Within-winter movements: a common phenomenon in the Common Pochard Aythya ferina

Waterbirds are often observed to move between different wintering sites within the same winter—for example, in response to food availability or weather conditions. Within-winter movements may contribute to the spreading of diseases, such as avian influenza, outside the actual migration period. The Common Pochard Aythya ferina seems to be particularly sensitive to infection with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 and, consequently, could play an important role as vectors for the disease. We describe here the within-winter movements of Pochards in Europe in relation to topography, climate, sex and age. We analysed data provided by the Euring data bank on 201 individuals for which records from different locations from the same winter (December–February) were available. The distances and directions moved within the winter varied markedly between regions, which could be ascribed to the differing topography (coast lines, Alps). We found no significant differences in terms of distances and directions moved between the sexes and only weak indications of differences between the age classes. In Switzerland, juveniles moved in more westerly directions than adults. During relatively mild winters, winter harshness had no effect on the distances travelled, but in cold winters, a positive relationship was observed, a pattern possibly triggered by the freezing of lakes. Winter harshness did not influence the directions of the movement. About 41% (83/201) of the Pochards that were recovered at least 1 km from the ringing site had moved more than 200 km. A substantial number of birds moved between central/southern Europe and the north-western coast of mainland Europe, and between the north-western coast of mainland Europe and Great Britain, whereas no direct exchange between Great Britain and central/southern Europe was observed. Within-winter movements of Pochards seem to be a common phenomenon in all years and possibly occur as a response to the depletion of food resources. This high tendency to move could potentially contribute to the spread of bird-transmitted diseases outside the actual migration period.

A case of EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia: simple recognition of an underdiagnosed and misleading phenomenon

1. BMC Clin Pathol. 2014 May 1;14:19. doi: 10.1186/1472-6890-14-19. eCollection 2014. A case of EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia: simple recognition of an underdiagnosed and misleading phenomenon. Nagler M, Keller P, Siegrist D, Alberio L. Author information: Department of Hematology and Central Hematology Laboratory, Inselspital University Hospital and University of Berne, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland. BACKGROUND: EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (EDTA-PTCP) is a common laboratory phenomenon with a prevalence ranging from 0.1-2% in hospitalized patients to 15-17% in outpatients evaluated for isolated thrombocytopenia. Despite its harmlessness, EDTA-PTCP frequently leads to time-consuming, costly and even invasive diagnostic investigations. EDTA-PTCP is often overlooked because blood smears are not evaluated visually in routine practice and histograms as well as warning flags of hematology analyzers are not interpreted correctly. Nonetheless, EDTA-PTCP may be diagnosed easily even by general practitioners without any experiences in blood film examinations. This is the first report illustrating the typical patterns of a platelet (PLT) and white blood cell (WBC) histograms of hematology analyzers. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old female patient of Caucasian origin was referred with suspected acute leukemia and the crew of the emergency unit arranged extensive investigations for work-up. However, examination of EDTA blood sample revealed atypical lymphocytes and an isolated thrombocytopenia together with typical patterns of WBC and PLT histograms: a serrated curve of the platelet histogram and a peculiar peak on the left side of the WBC histogram. EDTA-PTCP was confirmed by a normal platelet count when examining citrated blood. CONCLUSION: Awareness of typical PLT and WBC patterns may alert to the presence of EDTA-PTCP in routine laboratory practice helping to avoid unnecessary investigations and over-treatment. PMCID: PMC4012027 PMID: 24808761 [PubMed]

Localized Epidermal Cysts as a Radiation Recall Phenomenon in a Melanoma Patient Treated with Radiotherapy and the BRAF Inhibitor Vemurafenib

BRAF inhibitors are broadly used for metastatic melanoma with BRAF mutations. Their use results in various cutaneous side effects, such as the development of keratoacanthomas and squamous cell carcinomas. We report a patient with metastatic melanoma treated with vemurafenib who developed dozens of histologically confirmed epidermal cysts within 2 months after initiation of vemurafenib administration. The cystic lesions were observed only in the localized area where a large exophytic melanoma tumor mass had been previously irradiated. Localized epidermal cysts may constitute an unusual radiation recall reaction in patients treated with BRAF inhibitors.

Three-year outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with next-generation zotarolimus-eluting stents for de novo coronary bifurcation lesions.

