Summary Infectious micro-organisms may be transmitted by a variety of routes, and some may be spread by more than one route. Respiratory and facial protection is required for those organisms that are ...usually transmitted via the droplet/airborne route, or when airborne particles have been artificially created, such as during ‘aerosol-generating procedures’. A range of personal protective equipment that provides different degrees of facial and respiratory protection is available. It is apparent from the recent experiences with severe acute respiratory syndrome and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza that healthcare workers may have difficulty in choosing the correct type of facial and respiratory protection in any given clinical situation. To address this issue, the Scientific Development Committee of the Healthcare Infection Society established a short-life working group to develop guidance. The guidance is based upon a review of the literature, which is published separately, and expert consensus.
Despite accounting for a small fraction of the surface area in the Arctic, long and narrow sea ice fractures, known as “leads”, play a critical role in the energy flux between the ocean and ...atmosphere. As the volume of sea ice in the Arctic has declined over the past few decades, it is increasingly important to monitor the corresponding changes in sea ice leads. A novel approach has been developed using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect sea ice leads using satellite thermal infrared window data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). In this new approach, a particular type of convolutional neural network, a U-Net, replaces a series of conventional image processing tests from our legacy algorithm. Results show the new approach has a high detection accuracy with F1 Scores on the order of 0.7. Compared to the legacy algorithm, the new algorithm shows improvement, with more true positives, fewer false positives, fewer false negatives, and better agreement between satellite instruments.
The objective of this study was to quantify the gains in genetic potential of replacement females that could be achieved by using genomic testing to facilitate selection and culling decisions on ...commercial dairy farms. Data were simulated for 100 commercial dairy herds, each with 1,850 cows, heifers, and calves. Parameters of the simulation were based on the US Holstein population, and assumed reliabilities of traditional and genomic predictions matched reliabilities of animals that have been genotyped to date. Selection of the top 10, 20, 30, …, 90% of animals within each age group was based on parent averages and predicted transmitting abilities with or without genomic testing of all animals or subsets of animals that had been presorted by traditional predictions. Average gains in lifetime net merit breeding value of selected females due to genomic testing, minus prorated costs of genotyping the animals and their unselected contemporaries, ranged from $28 (top 90% selected) to $259 (top 20% selected) for heifer calves with no pedigrees, $14 (top 90% selected) to $121 (top 10% selected) for heifer calves with known sires, and $7 (top 90% selected) to $87 (top 20% selected) for heifer calves with full pedigrees. In most cases, gains in genetic merit of selected heifer calves far exceeded prorated genotyping costs, and gains were greater for animals with missing or incomplete pedigree information. Gains in genetic merit due to genomic testing were smaller for lactating cows that had phenotypic records, and in many cases, these gains barely exceeded or failed to exceed genotyping costs. Strategies based on selective genotyping of the top, middle, or bottom 50% of animals after presorting by traditional parent averages or predicted transmitting abilities were cost effective, particularly when pedigrees or phenotypes were available and a relatively small proportion of animals were to be selected or culled. Based on these results, it appears that routine genotyping of heifer calves or yearling heifers can be a cost-effective strategy for enhancing the genetic level of replacement females on commercial dairy farms. Increasing the accuracy of predicted breeding values for young females with genomic testing might lead to synergies with other management tools and strategies, such as propagating genetically superior females using advanced reproductive technologies or selling excess females that were generated by the use of sex-enhanced semen.
The lacrimal gland (LG) develops through branching morphogenesis and produces secretions, including tears, that lubricate and protect the ocular surface. Despite the prevalence of LG disorders such ...as dry eye, relatively little is known about the regulation of LG development. In this study, we show that the homeobox transcription factor Barx2 is highly expressed in conjunctival epithelium, eyelids and ocular lacrimal, harderian (HG), and meibomian (MG) glands and is necessary for normal ocular gland and eyelid development. Barx2(-/-) mice show defective LG morphogenesis, absence of the HG, and defects in MG and eyelid fusion. Ex vivo antisense assays confirm the requirement for Barx2 in LG bud elongation and branching. Gene expression profiles reveal decreased expression of several adhesion and matrix remodeling molecules in Barx2(-/-) LGs. In culture, Barx2 regulates expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and epithelial cell migration through the extracellular matrix. Fibroblast growth factors are crucial regulators of LG development and we show that Barx2 is required for Fgf10-induced LG bud elongation and that both Barx2 and Fgf10 cooperate in the regulation of MMPs. Together, these data suggest a mechanism for the effects of loss of Barx2 on ocular gland development. Intriguingly, salivary glands that also express a high level of Barx2 develop normally in Barx2(-/-) mice and do not show altered levels of MMPs. Thus, the function of Barx2 is specific to ocular gland development. Based on our data, we propose a functional network involving Barx2, Fgf10 and MMPs that plays an essential role in regulating branching morphogenesis of the ocular glands.
