Polymorphisms in the ABCB1 gene in phenobarbital responsive and resistant idiopathic epileptic Border Collies

BACKGROUND: Variation in the ABCB1 gene is believed to play a role in drug resistance in epilepsy. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Variation in the ABCB1 gene encoding the permeability-glycoprotein could have an influence on phenobarbital (PB) resistance, which occurs with high frequency in idiopathic epileptic Border Collies (BCs). Animals: Two hundred and thirty-six client-owned BCs from Switzerland and Germany including 25 with idiopathic epilepsy, of which 13 were resistant to PB treatment. METHODS: Prospective and retrospective case-control study. Data were collected retrospectively regarding disease status, antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy, and drug responsiveness. The frequency of a known mutation in the ABCB1 gene (4 base-pair deletion in the ABCB1 gene [c.296_299del]) was determined in all BCs. Additionally, the ABCB1 coding exons and flanking sequences were completely sequenced to search for additional variation in 41 BCs. Association analyses were performed in 2 case-control studies: idiopathic epileptic and control BCs and PB-responsive and resistant idiopathic epileptic BCs. RESULTS: One of 236 BCs (0.4%) was heterozygous for the mutation in the ABCB1 gene (c.296_299del). A total of 23 variations were identified in the ABCB1 gene: 4 in exons and 19 in introns. The G-allele of the c.-6-180T > G variation in intron 1 was significantly more frequent in epileptic BCs resistant to PB treatment than in epileptic BCs responsive to PB treatment (P(raw) = .0025). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: A variation in intron 1 of the ABCB1 gene is associated with drug responsiveness in BCs. This might indicate that regulatory mutations affecting the expression level of ABCB1 could exist, which may influence the reaction of a dog to AEDs.

Ischemic muscle necrosis leading to life-threatening hyperkalemia. Case report and review of the literature

Objective: Description of a cat with ischemic muscle necrosis that suffered from cardiopulmonary arrest due to hyperkalemia. Pathogenesis, clinical signs and therapy of ischemic muscle necrosis are discussed and possible causes, symptoms and treatment of hyperkalemia are shown. Material and methods: case report of a four-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair cat. Results: The cat was successfully resuscitated and hyperkalemia was treated with different treatment modalities. Conclusion: Ischemic muscle necrosis can lead to severe live-threatening hyperkalemia which has to be anticipated, monitored and treated adequately. Aggressive fluid therapy might be responsible for a higher risk of hyperkalemia in predisposed cases. Clinical relevance: Potassium concentrations and acid-base disturbances must be closely monitored in patients with ischemic muscle necrosis

The effectiveness and safety of proton radiation therapy for indications of the eye : a systematic review

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: : Proton radiation has been used for the treatment of uveal melanoma since 1975, but few studies have been conducted to assess its efficacy and safety. This paper aims to systematically review the effects and side effects of proton therapy for any indication of the eye. MATERIAL AND METHODS: : A range of databases were searched from inception to 2007. All studies that included at least ten patients and that assessed the efficacy or safety of proton therapy for any indication of the eye were included. RESULTS: : The search generated 2,385 references, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. Five controlled trials, two comparative studies and 30 case series were found, most often reporting on uveal melanoma, choroidal melanoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methodological quality of these studies was poor. Studies were characterized by large differences in radiation techniques applied within the studies, and by variation in patient characteristics within and between studies. Results for uveal melanoma and choroidal melanoma suggest favorable survival, with, however, significant rates of side effects. Results for choroidal hemangioma and AMD did not reveal beneficial effects from proton radiation. CONCLUSION: : There is limited evidence on the effectiveness and safety of proton radiation due to the lack of well-designed and well-reported studies. There is a need to lift evidence on proton therapy to a higher level by performing dose-finding randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparative studies of proton radiation versus standard given alternatives and prospective case studies enrolling only patients treated with up-to-date techniques, allowing extrapolation of results to similar patient groups.

Cone beam computed tomography in implant dentistry: a systematic review focusing on guidelines, indications, and radiation dose risks.

