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Objectives We evaluated the use of rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg intravenously (IV) to facilitate tracheal intubation in cats anesthetized for elective ovariohysterectomy. Methods Thirty female cats were randomly allocated to receive rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg IV or an equal volume of normal saline, following induction of anesthesia with ketamine and midazolam. Thirty seconds after induction, a single investigator, unaware of treatment allocation, attempted tracheal intubation. The number of attempts and the time to complete intubation were measured. Intubating conditions were assessed as acceptable or unacceptable based on a composite score consisting of five different components. Duration of apnea after induction was measured and cases of hemoglobin desaturation (SpO2 Results Intubation was completed faster (rocuronium 12 s [range 8–75 s]; saline 60 s [range 9–120 s]) and with fewer attempts (rocuronium 1 [range 1–2]; saline 2 [range 1–3], both P = 0.006) in cats receiving rocuronium. Unacceptable intubating conditions on the first attempt occurred in 3/15 cats with rocuronium and in 10/15 with saline ( P = 0.01). Apnea lasted 4 ± 1.6 mins with rocuronium and 2.3 ± 0.5 mins with saline ( P = 0.0007). No cases of desaturation were observed. Conclusions and relevance Rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg IV improves intubating conditions compared with saline, and reduces the time and number of attempts to intubate with only a short period of apnea in cats.

We present a novel storage-and-access approach for Lagrangian particles in a multiresolution local-timestepping framework for multiphase flow simulations. The proposed method applies a block-particle mapping strategy for efficient access of all particles on a specific refinement level while traversing through the multiresolution tree. This allows for extending the local timestepping algorithm with its refinement level-dependent timestep sizes to the evolution of particles, which results in significant speed-up in comparison to standard timestepping. For multi-scale multiphase flow simulations, the particle model is combined with a level-set based multiphase model on a Cartesian grid . To maintain robustness of fluid-state interpolation for particles near the level set-based fluid–fluid interface, WENO-based interpolation is applied which includes both real- and ghost-fluid cells. This enforces the sharp interface property also for interpolated fluid states, and suppresses spurious oscillations in the event of discontinuities. We validate the particle model with a one-dimensional simulation of a single particle in an air–helium shock tube for one-way coupling, and with two-dimensional simulations of a particle injected in a quiescent domain for the feedback force . Simulations of two-dimensional aerodynamic fragmentation in shear-induced entrainment and Rayleigh–Taylor piercing regimes use Lagrangian particles as sub-grid scale representation of small droplets post-breakup. Finally, three-dimensional massively-parallel simulations of single- and triple-bubble collapse near a wall coated with free-floating particles are presented. The particle cleaning radius of the single-bubble setup agrees reasonably well with experimental reference data. These simulations consider 1 0 6 particles and an Eulerian grid with effectively 1 0 12 finite-volume cells at compression rates of more than 90% for the particulate phase. This underlines the advantageous effect of embedding the particles in the multiresolution tree with its spatial and temporal adaptivity, which is necessary for performing such large scale simulations efficiently.

As community efforts to reduce the overpopulation and euthanasia of unwanted and unowned cats and dogs have increased, many veterinarians have increasingly focused their clinical efforts on the provision of spay-neuter services. Because of the wide range of geographic and demographic needs, a wide variety of spay-neuter programs have been developed to increase delivery of services to targeted populations of animals, including stationary and mobile clinics, MASH-style operations, shelter services, community cat programs, and services provided through private practitioners. In an effort to promote consistent, high-quality care across the broad range of these programs, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians convened a task force of veterinarians to develop veterinary medical care guidelines for spay-neuter programs. These guidelines consist of recommendations for general patient care and clinical procedures, preoperative care, anesthetic management, surgical procedures, postoperative care, and operations management. They were based on current principles of anesthesiology, critical care medicine, infection control, and surgical practice, as determined from published evidence and expert opinion. They represent acceptable practices that are attainable in spay-neuter programs regardless of location, facility, or type of program. The Association of Shelter Veterinarians envisions that these guidelines will be used by the profession to maintain consistent veterinary medical care in all settings where spay-neuter services are provided and to promote these services as a means of reducing sheltering and euthanasia of cats and dogs.

