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J Morgan Micheletti,1 Kendrick M Wang,1,2 Khanh Ton,1 Karlie N Bonem1 1Berkeley Eye Center, Houston, TX, USA; 2Yale University, New Haven, CT, USACorrespondence: J Morgan Micheletti, Berkeley Eye Center, 1435 Hwy 6, Suite #202, Sugar Land, Houston, Texas, 77478, USA, Tel/Fax +1 281-478-9868, Email morgan.micheletti@gmail.comPurpose: To share examination findings of the lens capsule which may act as an indicator for malpositioned intraocular lenses (IOL).Setting: Single large multi-specialty private practice, Houston, Texas, USA.Design: Focused, observational case series.Methods: A review of pre-operative images of malpositioned single-piece IOLs with at least one haptic in the ciliary sulcus was conducted. The review included five cases who were referred to a single large multi-specialty private practice from June 2023 to December 2024 for an evaluation of posterior capsular opacification (PCO) and potential Nd:YAG capsulotomy.Findings: A total of five eyes which previously had undergone cataract surgery and were referred for Nd:YAG capsulotomy for PCO were identified on slit lamp examination to have capsular waves, defined as a centripetal and circumferential striated pattern of PCO that results from a fused anterior and posterior capsule with at least part of the IOL anterior to the capsule. While one eye exhibited transillumination defects and pigment dispersion, the remainder of eyes did not. In some cases, the capsular wave was the only clue to IOL malpositioning due to a small pupil. These eyes had single-piece IOLs with at least one haptic in the sulcus and required subsequent IOL repositioning or exchange.Conclusion: If capsular waves are seen on slit lamp exam, a thorough inspection of IOL placement should be conducted, especially before treatment with Nd:YAG capsulotomy. Capsular waves result from anterior and posterior capsule contact with an anteriorly situated IOL. This finding is a potential indicator of at least part of an IOL positioned anterior to the anterior capsule.Keywords: IOL, sulcus, malpositioned IOL, uveitis, glaucoma, hyphema, iris atrophy, transepithelial defect

Abstract Lameness affects animal mobility, causing pain and discomfort. Lameness in early stages often goes undetected due to a lack of observation, precision, and reliability. Automated and non-invasive systems offer precision and detection ease and may improve animal welfare. This study was conducted to create a repository of images and videos of sows with different locomotion scores. Our goal is to develop a computer vision model for automatically identifying specific points on the sow's body. The automatic identification and ability to track specific body areas, will allow us to conduct kinematic studies with the aim of facilitating the detection of lameness using deep learning. The video database was collected on a pig farm with a scenario built to allow filming of sows in locomotion with different lameness scores. Two stereo cameras were used to record 2D videos images. Thirteen locomotion experts assessed the videos using the Locomotion Score System developed by Zinpro Corporation. From this annotated repository, computational models were trained and tested using the open-source deep learning-based animal pose tracking framework SLEAP (Social LEAP Estimates Animal Poses). The top-performing models were constructed using the LEAP architecture to accurately track 6 (lateral view) and 10 (dorsal view) skeleton keypoints. The architecture achieved average precisions values of 0.90 and 0.72, average distances of 6.83 and 11.37 in pixel, and similarities of 0.94 and 0.86 for the lateral and dorsal views, respectively. These computational models are proposed as a Precision Livestock Farming tool and method for identifying and estimating postures in pigs automatically and objectively. The 2D video image repository with different pig locomotion scores can be used as a tool for teaching and research. Based on our skeleton keypoint classification results, an automatic system could be developed. This could contribute to the objective assessment of locomotion scores in sows, improving their welfare.

IntroductionClaw lesions significantly contribute to lameness, greatly affecting sow welfare. This study investigated different factors that would impact the severity of claw lesions in the sows of Brazilian commercial herds.MethodsA total of 129 herds (n = 12,364 sows) were included in the study. Herds were in the Midwest, Southeast, or South regions of Brazil. Inventory sizes were stratified into 250–810 sows, 811–1,300 sows, 1,301–3,000 sows, and 3,001–10,000 sows. Herds belonged to Cooperative (Coop), Integrator, or Independent structures. The herd management was conducted either maintaining breeds from stock on-site (internal), or through purchase of commercially available genetics (external). Herds adopted either individual crates or group housing during gestation. Within each farm, one randomly selected group of sows was scored by the same evaluator (two independent experts evaluated a total of 129 herds) from 0 (none) to 3 (severe) for heel overgrowth and erosion (HOE), heel-sole crack (HSC), separation along the white line (WL), horizontal (CHW) and vertical (CVW) wall cracks, and overgrown toes (T), or dewclaws (DC) in the hind legs after parturition. The study assessed differences and similarities between herds using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) analysis. The effects of factors (i.e., production structure, management, housing during gestation, and region) were assessed using the partial least squares method (PLS).Results and discussionHeel overgrowth and erosion had the highest prevalence, followed by WL and CHW, while the lowest scores were observed for T, DC, and CVW. Herds were grouped in three clusters (i.e., C1, C2, and C3). Heel overgrowth and erosion, HSC, WL, CHW, CVW, and T were decreased by 17, 25, 11, 25, 21, and 17%, respectively, in C3 compared to C1 and 2 combined. Independent structure increased the L-Index in all three clusters. Furthermore, individual housing increased the L-Index regardless of the cluster. The results suggest that shifting toward larger, more technologically advanced herds could potentially benefit claw health. Additionally, adopting group gestation housing appears to mitigate the adverse effects on claw health, although further validation is necessary, as Brazil has only recently transitioned from individual housing practices.

