Self-expanding nitinol stents for the treatment of tracheal collapse in dogs: 12 cases (2001-2004)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate long-term outcome following nitinol stent placement in dogs with tracheal collapse. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. ANIMALS: 12 client-owned dogs with endoscopically diagnosed tracheal collapse refractory to medical management. PROCEDURES: Medical records were reviewed for 12 dogs in which 1 or more self-expanding nitinol stents were placed for the treatment of endoscopically diagnosed tracheal collapse. A total of 17 stents were placed. RESULTS: Survival times after stent placement ranged from 1 to 48 months. Three of 12 dogs died within 6 months after stent placement. Nine dogs survived > 1 year after stent placement, and 7 dogs survived > 2 years. Of the deceased dogs, 5 of 9 succumbed to tracheal disease. Other causes of death included congestive heart failure, cerebral neoplasia, cerebrovascular accident, and renal failure. Material failure (stent fracture) was a common complication (5/12 dogs). Other complications reported included excessive granulation tissue within the stent lumen, tracheitis, and pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Placement of an intraluminal stent with self-expanding nitinol stents was a successful palliative treatment for tracheal collapse in dogs that did not respond to medical management. Disease progression is inevitable, but substantial improvement in respiratory function may be achieved for a period of months to years.     

Use of the advanced micro-osmometer model 3300 for determination of a normal osmolality and evaluation of different formulas for calculated osmolarity and osmole gap in adult dogs

Objective: To determine a reference interval of whole blood and plasma osmolalities for dogs using the Advanced Micro Osmometer Model 3300, to compare calculated osmolarity to measured osmolality, to determine a reference osmole gap, and to determine the best formula for calculated osmolaity. Design: Prospective, observational. Setting: Tertiary referral and teaching hospital. Animals: One hundred healthy adult dogs. Interventions: None. Measurements: Serum and whole blood biochemistry and osmolality assessments. Results: The mean and median of the measured whole blood osmolality were 323 and 320 mOsm/kg, respectively, with a standard deviation of 13.2 mOsm/kg. The mean and median of the measured plasma osmolality were 313 and 310 mOsm/kg, respectively, with a standard deviation of 13.2 mOsm/kg. The formula that was closest to predicting the measured whole blood and plasma osmolality was ((1.86(Na+K))+(BUN/2.8)+(Glucose/18))/0.93 followed closely by the traditional formula of (2(Na+K))+(BUN/2.8)+(Glucose/18). The mean calculated osmolarities using these formulas were 314.1 and 313.25 mOsm/L, respectively. The mean osmole gap using these formulas was 3.49 and 4.41 mOsm, respectively, for whole blood and ?2.01 and ?1.1 mOsm, respectively, for plasma. Conclusion: The Advanced Micro Osmometer Model 3300 was successful in measuring the osmolality in relative agreement with the current published reference intervals for osmolality. Measured osmolality correlated well with traditional calculated osmolarity.     

Microscopic observations of bacterial sorption in soil cores

 Bacterial cells may be immobilized in soil through adsorption to a variety of soil particles. These associations affect the interaction of native soil microbes with their nutrient sources and control at least in part the distribution of foreign bacteria entering the soil system. To observe the relationship between soil structure and adsorption of amended bacterial cells, a series of intact cores of Freehold fine sandy loam were inoculated with suspensions of Arthrobacter crystallopoietes cells at concentrations ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁸ cells per ml. The cells were cultivated in a glucose-based medium to induce spherical cell formation. Following inoculation, the soil cores were rinsed with sterile water (30–40 ml h^–1), flushed with thiazine red R to stain the bacterial cells, and then prepared for examination by common micromorphological techniques. The use of fluorescence, polarizing, and reflected light microscopy of soil thin sections, allowed direct, qualitative determinations of microbial distribution and associations with soil components. A. crystallopoietes cells were detected throughout the length of the soil columns. Soil pores did not appear to be clogged by the spherical A. crystallopoietes cells. Adsorption of amended bacteria was governed by the presence of both variably charged mineral oxides and organic matter within the intergrain microaggregates and occurred along coated mineral surfaces. Amendment of non-inoculated soil columns with 0.2% (w/v) solution of glucose demonstrated that the staining and sectioning procedure was sufficiently sensitive to detect growth of indigenous bacterial populations and their distributions within the soil matrix. Received; 6 April 1997     

