Smoke Inhalation Injury In A Pony

A seven year old Welsh pony stallion was admitted to the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation injury (SII) sustained in a barn fire. The pony was severly affected and demonstrated the three clinical phases typically described with SII. A nuclear pulmonary perfusion scan demonstrated multiple areas of unperfused lung suggesting reflex hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, while thoracic radiographs showed only a mild increase in broncho-interstitial pattern. The pony responded well to treatment with oxygen, diuretics, intravenous fluids, bronchodilators, non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents and antibiotics. A tracheostomy was done to relieve upper airway obstruction and to facilitate removal of tracheobonchial pseudomembranous casts. Ultrasonic nebulization and to facilitate removal of tracheobonchial pseudomembranous casts. Ultrasonic nebulization was utilized to moisturize and break up secretions and casts and to deliver bronchodilatory agents. The pony recovered and seven months following the fire was pasture breeding mares. The pathophysiology and treatment of SII in the equine is discussed.     

Effects of fluoride on secretory and postsecretory phases of enamel formation in sheep molars.

Effect of fluoride was assessed on molars during and after mineralization. Two groups of 7 sheep each were dosed orally with 3.5 mg of fluoride/kg of body weight daily for 4 months (from 5 to 9 months after birth). Sheep of the first group were slaughtered immediately after fluoride administration; those of the second group were slaughtered 4 months later at the age of 13 months. Three control groups of 7 sheep each were slaughtered at 5 months (to determine the state of the teeth at the beginning of fluoride administration), and at 9 and 13 months. During fluoride administration, plasma fluoride concentration rapidly increased to about 0.50 microgram/ml; after fluoride administration, it stabilized at 0.20 microgram/ml in treated sheep, whereas controls had concentration of 0.10 micrograms/ml (P less than 0.01). Parts of the molars that were in the process of mineralization during fluoride administration (mainly second molars) had thinning enamel, with pits, mainly close to the apex, marked decrease in hardness throughout the layer (less than 100 Vickers U, compared with 240 Vickers U), and fluoride accumulation twice as high as that in controls (1,000 to 2,500 mg/kg [dry weight]). Fluoride accumulation was higher in dentine (2,700 to 4,200 mg/kg), but hardness was less affected. On parts of the molars that were already mineralized (mostly, the first molar), changes in the appearance of enamel and cementum, decreased hardness (less important than in teeth during mineralization) affecting outer enamel more than inner enamel, high fluoride concentration (4,000 to 5,500 mg/kg [dry weight]) in outer enamel extending over 200 microns were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Perineal urethrostomy.

Perineal urethrostomy can be used successfully in male cats to help manage certain lower urinary tract diseases. Indications and surgical technique are discussed and illustrated. Potential complications encountered with the surgical technique along with methods for preventing and managing are elaborated. With experience, perineal urethrostomy can be performed successfully and with minimal complications.     

A comparative study of neurologically-equivalent propofol anaesthetic combinations in the dog

Propofol, administered as the sole anaesthetic agent, was evaluated when given alone and to dogs premed-icated with acepromazine or medetomidine. Both preanaesthetic agents reduced the dose of propofol required for induction of anaesthesia. Medetomidine significantly reduced the dose of propofol required for the maintenance of anaesthesia for a 30-minute period. An equivalent depth of anaesthesia was established in each protocol as judged by lack of response to mechanical noxious stimuli and total amplitude reduction of brain wave activity. Differences in physiological responses between propofol and acepromazine/propofol were not significant. The dogs in the medetomidine/propofol group had a significantly higher blood pressure and longer duration of anaesthesia and recovery. Oxygen saturation was maintained above 90% by the administration of supplemental oxygen. The study demonstrated the comparative responses to a biologically equivalent depth of anaesthesia, as confirmed by brain wave analysis, using three different techniques using propofol.     

MAGNETIZATION TRANSFER IMAGING OF THE CANINE BRAIN: A REVIEW

Magnetization transfer imaging is a modality capable of examining the non-water components of brain tissue by examining the effects they have on water protons. It may be used qualitatively to increase the visibility of lesions seen during magnetic resonance angiography and following the administration of an intravenous paramagnetic contrast medium. Quantitatively, it can be used to examine the effect of pathology on magnetization transfer contrast, to provide a measurement of myelination, as well as to quantify disease progression in trauma, neoplasia, neurodegeneration and other disorders of the brain. This paper reviews the theory of magnetization transfer imaging, its applications, and provides an example of its use in examining the canine brain.     

How to grow a mind: statistics, structure, and abstraction

In coming to understand the world-in learning concepts, acquiring language, and grasping causal relations-our minds make inferences that appear to go far beyond the data available. How do we do it? This review describes recent approaches to reverse-engineering human learning and cognitive development and, in parallel, engineering more humanlike machine learning systems. Computational models that perform probabilistic inference over hierarchies of flexibly structured representations can address some of the deepest questions about the nature and origins of human thought: How does abstract knowledge guide learning and reasoning from sparse data? What forms does our knowledge take, across different domains and tasks? And how is that abstract knowledge itself acquired?