AIMS To investigate the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in bifurcation versus non-bifurcation lesions using the next-generation Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stent (R-ZES). METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed 3-year pooled data from the RESOLUTE All-Comers trial and the RESOLUTE International registry. The R-ZES was used in 2772 non-bifurcation lesion patients and 703 bifurcation lesion patients, of which 482 were treated with a simple-stent technique (1 stent used to treat the bifurcation lesion) and 221 with a complex bifurcation technique (2 or more stents used). The primary endpoint was 3-year target lesion failure (TLF, defined as the composite of death from cardiac causes, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically-indicated target lesion revascularization [TLR]), and was 13.3% in bifurcation vs 11.3% in non-bifurcation lesion patients (adjusted P=.06). Landmark analysis revealed that this difference was driven by differences in the first 30 days between bifurcation vs non-bifurcation lesions (TLF, 6.6% vs 2.7%, respectively; adjusted P<.001), which included significant differences in each component of TLF and in-stent thrombosis. Between 31 days and 3 years, TLF, its components, and stent thrombosis did not differ significantly between bifurcation lesions and non-bifurcation lesions (TLF, 7.7% vs 9.0%, respectively; adjusted P=.50). CONCLUSION The 3-year risk of TLF following PCI with R-ZES in bifurcation lesions was not significantly different from non-bifurcation lesions. However, there was an increased risk associated with bifurcation lesions during the first 30 days; beyond 30 days, bifurcation lesions and non-bifurcation lesions yielded similar 3-year outcomes.

Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the swiss phenomenon

While assisted suicide (AS) is strictly restricted in many countries, it is not clearly regulated by law in Switzerland. This imbalance leads to an influx of people —‘suicide tourists’—coming to Switzerland, mainly to the Canton of Zurich, for the sole purpose of committing suicide. Political debate regarding ‘suicide tourism’ is taking place in many countries. Swiss medicolegal experts are confronted with these cases almost daily, which prompted our scientific investigation of the phenomenon. The present study has three aims: (1) to determine selected details about AS in the study group (age, gender and country of residence of the suicide tourists, the organisation involved, the ingested substance leading to death and any diseases that were the main reason for AS); (2) to find out the countries from which suicide tourists come and to review existing laws in the top three in order to test the hypothesis that suicide tourism leads to the amendment of existing regulations in foreign countries; and (3) to compare our results with those of earlier studies in Zurich. We did a retrospective data analysis of the Zurich Institute of Legal Medicine database on AS of on-Swiss residents in the last 5 years (2008–2012), and internet research for current legislation and political debate in the three foreign countries most concerned. We analysed 611 cases from 31 countries all over the world. Non-terminal conditions such as neurological and rheumatic diseases are increasing among suicide tourists. The unique phenomenon of suicide tourism in Switzerland may indeed result in the amendment or supplementary guidelines to existing regulations in foreign countries.

Fluid-structure interaction of an elastic pipe immersed inside a coaxial rigid pipe: a model for the Tullio phenomenon

An axisymmetric, elastic pipe is filled with an incompressible fluid and is immersed in a second, coaxial rigid pipe which contains the same fluid. A pressure pulse in the outer fluid annulus deforms the elastic pipe which invokes a fluid motion in the fluid core. It is the aim of this study to investigate streaming phenomena in the core which may originate from such a fluid-structure interaction. This work presents a numerical solver for such a configuration. It was developed in the OpenFOAM software environment and is based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach for moving meshes. The solver features a monolithic integration of the one-dimensional, coupled system between the elastic structure and the outer fluid annulus into a dynamic boundary condition for the moving surface of the fluid core. Results indicate that our configuration may serve as a mechanical model of the Tullio Phenomenon (sound-induced vertigo).

Reconciling Perspectives on Blame Avoidance Behaviour

Blame avoidance behaviour (BAB) has become an increasingly popular topic in political science. However, the preconditions of BAB, its presence and consequences in various areas and in different political systems largely remain a black box. In order to generate a better understanding of BAB and its importance for the workings of democratic political systems, the scattered literature on BAB needs to be assessed and structured. This article offers a comprehensive review of the literature on blame avoidance. It departs from Weaver’s concept of blame avoidance and subsequently differentiates between work on BAB in comparative welfare state research and work on BAB in public policy and administration. It is argued that between these two strands of literature a bifurcation exists since both perspectives rarely draw on each other to create a more general understanding of BAB. Advantages from existing approaches must be combined to assess the phenomenon of blame avoidance in a more comprehensive way.