Finding meaning in suffering?-Meaning making and psychological adjustment over the course of a breast cancer disease.

This study aimed to explore individual meaning systems in the course of a breast cancer disease to test the assumed positive relation between meaning and well-being and to investigate the relationship between post-traumatic growth and well-being. A total of 65 patients with breast cancer were examined 1 year after initial treatment and another year follow-up. Questionnaires addressed meaning in life (MLQ), anxiety and depression (HADS), satisfaction with life (SWLS), health-related quality of life (EQ-5D, EORTC) and post-traumatic growth (PTGI). Personal meaning systems were assessed using a qualitative method. In the personal meaning systems with well-being and relationships as the most frequently named meaning categories, the experienced gains far outweigh the losses sustained as a result of the disease. A stronger sense of meaning was related to lower levels of anxiety and depression, a higher level of satisfaction with life and better health-related functioning. Well-being and post-traumatic growth were mostly independent. Reported losses were strongly related to a poorer well-being. Cancer can induce a process of personal growth, and a strong sense of purpose could facilitate psychological adjustment. The often claimed correlation of post-traumatic growth and a better psychological adjustment is still lacking clear evidence, whereas losses proofed to be crucial.

Early intestinal growth and development in poultry.

While there are many accepted "facts" within the field of poultry science that are in truth still open for discussion, there is little debate with respect to the tremendous genetic progress that has been made with commercial broilers and turkeys (Havenstein et al., 2003, 2007). When one considers the changes in carcass development in poultry meat strains, these genetic "improvements" have not always been accompanied by correlated changes in other physiological systems and this can predispose some birds to developmental anomalies (i.e. ascites; Pavlidis et al., 2007; Wideman et al., 2013). Over the last decade, there has been increased interest in intestinal growth/health as poultry nutritionists have attempted to adopt new approaches to deal with the broader changes in the overall nutrition landscape. This landscape includes not only the aforementioned genetic changes but also a raft of governmental policies that have focused attention on the environment (phosphorus and nitrogen excretion), consumer pressure on the use of antibiotics, and renewable biofuels with its consequent effects on ingredient costs. Intestinal morphology has become a common research tool for assessing nutritional effects on the intestine but it is only one metric among many that can be used and histological results can often be interpreted in a variety of ways. This study will address the broader body of research on intestinal growth and development in commercial poultry and will attempt to integrate the topics of the intestinal: microbial interface and the role of the intestine as an immune tissue under the broad umbrella of intestinal physiology.

Transcranial motor evoked potentials during anesthesia with desflurane versus propofol--A prospective randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate differences in transcranial electrical motor evoked potential (tcMEP) amplitudes between desflurane/remifentanil and propofol/remifentanil anesthesia treatment plans in patients without preexisting motor deficits (PMDs) undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). METHODS: This prospective trial included 21 patients who were randomly assigned to an effect group (Group(DESFLURANE); n=14) or a control group (Group(STANDARD-PROPOFOL); n=7). tcMEP amplitudes were measured 35 min post-induction (T1) either with desflurane or propofol. Treatment was then changed to propofol in Group(DESFLURANE). After an additional 35 min, the tcMEP amplitudes were reevaluated (T2). Differences in amplitudes (DW) between T1 and T2 were calculated for each patient, and the means of these differences were compared between groups. RESULTS: tcMEPs were recorded in all 21 patients. At T1, the mean amplitude was 840.1 (SD 50.3) µV and 358.9 (SD 74) µV for Group(STANDARD-PROPOFOL) and Group(DESFLURANE), respectively. The absolute mean difference (T1-T2) between groups was -496.75 µV (p=0.0006). CONCLUSION: Desflurane reduces the tcMEP amplitude significantly more than propofol in patients without PMDs undergoing CEA. SIGNIFICANCE: TcMEPs were recorded in all patients regardless of the anesthesia regimen. In patients with initially small amplitudes, desflurane may limit tcMEP recording because it produces a remarkable amplitude reduction, even in patients without PMDs.

The impact of dietary cation anion difference (DCAD) on the acid-base balance and calcium metabolism of non-lactating, non-pregnant dairy cows fed equal amounts of different anionic salts.

