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Despite their claimed low intraspecific variability, plant reproductive traits are less frequently used in functional ecology. Here we focused on underrepresented plant organs, i.e. flowers and fruits, by comparing their traits with well‐established leaf traits. We evaluated 16 functional traits (six floral, six fruit, and four leaf traits) in a randomly selected group of woody species under comparable environmental conditions. We aimed to assess interspecific and intraspecimen variability and explore the potential of the proposed flower and fruit traits for ecological research. Traits related to the dry mass of flowers and fruits exhibited the highest interspecific variability, while carbon content traits in flowers and leaves had the lowest. At a specimen level, specific leaf area revealed the highest variation. Carbon content traits for all organs demonstrated the least intraspecimen variability, with flower carbon content being the least variable. Our study revealed connections between the newly proposed traits and widely recognized functional traits, uncovering intriguing links between the established traits and the floral and fruit traits upon which we focused. This complements the already well‐recognized variability in plant form and function with additional insights into reproductive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the sonographic features of abdominal organs in healthy captive Neotropical otters (Lontra longicaudis). The sonograph showed that the urinary bladder was located in the caudal abdomen and its content was uniformly anechoic. The bladder wall had three layers: outer hyperechoic serosa, hypoechoic muscular layer and hyperechoic mucosa. The mean total wall thickness was 0.10 cm. The splenic parenchyma had a homogeneous echotexture with greater echogenicity than that of the left renal cortex and liver. The borders were regular and tapered. Rugal folds were observed in the stomach when undistended. The mean gastric wall thickness was 0.28 cm and five distinct layers were visible. The liver had smooth contours, and division of the hepatic lobes was not precisely visualized. The hepatic parenchyma had a homogeneous echotexture with greater echogenicity as compared to the right kidney and lesser echogenicity than that of the spleen. The gallbladder appeared as an oval or rounded structure in the transverse plane, filled with homogeneous anechogenic content; the wall was thin, regular and hyperechoic, with a mean thickness of 0.09 cm. The kidneys had a lobulated appearance with renicular subunits. The mean total length of the kidneys in longitudinal plane was 6.18 cm for the left and 6.27 cm for the right. Each reniculus was covered by an echogenic capsule, and the medullary region was more hypoechogenic than the cortical region. In conclusion, sonographic features in most of the abdominal organs in Neotropical otters are similar to the ultrasound patterns observed in healthy dogs and cats, except for kidneys with reniculi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of authors criticise opt‐out (or 'deemed consent') systems for failing to secure valid consent to organ donation. Further, several suggest that mandated choice offers a more ethical alternative. This article responds to criticisms that opt‐out does not secure informed consent. If we assume current (low) levels of public awareness, then the explicit consent secured under mandated choice will not be informed either. Conversely, a mandated choice policy might be justifiable if accompanied by a significant public education campaign. However, if this entitles us to assume that members of the public are informed, then an opt‐out system would also be justified in the same circumstances. The alleged advantages of mandated choice seem to rest on an unfair comparison, between mandated choice with a public education campaign and an opt‐out system without one. While it may be that some countries with opt‐out systems should do more to inform their publics, I see no reason to assume that this cannot be done. Indeed, advocates of mandated choice seem committed to thinking it possible to raise awareness. If opt‐out systems adopt the same methods, such as writing to every individual, this should also address concerns about whether consent is informed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanide is a poison widely used in cases of suicide or homicide. Although various methods to identify and quantify this substance are reported in the literature, they are mainly validated on biological fluids (e.g., blood and urine). In the present study, the Anion‐Exchange Liquid Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection (IC‐PAD) method was validated on blood and, for the first time, on gastric content, and organs (brain, lung, and liver). For each matrix, linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), matrix interferences, and carryover were assessed. The samples were extracted by steam distillation in acid environment for the following analysis by IC‐PAD. Furthermore, cyanide values found in two real poisoning cases are reported. For each investigated matrix, the analytical method satisfied all acceptance criteria for validation: it showed a good precision and accuracy, selectivity, and