Scalability of packet switched cross-connects that utilize all-optical signal processing is a crucial issue that eventually determines the future role of photonic signal processing in optical networks. After reviewing several labeling techniques, we discuss label stacking and label swapping techniques and their benefits for scalable optical packet switched nodes. All-optical devices for implementing the packet switch based on the labeling techniques will be described. Finally, we present a 1×4 all-optical packet switch based on label swapping technique that utilizes a scalable and asynchronous label processor and label rewriter. Error-free operation indicates a potential utilization of the swapping technique in a multihop packet-switched network.

Swines raised in intensive systems are highly susceptible to claw lesions. Moderate to severe lesions trigger an inflammatory response, causing pain and impairing reproductive and economic performance. Foot lesions in sows can cause considerable losses owing to reduced fertility and herd longevity. Proper diagnosis is an important step in correcting this problem; however, the seriousness of the impact of these lesions on swine herds remains unclear to most farm owners. Health monitoring has become an essential tool for veterinarians because it enables the detection of disease incidence and severity. In this study, we assessed claw lesions in sows reared under an intensive system to ascertain the prevalence and severity of lesions in Brazilian herds. The hind limb claws of 2,660 sows from 30 farms were examined for the following lesions: heel overgrowth and erosion (HOE), heel-sole cracks, white line lesions (WL), horizontal and vertical cracks in the toe wall, overgrown toes, and overgrown or missing dew claws. Claws were classified as normal (score = 0), mild (score = 1), moderate (score = 2), or severe (score = 3). At least one type of lesion was observed in 99.1% of the sows, whereas 29.7% displayed severe lesions. HOE was the most common lesion (89.9% of sows) and severe WL was observed in 16.8% of the sows. Lesions increased in prevalence and severity with parity, except for WL In young females, lesions on the volar surface were more common than those on cracked walls or overgrown toes, which should be considered when selecting gilts for breeding. A high prevalence of claw lesions was observed in Brazilian sows. Monitoring of these lesions is fast and simple. Regular monitoring provides information on claw health in a herd over time, allowing us to take measures to control and treat claw lesions, avoiding worsening of the problem, early culling of animals, and the associated productive and economic losses.

