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Background Preoperative L-lactatemia and heart rate have been suggested as prognostic indicators of outcome for cows with right dilatation of the abomasum or volvulus ( RDA/ AV). However, postoperative L-lactatemia has not been assessed as a potential prognostic tool. Objectives To determine the prognostic value of postoperative L-lactatemia ( LAC2), duration of treatment (Dt), relative L-lactatemia difference (compared with preoperative L-lactatemia [LAC1]) ([LAC2 − LAC1]/LAC2) and change in L-lactate over time ([LAC2 − LAC1]/Dt) as compared to preoperative findings ( LAC1 and heart rate [ HR]) as prognostic factors in dairy cows with RDA/ AV. Animals A total of 41 dairy cows were included: 19 with AV and 22 with RDA; 11 cows had a negative outcome ( NO) and 30 cows had a positive outcome ( PO) based on telephone follow-up with owners 30 days after surgery. Methods Prospective cohort study. Analysis was performed using logistic regression and comparison of area under the receiver operating characteristics curve ( AUC) using nonparametric tests. Results LAC1 > 1.4 mmol/L or LAC2 > 2.2 mmol/L had the same accuracy with sensitivity of 100% (95% CI, 75.1-100%) and specificity of 80% (95% CI, 61.4-92.3%) for predicting NO. The relative L-lactatemia difference ([LAC2 − LAC1]/LAC1) or lactate kinetics ([LAC2 − LAC1]/Dt) were not associated with prognosis. The AUC of the preoperative model (which included HR and lnLAC1) was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.83-1.0) and that of the postoperative model (including only lnLAC2) was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.88-1.0); these were not significantly different. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Postoperative L-lactatemia is helpful to predict outcome in cows with RDA/ AV. The short-term change in blood L-lactate is not a useful prognostic indicator , at least during the period of time spent on the farm for surgery and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

243 measurements of cerebral blood flow by a noninvasive (133)Xe clearance technique have been made in 45 patients undergoing surgery for a recently ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Two groups of patients have been defined by the presence or absence of a postoperative rise in cerebral blood flow which showed a significant correlation with level of consciousness after operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional cerebral blood flow was measured by injection of (133)Xenon into the internal carotid artery in 11 patients with cerebrovascular disease. All patients were studied under general anaesthesia, first at normocapnia and then at hypocapnia. The 15 minute isotope clearance curves were analysed by computer by two-compartmental analysis and regional changes in flow and the proportions of fast and slow clearing tissue obtained at two levels of arterial CO(2) tension. Hypocapnia caused a fall in blood flow which was consistently accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of fast clearing tissue. Regional changes were not significantly different from the hemisphere mean changes. There was no correlation between changes in blood flow through grey matter and the proportion of fast clearing tissue on a hemisphere mean basis, but on regional analysis the data from 10 out of the 11 patients showed that in areas where blood flow through grey matter changed most the proportion of fast clearing tissue changed least and vice versa. A hypothesis has been proposed to explain this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of the current study were (1) to determine the gain in prognostic accuracy of preoperative L-lactate concentration (LAC) measured on farm on cows with right displaced abomasum (RDA) or abomasal volvulus (AV) for predicting negative outcome; and (2) to suggest clinically relevant thresholds for such use. A cohort of 102 cows with on-farm surgical diagnostic of RDA or AV was obtained from June 2009 through December 2011. Blood was drawn from coccygeal vessels before surgery and plasma LAC was immediately measured by using a portable clinical analyzer. Dairy producers were interviewed by phone 30 d following surgery and the outcome was determined: a positive outcome if the owner was satisfied of the overall evolution 30 d postoperatively, and a negative outcome if the cow was culled, died, or if the owner reported being unsatisfied 30 d postoperatively. The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve for LAC was 0.92 and was significantly greater than the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve of heart rate (HR; 0.77), indicating that LAC, in general, performed better than HR to predict a negative outcome. Furthermore, the ability to predict a negative outcome was significantly improved when LAC measurement was considered in addition to the already available HR data (area under the curve: 0.93 and 95% confidence interval: 0.87, 0.99). Important inflection points of the misclassification cost term function were noted at thresholds of 2 and 6 mmol/L, suggesting the potential utility of these