Rationale for hyperbaric oxygen therapy in traumatic injury and wound care in small animal veterinary practice.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is in wide use in human medicine around the world. Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy is available for veterinary use, it is still significantly underutilised. The physical principles, gas laws and physiologic mechanisms by which hyperbaric oxygen therapy is therapeutic, especially in traumatic injuries and complicated wound care, are discussed. Then, considerations are offered for the implementation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in veterinary practices. Finally, a review of clinical indications for veterinary practices, including a presentation of select literature, is provided. Applying hyperbaric oxygen therapy in an earlier and more consistent manner could improve short- and long-term outcomes in complicated wounds. The authors also hope this information may stimulate interest in the design of future, prospective studies for the various clinical situations described.

Misunderstanding graphs: The confusion of biological clade diversity diagrams and archaeological frequency seriation diagrams.

Graph perception involves the accurate decipherment of (often quantitative) data displayed in visual form. Because graph style may reflect discipline-specific tradition, similar graph styles in distinct disciplines can be subject to misinterpretation. Both archaeologist James A. Ford and paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould confused spindle diagrams representing archaeological frequency seriation and paleontological clade diversity analysis as displaying the same kinds of data and representing the same processes. Similarities between the two kinds of analysis are, however, limited to the use of the same graph style-spindle diagrams-to illustrate the history of frequencies of things. The kinds of frequencies differ in two ways between the two disciplines; frequencies are of low-level Linnaean taxa within a clade representing a higher taxon in paleobiology, and are frequencies of artifact specimens within each of several types in archaeology. Further, frequencies are absolute in clade diversity and relative in frequency seriation. Clade diversity analysis, as practiced by Gould and colleagues, is a time-series analysis that requires knowing the age of taxa prior to analysis of the shape of the spindle diagram. Frequency seriation in archaeology involves ordering multiple collections of artifacts that share at least some types; ordering is based on similar frequencies and a presumed unimodal frequency distribution, and the order is inferred to be a chronology. Different analytical assumptions and goals result in discipline specific rules of graph decipherment, though each of the two kinds of analyses can be performed in each of the two disciplines.

Short communication: Effect of 3 phytoceutical products on elimination of bacteria in experimentally induced Streptococcus uberis clinical mastitis.

Our objective was to assess the ability of 3 herbal products to eliminate experimentally induced Streptococcus uberis mastitis. These herbal products, also known as phytoceuticals, are used in organically managed dairy cattle to maintain or promote udder health. The products tested were an intramammary product, a topical product, and a product applied to the vulvar area. These products are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of mastitis but they are sold to enhance milk quality or for maintenance or improvement of udder health. Each of the products contains at least one component shown to have antibacterial activity. In this study, we successfully challenge-inoculated 25 lactating dairy cows maintained under organic conditions with an isolate of S. uberis. All challenged cows were positive for S. uberis by milk culture after challenge. When cows met predefined criteria indicating the presence of clinical mastitis, treatment with 1 of the 3 products was initiated based upon a predetermined random allocation. Culture of aseptically collected quarter milk samples was performed before, during, and following challenge with S. uberis. Eight, 8, and 9 cows received the intravulvar, intramammary, and topical treatments, respectively. Milk from all cows that were treated with phytoceuticals were culture-positive for S. uberis at every time point following treatment through 168 h following the last phytoceutical treatment. Based upon the presence of clinical signs and for humane reasons, 2 intravulvar-treated cows, 1 topical-treated, and 4 intramammary-treated cows received intramammary antibiotic therapy. We concluded that the phytoceuticals tested, as dosed and used in this trial, did not produce bacterial cures in S. uberis-induced mastitis.

Short communication: an in vitro assessment of the antibacterial activity of plant-derived oils.

Nonantibiotic treatments for mastitis are needed in organic dairy herds. Plant-derived oils may be useful but efficacy and potential mechanisms of action of such oils in mastitis therapy have not been well documented. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the plant-derived oil components of Phyto-Mast (Bovinity Health LLC, Narvon, PA), an herbal intramammary product, against 3 mastitis-causing pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus chromogenes, and Streptococcus uberis. Plant-derived oils evaluated were Thymus vulgaris (thyme), Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen), Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Chinese licorice), Angelica sinensis, and Angelica dahurica. Broth dilution testing according to standard protocol was performed using ultrapasteurized whole milk instead of broth. Controls included milk only (negative control), milk + bacteria (positive control), and milk + bacteria + penicillin-streptomycin (antibiotic control, at 1 and 5% concentrations). Essential oil of thyme was tested by itself and not in combination with other oils because of its known antibacterial activity. The other plant-derived oils were tested alone and in combination for a total of 15 treatments, each replicated 3 times and tested at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% to simulate concentrations potentially achievable in the milk within the pre-dry-off udder quarter. Thyme oil at concentrations ≥2% completely inhibited bacterial growth in all replications. Other plant-derived oils tested alone or in various combinations were not consistently antibacterial and did not show typical dose-response effects. Only thyme essential oil had consistent antibacterial activity against the 3 mastitis-causing organisms tested in vitro. Further evaluation of physiological effects of thyme oil in various preparations on mammary tissue is recommended to determine potential suitability for mastitis therapy.

