Efficient degradation of chlorobenzene in a non-thermal plasma catalytic reactor supported on CeO2/HZSM-5 catalysts.

Chlorobenzene removal was investigated in a non-thermal plasma reactor using CeO2/HZSM-5 catalysts. The performance of catalysts was evaluated in terms of removal and energy efficiency. The decomposition products of chlorobenzene were analyzed. The results show that CeO2/HZSM-5 exhibited a good catalytic activity, which resulted in enhancements of chlorobenzene removal, energy efficiency, and the formation of lower amounts of by-products. With regards to CO2 selectivity, the presence of catalysts favors the oxidation of by-products, leading to a higher CO2 selectivity. With respect to ozone, which is considered as an unavoidable by-product in air plasma reactors, a noticeable decrease in its concentration was observed in the presence of catalysts. Furthermore, the stability of the catalyst was investigated by analyzing the evolution of conversion in time. The experiment results indicated that CeO2/HZSM-5 catalysts have excellent stability: chlorobenzene conversion only decreased from 78% to 60% after 75hr, which means that the CeO2/HZSM-5 suffered a slight deactivation. Some organic compounds and chlorinated intermediates were adsorbed or deposited on the catalysts surface as shown by the results of Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses of the catalyst before and after the reaction, revealing the cause of catalyst deactivation.

Reproductive technologies combine well with genomic selection in dairy breeding programs.

The objective of the present study was to examine whether genomic selection of females interacts with the use of reproductive technologies (RT) to increase annual monetary genetic gain (AMGG). This was tested using a factorial design with 3 factors: genomic selection of females (0 or 2,000 genotyped heifers per year), RT (0 or 50 donors selected at 14 mo of age for producing 10 offspring), and 2 reliabilities of genomic prediction. In addition, different strategies for use of RT and how strategies interact with the reliability of genomic prediction were investigated using stochastic simulation by varying (1) number of donors (25, 50, 100, 200), (2) number of calves born per donor (10 or 20), (3) age of donor (2 or 14 mo), and (4) number of sires (25, 50, 100, 200). In total, 72 different breeding schemes were investigated. The profitability of the different breeding strategies was evaluated by deterministic simulation by varying the costs of a born calf with reproductive technologies at levels of €500, €1,000, and €1,500. The results confirm our hypothesis that combining genomic selection of females with use of RT increases AMGG more than in a reference scheme without genomic selection in females. When the reliability of genomic prediction is high, the effect on rate of inbreeding (ΔF) is small. The study also demonstrates favorable interaction effects between the components of the breeder's equation (selection intensity, selection accuracy, generation interval) for the bull dam donor path, leading to higher AMGG. Increasing the donor program and number of born calves to achieve higher AMGG is associated with the undesirable effect of increased ΔF. This can be alleviated, however, by increasing the numbers of sires without compromising AMGG remarkably. For the major part of the investigated donor schemes, the investment in RT is profitable in dairy cattle populations, even at high levels of costs for RT.

Short communication: Genotyping of cows to speed up availability of genomic estimated breeding values for direct health traits in Austrian Fleckvieh (Simmental) cattle--genetic and economic aspects.

The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of genotyping cows with reliable phenotypes for direct health traits on annual monetary genetic gain (AMGG) and discounted profit. The calculations were based on a deterministic approach using ZPLAN software (University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany). It was assumed that increases in reliability of the total merit index (TMI) of 5, 15, and 25 percentage points were achieved through genotyping 5,000, 25,000, and 50,000 cows, respectively. Costs for phenotyping, genotyping, and genomic estimated breeding values vary between €150 and €20 per cow. The gain in genotyping cows for traits with medium to high heritability is more than for direct health traits with low heritability. The AMGG is increased by 1.5% if the reliability of TMI is 5 percentage points higher (i.e., 5,000 cows genotyped) and 6.53% higher AMGG can be expected when the reliability of TMI is increased by 25 percentage points (i.e., 50,000 cows genotyped). The discounted profit depends not only on the costs of genotyping but also on the population size. This study indicates that genotyping cows with reliable phenotypes is feasible to speed up the availability of genomic estimated breeding values for direct health traits. But, because of the huge amount of valid phenotypes and genotypes needed to establish an efficient genomic evaluation, it is likely that financial constraints will be the main limiting factor for implementation into breeding program such as Fleckvieh Austria.