We evaluated the impact of the dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) on the influence of anionic salts (AS) on the metabolism of dairy cows using a study-design that included control of feed intake. Ten mature, non-lactating, non-pregnant, Holstein-Friesian-crossbreed cows received 2000 mEq of either one of the seven anionic salts tested, two combinations of the anionic salts or water as control via a rumen cannula. Salts and controls were assigned in a 10x10 Latin square design. Whole blood, serum and urine samples were taken during treatment (TP) and washout period. Samples of whole blood were tested for pH, base-excess and bicarbonate concentrations. In urine, pH and net acid-base excretion (NABE) were analysed. Calcium was measured in serum and urine. According to the different batches of hay, five groups of DCAD were created regarding cluster analysis. Changes in urine and blood parameters were statistically analysed for each DCAD group separately. The different DCAD had an impact on the amount of change in acid-base balance (ABB) and calcium metabolism and for how long these changes lasted. In the DCAD group receiving the highest amount of AS (239 mEq/kg dry matter with AS), changes of ABB were only noticeable in urine and these changes only differed from day zero in the first week of TP (P<0.05). In the other four groups changes of ABB were also visible in blood parameters, but only on a few days of TP did the deviations differ significantly (P<0.05) from day zero. Changes of ABB parameters in urine samples were more pronounced than those in blood and differed clearly from day zero (P<0.05). Parallel to the changes of ABB, calcium concentrations in these samples were significantly increased (P<0.001) in all DCAD groups. Except for the highest DCAD group, ionized calcium concentrations changed over time (P<0.020). However, the differences were very small and only differed from day zero on a few TP days. We conclude that the DCAD of a dairy cow's diet has an important impact on the effect of AS on ABB and calcium metabolism with respect to the duration and amount of change. The target regions of DCAD should be clearly below 100 mEq/kg dry matter to ensure the desired effect on ABB and calcium metabolism. Extremely negative DCAD should be avoided to minimize the risk of clinical acidosis induced by AS.

Electrical high frequency stimulation of the caudate nucleus induces local GABA outflow in freely moving rats.

Electrical high frequency stimulation of the globus pallidus internus or the subthalamic nucleus has beneficial motor effects in advanced Parkinson's disease. The mechanisms underlying these clinical results remain, however, unclear. From previous in vitro studies it is proposed that the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system is involved in the effectiveness of electrical high frequency stimulation (HFS). In these experiments, we developed an in vivo model that allows for simultaneous and collocated microdialysis and HFS by electrical pulses of 124 Hz in the caudate nucleus of freely moving rats. GABA and glutamate outflow were sampled by microdialysis technique and quantified after pre-column o-phthaldialdehyde sulphite derivatization using HPLC with electrochemical detection. As the most outstanding result, we could demonstrate that high frequency stimulation significantly increased basal GABA outflow without affecting glutamate levels in freely moving rats.

The secreted brain-derived neurotrophic factor precursor pro-BDNF binds to TrkB and p75NTR but not to TrkA or TrkC.

The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) binds to two cell surface receptors: TrkB receptors that promote neuronal survival and differentiation and p75NTR that induces apoptosis or survival. BDNF, as well as the other members of the neurotrophin family, is synthesized as a larger precursor, pro-BDNF, which undergoes posttranslational modifications and proteolytic processing by furin or related proteases. Both mature neurotrophins and uncleaved proneurotrophins are secreted from cells. The bioactivities of proneurotrophins could differ from those of mature, cleaved neurotrophins; therefore, we wanted to test whether pro-BDNF would differ from mature BDNF in its neurotrophin receptor binding and activation. A furin-resistant pro-BDNF, secreted from COS-7 cells, bound to TrkB-Fc and p75NTR-Fc, but not to TrkA-Fc or TrkC-Fc. Likewise, pro-BDNF elicited prototypical TrkB responses in biological assays, such as TrkB tyrosine phosphorylation, activation of ERK1/2, and neurite outgrowth. Moreover, mutation of the R103 residue of pro-BDNF abrogated its binding to TrkB-Fc but not to p75NTR-Fc. Taken together, these data indicate that pro-BDNF binds to and activates TrkB and could be involved in TrkB-mediated neurotrophic activity in vivo.

Increased apoptosis of neutrophils in a case of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis - a case report.