Comparisons of milk quality on North Carolina organic and conventional dairies.

The organic dairy industry is growing rapidly across the United States and has recently expanded into the southeastern states. To date, no published comparisons of milk quality exist between organic and conventional dairies in the Southeastern United States. Maintaining high milk quality is challenging in this region due to the longer periods of high heat and humidity. The objective of this observational study was to compare milk quality on organic and conventional dairies in North Carolina during the warm summer months of the year. Data were compared from 7 organically and 7 conventionally managed herds in North Carolina. To assess milk quality, milk samples were aseptically collected from each functional quarter of each cow in the milking herds at the time of sampling and linear somatic cell scores (SCS) were obtained for individual cows. A total of 4,793 quarter milk samples (2,526 conventional and 2,267 organic) were collected from 1,247 cows (652 conventional and 595 organic). Milk samples were cultured and bacterial growth was identified using protocols consistent with those of the National Mastitis Council (Verona, WI). Subclinical mastitis was defined as the presence of SCS ≥ 4 and also a microbiological infection in at least 1 quarter. The proportion of cows with subclinical mastitis did not differ between conventional (20.8%) and organic (23.3%) herds. No significant difference was observed between herd management types in the proportion of cows without microbiological growth in milk samples. Also, no significant differences were observed between organic and conventional herds for cow-level prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., or Corynebacterium spp. Two of the organic herds had a notably higher prevalence of Corynebacterium spp. and higher SCS. Coliforms were found in 5 of 7 conventional herds and in only 1 of 7 organic herds. Mean SCS did not differ between conventional (3.3±0.2) and organic (3.5±0.2) herds. Despite differences in herd management, milk quality was remarkably similar between the organic and conventional dairies compared for this study.

Molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy heifers.

The specific purpose was to investigate the possible interrelationships of genotypes of Staphylococcus aureus found in mammary glands, horn flies, and extramammary sites on 3 southeastern US dairies. A total of 1,228 samples were obtained from various sources on the 3 dairy herds, each of which had a history of Staph. aureus mastitis. Dairy herds studied had access to pasture, and samples were collected during the summer when horn flies (Haematobia irritans) were active. Samples collected included milk samples from all lactating herd cows, colostrum samples from heifers calving during the study period, heifer body sites (mouth, nostrils, and teats), the heifer environment (water, feed, and soil/vegetation/pasture), horn flies, and humans (hands and nostrils). Isolation of Staph. aureus was attempted from all samples, with isolates subjected to genotypic analysis using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. A total of 244/1228 (or 19.9%) of all samples were positive for Staph. aureus. For milk samples, 52/383 (or 13.6%) of samples were Staph. aureus positive, and 70/411 (or 17.0%) of heifer quarter colostrum samples were positive. Horn fly samples were frequently positive, with over one-half (29/52, or 55.8%) of samples positive for Staph. aureus. Staphylococcus aureus obtained during the study comprised isolates from 12 different genotype groups as defined in this study. Identical genotypes were obtained from horn flies, heifer colostrum samples, and cow milk samples. Group B genotypes were shared among flies, heifer colostrum samples, body sites, and cow milk samples, whereas group A genotypes were common to the same sample locations and body sites but rarely (once) found in horn flies. We conclude, based upon the finding of identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis genotypes in flies, heifer body sites, and heifer colostrum samples, that flies and heifer body sites could be important sources of Staph. aureus for heifer intramammary infections.

A warrant for applied palaeozoology.

It has been argued by some neozoologists (those who study living animals) that the palaeozoological record is biased and incomplete (relative to an existing biological community) and therefore should not be consulted for purposes of conservation biology. An article published in a biology journal in 2011 lists numerous reasons why natural history collections (NHCs) of skins and skulls of animals collected over the past century or two are exceptionally valuable to conservation biologists because those collections provide significant time depth to numerous variables that document global biological change. Many of those same variables can be, and have been, identified in the palaeozoological record. Those variables are of major value to conservation biology, whether their values are taken from 100-year-old NHCs or from palaeozoological remains. Empirical examples in which the identified variables are measured in palaeozoological contexts indicate that the palaeozoological record should indeed be consulted by conservation biologists and can no longer be considered unsatisfactory for modern resource management.