Oral Diseases (2011) 17, 445–449
An irreversible loss of salivary gland function often occurs in humans after removal of salivary tumors, after therapeutic radiation of head and neck tumors, as a ...result of Sjögren’s syndrome and in genetic syndromes affecting gland development. The permanent loss of gland function impairs the oral health of these patients and broadly affects their quality of life. The regeneration of functional salivary gland tissue is thus an important therapeutic goal for the field of regenerative medicine and will likely involve stem/progenitor cell biology and/or tissue engineering approaches. Recent reports demonstrate how both innervation of the salivary gland epithelium and certain growth factors influence progenitor cell growth during mouse salivary gland development. These advances in our understanding suggest that developmental mechanisms of mouse salivary gland development may provide a paradigm for postnatal regeneration of both mice and human salivary glands. Herein, we will discuss the developmental mechanisms that influence progenitor cell biology and the implications for salivary gland regeneration.
The objective of this study was to determine growth, feed intake, and feed efficiency of postbred dairy heifers with different genomic residual feed intake (RFI) predicted as a lactating cow when ...offered diets differing in energy density. Postbred Holstein heifers (n = 128, ages 14–20 mo) were blocked by initial weight (high, medium-high, medium-low, and low) with 32 heifers per block. Each weight block was sorted by RFI (high or low) to obtain 2 pens of heifers with high and low genomically predicted RFI within each block (8 heifers per pen). Low RFI heifers were expected to have greater feed efficiency than high RFI heifers. Dietary treatments consisted of a higher energy control diet based on corn silage and alfalfa haylage HE; 62.7% total digestible nutrients, 11.8% crude protein, and 45.6% neutral detergent fiber; dry matter (DM) basis, and a lower energy diet diluted with straw (LE; 57.0% total digestible nutrients, 11.7% crude protein, and 50.1% neutral detergent fiber; DM basis). Each pen within a block was randomly allocated a diet treatment to obtain a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (2 RFI levels and 2 dietary energy levels). Diets were offered in a 120-d trial. Dry matter intake by heifers was affected by diet (11.0 vs. 10.0 kg/d for HE and LE, respectively) but not by RFI or the interaction of RFI and diet. Daily gain was affected by the interaction of RFI and diet, with low RFI heifers gaining more than high RFI heifers when fed LE (0.94 vs. 0.85 kg/d for low and high RFI, respectively), but no difference for RFI groups when fed HE (1.16 vs. 1.19 kg/d for low and high RFI, respectively). Respective feed efficiencies were improved for low RFI compared with high RFI heifers when fed LE (10.6 vs. 11.8 kg of feed DM/kg of gain), but no effect of RFI was found when fed HE (9.4 vs. 9.5 kg of DM/kg of gain for high and low RFI, respectively). No effect of RFI or diet on first-lactation performance through 150 DIM was observed. Based on these results, the feed efficiency of heifers having different genomic RFI may be dependent on diet energy level, whereby low RFI heifers utilized the LE diet more efficiently. The higher fiber straw (LE) diet controlled intake and maintained more desirable heifer weight gains. This suggests that selection for improved RFI in lactating cows may improve feed efficiency in growing heifers when fed to meet growth goals of 0.9 to 1.0 kg of gain/d.
Asthma prevalence, onset, remission and relapse, and healthcare use have been intensively studied. However, asthma symptom progression through childhood and adolescence has not been well studied, in ...part due to the challenges in obtaining consistent and robust long-term follow-up data on a large series of subjects with asthma.
To use the asthma diary symptom data of the Childhood Asthma Management Program placebo group (5 yr, 418 subjects, and total 564,518 records) to establish sex-specific high-resolution time courses of the natural progression of asthma symptoms through childhood and adolescence.
We used the asthma diary symptom code as a measure of daily disease severity. Annual records of Tanner stage were used to determine the influence of puberty on severity. A data alignment technique was used to derive 13-year time courses of mean symptoms and mean Tanner stage.
Data analyses showed three age- and sex-related phases of asthma symptom progression: Phase 1 (ages 5 and 6 yr)-greater severity in boys; Phase 2 (ages 7 to 9 yr)-no sex difference in severity; and Phase 3 (age 10-17 yr)-greater severity in girls. The continuous decline of symptoms in both sexes stops abruptly at the onset of puberty.
The severity of asthma symptoms varies through childhood and adolescence, and patterns differ by sex. Puberty has a strong influence on symptom progression in both sexes. Progression of symptoms is a distinct aspect of asthma epidemiology.
Exon skipping is a promising therapeutic strategy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), employing morpholino antisense oligonucleotides (PMO-AO) to exclude disruptive exons from the mutant DMD ...transcript and elicit production of truncated dystrophin protein. Clinical trials for PMO show variable and sporadic dystrophin rescue. Here, we show that robust PMO uptake and efficient production of dystrophin following PMO administration coincide with areas of myofiber regeneration and inflammation. PMO localization is sustained in inflammatory foci where it enters macrophages, actively differentiating myoblasts and newly forming myotubes. We conclude that efficient PMO delivery into muscle requires two concomitant events: first, accumulation and retention of PMO within inflammatory foci associated with dystrophic lesions, and second, fusion of PMO-loaded myoblasts into repairing myofibers. Identification of these factors accounts for the variability in clinical trials and suggests strategies to improve this therapeutic approach to DMD.Exon skipping is a strategy for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but has variable efficacy. Here, the authors show that dystrophin restoration occurs preferentially in areas of myofiber regeneration, where antisense oligonucleotides are stored in macrophages and delivered to myoblasts and newly formed myotubes.
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