The goal of this study was to objectively assess the effect of a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derivate in English bulldogs with stifle degenerative joint disease secondary to cranial cruciate ligament ...rupture (CCLR). We used a force platform and affixed electrogoniometers to measure peak vertical force (PVF), vertical impulse (VI), stance time (ST), and angular range of motion (AROM), from 12 lame client-owned English bulldogs with post-CCLR stifle joint abnormalities. The 12 affected subjects were treated with 4 intra-articular injections of PRP, at 30-day intervals. Ten untreated, sound English bulldogs were used as a reference group. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using a linear mixed effects model. Mean values of PVF, VI, ST, and AROM were improved within the first 3 months post-treatment in the CCLR group, with mean measured changes increasing to maximum 4.56% body weight gain, 1.5% body weight/second, 0.07 seconds, and 6.18 degrees, respectively. The effects declined progressively after the treatment interval, ending at nearly initial levels after 6 months. This study demonstrates that dogs with CCLR treated with intra-articular PRP had improved PVF, VI, ST, and AROM over time; the duration of effect was waning by the end of the post-treatment period.
Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) allows the in situ perfusion of organs with oxygenated blood in donation after the circulatory determination of death (DCDD). We aimed at evaluating the impact ...of NRP on the short‐term outcomes of kidney transplants in controlled DCDD (cDCDD). This is a multicenter, nationwide, retrospective study comparing cDCDD kidneys obtained with NRP versus the standard rapid recovery (RR) technique. During 2012–2018, 2302 cDCDD adult kidney transplants were performed in Spain using NRP (n = 865) or RR (n = 1437). The study groups differed in donor and recipient age, warm, and cold ischemic time and use of ex situ machine perfusion. Transplants in the NRP group were more frequently performed in high‐volume centers (≥90 transplants/year). Through matching by propensity score, two cohorts with a total of 770 patients were obtained. After the matching, no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of primary nonfunction (p = .261) and mortality at 1 year (p = .111). However, the RR of kidneys was associated with a significantly increased odds of delayed graft function (OR 1.97 95% CI 1.43–2.72; p < .001) and 1‐year graft loss (OR 1.77 95% CI 1.01–3.17; p = .034). In conclusion, compared with RR, NRP appears to improve the short‐term outcomes of cDCDD kidney transplants.
This multicenter, nationwide, retrospective study that uses propensity score matching shows lower delayed graft function and higher 1‐year graft survival rates for transplants using kidneys from controlled donation after circulatory determination of death donors procured with normothermic regional perfusion versus through rapid recovery.
Immune protection relies on the capacity of neutrophils to infiltrate challenged tissues. Naive tissues, in contrast, are believed to remain free of these cells and protected from their toxic cargo. ...Here, we show that neutrophils are endowed with the capacity to infiltrate multiple tissues in the steady-state, a process that follows tissue-specific dynamics. By focusing in two particular tissues, the intestine and the lungs, we find that neutrophils infiltrating the intestine are engulfed by resident macrophages, resulting in repression of
transcription, reduced G-CSF in plasma, and reinforced activity of distant bone marrow niches. In contrast, diurnal accumulation of neutrophils within the pulmonary vasculature influenced circadian transcription in the lungs. Neutrophil-influenced transcripts in this organ were associated with carcinogenesis and migration. Consistently, we found that neutrophils dictated the diurnal patterns of lung invasion by melanoma cells. Homeostatic infiltration of tissues unveils a facet of neutrophil biology that supports organ function, but can also instigate pathological states.
The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) technology is a versatile and useful tool to perform genome editing in different organisms ...ranging from bacteria and yeast to plants and mammalian cells. For a couple of years, it was believed that the system was inefficient and toxic in the alga
. However, recently the system has been successfully implemented in this model organism, albeit relying mostly on the electroporation of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) into cell wall deficient strains. This requires a constant source of RNPs and limits the application of the technology to strains that are not necessarily the most relevant from a biotechnological point of view. Here, we show that transient expression of the
Cas9 gene and sgRNAs, targeted to the single-copy nuclear
gene, encoding an adenine phosphoribosyl transferase (
), results in efficient disruption at the expected locus. Introduction of
to the
locus results in cell insensitivity to the otherwise toxic compound 2-fluoroadenine (2-FA). We have used agitation with glass beads and particle bombardment to introduce the plasmids carrying the coding sequences for Cas9 and the sgRNAs in a cell-walled strain of
(CC-125). Using sgRNAs targeting exons 1 and 3 of
, we obtained disruption efficiencies of 3 and 30% on preselected 2-FA resistant colonies, respectively. Our results show that transient expression of Cas9 and a sgRNA can be used for editing of the nuclear genome inexpensively and at high efficiency. Targeting of the
gene could potentially be used as a pre-selection marker for multiplexed editing or disruption of genes of interest.
