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Shape and variability of the normal medial coronoid process by computed tomography in young adult labrador retrievers
(Wiley, 2025-11) Van der Laan, Luzanne; Kirberger, Robert M.; Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore; Le Roux, Christelle
Medial coronoid process disease (MCPD) is the most frequently observed cause of elbow dysplasia, resulting in lameness in young, fast‐growing large‐breed dogs, including Labrador Retrievers (LRs). Computed tomography (CT) is the diagnostic imaging modality of choice for evaluating the medial coronoid process (MCP), as it is noninvasive and eliminates superimposition of the process by the radial head. This retrospective descriptive study aimed to describe the shape of the normal MCP on CT, to assess its variability within the LR breed, and to determine the normal Hounsfield units (HUs) of the MCP, medial radial head (MRH), and lateral radial head (LRH). Normal elbow CT studies of 51 South African guide dog LRs were reviewed. Using a repeatable imaging alignment technique, three principal MCP shapes were identified: ovoid, triangular, and softly pointed and were found to be dependent on the level of assessment. Males had significantly lower mean MCP HU compared to females. The mean HU of the MRH was consistently higher than the LRH and was also greater in attenuation on subjective assessment. Measuring MCP and radial head HU too proximally was suboptimal, as volume averaging was frequently encountered. The results of this study showed that although different alignment techniques may result in HU variations, they will not affect the HU to such an extent that the MCP would be misclassified as abnormal.
Echocardiographic examination of 16 eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and one red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus)
(Wiley, 2025-09) Carstens, Ann; Dutton, Geoffrey J.; Stannard, Hayley J.; Birckhead, Alice; Barkman, William D.; Connolly, Joanne H.
Habitat loss, road trauma, predation, disease, and natural disasters impact the health and survival of the family Macropodidae, including kangaroos. Cardiac disease has been reported, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), nutritional myodegeneration, valvular pathology, cardiovascular parasites, toxoplasmosis, and toxicities. Human research has evaluated macropod pericardium and aortic valves as possible bioprostheses. The goals of this prospective anatomic study were to echocardiographically evaluate opportunistically presented kangaroos: 14 clinically normal eastern grey kangaroos (EGK-Macropus giganteus), two sick EGKs, and one sick red kangaroo (RK, Osphranter rufus). Similar techniques as described in the dog were used. Standard B-mode images, M-mode mensuration, and Doppler measurements were attained; values were descriptively compared with published normal values. The clinically normal animals' M-mode values were similar to the closest weight-related kangaroo values. Most of the animals showed thicker-than-expected left ventricular and interventricular septal walls, and relative wall thickness (RWT) of 0.5 and 0.6; this may be the norm for macropods, but since an RWT>0.45 may indicate human HCM, this should be considered in the kangaroo. The sick animals were euthanized. Necropsy revealed highly suspect HCM in one EGK, and myxomatous mitral valve degeneration with suspect DCM in the other EGK and RK. In conclusion, there are weight-related similarities between previously published kangaroo values. More work is required on a larger number of weight and age cohorts of kangaroos. Subclinical HCM may be present in apparently normal animals. Findings can be used during clinical health assessments and for further research into macropod cardiac conditions.
A grammar of trinitarian experience? On Sarah Coakley’s théologie totale
(AOSIS, 2024-12-12) Delport, Khegan M.
The Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley has attempted to think trinitarian doctrine in explicitly experiential terms. Her erotically-charged, pneumatically-centred account of salvific incorporation attempts to articulate, on the one hand, an account of the purgation of desire and the senses through ascetic practice, contemplative prayer and liturgical habituation, while also maintaining, on the other hand, the priority of spiritual appetition as being itself the route through which believers are, gradually, drawn into the trinitarian life.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS :: The study makes a contribution by critically articulating an aspect of Coakley’s ‘théologie totale’, a new proposal for the method of systematic and dogmatic theology, one that is centrally focused on bringing in a wider interdisciplinary focus to the practice of systematic theology.
Soft computing for the posterior of a matrix t graphical network
(Elsevier, 2025-05) Pillay, Jason; Bekker, Andriette, 1958-; Ferreira, Johannes Theodorus; Arashi, Mohammad; andriette.bekker@up.ac.za
Modeling noisy data in a network context remains an unavoidable obstacle; fortunately, random matrix theory may comprehensively describe network environments. Noisy data necessitates the probabilistic characterization of these networks using matrix variate models. Denoising network data using a Bayesian approach is not common in surveyed literature. Therefore, this paper adopts the Bayesian viewpoint and introduces a new version of the matrix variate t graphical network. This model's prior beliefs rely on the matrix variate gamma distribution to handle the noise process flexibly; from a statistical learning viewpoint, such a theoretical consideration benefits the comprehension of structures and processes that cause network-based noise in data as part of machine learning and offers real-world interpretation. A proposed Gibbs algorithm is provided for computing and approximating the resulting posterior probability distribution of interest to assess the considered model's network centrality measures. Experiments with synthetic and real-world stock price data are performed to validate the proposed algorithm's capabilities and show that this model has wider flexibility than the model proposed by [13].
HIGHLIGHTS
• Expanding the framework for denoising financial data inside the realm of graphical network theory, where the assumption of normality in the model is inadequate to account for the variation.
• Introduction of the matrix variate gamma and inverse matrix variate gamma as priors for the covariance matrices; the univariate scale parameter β may be fixed or subject to a prior.
• Following Bayesian inference with more flexible priors, there is an improvement based on relevant accuracy measures.
• Experimental results indicate that our proposed framework and results outperform those of [13].
Numerical investigation of heat transfer performance of hybrid nanofluid in porous substrate in microchannel heat sink
(Springer, 2025-07) Oladetan, Jeremiah O.; Fujah, Faridat M.; Omosehin, Oluwasegun S.; Atofarati, Emmanuel O.; Nwabuko, Uzo; Olakoyejo, Olabode T.; Adelaja, Adekunle O.; omosehin.os@up.ac.za
With the increasing integration of integrated circuits (ICs) in electronic devices such as electric vehicles, computer data centers, heat pipe technology, solar energy, and heating ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) systems, optimizing heat transfer becomes essential to ensure optimal performance and longevity. This study numerically investigates the thermal and hydraulic performance of a microchannel heat sink (MCHS) enhanced by hybrid nanofluids and porous substrate integration. A two-phase Eulerian–Eulerian model implemented in ANSYS Fluent is employed to simulate Al₂O₃/Cu–water hybrid nanofluid flow at volume concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 3.0%, and flow Reynolds number (200 < Re < 1000) with a porous substrate embedded midway along the flow path. The results reveal that both the nanoparticle concentration and Reynolds number significantly enhance heat transfer, reflected in higher average Nusselt numbers and reduced thermal resistance. The incorporation of a porous substrate further amplifies heat transfer, achieving a maximum enhancement of 80.29% compared to the baseline configuration. Overall, employing hybrid nanofluids and porous substrates improves MCHS performance, offering augmented heat transfer efficiency and thermal performance.