PALLIATIVE RADIOTHERAPY OF APPENDICULAR OSTEOSARCOMA IN 95 DOGS

Ninety-five dogs with either a presumptive (n = 24) or biopsy confirmed diagnosis (n = 71) of osteosarcoma received palliative radiotherapy using 60Co photons. Parallel opposed beams were used with each dog receiving either 10 Gy on days 0, 7 and 21 (n = 58) or 8 Gy on days 0 and 7 (n = 37). The 8 Gy fractionation scheme was given with the intent of retreating upon relapse from pain relief. Only 9 of 37 (24%) dogs in the 8 Gy group returned for retreatment. Forty-seven of the 95 dogs (49%) received concurrent or sequential chemotherapy. Seventy of the 95 dogs (74%) experienced pain relief following treatment. In dogs experiencing pain relief the median duration of response was 73 days. Numerous clinical variables were evaluated as predictors of response. The only variable significantly related to achieving a response was the use of chemotherapy. The following variables were significantly related to the duration of response: extent of bone lysis, chemotherapy use, length of bone involved and tumor site (humerus). In a multivariate analysis (n = 73 dogs), after adjusting for chemotherapy use, extent of bone involvement (p = 0.01) and tumor site (p = 0.02) retained statistical significance, while degree of bone lysis did not (p = 0.11). No difference in response incidence or duration was found between 3 fractions of 10 Gy vs. 2 fractions of 8 Gy. Administration of a low initial dose with the intent of retreatment was not a successful strategy.     

Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Acidic Calcium Sulfate (Vitoxal) on Growth,Survival, Immune Response and Gut Microbiota of the Pacific White Shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei

Dietary acidifiers have been recognized as beneficial in animal production including aquacultural production of fish where they confer such benefits as improved feed utilization, growth, and resistance to bacterial pathogens. If improvements in growth and immune responses by acidifier supplementation can be confirmed in shrimp, then mortalities due to diseases could be minimized, limiting the emergence of disease‐resistant bacterial pathogens as a potential result of antibiotic misuse. With this in mind, a 35‐d feeding trial was conducted to evaluate growth, enteric microbiota populations, and nonspecific immune responses of Litopenaeus vannamei fed diets containing the commercial acidifier Vitoxal, based on acidic calcium sulfate in an indoor temperature‐controlled, recirculating culture system without any natural productivity. Experimental diets were formulated to contain 0 (basal), 0.4, 1.2, 1.6, or 2.0% acidic calcium sulfate (ACS) by weight. Shrimp fed in excess, 15 times a day using automatic feeders. Weight gain and survival among treatments were excellent, but not significantly different (P > 0.05). Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that the enteric microbial community of shrimp fed the basal diet differed markedly from those fed the acidifier on the basis of 64.9% similarity coefficient. Shrimp fed the commercial acidifier at 1.2 and 2.0% responded significantly (P < 0.05) better to reduced stress and displayed enhanced immune responses including hemocyte phagocytic capacity, hemolymph protein concentration, hyaline cell counts, and hemolymph glucose, compared with shrimp fed the basal diet. These results point to an enhanced performance in terms of positive shifts in the composition of enteric microbial communities as well as improved immune performance, with no changes in growth or survival.     

Evaluation of the Ability of GroBiotic®‐A to Enhance Growth,Muscle Composition,Immune Responses,and Resistance Against Aeromonas hydrophila in Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus

This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of graded levels of GroBiotic^®‐A to improve performance of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, fed a 29% crude protein (CP) diet. A 29% CP diet was formulated and supplemented with 0, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2% GroBiotic^®‐A and compared to performance of fish fed a 33% CP diet. Enhanced weight gain and feed efficiency were generally observed in fish fed the diets supplemented with GroBiotic^®‐A compared to the 29% CP diet. No significant differences in these responses were observed between fish fed diets supplemented with GroBiotic^®‐A compared to those fed the 33% CP diet. Supplementation of 0.8 and 1.2% GroBiotic^®‐A induced significantly lower condition factor and hepatosomatic index compared to fish fed the 29% CP diet, but those values were similar to that of fish fed the 33% CP diet. GroBiotic^®‐A supplementation and protein reduction had no effect on the viscerosomatic index of fish or moisture, lipid, and protein content of muscle samples. However, muscle ash increased significantly with protein reduction (29% CP diet), but GroBiotic^®‐A supplementation (0.8 and 1.2%) reduced muscle ash content. Activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were markedly reduced in fish fed GroBiotic^®‐A (0.8 and 1.2%) compared to those fed the control diet. GroBiotic^®‐A supplementation also induced significantly higher neutrophil oxidative radical production compared to fish fed the 29% CP diet, but no significant difference was observed in comparison with the 33% CP diet. After 8 wk of feeding, exposure to Aeromonas hydrophila for 3 wk resulted in 40% (0.4, 0.8% GroBiotic^®‐A) and 27% (1.2% GroBiotic^®‐A) mortality and reduced signs of disease, while 47% mortality was observed in fish fed the 29% CP diet. Based on the result of this study, it is concluded that 0.8 and 1.2% GroBiotic^®‐A positively influenced growth performance and feed efficiency of tilapia fed diets containing 29% crude protein to levels comparable to fish fed the 33% CP diet. GroBiotic^®‐A supplementation also significantly increased neutrophil oxidative radical production as well as resistance to Ae. hydrophila infection.     

