Tropical tree foliage supplementation in ruminants improves rumen fermentation and the bacterial profile and decreases methane production.

The main of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementation of tropical tree foliage in ruminant diets on the in vitro fermentation, bacterial population, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and enteric CH4 production. Seven experimental diets were evaluated: a control treatment of Pennisetum purpureum (T7) and six treatments of P. purpureum supplemented (30%) with the foliage of Neomillspaughia emargiata (T1), Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia (T2), Caesalpinia gaumeri (T3), Piscidia piscipula (T4), Leucaena leucocephala (T5), and Havardia albicans (T6). The T2, T7, and T5 treatments had the highest (p < 0.05) digestibility of dry matter. Overall, supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the concentrations of propionic and butyric acid and decreased acetic acid. Methanogenic bacteria decreased (p < 0.05) in T1, T2, T5, and T6. Ruminococcus albus decreased in T1, T2, T3, and T5 and Selenomonas ruminiantum increased in T3. Fibrobacter succinogenes increased, except in T5. Methane production decreased (p < 0.05) in T1, T4, T5, and T6. The supplementation with Leucaena leucocephala, Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia, Neomillspaughia emargiata, Piscidia piscipula, Havardia albicans, and Caesalpinia gaumeri is a potential alternative nutritional strategy for ruminants that results in positive changes in VFAs profile, a decrease on CH4 production and methanogenic bacteria, and changes on fibrolytic and non-fibrolytic bacteria composition.HIGHLIGHTSTropical tree foliage supplementation increased propionic and butyric acid and decreased acetic acid concentrations.Fibrolytic, non-fibrolytic, and Methanogenic bacteria were selectively modulated with the supplementation of tropical tree foliage.The enteric methane (CH4) production decreased with the supplementation of tree foliage.The supplementation of Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia and Leucaena leucocephala had the highest digestibility and is a potential alternative nutritional strategy for ruminants.

[Neurological complications associated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy in adult patients. A study of a case series]. / Complicaciones neurológicas asociadas al tratamiento con oxigenación por membrana extracorpórea (ECMO) en pacientes adultos. Estudio de una serie de casos.

INTRODUCTION: ECMO is an advanced technique of ventilatory and circulatory support. However, it can be associated with neurological complications. The proposal is to describe the clinical characteristics and neurological complications profile in patients under ECMO support. PATIENTS AND METHODS: To descriptive a case series study. A descriptive and retrospective analysis and a bivariate analysis were performed in order to compare the main clinical variables of interest. RESULTS: 136 adults undergoing ECMO with an average age of 51 years (17-78) were evaluated. Neurological complications were observed in 51 patients (37.5%), corresponding to stroke 22 (16.17%), hypoxic encephalopathy 13 (9.5 %), cerebral hemorrhage (HIC) in 12 (8.8%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (HSA) in 4 patients (2.9%). Seven (13.7%) of patients with neurological complications had seizures. Neurological complications occurred in 23.53% in venovenous ECMO and in 76.47% with veno-arterial ECMO (p = 0.86). The overall mortality was 51.47% (70/136) for all patients in ECMO and 64.7% (33/51) for the population with neurological complications. The mortality in stroke was 54.5% (12/22), 91.6% (11/12) in HIC and 100% (4) in HSA (p = 0.03). Mortality was higher in veno-arterial ECMO (77.14%) versus venous-venous ECMO (22.86% of total), (p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: ECMO is a useful therapeutic tool in cases of high clinical severity. In our study, we identified a high rate of neurological complications that contribute to associated morbidity and mortality. Early neuroimaging studies in these cases could allow early detection of these complications.

