Evaluation of coagulation and fibrinolysis in horses with atrial fibrillation

OBJECTIVE To evaluate horses with atrial fibrillation for hypercoagulability; plasma D-dimer concentrations, as a marker of a procoagulant state; and a relationship between coagulation profile results and duration of atrial fibrillation or presence of structural heart disease. DESIGN Case-control study. ANIMALS Plasma samples from 42 horses (25 with atrial fibrillation and 17 without cardiovascular or systemic disease [control group]). PROCEDURES Results of hematologic tests (ie, plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations, prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times, and antithrombin activity) in horses were recorded to assess coagulation and fibrinolysis. Historical and clinical variables, as associated with a hypercoagulable state in other species, were also recorded. RESULTS Horses with atrial fibrillation and control horses lacked clinical signs of hypercoagulation or thromboembolism. Compared with control horses, horses with atrial fibrillation had significantly lower antithrombin activity. No significant differences in plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations and prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times existed between horse groups. In horses with atrial fibrillation versus control horses, a significantly larger proportion had an abnormal plasma D-dimer concentration (10/25 vs 2/17), test results indicative of subclinical activated coagulation (18/25 vs 6/17), or abnormal coagulation test results (25/121 vs 7/85), respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Horses with atrial fibrillation did not have clinical evidence of a hypercoagulable state, but a higher proportion of horses with atrial fibrillation, compared with control horses, did have subclinical activated coagulation on the basis of standard coagulation test results.

Analysis of behavioral changes in dairy cows associated with claw horn lesions

Detecting lame cows is important in improving animal welfare. Automated tools are potentially useful to enable identification and monitoring of lame cows. The goals of this study were to evaluate the suitability of various physiological and behavioral parameters to automatically detect lameness in dairy cows housed in a cubicle barn. Lame cows suffering from a claw horn lesion (sole ulcer or white line disease) of one claw of the same hind limb (n=32; group L) and 10 nonlame healthy cows (group C) were included in this study. Lying and standing behavior at night by tridimensional accelerometers, weight distribution between hind limbs by the 4-scale weighing platform, feeding behavior at night by the nose band sensor, and heart activity by the Polar device (Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland) were assessed. Either the entire data set or parts of the data collected over a 48-h period were used for statistical analysis, depending upon the parameter in question. The standing time at night over 12 h and the limb weight ratio (LWR) were significantly higher in group C as compared with group L, whereas the lying time at night over 12 h, the mean limb difference (△weight), and the standard deviation (SD) of the weight applied on the limb taking less weight were significantly lower in group C as compared with group L. No significant difference was noted between the groups for the parameters of heart activity and feeding behavior at night. The locomotion score of cows in group L was positively correlated with the lying time and △weight, whereas it was negatively correlated with LWR and SD. The highest sensitivity (0.97) for lameness detection was found for the parameter SD [specificity of 0.80 and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.84]. The highest specificity (0.90) for lameness detection was present for Δweight (sensitivity=0.78; AUC=0.88) and LWR (sensitivity=0.81; AUC=0.87). The model considering the data of SD together with lying time at night was the best predictor of cows being lame, accounting for 40% of the variation in the likelihood of a cow being lame (sensitivity=0.94; specificity=0.80; AUC=0.86). In conclusion, the data derived from the 4-scale-weighing platform, either alone or combined with the lying time at night over 12 h, represent the most valuable parameters for automated identification of lame cows suffering from a claw horn lesion of one individual hind limb.

Invited review: Growth-promoting effects of colostrum in calves based on interaction with intestinal cell surface receptors and receptor-like transporters

The postnatal development and maturation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of neonatal calves is crucial for their survival. Major morphological and functional changes in the calf's GI tract initiated by colostrum bioactive substances promote the establishment of intestinal digestion and absorption of food. It is generally accepted that colostrum intake provokes the maturation of organs and systems in young calves, illustrating the significance of the cow-to-calf connection at birth. These postnatal adaptive changes of the GI tissues in neonatal calves are especially induced by the action of bioactive substances such as insulin-like growth factors, hormones, or cholesterol carriers abundantly present in colostrum. These substances interact with specific cell-surface receptors or receptor-like transporters expressed in the GI wall of neonatal calves to elicit their biological effects. Therefore, the abundance and activity of cell surface receptors and receptor-like transporters binding colostral bioactive substances are a key aspect determining the effects of the cow-to-calf connection at birth. The present review compiles the information describing the effects of colostrum feeding on selected serum metabolic and endocrine traits in neonatal calves. In this context, the current paper discusses specifically the consequences of colostrum feeding on the GI expression and activity of cell-receptors and receptor-like transporters binding growth hormone, insulin-like growth factors, insulin, or cholesterol acceptors in neonatal calves.

