Retrospective analysis of 736 cases of canine gastric dilatation volvulus.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors influencing the survival of confirmed gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) cases presented to a specialist referral and emergency hospital. METHODS: Clinical records of confirmed GDV cases admitted to two specialist referral and emergency centres in Sydney (Animal Referral Hospital (ARH) Homebush and ARH Baulkham Hills) between July 1999 and July 2019 were searched. RESULTS: A total of 736 GDV cases were reviewed, of which 460 dogs were surgically treated and 276 dogs were humanely killed. The survival rates of patients operated on by general surgeons and specialists were 81.7% and 88.7%, respectively. Both incisional gastropexy and belt-loop gastropexy were clinically effective in treating GDV, with no significant difference in survival rates. Intraoperative mortality rates for general surgeons and specialists were 7.0% and 2.9%, respectively. The odds of mortality in dogs operated on by general surgeons were 2.03 times those operated on by specialist surgeons. The odds of mortality in dogs presented between 3:00 and 9:00 am were 3.57 times those of dogs presented between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. The odds of mortality in dogs where the duration from presentation to completion of surgery was more than 3 h were 2.53 times those of dogs where time lapsed was equal or less than 3 h. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that admission time was statistically significantly related to the survival rate. Dogs operated on by specialist surgeons had a significantly higher survival rate compared to those operated on by general surgeons. Clinicians should aim to stabilise and complete surgical correction of GDV as soon as possible to decrease the mortality.

Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Associated with Age but Not Renal Function: A Cross-Sectional Follow-Up Study.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the relationship between baseline renal function and changes in telomere length in Han Chinese. METHODS: The telomere restriction fragment (TRF) length of leukocytes in the peripheral blood was measured in healthy volunteers recruited in 2014. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated based on serum creatinine (Scr) and serum cystatin C (CysC)-eGFRcys and eGFRScr-cys through the Cockcroft-Gault formula (eGFRC-G) or the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI / eGFRCKD-EPI) equation. The correlation between telomere length changes over time and renal function was analyzed. RESULTS: Leukocyte TRF lengths were negatively correlated to age (r = -0.393, p < 0.001) and serum CysC (r = -0.180, p < 0.01), while positively associated with eGFRCKD-EPI, eGFRC-G, eGFRcys, and eGFRScr-cys (r = 0.182, 0.122, 0.290, and 0.254 respectively, p < 0.01). The 3-year change of telomere length was 46 bp/years. When adjusted for age, the associations between telomere length changes and baseline, subsequent TRF lengths, and serum CysC were no longer present. No association was observed between TRF length changes and renal function. CONCLUSION: The rate of telomere length changes was affected by age and baseline telomere length. The telomere length changes might be important markers for aging.

Hardening of shear band in metallic glass.

Strain hardening, originating from defects such as the dislocation, avails conventional metals of high engineering reliability in applications. However, the hardenability of metallic glass is a long-standing concern due to the lack of similar defects. In this work, we carefully examine the stress-strain relationship in three bulk monolithic metallic glasses. The results show that hardening is surely available in metallic glasses if the effective load-bearing area is considered instantly. The hardening is proposed to result from the remelting and ensuing solidification of the shear-band material under a hydrostatic pressure imposed by the normal stress during the shear banding event. This applied-pressure quenching densifies the metallic glass by discharging the free volume. On the other hand, as validated by molecular dynamics simulations, the pressure promotes the icosahedral short-range order. The densification and icosahedral clusters both contribute to the increase of the shear strength and therefore the hardening in metallic glasses.

Controlled fabrication of patterned lateral porous alumina membranes.

Confined lateral alumina templates are fabricated with different pore sizes by changing the acid electrolyte and the anodization voltage. The control of the number of pore rows down to one dimension is also achieved, by controlling the thickness of the starting aluminum film as well as the anodization voltage. We observe that the mechanism of pore formation in the lateral regime is very similar to that in the classical vertical situation.

Comparison of allele-sharing statistics for general pedigrees.

The popularity of "non-parametric" linkage analysis using moderate and large sized pedigrees has increased in the last few years. Only a few of the existing allele-sharing statistics are applicable to general pedigrees, and even fewer are in common use. Little research has been done to compare the power of these statistics. We present some preliminary investigations into the power of the most popular general-pedigree allele-sharing statistics. We show that there are indeed non-trivial differences among the statistics, and that further studies are warranted. In particular, pedigree structure and the degree of recessiveness of the trait appear to be critical factors in determining which statistics are most powerful.