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Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is widely used in other species as a marker of renal dysfunction and is considered a more sensitive indicator of glomerular filtration rate than creatinine. Reference ranges are established in healthy adult horses (≤14μg/dL) and concentrations are increased in horses with acute kidney injury (median 32μg/dL; range 15-92).

To establish the normal range of SDMA concentrations in neonatal Thoroughbreds.

Cross-sectional.

Blood samples were collected from Thoroughbred foals <36h old deemed healthy by physical examination. Exclusion criteria included foals from mares undergoing treatment for placentitis and foals that developed clinical disease or died/euthanised <2weeks from birth. Biochemistry and serum SDMA concentrations were obtained.

Subjects included 120 foals. Median age was 13.5h (range 1.0-34.0). Median and 95% confidence interval for SDMA concentration was 69.0µg/dL (63.0, 75.0; range 35.0-376.0). A cut-off value of 168µg/dL would include 95% of individuals and is therefore suggested. Serum SDMA concentration was correlated with age (R=-.3, P=.003), creatinine concentration (R=.6, P≤.001) and urea concentration (R=.3, P=.002).

Limitations include a small sample size, no consideration of subclinical disease and a short follow-up period.

In equine neonates, SDMA concentration is higher than in adult horses, older foals and adults with acute kidney injury. Therefore, currently SDMA cannot be used as a marker of renal dysfunction in this age group. Further work is required to assess whether SDMA concentration is increased in neonates with renal disease and, if so, what cut-off should be used.

In equine neonates, SDMA concentration is higher than in adult horses, older foals and adults with acute kidney injury. Therefore, currently SDMA cannot be used as a marker of renal dysfunction in this age group. Further work is required to assess whether SDMA concentration is increased in neonates with renal disease and, if so, what cut-off should be used.Kind representations, concepts like table, triangle, dog, and planet, underlie generic language. Here, we investigate the formal structure of kind representations-the structure that distinguishes kind representations from other types of representations. The present studies confirm that participants distinguish generic-supporting properties of individuals (e.g., this watch is made of steel) and accidental properties (e.g., this watch is on the nightstand). Furthermore, work dating back to Aristotle establishes that only some generic-supporting properties bear a principled connection to the kind, that is, are true of an individual by virtue of its being a member of a specific kind (e.g., telling time for a watch). The present studies tested the hypothesis that principled connections are part of the formal structure of kind representations. Specifically, they tested whether they structure a newly learned kind representation. Experiment 1 found that introducing a property of a newly encountered novel kind in any one of four linguistic frames that provide evidence that a property has a principled connection to a kind (e.g., "It has fur because it is a blick") led participants to infer a different conceptual consequence of principled connections (i.e., "There is something wrong with this blick, which does not have fur") for which they had no direct evidence. Two introduction frames that provided no evidence for principled connections (e.g., "Almost all blicks have fur") did not generate the same consequence. Experiment 2 found that all of the targeted properties were generic licensing, irrespective of the introduction frame. That the distinction between properties that bear principled connections to their kinds, and merely generic-supporting properties structures novel kind representations, provides strong evidence that this distinction is part of the formal structure of kind representations.The potential capacity for robots to deceive has received considerable attention recently. Many papers explore the technical possibility for a robot to engage in deception for beneficial purposes (e.g., in education or health). In this short experimental paper, I focus on a more paradigmatic case robot lying (lying being the textbook example of deception) for nonbeneficial purposes as judged from the human point of view. More precisely, I present an empirical experiment that investigates the following three questions (a) Are ordinary people willing to ascribe deceptive intentions to artificial agents? (b) Are they as willing to judge a robot lie as a lie as they would be when human agents engage in verbal deception? (c) Do people blame a lying artificial agent to the same extent as a lying human agent? The response to all three questions is a resounding yes. This, I argue, implies that robot deception and its normative consequences deserve considerably more attention than they presently receive.

Intrathecal administration of nusinersen is challenging in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who have spine deformities or fusions. We prospectively studied the safety and efficacy of nusinersen administration via an indwelling subcutaneous intrathecal catheter (SIC) for SMA patients with advanced disease.

Seventeen participants commenced nusinersen therapy between 2.7 and 31.5 years of age and received 9 to 12 doses via SIC. Safety was assessed in all participants. A separate efficacy analysis comprised 11 nonambulatory, treatment-naive SMA patients (18.1 ± 6.8 years) with three SMN2 copies and complex spine anatomy.