sensitivity with no carryover and matrix interference. The extraction by steam distillation in acid environment REDUCED the interference of the matrices and ALLOWED to perform the analysis with good precision and accuracy. In case #1, analysis showed a blood cyanide concentration of 0.99 μg/ml. In case #2, cyanide concentrations were 1.3 μg/g in brain, 0.8 μg/g in lung, 1.6 μg/g in liver, and 1.2 μg/g in gastric content. The cyanide concentrations found in the two reported cases have been suitable to cause death by poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay presents a hypothesis which contends that the development of organismic complexity in the eukaryotes depended extensively on propagation via flagellated and ciliated gametes. Organisms utilizing flagellate and ciliate gametes to propagate their germ line have contributed most of the organismic complexity found in the higher animals. The genes of the flagellum and the flagellar assembly system (intraflagellar transport) have played a disproportionately important role in the construction of complex tissues and organs. The hypothesis also proposes that competition between large numbers of haploid flagellated male gametes rigorously conserved the functionality of a key set of flagellar genes for more than 700 million years. This in turn has insured that a large set (>600) of highly functional cytoskeletal and signal pathway genes is always present in the lineage of organisms with flagellated or ciliated gametes to act as a dependable resource, or "toolkit," for organ elaboration. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/lC5nC-WOcm8 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increased prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs necessitates research in its disease etiology. Objectives: To explore the association between puppyhood dietary exposures and prevalence of owner‐reported allergy/atopy skin signs (AASS) after the age of 1 year. Animals: Four thousand and twenty‐two dogs were eligible, 1158 cases, and 2864 controls. Methods: This cross‐sectional hypothesis‐driven observational study was extracted from the DogRisk food frequency questionnaire. Forty‐six food items and the ratio of 4 major diet types were tested for their association with AASS incidence later in life. Potential puppyhood dietary risk factors for AASS incidence were specified using binary multivariable logistic regression. The model was adjusted for age and sex. Results: Eating raw tripe (odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals OR, 95% CI = 0.36, 0.16‐0.79; P =.01), raw organ meats (OR, 95% CI = 0.23, 0.08‐0.67; P =.007), human meal leftovers, and fish oil supplements as well as eating more that 20% of the diet as raw and/or <80% of the diet as dry, in general, were associated with significantly lower AASS incidence in adulthood. In contrast, dogs fed fruits (OR, 95% CI = 2.01, 1.31‐3.07; P =.001), mixed‐oil supplements, dried animal parts, and dogs that drank from puddles showed significantly higher AASS incidence in adulthood. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Puppyhood exposure to raw animal‐based foods might have a protective influence on AASS incidence in adulthood, while puppyhood exposure to mixed oils, heat processed foods and sugary fruits might be a potential risk factor of AASS incidence later. The study suggests a causal relationship but does not prove it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Xylem conduit diameter (Dmax) of woody angiosperm adults scales with plant size and widens from the stem apex downwards. We hypothesized that, notwithstanding relative growth rate (RGR), growth form or leaf habit, woody seedling conduit Dmax scales linearly with plant size across species; this scaling should be applicable to all vegetative organs, with consistent conduit widening from leaf via stem to main root and coupling with whole‐leaf area and whole‐stem xylem area.To test these hypotheses, organ‐specific xylem anatomy traits and size‐related traits in laboratory‐grown seedlings were analyzed across 55 woody European species from cool‐temperate and Mediterranean climates.As hypothesized, conduit Dmax of each organ showed similar scaling with plant size and consistent basipetal widening from the leaf midvein via the stem to the main root across species, independently of growth form, RGR and leaf habit. We also found a strong correlation between Dmax and average leaf area, and between stem xylem area and whole‐plant leaf area.We conclude that seedlings of ecologically wide‐ranging woody species converge in their allometric scaling of conduit diameters within and across plant organs. These relationships will contribute to modeling of water transport in woody vegetation that accounts for the whole life history from the trees' regeneration phase to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Must we obtain a patient's consent before posthumously removing her organs? According to the consent requirement, in order to permissibly remove organs from a deceased person, it is necessary that her prior consent be obtained. If the consent requirement is true, then this seems to rule out policies that do not seek and obtain a patient's prior consent to organ donation, while at the same time vindicating policies that