PURPOSE The aim of the paper is to identify, review, analyze, and summarize available evidence in three areas on the use of cross-sectional imaging, specifically maxillofacial cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in pre- and postoperative dental implant therapy: (1) Available clinical use guidelines, (2) indications and contraindications for use, and (3) assessment of associated radiation dose risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three focused questions were developed to address the aims. A systematic literature review was performed using a PICO-based search strategy based on MeSH key words specific to each focused question of English-language publications indexed in the MEDLINE database retrospectively from October 31, 2012. These results were supplemented by a hand search and gray literature search. RESULTS Twelve publications were identified providing guidelines for the use of cross-sectional radiography, particularly CBCT imaging, for the pre- and/or postoperative assessment of potential dental implant sites. The publications discovered by the PICO strategy (43 articles), hand (12), and gray literature searches (1) for the second focus question regarding indications and contraindications for CBCT use in implant dentistry were either cohort or case-controlled studies. For the third question on the assessment of associated radiation dose risk, a total of 22 articles were included. Publication characteristics and themes were summarized in tabular format. CONCLUSIONS The reported indications for CBCT use in implant dentistry vary from preoperative analysis regarding specific anatomic considerations, site development using grafts, and computer-assisted treatment planning to postoperative evaluation focusing on complications due to damage of neurovascular structures. Effective doses for different CBCT devices exhibit a wide range with the lowest dose being almost 100 times less than the highest dose. Significant dose reduction can be achieved by adjusting operating parameters, including exposure factors and reducing the field of view (FOV) to the actual region of interest.

Time relevance, citation of reporting guidelines, and breadth of literature search in systematic reviews in orthodontics

INTRODUCTION As the importance of systematic review (SR) conclusions relies upon the scientific rigor of methods and the currency of evidence, we aimed to investigate the currency of orthodontic SRs using as proxy the time from the initial search to publication. Additionally, SR information regarding reporting guidelines, registration, and literature searches were recorded when available. MATERIALS AND METHODS A systematic PubMed search was carried out using the Clinical Queries page to identify orthodontic SRs cited between 1 January 2008 and 7 November 2013. Data related to reporting guidelines, review registration, dates of review processing, literature search, and abstract reporting were retrieved and classified by journal type. Survival analysis was used to assess the time to reach predefined manuscript stages for orthodontic and non-orthodontic journals. RESULTS One hundred twenty seven of the originally identified 585 SRs were considered eligible. The median interval from search until publication was 13.2 months (interquartile range: IQR = 9.7 months) irrespective of the journal type. There was evidence (P = 0.05) that SRs published by non-orthodontic journals appeared in PubMed faster than in orthodontic journals (non-orthodontic: median = 6.5 months; IQR = 5.7 months; orthodontic: median = 10.2 months; IQR = 5.6 months) from submission to publication and from acceptance to publication (non-orthodontic: median = 1.5 months; IQR = 2.4 months; orthodontic: median = 6.0 months; IQR = 6.2 months; P < 0.001). More than half of these SRs did not cite adherence to any reporting guidelines, whereas all but five studies were not prospectively registered. Search of unpublished research was undertaken in approximately 21 per cent and 29 per cent of the SRs published in non-orthodontic and orthodontic periodicals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that SR users should be aware that median time for orthodontic SRs from search to publication is 13.2 months. SRs published in non-orthodontic journals are likely to be more current in terms of submission until time to publication and acceptance until time to publication compared with those published in orthodontic journals.

Impact of case-relevant and case-irrelevant communication within the surgical team on surgical-site infection

BACKGROUND Surgical-site infections (SSIs) are the most common complications after surgery. An influence from talking and distractions during surgery on patient outcomes has been suggested, but there is limited evidence. The aim of this prospective observational study was to assess the relationship between intraoperative communication within the surgical team and SSI, and between intraoperative distractions and SSI. METHODS This prospective observational study included patients undergoing elective, open abdominal procedures. For each procedure, intraoperative case-relevant and case-irrelevant communication, and intraoperative distractions were observed continuously on site. The influence of communication and distractions on SSI after surgery was assessed using logistic regressions, adjusting for risk factors. RESULTS A total of 167 observed procedures were analysed; their mean(s.d.) duration was 4·6(2·1) h. A total of 24 SSIs (14·4 per cent) were diagnosed. Case-relevant communication during the procedure was independently associated with a reduced incidence of organ/space SSI (propensity score-adjusted odds ratio 0·86, 95 per cent c.i. 0·77 to 0·97; P = 0·014). Case-irrelevant communication during the closing phase of the procedure was independently associated with increased incidence of incisional SSI (propensity score-adjusted odds ratio 1·29, 1·08 to 1·55; P = 0·006). Distractions had no association with SSI. CONCLUSION More case-relevant communication was associated with fewer organ/space SSIs, and more case-irrelevant communication during wound closure was associated with incisional SSI.