Genomic selection strategies in a small dairy cattle population evaluated for genetic gain and profit.

The objective of this study was to evaluate a genomic breeding scheme in a small dairy cattle population that was intermediate in terms of using both young bulls (YB) and progeny-tested bulls (PB). This scheme was compared with a conventional progeny testing program without use of genomic information and, as the extreme case, a juvenile scheme with genomic information, where all bulls were used before progeny information was available. The population structure, cost, and breeding plan parameters were chosen to reflect the Danish Jersey cattle population, being representative for a small dairy cattle population. The population consisted of 68,000 registered cows. Annually, 1,500 bull dams were screened to produce the 500 genotyped bull calves from which 60 YB were selected to be progeny tested. Two unfavorably correlated traits were included in the breeding goal, a production trait (h(2)=0.30) and a functional trait (h(2)=0.04). An increase in reliability of 5 percentage points for each trait was used in the default genomic scenario. A deterministic approach was used to model the different breeding programs, where the primary evaluation criterion was annual monetary genetic gain (AMGG). Discounted profit was used as an indicator of the economic outcome. We investigated the effect of varying the following parameters: (1) increase in reliability due to genomic information, (2) number of genotyped bull calves, (3) proportion of bull dam sires that are young bulls, and (4) proportion of cow sires that are young bulls. The genomic breeding scheme was both genetically and economically superior to the conventional breeding scheme, even in a small dairy cattle population where genomic information causes a relatively low increase in reliability of breeding values. Assuming low reliabilities of genomic predictions, the optimal breeding scheme according to AMGG was characterized by mixed use of YB and PB as bull sires. Exclusive use of YB for production cows increased AMGG up to 3 percentage points. The results from this study supported our hypothesis that strong interaction effects exist. The strongest interaction effects were obtained between increased reliabilities of genomic estimated breeding values and more intensive use of YB. The juvenile scheme was genetically inferior when the increase in reliability was low (5 percentage points), but became genetically superior at higher reliabilities of genomic estimated breeding values. The juvenile scheme was always superior according to discounted profit because of the shorter generation interval and minimizing costs for housing and feeding waiting bulls.

Testing Interventions for Mobility through Exercise (TIME): Study protocol for a randomized trial comparing a novel, brief home-based exercise program and a standard home-based group exercise for older adults with mobility disability.

One in four older adults report difficulty walking, greatly increasing the risk of future disability and death. Though exercise improves mobility, too few older adults do it. While studies show that brief exercise sessions provide most of the benefit of longer sessions and that older adults note that "time" is a critical barrier to being active, what remains unknown is whether briefer RT sessions can improve mobility as well as, or better than, longer traditional sessions, possibly due to greater adherence. We present the design of a 12-month randomized controlled trial of 700 older adults with self-reported walking difficulty. Participants will be randomly assigned, in a 2 × 2 factorial design, to one of two home-based exercise programs: 1) Standard of Care: 45-min, three-times weekly sessions or 2) Experimental: 5-min daily sessions and to one of two doses of behavior change techniques (Standard or Enhanced) as part of their exercise program. The primary outcome measure is self-reported physical function. Secondary outcome measures include objectively measured lower extremity physical performance, walking endurance, balance, walking speed, strength and physical activity as well as self-reported falls, pain, fatigue and balance. This is one of the first studies to examine the clinical outcomes of brief exercise sessions, which may lead to a new generation of exercise programs that are optimized not only for impact, but for adherence as well.

In utero copper treatment for Menkes disease associated with a severe ATP7A mutation.