do seek and obtain patient consent. In this paper, however, I argue that once we recognize the difference between consent, on the one hand, and wishing or desiring, on the other, we will see that obtaining consent before organ removal is neither necessary nor sufficient to respect patient autonomy in organ procurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are important genes and gaseous signal molecules in physiological environment. However, simultaneous investigation of distribution and interrelation of RNA and H2S in living systems is restricted by lack of functional molecular tools. To address this critical challenge, the development of TP‐MIVC is described as the first paradigm of the probes that can concurrently report ribonucleic acid and hydrogen sulfide with distinct fluorescence signals in the cancer cells, zebrafish, and living animals. The advantageous features of the probe include high stability, low background fluorescence, high sensitivity, and two‐photon imaging property. Significantly, regardless of normal mice or tumor mice, tumor tissues exhibit stronger fluorescence intensity than other organs. More interestingly, it is found that TP‐MIVC is capable of distinguishing normal mice and tumor mice by in vivo imaging. This study may open a new pathway for distinguishing malignant and benign tumor by fluorescence imaging of RNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, nanostructured carbon materials play essential roles. One-step carbonization of some biomass materials has recently been demonstrated as a promising route to produce high surface area carbon without introducing extra activation agents. Here, this study shows the importance of physiologic function of plant organs in the microstructure and porosity of formed carbon nanomaterials. The lotus stem pyrolyzed carbon at 800 °C presents a specific surface area of 1610 m2 g−1, about 55% higher than the porous carbon from the leaves. A similar organ-dependent effect in the porosity of the pyrolyzed carbon is also observed in other plants with wide disparity in the stems and leaves, such as celery and asparagus lettuce, largely due to the higher metal ion content in the stems, which plays the role of ion transportation for plants. Furthermore, optimizing the celery stem pyrolyzing condition can produce carbon with specific surface area as high as 2194 m2 g−1 without any extra activation process. As a supercapacitor electrode, the porous carbon pyrolyzed from lotus stems exhibits a specific capacitance of 174 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte, with 72% capacitance retention at a high scan rate of 500 mV s−1 and good stability over 10 000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some philosophers and physicians have argued that alcoholic patients, who are responsible for their liver failure by virtue of alcoholism, ought to be given lower priority for a transplant when donated livers are being allocated to patients in need of a liver transplant. The primary argument for this proposal, known as the Responsibility Argument, is based on the more general idea that patients who require scarce medical resources should be given lower priority for those resources when they are responsible for needing them and when they are competing with patients who need the same resources through no fault of their own. Since alcoholic patients are responsible for needing a new liver and are in direct competition with other patients who need a new liver through no fault of their own, it follows that alcoholic patients ought to be given lower priority for a transplant. In this article, I argue against the Responsibility Argument by suggesting that in order for it to avoid the force of plausible counter examples, it must be revised to say that patients who are responsible for needing a scarce medical resource due to engaging in behavior that is not socially valuable ought to be given lower priority. I'll then argue that allocating organs according to social value is inconsistent or in tension with liberal neutrality on the good life. Thus, if one is committed to liberal neutrality, one ought to reject the Responsibility Argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immunologic barriers to successful xenotransplantation are related to the presence of natural anti-pig antibodies in humans and non-human primates that bind to antigens expressed on the transplanted pig organ (the most important of which is galactose-α1,3-galactose [Gal]), and activate the complement cascade, which results in rapid destruction of the graft, a process known as hyperacute rejection. High levels of elicited anti-pig IgG may develop if the adaptive immune response is not prevented by adequate immunosuppressive therapy, resulting in activation and injury of the vascular endothelium. The transplantation of organs and cells from pigs that do not express the important Gal antigen (α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout [ GTKO] pigs) and express one or more human complement-regulatory proteins ( hCRP, e.g., CD46, CD55), when combined with an effective costimulation blockade-based immunosuppressive regimen, prevents early antibody-mediated and cellular rejection. However, low levels of anti-non-Gal antibody and innate immune cells and/or platelets may