Physical activity measured with an accelerometer in dogs following extracapsular stabilisation to treat cranial cruciate ligament rupture.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the physical activity levels in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture before and after lateral fabellar suture stabilisation surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen dogs (mean weight, 12.3±5.1 kg) with unilateral cranial cruciate ligament rupture were fitted with an accelerometer for seven consecutive days at four different time points: before surgery (T0), one (T1), three (T3) and six (T6) months after surgery. The total activity and times spent in sedentary activity, light to moderate activity and vigorous activity were recorded by the accelerometer, and preoperative and postoperative data were compared. At all time points, dogs underwent clinical evaluations (lameness score, stifle pain score and thigh circumference) and their owners were asked to respond to questionnaires to subjectively score the physical activity and quality of life of the dogs. RESULTS: At the four time points, the dogs spent between 21.2 and 21.4 hours on sedentary behaviour, 2.3 and 2.5 hours performing light to moderate activity, and 13 to 15 minutes performing vigorous activity. There was no increase in physical activity variables or decrease in sedentary behaviour over time. Lameness scores, pain score and dogs' quality of life improved significantly during the postoperative period. At T6, 17 (100%) of 17 dogs presented no lameness, 16 (94%) of 17 dogs presented no stifle pain, 16 (94%) of 17 owners rated the quality of life as very good and excellent, and 16 (100%) of 16 owners reported a total return to normal activity levels. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The clinical recovery after extracapsular stabilisation of the stifle joint was not associated with a spontaneous increase in physical activity or a decrease in sedentary behaviour.

A COVID-19 superspreading event involving two variants during sociotherapy activities in a French mental health centre.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Investigation of a COVID-19 super-spreading event involving both beta and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2, following a choir in a mental health centre. METHODS: An epidemiological and biological (RT-PCR, mutations screening and sequencing) investigation was carried out to identify the chains of transmission. A morbidity and mortality review was performed using ALARM root causes analysis to understand how this superspreading event could have taken place. RESULTS: On May 25 and 26, 2021, all 13 choir participants were screened. Of these, eight were positive. None of them was vaccinated. Biological results suggested seven cases of delta variants (three confirmed by sequencing) and one case of beta variant. The screening of 141 contact individuals identified 21 subsequent cases with a suspected delta variant and two cases of suspected beta variant. Since the two index cases had similar Ct during the choir, this suggests different spreading abilities. The contributing factors were multiple, including underestimation of infectious risks by the social therapy team in relation to low individual and collective perceived vulnerability CONCLUSION: HCPs involved in sociotherapy must be aware of, and trained to mitigate, the risk of superspreading event. Conventional distancing and good natural ventilation appear to not be enough to prevent spread of more transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Estudio comparativo de la utilización biologica de beta-caroteno sintético y de fuentes naturales en ratas / Comparative study of the biological utilization of beta-carotene from synthetic and natural sources in rats

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change in concentration of retinol and beta-carotene (BC) in blood serum and liver tissue of rats, after supplementation with synthetic BC and commonly consumed carotenoid-rich vegetables (carrot and spinach). Weanling male Wistar rats were randomly assigned in four groups of 16 rats each. The four groups of rats were supplemented according to the following feeding treatments: 1) Control group (0G), 0.2 mL corn oil; 2) Pure BC group (BCG), 60 micrograms RE in 0.2 mL corn oil; 3) Carrot group (CG), 60 micrograms RE in 0.2 mL corn oil; 4) Spinach group (SG), 60 micrograms RE in 0.2 mL corn oil. Analysis of retinol and BC contents in serum and liver was performed by HPLC procedures. The variance analysis showed no significant differences (a = 0.05) in the increase of weight of the animals and in the increase of retinol and BC levels in serum and in liver of the four treatments during the four weeks of supplementation. The correlation analysis between levels of retinol and BC in serum and in liver showed no relation between these two parameters. A regression analysis of liver BC levels in the four treatments showed the following slopes of the regression lines: BCG, 0.909; CG, 0.451; SG, 0.444, and 0G, 0.203. These results indicate that the highest BC absorption was in the BCG treatment, whereas the BC absorption in the CG and SG treatments was approximately one half.

Eficiencia y efectos secundarios de la Prostaglandina E1 frente a la Papaverina en el tratamiento de la disfunción eréctil: informe preliminar / Prostaglandine vs. Papaverine in the treatment of erectile disfuction

El uso de los agentes intracavernosos constituye hoy en día la piedra angular en el tratamiento de los pacientes con disfunción eréctil. Presentamos aquí un informe preliminar de un experimento clínico controlado que pretende comparar la efectividad de los efectos secundarios de la Papaverina y de la Prostaglandina. Hasta el momento el grupo que recibió la Papaverina presenta tiempos de latencia más cortos y erecciones más prolongadas; pero presentaron dos casos de placas en los cuerpos cavernosos y más episodios de priapismo. Esperamos al completar el tamaño de la muestra verificar si estas tendencias alcanzan diferencias estadísticamente significativas.