Menkes disease is a lethal X-linked recessive neurodegenerative disorder of copper transport caused by mutations in ATP7A, which encodes a copper-transporting ATPase. Early postnatal treatment with copper injections often improves clinical outcomes in affected infants. While Menkes disease newborns appear normal neurologically, analyses of fetal tissues including placenta indicate abnormal copper distribution and suggest a prenatal onset of the metal transport defect. In an affected fetus whose parents found termination unacceptable and who understood the associated risks, we began in utero copper histidine treatment at 31.5 weeks gestational age. Copper histidine (900 µg per dose) was administered directly to the fetus by intramuscular injection (fetal quadriceps or gluteus) under ultrasound guidance. Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling enabled serial measurement of fetal copper and ceruloplasmin levels that were used to guide therapy over a four-week period. Fetal copper levels rose from 17 µg/dL prior to treatment to 45 µg/dL, and ceruloplasmin levels from 39 mg/L to 122 mg/L. After pulmonary maturity was confirmed biochemically, the baby was delivered at 35.5 weeks and daily copper histidine therapy (250 µg sc b.i.d.) was begun. Despite this very early intervention with copper, the infant showed hypotonia, developmental delay, and electroencephalographic abnormalities and died of respiratory failure at 5.5 months of age. The patient's ATP7A mutation (Q724H), which severely disrupted mRNA splicing, resulted in complete absence of ATP7A protein on Western blots. These investigations suggest that prenatally initiated copper replacement is inadequate to correct Menkes disease caused by severe loss-of-function mutations, and that postnatal ATP7A gene addition represents a rational approach in such circumstances.

Hot topic: Effect of breeding strategies using genomic information on fitness and health.

A complex deterministic approach was used to model the breeding goal and breeding structure for the Austrian Fleckvieh (dual-purpose Simmental) breed. The reference breeding goal corresponded to the current total merit index (TMI-R), where dairy traits have a relative weight of 37.9% and fitness traits of 43.7% (beef traits 16.5%; milkability 2%). The breeding program was characterized by 280,000 cows under performance recording, 3,200 bull dams, 100 test bulls with a test capacity of 25%, and 15 proven bulls and 8 bull sires per year. The annual monetary genetic gain (AMGG) was generated mainly by increases in milk fat and milk protein yield (80.6%) and only to a small extent by fitness traits (6.6%). The inclusion of direct health traits (early reproductive disorders, cystic ovaries, and mastitis) with their economic weights increased the relative AMGG for fitness traits from 6.6 to 11.2%. The presently slightly negative AMGG for fertility index and udder health changed in a positive direction. Increasing the weight on the direct health traits by 50% resulted in a further shift toward fitness and health. The effect of strategies using genomic information in a total merit index (TMI) with varying weights on fitness and health traits was also analyzed. The conventional progeny-testing scheme was defined as the reference breeding program. A breeding program was considered to be genomically enhanced (GS50) when 50% of inseminations of herdbook cows and of bull dams were from young bulls with a genomic TMI, and a second program (GS100) did not rely on progeny-tested bulls at all. For GS50, a clear shift of the relative gain in AMGG toward fitness and health traits was observed for all 3 TMI scenarios, as a result of larger progeny groups and a shorter generation interval. For GS100, where no gene flow from progeny-tested bulls was assumed, the genetic gain per generation was lower for the fertility and udder health index but higher per year. The results based on natural genetic gain per year showed that no positive genetic response for fertility and udder health index were achieved for TMI-R (without the inclusion of direct health traits) in GS50 and GS100. The direction of the genetic trend was determined by the weights given to fertility and udder health indices within the TMI. When appropriate weights generated a clear positive trend, GS50 and GS100 reinforced this trend.

Community-based alternative breeding plans for indigenous sheep breeds in four agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia.