The Vision Rehabilitation for African Americans with Central Vision Impairment (VISRAC) study is a demonstration project evaluating how modifications in vision rehabilitation can improve the use of functional vision.Fifty-five African Americans 40 years of age and older with central vision impairment were randomly assigned to receive either clinic-based (CB) or home-based (HB) low vision rehabilitation services. Forty-eight subjects completed the study. The primary outcome was the change in functional vision in activities of daily living, as assessed with the Veteran's Administration Low-Vision Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-48). This included scores for overall visual ability and visual ability domains (reading, mobility, visual information processing, and visual motor skills). Each score was normalized into logit estimates by Rasch analysis. Linear regression models were used to compare the difference in the total score and each domain score between the two intervention groups. The significance level for each comparison was set at 0.05.Both CB and HB groups showed significant improvement in overall visual ability at the final visit compared with baseline. The CB group showed greater improvement than the HB group (mean of 1.28 vs. 0.87 logits change), though the group difference is not significant (p = 0.057). The CB group visual motor skills score showed significant improvement over the HB group score (mean of 3.30 vs. 1.34 logits change, p = 0.044). The differences in improvement of the reading and visual information processing scores were not significant (p = 0.054 and p = 0.509) between groups. Neither group had significant improvement in the mobility score, which was not part of the rehabilitation program.Vision rehabilitation is effective for this study population regardless of location. Possible reasons why the CB group performed better than the HB group include a number of psychosocial factors as well as the more standardized distraction-free work environment within the clinic setting.

Accessing online health content of high quality and reliability presents challenges. Laypersons cannot easily differentiate trustworthy content from misinformed or manipulated content. This article describes complementary approaches for members of the general public and health professionals to find trustworthy content with as little bias as possible. These include the Khresmoi health search engine (K4E), the Health On the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) and health trust indicator Web browser extensions.

The SWISS-2DPAGE database (http: //www.expasy.ch/ch2d/ch2d-top.html ) consists of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis images, as well as textual descriptions of the proteins that have been identified on them. The current release contains 15 reference maps from human biological samples, as well as from Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Escherichia coli and Dictyostelium discoideum origin. These reference maps have 2088 identified spots, corresponding to 410 separate protein entries in the database, in addition to virtual entries for each SWISS-PROT sequence.

SWISS-2DPAGE (http://www.expasy.ch/ch2d/) is an annotated two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) database established in 1993. The current release contains 21 reference maps from human and mouse biological samples, as well as from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli and Dictyostelium discoideum origin. These reference maps now have 2480 identified spots, corresponding to 528 separate protein entries in the database, in addition to virtual entries for each SWISS-PROT sequence. During the last year, the SWISS-2DPAGE has undergone major changes. Six new maps have been added, and new functions to access the data have been provided through the ExPASy server. Finally, an important change concerns the database funding source.

To evaluate the temperature distribution among moderately preterm (MPT, 29-33 weeks) and extremely preterm (EPT,29 weeks) infants upon neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission in 2012-2013, the change in admission temperature distribution for EPT infants between 2002-2003 and 2012-2013, and associations between admission temperature and mortality and morbidity for both MPT and EPT infants.Prospectively collected data from 18 centers in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network were used to examine NICU admission temperature of inborn MPT and EPT infants. Associations between admission temperature and mortality and morbidity were determined by multivariable logistic regression. EPT infants from 2002-2003 and 2012-2013 were compared.MPT and EPT cohorts consisted of 5818 and 3213 infants, respectively. The distribution of admission temperatures differed between the MPT vs EPT (P .01), including the percentage36.5°C (38.6% vs 40.9%), 36.5°C-37.5°C (57.3% vs 52.9%), and37.5°C (4.2% vs 6.2%). For EPT infants in 2012-2013 compared with 2002-2003, the percentage of temperatures between 36.5°C and 37.5°C more than doubled and the percentage of temperatures37.5°C more than tripled. Admission temperature was inversely associated with in-hospital mortality.Low and high admission temperatures are more frequent among EPT than MPT infants. Compared with a decade earlier, fewer EPT infants experience low admission temperatures but more have elevated temperatures. In spite of a change in distribution of NICU admission temperature, an inverse association between temperature and mortality risk persists.