Trade Costs, Quality, and The Skill Premium

We develop a monopolistic competition model with nonhomothetic factor input bundles where increasing quality requires increasing use of skilled workers. As a result more skill abundant countries export higher quality, higher priced goods. Using a multicountry dataset we test and confirm the findings in Schott (2004) of a positive effect of skill abundance on unit values identified with US data. We extend the core model with per unit trade costs leading to the Washington-apples effect that goods shipped over larger distance are of higher quality. The combination of high-quality goods being relatively skill intensive with the Washington-apples effect implies that countries at a larger distance from their trading partners display a higher skill premium. Simulating our model we find that a doubling of distance of a country relative to all its trading partners raises the skill premium in a country by about 2.3 percent.

A costing exercise of provision of prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child services in Vietnam

Objectives. This dissertation focuses on estimating the cost of providing a minimum package of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in Vietnam from a societal perspective and discussing the issues of scaling-up the minimum package nationwide. ^ Methods. Through collection of cost-related data of PMTCT services at 22 PMTCT sites in 5 provinces (Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Hochiminh City, and An Giang) in Vietnam, the research investigates the item cost of each service in minimum PMTCT packages and the actual cost per PMTCT site at different organizational levels including central, provincial, and district. Next, the actual cost per site at each organizational level is standardized by adjusting for HIV prevalence rate to arrive at standardized costs per site. This study then uses the standardized costs per site to project, by different scenarios, the total cost to scale-up the PMTCT program in Vietnam. ^ Results. The cost for HIV tests, infant formula, and salary of health workers are consistently found to be the biggest expenditures in the PMTCT minimum package program across all organizational levels. Annual cost for drugs for prophylaxis treatment, operating and capital, and training costs are not substantial (less than 5% of total costs at all levels). The actual annual estimated cost for a PMTCT site at the central level is nearly VND 1.9 billion or US$ 107,650 (exchange rate US$ 1 = VND 17,500) while the annual cost for a provincial site is VND 375 million or US$ 21,400. The annual cost for a district site is VND 139 million (∼US$ 8,000). ^ The estimated total annual cost to roll out the PMTCT minimum package to the 5 studied provinces is approximately US$ 1.1 million. If the PMTCT program is to be scaled-up to 14 provinces until 2008 and up to 40 provinces through the end of 2010 as planned by the Ministry of Health, it would cost the health system an approximate annual amount of US$ 2.1 million and US$ 5.04 million, respectively. The annual cost for scaling-up the PMTCT minimum package nationwide is around US$ 7.6 million. Meanwhile, the total annual cost to implement PMTCT minimum packages to achieve PMTCT national targets in 2010 (providing counseling service to 90% of all pregnant women; 60% of them will receive HIV tests and 100% of HIV (+) mother and their newborn will receive prophylaxis treatment) would be US$ 6.1 million. ^ Recommendations. This study recommends: (1) the Ministry of Health of Vietnam should adjust its short-term national targets to a more feasible and achievable level given the current level of available resources; (2) a detailed budget for scaling-up the PMTCT program should be developed together with the national PMTCT action plan; (3) the PMTCT scaling-up plan developed by the Ministry of Health should focus on coverage of high prevalence population and quality of services provided rather than number of physical provinces reached; (4) exclusive breastfeeding strategy should be promoted as part of the PMTCT program; and (5) for a smooth and effective rolling out of PMTCT services nationwide, development of a national training plan and execution of this plan must precede any other initiations of the PMTCT scaling-up plan. ^

