scholarly journals Preliminary evaluation of probiotic effects on gastrointestinal signs in dogs with multicentric lymphoma undergoing multi‐agent chemotherapy: A randomised, placebo‐controlled study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria C. Jugan ◽  
Raelene M. Wouda ◽  
Mary Lynn Higginbotham

Author(s):  
Mark Kilfoil ◽  
Ali Ghorbani

The rapid growth of the World Wide Web has complicated the process of Web browsing by providing an overwhelming wealth of choices for the end user. To alleviate this burden, intelligent tools can do much of the drudge-work of looking ahead, searching and performing a preliminary evaluation of the end pages on the user’s behalf, anticipating the user’s needs and providing the user with more information with which to make fewer, more informed decisions. However, to accomplish this task, the tools need some form of representation of the interests of the user. This article describes the SWAMI system: SWAMI stands for Searching the Web with Agents having Mobility and Intelligence. SWAMI is a prototype that uses a multi-agent system to represent the interests of a user dynamically, and take advantage of the active nature of agents to provide a platform for look-ahead evaluation, page searching, and link swapping. The collection of agents is organized hierarchically according to the apparent interests of the user, which are discovered on-the-fly through multistage clustering. Results from initial testing show that such a system is able to follow the multiple changing interests of a user accurately, and that it is capable of acting fruitfully on these interests to provide a user with useful navigational suggestions.



Author(s):  
Mark Kilfoil ◽  
Ali Ghorbani

The rapid growth of the World Wide Web has complicated the process of Web browsing by providing an overwhelming wealth of choices for the end user. To alleviate this burden, intelligent tools can do much of the drudge-work of looking ahead, searching and performing a preliminary evaluation of the end pages on the user’s behalf, anticipating the user’s needs and providing the user with more information with which to make fewer, more informed decisions. However, to accomplish this task, the tools need some form of representation of the interests of the user. This article describes the SWAMI system: SWAMI stands for Searching the Web with Agents having Mobility and Intelligence. SWAMI is a prototype that uses a multi-agent system to represent the interests of a user dynamically, and take advantage of the active nature of agents to provide a platform for look-ahead evaluation, page searching, and link swapping. The collection of agents is organized hierarchically according to the apparent interests of the user, which are discovered on-the-fly through multi-stage clustering. Results from initial testing show that such a system is able to follow the multiple changing interests of a user accurately, and that it is capable of acting fruitfully on these interests to provide a user with useful navigational suggestions.



2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sofia Simula ◽  
Hazel J. Jenkins ◽  
Riikka Holopainen ◽  
Petteri Oura ◽  
Katariina Korniloff ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Low back pain (LBP) is the number one cause of disability globally. LBP is a symptom associated with biological, psychological and social factors, and serious causes for pain are very rare. Unhelpful beliefs about LBP and inappropriate imaging are common. Practitioners report pressure from patients to provide inappropriate imaging. A recently developed patient education and management booklet, ‘Understanding low back pain’, was designed to target previously identified barriers for reducing inappropriate imaging. The booklet includes evidence-based information on LBP and supports communication between patients and practitioners. Our aim was to 1) describe the translation process into Finnish and 2) study patients’ and practitioners’ attitudes to the booklet and to evaluate if it improved patients’ understanding of LBP and practitioners’ ability to follow imaging guidelines. Methods We translated the booklet from English to Finnish. Preliminary evaluation of the booklet was obtained from LBP patients (n = 136) and practitioners (n = 32) using web-based questionnaires. Open-ended questions were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Approximately half of the patients reported that reading the booklet helped them to understand LBP, while a third thought it encouraged them to perform physical activity and decreased LBP-related fear. Eighty percent of practitioners reported that the booklet helped them to follow imaging guidelines. In addition, practitioners reported that they found the booklet helpful and that it decreased the need for imaging. Conclusions The booklet seemed to be helpful in LBP management and in decreasing the need for LBP imaging according to patients and practitioners. Further research on the clinical effectiveness of the booklet in controlled study settings is needed. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN14389368, Registered 4 April 2019 - Retrospectively registered; ISRCTN11875357, Registered 22 April 2019 - Retrospectively registered.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-10
Author(s):  
Michihito Tagawa ◽  
Genya Shimbo ◽  
Akiko Uemura ◽  
Kotaro Matsumoto

Background: Canine lymphoma is one of the most frequently occurring malignant neoplasms in dogs. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy for the treatment of canine lymphoma is very effective; however, there is not enough evidence for the development of cardiac toxicity using several anthracyclines as chemotherapeutic agents. Case Description: An 8-year-old, castrated, mixed-breed dog was diagnosed with multicentric lymphoma and received multi-agent chemotherapy. Complete remission was achieved, but the patient had a relapse of lymphoma. After third-line chemotherapy with epirubicin, the patient was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. The total cumulative doses of doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, and epirubicin were 125, 8, and 125 mg/m2, respectively. Although the patient was treated with cardiac drugs and clinically stabilized, the patient had a relapse of lymphoma and died shortly after the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. Conclusion: The patient was suspected to have anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy. Further studies are required to establish prevention and management strategies for dogs receiving potentially cardiotoxic therapies, such as anthracyclines.



