An 11-year-old spayed female Toy Poodle presented with acute tetraparesis. A small subcutaneous mass was found in the right trunk region, and the magnetic resonance revealed a compressive spinal cord ...lesion due to an irregular bone proliferation at the third cervical vertebra. After surgical resection of the vertebral lesion, the neurological symptoms improved, and the patient could walk on her own. The excised vertebral and subcutaneous masses were diagnosed as a mammary adenocarcinoma on the histopathological examination, with Ki-67 and HER-2 immunohistochemistry staining. This case report highlights the importance of defining the primary tumours of metastatic vertebral tumours and the necessity of palliative surgery to improve the patient's quality of life.
This case report follows a 10-year-old castrated male Miniature Schnauzer dog presented with a history of incomplete surgical resection of an oral malignant melanoma (amelanotic type) on the right ...mandible. Melanoma vaccine therapy was administered due to incomplete surgical resection, however, new masses were detected on the contralateral mandible and suspected pulmonary metastasis occurred at 2 weeks and 7 months, respectively, following the first melanoma vaccination. At the time of detecting the pulmonary metastasis, targeted chemotherapy was initiated with the owner's consent using imatinib (10 mg/kg/day, p.o.), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). The patient did not show any significant adverse events related to both anticancer treatments. Three months following the first dose of imatinib, the absence of the suspected pulmonary metastatic nodules on radiography indicated complete remission. In conclusion, this report describes the achievement of clinical remission of suspected pulmonary metastatic oral malignant melanoma and an extension of survival time in a dog given a combination treatment of immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
Blood samples were collected up to 30 hours after drug intake, and plasma concentrations of tramadol and its metabolite were determined by using validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass ...spectrometry system.
A 5-year-old neutered male Shiba Inu dog presented with a history of oral bleeding, dysphagia, and depression for 3 weeks. The physical examination revealed a firm mass in the right caudal palatal ...region along the level of PM4–M2. On the computed tomography, the mass was round-to-oval in shape and 22 mm × 30 mm × 15 mm in size. The mass contained multiple bone attenuated materials with a palatal bone lysis of 4 mm × 6 mm. A complete resection of the mass was proposed; however, the owner declined due to the risk of complications associated with the radical surgery. Therefore, a palliative resection and biopsy of the mass were performed. On the histological examination, the mass was diagnosed as grade 2 multilobular tumour of bone (MTB). Since the mass was incompletely resected, adjuvant therapy was pursued along with targeted therapy using a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The tumour cells showed overexpression of the receptor of tyrosine kinase for c-KIT, PDGFR-α, PDGFR-β, and FGFR1 compared to normal tissue cells. Additionally, the cytotoxic effect of imatinib on the MTB cells was confirmed in vitro. Four weeks postoperatively, the administration of imatinib and carprofen was initiated and continued for 259 days. The patient maintained a good functional outcome for 306 days after the initial presentation.
In this study, a system for automatically picking mechanical parts required in the industrial automation field was proposed. In particular, using deep learning, bolts and nuts were recognized and ...geometric information of these parts was extracted. By applying YOLOv3 specialized in high recognition rate and fast processing speed, the recognition of target object, location, and postural information were obtained. The geometric information for the bolt can be obtained by creating two bounding boxes and calculating the orientation vector formed by these center values of two bounding boxes after successfully detecting two individual bounding boxes. Moreover, to obtain more precise geometric information on bolts and nuts, image distortion compensation on the detected object was done after detecting the center value of the bolt and nut through YOLOv3. Based on this result, it was proven that an automatic picking of the mechanical parts using a five-axis robot was successfully implemented.
Aiming at once-a-week injection, a novel sustained release formulation of recombinant human growth hormone (SR-hGH) using sodium hyaluronate was developed for the treatment of children who have ...growth failure due to the lack of adequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone.
SR-hGH was produced in the form of solid microparticle using a Niro spray dryer and characterized by Malvern particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), reverse phase-high-performance chromatography (RP-HPLC), and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). After in vitro release test, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies were carried out in beagle dogs. SR-hGH was dispersed in medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) and administered at a dose of 1.0 mg hGH/kg subcutaneously.
SR-hGH microparticles were successfully produced with a mean particle size of 5.6+/-1.0 microm. Physicochemical analysis with SEC, RP-HPLC, and SDS-PAGE showed that hGH extracted from SR-hGH was intact and comparable to that of hGH bulk standard indicating no structural change in hGH during the formulation processes. Monomeric content of hGH recovered from SR-hGH was 97.4% by SEC analysis, and its purity was 96% by RP-HPLC analysis. In vitro release test showed the sustained-release characteristics of SR-hGH up to 48 h with the complete release of hGH loaded. The continuous and monotonous release profile observed in in vitro release test was supported by pharmacokinetic study in beagle dogs. Delayed absorption of hGH was observed with Cmax of 69.5+/-8.0 ng/ml and Tmax between 10 and 12 h. The administration of SR-hGH induced elevation of serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) level for 6 days with a maximum value higher than the predose level by ca. 350 ng/ml. After 6 days, IGF-I level returned to the initial baseline level.
