Clinical and pathologic characteristics of T-cell lymphoma with a leukemic phase in a raccoon dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides)

A 7.5-year-old raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) from the Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha, Nebraska) presented to the veterinary hospital for lethargy and weight loss. On physical examination, splenomegaly and hepatomegaly were noted on palpation and were confirmed by radiographic evaluation. Radiography also demonstrated a mass in the cranial mediastinum. A complete blood cell count revealed marked leukocytosis (115,200 cells/microl), with a predominance of lymphoid cells. The animal was euthanized due to a poor prognosis. Necropsy revealed splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and a large multiloculated mass in the cranial mediastinum. The histologic and immunohistochemical diagnosis was multicentric T-cell lymphoma with a leukemic phase.published_or_final_versio

The stuff that affects you: Fiction, poetry, and doggerel

Inevitably writers write about the stuff that affects them. Maybe the stuff that affects them is life-altering, or in some way profound or sublime, like untimely death, divorce, or being in love. Or maybe it\u27s the mundane stuff, like marbles, cats, crows, weeds, wind, rain, or riding a bike. This thesis includes fiction, poetry, and light verse (which I prefer to call doggerel) triggered by all of that stuff, but I\u27ve twisted and embellished it beyond the literal or whole truth, until what remains is nothing but the truth

Approaches to studying and study tactics of baccalaureate nursing students

This research was designed to describe study approaches and study tactics used by baccalaureate nursing students. Previous inquiry indicates that students will take a Deep, Strategic, or Surface approach to studying and will use specific study tactics to meet the demands of their learning contexts. The Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was administered to 174 students in Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Nursing Care of the Adult Client. Failing students were less likely to participate. The ASSIST bad acceptable internal consistency reliability and construct validity. A majority (55%) of students took a Strategic approach to studying; smaller proportions adopted Deep (26%) and Surface (19%) approaches. Deep and Strategic approach scores were positively correlated with final course grades, GPAs, study hours, and students\u27 ratings of their course performance. Surface approach was negatively correlated with the aforementioned variables. Age was positively correlated with Deep approach, but negatively correlated with Surface approach. Strategic approach was negatively correlated with hours of paid work. Study tactics were identified by interviewing 13 high, medium, and low achieving students. Students had varied conceptions of their learning contexts and what they did to prepare for exams. All students experienced lecture-style teaching methods and fact-based assessment. The predominant in-class activity was note-taking, conceptions of which were related to whether a note-taking handout was provided, year of study, and academic achievement. Year of study and academic achievement were related to what students did to prepare for exams and the number of study tactics they used, which ranged 1-5, the most frequent being notes review. It is concluded that Deep, Strategic, and Surface study approaches are related to academic factors and academic achievement. There are relationships between students\u27 conceptions of their learning contexts, what they do to learn and prepare for exams, year of study, use of study tactics, and academic achievement. Conclusions are limited by an under-representation of failing students. These findings have implications for the assessment and identification of students\u27 study approaches. Additional research is needed to describe the study tactics students choose and to determine how those tactics relate to academic achievement

Proximity to Sports Facilities and Sports Participation for Adolescents in Germany

Objectives - To assess the relationship between proximity to specific sports facilities and participation in the corresponding sports activities for adolescents in Germany. Methods - A sample of 1,768 adolescents aged 11–17 years old and living in 161 German communities was examined. Distances to the nearest sports facilities were calculated as an indicator of proximity to sports facilities using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Participation in specific leisure-time sports activities in sports clubs was assessed using a self-report questionnaire and individual-level socio-demographic variables were derived from a parent questionnaire. Community-level socio-demographics as covariates were selected from the INKAR database, in particular from indicators and maps on land development. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between proximity to the nearest sports facilities and participation in the corresponding sports activities. Results - The logisitic regression analyses showed that girls residing longer distances from the nearest gym were less likely to engage in indoor sports activities; a significant interaction between distances to gyms and level of urbanization was identified. Decomposition of the interaction term showed that for adolescent girls living in rural areas participation in indoor sports activities was positively associated with gym proximity. Proximity to tennis courts and indoor pools was not associated with participation in tennis or water sports, respectively. Conclusions - Improved proximity to gyms is likely to be more important for female adolescents living in rural areas

Atomic Structures of the 30S Subunit and Its Complexes with Ligands and Antibiotics

The two subunits that make up the ribosome have both distinct and cooperative functions. The 30S ribosomal subunit binds messenger RNA (mRNA) and is involved in the selection of cognate transfer RNA (tRNA) by monitoring codon–anticodon base-pairing during the decoding process. The 50S subunit catalyzes peptide-bond formation. Both subunits work in concert to move tRNAs and mRNAs relative to the ribosome in translocation, and both are the target of a large number of naturally occurring antibiotics. Thus, useful information about the mechanism of translation can be gleaned from structures of both individual subunits and the intact ribosome. In this paper, we describe our work on the determination of the atomic structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit and its complexes with RNA ligands, antibiotics, and initiation factor IF1. The results provide structural insights into how the ribosome recognizes cognate tRNA and discriminates against near-cognate tRNA. They also provide a structural basis for understanding the action of various antibiotics that target the 30S subunit

Do you see what I see? Identification of child protection concerns by hospital staff and general dental practitioners

