1,721,068 research outputs found
Feline immunodeficiency virus infection
No full textPathophysiology Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection leads to a progressive immunologic dysregulation due to a constant loss of lymphocytes (particularly CD4+ T lymphocytes), changes in cytokine patterns, and an increase of circulating immunoglobulin G (IgG). The progressive immunopathology predisposes to severe secondary diseases such as opportunistic infections, neoplasia, neurologic disease, and wasting syndrome.
Clinical Signs The initial acute phase of infection is characterized by nonspecific clinical signs such as anorexia, depression, fever and generalized lymphadenomegaly that may go unnoticed, evolving in a clinically latent stage. In the terminal phase of infection, infected cats may develop clinical signs related to secondary diseases, including opportunistic infections, myelosuppression, neurologic dysfunction, and neoplasia.
Diagnosis Clinical suspicion is based on the association of known risk factors (sex, age and lifestyle) with clinical signs and biochemical abnormalities. A complete blood cell count may reveal mild neutropenia in the initial acute phase and pancytopenia (lymphopenia, anemia and neutropenia) in the terminal phase of infection. Hypergammaglobulinemia is normally reported.
Other hematological and biochemical abnormalities may be due to secondary diseases. The detection of FIV-specific antibodies in blood confirms the diagnosis of infection.
Therapy Proper management of infected cats is essential to reduce secondary infections and avoid viral transmission. If secondary diseases are diagnosed, appropriate treatment is recommended. Antivirals and immunomodulators can be considered for FIV-infected cats. Zidovudine (5-10 mg/kg PO q12h) can be effective in the treatment of FIV-associated stomatitis or neurological disorders. Human interferon-alpha (IFN-α) administered at high (104-106 U/kg SC q24h) or low (1-50 U/kg PO q24h) doses and feline interferon-omega (IFN-ω) administered subcutaneously (106 IU/kg q24h on 5 consecutive days) or orally (105 IU/cat q24h on 90 consecutive days) can be employed.
Prognosis In most cases, FIV-infected cats live many years with a high quality of life and die at an old age from causes secondary to FIV infection
Un archivio di pietra: l’antico cimitero degli inglesi di Livorno. Note storiche e progetti di restauro.
No full text
Secure implementations of typed channel abstractions
No full textThe challenges hidden in the implementation of high-level process calculi into low-level environments are well understood. This paper develops a secure implementation of a typed pi calculus, in which capability types are employed to realize the policies for the access to communication channels. Our implementation compiles
high-level processes of the pi-calculus into low-level principals of a cryptographic process calculus based on the applied-pi calculus. In this translation, the high-level type capabilities are implemented as term capabilities protected by encryption keys only known to the intended receivers. As such, the implementation is effective even when the compiled, low-level principals are deployed in open contexts for which no assumption on trust and behavior may be made.
Our technique and results draw on, and extend, previous work on secure implementation of channel abstractions in a dialect of the join calculus . In particular, our translation preserves the forward secrecy of communications in a calculus that includes matching and supports the dynamic exchange of write and read access-rights among processes. We establish the adequacy and full abstraction
of the implementation by contrasting the untyped equivalences of the low-level cryptographic calculus, with the typed equivalences of the high-level source calculus
Healthcare associated infections in companion animals: Epidemiology, risk factors and prevention [Infezioni correlate all'assistenza negli animali da compagnia: Epidemiologia, fattori di rischio e prevenzione]
No full textLe infezioni correlate all’assistenza (ICA) sono definite come infezioni contratte
in ospedale o in qualsiasi struttura sanitaria dopo almeno 48 ore di
ricovero. La prevalenza di ICA è scarsamente documentata nelle strutture
veterinarie, tuttavia si suppone che l’incidenza complessiva sia in aumento
negli ospedali veterinari per un incremento dei pazienti sensibili esposti
e delle procedure invasive eseguite. I microrganismi associati a ICA sono
generalmente batteri multiresistenti.
Gli ospiti più sensibili allo sviluppo di ICA sono animali ricoverati in unità di
terapia intensiva, mentre le infezioni più comunemente riportate sono le seguenti:
infezioni del tratto urinario, infezioni del torrente circolatorio, infezioni
del sito chirurgico e polmoniti. L’istituzione di un programma di controllo delle
infezioni (ICP) nelle strutture sanitarie con l’adozione delle appropriate misure
preventive rappresenta il mezzo più efficace per monitorare, contrastare
e ridurre l’incidenza di ICA. L’igiene e la protezione personale, compresa
l’igiene delle mani e l’uso dei dispositivi di protezione individuale, dovrebbero
essere associate a procedure standardizzate di sanificazione dell’ambiente
ospedaliero e ad un adeguato isolamento dei pazienti in base al
rischio infettivo. L’ICP dovrebbe includere sistemi di sorveglianza (attiva, mirata,
passiva o sindromica) finalizzati a monitorare gli eventi sanitari, la prevalenza
della resistenza antimicrobica e altri potenziali fattori di rischio associati
a ICA. Inoltre, una politica coordinata di gestione antimicrobica nelle
strutture veterinarie dovrebbe guidare un uso appropriato degli antibiotici
per massimizzarne i benefici, causando al contempo il minor danno. Infine,
per un’applicazione effettiva ed efficace di un ICP è fondamentale aumentare
la consapevolezza, tramite programmi di educazione ed aggiornamento,
del personale sanitario, nonché di studenti e proprietari degli animali,
sui rischi relativi alle ICA, incluse le possibili zoonosi, e sull’importanza
di una rigorosa osservazione delle misure di prevenzione.Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are defined as infections contracted in a hospital or any healthcare facility after at least 48 hours of hospitalization. Incidence of HAIs is scarcely documented in veterinary medicine; however, it is supposed to be on the rise and run in parallel with the increment of susceptible patients and invasive procedures performed in veterinary hospitals. Generally, microorganisms associated with HAIs are multidrug-resistant bacteria. The most susceptible hosts to causative pathogens of HAI are small animals hospitalised in the intensive care unit, while the most common sites of infection are the following: urinary tract, lungs, bloodstream, and surgical site. The institution of an ICP in a healthcare facility is a key element in monitoring and contrasting the occurrence of HAIs. Personal hygiene and protection, including hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment should be associated with standardized procedures of cleaning and disinfection of the hospital environment and proper isolation and aborting of patients according to their infectious risk. ICP should include surveillance systems (active, targeted, passive, or syndromic) finalized to monitor health events, prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and other potential risk factors associated with HAIs. Moreover, a coordinated antimicrobial stewardship policy in the VH should guide an appropriate use of antimicrobials to maximise their benefit, while causing the least harm. Finally, for an effective application of an ICP it is essential to increase the awareness, through education and training of the healthcare personnel, as well as of students and animal owners, on the risks related to HAIs, including zoonoses, and on the importance of the rigorous observation of the preventive measures
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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