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Clarias gariepinus collected from Lake Heritage, Crocodile River, were found to harbour camallanid nematodes. Previously, Boomker (1982) surveyed the Hartbeespoort Dam, downstream of the current study site, and identified a high prevalence of Procamallanus (Procamallanus) laeviconchus and Paracamallanus cyathopharynx. Since then, Procamallanus (Procamallanus) pseudolaeviconchus was described from C. gariepinus suggesting reconsideration of the identifications of Procamallanus species in historical studies from clariids. The aim of the current study was to definitively identify the nematodes collected from C. gariepinus in Lake Heritage , using morphological and molecular analyses. Morphological study consisted of light and scanning electron microscopy which confirmed the identity P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus and P. cyathopharynx. This included descriptions of the detailed morphology of isolated buccal capsules for both species using soft tissue digestion, notably for the first time for P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus. The morphology of isolated spiculae of both species was described for the first time using SEM. Molecular analyses included genetic characterisation of the small ribosomal subunit (18S) rDNA and cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) mtDNA. Genetic data supported the morphological identification of both species, however, divergence was detected in CO1 mtDNA data for P. cyathopharynx indicating two distinct lineages. Due to this variation, the morphometry of P. cyathopharynx specimens were revisited including statistical re-evaluation. No robust morphological traits were identified to support CO1 mtDNA lineages and all specimens were considered conspecific. In terms of camallanid biodiversity in the Crocodile River system, it is similar to that in Boomker (1982), despite the altered water quality from past acid mine pollution in the river. [Display omitted] • Two camallanid species (Procamallanus (Procamallanus) pseudolaeviconchus and Paracamallanus cyathopharynx) collected from Clarias gariepinus in Lake Heritage, Crocodile River, South Africa. • Isolated buccal capsules studied for the first time for P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus. • Isolated male spiculae studied for the first time for both species. • Genetic characterisation (18 S rDNA and CO1 mtDNA) with CO1 mtDNA genetic divergence for P. cyathopharynx. • Principal component analysis (PCA) is provided for the first time to study Paracamallanus sp. Morphometry to identify distinct morphometric traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There remains a paucity of recent data on right-sided colonic diverticulitis, especially those undergoing colectomy. We sought to describe the clinical features of patients undergoing both a laparoscopic and open surgery for right-sided diverticulitis.Methods: This study is a review of all cases of a right colectomy or ileocecectomy for diverticulitis from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2006 to 2012. Demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative outcomes were identified for all cases. A comparative analysis of a laparoscopic versus open approach was performed.Results: We identified 2233 admissions (laparoscopic = 592; open = 1641) in the NIS database. The majority of cases were Caucasian (67 %), with 6 % of NIS cases identified as Asian/Pacific Islander. The overall morbidity and in-hospital mortality rates were 24 and 2.7 %, respectively. The conversion rate from a laparoscopic to open procedure was 34 %. Postoperative complications were greater in the open versus laparoscopic cohorts (25 vs. 19 %, p < 0.01), with pulmonary complications as the highest (7.0 vs. 1.7 %; p < 0.01).Conclusion: This investigation represents one of the largest cohorts of colon resections to treat right-sided diverticulitis in the USA. In this series, right-sided diverticulitis undergoing surgery occurred most commonly in the Caucasian population and is most often approached via an open surgical technique; however, laparoscopy is a safe and feasible option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of modern medical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on surgical necessity and outcomes remains unclear. We hypothesized that surgery rates have decreased while outcomes have worsened due to operating on "sicker" patients since the introduction of biologic medications.Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample and ICD-9-CM codes were used to identify inpatient admissions for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Trends in IBD nutrition, surgeries, and postoperative complications were determined.Results: There were 191,743 admissions for IBD during the study period. Surgery rates were largely unchanged over the study period, ranging from 9 to 12 % of admissions in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The rate of poor nutrition increased by 67 % in ulcerative colitis and by 83 % in Crohn's disease. Rates of postoperative anastomotic leak (10.2-13.9 %) were unchanged over the years. Postoperative infection rates decreased by 17 % in Crohn's disease (18 % in 2003 to 15 % in 2012; P < 0.001) but did not show a trend in any direction in ulcerative colitis.Conclusions: Rates of IBD surgery have remained stable while postoperative infectious complications have remained stable or decreased since the implementation of biologic therapies. We identified an increase in poor nutrition in surgical patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Detection of colorectal cancer ideally occurs at an early stage through proper screening. We sought to establish methods by which colorectal cancers are diagnosed within an equal access military health care population and evaluate the correlation between TNM stage at colorectal cancer diagnosis and diagnostic modality (i.e., symptomatic detection vs screen detection).Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of all newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients from January 2007 to August 2014 was conducted at the authors' equal access military institution. We evaluated TNM stage relative to diagnosis by screen detection (fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, CT colonography, colonoscopy) or symptomatic evaluation (diagnostic colonoscopy or surgery).Results: Of 197 colorectal cancers diagnosed (59 % male; mean age 62 years), 50 (25 %) had stage I, 47 (24 %) had stage II, 70 (36 %) had stage III, and 30 (15 %) had stage IV disease. Twenty-five percent of colorectal cancers were detected via screen detection (3 % by fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), 0.5 % by screening CT colonography, 17 % by screening colonoscopy, and 5 % by surveillance colonoscopy). One hundred forty-eight (75 %) were diagnosed after onset of signs or symptoms. The preponderance of these was advanced-stage disease (stages III-IV), although >50 % of stage I-II disease also had signs or symptoms at diagnosis. The most common symptoms were rectal bleeding (45 %), abdominal pain (35 %), and change in stool caliber (27 %). The most common overall sign was anemia (60 %). Screening FOBT (odds ratio (OR) 8.7, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.0-78.3; P = 0.05) independently predicted early diagnosis with stage I-II disease. Patient gender and ethnicity were not associated with cancer stage at diagnosis.Conclusions: Despite equal access to colorectal cancer screening, diagnosis after development of symptomatic cancer remains more common. Fecal occult blood screen detection is associated with early stage at colorectal cancer diagnosis and is the focus for future initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum salts have a long history as safe and effective vaccine adjuvants. In addition, aluminum salts have high adsorptive capacities for vaccine antigens and adjuvant molecules, for example, Toll-like receptor 4 ( TLR4) agonists. However, the physicochemical properties of aluminum salts make direct quantitation of adsorbed molecules challenging. Typical methods for quantifying adsorbed molecules require advanced instrumentation, extreme sample processing, often destroy the sample, or rely on an indirect measurement. A simple, direct, and quantitative method for analysis of adsorbed adjuvant molecules is needed. This report presents a method utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with a Zn Se-attenuated total reflectance attachment to directly measure low levels (<30 μg/mL) of TLR4 agonists adsorbed on aluminum salts with minimal sample preparation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 104:768-774, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central pattern generators are neuron networks that produce vital rhythmic motor outputs such as those observed in mastication, walking and breathing. Their activity patterns depend on the tuning of their intrinsic ionic conductances, their synaptic interconnectivity and entrainment by extrinsic neurons. The influence of two commonly found synaptic connectivities – reciprocal inhibition and electrical coupling – are investigated here using a neuron model with subthreshold oscillation capability, in different firing and entrainment regimes. We study the dynamics displayed by a network of a pair of neurons with various firing regimes, coupled by either (i) only reciprocal inhibition or by (ii) electrical coupling first and then reciprocal inhibition. In both scenarios a range of coupling strengths for the reciprocal inhibition is tested, and in general the neuron with the lower firing rate stops spiking for strong enough inhibitory coupling, while the faster neuron remains active. However, in scenario (ii) the originally slower neuron stops spiking at weaker inhibitory coupling strength, suggesting that the electrical coupling introduces an element of instability to the two-neuron network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activity of adjuvanted vaccines is difficult to predict in vitro and in vivo. The wide compositional and conformational range of formulated adjuvants, from aluminum salts to oil-in-water emulsions, makes comparisons between physicochemical and immunological properties difficult. Even within a formulated adjuvant class, excipient selection and concentration can alter potency and physicochemical properties of the mixture. Complete characterization of physicochemical properties of adjuvanted vaccine formulations and relationship to biological response is necessary to move beyond a guess-and-check paradigm toward directed development. Here we present a careful physicochemical characterization of a two-component nanosuspension containing synthetic TLR-4 agonist glucopyranosyl lipid adjuvant ( GLA) and 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine ( DPPC) at various molar ratios. Physicochemical properties were compared with potency, as measured by stimulation of cytokine production in human whole blood. We found a surprising, nonlinear relationship between physicochemical properties and GLA- DPPC ratios that corresponded well with changes in biological activity. We discuss these data in light of the current understanding of TLR4 activation and the conformation-potency relationship in development of adjuvanted vaccines. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 103:879-889, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injurious pecking is considered a major economic concern and affects all sectors of commercial poultry production. Though extensive research has been performed examining feather pecking in layer chickens, little information exists regarding feather or head pecking behavior in domestic turkey flocks, and less still in commercial settings. The objective of the present field study was to examine the development of injurious feather and head pecking in tom turkeys raised in 2 different commercial environments. At a commercial facility, 49,332 beak-conditioned tom turkeys were placed in 8 barns (5,000–7,500 turkeys/barn) and studied through 16 wk of age. Approximately half were housed in control barns in March 2010; these barns were environmentally controlled (artificial light and tunnel ventilation) in both rearing and growing, with a density of 0.16 m2/bird for rearing through 4.5 wk and 0.39 m2/bird for growing through 16 wk. The remaining turkeys were housed in curtain-sided barns in April 2010; the 4 rearing barns were environmentally controlled with a density of 0.10 m2/bird, whereas the 4 growing barns had natural light and ventilation and a density of 0.36 to 0.38 m2/bird through 16 wk. Two barns from each growing environment were provided with multicolored plastic balls as enrichment. Each housing and enrichment combination had 2 replicate barns. Behavior, weights, and feather condition were assessed every 3 wk. Mortalities and culls were recorded as they occurred. Turkeys in curtain-sided barns had worse feather condition and more culls and mortalities with severe pecking injuries compared with those in control barns. In both environments, severe and gentle pecking was observed throughout production, and the majority of culls and mortalities had severe pecking injuries. More controlled studies are needed to parse the causal factors of injurious pecking in toms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to use previously calculated estimated breeding values for cell- (CMIR) and antibody-mediated immune responses (AMIR) to determine associations between immune response (IR) and economically important diseases of dairy cattle. In total, 699 Holsteins were classified as high, average, or low for CMIR, AMIR, and overall IR (combined CMIR and AMIR), and associations with mastitis, metritis, ketosis, displaced abomasums, and retained fetal membranes were determined. The incidence of mastitis was higher among average cows as compared with cows classified as high AMIR [odds ratio (OR) = 2.5], high CMIR (OR = 1.8), or high IR (OR = 1.8). Low-CMIR cows had a higher incidence of metritis (OR = 11.3) and low-IR cows had a higher incidence of displaced abomasum (OR = 4.1) and retained fetal membrane (OR = 2.8) than did average responders. Results of this study show that cows classified as high immune responders have lower occurrence of disease, suggesting that breeding cattle for enhanced IR may be a feasible approach to decrease the incidence of infectious and metabolic diseases in the dairy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its components are used for the prevention and treatment of enteric disease in different species; therefore, they may also be useful for preventing Johne's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP). The objective of this study was to identify potential immunomodulatory S. cerevisiae components using a bovine macrophage cell line (BOMAC). The BOMAC phagocytic activity, reactive oxygen species production, and immune-related gene (IL6, IL10, IL12p40, IL13, IL23), transforming growth factor β, ARG1, CASP1, and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression were investigated when BOMAC were cocultured with cell wall components from 4 different strains (A, B, C, and D) and 2 forms of dead yeast from strain A. The BOMAC phagocytosis of mCherry-labeled MAP was concentration-dependently attenuated when BOMAC were cocultured with yeast components for 6 h. Each yeast derivative also induced a concentration-dependent increase in BOMAC reactive oxygen species production after a 6-h exposure. In addition, BOMAC mRNA expression of the immune-related genes was investigated after 6 and 24 h of exposure to yeast components. All yeast components were found to regulate the immunomodulatory genes of BOMAC; however, the response varied among components and over time. The in vitro bioassessment studies reported here suggest that dead yeast and its cell wall components may be useful for modulating macrophage function before or during MAP infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]