Based on the results of participatory approaches to define traits in the breeding objectives, four scenarios of ram selection and ram use were compared via deterministic modelling of breeding plans for community-based sheep breeding programmes in four diverse agro-ecological regions of Ethiopia. The regions (and production systems) were Afar (pastoral/agro-pastoral), Bonga and Horro (both mixed crop-livestock) and Menz (sheep-barley). The schemes or scenarios differed in terms of selection intensity and duration of ram use. The predicted genetic gains per year in yearling weight (kilograms) were comparable across the schemes but differed among the breeds and ranged from 0.399 to 0.440 in Afar, 0.813 to 0.894 in Bonga, 0.850 to 0.940 in Horro, and 0.616 to 0.699 in Menz. The genetic gains per year in number of lambs born per ewe bred ranged from 0.009 to 0.010 in both Bonga and Horro. The predicted genetic gain in the proportion of lambs weaned per ewe joined was nearly comparable in all breeds ranging from 0.008 to 0.011. The genetic gain per year in milk yield of Afar breed was in the order of 0.018 to 0.020 kg, while the genetic gain per generation for greasy fleece weight (kg) ranged from 0.016 to 0.024 in Menz. Generally, strong selection and shorter duration of ram use for breeding were the preferred options. The expected genetic gains are satisfactory but largely rely on accurate and continuous pedigree and performance recording.

Experiments to prove continuing microbial ingress from Space to Earth.

A wide range of evidence for pointing to our cosmic origins is close to the point of being overwhelming. Yet the long-entrenched paradigm of Earth-centered biology appears to prevail in scientific culture. A matter of crucial importance is to carry out a decisive experiment that is long overdue-establishing empirically beyond any doubt that extraterrestrial microbiota reaches the surface of the Earth at the present day. Such an experiment may of course happen naturally by the appearance of pandemics of new disease as discussed in an earlier chapter.

Vancomycin therapeutic guidelines: a summary of consensus recommendations from the infectious diseases Society of America, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

Practice guidelines for therapeutic monitoring of vancomycin treatment for Staphylococcus aureus infection in adult patients were reviewed by an expert panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. A literature review of existing evidence regarding vancomycin dosing and monitoring of serum concentrations, in addition to patient outcomes combined with expert opinion regarding the drug's pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and safety record, resulted in new recommendations for targeting and adjustment of vancomycin therapy.

Canopy seed banks as time capsules of biodiversity in pasture-remnant tree crowns.

Tropical pastures present multiple barriers to tree regeneration and restoration. Relict trees serve as "regeneration foci" because they ameliorate the soil microclimate and serve as safe spots for dispersers. Here, we describe another mechanism by which remnant trees may facilitate pasture regeneration: the presence of seed banks in the canopy soil that accumulates from decomposing epiphytes within the crowns of mature remnant trees in tropical cloud forest pastures. We compared seed banks of canopy soils (histosols derived from fallen leaves, fruits, flower, and twigs of host trees and epiphytes, dead bryophytes, bark, detritus, dead animals, and microorganisms, and dust that accumulate on trunks and the upper surfaces of large branches) in pastures, canopy soils in primary forest trees, and soil on the forest floor in Monteverde, Costa Rica. There were 5211 epiphytic and terrestrial plant seeds in the three habitats. All habitats were dominated by seeds in a relatively small number of plant families, most of which were primarily woody, animal pollinated, and animal dispersed. The density of seeds on the forest floor was greater than seed density in either pasture-canopy or forest-canopy soils; the latter two did not differ. Eight species in 44 families and 61 genera from all of the habitats were tallied. There were 37 species in the pasture-canopy soil, 33 in the forest-canopy soil, and 57 on the forest floor. Eleven species were common to all habitats. The mean species richness in the pasture canopy was significantly higher than the forest canopy (F =83.38; p < 0.02). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination revealed that the communities were distinct. Greenhouse experiments verified that many of these seeds were viable, with 29 taxa germinating (23 taxa in pruned mats [mimic of exposed conditions] and 16 taxa in control mats [intact conditions]) within 2 months of observation. Nearly half the species that germinated were characteristic of primary forests (primary forest samples, 19%; pasture samples, 29%). This supports the idea that canopy seed banks of pasture trees can function as time capsules by providing propagules that are removed in both space and time from the primary forest. Their presence may enhance the ability of pastures to regenerate more quickly, reinforcing the importance of trees in agricultural settings.