Search, Seizure and (False?) Arrest: An Analysis of Fourth Amendment Remedies when Police can Plant Evidence

The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures in criminal investigations. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to require that police obtain a warrant prior to search and that illegally seized evidence be excluded from trial. A consensus has developed in the law and economics literature that tort liability for police officers is a superior means of deterring unreasonable searches. We argue that this conclusion depends on the assumption of truth-seeking police, and develop a game-theoretic model to compare the two remedies when some police officers (the bad type) are willing to plant evidence in order to obtain convictions, even though other police (the good type) are not (where this type is private information). We characterize the perfect Bayesian equilibria of the asymmetric-information game between the police and a court that seeks to minimize error costs in deciding whether to convict or acquit suspects. In this framework, we show that the exclusionary rule with a warrant requirement leads to superior outcomes (relative to tort liability) in terms of truth-finding function of courts, because the warrant requirement can reduce the scope for bad types of police to plant evidence

Infrastructure and Workflow for the Formal Evaluation of Semantic Search Technologies

This paper describes an infrastructure for the automated evaluation of semantic technologies and, in particular, semantic search technologies. For this purpose, we present an evaluation framework which follows a service-oriented approach for evaluating semantic technologies and uses the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) to define evaluation workflows that can be executed by process engines. This framework supports a variety of evaluations, from different semantic areas, including search, and is extendible to new evaluations. We show how BPEL addresses this diversity as well as how it is used to solve specific challenges such as heterogeneity, error handling and reuse

Search strategies and the automated control of plant diseases

We propose the use of the "infotaxis" search strategy as the navigation system of a robotic platform, able to search and localize infectious foci by detecting the changes in the profile of volatile organic compounds emitted by and infected plant. We builded a simple and cost effective robot platform that substitutes odour sensors in favour of light sensors and study their robustness and performance under non ideal conditions such as the exitence of obstacles due to land topology or weeds.

Multiple proportion case-basing driven CBRE and its application in the evaluation of possible failure of firms

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a unique tool for the evaluation of possible failure of firms (EOPFOF) for its eases of interpretation and implementation. Ensemble computing, a variation of group decision in society, provides a potential means of improving predictive performance of CBR-based EOPFOF. This research aims to integrate bagging and proportion case-basing with CBR to generate a method of proportion bagging CBR for EOPFOF. Diverse multiple case bases are first produced by multiple case-basing, in which a volume parameter is introduced to control the size of each case base. Then, the classic case retrieval algorithm is implemented to generate diverse member CBR predictors. Majority voting, the most frequently used mechanism in ensemble computing, is finally used to aggregate outputs of member CBR predictors in order to produce final prediction of the CBR ensemble. In an empirical experiment, we statistically validated the results of the CBR ensemble from multiple case bases by comparing them with those of multivariate discriminant analysis, logistic regression, classic CBR, the best member CBR predictor and bagging CBR ensemble. The results from Chinese EOPFOF prior to 3 years indicate that the new CBR ensemble, which significantly improved CBRs predictive ability, outperformed all the comparative methods.

Discursive constructions of social and environmental accounting in Brazil: the case of Petrobras.

In the 29 years following \"Our Common Future\" by the United Nations, there is considerable debate among governments, civil society, interest groups and business organisations about what constitutes sustainable development, which constitutes evidence for a contested discourse concerning sustainability. The purpose of this study is to understand this debate in the developing economic context of Brazil, and in particular, to understand and critique the social and environmental accounting [SEA] discursive constructions relating to the State-owned, Petrobras as well as to understand the Brazilian literature on SEA. The discourse theory [DT]-based analysis employs rhetorical redescription to analyse twenty-two reports from Petrobras from 2004-2013. I investigate the political notions by employing the methodological framework of the Logics of Critical Explanation [LCE]. LCE engenders five methodological steps: problematisation, retroduction, logics (social, political and fantasmatic), articulation and critique. The empirical discussion suggests that the hegemony of economic development operates to obfuscate, rhetorically, the development of sustainability, so as to maintain the core business of Petrobras conceived as capital accumulation. Equally, these articulations also illustrate how the constructions of SEA operate to serve the company\'s purpose with few (none) profound changes in integration of sustainability. The Brazilian literature on SEA sustains the status quo of neo-liberal market policies that operate to protect the dominant business case approach to maintain an agenda of wealth-creation in relation to social and environmental needs. The articulations of the case manifested in policies regarding, for example, corruption, which involved over-payments for contracts and unsustainable practices relating to the use of fossil fuels and demonstrated that there was antagonism between action and disclosure. The corruption scandal that emerged after SEA disclosures highlighted the rhetorical nature of disclosure when financial resources were subtracted from the company for political parties and engineering contractors hid facts through incomplete disclosures. The articulations of SEA misrepresent a broader context of the meanings associated with sustainability, which restricted the constructions of SEA to principally serve and represent the intention of the most powerful groups. The significance of SEA, then is narrowed to represent particular interests. The study argues for more critical studies as limited Brazilian literature concerning SEA kept a \'safe distance\' from substantively critiquing the constructions of SEA and its articulations in the Brazilian context. The literature review and the Petrobras\' case illustrate a variety of naming, instituting and articulatory practices that endeavour to maintain the current hegemony of development in an emerging economy, which allows Petrobras to continue to exercise significant profit at the expense of the social and environmental. The constructed idea of development in Petrobras\' discourses emphasises a rhetoric of wider development, but, in reality, these discourses were the antithesis of political, social and ethical developmental issues. These constructions aim to hide struggles between social inequalities and exploitation of natural resources and constitute excuses about a fanciful notion of rhetorical and hegemonic neo-liberal development. In summary, this thesis contributes to the prior literature in five ways: (i) the addition of DT to the analysis of SEA enhances the discussion of political elements such as hegemony, antagonism, logic of equivalence/difference, ideology and articulation; (ii) the analysis of an emerging economy such as Brazil incorporates a new perspective of the discussion of the discourses of SEA and development; (iii) this thesis includes a focus on rhetoric to discuss the maintenance of the status quo; (iv) the holistic structure of the LCE approach enlarges the understanding of the social, political and fantasmatic logics of SEA studies and; (v) this thesis combines an analysis of the literature and the case of Petrobras to characterise and critique the state of the Brazilian academy and its impacts and reflections on the significance of SEA. This thesis, therefore, argues for more critical studies in the Brazilian academy due to the persistence of idea of SEA and development that takes-for-granted deep exclusions and contradictions and provide little space for critiques.

