Differential effects of lower limb revascularisation on organ injury and the role of the amino acid taurine

Lower torso revascularisation following ischaemia results in a systemic inflammatory response. Endothelial barrier function is disrupted by neutrophil-derived proteases and oxidants. Taurine, an amino acid found in large quantities in neutrophils, is a powerful endogeneous anti-oxidant. The aims of this study were to investigate the systemic effects of reperfusion following lower limb revascularisation and to evaluate the role of taurine administration in preventing this injury. A rat model of aortic occlusion (30 min) followed by 2 h of reperfusion was used. Animals were randomised to one of three groups (n = 10 per group): control; ischaemia reperfusion untreated (IR) and taurine-treated. Taurine (4% solution) was administrated orally for 48 h prior to the experiment. Neutrophil infiltration and microvascular permeability were assessed by measuring tissue myeloperoxidase activity and wet/dry weights respectively in lung, liver, kidney, and in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Statistical analysis was by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA). Reperfusion resulted in pulmonary and renal microvascular injury as assessed by organ oedema. Hepatic tissue, skeletal and cardiac muscle were unaffected by lower limb revascularisation. Taurine was effective in preventing neutrophil-mediated pulmonary but not renal microvascular injury. These data suggest that, whilst reperfusion-induced pulmonary injury is predominantly neutrophilmediated, agents other than neutrophil-derived oxidative metabolites, capable of independently causing organ injury through direct endothelial damage, are produced during reperfusion

Street Audits to Measure Neighborhood Disorder: Virtual or In-Person?

Neighborhood conditions may influence a broad range of health indicators, including obesity, injury, and psychopathology. In particular, neighborhood physical disorder - a measure of urban deterioration - is thought to encourage crime and high-risk behaviors, leading to poor mental and physical health. In studies to assess neighborhood physical disorder, investigators typically rely on time-consuming and expensive in-person systematic neighborhood audits. We compared 2 audit-based measures of neighborhood physical disorder in the city of Detroit, Michigan: One used Google Street View imagery from 2009 and the other used an in-person survey conducted in 2008. Each measure used spatial interpolation to estimate disorder at unobserved locations. In total, the virtual audit required approximately 3% of the time required by the in-person audit. However, the final physical disorder measures were significantly positively correlated at census block centroids (r = 0.52), identified the same regions as highly disordered, and displayed comparable leave-one-out cross-validation accuracy. The measures resulted in very similar convergent validity characteristics (correlation coefficients within 0.03 of each other). The virtual audit-based physical disorder measure could substitute for the in-person one with little to no loss of precision. Virtual audits appear to be a viable and much less expensive alternative to in-person audits for assessing neighborhood conditions

Mooney et al. Respond to "observing Neighborhood Physical Disorder"

[No abstract available

Evidence for strain-specific virulence of <i>Trichomonas gallinae</i> in African columbiformes

Infection by parasites or pathogens can have marked physiological impacts on individuals. In birds, infection may affect moult and feather growth, which is an energetically demanding time in the annual cycle. Previous work has suggested a potential link between clinically visible Trichomonas gallinae infection and wing length in turtle doves Streptopelia turtur arriving on breeding grounds. First, T. gallinae infection was characterized in 149 columbids from 5 species, sampled on turtle dove wintering grounds in Senegal during the moulting period, testing whether infection by T. gallinae is linked to moult. Trichomonas gallinae prevalence was 100%, so rather than testing for differences between infected and uninfected birds, we tested for differences in moult progression between birds infected by different T. gallinae strains. Twelve strains of T. gallinae were characterized at the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)/5.8S/ITS2 region, of which 6 were newly identified within this study. In turtle doves only, evidence for differences in wing length by strain was found, with birds infected by strain Tcl-1 having wings nearly 6 mm longer than those infected with strain GEO. No evidence was found for an effect of strain identity within species on moult progression, but comparisons between infected and uninfected birds should be further investigated in species where prevalence is lower

Drawing lines at the sand: evidence for functional vs. visual reef boundaries in temperate Marine Protected Areas.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can either protect all seabed habitats within them or discrete features. If discrete features within the MPA are to be protected humans have to know where the boundaries are. In Lyme Bay, SW England a MPA excluded towed demersal fishing gear from 206 km(2) to protect rocky reef habitats and the associated species. The site comprised a mosaic of sedimentary and reef habitats and so 'non reef' habitat also benefited from the MPA. Following 3 years protection, video data showed that sessile Reef Associated Species (RAS) had colonised sedimentary habitat indicating that 'reef' was present. This suggested that the functional extent of the reef was potentially greater than its visual boundary. Feature based MPA management may not adequately protect targeted features, whereas site based management allows for shifting baselines and will be more effective at delivering ecosystem goods and services

Preliminary design study of a large scale graphite oxidation loop

A preliminary design study of a large scale graphite oxidation loop was performed in order to assess feasibility and to estimate capital costs. The nominal design operates at 50 atmospheres helium and 1800 F with a graphite specimen 30 inches long and 10 inches in diameter. It was determined that a simple single walled design was not practical at this time because of a lack of commercially available thick walled high temperature alloys. Two alternative concepts, at reduced operating pressure, were investigated. Both were found to be readily fabricable to operate at 1800 F and capital cost estimates for these are included. A design concept, which is outside the scope of this study, was briefly considered

Painful Blue Finger—Achenbach's Syndrome: Two Case Reports

Introduction: Herein, two cases of a rare, self resolving condition are described. Vascular surgeons are often called to see patients with spontaneous discolouration of extremities and digits. Often after extensive investigations no diagnosis can be ascertained and the condition resolves spontaneously. Report: Two cases are described here, which presented with spontaneous onset of this condition and after extensive testing no cause was ascertained. The condition resolved spontaneously. Discussion: Achenbach's syndrome is a benign, self-limiting condition of unknown aetiology and clinicians should be aware of it to avoid unnecessary time consuming and expensive investigations. Keywords: Achenbach, Blue finger, Painful, Vascula