Economic evaluation of genomic breeding programs.

The objective of this study was to compare a conventional dairy cattle breeding program characterized by a progeny testing scheme with different scenarios of genomic breeding programs. The ultimate economic evaluation criterion was discounted profit reflecting discounted returns minus discounted costs per cow in a balanced breeding goal of production and functionality. A deterministic approach mainly based on the gene flow method and selection index calculations was used to model a conventional progeny testing program and different scenarios of genomic breeding programs. As a novel idea, the modeling of the genomic breeding program accounted for the proportion of farmers waiting for daughter records of genotyped young bulls before using them for artificial insemination. Technical and biological coefficients for modeling were chosen to correspond to a German breeding organization. The conventional breeding program for 50 test bulls per year within a population of 100,000 cows served as a base scenario. Scenarios of genomic breeding programs considered the variation of costs for genotyping, selection intensity of cow sires, proportion of farmers waiting for daughter records of genotyped young bulls, and different accuracies of genomic indices for bulls and cows. Given that the accuracies of genomic indices are greater than 0.70, a distinct economic advantage was found for all scenarios of genomic breeding programs up to factor 2.59, mainly due to the reduction in generation intervals. Costs for genotyping were negligible when focusing on a population-wide perspective and considering additional costs for herdbook registration, milk recording, or keeping of bulls, especially if there is no need for yearly recalculation of effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Genomic breeding programs generated a higher discounted profit than a conventional progeny testing program for all scenarios where at least 20% of the inseminations were done by genotyped young bulls without daughter records. Evaluation of levels of annual genetic gain for individual traits revealed the same potential for low heritable traits (h(2) = 0.05) compared with moderate heritable traits (h(2) = 0.30), preconditioning highly accurate genomic indices of 0.90. The final economic success of genomic breeding programs strongly depends on the complete abdication of any forms of progeny testing to reduce costs and generation intervals, but such a strategy implies the willingness of the participating milk producers.

Comparación de protocolos de vacunación contra el virus del papiloma humano en Ecuador y América Latina / Comparation of vaccination protocols against the human papillomavirus in Ecuador and Latin America

INTRODUCCIÓN: El virus del papiloma humano (VPH), con más de 100 tipos, es de transmisión sexual. Varios países de América Latina han introducido las vacunas contra el VPH. Aunque América Latina es la región que más rápido avanzó en la vacunación contra el VPH, sus sistemas de seguimiento y vigilancia son aún deficientes. OBJETIVO: Comparar las diferentes estrategias de vacunación contra el VPH en Ecuador y América Latina. MÉTODO: Revisión bibliográfica, en la que se obtuvo información de documentos gubernamentales y artículos indexados en los últimos 5 años sobre las estrategias de vacunación contra el VPH en Ecuador y América Latina. RESULTADOS: La mayoría de los países de América Latina han logrado introducir la vacuna contra el VPH, excepto Venezuela, Martinica, Haití, Nicaragua y Cuba. CONCLUSIONES: Los protocolos de vacunación de Ecuador y América Latina necesitan mejorar sus sistemas de seguimiento y aumentar la expansión de datos de cobertura disponibles de manera consistente. Actualmente siguen existiendo desafíos para introducir las vacunas, lograr una alta cobertura y fortalecer el seguimiento, la evaluación y la notificación.