initiate the development of a thrombotic microangiopathy in the graft that may be associated with a consumptive coagulopathy in the recipient. This pathogenic process is accentuated by the dysregulation of the coagulation-anticoagulation systems between pigs and primates. The expression in GTKO/ hCRP pigs of a human coagulation-regulatory protein, for example, thrombomodulin, is increasingly being associated with prolonged pig graft survival in non-human primates. Initial clinical trials of islet and corneal xenotransplantation are already underway, and trials of pig kidney or heart transplantation are anticipated within the next few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a critical shortage in the number of deceased human organs that become available for the purposes of clinical transplantation. This problem might be resolved by the transplantation of organs from pigs genetically engineered to protect them from the human immune response. The pathobiological barriers to successful pig organ transplantation in primates include activation of the innate and adaptive immune systems, coagulation dysregulation and inflammation. Genetic engineering of the pig as an organ source has increased the survival of the transplanted pig heart, kidney, islet and corneal graft in non-human primates ( NHPs) from minutes to months or occasionally years. Genetic engineering may also contribute to any physiological barriers that might be identified, as well as to reducing the risks of transfer of a potentially infectious micro-organism with the organ. There are now an estimated 40 or more genetic alterations that have been carried out in pigs, with some pigs expressing five or six manipulations. With the new technology now available, it will become increasingly common for a pig to express even more genetic manipulations, and these could be tested in the pig-to- NHP models to assess their efficacy and benefit. It is therefore likely that clinical trials of pig kidney, heart and islet transplantation will become feasible in the near future. Copyright © 2015 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of organs and cells from deceased humans for transplantation is not meeting the demand. Xenotransplantation, specifically the transplantation of organs and cells from genetically engineered pigs, could resolve this problem. Diabetic monkeys have remained normoglycemic and insulin-independent after pig islet transplantation for >one yr, and a pig heterotopic (non-life-supporting) heart transplant recently reached the one-yr milestone in a baboon. With these encouraging results, why is it that, with some notable exceptions, research into xenotransplantation has received relatively little support by industry, government funding agencies, and medical charitable foundations? Industry appears reluctant to support research that will take more than two to three yr to come to clinical trial, and the funding agencies appear to have been 'distracted' by the current appeal of stem cell technology and regenerative medicine. It has only been the willingness of living donors to provide organs that has significantly increased the number of transplants being performed worldwide. These altruistic donations are not without risk of morbidity and even mortality to the donor. Although with the best of intentions, we are therefore traversing the Hippocratic Oath of doctors to 'do no harm.' This should be a stimulus to fund exploration of alternative approaches, including xenotransplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro RNAs (mi RNAs), a class of small RNAs, are important molecules that influence several developmental processes and regulate RNA interference ( RNAi), and are abundant in animals, plants, and plant tissues that are traditionally consumed in the diet. The survival of plant small RNAs from the diet in animals, however, remains unclear, and the persistence of mi RNAs from dietary plants in the animal gastrointestinal ( GI) tract is still under debate. In this study, ICR mice were fed plant total RNAs in quantities of 10-50 μg, extracted from Brassica oleracea. Serum, feces, and various tissues were collected from the mice after RNA consumption and analyzed for several mi RNAs. Exogenous plant mi RNAs were present in the sera, feces, and tissues of animals and these exogenous plant mi RNAs were primarily acquired orally. MiR-172, the most highly enriched exogenous plant mi RNA in B. oleracea, was found in the stomach, intestine, serum, and feces of mice that were fed plant RNA extracts including miR-172. The amount of miR-172 that survived passage through the GI tract varied among individuals, with a maximum of 4.5% recovered at the stomach of one individual, and had a range of 0.05-4.5% in different organs. Furthermore, miR-172 was detected in the blood, spleen, liver, and kidney of mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-myc belongs to the Myc oncogene family and plays an essential role in mammalian embryonic development. The expression of N-myc is dynamically regulated during embryonic development; however, its expression pattern has not been well characterized due to the lack of a suitable animal model. In this paper, a genetically modified mouse model was generated in which the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) coding