Aim An exploration of the threshold that dentists, doctors and nurses recognise for dental and child protection (CP) actions in sample clinical cases, and any differences between these professional groups. Method We present a cross-sectional survey of dentists, doctors and nurses (50 each), who regularly examine children, utilised five fictitious vignettes, combining an oral examination image and clinical history reflecting dental and CP issues. Demographics were collected, and each participant gave their likely action for the cases presented. Results Dentists were significantly better at answering the dental element than the doctors and nurses, (P <0.0001) with no significant difference between these two; only 8% of the latter had undergone any training in assessment of dental health. Although 90.6% of all professionals had undergone CP training, dentists were significantly less accurate at identifying the CP component than doctors and nurses, (P <0.0001) between whom there were no significant differences. Those with higher levels of CP training were most accurate at identifying correct CP actions. Conclusions CP training is effective at improving recognition of child maltreatment, although there remains a worrying lack of knowledge about thresholds for action among dentists. Doctors and nurses have minimal training in, or knowledge of, dental health in children, thus precluding appropriate onward referrals

Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK

Background Adolescents are among the highest consumers of social media while research has shown that their well-being decreases with age. The temporal relationship between social media interaction and well-being is not well established. The aim of this study was to examine whether the changes in social media interaction and two well-being measures are related across ages using parallel growth models. Methods Data come from five waves of the youth questionnaire, 10-15 years, of the Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study (pooled n =9859). Social media interaction was assessed through daily frequency of chatting on social websites. Well-being was measured by happiness with six domains of life and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results Findings suggest gender differences in the relationship between interacting on social media and well-being. There were significant correlations between interacting on social media and well-being intercepts and between social media interaction and well-being slopes among females. Additionally higher social media interaction at age 10 was associated with declines in well-being thereafter for females, but not for males. Results were similar for both measures of well-being. Conclusions High levels of social media interaction in early adolescence have implications for well-being in later adolescence, particularly for females. The lack of an association among males suggests other factors might be associated with their reduction in well-being with age. These findings contribute to the debate on causality and may inform future policy and interventions

The importance of sedimenting organic matter, relative to oxygen and temperature, in structuring lake profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages

We quantified the role of a main food resource, sedimenting organic matter (SOM), relative to oxygen (DO) and temperature (TEMP) in structuring profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages in boreal lakes. SOM from 26 basins of 11 Finnish lakes was analysed for quantity (sedimentation rates), quality (C:N:P stoichiometry) and origin (carbon stable isotopes, d13C). Hypolimnetic oxygen and temperature were measured from each site during summer stratification. Partial canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and partial regression analyses were used to quantify contributions of SOM, DO and TEMP to community composition and three macroinvertebrate metrics. The results suggested a major contribution of SOM in regulating the community composition and total biomass. Oxygen best explained the Shannon diversity, whereas TEMP had largest contribution to the variation of Benthic Quality Index. Community composition was most strongly related to d13C of SOM. Based on additional d13C and stoichiometric analyses of chironomid taxa, marked differences were apparent in their utilization of SOM and body stoichiometry; taxa characteristic of oligotrophic conditions exhibited higher C:N ratios and lower C:P and N:P ratios compared to the species typical of eutrophic lakes. The results highlight the role of SOM in regulating benthic communities and the distributions of individual species, particularly in oligotrophic systems

Genome-wide view of natural antisense transcripts in Arabidopsis thaliana

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are endogenous transcripts that can form double-stranded RNA structures. Many protein-coding genes (PCs) and non-protein-coding genes (NPCs) tend to form cis-NATs and trans-NATs, respectively. In this work, we identified 4,080 cis-NATs and 2,491 trans-NATs genome-widely in Arabidopsis. Of these, 5,385 NAT-siRNAs were detected from the small RNA sequencing data. NAT-siRNAs are typically 21nt, and are processed by Dicer-like 1 (DCL1)/DCL2 and RDR6 and function in epigenetically activated situations, or 24nt, suggesting these are processed by DCL3 and RDR2 and function in environment stress. NAT-siRNAs are significantly derived from PC/PC pairs of trans-NATs and NPC/NPC pairs of cis-NATs. Furthermore, NAT pair genes typically have similar pattern of epigenetic status. Cis-NATs tend to be marked by euchromatic modifications, whereas trans-NATs tend to be marked by heterochromatic modifications

Reliability and validity of the modified child and adolescent physical activity and nutrition survey (CAPANS-C) questionnaire examining potential correlates of physical activity participation among Chinese-Australian youth

BACKGROUND: To date, few questionnaires examining psychosocial influences of physical activity (PA) participation have been psychometrically tested among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) youth. An understanding of these influences may help explain the observed differences in PA among CALD youth. Therefore, this study examined the reliability and predictive validity of a brief self-report questionnaire examining potential psychological and social correlates of physical activity among a sample of Chinese-Australian youth. METHODS: Two Chinese-weekend cultural schools from eastern metropolitan Melbourne consented to participate in this study. In total, 505 students aged 11 to 16 years were eligible for inclusion in the present study, and of these, 106 students agreed to participate (21% response rate). Participants completed at 37-item self-report questionnaire examining perceived psychological and social influences on physical activity participation twice, with a test–retest interval of 7 days. Predictive validity, internal consistency and test–retest reliability were evaluated using exploratory factor analyses, Cronbach’s α coefficient, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) respectively. Predictive validity was assessed by correlating responses against duration spent in self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis revealed a nine factor structure, with the majority of factors exhibiting high internal consistency (α ≥ 0.6). In addition, four of the nine factors had an ICC ≥ 0.6. Spearman rank-order correlations coefficients between the nine factors and self-reported minutes spent in MVPA ranged from -0.5 to 0.3 for all participants. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to examine the psychometric properties of a potential psychological and social correlates questionnaire among Chinese-Australian youth. The questionnaire was found to provide reliable estimates on a range of psychological and social influences on physical activity and evidence of predictive validity on a limited number of factors. More research is required to improve the reliability and validity of the questionnaire