In the safety analysis, 14 treatment-related adverse events (AEs) occurred among 12 (71%) participants; all were related to the SIC and not nusinersen. Device-related AEs interfered with 2.5% of nusinersen doses. Four SICs (24%) required surgical revision due to mechanical malfunction with or without cerebrospinal fluid leak (n=2), and one (6%) was removed due to Staphylococcus epidermidis meningitis. In the efficacy analysis, mean performance on the nine-hole peg test improved in dominant (15.9%, P=0.012) and nondominant (19.0%, P=0.008) hands and grip strength increased by 44.9% (P=0.031). We observed no significant changes in motor scales, muscle force, pulmonary function, or SMA biomarkers. All participants in the efficacy cohort reported one or more subjective improvement(s) in endurance, purposeful hand use, arm strength, head control, and/or speech.

For SMA patients with complex spine anatomy, the SIC allows for reliable outpatient administration of nusinersen that results in meaningful improvements in upper limb function, but introduces risks of technical malfunction and iatrogenic infection.

For SMA patients with complex spine anatomy, the SIC allows for reliable outpatient administration of nusinersen that results in meaningful improvements in upper limb function, but introduces risks of technical malfunction and iatrogenic infection.

Membranes based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) have proven a superior gas transfer compared to the contemporary hollow fiber membrane (HFM) design in artificial lungs. The improved oxygen transfer is attributed to disrupting the laminar boundary layer adjacent to the membrane surface known as main limiting factor to mass transport. However, it requires experimental proof that this improvement is not at the expense of greater damage to the blood. Hence, the aim of this work is a valid statement regarding the structure-dependent hemolytic behavior of TPMS structures compared to the current HFM design.

Hemolysis tests were performed on structure samples of three different kind of TPMS-based designs (Schwarz-P, Schwarz-D and Schoen's Gyroid) in direct comparison to a hollow fiber structure as reference.

The results of this study suggest that the difference in hemolysis between TPMS membranes compared to HFMs is small although slightly increased for the TPMS membranes. There is no significant difference between the TPMS structures and the hollow fiber design. Nevertheless, the ratio between the achieved additional oxygen transfer and the additional hemolysis favors the TPMS-based membrane shapes.

TPMS-shaped membranes offer a safe way to improve gas transfer in artificial lungs.

TPMS-shaped membranes offer a safe way to improve gas transfer in artificial lungs.

Increased cytokine response is common in patients receiving extracorporeal life support and is often a poor prognostic indicator. There is interest in using adjunctive cytokine adsorption technologies to reduce inflammatory burden, However, it is debated whether extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) itself provides therapeutic benefit beyond gas exchange. Thus, we sought to characterize the inflammatory profile of ECMO in the first 72-96h of and quantify its effect on cytokine levels in a case series of patients undergoing ECMO.

Eight patients initiating ECMO were studied. Of these, we measured cytokines pre- and post-oxygenator over 96h. Comparisons of cytokine levels were made across the oxygenator and over time.

The average age of patients was 64.3years with 62% being male. Centrally cannulated patients had higher IL-6 levels (820.43 vs. 6907.53pg/ml, p<0.03), whereas peripherally cannulated patients had higher IL-12p70 levels (7.73 vs. 2.59pg/ml, p<0.05). Cytokine levels on day one includclinical significance of this is still unknown. link2 Further investigation of the oxygenator on cytokine response is warranted.

The majority of patients with a familial cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) referred for molecular screening do not show pathogenic variants in known genes. In this study, we aimed to identify novel CSVD causal genes.

We performed a gene-based collapsing test of rare protein-truncating variants identified in exome data of 258 unrelated CSVD patients of an ethnically matched control cohort and of 2 publicly available large-scale databases, gnomAD and TOPMed. Western blotting was used to investigate the functional consequences of variants. Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of mutated patients were characterized.

We showed that LAMB1 truncating variants escaping nonsense-mediated messenger RNA decay are strongly overrepresented in CSVD patients, reaching genome-wide significance (p < 5 × 10

). Using 2 antibodies recognizing the N- and C-terminal parts of LAMB1, we showed that truncated forms of LAMB1 are expressed in the endogenous fibroblasts of patients and trapped in the cytosol. These variants are associated with a novel phenotype characterized by the association of a hippocampal type episodic memory defect and a diffuse vascular leukoencephalopathy.

These findings are important for diagnosis and clinical care, to avoid unnecessary and sometimes invasive investigations, and also from a mechanistic point of view to understand the role of extracellular matrix proteins in neuronal homeostasis. link3 ANN NEUROL 2021.

These findings are important for diagnosis and clinical care, to avoid unnecessary and sometimes invasive investigations, and also from a mechanistic point of view to understand the role of extracellular matrix proteins in neuronal homeostasis. ANN NEUROL 2021.