Generalized sarcoidosis and hypertrophic osteopathy in a Standardbred with poor-performance.

editorial reviewedBackground and objective: Equine sarcoidosis (ES) is a rare but emergent disease of unknown etiology. Body of literature on ES remains limited, especially on the generalized forms associated with hypertrophic osteopathy (HO). This case report describes clinical and imaging findings in a racehorse with exercise intolerance affected by generalized ES and subsequent HO. Material and methods: A 6-year-old Standardbred gelding was presented for sudden exercise intolerance, weight loss, pyrexia, skin lesions, facial and peripheral multifocal swelling. Results: The horse underwent diagnostic imaging of head and limbs. Radiography and ultrasonography of the head revealed periostitis and regional soft tissue swelling of the maxillary bone. Bilateral marked periostitis with palisade-like appearance involving diaphyseal or metaphyseal region was also identified on distal radius and metatarsal bones, suggestive of HO. Computed tomography excluded dental or sinus abnormalities. Due to the appearance (scaling, crusting and exfoliating) of skin lesions on the croup and lower hindlimbs during hospitalization, biopsies were performed revealing granulomatous dermatitis. This finding was consistent with ES, thus explaining HO. Rapidly declining conditions of the horse led to the decision of euthanasia. Post-mortem examination revealed splenomegaly and several pulmonary nodules. Histopathology on different organs confirmed severe granulomatous lesions; PCR on a pool of tissues identified EHV-5. Discussion and conclusions: ES, even in its generalized form, is an emergent disease that should be considered in case of unspecific clinical signs combining exercise intolerance, weight loss, facial/distal limb bone deformities and skin lesions; EHV-5 could play a role in the development of the disease

A longitudinal, cross-sectional study of diversity in maternal platelet count kinetics, related to gestational thrombocytopenia

Background: Gestational thrombocytopenia (GT) is detected in approximately 8% of healthy pregnant women and >70% of pregnancy-associated thrombocytopenia cases. Diagnosed by exclusion, GT is primarily a benign disorder of unclear pathogenesis, although mechanisms have been proposed such as hemodilution. To better understand GT, we conducted retrospective longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses of variations in platelet count (PC) during gestation period. Methods: PC kinetics was assessed across a test group of 100 pregnant women, accurately representative of 341 in total, and in a control group of 200 non-pregnant women. Results: In the test group, median PC was comparable to the control group in early gestation but decreased by 8% by delivery day (DD). PC decreased by >5% in 59 pregnancies and increased by >5% in 19. 12 cases were thrombocytopenic. Median PC fluctuation, 2.5th percentile, and 97.5th percentile were each most extreme in final 5 weeks. Longitudinal analysis established five gestational pattern types defined by curvature and Change Ratio. The GT-type pattern (8 cases) showed relatively low PC in early gestation, mild downwards slope in the 2nd trimester, one or more peaks or “lifts” in the final weeks, followed by a “V-shape” of decrease beyond 15 x 104/μL to DD and sharp post-partum increase. Some of the GT-associated characteristics above appeared identifiable in a majority of pregnancies regardless of absolute PC value: Distinct PC “lift” occurring within the final ten weeks [later than in GT cases] followed by the V-shape [decrease to DD less pronounced than in GT], suggesting that diverse PC kinetics relate to the placental cytokine and receptor system. Conclusion: Our novel identification of diverse kinetic patterns in platelet count over gestational period suggests that, instead of a universal decrease caused by hemodilution alone, homeostatic conditions are affected by a diversity of varying factors such as the placental thrombopoietic system

Quantitative Features of serum sIL-2R level in Patients with Mature B-Cell Lymphoma? Involvement of LDH

Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and soluble IL-2 Receptor-alpha (sIL-2R) levels are monitored as a marker ofdisease activity in patients with lymphoma. Although adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) cells are well known to release large amounts ofsIL-2R,it remains unclear to what extent B-cell lymphoma cells shed sIL-2R in sera. Subtypes of mature B-cell lymphoma, includingCD25+ hairy leukemic cells, were examined for the characteristics of sIL-2R levels in each subtype. In normal controls, theserum sIL-2R mean value was 260u/mL.The median serum sIL-2R value for 64 B-cell lymphoma cases was 506 u/mL;by subtypethe median values were as follows: 1157 u/mL for 7 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/hairy cell leukemia (CLL/HCL), 451u/mL for 38 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and 456 u/mL for 19 cases of follicular Lymphoma (FL). The medianvalues of serum LDH activity by the above subtypes were 175 IU/mL, 204 IU/mL, and 198 IU/mL, respectively. There wasdistinct inter-subtype and inter-patient variation of serum sIL-2R.In particular, inter-case variation could be grouped into value forthree concentration ranges: less than 300 u/mL, 300-1000 u/mL, and greater than 1000 u/mL. Cases with serum sIL-2R valuesof 1000 u/mL or more tended to have an especially high sIL-2R to LDH ratio, suggesting a close relationship between high sIL-2Rand CD25-expressing lymphoma cells. With respect to sIL-2R and LDH levels, CLL/HCL, DLBCL, and FL showed similar distributions.Moreover, for sIL-2R levels exceeding 1000u/mL, sIL-2R levels were randomly high according to the LDH status. Conclusively,the combination of serum sIL-2R level and LDH activity can provide a better understanding of characteristics of subtypesof mature B-Cell Lymphoma and can be used as a reliable surrogate marker for evaluating numerical and biological data

