Ballistic trauma to the axial skeleton in 13 animals.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical presentation and outcome of small animals that sustained ballistic trauma to the axial skeleton. DESIGN: Retrospective, multicenter observational study. SETTING: Two university teaching hospitals. ANIMALS: Twelve client-owned dogs and 1 client-owned cat sustaining ballistic trauma to the axial skeleton. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Thirteen animals sustaining ballistic trauma to the axial skeleton with complete medical records were included in this study. Twelve of 13 animals survived to discharge; 1 animal was euthanized shortly after presentation. Two animals had ophthalmic abnormalities, 9 animals had neurologic lesions, and 2 animals had no significant ophthalmic or neurologic deficits. Neurolocalization of injury included peripheral vestibular (n = 1), multifocal brain (n = 1), brainstem (n = 1), C1-C5 (n = 1), C6-T2 (n = 1), T3-L3 (n = 3), and L4-S3 (n = 1). Seven dogs underwent surgical intervention: 5 neurosurgical, 1 enucleation, and 1 laparotomy. Median hospitalization time was 6 days with a range from 1 to 31 days. CONCLUSIONS: Overall prognosis and outcome are variable and dependent on specific injury location and degree of injury.

Safety and efficacy of cannabidiol-cannabidiolic acid rich hemp extract in the treatment of refractory epileptic seizures in dogs.

The use of cannabidiol (CBD) in childhood refractory seizures has become a common therapeutic approach for specific seizure disorders in human medicine. Similarly, there is an interest in using CBD, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) or cannabinoid-rich hemp products in the treatment of idiopathic epilepsy in dogs. We aimed to examine a small cohort in a pilot investigation using a CBD and CBDA-rich hemp product for the treatment of refractory epileptic seizures in dogs. Fourteen dogs were examined in a 24-week randomized cross-over study being provided placebo or CBD/CBDA-rich hemp extract treatment at 2 mg/kg orally every 12 h for each 12-week arm of the study. Serum chemistry, complete blood counts, serum anti-seizure medication (ASM) concentrations and epileptic seizure frequency were followed over both arms of the cross-over trial. Results demonstrated that besides a mild increase in alkaline phosphatase, there were no alterations observed on routine bloodwork at 2, 6, and 12 weeks during either arm of the study. Epileptic seizure frequency decreased across the population from a mean of 8.0 ± 4.8 during placebo treatment to 5.0 ± 3.6 with CBD/CBDA-rich hemp extract (P = 0.02). In addition, epileptic seizure event days over the 12 weeks of CBD/CBDA-rich hemp treatment were 4.1 ± 3.4, which was significantly different than during the 12 weeks of placebo treatment (5.8 ± 3.1; P =0.02). The number of dogs with a 50% reduction in epileptic activity while on treatment were 6/14, whereas 0/14 had reductions of 50% or greater while on the placebo (P = 0.02). No differences were observed in serum zonisamide, phenobarbital or bromide concentrations while on the treatment across groups. Adverse events were minimal, but included somnolence (3/14) and transient increases in ataxia (4/14) during CBD/CBDA-rich hemp extract treatment; this was not significantly different from placebo. This further indicates that providing CBD/CBDA-rich hemp extract during refractory epilepsy (only partially responsive to ASM), in conjunction with other ASM appears safe. Based on this information, the use of 2 mg/kg every 12 h of a CBD/CBDA-rich hemp extract can have benefits in reducing the incidence of epileptic seizures, when used concurrently with other ASMs.

Description of the larvae of Faula jaliscoensis (Delgado Navarrete-Heredia) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Nayarit, Mexico.

The larvae of Faula jaliscoensis (Delagado Navarette-Heredia, 2004) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Macrodactylini) is described based in specimens collected in a sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum Linnaeus; Poaceae) field in Nayarit, Mexico. Diagnostic structures are illustrated and the differences between other described larvae of Faula Blanchard, 1850 are discussed. Faula was recently removed from synonymy with Ceraspis LePeletier Serville, 1828 by Fuhrmann Vaz-de-Mello (2017), with the following species occur in Mexico: Faula centralis (Sharp, 1877), F. jaliscoensis (Delagado Navarette-Heredia, 2004), F. mexicana Harold, 1863, F. oaxacaensis (Delgado, 2001), and F. pilatei Harold, 1863 (Evans Smith 2009). The objectives of this study are to describe the third instar of F. jaliscoensis and compare it with other described species of Faula in Mexico.

Description of the third instar larvae of five species of Cyclocephala (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae, Dynastinae) from Mexico

Description of the third instar larvae of five species of Cyclocephala (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae, Dynastinae) from Mexico. Larvae of four species of Cyclocephala are described for the first time based on specimens collected in Mexican localities: C. barrerai Martínez, 1969 from Puebla, C. sinaloae Howden & Endrödi, 1966 from Sinaloa, C. fasciolata Bates, 1888 from Veracruz, and C. jalapensis Casey, 1915 from Hidalgo. Larva of C. lunulata Burmeister, 1847, is redescribed based on specimens from the Mexican states of Morelos, Puebla, and Veracruz. Diagnostic structures are illustrated and the differences and similarities of each species with other previously described larvae of the genus are commented.

Matrix of regularity for improving the quality of ECGs.

The 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) is the gold standard for diagnosis of abnormalities of the heart. However, the ECG is susceptible to artifacts, which may lead to wrong diagnosis and thus mistreatment. It is a clinical challenge of great significance differentiating ECG artifacts from patterns of diseases. We propose a computational framework, called the matrix of regularity, to evaluate the quality of ECGs. The matrix of regularity is a novel mechanism to fuse results from multiple tests of signal quality. Moreover, this method can produce a continuous grade, which can more accurately represent the quality of an ECG. When tested on a dataset from the Computing in Cardiology/PhysioNet Challenge 2011, the algorithm achieves up to 95% accuracy. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve is 0.97. The developed framework and computer program have the potential to improve the quality of ECGs collected using conventional and portable devices.

Automatic detection of ECG electrode misplacement: a tale of two algorithms.

Artifacts in an electrocardiogram (ECG) due to electrode misplacement can lead to wrong diagnoses. Various computer methods have been developed for automatic detection of electrode misplacement. Here we reviewed and compared the performance of two algorithms with the highest accuracies on several databases from PhysioNet. These algorithms were implemented into four models. For clean ECG records with clearly distinguishable waves, the best model produced excellent accuracies (> = 98.4%) for all misplacements except the LA/LL interchange (87.4%). However, the accuracies were significantly lower for records with noise and arrhythmias. Moreover, when the algorithms were tested on a database that was independent from the training database, the accuracies may be poor. For the worst scenario, the best accuracies for different types of misplacements ranged from 36.1% to 78.4%. A large number of ECGs of various qualities and pathological conditions are collected every day. To improve the quality of health care, the results of this paper call for more robust and accurate algorithms for automatic detection of electrode misplacement, which should be developed and tested using a database of extensive ECG records.