cut-points. The 2 and 6 mmol/L thresholds had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for predicting a negative outcome of 76.2, 82.7, 53.3, and 93.1%, and of 28.6, 97.5, 75, and 84%, respectively. In terms of clinical interpretation, LAC ≤2 mmol/L appeared to be a good indicator of positive outcome and could be used to support a surgical treatment decision. The treatment decision for cows with LAC between 2 and 6 mmol/L, however, would depend on the economic context and the owner's attitude to risk in regard to potential return on its investment. Finally, performing a surgical correction on commercial cows with RDA or AV and a LAC ≥6 mmol/L appeared to be unjustified and these animals should be culled based on their high probability of negative outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pertussis toxin uncoupling-based studies have shown that Gαi and Gαo can inhibit insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells. Yet it is unclear whether Gαi and Gαo operate through identical mechanisms and how these G-protein-mediated signals inhibit insulin secretion in vivo. Our objective is to examine whether/how Gαo regulates islet development and insulin secretion in β-cells.Research Design and Methods: Immunoassays were used to analyze the Gαo expression in mouse pancreatic cells. Gαo was specifically inactivated in pancreatic progenitor cells by pancreatic cell-specific gene deletion. Hormone expression and insulin secretion in response to different stimuli were assayed in vivo and in vitro. Electron microscope and total internal reflection fluorescence-based assays were used to evaluate how Gαo regulates insulin vesicle docking and secretion in response to glucose stimulation.Results: Islet cells differentiate properly in Gαo(-/-) mutant mice. Gαo inactivation significantly enhances insulin secretion both in vivo and in isolation. Gαo nullizygous β-cells contain an increased number of insulin granules docked on the cell plasma membrane, although the total number of vesicles per β-cell remains unchanged.Conclusions: Gαo is not required for endocrine islet cell differentiation, but it regulates the number of insulin vesicles docked on the β-cell membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some anatomical aspects of the blood supply of the brains of mammals have been examined to illuminate their functions. A fundamental explanation of sudden infant death syndrome (cot death) is suggested following experimental1 observations. Speculative contributions have been made to comparative physiological ideas concerning mammals of pronograde and erect habitus, their vascular pressure adaptations and temperature management. Neuro- and interventional radiologists may make some significant future applications of these ideas. Of immediate practical interest is the possibility of influencing the well-being of human embryos' neural tube development in utero by a comprehensive study of their temperature environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All spinal magnetic resonance imaging examinations carried out during a three month period were analysed retrospectively in order to determine the clinical reasons for the scan requests. Technical details of the examinations they received and the clinical profiles formed a data set which revealed 10 separate 'Clinical groups' for management purposes. Hardware, salary and expendables were costed as though the imaging unit had been sited within a National Health Service radiology department. A spread sheet was designed capable of calculating costs per patient for a variety of types of working week and of different staffing structures, sensitive to the mixture of clinical groups referred for examination. The spreadsheet also accomodated straight line depreciation for hardware value and interest rates for borrowed capital. A second, prospectively observed, sample of spinal MR examinations was used to improve the accuracy of the timing of the length of patient examinations. Costs were compared with those for patients submitted for myelography and radiculography at the adjacent hospital during the same period. The comparison indicated that spinal MR was less costly than myelography and radiculography. The most important element of the extra cost of myelography related to the need to admit patients to hospital for at least one night for this examination because of the likelihood of headache and other common (though usually minor) complications following lumbar puncture and/or the injection of contrast medium. From the limited information that it was possible to obtain in the period of follow up, it appeared that MR had either been superior or equivalent to myelography or radiculography in all the clinical groups of patients where both could be tested. There were a number of groups in which no myelograms had been requested, presumably because clinical suspicions had pointed toward conditions like tumours, developmental abnormalities and demyelinating diseases in which neurologists and neurosurgeons have already made up their minds about the superiority of MR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]