Pedobarographic analyses detect pressure redistribution among limbs and within limbs in humans, equids and dogs. The main objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of a set of ...pedobarographic parameters for the detection of lameness, as well as for its suitability for assessing the effects of therapies against osteoarthritis in dogs. With this purpose, eleven large-breed lame dogs with unilateral osteoarthritis due to elbow dysplasia were evaluated using a pressure platform prior to (D0) and after 3 months (D90) of treatment with mavacoxib, a COX-2 selective NSAID. The obtained parameters were: pressure distribution between lame and sound limbs, as well as paw area, mean pressure, and peak pressure of both lame and sound limbs.
The results showed statistical differences in all these parameters between lame and sound limbs at D0; however, at D90, differences were significantly decreased as result of the treatment, indicating a substantial functional recovery under the study design conditions.
The provided data prove the suitability of this novel technique in canine models for the quantitative and objective assessment of lameness, but also for the evaluation of treatments for lameness caused by articular pain.
There is a growing interest in biomedical engineering in developing procedures that provide accurate simulations of the neural response to electrical stimulus produced by implants. Moreover, recent ...research focuses on models that take into account individual patient characteristics. We present a phenomenological computational model that is customized with the patient's data provided by the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) for simulating the neural response to electrical stimulus produced by the electrodes of cochlear implants (CIs). The model links the input currents of the electrodes to the simulated ECAP. Potentials and currents are calculated by solving the quasi-static approximation of the Maxwell equations with the finite element method (FEM). In ECAPs recording, an active electrode generates a current that elicits action potentials in the surrounding auditory nerve fibers (ANFs). The sum of these action potentials is registered by other nearby electrode. Our computational model emulates this phenomenon introducing a set of line current sources replacing the ANFs by a set of virtual neurons (VNs). To fit the ECAP amplitudes we assign a suitable weight to each VN related with the probability of an ANF to be excited. This probability is expressed by a cumulative beta distribution parameterized by two shape parameters that are calculated by means of a differential evolution algorithm (DE). Being the weights function of the current density, any change in the design of the CI affecting the current density produces changes in the weights and, therefore, in the simulated ECAP, which confers to our model a predictive capacity. The results of the validation with ECAP data from two patients are presented, achieving a satisfactory fit of the experimental data with those provided by the proposed computational model.
This research analyzes how the receiver's emotional response to fear communication differs across cultural groups of origin (Europe vs. Latin America), as well as individual traits such as the level ...of fear of each individual, motivated by the lack of previous studies that address the receiver's reaction from a cross‐cultural perspective in this type of communication. To achieve this objective, this work was born from the conjunction of two lines of research, which are synergistic. On the one hand, we have focused on works based on the theory of the appeal to fear, which, as we have seen, discusses the different reactions that the news receiver may have to fear communication. On the other hand, studies concerning the uncertainty avoidance theory explain different emotional behaviors in the face of fear, depending on the individual's cultural biases. We analyze whether the culture of origin moderates the emotional response to this type of communication, as well as whether culture of origin also influences the relationship between the level of personal fear and the emotion felt about the fear communication. To answer these questions, we have used neuromarketing techniques to analyze the emotional response to a series of images taken from The New York Times, the most widely‐circulated English‐language general daily newspaper. We selected these images by grouping the issues that generated the most concern among the world's population in 2022. The present research results indicate a significant discovery: persons originating from Latin American cultures displayed a notably more significant emotional response to fear communication than individuals from European cultures. This underscores the major impact of cultural context on the emotional processing of fear communication.
The types of social networks, their prevalence, and their relationship to health outcomes in older age have been different across countries and cultures. Most of the literature has focused on USA or ...in European countries and little is known about the social network typologies among older adults from Japan. This study aimed to identify these patterns of social network typologies and examine the differences in sociodemographic and related to health variables.