sequence was inserted into the N-myc locus, so that endogenous N-myc expression could be traced by the signal of EGFP. The EGFP signal in the transgenic mouse was confirmed to be consistent with the expression pattern of endogenous N-myc by fluorescence microscopy and immunohistochemical staining. Furthermore, the spatial and temporal expression of EGFP was observed in the central and peripheral nervous system, heart, lung and kidney, given the known indispensable role of N-myc in their formation. EGFP was also strongly detected in the liver, paranephros and the epithelium of the intestine. The EGFP signal can be used to trace N-myc expression in this transgenic mouse model. N-myc expression was observed in specific locations and cell lineages, and dynamically changed during embryonic development. The changing N-myc expression pattern seen in mouse embryonic development and the animal model described in this paper provide important insights and a new tool to research N-myc function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Introduction Flower colour is a complex phenomenon that involves a wide range of secondary metabolites of flowers, for example phenolics and carotenoids as well as co-pigments. Biosynthesis of these metabolites, though, occurs through complicated pathways in many other plant organs. The analysis of the metabolic profile of leaves, stems and roots, for example, therefore may allow the identification of chemomarkers related to the final expression of flower colour. Objective To investigate the metabolic profile of leaves, stems, roots and flowers of Catharanthus roseus and the possible correlation with four flower colours (orange, pink, purple and red). Methods 1H-NMR and multivariate data analysis were used to characterise the metabolites in the organs. Results The results showed that flower colour is characterised by a special pattern of metabolites such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, organic acids and sugars. The leaves, stems and roots also exhibit differences in their metabolic profiles according to the flower colour. Plants with orange flower s featured a relatively high level of kaempferol analogues in all organs except roots. Red-flowered plants showed a high level of malic acid, fumaric acid and asparagine in both flowers and leaves, and purple and pink flowering plants exhibited high levels of sucrose, glucose and 2,3-dihydroxy benzoic acid. High concentrations of quercetin analogues were detected in flowers and leaves of purple-flowered plants. Conclusions There is a correlation between the metabolites specifically associated to the expression of different flower colours and the metabolite profile of other plant organs and it is therefore possible to predict the flower colours by detecting specific metabolites in leaves, stems or roots. This may have interesting application in the plant breeding industry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to evaluate effects of feeding level of milk replacer on body growth, plasma metabolite and insulin concentrations, and allometric growth of visceral organs in suckling calves. Holstein bull calves ( n = 8; 3–4 days of age) were fed either a low amount (average 0.63 kgDM/day, LM) or high amount (average 1.15 kgDM/day, HM) of high protein milk replacer until they were slaughtered at 6 weeks of age. Body weight (BW) at 4, 5, and 6 weeks of age, feed intake, average daily gain, and feed efficiency were higher in the HM than LM calves. The HM group had higher plasma glucose at 3 and 4 weeks of age and insulin levels after the age of 4 weeks compared with LM calves whereas no effect was detected on plasma nonesterified fatty acid or urea nitrogen concentrations. The HM calves had greater empty body weight (EBW), viscera-free BW and most of the organs dissected than LM calves. Relative weights (% of EBW) of liver, spleen, kidneys, and internal fat were higher, whereas head and large intestine was lower in HM than LM calves. The results suggest that increased milk feeding levels would accelerate the growth of the body and specific organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed factors that affected ultrasonographic visualization of the pylorus, duodenal papilla, pancreas, adrenal glands, and jejunal and medial iliac lymph nodes in the dog. An abdominal ultrasonographic examination was performed on 100 canine patients, equally divided between two facilities. The pylorus was visible in 64% of the dogs, the major duodenal papilla in 42%, the left pancreatic lobe in 56%, the body of the pancreas in 60%, the right pancreatic lobe in 87%, the left adrenal gland in 91%, the right adrenal gland in 86%, the medial iliac lymph nodes in 54%, and the jejunal lymph nodes in 51%. The parameters that negatively influenced the visibility of these organs were the presence of air or food in the gastrointestinal tract (pancreas, duodenal papilla), age (lymph nodes), and body weight (pancreas, duodenal papilla). The parameters that positively influenced their visibility were the presence of air or food in the gastrointestinal tract (lymph nodes), body weight (lymph nodes), body condition score (right adrenal gland), and inherent image quality (left pancreatic lobe). There was a significant difference between the two institutes