Paleozoological data suggest Euroamerican settlement did not displace ursids and North American elk from lowlands to highlands.

The hypothesis that Euroamerican settlement displaced some populations of large mammal taxa from lowland plains habitats to previously unoccupied highland mountain habitats was commonly believed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By the middle twentieth century biologists had come to favor the hypothesis that Euroamerican colonization resulted in the extirpation of populations of large mammal in lowland habitats and those taxa survived in pre-existing relict populations in the highlands. Why modern biologists changed their minds is unclear. There is no historical evidence that unequivocally favors one hypothesis over the other. The low-elevation Columbia Basin of eastern Washington state in the northwestern United States is surrounded by forested mountains. The majority of historical records (1850 AD or younger) of black bear (Ursus americanus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and North American elk (Cervus elaphus) occur in mountainous, coniferous forest habitats. Paleozoological records of these taxa ≤ 10,000 year old and >160 year old in both highland and lowland habitats suggest the displacement hypothesis does not apply to ursids and elk in this area. These taxa seem to have been more or less ubiquitous in the area prior to Euroamerican colonization (ca. 1850 AD), and were extirpated from lowland habitats after colonization. Recent colonization of lowland shrub-steppe habitats by elk in particular, although historically unprecedented, must be categorized as recolonization rather than an invasion. Whether a species is classified as indigenous or nonindigenous may influence management activities focused on that species. The paleozoological record indicates ursids and elk are indigenous to the highland forest habitats of eastern Washington.

HPV type-specific prevalence using a urine assay in unvaccinated male and female 11- to 18-year olds in Scotland.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a baseline prevalence survey of unvaccinated 11- to 18-year olds to inform effectiveness studies for the new human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme in Scotland. METHODS: Participants were recruited from schools and colleges and invited to provide demographic data and an anonymous urine sample for type-specific HPV testing. RESULTS: Among females aged 11-14 years, the weighted prevalence was 1.1% overall; 0.9% for high-risk types and no infections were associated with types 16 and 18. Among 15- to 18-year old females, the weighted prevalence was 15.2% overall; 12.6% for high-risk types and 6.5% for types 16 and 18. Among females aged 16-18 years, infection was more frequently associated with attending college and rural schools, and showed a trend towards increasing prevalence with increasing social deprivation (P=0.045). Among males aged 11-14 years, the weighted prevalence was 1.4% overall; 1.0% for high-risk types and 0.7% for types 16 and 18. Among 15- to 18-year old males, the weighted prevalence was 3.9% overall; 2.4% for high-risk types and 0.7% for types 16 and 18. CONCLUSIONS: Human Papillomavirus prevalence is low among 11- to 14-year olds, which includes the age group targeted for routine vaccination. The prevalence in males and correlation with deprivation require further investigation.

Cultural traits as units of analysis.

Cultural traits have long been used in anthropology as units of transmission that ostensibly reflect behavioural characteristics of the individuals or groups exhibiting the traits. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of an individual's cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss or partial alteration within an individual's mind. Cultural traits are analogous to genes in that organisms replicate them, but they are also replicators in their own right. No one has ever seen a unit of transmission, either behavioural or genetic, although we can observe the effects of transmission. Fortunately, such units are manifest in artefacts, features and other components of the archaeological record, and they serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity over how to define and measure the units that underlie this inheritance process.

Graphing evolutionary pattern and process: a history of techniques in archaeology and paleobiology.

Graphs displaying evolutionary patterns are common in paleontology and in United States archaeology. Both disciplines subscribed to a transformational theory of evolution and graphed evolution as a sequence of archetypes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. U.S. archaeologists in the second decade of the twentieth century, and paleontologists shortly thereafter, developed distinct graphic styles that reflected the Darwinian variational model of evolution. Paleobiologists adopted the view of a species as a set of phenotypically variant individuals and graphed those variations either as central tendencies or as histograms of frequencies of variants. Archaeologists presumed their artifact types reflected cultural norms of prehistoric artisans and the frequency of specimens in each type reflected human choice and type popularity. They graphed cultural evolution as shifts in frequencies of specimens representing each of several artifact types. Confusion of pattern and process is exemplified by a paleobiologist misinterpreting the process illustrated by an archaeological graph, and an archaeologist misinterpreting the process illustrated by a paleobiological graph. Each style of graph displays particular evolutionary patterns and implies particular evolutionary processes. Graphs of a multistratum collection of prehistoric mammal remains and a multistratum collection of artifacts demonstrate that many graph styles can be used for both kinds of collections.