INTRODUCTION: The human papilloma virus (HPV), with more than 100 types, is a sexual transmission infection. Many Latin American countries have introduced the vaccines against the HPV. Although Latin América is the region which advanced faster against the HPV, its surveillance and follow-up systems are yet deficient. OBJECTIVE: To compare the different strategies to assume the vaccination against the HPV in Ecuador and Latin America. METHOD: Bibliographic review, in which information was obtained from government documents and articles indexed in the last five years on vaccination strategies against HPV in Ecuador and Latin America. RESULTS: Most Latin American countries have managed to introduce the vaccine against the HPV, except Venezuela, Martinica, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba. CONCLUSIONS: The vaccination protocols of Ecuador and Latin América need to improve their systems of follow-up and monitoring, and increase the expansion of available data in a consistent manner. Now, there are still existing challenges to introduce the vaccines, manage a high reach and fortify the follow-up, the evaluation, and the notification.

Chemical inhibitors of TNF signal transduction in human neutrophils point to distinct steps in cell activation.

Chemical screening identified three small compounds that selectively inhibited activation of the respiratory burst (RB) of human neutrophils in response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and formylated peptide but not phorbol ester and spared the ability of neutrophils to kill bacteria. These compounds partially inhibited TNF-triggered cytoskeletal rearrangements without blocking adhesion or transmigation of polymorphonuclear neutrophils through TNF-activated monolayers of endothelial cells. The compounds were nontoxic to neutrophils and endothelial cells. They had no direct inhibitory effect on the tyrosine kinases Src, Syk, or Pyk2. However, their differential effects on cell spreading, bacteria-induced RB, TNF-induced degranulation, TNF-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation, and TNF-induced Syk activation suggested that each may act on different elements of neutrophil signaling pathways.

Clinicopathologic features and long-term outcome of patients with medullary breast carcinoma managed with breast-conserving therapy (BCT).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical characteristics and outcome of medullary carcinoma to infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast in a large cohort of conservatively managed patients with long-term follow-up. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Chart records of patients with invasive breast cancer managed with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) at the therapeutic radiology facilities of Yale University School of Medicine before 2001 were reviewed. Forty-six cases (1971-2001) were identified with medullary histology; 1,444 patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma served as a control group. RESULTS: The medullary cohort presented at a younger age with a higher percentage of patients in the 35 years or younger age group (26.1% vs. 6.6%, p < 0.00001). Twelve patients with medullary histology underwent genetic screening, and 6 patients were identified with deleterious mutations. This group showed greater association with BRCA1/2 mutations compared with screened patients in the control group (50.0% vs. 15.8%, p = 0.0035). The medullary cohort was also significantly associated with greater T stage and tumor size (37.0% vs. 17.2% T2, mean size 3.2 vs. 2.5 cm, p = 0.00097) as well as negative ER (84.9% vs. 37.6%, p < 0.00001) and PR (87.5% vs. 48.1%, p = 0.00001) status. As of February 2003, median follow-up times for the medullary and control groups were 13.9 and 14.0 years, respectively. Although breast relapse-free rates were not significantly different (76.7% vs. 85.2%), 10-year distant relapse-free survival in the medullary cohort was significantly better than in the control group (94.9% vs. 77.5%, p = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Despite poor clinicopathologic features, patients with medullary histology demonstrate favorable long-term distant relapse-free survival. Local control rates of patients with medullary and infiltrating ductal carcinoma are comparable. These findings suggest that patients diagnosed with medullary carcinoma are appropriate candidates for BCT and are associated with favorable long-term prognosis.

Impact of preoperative renal dysfunction in patients undergoing off-pump versus on-pump coronary artery bypass.