Linking Policy and Practice:The Case of EU-UNICEF Cooperation on the Rights of the Child in Third Countries. IES WORKING PAPER 4/2013

This Working Paper offers detailed analysis of EU-UNICEF cooperation on the rights of the child in the European Union's external relations, in particular as regards linkages between the EU policy priorities and concrete actions to advance the protection and promotion of child rights in third countries. It addresses a number of crucial questions: how has the EU’s external policy on the rights of the child developed over the past decade, what were these developments influenced by and what role did UNICEF play in these processes; what is the legal and policy framework for EU-UNICEF cooperation in foreign policy and what added-value it brings; what mechanisms are used by the EU and UNICEF to improve child rights protection in third countries and what are the motivations behind their field cooperation. The study starts by examining the development of the EU’s foreign policy on the rights of the child and covers the legal basis enshrined in EU treaties, the policy framework, and the implementation instruments and then investigates the evolution of the EU’s relations with the United Nations. The paper focuses on the EU’s cooperation with UNICEF by looking into the legal and political framework for EU-UNICEF relations, the policy-oriented cooperation and joint implementation of projects on the ground in third countries. This section outlines the rationale behind the practical cooperation as well as the factors for success and obstacles hindering the delivery of sustainable results. Finally, the Working Paper concludes with suggestions on how EU-UNICEF cooperation could be further enhanced following recent developments, namely the 2012 EU Strategic Framework and the Action Plan on Human Rights as well as human rights country strategies.

Case studies and annotated bibliography of truck accident countermeasures on urban freeways. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety and Traffic Operations Research and Development, McLean, Va.

Case-only study of interactions between genetic polymorphisms of GSTM1, P1, T1 and Z1 and smoking in Parkinson's disease

Current opinion contends that complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors play a role in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Cigarette smoking is thought to reduce risk of PD, and emerging evidence suggests that genetic factors may modulate smoking's effect. We used a case-only design, an approach not previously used to study gene-environment interactions in PD, specifically to study interactions between glutathione-S-transferase (GST) gene polymorphisms and smoking in relation to PD. Four-hundred PD cases (age at onset: 60.0 +/- 10.7 years) were genotyped for common polymorphisms in GSTM1, PI, T1 and Z1 using well-established methods. Smoking exposure data were collected in face-to-face interviews. The independence of the studied GST genotypes and smoking exposure was confirmed by studying 402 healthy, aged individuals. No differences were observed in the distributions of GSTM1, T1 or Z1 polymorphisms between ever-smoked and never-smoked PD cases using logistic regression (all P > 0.43). However, GSTP1 *C haplotypes were over-represented among PD cases who ever smoked (odds ratio for interaction (ORi) = 2.00 (95% Cl: 1.11-3.60, P = 0.03)). Analysis revealed that ORi between smoking and the GSTP1-114Val carrier status increased with increasing smoking dose (P = 0.02 for trend). These data suggest that one or more GSTP1 polymorphisms may interact with cigarette smoking to influence the risk for PD. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.