Long-term persistence of specific genetic types of mastitis-causing Staphylococcus aureus on three dairies.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after SmaI digestion was used to investigate the persistence of specific genotypes of bovine mammary gland isolates of Staphylococcus aureus on 3 dairy herds. A total of 341 isolates of Staph. aureus were available from cows in 3 herds, collected over a period of 15 yr. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis band patterns of Staph. aureus isolates were analyzed visually and with gel analysis and comparison software. Based on this analysis, isolates were classified by PFGE type. Persistence was determined as the time period from the first to the last isolation of a particular PFGE type of Staph. aureus within a herd. Specific types of mastitis-causing Staph. aureus persisted long-term on these dairies. For example, PFGE type 3 isolates persisted on farms A, B, and C for 15, 15, and 13 yr, respectively. Type 6 was found to persist for 13 yr on farm C. Despite the application of standard mastitis control practices, mastitis-causing Staph. aureus types appeared to persist long-term, as detected by PFGE, and were isolated coincident with herd problems of increased milk somatic cell counts and decreased milk production.

The importance of mini-puberty for fertility in cryptorchidism.

PURPOSE: Mini-puberty is the hormonal surge of gonadotropins and testosterone which occurs in early infancy. It induces the development and transformation of gonocytes into Ad spermatogonia, which is impaired in many cryptorchid testes. We examine the role of testosterone in the transformation and development of Ad spermatogonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 32 patients 1 to 7 years old were treated with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) to achieve epididymo-testicular descent before orchiopexy (group 1), and 33 patients underwent orchiopexy without previous hormonal treatment (group 2). A testicular biopsy was obtained during surgery from all the patients. The number of Ad spermatogonia per tubular cross section (Ad/tbx) was assessed and compared between the 2 groups. The number of Ad spermatogonia per tubular cross section in group 1 was also correlated with the post-stimulatory testosterone plasma values. RESULTS: In group 1, 17 patients had greater than 0.1 Ad/tbx, and the remaining patients had 0.1 or less Ad/tbx. In group 2, 6 patients had greater than 0.1 Ad/tbx. Of the boys with cryptorchidism 35% responded inadequately to HCG stimulation, while 10% did not respond. Those patients with suboptimal Leydig cell capacity (and an inadequate response to HCG stimulation) had a defective Ad spermatogonia differentiation of 0.1 or less. CONCLUSIONS: Boys with cryptorchidism with an insufficient testosterone surge after HCG risk infertility despite early and successful surgery. The testicular biopsy assists in identifying those who might benefit from hormonal treatment following successful orchiopexy.

Potential benefits of physical activity for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common form of paediatric leukaemia. The survival rate in children with ALL has improved significantly over the past several years, which makes quality of life an important focus for researchers. Some of the side effects of treatment (i.e. osteoporosis and obesity) are not realized until years after conclusion of therapy. Few studies have addressed the impact of physical activity (PA) on the side effects that occur during treatment of children with ALL. This paper discusses the increased risk for both osteoporosis and obesity due to treatment for ALL and suggests ways that PA may attenuate bone loss and risk of obesity by discussing what is known about effects of PA in healthy children and children with other chronic diseases. Recommendations will be made for PA interventions and future research in children with ALL.

Inactivation of penicillin G in milk using hydrogen peroxide.

Milk antibiotic residues have been a public concern in recent years. The Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance mandates that raw Grade A milk will test negative for beta-lactam antibiotic residues before processing. The purpose of this research was to investigate the ability of various levels of peroxide and heat to inactivate penicillin G in raw milk. Whole milk spiked to a mean of 436 +/- 15.1 (standard error of the mean) ppb of potassium penicillin G was treated with hydrogen peroxide at levels of 0.0, 0.09, 0.17, and 0.34%. Samples at each peroxide level (n = 6 per treatment) were treated as follows: 1) incubated at 54.4 degrees C for 3 h, 2) pasteurized at 62.8 degrees C for 30 min, 3) incubated and pasteurized as in treatments 1 and 2, or 4) received no further treatment. A beta-lactam competitive microbial receptor assay was used for quantification of penicillin G. Concentrations of penicillin in selected samples were determined by HPLC for a comparison of test methods. Treatments were evaluated relative to their ability to reduce milk penicillin G levels to below the safe level of 5 ppb. The 0.09% hydrogen peroxide level was ineffective for all treatments. Hydrogen peroxide at 0.17% lowered the mean penicillin G (+/- SEM) from 436 +/- 15.1 to 6 +/- 1.49 ppb using the incubated and pasteurized heat treatment. The 0.34% concentration of hydrogen peroxide was the most effective, inactivating penicillin G to a level well below the safe level of 5 ppb with the pasteurized heat treatment, with or without incubation.