for the visualization of the pylorus, pancreas, and lymph nodes, which was probably related to different body positions used for scanning in each institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1975 John Harris envisaged a survival lottery to redistribute organs from one to a greater number in order to reduce number of deaths as a consequence of organ failure. In this paper I reach a conclusion about when running a survival lottery is permissible by looking at the reason prospective participants have for allowing the procedure from a contractual perspective. I identify three versions of the survival lottery. In a National Lottery, everyone within a jurisdiction is a candidate for being a donor for everyone else, disregarding all differences between individuals' eventual possibility of needing an organ. In a Group Specific Lottery, it is a question of running a lottery among members of a specific group who share the same probability of getting organ failure. In a Local Lottery one randomises among individuals who are already in need of a new organ but who happen to be compatible and in need of different organs. While the first is vulnerable to considerations of fairness, it is difficult to perceive a feasible way to implement the second option that does not come with a host of unwelcome consequences. I argue, however, that it is permissible to run Local Lotteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the objective of mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for performance and carcass traits, an F2 chicken population was developed by crossing broiler and layer lines. A total of 2063 F2 chicks in 21 full-sib families were reared as broilers and slaughtered at 42 days of age. Seventeen performance and carcass traits were measured. Parental (F0) and F1 individuals were genotyped with 80 microsatellites from chicken chromosome 1 to select informative markers. Thirty-three informative markers were used for selective genotyping of F2 individuals with extreme phenotypes for body weight at 42 days of age (BW42). Based on the regions identified by selective genotyping, seven full-sib families (649 F2 chicks) were genotyped with 26 markers. Quantitative trait loci affecting body weight, feed intake, carcass weight, drums and thighs weight and abdominal fat weight were mapped to regions already identified in other populations. Quantitative trait loci for weights of gizzard, liver, lungs, heart and feet, as well as length of intestine, not previously described in the literature were mapped on chromosome 1. This F2 population can be used to identify novel QTLs and constitutes a new resource for studies of genes related to growth and carcass traits in poultry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for transplant organs has far outstripped the supply of available cadaveric organs. Hundreds of people on waiting lists, who could be saved by transplantation, die each year. This severe shortage has justified the extension of transplantation to the use of living donors, but there are still not enough organs to meet the need. This paper discusses the justification for changing policies in order to encourage organ donation. It presents reasons for allowing payments to be made to families that donate cadaveric organs. It also presents reasons for allowing payments to be made to living donors, and guidelines for how an ideal policy could be structured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The transplantation and procurement of human organs has become almost routine in American society. Yet, organ transplantation raises difficult ethical and psychosocial issues in the context of “controlled” death, including the blurring of boundaries between life and death, self and other, healing and harming, and killing and letting die. These issues are explored in the context of the actual experiences of organ donors and recipients, brain death, the introduction of non-heartbeating donor protocols, and the increasing reliance on living donors. The author draws on a thematic analysis of the way that organ transplantation is presented in the media, films, and science fiction and on his clinical experience as a psychiatrist working with transplant patients, their families, and the nurses and physicians who care for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitive approaches to most infectious diseases following renal transplantation have not been established, leading to different approaches at different transplant centers. To study the extent of these differences, we conducted a survey of the practices surrounding specific infectious diseases at US renal transplant centers. A survey containing 103 questions covering viral, bacterial, mycobacterial and protozoal infections was developed. Surveys were sent to program directors at all U.S. renal transplant centers. Responses were received from 147 of 245 (60%) transplant centers and were proportionately represented all centers with respect to program size and geographical location. Pre-transplant donor and recipient screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) is uniform, but great discrepancy exists in the testing for other agents. HCV seropositive donors are used in 49% of centers. HIV seropositivity remains a contraindication to transplantation, although 