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Background Bleeding tendencies can occur with uremia. Objectives To characterize primary hemostatic function in dogs with acute kidney injury (AKI). Animals Ten dogs with International Renal Interest Society AKI grade III or above and 10 healthy controls. Methods Prospective study comparing PCV, platelet count, platelet aggregometry (Multiplate), and von Willebrand factor antigen to collagen binding activity ratio (vWF:Ag:vWF:CBA) in 2 groups of dogs (AKI group versus controls). Buccal mucosal bleeding time was measured in the AKI group only. Data are presented as median [25th, 75th percentile] unless otherwise stated. Significance was set at P < .05. Results Mean PCV was significantly lower in the AKI (34.7%; ±SD, 8.8) than in the control (46.1%; ±SD, 3.6; P < .001) group. Platelet count was significantly higher in the AKI (350.5 × 103/μL [301, 516]) than in the control (241 × 103/μL [227, 251]; P = .01) group. Collagen‐activated platelet aggregometry measured as area under the curve was significantly lower in the AKI (36.9 ± 17.7) than in the control (54.9 ± 11.2; P = .05) group. vWF:Ag:vWF:CBA was significantly higher in the AKI (2.2 [1.9, 2.6]) than in the control (1.1 [1.1, 1.2]; P = .01) group. There was a strong correlation between vWF:Ag:vWF:CBA and creatinine (r = 0.859; P < .001), but no other variables. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Dogs with AKI had decreased collagen‐activated platelet aggregation and appear to have a type II von Willebrand disease‐like phenotype as indicated by the high vWF:Ag:vWF:CBA.

Background—aimTraumatic brain injury (TBI) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) can occur concomitantly and be associated with coagulopathy that influences TBI outcome. The use of bleeding time tests in TBI management is controversial. We hypothesized that in TBI patients with AUD, a prolonged bleeding time is associated with more severe injury and poor outcome.Material and methodsModerate and severe TBI patients with evidence of AUD were examined with bleeding time according to IVY bleeding time on admission during neurointensive care. Baseline clinical and radiological characteristics were recorded. A standardized IVY bleeding time test was determined by staff trained in the procedure. Bleeding time test results were divided into normal (≤ 600 s), prolonged (> 600 s), and markedly prolonged (≥ 900 s). Normal platelet count (PLT) was defined as > 150,000/μL. This cohort was compared with another group of TBI patients without evidence of AUD.ResultsFifty-two patients with TBI and AUD were identified, and 121 TBI patients without any history of AUD were used as controls. PLT was low in 44.2% and bleeding time was prolonged in 69.2% of patients. Bleeding time values negatively correlated with PLT (p < 0.05). TBI patients with markedly prolonged values (≥ 900 s) had significantly increased hematoma size, and more frequently required intracranial pressure measurement and mechanical ventilation compared with those with bleeding times < 900 s (p < 0.05). Most patients (88%) with low platelet count had prolonged bleeding time. No difference in 6-month outcome between the bleeding time groups was observed (p > 0.05). Subjects with TBI and no evidence for AUD had lower bleeding time values and higher platelet count compared with those with TBI and history of AUD (p < 0.05).ConclusionsAlthough differences in the bleeding time values between TBI cohorts exist and prolonged values may be seen even in patients with normal platelet count, the bleeding test is a marker of primary hemostasis and platelet function with low specificity. However, it may provide an additional assessment in the interpretation of the overall status of TBI patients with AUD. Therefore, the bleeding time test should only be used in combination with the patient’s bleeding history and careful assessment of other hematologic parameters.

BACKGROUND: Thrombosis has been associated to some diseases like hyperadrenocorticism (HAC). Several drugs can alter the balance, such as the corticosteroid prednisone, used mainly for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. It is known that hypercortisolism can stimulate thrombi formation by increasing coagulation factors and decreasing fibrinolysis. However it is not known how prednisone administration affects hemostasis in dogs and if it is dose dependent. The aim of this study, therefore, was to demonstrate the effects of prednisone administration on dogs’ hemostatic profile. RESULTS: Significant decrease of antithrombin levels was observed in both groups (anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive doses) after 15 days of treatment. An increase of platelet aggregation was observed in dogs receiving immunosuppressive doses of prednisone (Group II). CONCLUSIONS: From the results obtained in our study, it is not possible to infer that hypercortisolism can increase the thromboembolic risk, despite the decreased anticoagulant factors (antithrombin levels).

Cases of clear scientific misconduct have received significant media attention recently, but less flagrantly questionable research practices may be more prevalent and, ultimately, more damaging to the academic enterprise. Using an anonymous elicitation format supplemented by incentives for honest reporting, we surveyed over 2,000 psychologists about their involvement in questionable research practices. The impact of truth-telling incentives on self-admissions of questionable research practices was positive, and this impact was greater for practices that respondents judged to be less defensible. Combining three different estimation methods, we found that the percentage of respondents who have engaged in questionable practices was surprisingly high. This finding suggests that some questionable practices may constitute the prevailing research norm.

