Associated use of infrared thermography and ozone therapy for diagnosis and treatment of an inflammatory process in an equine: case report.

This study aims to was a clinical case report relating the use of infrared thermography (IR) associated to the ozone therapy as complementary tools to diagnose and treat a non-infectious inflammatory process in the locomotor system of an athlete-horse of the Amazon. The heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and rectal temperature (RT) were measured both rest and after walking. Radiographic evaluation, complete hemogram and creatine phosphokinase dosage (CPK) were primarily conducted. The IR examination was additionally undertaken, and the thermograms were analyzed using Flir Tools. Ozone therapy was performed via intramuscular in the scapular area. All comparisons were done using ANOVA and Tukey test (5%). The animal presented HR, RR, and RT all within normal ranges. When the animal was made to walk it demonstrated pain, and HR (48 beats.min-1) and RR (60 breaths.min-1). The creatine phosphokinase dosage was 79 UL-1 and the IR showed that the thoracic region had a surface temperature of up to 39.1ºC, indicating of an inflammatory process. After the ozone therapy was a reduction in the white color pattern from 39.1ºC to 37.2ºC. The infrared thermography is an efficient technique that can be used for the diagnosis of inflammation, and ozone therapy is an innovative treatment

Closing the Mind's Eye: Incoming Luminance Signals Disrupt Visual Imagery

Mental imagery has been associated with many cognitive functions, both high and low-level. Despite recent scientific advances, the contextual and environmental conditions that most affect the mechanisms of visual imagery remain unclear. It has been previously shown that the greater the level of background luminance the weaker the effect of imagery on subsequent perception. However, in these experiments it was unclear whether the luminance was affecting imagery generation or storage of a memory trace. Here, we report that background luminance can attenuate both mental imagery generation and imagery storage during an unrelated cognitive task. However, imagery generation was more sensitive to the degree of luminance. In addition, we show that these findings were not due to differential dark adaptation. These results suggest that afferent visual signals can interfere with both the formation and priming-memory effects associated with visual imagery. It follows that background luminance may be a valuable tool for investigating imagery and its role in various cognitive and sensory processes

Toward a model-based predictive controller design in brain-computer interfaces

A first step in designing a robust and optimal model-based predictive controller (MPC) for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications is presented in this article. An MPC has the potential to achieve improved BCI performance compared to the performance achieved by current ad hoc, nonmodel-based filter applications. The parameters in designing the controller were extracted as model-based features from motor imagery task-related human scalp electroencephalography. Although the parameters can be generated from any model-linear or non-linear, we here adopted a simple autoregressive model that has well-established applications in BCI task discriminations. It was shown that the parameters generated for the controller design can as well be used for motor imagery task discriminations with performance (with 8-23% task discrimination errors) comparable to the discrimination performance of the commonly used features such as frequency specific band powers and the AR model parameters directly used. An optimal MPC has significant implications for high performance BCI applications.Grants K25NS061001 (MK) and K02MH01493 (SJS) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders And Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Grant SFRH/BD/21529/2005 (NSD), the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Keystone Innovation Zone Program Fund (SJS), and the Pennsylvania Department of Health using Tobacco Settlement Fund (SJS)

Nitrogen sedimentation in a lake affected by massive nitrogen inputs: autochthonous versus allochthonous effects

12 pages, and tables statics, and figures1. Monthly changes to N loadings, in-lake particulate organic nitrogen (PON), planktonic PON, and PON sedimentary flux were studied in a Spanish flowthrough, seepage lake subject to massive nitrogen inputs from June 2003 to December 2004 when water renewal was very rapid (0.09–0.17 year). 2. The distribution of in-lake PON did not show a seasonal trend. Total nitrogen input flux ranged from 1.23 to 4.83 g N m)2 day)1, 71–76% of which is nitrate while PON represents 6–10%. PON sedimentation rates ranged from 9 to 90 mg N m)2 day)1 and fluctuated on a seasonal basis, reaching a minimum in winter and early spring and a maximum after thermal turnover had occurred. 3. This fluctuation was not related to either autochthonous planktonic production or allochthonous inputs. Since charophyte populations in Colgada Lake underwent a seasonal pattern of growth and decomposition, and 15dN values of settling material peaked at the end of that decomposition process, we suggest that PON sedimentary flux could be partly driven by decomposed charophyte particles. 4. However, the picture of PON sedimentation in this lake was more complex than anticipated because water residence time partly explained PON variability, albeit with a 1 month lag. Water residence time explained 40% of the overall variance of yearly averaged PON sedimentary flux in a meta-analysis of 13 lakes worldwide. However, the factors such as phytoplankton composition, trophic structure, bottom communities, nutrient loading or productivity levels may also be influential on PON settling dynamics.Peer reviewe