TITLE: Complicaciones neurológicas asociadas al tratamiento con oxigenación por membrana extracorpórea (ECMO) en pacientes adultos. Estudio de una serie de casos.Introducción. La ECMO es una técnica avanzada de soporte ventilatorio y circulatorio. Sin embargo, puede asociarse a complicaciones neurológicas. Se propone describir las características clínicas y el perfil de las complicaciones neurológicas en pacientes sometidos a ECMO. Pacientes y métodos. Estudio descriptivo retrospectivo de una serie de casos. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo y un análisis bivariado con la finalidad de comparar las principales variables clínicas de interés. Resultados. Se evaluó a 136 adultos sometidos a ECMO con edad promedio de 51 años (17-78). Las complicaciones neurológicas se presentaron en 51 pacientes (37,5%), de los cuales correspondieron a ictus 22 (16,17%); a encefalopatía hipóxica, 13 (9,5%); a hemorragia intracerebral (HIC), 12 (8,8%), y a hemorragia subaracnoidea (HSA), cuatro (2,9%). Siete (13,7%) de los pacientes con complicaciones neurológicas presentaron crisis epilépticas. Las complicaciones neurológicas se presentaron en 12 pacientes (23,53%) con la ECMO venovenosa y en 39 (76,47%) con la ECMO venoarterial (p = 0,86). La mortalidad global fue del 51,47% (70/136 pacientes) y del 64,7% (33/51) para la población con complicaciones neurológicas. La mortalidad en el ictus fue del 54,5% (12/22), del 91,6% (11/12) en la HIC y del 100% (4/4) en la HSA (p = 0,03). La mortalidad en la ECMO venoarterial fue del 77,14%, frente al 22,86% de la de la ECMO venovenosa (p = 0,015). Conclusiones. La ECMO es una herramienta terapéutica útil en casos de elevada gravedad clínica. En nuestro estudio, identificamos una elevada tasa de complicaciones neurológicas que contribuyen a la morbimortalidad asociada. La realización temprana de estudios de neuroimagen en estos casos podría permitir una detección temprana de estas complicaciones.

[Efficacy and safety of transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with non-fluent aphasia, following an ischaemic stroke. A controlled, randomised and double-blind clinical trial]. / Eficacia y seguridad de la estimulacion magnetica transcraneal en pacientes con afasia no fluente, posterior a ictus isquemico. Ensayo clinico controlado, aleatorizado y doble ciego.

INTRODUCTION: Non-fluent aphasia is a frequent complication in post-ischemic stroke patients, with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) being one of the possible treatment alternatives. AIM: To assess the efficacy and safety of rTMS in patients with non-fluent after-ischemic stroke aphasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Double blind, randomized controlled clinical trial in post-stroke patients who were assigned to receive 10 sessions (one daily) of active treatment or placebo of rTMS, without the addition of language therapy. The baseline characteristics were compared initially and the efficacy between the active group versus the placebo group at day 30 was evaluated through a Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: 82 patients were included: active group (n = 41) and placebo group (n = 41). At baseline, statistically significant differences were found between the groups in favor of the placebo in the domains of the Boston test of auditory compression (p = 0.024), denomination (p = 0.014) and praxis (p = 0.026), and also occurred on the 30th day in the naming domains (p = 0.037) and reading (p = 0.001). There were 39 adverse reactions: 23 (26.83%) in the active group vs 16 (21.96%) in the placebo group (p = 0.290); the majority corresponded to episodes of mild headache. CONCLUSION: rTMS is a safe therapy, however, given the conditions of this study, we could not demonstrate the efficacy of rTMS versus placebo in patients with non-fluent aphasia with involvement of Broca's area after an ischemic stroke.