Background. Protein requirements in stable, adequately dialysed haemodialysis patients are not known and recommendations vary. It is not known whether increasing the dialysis dose above the accepted adequate level has a favourable effect on nutrition. The aim of this study was to determine whether prescribing a high protein diet and increasing the dose of dialysis would have a favourable effect on dietary protein intake and nutritional status in stable, adequately dialysed haemodialysis patients. Effects on hyperphosphataemia and acidosis were also studied.Methods. Patients were randomized to a high dialysis dose (HDD) group (target Kt/Veq of 1.4) or a regular dialysis dose (RDD) group (target Kt/Veq of 1.0). All patients were prescribed a high protein (HP) diet [1.3 g/kg of ideal body weight (IBW)/day] and a regular protein (RP) diet (0.9 g/kg/day), each during 40 weeks in a crossover design. In 50 patients, 23 in the HDD and 27 in the RDD group follow-up was ≥10 weeks. These patients, aged 56±15 years, were included in the analysis. Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometry, plasma albumin and a nutritional index.Results. Delivered Kt/Veq in the HDD group (1.26±0.14) was significantly higher than in the RDD group (1.02±0.08). Protein intake estimated from total nitrogen appearance (PNA) measurements and food records (DPI) was significantly higher during the HP diet (PNAIBW, 1.01±0.18 g/kg/day; DPIIBW, 1.15±0.18 g/kg/day) than during the RP diet (PNAIBW, 0.90±0.14 g/kg/day; DPIIBW, 0.94±0.11g/kg/day). Increasing the dialysis dose did not increase protein intake either during the HP or RP diet. Plasma albumin (41.9±3.0 g/l) lean body mass (107±15% of normal values) and the nutritional index did not differ between the dialysis dose groups or protein diets and remained stable overtime. Dry body weight (97±14%) and total fat mass increased over time in the HDD group, but remained stable in the RDD group suggesting an effect of dialysis dose on energy balance. There was no effect of the protein diets on dry body weight or total fat mass. Plasma phosphate levels and oral bicarbonate supplements were lower in the HDD group, but were comparable between the protein diets.Conclusions. Prescribing a HP diet resulted in a modest increase in actual protein intake, but increasing dialysis dose did not have a contributing effect. A HP diet or increasing the dialysis dose did not have a favourable effect on the nutritional status. A dietary protein intake of at least 0.9 g/kg IBW/day appears to be sufficient for adequately dialysed haemodialysis patients without overt malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A suplementação de minerais complexados influencia o desempenho produtivo e a integridade do aparelho locomotor dos animais. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar o efeito da suplementação de complexo de minerais orgânicos (metal-aminoácidos) composto por Zn (50ppm), Mn (20ppm) e Cu (10ppm) (Availa® Sow FF, Zinpro Corp.) no desempenho produtivo e integridade do aparelho locomotor de suínos. Cento e oitenta animais de 61 dias de idade, compostos por fêmeas (n=90) e machos castrados (n=90), foram usados em um delineamento fatorial em blocos casualizados com dez repetições por tratamento e sexo. O desenho experimental foi composto por dois tratamentos, controle (T1) animais que não receberam suplementação e tratamento (T2) animais que foram suplementados com minerais orgânicos (0,75 g kg-1). Aos 112 dias de alojamento (D112) os suínos foram submetidos à avaliação de casco, no D115 foram pesados e no D117 foram abatidos (178 dias de idade). Após a desossa, análise às cegas foi realizada nos côndilos mediais e laterais da porção distal do úmero. Os animais suplementados (T2) apresentaram melhor desempenho para os parâmetros de desempenho de peso final (P=0,03), ganho de peso (GP) (P=0,02) e média de ganho de peso diário (GPD) (P=0,021). Com relação ao GP, T2 apresentou ganho de 3,10 kg a mais do que o controle; o aumento nas fêmeas foi em média 4,07 kg e nos machos 2,45 kg. A prevalência de lesões de casco foi de 100% em ambos os grupos. A suplementação reduziu a incidência de lesões na unha acessória (P=0,02) e rachadura no talão-sola (P=0,02). A incidência de osteocondrose foi 19,13%, sem influência da suplementação. Suplementar suínos com minerais orgânicos Zn, Mn e Cu durante a fase de terminação melhora o GP, GPD, peso final e integridade do casco.

Laboratory animal studies are used in a wide range of human health related research areas, such as basic biomedical research, drug research, experimental surgery and environmental health. The results of these studies can be used to inform decisions regarding clinical research in humans, for example the decision to proceed to clinical trials. If the research question relates to potential harms with no expectation of benefit (e.g., toxicology), studies in experimental animals may provide the only relevant or controlled data and directly inform clinical management decisions. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are important tools to provide robust and informative evidence summaries of these animal studies. Rating how certain we are about the evidence could provide important information about the translational probability of findings in experimental animal studies to clinical practice and probably improve it. Evidence summaries and certainty in the evidence ratings could also be used (1) to support selection of interventions with best therapeutic potential to be tested in clinical trials, (2) to justify a regulatory decision limiting human exposure (to drug or toxin), or to (3) support decisions on the utility of further animal experiments. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach is the most widely used framework to rate the certainty in the evidence and strength of health care recommendations. Here we present how the GRADE approach could be used to rate the certainty in the evidence of preclinical animal studies in the context of therapeutic interventions. We also discuss the methodological challenges that we identified, and for which further work is needed. Examples are defining the importance of consistency within and across animal species and using GRADE's indirectness domain as a tool to predict translation from animal models to humans.

The celebration of EUROCALL’s twentieth anniversary provides a proper occasion to reflect on the future of language teaching and the role of CALL in these developments. In this paper we present the views of six authorities on language teaching and learning from different EU countries. All of them have a special interest in CALL and/or are CALL experts and well respected EUROCALL members, such as the late Graham Davies. We present a selection of their observations based on a summary of the Skype interviews in which they contributed to a symposium entitled ‘And now for another century of modern language teaching…’ organised by the Dutch national Association of Language Teachers on the occasion of its first centennial in 2011. To provide a more global (or at least European) perspective, the interviewees were asked to cover the same topics that were central to the live panel discussion delivered by six Dutch participants representing a variety of perspectives: secondary and university teachers, students, curriculum experts and teacher educators. By way of preparation, all involved had been given a number of challenging statements related to some aspects of the discussion theme: the characteristics of the future learning environment, teacher, learner, pedagogy and technology. In this audio-supported document we will focus on interesting points of view particularly related to pedagogy and technology expressed in the interviews. A video report summary of the live discussion (in Dutch) is available on the limited CD edition with recordings of the centennial festivities. For an impression of the panel discussion and other symposium activities see this video report on YouTube.