A 45-year-old female suffering from severe chronic schizophrenia of the paranoid type did not respond to typical antipsychotics. Five weeks after starting therapy with clozapine, she developed a clozapine-induced agranulocytosis (CA). Discontinuation of clozapine and treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) led to normalization of blood neutrophil counts within three weeks. This report suggests enhanced apoptosis of blood neutrophils during the acute phase of CA resulting from enhanced expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bik and from a decrease of the anti-apoptotic BCl-X(L) mRNA. The time course of decline and recovery of neutrophilic cells, as well as the release pattern of endogenous G-CSF, resembles those of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. The kinetics of CD 34-positive cells mimics that of cytotoxic progenitor cell mobilization, e. g., after cytostatic drug administration. Our findings argue against the hypothesis that clozapine-mediated inhibition of G-CSF or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) release is involved in CA development. Because clozapine-induced cell death mainly affects the neutrophil lineage, the elucidation of the exact mechanism of CA may open new perspectives for the treatment of psychiatric and possibly hematological disorders.

PLA2 phosphorylation and cyclooxygenase-2 induction, through p38 MAP kinase pathway, is involved in the IL-1beta-induced bradykinin B2 receptor gene transcription.

We hypothesized that inflammatory mediators such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) might be responsible for the hyperreactivity to bradykinin observed in asthmatic patients. We reported previously that IL-1beta induced a prostanoid-dependent increase in the density of bradykinin B2 receptors in cultured human bronchial smooth muscle cells. Our experiments demonstrate that the rapid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis induced by IL-1beta is abolished by cycloheximide, suggesting the involvement of protein synthesis. The formation of PGE2 is preceded by the phosphorylation of cPLA2 and the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2). The inhibition of p38 MAP kinase inhibited PGE2 synthesis, cPLA2 phosphorylation and abolished Cox-2 expression. The inhibition of Cox-2 expression correlated with a decrease of bradykinin B2 receptor expression. These data demonstrate that the activation of p38 MAP kinase elicited by IL-1beta leads to the phosphorylation of cPLA2 and Cox-2 overexpression, allowing rapid synthesis of PGE2 as a prerequisite for bradykinin B2 gene expression in human bronchial smooth muscle cells which could explain the hyperresponsiveness of asthmatic patients to bradykinin.

The effects of time of disease occurrence, milk yield, and body condition on fertility of dairy cows.

The associations between occurrence of diseases, milk yield, and body condition score on conception risk after first artificial insemination (AI) were analyzed in an observational study on a convenience sample of 43 farms participating in a herd health program. Data were taken from 9369 lactations, from 4382 cows inseminated between 20 and 180 d in milk from 1990 to 1996. Two logistic regression models, one containing data from all lactations and a subset containing data from 1762 lactations with body condition scoring, were used to determine pregnancy risk at first AI. The effects of herd deviation in test-day milk yield, body condition score loss, and milk fat to protein ratio changes in early lactation were significant predictors of pregnancy risk, independent of disease; days in milk; farm; and seasonal factors. Three different methods of disease parameterization (incidence rates, binomial classes dependent on the interval in days since last occurrence with respect to AI, and a linear variable weighted for this interval) produced similar results. Metritis, cystic ovarian disease, lameness, and mastitis gave odds ratios for pregnancy risk ranging from 0.35 to 1.15, largely dependent on the interval in days from final disease occurrence to first AI. Displaced abomasum, milk fever, and retained fetal membranes resulted in odds ratios for pregnancy risk of 0.25, 0.85, and 0.55, respectively. These diseases showed little relationship between fertility and the number of days since last occurrence. Results of this study confirm the negative effects of milk yield, body score condition loss, and disease on dairy cow fertility. The effects of some diseases on first service conception were strongly dependent on the interval since last disease occurrence. This was especially valid for clinical mastitis, which has an extremely weak effect on conception if occurring prior to AI and is associated with > 50% reduction in pregnancy risk if occurring in the 3 wk directly after AI.

Use of AI technician scores for body condition, uterine tone and uterine discharge in a model with disease and milk production parameters to predict pregnancy risk at first AI in Holstein dairy cows.