BACKGROUND: The impact of the degree of renal dysfunction (RD) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) ranging from normal to dialysis-dependence is not well defined. METHODS: A retrospective review of 14,199 patients undergoing isolated, primary CABG from January 1996 to May 2009 at Emory Healthcare was performed. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula: mild RD (eGFR 60 to 90 mL/min/1.73 m2), moderate RD (eGFR 30 to 59), severe RD (eGFR<30). A propensity scoring was used to balance the groups with 46 preoperative covariates. Multivariable logistic and Cox regression methods were used to determine the independent association of eGFR with mortality. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated for outcomes using the normal eGFR group as the reference. Kaplan-Meier curves were created to estimate long-term survival. RESULTS: A total of 8,086 patients (57.0%) underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) while 6,113 (43.0%) underwent on-pump CAB. Preoperative RD was common: Normal eGFR (n=3,503/14,199 [24.7%]); mild RD (7,236/14199 [51.0%]); moderate RD (2,860/14,199 [20.1%]); severe RD (283/14,199 [2.0%]); and preoperative dialysis (317/14,199 [2.2%]). Moderate to severe RD or preoperative dialysis was associated with worse adjusted in-hospital mortality: mild RD (odds ratio [OR] 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.93 to 2.16; p=not significant); moderate RD (OR 3.55; 95% CI 2.32 to 5.43; p<0.05]; severe RD (OR 8.84; 95% CI 4.92 to 15.9; p<0.05); and dialysis-dependent (OR 9.64; 95% CI 5.45 to 17.0; p<0.05). Adjusted long-term survival was worse across levels of RD. The OPCAB patients with moderate to severe RD had worse long-term survival than on-pump CAB patients; however, the surgery types were similar among normal, mild, and dialysis patients. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative RD is common in the CABG population and is associated with diminished long-term survival. Improved early outcomes in patients with RD undergoing OPCAB diminished with worsening RD.

Design of a village breeding programme for a llama population in the High Andes of Bolivia.

No national breeding programme for llamas is in place in Bolivia. Initiatives for genetic improvement are rarely found and are usually carried out by NGOs working in rural development or improvement of livestock production or research stations. Farmers in the Province of Ayopaya in the District of Cochabamba have formed a breeders' organization with the aim of improving fibre production. In this study, a detailed outline of a breeding programme with a focus on organizational and technical details is described. Facing constraints like illiteracy of farmers, bad infrastructure and lack of finances, a simple breeding programme is set up. The breeding goal is a higher fleece weight while keeping the fleece quality at the current high level. Greasy fleece weight and fibre diameter are identified as main selection criteria. Mass selection of males is carried out. Selected males are either exchanged between farmers and used in the herds or are kept during the mating season in a central mating station owned by the breeders' organization. Model calculations were carried out with the program zplan, which is based on a deterministic approach. zplan evaluates the genetic and economic efficiency of breeding strategies considering one cycle of selection. Scenarios with only intra-herd use, using only the central mating station or combinations of those were compared in terms of expected genetic gain and expected increase of inbreeding. Fastest genetic progress is achieved when the males are kept in a central mating station as the selection intensity is on a high level. Rates of inbreeding vary between 0.08 and 0.32% per generation.

SEXUAL HEALTH, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, SEXUAL COERCION, AND PARTNER ABUSE INDICATORS IN A CANADIAN OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY OUTPATIENT POPULATION.

OBJECTIVES: to assess prevalence and correlates of sexual health, reproductive health, sexual coercion, and partner abuse in a Canadian obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient population, and to determine whether women who report concerns in these areas have ever discussed them with their physicians. METHODS: a self-administered questionnaire was completed by 409 women (93.8% response rate) attending two hospital-based obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient clinics in a mid-size Canadian city. RESULTS: significant, prevalent, and clinically neglected sexual health, reproductive health, sexual coercion, and partner abuse concerns were reported, including: chronic and troubling dyspareunia (37%), dysmenorrhea (47%), and premenstrual syndrome (57%), infrequent breast self-examination (53%), inconsistent contraceptive use despite the desire not to conceive (41%), inconsistent condom use among those with multiple sexual partners (82%), sexual dysfunction (76% reported at least one sexual function concern), and a history of sexual coercion (23%) and physical partner abuse (19%). Only a small minority of women who reported sexual or reproductive health or sexual coercion or partner abuse concerns had ever discussed these concerns with their physician. CONCLUSION: these findings provide an empirical profile of significant and prevalent, but clinically neglected, women's health concerns. The findings suggest the need for increased clinical attention to the range of problems surveyed.