Risk factors of pneumonia in traumatic spinal-cord-injured patients

Pneumonia is a well-documented and common respiratory infection in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injuries, and may recur during the course of acute care. Using data from the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) for Spinal Cord Injury, the incidence, timing, and recurrence of pneumonia were analyzed. The two main objectives were (1) to investigate the time and potential risk factors for the first occurrence of pneumonia using the Cox Proportional Hazards model, and (2) to investigate pneumonia recurrence and its risk factors using a Counting Process model that is a generalization of the Cox Proportional Hazards model. The results from survival analysis suggested that surgery, intubation, American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade, direct admission to a NACTN site and age (older than 65 or not) were significant risks for first event of pneumonia and multiple events of pneumonia. The significance of this research is that it has the potential to identify patients at the time of admission who are at high risk for the incidence and recurrence of pneumonia. Knowledge and the time of occurrence of pneumonias are important factors for the development of prevention strategies and may also provide some insights into the selection of emerging therapies that compromise the immune system. ^

Comparison of machine learning approaches and statistical methods for estimation of airborne chemical exposures

Accurate quantitative estimation of exposure using retrospective data has been one of the most challenging tasks in the exposure assessment field. To improve these estimates, some models have been developed using published exposure databases with their corresponding exposure determinants. These models are designed to be applied to reported exposure determinants obtained from study subjects or exposure levels assigned by an industrial hygienist, so quantitative exposure estimates can be obtained. ^ In an effort to improve the prediction accuracy and generalizability of these models, and taking into account that the limitations encountered in previous studies might be due to limitations in the applicability of traditional statistical methods and concepts, the use of computer science- derived data analysis methods, predominantly machine learning approaches, were proposed and explored in this study. ^ The goal of this study was to develop a set of models using decision trees/ensemble and neural networks methods to predict occupational outcomes based on literature-derived databases, and compare, using cross-validation and data splitting techniques, the resulting prediction capacity to that of traditional regression models. Two cases were addressed: the categorical case, where the exposure level was measured as an exposure rating following the American Industrial Hygiene Association guidelines and the continuous case, where the result of the exposure is expressed as a concentration value. Previously developed literature-based exposure databases for 1,1,1 trichloroethane, methylene dichloride and, trichloroethylene were used. ^ When compared to regression estimations, results showed better accuracy of decision trees/ensemble techniques for the categorical case while neural networks were better for estimation of continuous exposure values. Overrepresentation of classes and overfitting were the main causes for poor neural network performance and accuracy. Estimations based on literature-based databases using machine learning techniques might provide an advantage when they are applied to other methodologies that combine `expert inputs' with current exposure measurements, like the Bayesian Decision Analysis tool. The use of machine learning techniques to more accurately estimate exposures from literature-based exposure databases might represent the starting point for the independence from the expert judgment.^

The Bangladesh gender gap in education : biased intra-household educational expenditures

By investigating the educational expenditure of children over the ten years (2000 to 2010), we evaluate whether there exists any gender specific discrepancy at the household level and the trend of such discrepancy over the years. Using three rounds of nationally representative Household Income & Expenditure Surveys this study reveals that households spend less on education for their school-going girls compared to boys. By disaggregating the total expenditure into fixed and variable components, we find persistent gender imbalance in educational expenditure where households provide better quality of education for boys. Moreover, we find that gender based discrepancy has a very persistent trend and does not show any significant sign of narrowing the gap over the years. Cohort wise difference-in-difference estimation also reveals that the gap has initially widened and later converged but has not diminished beyond the initial level of discrepancy, which may warrant targeted policy intervention.

Note on Friedman's "what informatics is and isn't"

Friedman’s article ‘What informatics is and isn’t’, presents a necessary and timely analysis of the field of informatics.

Faye Tull Carter

Faye Tull Carter obtained a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Home Economics from Lincoln University in 1938. She also received a graduate degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University in New York. After graduation, Carter accepted the position as Library Assistant at Lincoln University Laboratory School. Upon receiving a Master’s degree in Library Science (MLS) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Carter was appointed the Librarian at Lincoln University Laboratory High School. She was later transferred to the University library, Inman E. Page Library, where she remained until her retirement in 1989. During her years of service, Carter was promoted to the level of Assistant Professor. She taught courses in Library Science and Children’s Literature. Carter’s duties at Inman E. Page Library included creating displays, arranging picture collections and organizing the research material for teachers and students in the Education Department. She also established the Children and Young Adult Literature Collection.