Technicians recorded body condition score (BCS) and several parameters related to estrus and/or metritis for 1694 first insemination cows on 23 farms. Additional variables for modeling the adjusted odds ratios (OR) for pregnancy were data on disease prior to or within 21 days of AI and test day milk yields. Significant predictors for pregnancy were farm, year and season, BCS, uterine tone, contaminated insemination gun after AI, fat-protein corrected kilograms milk (FPCM), days in milk (DIM), and diseases. Vaginal mucus, ease of cervical passage, and lameness were not significant predictors for pregnancy. Pregnancy risk at AI increased with increasing DIM, reaching a near optimum after 82 days. Lack of uterine tone was associated with a lowered pregnancy risk (OR = 0.69) as was contaminated insemination gun (OR = 0.67), first-parity lactation, FPCM >33 kg (OR = 0.71), BCS 2.5 at AI (OR = 0.65), clinical mastitis (OR = 0.53), cystic ovarian disease (OR = 0.53), and metritis (OR = 0.74). It was concluded that data on BCS and uterine findings, as collected by AI technicians, are significant predictors of AI outcome. Dairy producers and veterinarians should jointly examine the potential costs and value of such AI technician-based data to improve herd fertility.

Predicting optimal time of insemination in cows that show visual signs of estrus by estimating onset of estrus with pedometers.

An experiment was designed to estimate the optimal interval from the beginning of estrus to artificial insemination (AI). The data were analyzed by means of a mathematical model. The analysis was based on pedometer readings and results of rectal palpation at 42 to 49 d post-AI of 171 breedings in 121 cows. The chance of conception was highest between 6 and 17 h after increased pedometer activity; the estimated optimum was at 11.8 h. In this data file, the effects of disease, inseminator, time of AI (a.m. or p.m.), and bull did not contribute to the improvement of the model. The effects of disease were not significant because of the low incidence of any specific disease. Activity measurements can be used as a tool for AI strategy to improve conception in groups of healthy cows and heifers already showing visual signs of estrus.

[The dairying veterinary approach to a high bulk milk cell count caused by Streptococcus agalactiae]. / De bedrijfsdiergeneeskundige aanpak van een te hoog tankmelkcelgetal veroorzaakt door Streptococcus agalactiae.

The herd health approach for dairy herds with a high bulk milk somatic cell count, in which Streptococcus agalactiae plays a major role, was evaluated. After introduction of the standard mastitis prevention programme, all quarters of infected cows were treated during lactation. In three of the four herds investigated, the bulk milk somatic cell count dropped below the limit of 400,000 cells/ml for a long period of time. The herd in which there were many infections with Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae was an exception. The management, somatic cell count, and prevalence of subclinical mastitis in the different herds is discussed. It is concluded that for infection with Streptococcus agalactiae at the herd level, treatment during lactation can be an effective method to lower the bulk milk somatic cell count. In essence, however, the approach to the problem lies in the standard mastitis prevention programme.

Medroxy-progesterone acetate administration to ovariohysterectomized, oestradiol-primed beagle bitches. Effect on secretion of growth hormone, prolactin and cortisol.

Growth hormone (GH), prolactin (Prl) and cortisol secretion was studied in 5 ovariohysterectomized dogs before and after oestradiol implantation and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) administration. MPA was given at regular intervals during a period of 10 months in a total of 12 injections. Short-term effects of oestradiol were restricted to significantly enhanced Prl responses to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). MPA treatment after oestradiol implantation resulted in significantly elevated basal GH levels in all dogs, with a continuing increase in one dog. Only in the latter dog was a significant decrease in basal Prl levels seen. MPA administration did not significantly change Prl responses to TRH. The GH responses to clonidine were significantly reduced at 9 and 16 weeks of oestradiol and MPA treatment. In the one dog which exhibited the greatest rise in basal GH levels, GH responses were completely abolished at 9, 16 and 43 weeks of oestradiol and MPA treatment. TRH never evoked significant GH responses. Both basal and lysine-vasopressin (LVP)-stimulated cortisol levels were significantly suppressed during combined oestradiol-MPA treatment. These findings denote that in the dog. Oestradiol rapidly induces an enhanced Prl response to TRH. The oestradiol-MPA induced GH overproduction is associated with a reduced responsiveness of GH to clonidine and is not accompanied by GH responsiveness to TRH. Oestradiol-MPA treatment suppresses both basal and LVP-stimulated cortisol secretion.