Safety of Benzathine Penicillin for Preventing Congenital Syphilis: A Systematic Review

<div><p>Objective</p><p>To estimate the risk of serious adverse reactions to benzathine penicillin in pregnant women for preventing congenital syphilis.</p> <p>Methods</p><p>We searched for clinical trials or cohorts that assessed the incidence of serious adverse reactions to benzathine penicillin in pregnant women and the general population (indirect evidence). MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and other databases were searched up to December 2012. The GRADE approach was used to assess quality of evidence. Absolute risks of each study were calculated along with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). We employed the DerSimonian and Laird random effects model in the meta-analyses.</p> <p>Results</p><p>From 2,765 retrieved studies we included 13, representing 3,466,780 patients. The studies that included pregnant women were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of benzathine penicillin: no serious adverse reactions were reported among the 1,244 pregnant women included. In the general population, among 2,028,982 patients treated, 4 died from an adverse reaction. The pooled risk of death was virtually zero. Fifty-four cases of anaphylaxis were reported (pooled absolute risk = 0.002%; 95% CI: 0%–0.003% I² = 12%). From that estimate, penicillin treatment would be expected to result in an incidence of 0 to 3 cases of anaphylaxis per 100,000 treated. Any adverse reactions were reported in 6,377 patients among 3,465,322 treated with penicillin (pooled absolute risk = 0.169%; 95% CI: 0.073%–0.265% I² = 97%). The quality of evidence was very low.</p> <p>Conclusion</p><p>Studies that assessed the risk of serious adverse events due to benzathine penicillin treatment in pregnant women were scarce, but no reports of adverse reactions were found. The incidence of severe adverse outcomes was very low in the general population. The risk of treating pregnant women with benzathine penicillin to prevent congenital syphilis appears very low and does not outweigh its benefits. Further research is needed to improve the quality of evidence.</p> </div

Can the Perinatal Information System in Peru be used to measure the proportion of adverse birth outcomes attributable to maternal syphilis infection?

OBJECTIVE: To describe the capacity of Peru's Perinatal Information System (Sistema Informático Perinatal, SIP) to provide estimates for monitoring the proportion of stillbirths and other adverse birth outcomes attributable to maternal syphilis. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted to assess the quality and completeness of SIP data from six Peruvian public hospitals that used the SIP continuously from 2000 - 2010 and had maternal syphilis prevalence of at least 0.5% during that period. In-depth interviews were conducted with Peruvian stakeholders about their experiences using the SIP. RESULTS: Information was found on 123 575 births from 2000 - 2010 and syphilis test results were available for 99 840 births. Among those 99 840 births, there were 1 075 maternal syphilis infections (1.1%) and 619 stillbirths (0.62%). Among women with syphilis infection in pregnancy, 1.7% had a stillbirth, compared to 0.6% of women without syphilis infection. Much of the information needed to estimate the proportion of stillbirths attributable to maternal syphilis was available in the SIP, with the exception of syphilis treatment information, which was not collected. However, SIP data collection is complex and time-consuming for clinicians. Data were unlinked across hospitals and not routinely used or quality-checked. Despite these limitations, the SIP data examined were complete and valid; in 98% of records, information on whether or not the infant was stillborn was the same in both the SIP and clinical charts. Nearly 89% of women had the same syphilis test result in clinical charts and the SIP. CONCLUSIONS: The large number of syphilis infections reported in Peru's SIP and the ability to link maternal characteristics to newborn outcomes make the system potentially useful for monitoring the proportion of stillbirths attributable to congenital syphilis in Peru. To ensure good data quality and sustainability of Peru's SIP, data collection should be simplified and information should be continually quality-checked and used for the benefit of participating facilities