Introduction: Phospatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3K) play an important role in various cell processes. Oncogenic mutations in the PIK3CA gene, which codes for the catalytic subunit, have been identified in various malignancies and activate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is a critical driver of tumorigenesis. Methods: We tested 41 tumor samples with known KRAS, BRAF, and EGFR mutation status for the occurrence of mutations in the PIK3CA gene, using a pyrosequencing assay. Results: Pyrosequencing revealed 2 mutations (4.9%) in the PIK3CA gene, one in exon 9 and the other in exon 20. Both mutations have not been identified yet in lung tumor tissue. Discussion: The screening of our small patient cohort by pyrosequencing identified 2 mutations (4.9%) in PIK3CA, one in exon 9 (Q546H) and the other in exon 20 (M1043T). Both mutations have not been described in lung tumors yet and seem to be rather uncommon mutations. Future screening of large patient cohorts with pyrosequencing may contribute to the detection of more mutations in lung cancer because of the low limit of detections of this method and may contribute to a better understanding of the interaction of mutations and tumorigenesis.

Objective To explore differences in blood cytokine profiles among distinct bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) patterns. Study design We evaluated blood spots collected from 943 infants born at ≤1000 g and surviving to 28 days on postnatal days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 for 25 cytokines. Infants were assigned to the following lung disease patterns: (1) no lung disease (NLD); (2) respiratory distress syndrome without BPD; (3) classic BPD (persistent exposure to supplemental oxygen until 28 days of age); or (4) atypical BPD (period without supplemental oxygen before 28 days). Median cytokine levels for infants with BPD were compared with the IQR of results among infants with NLD. Results The distribution of enrolled infants by group was as follows: 69 (NLD), 73 (respiratory distress syndrome), 381 (classic BPD), and 160 (atypical BPD). The remaining 260 infants could not be classified because of missing data (104) or not fitting a predefined pattern (156). Median levels of 3 cytokines (elevated interleukin [IL]-8, matrix metalloproteinase-9; decreased granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor) fell outside the IQR for at least 2 time points in both infants with atypical and classic BPD. Profiles of 7 cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, C-reactive protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) differed between infants with classic and atypical BPD. Conclusions Blood cytokine profiles may differ between infants developing classic and atypical BPD. These dissimilarities suggest the possibility that differing mechanisms could explain the varied patterns of pathophysiology of lung disease in extremely premature infants.

Millions of life scientists across the world rely on bioinformatics data resources for their research projects. Data resources can be very expensive, especially those with a high added value as the expert-curated knowledgebases. Despite the increasing need for such highly accurate and reliable sources of scientific information, most of them do not have secured funding over the near future and often depend on short-term grants that are much shorter than their planning horizon. Additionally, they are often evaluated as research projects rather than as research infrastructure components. In this work, twelve funding models for data resources are described and applied on the case study of the Universal Protein Resource (UniProt), a key resource for protein sequences and functional information knowledge. We show that most of the models present inconsistencies with open access or equity policies, and that while some models do not allow to cover the total costs, they could potentially be used as a complementary income source. We propose the Infrastructure Model as a sustainable and equitable model for all core data resources in the life sciences. With this model, funding agencies would set aside a fixed percentage of their research grant volumes, which would subsequently be redistributed to core data resources according to well-defined selection criteria. This model, compatible with the principles of open science, is in agreement with several international initiatives such as the Human Frontiers Science Program Organisation (HFSPO) and the OECD Global Science Forum (GSF) project. Here, we have estimated that less than 1% of the total amount dedicated to research grants in the life sciences would be sufficient to cover the costs of the core data resources worldwide, including both knowledgebases and deposition databases.

