Ototoxicity and tolerance assessment of a TrisEDTA and polyhexamethylene biguanide ear flush formulation in dogs

Clinically healthy mixed breed dogs (n = 20) were used to determine if a Tris (tromethamine)-buffered test solution, Otinide((R)) (Trademark of Dermcare-Vet Pty-Ltd, Australia), containing disodium ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA; 1.21 g/L) and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB; 0.22 g/L) caused ototoxicity or vestibular dysfunction. The dogs were randomly assigned to either a control group (group A, n = 10) receiving saline, or a treatment group (group B, n = 10) receiving the test solution. Phase 1 of the study consisted of applying 5.0 mL of saline to both ears of the control group (group A) and 5 mL of test solution to both ears of the test group (group B), for 21 days. A bilateral myringotomy was then performed on each dog under deep sedation. Phase 2 of the study then consisted of applying 2.0 mL of the saline to both ears of the control group (group A) and 2.0 mL of the test solution to both ears of the test group (group B), for 14 days. Throughout the study, dogs were examined for clinical health, and underwent otoscopic, vestibular and auditory examinations. The auditory examinations included brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) threshold and supra-threshold assessments using both click and 8 kHz tone burst stimuli. The absence of vestibular signs and effects on the BAEP attributable to the test solution suggested the test solution could be applied safely to dogs, including those with a damaged tympanic membrane

Religious change in twentieth-century Ireland:a spatial history

The conflicts that have deeply affected the island of Ireland in the twentieth century have been political, rather than religious, in basis. However, the powerful coalescence of Catholicism and nationalism on one hand, and Protestantism and unionism on the other, has meant that religious affiliation in Ireland has come to embody a wider range of cultural, political and social values. Furthermore, the successive waves of organised colonisation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have left the island with the legacy of a distinctive religious geography, which became the explicit template for the political division of the island in 1921 as well as having profound implications for its development since the European Reformation of the early modern period. Yet, despite its centrality to Irish history and geography, it has been difficult to assess detailed change in that religious geography due to the inconsistency of territorial units over time. This article presents findings from a major research project funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council which used Geographical Information Systems technology to standardise administrative boundaries across the island in the twentieth century. In doing so, it is able to shed new light on the radically divergent religio-spatial trajectories of different parts of the island in relation to political, social and economic developments