TITLE: Eficacia y seguridad de la estimulacion magnetica transcraneal en pacientes con afasia no fluente, posterior a ictus isquemico. Ensayo clinico controlado, aleatorizado y doble ciego.Introduccion. La afasia no fluente es una complicacion frecuente en pacientes postictus isquemico y la estimulacion magnetica transcraneal repetitiva (EMTr) representa una de las posibles alternativas de tratamiento. Objetivo. Evaluar la eficacia y la seguridad de la EMTr en pacientes con afasia no fluente postictus isquemico. Pacientes y metodos. Ensayo clinico controlado doble ciego, aleatorizado, en pacientes postictus isquemico que fueron asignados a recibir 10 sesiones (una diaria) de tratamiento activo o placebo de EMTr, sin adicion de terapia del lenguaje. Las caracteristicas basales fueron comparadas inicialmente, y la eficacia entre el grupo activo frente al grupo placebo el dia 30 se evaluo a traves de una prueba U de Mann-Whitney. Resultados. Se incluyo a 82 pacientes: grupo activo (n = 41) y grupo placebo (n = 41). Se encontraron diferencias basales estadisticamente significativas entre los grupos a favor del placebo en los dominios del test de Boston de compresion auditiva (p = 0,024), denominacion (p = 0,014) y praxis (p = 0,026), e igualmente ocurrio el dia 30 en los dominios de denominacion (p = 0,037) y lectura (p = 0,001). Se presentaron 39 reacciones adversas, 23 en el grupo activo (26,83%) frente a 16 (21,96%) en el grupo placebo (p = 0,290), y la mayoria correspondia a episodios de cefalea leve. Conclusion. La EMTr es una terapia segura, pero dadas las condiciones de este estudio, no pudo demostrarse la eficacia de la EMTr frente al placebo en pacientes con afasia no fluente con afectacion del area de Broca posterior a un ictus isquemico.

Effect of tree foliage supplementation of tropical grass diet on in vitro digestibility and fermentation, microbial biomass synthesis and enteric methane production in ruminants.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of tree foliage species supplemented in ruminant diets based on Pennisetum purpureum on the in vitro digestibility and fermentation, microbial biomass synthesis and enteric methane production. Seven experimental diets were evaluated, including a control treatment based on P. purpureum (PT) grass, and six additional treatments supplemented with 30.0% foliage from Neomillspaughia emargiata (NE), Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia (TA), Caesalpinia gaumeri (CG), Piscidia piscipula (PP), Leucaena leucocephala (LL) and Havardia albicans (HA). A randomised complete block design repeated in two periods (block) was used. The highest gas production (P < 0.05) was recorded in treatments TA and PT (237 and 228 mL g-1, respectively). The highest in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDMD) and organic matter (IVOMD) (P < 0.05) was recorded in the control treatment PT (57.9% and 66.1%, respectively). Treatments LL, NE, TA and PP promoted greater microbial biomass synthesis (290, 223, 220 and 213 mg g-1, respectively) (P < 0.05). The proportion of propionic acid also increased in these latter treatments and in treatments CG and HA (P < 0.05). Additionally, treatments LL, PP, NE and TA decreased methane production (25.8, 29.5, 30.6 and 31.8 L kg-1 of digested dry matter, respectively). In conclusion, supplementation with L. leucocephala, P. piscipula, N. emargiata and T. amygdalifolia in ruminant diets based on P. purpureum is one feed alternative that can promote greater efficiency and synthesis of microbial biomass, increase the proportions of propionic and butyric acid and decrease the production of enteric methane by 15.6 to 31.6%.

Studies on the evolution, pathology, and immunity of commercial fattening rabbits affected with epizootic outbreaks of diarrhoeas in Mexico: a case report.

