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April 20, 2009

Comparison of two canine registry databases on the prevalence of hip dysplasia by breed and the relationship of dysplasia with body weight and height.

Filed under: Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine — Tags: , — medical insurance @ 10:54 am

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OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of 2 canine registries for classification of the hip joints for dysplasia by breed, and to relate the percentage of dysplastic dogs with body metric characteristics. SAMPLE POPULATION: Data on the ranking order of hip dysplasia by breed from 2 registries for 156 dog breeds. PROCEDURES: The prevalence of hip dysplasia listed by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the breed mean score according to the list of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) Kennel Club Hip Dysplasia scheme were related to weight and height as well as the body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)) by breed. RESULTS: The OFA ranking order and the percentage of dysplastic dogs were highly correlated with the BVA mean score (rho = 0.74). A significant correlation was found between the prevalence of hip dysplasia and the BMI (r = 0.63). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the highest area under the curve, corresponding to the best discrimination, was at a BMI of 110 kg/m(2) with a criterion value of 15% dysplastic dogs (area under the curve, 0.89). Because the ratio of dogs in the positive and negative groups reflected the prevalence of the condition among breeds in the OFA database, the positive likelihood ratio was 9.32 and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.24. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The OFA statistics and the BVA mean scores reflected the prevalence of hip dysplasia among dog breeds. Body mass index accurately discriminated between breeds with high or low prevalence of hip dysplasia.

Comhaire FHSnaps F
Royal Belgian Cynological Society Saint Hubert, Giraudlaan, 98, B-1030 Brussels, Belgium.

March 15, 2009

Recent advances in the synthesis of aliphatic polyesters by ring-opening polymerization.

Filed under: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science — Tags: , — medical insurance @ 10:45 am

Advanced drug delivery systems rely on the availability of biocompatible materials. Moreover, biodegradability is highly desirable in the design of those systems. Consequently, aliphatic polyesters appear as a class of promising materials since they combine both properties. Nevertheless, their use in practical biomedical systems relies on clinical approval which not only depends on the material itself but also on its reproducible synthesis with the absence of residual toxics. The first sections of this review aim at reporting on the evolution of the initiators/catalytic systems and of the synthesis conditions (particularly the use of supercritical CO(2) as polymerization medium) in order to produce aliphatic polyesters with controlled macromolecular parameters by still “greener” ways. In addition, the further development of delivery systems also depends on the synthesis of materials exhibiting novel properties, such as amphiphilicity or pH-sensitivity that are emerging from the active research in macromolecular engineering. Functionalizing aliphatic polyesters is quite tedious due to their sensitivity towards hydrolytic degradation. The last section of this review is discussing several strategies to obtain functional (co)polyesters of various architectures providing them with novel properties.

Jerome,C Lecomte,P
Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules, University of Liege, B6 Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, Belgium.

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