With the exception of a few model species, individual differences in cognition remain relatively unstudied in non-human animals. One intriguing possibility is that variation in cognition is functionally related to variation in personality. Here, we review some examples and present hypotheses on relationships between personality (or behavioural syndromes) and individual differences in cognitive style. Our hypotheses are based largely on a connection between fast–slow behavioural types (BTs; e.g. boldness, aggressiveness, exploration tendency) and cognitive speed–accuracy trade-offs. We also discuss connections between BTs, cognition and ecologically important aspects of decision-making, including sampling, impulsivity, risk sensitivity and choosiness. Finally, we introduce the notion of cognition syndromes, and apply ideas from theories on adaptive behavioural syndromes to generate predictions on cognition syndromes.

Hemostasis encompasses an ensemble of interactions among platelets, coagulation factors, blood cells, endothelium, and hemodynamic forces, but current assays assess only isolated aspects of this complex process. Accordingly, here we develop a comprehensive in vitro mechanical injury bleeding model comprising an “endothelialized” microfluidic system coupled with a microengineered pneumatic valve that induces a vascular “injury”. With perfusion of whole blood, hemostatic plug formation is visualized and “in vitro bleeding time” is measured. We investigate the interaction of different components of hemostasis, gaining insight into several unresolved hematologic issues. Specifically, we visualize and quantitatively demonstrate: the effect of anti-platelet agent on clot contraction and hemostatic plug formation, that von Willebrand factor is essential for hemostasis at high shear, that hemophilia A blood confers unstable hemostatic plug formation and altered fibrin architecture, and the importance of endothelial phosphatidylserine in hemostasis. These results establish the versatility and clinical utility of our microfluidic bleeding model. Hemostasis is a complex ensemble of events, but current bleeding assays only analyze single components like coagulation or platelet function. Here the authors present a comprehensive vascularized microfluidic mechanical injury bleeding model that addresses different aspects of the hemostatic process.

The pig is an important livestock for food supply and an ideal model for various human diseases. Efficient and precise genetic engineering in pigs holds great promise in agriculture and biomedicine . Using currently available approach, generating specific gene modifications in pigs requires two steps. First, site-specific nucleases such as zinc finger nucleases （ZFNs） and transcription activator-like effector nucleases （TALENs） are used to generate targeted mutations in pig somatic cells.

We tested the hypothesis that recent oceanographic changes associated with climate change in the Northeast United States continental shelf ecosystem have caused a change in spatial distribution of marine fish. To do this, we analyzed temporal trends from 1968 to 2007 in the mean center of biomass, mean depth, mean temperature of occurrence, and area occupied in each of 36 fish stocks. Temporal trends in distribution were compared to time series of both local- and large-scale environmental variables, as well as estimates of survey abundance. Many stocks spanning several taxonomic groups, life-history strategies, and rates of fishing exhibited a poleward shift in their center of biomass, most with a simultaneous increase in depth, and a few with a concomitant expansion of their northern range. However, distributional changes were highly dependent on the biogeography of each species. Stocks located in the southern extent of the survey area exhibited much greater poleward shifts in center of biomass and some occupied habitats at increasingly greater depths. In contrast, minimal changes in the center of biomass were observed in stocks with distributions limited to the Gulf of Maine, but mean depth of these stocks increased while stock size decreased. Large-scale temperature increase and changes in circulation, represented by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, was the most important factor associated with shifts in the mean center of biomass. Stock size was more often correlated with the total area occupied by each species. These changes in spatial distribution of fish stocks are likely to persist such that stock structure should be re-evaluated for some species.

On nanotextured noble-metal surfaces, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is observed, where Raman scattering is enhanced by a factor, G, that is frequently about one million, but underlying the factor G is a broad distribution of local enhancement factors, η. We have measured this distribution for benzenethiolate molecules on a 330-nanometer silver-coated nanosphere lattice using incident light of wavelength 532 nanometers. A series of laser pulses with increasing electric fields burned away molecules at sites with progressively decreasing electromagnetic enhancement factors. The enhancement distribution P(η)dη was found to be a power law proportional to (η)⁻¹.⁷⁵, with minimum and maximum values of 2.8 x 10⁴ and 4.1 x 10¹⁰, respectively. The hottest sites (η >10⁹) account for just 63 in 1,000,000 of the total but contribute 24% to the overall SERS intensity.

Iron uptake and metabolism are tightly regulated in both plants and animals. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), BRUTUS (BTS), which contains three hemerythrin (HHE) domains and a Really Interesting New Gene (RING) domain, interacts with basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that are capable of forming heterodimers with POPEYE (PYE), a positive regulator of the iron deficiency response. BTS has been shown to have E3 ligase capacity and to play a role in root growth, rhizosphere acidification, and iron reductase activity in response to iron deprivation. To further characterize the function of this protein, we examined the expression pattern of recombinantProBTS::β-GLUCURONIDASEand found that it is expressed in developing embryos and other reproductive tissues, corresponding with its apparent role in reproductive growth and development. Our findings also indicate that the interactions between BTS and PYE-like (PYEL) basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors occur within the nucleus and are dependent on the presence of the RING domain. We provide evidence that BTS facilitates 26S proteasome-mediated degradation of PYEL proteins in the absence of iron. We also determined that, upon binding iron at the HHE domains, BTS is destabilized and that this destabilization relies on specific residues within the HHE domains. This study reveals an important and unique mechanism for plant iron homeostasis whereby an E3 ubiquitin ligase may posttranslationally control components of the transcriptional regulatory network involved in the iron deficiency response.