23894 participants from the JAGES project (2019), aged 65 or older (M = 74.74, DT = 6.39) from Japan. Statistical analyses included Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) followed by ANOVAs, Chi square and multinomial logistic regressions tests to compare the profiles.
Four profiles were identified: family (66.9%), spouse (16.6%), diverse (14.5%), and neighbor/others (1.9%). The profiles differ statistically (p < 0.001) in all sociodemographic characteristics and in the means of depression, loneliness, self-perceived health, and happiness. Compared with the “family” network, younger men, with fewer chronic illnesses but higher levels of depression and loneliness were more likely to be in the “spouse” profile, older women with lower socioeconomic status, but less lonely and happier in the “diverse” profile and adults who still working, have lower socioeconomic status and are less happy into the “neighbors/others” group.
We discuss the differences between the profiles found, the potential differences with previous studies and the specific cultural Japanese nuances that may explain the characteristics of the network types founded.
•Familial, spouse, diverse and neighbor/others social networks profiles were identified.•Differ statistically in depression, loneliness, self-perceived health, and happiness.•The diverse group presents the best health outcomes, followed by “family”.•Spouse group has protective sociodemographic factors but poor health outcomes.
In 2015, high rates of microcephaly were reported in Northeast Brazil following the first South American Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak. Reported microcephaly rates in other Zika-affected areas were ...significantly lower, suggesting alternate causes or the involvement of arboviral cofactors in exacerbating microcephaly rates.
We merged data from multiple national reporting databases in Brazil to estimate exposure to 9 known or hypothesized causes of microcephaly for every pregnancy nationwide since the beginning of the ZIKV outbreak; this generated between 3.6 and 5.4 million cases (depending on analysis) over the time period 1 January 2015-23 May 2017. The association between ZIKV and microcephaly was statistically tested against models with alternative causes or with effect modifiers. We found no evidence for alternative non-ZIKV causes of the 2015-2017 microcephaly outbreak, nor that concurrent exposure to arbovirus infection or vaccination modified risk. We estimate an absolute risk of microcephaly of 40.8 (95% CI 34.2-49.3) per 10,000 births and a relative risk of 16.8 (95% CI 3.2-369.1) given ZIKV infection in the first or second trimester of pregnancy; however, because ZIKV infection rates were highly variable, most pregnant women in Brazil during the ZIKV outbreak will have been subject to lower risk levels. Statistically significant associations of ZIKV with other birth defects were also detected, but at lower relative risks than that of microcephaly (relative risk < 1.5). Our analysis was limited by missing data prior to the establishment of nationwide ZIKV surveillance, and its findings may be affected by unmeasured confounding causes of microcephaly not available in routinely collected surveillance data.
This study strengthens the evidence that congenital ZIKV infection, particularly in the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy, is associated with microcephaly and less frequently with other birth defects. The finding of no alternative causes for geographic differences in microcephaly rate leads us to hypothesize that the Northeast region was disproportionately affected by this Zika outbreak, with 94% of an estimated 8.5 million total cases occurring in this region, suggesting a need for seroprevalence surveys to determine the underlying reason.
This research presents a short version of the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale, one of the most frequently used questionnaires in the arena of applied healthcare investigation. It measures ...burnout (BO), compassion fatigue (CF), and compassion satisfaction (CS).
A 9-item version of the ProQOL was developed. In Study 1, this short version, which used items from version IV of the ProQOL, was administered to 817 palliative care professionals from Spain, Argentina, and Brazil. In Study 2, the same nine items, but this time from version V of the ProQOL, were administered to 296 Spanish palliative care professionals.
Study 1: The Short ProQOL showed an adequate internal structure, and invariance across the countries studied (χ
(106) = 185.620 (p < 0.001), CFI = .929, RMSEA = 0.058 0.044, 0.072, SRMR = 0.081). Argentinians showed higher levels of BO (mean difference = 0.172, p = 0.042, Cohen's d = 0.168), whereas Brazilians showed higher levels of CF (Mean difference = 0.384, p = 0.002, Cohen's d = 0.352). Study 2: the Short ProQOL again showed adequate internal structure and reliability (χ
(24) = 134.504 (p < 0.001); CFI = 0.953; RMSEA = 0.126 0.106, 0.147; SRMR = 0.063), and was related to coping with death, self-compassion, and self-care.
The Short ProQOL could help facilitate the application of harmonizing measurements and its use for cross-cultural comparisons and occupational health monitoring was satisfactory.
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