Catharine Waugh McCullouch papers in the Mary Earhart Dillon collection, 1869-1945

Collection primarily documents McCulloch's research on women's legal status, and her work with the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and the League of Women Voters. There is also documentation of women in the legal profession, of McCulloch's friendships with the other women suffragists and lawyers, and some biographical material. The papers contain little information about her family or social life.

Papers of Helen Lawrence Appleton Brooks, 1822-1985

Mostly correspondence between family members, beginning with Catherine Lawrence and Charles Appleton, the parents of Helen Brooks. Also records of Brooks' voluntary activities, her diaries and personal writings, and material collected by Grace Norton about Henry James.

Fashions and fads in finance: contingent emulation and the political economy of sovereign wealth fund creation. IHS Political Science Series No. 131, July 2012

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), government-owned or managed investment vehicles, have proliferated at a remarkable rate over the past decade, even as political controversy has surrounded them. Why? The extant literature depicts the process of SWF creation as driven by functional imperatives associated with “excess” revenue and reserves accumulated from commodity booms and large current account surpluses. I argue that SWF creation also reflects in large part a process of contingent emulation in which first this policy has been constructed as appropriate for countries with given characteristics, and then when countries took on these characteristics, they followed their peers. Put simply, fashions and fads in finance matter for policy diffusion. I assess this argument using a new dataset on SWF creation that covers nearly 80 countries from 1984 to 2007. The results suggest peer-based contingent emulation has been a crucial factor shaping the decision of many countries to create a SWF, especially among fuel exporters. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 2 – 5 September 2010. The author would like to thank Eric Neumayer for his many suggestions and comments on previous versions of the manuscript. The author would also like to thank Zachary Elkins for sharing data. Finally, the author would like to acknowledge the research assistance of Natali Bulamacioglu and Christopher Gandrud.

Genetic variability of the equine casein genes.

The casein genes are known to be highly variable in typical dairy species, such as cattle and goat, but the knowledge about equine casein genes is limited. Nevertheless, mare milk production and consumption is gaining importance because of its high nutritive value, use in naturopathy, and hypoallergenic properties with respect to cow milk protein allergies. In the current study, the open reading frames of the 4 casein genes CSN1S1 (αS1-casein), CSN2 (β-casein), CSN1S2 (αS2-casein), and CSN3 (κ-casein) were resequenced in 253 horses of 14 breeds. The analysis revealed 21 nonsynonymous nucleotide exchanges, as well as 11 synonymous nucleotide exchanges, leading to a total of 31 putative protein isoforms predicted at the DNA level, 26 of which considered novel. Although the majority of the alleles need to be confirmed at the transcript and protein level, a preliminary nomenclature was established for the equine casein alleles.

Short communication: Role of Streptococcus pluranimalium in Mediterranean buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) with different udder health statuses

The aims of the current study were to describe presence and clinical role over time of Streptococcus pluranimalium isolated in milk samples of Mediterranean buffalo (MB). Two hundred composite milk samples originating from 40 primiparous MB were collected at 10, 30, 60, 90, and 150d in milk (DIM) and from 20 pluriparous MB at 77 to 120 DIM. Milk samples were used for analysis of somatic cell counts, bacteriological cultures, and identification (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry). Nine of 200 (4.5%) samples of primiparous MB and 3 of 20 (15%) samples of pluriparous MB were positive for Strep. pluranimalium. The prevalence of the bacterium in primipari was 0% (0/40) at 10, 30, and 150 DIM, whereas it was 5 (2/40) and 17.5% (7/40) at 60 and 90 DIM, respectively. Eight primipari were positive only once, whereas 1 was positive at 2 different samplings. Mono-infection was not detected in any of the age categories or udder health status. Infections were transient in primipari. Clinical mastitis was observed in primipari once at 90 DIM, subclinical mastitis detected twice in the same animals at 60 and 90 DIM, and intramammary infections were diagnosed 1 and 5 times at 60 and 90 DIM in primipari, respectively, whereas 3 infections were diagnosed in pluripari. The clinical reflections demonstrate for the first time the presence of Strep. pluranimalium in MB and its association with different udder health status. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded that the bacterium may simply follow a pattern of commensal or opportunistic behavior, taking advantage of a preexisting bacterial udder infection.