Appraisal of the Australian Veterinary Prescribing Guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery in dogs and cats

The Australian Veterinary Prescribing Guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery on dogs and cats are evidence‐based guidelines for veterinary practitioners. Validation of these guidelines is necessary to ensure quality and implementability. Two validated tools, used for medical guideline appraisal, were chosen to assess the guidelines. The terminology from the GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA) and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version 2 (AGREE II) were adapted for use by veterinarians. A two‐phase evaluation approach was conducted. In the first phase of the evaluation, the GLIA tool was used by two specialist veterinary surgeons in clinical practice. The results of this phase were then used to modify the guidelines. In the second phase, the AGREE II tool was used by 6 general practitioners and 6 specialists to appraise the guidelines. In phase 1, the specialist surgeons either agreed or strongly agreed that the guidelines were executable, decidable, valid and novel, and that the guidelines would fit within the process of care. The surgeons were neutral on flexibility and measurability. Additional clarity around one common surgical procedure was added to the guidelines, after which the surgeons agreed that the guidelines were sufficiently flexible. In phase 2, 12 veterinarians completed the assessment using the AGREE II tool. In all sections the scaled domain score was greater than 70%. The overall quality of the guidelines was given a global scaled score of 76%. This assessment has demonstrated that the guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for companion animal surgery are valid and appear implementable.     

Acoustic emission related to strain energy during drying of Eucalyptus regnans boards

Summary During timber drying, surface differential shrinkage within a board causes a high surface tensile stress and associated instantaneous strain. Acoustic Emission (AE) is generated when localised irreversible stress release events act to reduce the strain energy imparted to the material. A nonlinear one-dimensional drying model was used to calculate through-thickness moisture, stress and strain profiles during drying. The surface stress and instantaneous strain were used to calculate the strain energy at the surface. AE was measured during drying and the relationship between strain energy and the cumulative count (total ringdown counts) was investigated. The cumulative count is related to the unrecoverable strain energy rather than the elastic or recoverable strain energy. The cumulative count is not a useful measure of the propensity for surface checking. However the peak AE rate values are closely related to the surface instantaneous strain.Symbols E Young's Modulus (GPa) - instantaneous strain - _m mechano-sorptive effect - _c creep strain - _u unconfined shrinkage - _n net shrinkage - _o set (residual) strain - _pl proportional limit strain - W_in strain energy (kJ/m³) - U_u unrecoverable strain energy (kJ/m³) - U_r recoverable strain energy (kJ/m³) - W _in ^* nondimensional strain energy - U _u ^* nondimensional unrecoverable strain energy - U _r ^* nondimensional recoverable strain energy - stress (MPa) The authors are pleased to acknowledge the assistance of Emeritus Professor A. R. Oliver, University of Tasmania, the Australian Furniture Research and Development Institute and the Tasmanian Timber Promotion Board.     

Organic Electroluminescent Devices

Electroluminescence from organic materials has the potential to enable low-cost, full-color flat-panel displays, as well as other emissive products. Some materials have now demonstrated adequate efficiencies (1 to 15 lumens/watt) and lifetimes (>5000 hours) for practical use; however, the factors that govern lifetime remain poorly understood. This article provides a brief review of device principles and applications requirements and focuses on the understanding of reliability issues.     

Orchardgrass and perennial ryegrass with applied nitrogen and in mixtures with legumes

High-yielding grass-legume mixtures play an important role in forage-animal systems but finding compatible and adapted species can sometimes be difficult. The objective of this study was to examine productivity of perennial ryegrass and orchardgrass in pure stands with N and in mixtures with legumes.
Broadcast sowings were made on conventionally prepared seedbeds in August 1979 and May 1980 on a Hagerstown silt loam soil (fine, mixed mesic Typic Hapludalf). When sown alone orchardgrass cv. Pennlate and perennial ryegrass cv. Reveille received rates of N ranging from 0 to 448 kg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹. The grasses were also grown in mixtures with alfalfa cv. Arc, red clover cv. Arlington, or birds foot trefoil cv. Viking. The same legumes were sown alone. Four legume seed rates were used in both the pure legume and mixed stands.
Orchardgrass-N swards were more productive than ryegrass-N swards over 3 years. More dry matter (DM) was harvested from pure stands of     

The Solar Acoustic Spectrum and Eigenmode Parameters

The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project estimates the frequencies, amplitudes, and linewidths of more than 250,000 acoustic resonances of the sun from data sets lasting 36 days. The frequency resolution of a single data set is 0.321 microhertz. For frequencies averaged over the azimuthal order m, the median formal error is 0.044 microhertz, and the associated median fractional error is 1.6 x 10(-5). For a 3-year data set, the fractional error is expected to be 3 x 10(-6). The GONG m-averaged frequency measurements differ from other helioseismic data sets by 0.03 to 0.08 microhertz. The differences arise from a combination of systematic errors, random errors, and possible changes in solar structure.     

不同温度对甜菜种子吸胀过程中线粒体CCO和MDH活性的影响

吸胀温度显著地影响甜菜种子的萌发速率。吸胀温度为３０℃和２０℃时,５０％萌发所需要的时间分别为３６ｈ和５６ｈ;在７℃中吸胀１２０ｈ,仍未见萌发。在种子吸胀过程中,粗线粒体蛋白的含量,细胞色素Ｃ氧化酶和苹果酸脱氢酶的活性增加,且它们在３０℃和２０℃中的活性较高,在７℃下较低。     

Treatment of Chronic Back Pain in Horses Stimulation of Acupuncture Points with a Low Powered Infrared Laser

Fourteen horses that could not perform at their expected standards due to chronic back pain of 4 to 48 months duration, and had not obtained lasting improvement from other forms of therapy, were treated by stimulating nine acupuncture points using a low powered infrared laser (300 microW, 904 nm). The treatments were performed weekly, and consisted of stimulating each point for 2 minutes with a pulse frequency of 360 pulses per second. After completion of a mean of 11 treatments, clinical signs of back pain were alleviated in 10 of the 14 horses, there was no change in three, and one was lost to follow-up. Of the 10 horses who were training and competing, four won. One year after treatment was discontinued, 9 of these 10 horses continued to perform at a standard acceptable to the owner.