Epizootic outbreaks of diarrhoeas have emerged and disseminated in different rabbit farms in Mexico causing great economical losses, during the past years. Seven, 5-weeks-old New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits chosen at random from 35 ill animals that were remitted for postmortem, histopathology, and ultrastructural examinations were studied. Bacteriological and parasitological studies were carried out in three additional ill rabbits of same age. In a field trail 45, 5-weeks-old apparently healthy NZW rabbits were observed daily for sanitary status for a 5-week period. Some of the rabbits did not response to the preventive drug treatment and were therefore, used to study the development of the disease. Clinical signs, gross lesions, and mortality throughout the fattening period were recorded. Eight, 8-weeks-old NZW rabbits who survived an outbreak were assessed for gamma-globulins in serum of the total protein fraction during a 3-week period. Gamma-globulins were also measured in eight free-disease healthy rabbits of same breed and age. Lesions of the small intestine consisted of mucoid enteropathy, lymphocytic plasmocytic enteritis with atrophy and fusion of villi, and hyperplasia of globet cells. Serosal edema was present. Ultrastructural examinations of jejunum and ileum from 3/7 diseased rabbits, revealed enterocytes in apoptosis, mixed with degenerative and/or necrotic changes together with infiltration of lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, and loss of microvillus. There were electron dense structures suggestive of virus particles inside the nuclei and cytoplasm of some enterocytes. There was lymphoid spleen atrophy and proliferation of reticuloendothelial cells in 7/7 rabbits. Interstitial pneumonia in 4/7 rabbits was found. Encephalitozoon cuniculi was detected in the brain of 1/7 rabbits. Escherichia coli were detected in 3/3 cases and Eimeria spp. in 2/3 cases. Mortality rate in the field study was 51.1% and the spread of the disease occur in 9/9 cages. The proportion of gamma-globulins in rabbits who survive an outbreak was much lower (P=0.0001) than free-disease healthy rabbits (8.1+/-1.0 and 14.0+/-1.0, respectively). The disease was multifactorial and consisted of sub-acute mucoid enteropathy probably induced by viral infection and aggravated by the proliferation of opportunistic pathogens common to rabbits. This may explain the severe degenerative and necrotic changes observed in the small intestine of diarrhoeic rabbits.

Comparison between the peak-to-sidelobe ratio of the matched and phase-only filters.

It is shown that for any given bandpass, the phase-only filter always gives a better peak-to-correlation energy than the matched filter. An example is given that shows that this result does not carry over when one uses a more general measure of the peak-to-sidelobe ratio.

Normalized correlation for pattern recognition.

The normalization of the correlation filter response effects intensity invariance. We discuss the implications of a normalization based on the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for the discrimination problem. It is shown that normalized phase-only and synthetic discriminant functions do not provide the discrimination/recognition obtained with the classical matched filter.

Effects of serum and endotoxin in experimental lung injury.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is in large part responsible for the lung injury that occurs in the sepsis syndrome. Recent work has shown the ability of LPS alone to induce injury in endothelial monolayers, though the LPS effect is enhanced in the presence of serum. We previously demonstrated that low-dose LPS (50 ng/mL) can lead to lung injury in an isolated perfused rabbit lung model. To examine the effect of serum on LPS-induced injury rabbit lungs were perfused with increasing doses of rabbit serum in the presence and absence of LPS. There was no increase in total weight gained by the lung,Qf, with either 5% serum, 10% serum, or 10% serum with LPS. However vascular permeability as measured by hydraulic conductance was increased with increasing doses of serum. This effect was not enhanced by the addition of LPS. These results provide evidence that serum alone may cause lung injury, perhaps through the activation of complement or other mediators.

Dual optimality of the phase-only filter.

A measure of the peak-to-sidelobe performance for correlation filters is defined. The phase-only filter is then shown to be optimum with respect to the peak-to-sidelobe criterion. The phase-only filter has been previously shown to give optimum signal-to-noise performance. Thus, under the assumption of a unit modulus phase device, optimum peak-to-sidelobe and signal-to-noise performance can be obtained simultaneously.

Direct phase estimation from phase differences using fast elliptic partial differential equation solvers.

Obtaining robust phase estimates from phase differences is a problem common to several areas of importance to the optics and signal-processing communities. Specific areas of application include speckle imaging and interferometry, adaptive optics, compensated imaging, and coherent imaging such as synthetic-aperture radar. We derive in a concise form the equations describing the phase-estimation problem, relate these equations to the general form of elliptic partial differential equations, and illustrate results of reconstructions on large M by N grids, using existing, published, and readily available FORTRAN subroutines.