The Health On the Net Foundation (HON) was born in 1996, during the beginning of the World Wide Web, from a collective decision by health specialists, led by the late Jean-Raoul Scherrer, who anticipated the need for online trustworthy health information. Because the Internet is a free space that everyone shares, a search for quality information is like a shot in the dark: neither will reliably hit their target. Thus, HON was created to promote deployment of useful and reliable online health information, and to enable its appropriate and efficient use. Two decades on, HON is the oldest and most valued quality marker for online health information. The organization has maintained its reputation through dynamic measures, innovative endeavors and dedication to upholding key values and goals. This paper provides an overview of the HON Foundation, and its activities, challenges, and achievements over the years.

Objective To estimate risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants as a function of preterm formula (PF) and maternal milk intake and calculate the impact of suboptimal feeding on the incidence and costs of NEC. Study design We used aORs derived from the Glutamine Trial to perform Monte Carlo simulation of a cohort of ELBW infants under current suboptimal feeding practices, compared with a theoretical cohort in which 90% of infants received at least 98% human milk. Results NEC incidence among infants receiving ≥98% human milk was 1.3%; 11.1% among infants fed only PF; and 8.2% among infants fed a mixed diet ( P = .002). In adjusted models, compared with infants fed predominantly human milk, we found an increased risk of NEC associated with exclusive PF (aOR = 12.1, 95% CI 1.5, 94.2), or a mixed diet (aOR 8.7, 95% CI 1.2-65.2). In Monte Carlo simulation, current feeding of ELBW infants was associated with 928 excess NEC cases and 121 excess deaths annually, compared with a model in which 90% of infants received ≥98% human milk. These models estimated an annual cost of suboptimal feeding of ELBW infants of $27.1 million (CI $24 million, $30.4 million) in direct medical costs, $563 655 (CI $476 191, $599 069) in indirect nonmedical costs, and $1.5 billion (CI $1.3 billion, $1.6 billion) in cost attributable to premature death. Conclusions Among ELBW infants, not being fed predominantly human milk is associated with an increased risk of NEC. Efforts to support milk production by mothers of ELBW infants may prevent infant deaths and reduce costs.

Bioinformatics tools for proteomics, also called proteome informatics tools, span today a large panel of very diverse applications ranging from simple tools to compare protein amino acid compositions to sophisticated software for large-scale protein structure determination. This review considers the available and ready to use tools that can help end-users to interpret, validate and generate biological information from their experimental data. It concentrates on bioinformatics tools for 2-DE analysis, for LC followed by MS analysis, for protein identification by PMF, by peptide fragment fingerprinting and by de novo sequencing and for data quantitation with MS data. It also discloses initiatives that propose to automate the processes of MS analysis and enhance the quality of the obtained results.

Protein identification by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is key to most proteomics projects and has been widely explored in bioinformatics research. Obtaining good and trustful identification results has important implications for biological and clinical work. Although well matured, automated software identification of proteins from MS/MS data still faces a number of obstacles due to the complexity of the proteome or procedural issues of mass spectrometry data acquisition. Expected or unexpected modifications of the peptide sequences, polymorphisms, errors in databases, missed or non-specific cleavages, unusual fragmentation patterns, and single MS/MS spectra of multiple peptides of the same m/z are so many pitfalls for identification algorithms. A lot of research work has been carried out in recent years that yielded new strategies to handle a number of these issues. Multiple MS/MS identification algorithms are now available or have been theoretically described. The difficulty resides in choosing the most adapted method for each type of spectra being identified. This review presents an overview of the state-of-the-art bioinformatics approaches to the identification of proteins by MS/MS to help the reader doing the spadework of finding the right tools among the many possibilities offered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 25:235–254, 2006

This study was designed to assess the impact of an ongoing pet visitation program on the behavior and emotional state of adjudicated female adolescents at a medium secure residential facility over ...