Point-of-care viscoelastic coagulation assessment in healthy dogs during the perianesthetic period.

BACKGROUND: The viscoelastic coagulation monitor (VCM Vet) is a novel, portable device that provides a global assessment of hemostasis. The study aims were to evaluate serial viscoelastic analysis during the perianesthetic period in healthy dogs and to compare the agreement between two VCM Vet devices. Twenty healthy dogs undergoing orthopedic surgery were enrolled. Whole blood samples were collected from an intravenous catheter at four time points: baseline, 15 min after premedication, 60 min after inhalant initiation, and 60 min after inhalant termination. Viscoelastic tests were performed in duplicate on different devices, providing: clot time (CT; seconds), clot formation time (CFT; seconds), alpha angle (α; degrees), amplitude (units) at 10 (A10) and 20 (A20) minutes post clot time, maximum clot firmness (MCF; units), and lysis index (%) at 30 (Li30) and 45 (Li45) minutes post maximum clot formation. RESULTS: One hundred sixty samples were analyzed. The speed of CT and CFT significantly decreased an average of 25.5 s (95% confidence interval [CI]15.9-35.0) and 6.9 s (95% CI 3.1-10.7) per time point, respectively. There were no significant changes in clot strength or lysis variables. The Bland-Altman style plot shows an acceptable rate of agreement for all variables with intra-class correlation ranging from 0.64-0.94. CONCLUSION: The rate of clot formation (CT and CFT) decreased over the perianesthetic period in healthy dogs undergoing surgery. These changes were small and occurred without changes in clot strength or fibrinolysis rate, thus were not clinically relevant. There was clinically acceptable consistency between devices.

Enhancing electrokinetic remediation of cadmium- contaminated soils with stepwise moving anode method.

This paper proposed an innovative approach by stepwise moving anode towards cathode to enhance the cadmium (Cd) removal from soil during the process of electrokinetic (EK) remediation. Fixed anode tests and moving anode tests were carried out for 60 hours to compare their performances. The anode-cathode spacing was 21 cm. Constant voltage grade of 1.0 V cm(-1) was applied in this study. The parameters included pH, electrical conductivity, current, Cd concentration and speciation distributions, energy consumptions, etc. It was found that the pH values in the moving anode tests were relatively lower than those of the fixed tests. In the moving anode test, the removal efficiency of Cd in the soils at the fraction of S4 was enhanced by 54.9% compared with that of the fixed anode tests. After 60 hours of treatment, approximately 80% of the spiked soils (100.63 mg x kg(-1) of Cd) in the system were successfully remedied in the moving anode tests; and the mean removal efficiency was 73% for actual field-contaminated soil (54.26 mg x kg(-1) of Cd). It is effective to remedy actual contaminated soils. In addition, the cumulative energy consumptions were 59.29 kWhm(-3) and 31.52 kWhm(-3) for the fixed and moving tests, respectively. The results revealed that the Cd removal efficiency was improved by the moving anode method. Moreover, less energy was consumed in the moving test. The proposed approach does not need to introduce extra chemicals nor adjust the pH in the system to enhance the Cd removal by EK remediation. The basic idea proposed in this paper provides a novel and environmental friendly method to enhance the EK remediation of heavy metals contaminated soils.

Effect of fluoridated milk on caries in primary teeth: 21-month results.

OBJECTIVES: Use of fluoridated milk has been shown to be a safe and effective method to prevent caries in permanent teeth in children. However, studies on its effectiveness on caries prevention in the primary teeth are scarce. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of milk fluoridation on caries development in young Chinese children. METHODS: This was a community-based demonstration study carried out in Beijing, China. All children in three selected kindergartens were invited to participate. Each participant consumed 200 ml of fluoridated milk (concentration 2.5 mg F- per litre) per day from Monday to Friday in the kindergarten, and was given two packs of fluoridated milk (250 ml) for consumption at home on Saturday and Sunday every week. Children from a similar background, but without access to fluoridated milk, attending two other kindergartens, were used as the control. RESULTS: There were 534 children (mean age 54 +/- 4 months) and 305 children (mean age 53 +/- 4 months) in the test and control groups, respectively, at baseline. After 21 months, 417 and 247 children in the test and control groups, respectively, remained in the study. There was no statistically significant difference in the baseline mean dmft scores between the two groups (3.2 vs. 3.5, P = 0.312). After 21 months, the mean net caries increment was 0.4 dmft for the test group and 1.3 dmft for the control group (t-test, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The consumption of fluoridated milk by the kindergarten children in Beijing was an effective measure in preventing caries in the primary teeth.