Red blood cell size differential method for time-series detailed monitoring of anemic disorders with RBC size abnormalities in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and/or red blood cell distribution width (RDW)

Background: Size heterogeneity in red blood cells (RBCs), as indicated by elevated RBC distribution width (RDW), is increasingly considered a prognostic factor in various diseases. However, the semi-quantitative nature of the RDW value appears limited when evaluating quantitative changes in time-series RBC size distributions over a clinical course. Methods: We developed a time-series anemia monitoring program by displaying progressive differences between six size fractions in an RBC size distribution. To standardize each variation precisely, our program includes an angular transformation that is applied to all measured count ratio data. Results: By representing microcytic and/or macrocytic changes in time series independently, this method appears to improve evaluations of anisocytosis, reflecting the responsiveness of treatments and effects, such as deficiencies in iron or vitamin B12. Time-series displays of RBC size changes also appear to enable verification of latent clinical developments at earlier stages and the characterization of imbalances between RBC supply and RBC loss in anemic pathologies. Conclusions: By displaying linear relationships between RBC size categories on a time scale, our proposed monitoring method quantifies potentially applicable pathological information. This mode of representation appears to offer details about high RDW values and latent adverse outcomes related to anemic pathogenesis

The length of environmental review in Canada under the Fisheries Act

There is a common misconception among government officials that environmental regulations are bad for economic growth. Citing economic reasons, the Canadian federal government passed legislation in 2012 restricting the length of environmental reviews of new developments, even though review times were not empirically known. Using annual reports to Parliament from 2001 to 2010, we estimated using time-series analyses that review times under the Fisheries Act conformed to the new government mandated review times prior to major legislative changes to federal environmental oversight. The majority of submissions were processed within 1 year for mitigated impacts and within 2 years for authorized impacts. While it is possible that a minority of projects take longer, there is no evidence of large backlogs in the review process, and Canadian review times appear quicker than those in the United States. We highlight the need for empirical estimates of the costs of environmental regulations before governments enact substantial legislative changes that reduce environmental oversight and offer alternate recommendations for expediting environmental review times. </jats:p

Estimating Fish Exploitation and Aquatic Habitat Loss across Diffuse Inland Recreational Fisheries

<div><p>The current state of many freshwater fish stocks worldwide is largely unknown but suspected to be vulnerable to exploitation from recreational fisheries and habitat degradation. Both these factors, combined with complex ecological dynamics and the diffuse nature of inland fisheries could lead to an invisible collapse: the drastic decline in fish stocks without great public or management awareness. In this study we provide a method to address the pervasive knowledge gaps in regional rates of exploitation and habitat degradation, and demonstrate its use in one of North America’s largest and most diffuse recreational freshwater fisheries (Ontario, Canada). We estimated that 1) fish stocks were highly exploited and in apparent danger of collapse in management zones close to large population centres, and 2) fish habitat was under a low but constant threat of degradation at rates comparable to deforestation in Ontario and throughout Canada. These findings confirm some commonly held, but difficult to quantify, beliefs in inland fisheries management but also provide some further insights including 1) large anthropogenic projects greater than one hectare could contribute much more to fish habitat loss on an area basis than the cumulative effect of smaller projects within one year, 2) hooking mortality from catch-and-release fisheries is likely a greater source of mortality than the harvest itself, and 3) in most northern management zones over 50% of the fisheries resources are not yet accessible to anglers. While this model primarily provides a framework to prioritize management decisions and further targeted stock assessments, we note that our regional estimates of fisheries productivity and exploitation were similar to broadscale monitoring efforts by the Province of Ontario. We discuss the policy implications from our results and extending the model to other jurisdictions and countries.</p></div

The proportion of individual project sizes in numbers (left column) and in their cumulative sum of potential impact area to fish habitat (right column) from all the permits under the <i>Fisheries Act (1985)</i> granted in Ontario in 2005 to developers.

<p>We present two scenarios that represent a lower and upper bound to our estimates of fish habitat protected for each permit: Scenario 1) Letters of Advice represent generally small projects, and Scenario 2) Letters of Advice represent projects that without the <i>Fisheries Act (1985)</i> would have impacted standard project-specific areas of fish habitat (i.e. HADDs).</p

The spatial distribution of the road coverage (grey lines) and distribution of projects (black dots) approved under the <i>Fisheries Act (1985)</i> delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.

<p>The spatial distribution of the road coverage (grey lines) and distribution of projects (black dots) approved under the <i>Fisheries Act (1985)</i> delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.</p

The spatial distribution of the surplus yield remaining following a fishing season in 2005 delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.

<p>The spatial distribution of the surplus yield remaining following a fishing season in 2005 delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.</p

The spatial distribution of the yields of accessible fisheries in 2005 delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.

<p>The spatial distribution of the yields of accessible fisheries in 2005 delineated by Ontario’s Fisheries Management Zones.</p