Sustained-release formulation of hGH for once-a-week injection was successfully developed using high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate. No adverse effect was observed during and after the in vivo test using beagle dogs.
We prepared long carbon fiber (LCF)-reinforced thermoplastic composites using a specially designed twin-screw system. To improve the interfacial adhesion strength between the matrix polypropylene ...(PP) and LCF, we used a compatibilizer (maleic anhydride-grafted PP (PPMA)). The fiber length of the composites was approximately 10–70 mm and influenced by the compatibilizer concentration. With an increase in the LCF and PPMA content, tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus increase. We also investigated the thermal properties of the composites using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The fractured surfaces of PP/PPMA/LCF composites exhibited higher wetting than those of PP/LCF composites. PPMA was found effective in improving the adhesion between fiber and matrix.
Electronics that are capable of intimate, non-invasive integration with the soft, curvilinear surfaces of biological tissues offer important opportunities for diagnosing and treating disease and for ...improving brain/machine interfaces. This article describes a material strategy for a type of bio-interfaced system that relies on ultrathin electronics supported by bioresorbable substrates of silk fibroin. Mounting such devices on tissue and then allowing the silk to dissolve and resorb initiates a spontaneous, conformal wrapping process driven by capillary forces at the biotic/abiotic interface. Specialized mesh designs and ultrathin forms for the electronics ensure minimal stresses on the tissue and highly conformal coverage, even for complex curvilinear surfaces, as confirmed by experimental and theoretical studies. In vivo, neural mapping experiments on feline animal models illustrate one mode of use for this class of technology. These concepts provide new capabilities for implantable and surgical devices.
Bococizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. We sought to ...evaluate the efficacy of bococizumab in patients at high cardiovascular risk.
In two parallel, multinational trials with different entry criteria for LDL cholesterol levels, we randomly assigned the 27,438 patients in the combined trials to receive bococizumab (at a dose of 150 mg) subcutaneously every 2 weeks or placebo. The primary end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina requiring urgent revascularization, or cardiovascular death; 93% of the patients were receiving statin therapy at baseline. The trials were stopped early after the sponsor elected to discontinue the development of bococizumab owing in part to the development of high rates of antidrug antibodies, as seen in data from other studies in the program. The median follow-up was 10 months.
At 14 weeks, patients in the combined trials had a mean change from baseline in LDL cholesterol levels of -56.0% in the bococizumab group and +2.9% in the placebo group, for a between-group difference of -59.0 percentage points (P<0.001) and a median reduction from baseline of 64.2% (P<0.001). In the lower-risk, shorter-duration trial (in which the patients had a baseline LDL cholesterol level of ≥70 mg per deciliter 1.8 mmol per liter and the median follow-up was 7 months), major cardiovascular events occurred in 173 patients each in the bococizumab group and the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.80 to 1.22; P=0.94). In the higher-risk, longer-duration trial (in which the patients had a baseline LDL cholesterol level of ≥100 mg per deciliter 2.6 mmol per liter and the median follow-up was 12 months), major cardiovascular events occurred in 179 and 224 patients, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.97; P=0.02). The hazard ratio for the primary end point in the combined trials was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.76 to 1.02; P=0.08). Injection-site reactions were more common in the bococizumab group than in the placebo group (10.4% vs. 1.3%, P<0.001).
In two randomized trials comparing the PCSK9 inhibitor bococizumab with placebo, bococizumab had no benefit with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events in the trial involving lower-risk patients but did have a significant benefit in the trial involving higher-risk patients. (Funded by Pfizer; SPIRE-1 and SPIRE-2 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01975376 and NCT01975389 .).
The alloying effect of Cu on thermal and mechanical behavior in Ni50-xTi35Zr15Cux (x = 0, 3, 5, 10, 15 at.%) shape memory alloys has been systematically investigated in the present study. The ...addition of Cu changes the lattice parameters and expands the unit cell volume of B2 austenite and B19' martensite. With alloying Cu, the temperature for austenite ↔ martensite transformation tends to decrease, and the transformation from B2 austenite to B19' martensite occurs in a single step mode. The decrease of transformation temperature with alloying Cu is attributed to the chemical stabilization of B2 (destabilization B19') which is reflected by the decrease of the transformation enthalpy. The stabilization of B2 comes along with the increase of valence electron concentration and non-basal shear modulus resisting to transformation into B19'. While, the destabilization of B19' structure is represented by the increase of monoclinic angle. When compared to the ternary Ni49.5Ti50.5-xZrx (x = 0, 3, 5, 10, 15, 18, 20 at. %) and Ni50-xTi50Cux (x = 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 at. %) alloys, the stabilization of B2 (destabilization B19') is more pronounced in the NiTiZrCu alloys investigated in the present study. Due to the change of thermal and structural properties with alloying Cu, the temperature dependence of stress for inducing martensitic transformation gradually decreases and the superelastic window is enlarged. As a result, the superelastic recovery is enhanced with alloying Cu.
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•Cu addition in NiTiZr alloys changes the thermal and structural properties.•Transformation temperature and transformation enthalpy decrease with alloying Cu.•Geometrical similarity between B2 and B19' increases with alloying Cu.•The superelastic recovery is improved with alloying Cu.
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