13% of centers indicated they have experience with such patients. Post-transplant, there is wide variety in approach to CMV and Pneumocystis carinii (PCP) prophylaxis. Similarly divergent practices affect post-transplant vaccinations, with 54% of centers routinely vaccinating all patients according to customary guidelines in non-transplant populations. In contrast, 22% of centers indicated they do not recommend vaccination in any patients. We believe an appreciation of the differences in approaches to post-transplant infectious complications may encourage individual centers to analyse the results of their own practices. Such analysis may assist in the design of studies to answer widespread and important questions regarding the care of patients following renal transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Abdominal sepsis induces a local production of proinflammatory mediators that may trigger both septic shock and organ-system dysfunction. Aims: The present study analyzed exudation, cell migration, and CD11a and CD18 subset cells of both local and systemic responses induced by fecal peritonitis in mice. Methods: Animals were anesthetized and, after performing a midline incision in the abdomen, the cecum was ligated and punctured twice with a needle. Sham-operated animals were included. Some groups were previously treated with Evans blue dye (intravenously) to further evaluate the amount of tissue and abdominal cavity leakages. Results: Fecal peritonitis triggered a local inflammatory reaction with an increased number of leukocytes and exudation between 6 and 48 h (p < 0.01). Although CD11a/CD18-positive cells in the abdomen peaked after 24 h, a significant decrease of them was detected after 48 h (p < 0.05). At the studied period of time (6-48 h), different degrees of exudation in several organs occurred, whereas a significant late recruitment (24 h) of CD11a/CD18 cells into the lungs was observed. Conclusions: In this model, cell migration and exudation at the site of injury occurred in parallel. However, in the lungs, the recruitment of leukocytes that express CD11a/CD18 adhesion molecules constitutes a non-dependent event in relation to fluid leakage accumulation at this site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paediatric cardiac surgery often requires cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during the surgical intervention. CPB is known to elicit a systemic inflammatory response with activation of the complement and coagulation systems, stimulation of cytokine production, cellular entrapment in organs, neutrophil activation with degranulation, platelet activation, and endothelial dysfunction. These changes are associated with a risk of postoperative organ dysfunction and increased morbidity and mortality in the postoperative period. Clinical studies have concentrated on measurement of inflammatory markers and mediators in peripheral blood, where the systemic inflammatory response in the paediatric cardiac patient seems to be different from the adult case. Looking at the organ level, experimental studies have the advantage of providing information contributing to a better understanding of the pathological events that may lead to the deteriorated organ function. This review focuses on the systemic inflammatory response after cardiac surgery with CPB in children and experimental CPB models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate image reconstruction in volumetric optoacoustic tomography implies the efficient generation and collection of ultrasound signals around the imaged object. Non‐uniform delivery of the excitation light is a common problem in optoacoustic imaging often leading to a diminished field of view, limited dynamic range and penetration, as well as impaired quantification abilities. Presented here is an optimized illumination concept for volumetric tomography that utilizes additive manufacturing via 3D printing in combination with custom‐made optical fiber illumination. The custom‐designed sample chamber ensures convenient access to the imaged object along with accurate positioning of the sample and a matrix array ultrasound transducer used for collection of the volumetric image data. Ray tracing is employed to optimize the positioning of the individual fibers in the chamber. Homogeneity of the generated light excitation field was confirmed in tissue‐mimicking agar spheres. Applicability of the system to image entire mouse organs ex vivo has been showcased. The new approach showed a clear advantage over conventional, single‐sided illumination strategies by eliminating the need to correct for illumination variances and resulting in enhancement of the effective field of view, greater penetration depth and significant improvements in the overall image quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One‐step carbonization of biomass can produce high surface area carbon without introducing extra activation agents. Q.‐H. Yang, J. Luo, and co‐workers demonstrate in article 1604687 how biomass organs control the porosity of pyrolyzed carbon. The naturally embedded alkalis at the molecular level in biomasses are shown to have a paramount influence on the etching efficiency and thereby on microstructure and porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]