Custom total knee replacement in a dog with femoral condylar bone loss

Objective— To report surgical planning, technique, and outcome of custom total knee replacement (TKR) performed to manage a medial femoral condylar nonunion in a dog.
Study Design— Clinical case report.
Animal— A 3-year-old, 20 kg Karelian Bear Hound.
Methods— Computed tomographic scan of the left pelvic limb was used to build a stereolithography model of the distal portion of the femur. The model was used to create a custom augment to replace the missing medial femoral condyle and a custom stem for intramedullary condylar cemented fixation. The augment and stem were adapted to femoral and tibial components already available. The model was used to rehearse the surgery and then the custom prosthesis was implanted.
Results— Weight bearing returned 8 hours after surgery and improved thereafter. Joint alignment was normal and prosthetic joint motion was 60–165° postoperatively. The dog resumed moose hunting 3 months after surgery. Peak vertical force and impulse of the operated limb measured 17 months after surgery were 65% and 47% of the normal, contralateral limb.
Conclusion— Based on short-term follow-up, cemented canine TKR was successfully achieved for management of a severely abnormal stifle joint.
Clinical Relevance— With further refinement and development of commercially available prostheses, TKR should be possible for canine patients.     

Expression of genes involved in the early immune response at the distal segment of the gut in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L. after vaccination with a bacterial antigen

The gastro-intestinal tract serves as the route of infection of most bacterial pathogens in fish, and the immune response genes in the gut produce substances that provide an initial defense during pathogen invasion. The expression of some genes involved in antibacterial defense, cell-mediated immunity and inflammation in the distal intestine of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L., was investigated following intraperitoneal vaccination with heat-killed Vibrio anguillarum. Tissue samples of the distal intestine were collected at 0, 1, 3, 7 and 10 days post-vaccination (dpv) and processed for semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses. Expression of the bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein/lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (BPI/LBP), g-type lysozyme, non-specific cytotoxic cell receptor protein-1 (NCCRP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) significantly increased during the early stages post-vaccination, that is, 1–3 dpv, followed by a decrease in their expression returning to their initial levels. Transferrin and apolipoprotein A-I, although weakly expressed in the distal intestine, also increased in the vaccinated fish. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) was significantly decreased in its expression level relative to the PBS-injected fish at 3 and 7 dpv. The expression of these immune-related genes in the distal intestine as a result of vaccination provides valuable information on the mechanisms of gut immunity in the fish against pathogenic bacteria, particularly during the early stages of infection.     

Characterization of phytochemicals and antioxidant activities of a purple tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

A newly developed nongenetically modified purple tomato V118 was investigated for its phytochemical compositions and antioxidant activities. A highly efficient and sensitive UPLC method was developed for both the phenolics and carotenoids, which showed that in addition to the phytochemicals commonly known for tomatoes, V118 had a unique composition of anthocyanins. The total carotenoid content of V118 was 234.78 μg/g dry weight (DW), and the total phenolic content was 659.11 mg GAE/100 g DW. The antioxidant activities of the lipophilic extract as measured by the PCL and ORAC-L assays were 30.11 μmol TE/g DW and 11.97 μmol TE/g DW, respectively, while the hydrophilic extracts as determined by the ORAC-H and FRAP assays were 323.23 μmol TE/g DW and 54.95 μmol AAE/g DW, respectively. The LC-MS study showed three major anthocyanins, which were mainly acylglycosides of petunidin and malvidin. This study showed that purple tomatoes such as V118 possess additional phytochemicals like anthocyanins, which can potentially have added health benefits.     

Field variability and vulnerability index to identify regional precision agriculture opportunity

Innovations in precision agriculture (PA) have created opportunities to achieve a greater understanding of within-field variability. However, PA adoption has been hindered by uncertainty about field-specific performance and return on investment. Uncertainty could be better addressed by using innovative analyses that provide insights into variability among fields and across a region. The objectives of this research were to: (1) generate a within-field soil clay-content variability index (VI_c), (2) create a regional-scale growing-season precipitation variability index (VI_p), and (3) integrate the soil and weather indices with the USDA NRCS soil erosion vulnerability index (SVI) to produce a final index that incorporated both variability and vulnerability (VVI). The interpretation of the outcomes represented by each objective supports unique decisions that land managers may consider for reducing uncertainty about implementing PA. All indices were derived using publically available information for Missouri, USA. The VI_c was the ratio between the maximum and minimum clay content within fields. The VI_p was calculated as the standard deviation of the total growing-season precipitation from 2006 to 2015. Significant clustering of VI_c and VI_p were observed along the Missouri River corridor, northeast and northwest Missouri. Fields with high VVI were mostly in the claypan soil region of northeast Missouri, and along a portion of the Missouri River dominated by loess soils on steep slopes. Southeast Missouri displayed the greatest diversity in soil and weather variability, but had low vulnerability. This research could be used as a decision-support tool to aid producers and PA service and product providers in determining where PA opportunities exist.     

The Value of a Net‐Cage as a Fish Aggregating Device in Southern California

There is an urgent need for primary data that can be used to quantify the value of marine aquaculture facilities that also describe influences on the surrounding natural ecosystem and its wild fish communities. Divers completed 360 transect replicates below a net‐cage and at nearby and distant rocky reefs off Catalina Island, California, estimating the species abundance and size class of all conspicuous fishes in the water column. We observed 10,234 fishes aggregating below the net‐cage with a mean annual density of 142 (SE ± 30) per 100 m² and diversity H′ 2.29. At the adjacent reference reef, we counted 8452 fishes with a mean annual density of 117 (SE ± 20) and H′ 1.45 and at Reference Reef 2, located 500 m away, there were 8958 fishes with a density of 124 (SE ± 20) and H′ 1.13. The total density of fishes was the same between the study sites (ANOVA; P = 0.24); however, the spatial density of fishes in the water column was different between the net‐cage and reference reefs. Additionally, the density of juvenile fish was significantly lower at the net‐cage (ANOVA; P = 0.02), while the density of subadult and adult fishes was higher (ANOVA; P = 0.03). Feeding guild analysis ranked the net‐cage highest (3507), while Reference Reef 1 (2149), and Reference Reef 2 (2241), had lower values, a relationship often found between artificial and natural reefs. This suggests the importance of available trophic resources to the adult population of wild fishes, and has implications in the artificial reef attraction–production debate. The results of this study not only reproduce a pattern of fish attraction to net‐cages in the marine environment reported in previous studies but also demonstrate a relative habitat value compared in both time and space, of the fish community at a net‐cage compared with vibrant kelp bed communities.     

Erasing the world's slow stain: strategies to beat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR) is perceived as a growing hazard to human health worldwide. Judgments about the true scale of the problem, and strategies for containing it, need to come from a balanced appraisal of the epidemiological evidence. We conclude in this review that MDR is, and will probably remain, a locally severe problem; that epidemics can be prevented by fully exploiting the potential of standard short-course chemotherapy (SCC) based on cheap and safe first-line drugs; and that best-practice SCC may even reduce the incidence of MDR where it has already become endemic. On the basis of the available, imperfect data, we recommend a three-part response to the threat of MDR: widespread implementation of SCC as the cornerstone of good tuberculosis control, improved resistance testing and surveillance, and the careful introduction of second-line drugs after a sound evaluation of cost, effectiveness, and feasibility.