Preliminary recovery of coastal sharks in the south‐east United States

Relative abundance of many shark species in the Atlantic is assessed by compiling data from several independently conducted, but somewhat spatially limited surveys. Although these localized surveys annually sample the same populations, resulting trends in yearly indices often conflict with one another, thereby hindering interpretation of abundance patterns at broad spatial scales. We used delta‐lognormal generalized linear models (GLMs) to generate indices of abundance for seven Atlantic coastal shark species from six fishery‐independent surveys along the US east coast and Gulf of Mexico from 1975 to 2014. These indices were further analysed using dynamic factor analysis (DFA) to produce simplified, broad‐scale common trends in relative abundance over the entire sampled distribution. Effects of drivers including the North Atlantic Oscillation index, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation index, annually averaged sea surface temperature and species landings were evaluated within the DFA model. The two decadal oscillations and species landings were shown to affect shark distribution along south‐east US coast. Estimated common trends of relative abundance for all large coastal shark species showed similar decreasing patterns into the early 1990s, periods of sustained low index values thereafter and recent indications of recovery. Small coastal shark species exhibited more regional variability in their estimated common trends, such that two common trends were required to adequately describe patterns in relative abundance throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Overall, all species’ (except the Gulf of Mexico blacknose shark) time series concluded with an increasing trend, suggestive of initial recovery from past exploitation.     

Red drum <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sciaenops ocellatus</Emphasis> growth and expression of bile salt-dependent lipase in response to increasing dietary lipid supplementation

Sciaenops ocellatus has a long history in aquaculture and many difficulties associated with its commercial culture have been addressed and successfully resolved; nevertheless, further research in lipid nutrition could address more comprehensive questions on the way these nutrients are utilized. The purpose of this study was to evaluate S. ocellatus growth and lipase gene expression in response to increasing dietary lipid supplementation. Four experimental diets were formulated to provide 3, 10, 16, or 23% lipid using menhaden fish oil. Twenty juveniles (mean initial weight 2.3?±?0.1 g) were stocked per aquaria in a recirculating system; each diet was assigned to three aquaria and fed to fish for 6 weeks. At the end of the study, fish fed 3% of dietary lipid were significantly (P?<?0.0001) smaller and showed significantly lower feed efficiency, condition factor, hepatosomatic index, and intraperitoneal fat than fish fed the other diets, but no differences were observed among fish fed 10, 16, or 23% lipid. A straight broken-line regression model for thermal growth coefficient provided an estimated value of 9.4% of dietary lipid as the optimal inclusion level. The bile salt-dependent lipase (BSDL) of red drum was 80.3 kDa. Relative gene expression of BSDL was significantly higher (P?=?0.0007) in fish fed 10% lipid, with no differences among the other dietary treatments. Results provided could help monitor the metabolic status of farmed fish and contribute to optimize diet formulations based on maximum gene expression of BSDL for supplementation of dietary lipid.     

The effect of β‐1,3‐glucan derived from Euglena gracilis (Algamune™) on the innate immunological responses of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.)

Algamune^? is a commercial additive produced from Euglena gracilis, providing a rich source of the β‐1,3‐glucan paramylon. Isolated kidney phagocytes of Nile tilapia were incubated with graded doses (0, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 μg/ml) of Algamune^? and purified paramylon to gauge their ability to elicit the production of reactive oxygen species. A linear response was observed for extracellular superoxide anion for both sources but only Algamune^? for intracellular superoxide anion. After corroborating the immunostimulant properties ex vivo, a feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the dietary supplementation of Algamune^? (0, 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg of diet) for Nile tilapia. Fish were fed for 3 weeks, after which, fish were sampled for blood and head kidney phagocytes. The remaining fish were challenged with Streptococcus iniae. Macrophage extracellular superoxide anion production was significantly elevated in fish fed diets with 200 mg of Algamune^? kg^?1 when compared to fish fed the basal diet. Even though the disease challenge did not show statistical differences, it is worth mentioning that fish fed intermediate doses of Algamune^? had lowest numerical mortality values. Therefore, Algamune^? was demonstrated to enhance some immunological responses of tilapia both in ex vivo and in vivo.