Author(s):  
John M. Wehrung ◽  
Richard J. Harniman

Water tables in aquifer regions of the southwest United States are dropping off at a rate which is greater than can be replaced by natural means. It is estimated that by 1985 wells will run dry in this region unless adequate artificial recharging can be accomplished. Recharging with surface water is limited by the plugging of permeable rock formations underground by clay particles and organic debris.A controlled study was initiated in which sand grains were used as the rock formation and water with known clay concentrations as the recharge media. The plugging mechanism was investigated by direct observation in the SEM of frozen hydrated sand samples from selected depths.



Author(s):  
Xia Mingyu ◽  
Ma Wengshu ◽  
Wu Xiangh ◽  
Chen Dong

This paper describes morphological and cytochemistry changes of endomyocardial biopsy in 94 patients. The samples of myoicardium were taken from 32 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, and sdudied with light and electron microscop. The cytochemical studies in some of these patients were performed at histological and ultrastructure level. This paper also reported the result of myocardial biopsy in 33 patients with serious dysrythmia.The result of this controlled study indicates that morphological assessment in both cardiomyopathy and congenital or rheumatic heart diseases showed no special changes. In patients of dilated cardiomyopathy, the decreased activity of myosin ATPase was secondary to cardial failure. The change of succinate dehydrogenase (SDHase) was not significant with light microscopy. But ultrastructural localization of SDHase activity is valuable. Its activity was found to be localized in endomembrane and ridge of the mitochondria, the activity of this enzyme was decrease, normal, or increase. SDHase activity was more intense in cardial myocytes well-functioning, or ultrastructurally well preserved hearts.



Author(s):  
D.C. Dominguez ◽  
J.T. Ellzey

Peroxisomes which participate in 1ipid metabolism have been shown to be altered in several metabolic disorders and toxic conditions. In alcoholic liver disease, the single lesion most frequently found is lipid accumu1ation in hepatocytes. However, the mechanisms for this 1ipid accumu1ation are not clear. The occurrence of modifications of liver peroxisomes due to excess alcohol consumption has not been subjected to a controlled study. We utilized a combination of cytochemica1 and morphometrictechniques to study the size and number of liver peroxisomes in rats fed an alcohol-supplemented diet compared to those of matched-paired control animals.Male Sprague-Daw1ey rats (400-500 g) received a liquid diet. The experimental group (N = 5/group) was fed a diet containing 30% ethanol-derived calories (EDC) and the control group was fed an isocaloric diet to 30% EDC. A pair feeding procedure was employed to control for caloric intake. Small pieces of liver randomly selected, were fixed in 2.3% -glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer, pH 7.2, incubated in a DAB medium and postfixed with. 2% aqueous osmium tetroxide. EM photographs were taken from sections of 3 tissue blocks from each sample (7,200X) with a Zeiss EM10-A (60 kV). With the use of a point counting method and a digital planimeter the volume density (Vv) and numerical density (Nv) were determined.



JAMA ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 197 (11) ◽  
pp. 849-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. F. Roddey


1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Formby ◽  
B. Albritton ◽  
I. M. Rivera

We describe preliminary attempts to fit a mathematical function to the slow-component eye velocity (SCV) over the time course of caloric-induced nystagmus. Initially, we consider a Weibull equation with three parameters. These parameters are estimated by a least-squares procedure to fit digitized SCV data. We present examples of SCV data and fitted curves to show how adjustments in the parameters of the model affect the fitted curve. The best fitting parameters are presented for curves fit to 120 warm caloric responses. The fitting parameters and the efficacy of the fitted curves are compared before and after the SCV data were smoothed to reduce response variability. We also consider a more flexible four-parameter Weibull equation that, for 98% of the smoothed caloric responses, yields fits that describe the data more precisely than a line through the mean. Finally, we consider advantages and problems in fitting the Weibull function to caloric data.





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