NOVEL DERMATOPHILOSIS AND CONCURRENT AMYLOIDOSIS IN SANDERLINGS ( CALIDRIS ALBA) FROM LOUISIANA, USA.

: We observed Sanderlings ( Calidris alba) with facial growths in coastal Louisiana, US during summer of 2016. Severe lesions were associated with lethargy and lack of a flight response. We determined that the skin growth etiology was a bacterium of the genus Dermatophilus, rarely reported infecting birds. Sanderlings also exhibited severe amyloidosis.

The validity of a clinical test for the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis and management of acquired lumbar spinal stenosis (ALSS) is an area of growing interest with an increase in its prevalence and detection in the older population. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of a modified extension test (MExT) for diagnosing ALSS in subjects aged fifty or over. METHODS: Symptomatic response of the bi-component MExT was evaluated and compared against magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in 30 subjects. Estimates of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios (LRs) and post-test probabilities were all calculated, and the capability of the test to discriminate between grade and location of stenosis was also appraised. RESULTS: MExT sensitivity was high at 92% (95% confidence intervals (CI), 72-99%) leading to a significant negative likelihood ratio at -LR 0.2 (95% CI, 0.03-1.36); conversely, specificity was low at 40% (95% CI, 7-82%) with only a small positive likelihood ratio of +LR 1.53 (95% CI, 0.74-3.16). All correlations between the MExT and concurrent grade, or location of stenosis appeared weak and insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: The MExT was found to demonstrate acceptable criterion validity in relation to ruling-out a diagnosis when a negative result was observed; however, further validation appears warranted.

Sodium bis-(ethyl-enedi-amine)-copper(II) tetra-cyanido-cuprate(I).

The title compound, Na[Cu(en)2][Cu(CN)4], where en represents ethyl-enedi-amine, NH2CH2CH2NH2, crystallizes as a salt with two distinct cations, Na(+) and [Cu(II)en2](2+), and discrete [Cu(I)(CN)4](3-) anions. The anion geometry is tetra-hedral, with angles at the copper atom ranging from 105.0 (1) to 115.4 (1)°. The Cu-C distances are in the range 1.976 (3) to 1.993 (3) Å. The divalent copper atom is coordinated by four N atoms of the two bidentate en ligands in a slightly distorted square-planar geometry. In the crystal, each sodium ion inter-acts with cyanide N atoms of four different anions, with Na-N distances lying in the narrow range of 2.344 (3) to 2.367 (3) Å, and an approximately tetra-hedral arrangement around the sodium ions. The inter-acting sodium ions and [Cu(I)(CN)4](3-) anions form a three-dimensional network with channels which contain the [Cu(en)2](2+) cations. One of the chelate rings in the cation shows partial disorder between two different conformations and the C atoms were refined with occupancies in the ratio 0.817 (15):0.183 (15).