g of IgG; 3) Low supplement + GF (LG) - 1.9 L of a CS with GF at 1 and 8 h of age to provide 150 g of IgG; 4) High supplement (HC) - 1.9 L of CR at 1 h of age to provide 150 g of IgG and 1.9 L of a commercial milk replacer (MR) at 8 h of age; and 5) High supplement + GF (HG) - 1.9 L of a CR with GF at 1 h of age to provide 150 g of IgG and 1.9 L of a commercial MR at 8 h of age. Apparent efficiency of IgG absorption was higher for calves fed HC and HG compared to those fed LC and LG and was lower for calves fed LG and HG compared to those fed LC and HC. IgG concentrations at 24 h were highest in calves fed MC compared to other calves and were higher in calves fed HC and HG compared to LC and LG. Calves fed LG and HG had lower IgG concentrations at 24 h of age compared to those fed LC and HC. Xylose absorption was not influenced by treatment in calves fed HG, HC, and MC. These results indicate that 150 g of IgG provided in one dose soon after birth is superior to 150 g of IgG fed in two doses 7 h apart. Also, addition of a fraction of bovine plasma containing elevated concentrations of IGF-I and TGF-β to the CS and CR formulation decreased IgG absorption in the neonatal calf

Book Reviews

Creating a Local History Archive at Your Public Library. Faye Phillips. Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala. Kirsten Weld. The Silence of the Archives. David Thomas, Simon Fowler, and Valerie Johnson. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and Their Race to Save the World\u27s Most Precious Manuscripts. Joshua Hammer. The International Business Archives Handbook: Understanding and Managing the Historical Records of Business. Edited by Alison Turton. Putting Descriptive Standards to Work. Edited by Kris Kiesling and Christopher J. Prom. Moving Image and Sound Collections for Archivists. Anthony Cocciolo

Management of Platelet-Directed Pharmacotherapy in Patients With Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Elective Endoscopic Gastrointestinal Procedures

The periprocedural management of patients with atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, including those who have heart disease and those who are undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and stent placement who might require temporary interruption of platelet-directed pharmacotherapy for the purpose of an elective endoscopic gastrointestinal procedure, is a common clinical scenario in daily practice. Herein, we summarize the available information that can be employed for making management decisions and provide general guidance for risk assessment

Reproducibility of in-vivo OCT measured three-dimensional human lamina cribrosa microarchitecture

Purpose: To determine the reproducibility of automated segmentation of the three-dimensional (3D) lamina cribrosa (LC) microarchitecture scanned in-vivo using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: Thirty-nine eyes (8 healthy, 19 glaucoma suspects and 12 glaucoma) from 49 subjects were scanned twice using swept-source (SS-) OCT in a 3.5x3.5x3.64 mm (400x400x896 pixels) volume centered on the optic nerve head, with the focus readjusted after each scan. The LC was automatically segmented and analyzed for microarchitectural parameters, including pore diameter, pore diameter standard deviation (SD), pore aspect ratio, pore area, beam thickness, beam thickness SD, and beam thickness to pore diameter ratio. Reproducibility of the parameters was assessed by computing the imprecision of the parameters between the scans. Results: The automated segmentation demonstrated excellent reproducibility. All LC microarchitecture parameters had an imprecision of less or equal to 4.2%. There was little variability in imprecision with respect to diagnostic category, although the method tends to show higher imprecision amongst healthy subjects. Conclusion: The proposed automated segmentation of the LC demonstrated high reproducibility for 3D LC parameters. This segmentation analysis tool will be useful for in-vivo studies of the LC. © 2014 Wang et al

Generating a taxonomy for genetic conditions relevant to reproductive planning

As genome or exome sequencing (hereafter genome-scale sequencing) becomes more integrated into standard care, carrier testing is an important possible application. Carrier testing using genome-scale sequencing can identify a large number of conditions, but choosing which conditions/genes to evaluate as well as which results to disclose can be complicated. Carrier testing generally occurs in the context of reproductive decision-making and involves patient values in a way that other types of genetic testing may not. The Kaiser Permanente Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research program is conducting a randomized clinical trial of preconception carrier testing that allows participants to select their preferences for results from among broad descriptive categories rather than selecting individual conditions. This paper describes 1) the criteria developed by the research team, the return of results committee (RORC), and stakeholders for defining the categories; 2) the process of refining the categories based on input from patient focus groups and validation through a patient survey; and, 3) how the RORC then assigned specific gene-condition pairs to taxonomy categories being piloted in the trial. The development of four categories (serious, moderate/mild, unpredictable, late onset) for sharing results allows patients to select results based on their values without separately deciding their interest in knowing their carrier status for hundreds of conditions. A fifth category, lifespan limiting, was always shared. The lessons learned may be applicable in other results disclosure situations, such as incidental findings

Twistor Strings with Flavour

We explore the tree-level description of a class of N=2 UV-finite SYM theories with fundamental flavour within a topological B-model twistor string framework. In particular, we identify the twistor dual of the Sp(N) gauge theory with one antisymmetric and four fundamental hypermultiplets, as well as that of the SU(N) theory with 2N hypermultiplets. This is achieved by suitably orientifolding/orbifolding the original N=4 setup of Witten and adding a certain number of new topological 'flavour'-branes at the orientifold/orbifold fixed planes to provide the fundamental matter. We further comment on the appearance of these objects in the B-model on CP(3|4). An interesting aspect of our construction is that, unlike the IIB description of these theories in terms of D3 and D7-branes, on the twistor side part of the global flavour symmetry is realised geometrically. We provide evidence for this correspondence by calculating and matching amplitudes on both sides.Comment: 38+12 pages; uses axodraw.sty. v2: References added, minor clarification

Patients' ratings of genetic conditions validate a taxonomy to simplify decisions about preconception carrier screening via genome sequencing

Advances in genome sequencing and gene discovery have created opportunities to efficiently assess more genetic conditions than ever before. Given the large number of conditions that can be screened, the implementation of expanded carrier screening using genome sequencing will require practical methods of simplifying decisions about the conditions for which patients want to be screened. One method to simplify decision making is to generate a taxonomy based on expert judgment. However, expert perceptions of condition attributes used to classify these conditions may differ from those used by patients. To understand whether expert and patient perceptions differ, we asked women who had received preconception genetic carrier screening in the last 3 years to fill out a survey to rate the attributes (predictability, controllability, visibility, and severity) of several autosomal recessive or X-linked genetic conditions. These conditions were classified into one of five taxonomy categories developed by subject experts (significantly shortened lifespan, serious medical problems, mild medical problems, unpredictable medical outcomes, and adult-onset conditions). A total of 193 women provided 739 usable ratings across 20 conditions. The mean ratings and correlations demonstrated that participants made distinctions across both attributes and categories. Aggregated mean attribute ratings across categories demonstrated logical consistency between the key features of each attribute and category, although participants perceived little difference between the mild and serious categories. This study provides empirical evidence for the validity of our proposed taxonomy, which will simplify patient decisions for results they would like to receive from preconception carrier screening via genome sequencing