Characteristics of women who deliver with no prenatal care.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics, morbidities and pregnancy outcomes of women with no prenatal care and women receiving some care. METHODS: Medical records were abstracted for demographic variables as well as information concerning substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and perinatal outcome. Bivariate associations of descriptive data were tested using odds ratios or Fisher's exact test. Multivariate analysis determined adjusted odds ratios. Significance was set at alpha=0.05. RESULTS: Women who received no prenatal care were more likely to be multiparous, living with at least one child, less educated, uninsured, smoke, use cocaine and have a prior history of substance abuse. Preterm labor, preterm delivery, low birth weight and stillbirth were more common. Syphilis and HIV were found in nearly 5% of women without care. CONCLUSION: Intensive interventions are needed for women who fail to receive prenatal care so as to link these high-risk women to needed services.

A diminished postnatal surge of Ad spermatogonia in cryptorchid infants is additional evidence for hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe the development of Ad spermatogonia in both unilateral and bilateral cryptorchid infants compared to a control population of comparable age and to note particularly the fate of Ad spermatogonia during the normal surge of testosterone and gonadotropin. METHODS: The incidence and development of Ad (dark) adult type of spermatogonia were assessed in 270 testicular biopsies from 159 cryptorchid infants at 1-12 months of age. These results were compared to the control population of the same age. RESULTS: The number of Ad spermatogonia increased markedly after five months of life in the control population. The scrotal testes of unilateral cryptorchid infants also had an increase in the number of Ad spermatogonia but it was distinctly lower than that of the control population. In contrast, this surge was completely absent in the cryptorchid testes. The number of Ad spermatogonia in unilateral cryptorchid testes correlated in a nonlinear fashion with those in the contralateral scrotal testes. The total number of germ cells in the cryptorchid testes in the first six months of life is normal, after which time it declines rapidly. CONCLUSION: The impaired transformation of germ cells into Ad spermatogonia in both unilateral and bilateral cryptorchid infant testes during mini-puberty underscores the importance of hypogonadotropic-hypogonadism in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Nomothetic science and idiographic history in twentieth-century Americanist anthropology.

For over a century, Americanist anthropologists have argued about whether their discipline is a historical one or a scientific one. Proponents of anthropology as history have claimed that the lineages of human cultures are made up of unique events that cannot be generalized into laws. If no laws can be drawn, then anthropology cannot be a science. Proponents of anthropology as science have claimed that there indeed are laws that govern humans and their behaviors and cultures, and these laws can be discovered. Interestingly, both sides have the same narrow view of what science is. The same sorts of debates over science and history were played out in evolutionary biology over a half-century ago, and what emerged was the view that that discipline and its sister discipline, paleontology, were both history and science--hence the term "historical sciences." Anthropology and its sister discipline, archaeology, have only recently begun to realize that they too are historical sciences.

Aboriginal overkill in the intermountain west of North America : Zooarchaeological tests and implications.

Zooarchaeological evidence has often been called on to help researchers determine prehistoric relative abundances of elk (Cervus elaphus) in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Some interpret that evidence as indicating elk were abundant; others interpret it as indicating elk were rare. Wildlife biologist Charles Kay argues that prehistoric faunal remains recovered from archaeological sites support his contention that aboriginal hunters depleted elk populations throughout the Intermountain West, including the Yellowstone area. To support his contention Kay cites differences between modern and prehistoric relative abundances of artiodactyls, age and sex demographics of ungulates in the prehistoric record indicating selective predation of prime-age females, and a high degree of fragmentation of artiodactyl bones indicating humans were under nutritional stress. Kay's data on taxonomic abundances are time and space averaged and thus mask much variation in elk abundances. When these data are not lumped they suggest that elk were at some times, in some places, as abundant as they are today. Data on the age-sex demography of artiodactyl prey are ambiguous or contradict Kay's predictions. Bone fragmentation data are variously nonexistent or ambiguous. The zooarchaeological implications of Kay's aboriginal overkill hypothesis have not yet undergone rigorous testing.