Dental care in dogs : a survey of Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses

Dental problems are often encountered in dogs, with periodontal disease as the most common disease by far. Today, daily tooth brushing is the gold standard for dental home care in dogs. The aim of this study was to investigate attitudes and practices regarding canine dental care. Questionnaires were developed, validated and distributed to all registered Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses. Responses were received from 66,434 dog owners (32%), 1,161 veterinarians (32%) and 624 veterinary nurses (38%). Results showed that only 4% of dog owners brushed their dog’s teeth daily. Another finding was the lack of early preventative dental home care information communicated by veterinary health practitioners to dog owners. Although dog owners perceived their pet’s dental health as being of major importance (80%), many also reported difficulties when inspecting their dog’s mouth (25%). Many owners (26%) reported having attempted to brush, but discontinued. It was more common for smaller dogs and for breeds known to be at risk of periodontal disease to have their teeth brushed. We propose that dog owners would benefit from extra support from e.g. veterinary practitioners to maintain dental home care routines for their dog. Contrary to national and international guidelines, professional dental cleaning in veterinary clinics using sedation only, and dental extractions without access to dental radiography equipment, occurred commonly, highlighting room for improvement. In conclusion, this thesis presents the attitudes, opinions and routines of Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses regarding dental care in dogs, providing a basis for future improved prophylactic strategies

Dog Owners\u27 Perspectives on Canine Dental Health : A Questionnaire Study in Sweden

Periodontal disease is one of the most common diseases affecting dogs, with a reported prevalence of at least 80% in dogs over 3 years of age. However, there is a lack of studies regarding dog owners\u27 assessment of their dog\u27s dental health, and whether they perceive clinical signs often associated with periodontal disease, i.e., dental calculus, halitosis or mobile or lost teeth. A validated questionnaire survey was distributed to all Swedish dog owners with email addresses in the national registry (n = 209,263). The response rate was 32%. The survey questions concerned opinions and practices regarding canine dental health, including assessment of dental health parameters and dog owners\u27 ability to examine their dog\u27s mouth. A construct (α = 0.76) was used to investigate dog owners\u27 assessed symptoms of their dog\u27s dental health in relation to background factors. Half of the respondents rated their dog\u27s dental health as very good. However, one in four dog owners experienced difficulties when inspecting the dog\u27s teeth. The most common reason for this difficulty was stated to be an uncooperative dog. Almost half of the dog owners reported halitosis to some degree in their dog, and almost four in ten owners reported dental calculus. One in eight dogs had been previously anesthetized for dental cleaning, and one in 12 dogs had experienced problems with gum disease, according to the owners. Owners\u27 assessment varied significantly with the dog\u27s age, weight, breed, breed group, sex, and concurrent disease. Owner-related factors that influenced the assessment of the dog\u27s dental health were age, gender, education, county (urban/rural), and whether they were breeders or not. Dog owners with smaller dogs, older dogs and certain breeds predisposed to periodontal disease assessed their dog\u27s dental health as worse than their counterparts, which is in agreement with previously reported higher prevalence of dental disease in these groups. This indicates that dog owners are able to perform relative assessment of their dog\u27s dental health status. Our results also highlight the need for routine professional assessment of periodontal health, as well as education of dog owners and training of dogs to accept dental care procedures

Lagrangian dynamical geography of the Gulf of Mexico

We construct a Markov-chain representation of the surface-ocean Lagrangian dynamics in a region occupied by the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and adjacent portions of the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic using satellite-tracked drifter trajectory data, the largest collection so far considered. From the analysis of the eigenvectors of the transition matrix associated with the chain, we identify almost-invariant attracting sets and their basins of attraction. With this information we decompose the GoM's geography into weakly dynamically interacting provinces, which constrain the connectivity between distant locations within the GoM. Offshore oil exploration, oil spill contingency planning, and fish larval connectivity assessment are among the many activities that can benefit from the dynamical information carried in the geography constructed here.Comment: Submitted to Scientific Report

An LC-QToF MS based method for untargeted metabolomics of human fecal samples

Introduction: Consensus in sample preparation for untargeted human fecal metabolomics is lacking. Objectives: To obtain sample preparation with broad metabolite coverage for high-throughput LC–MS. Methods: Extraction solvent, solvent ratio and fresh frozen-vs-lyophilized samples were evaluated by metabolite feature quality. Results: Methanol at 5\ua0mL per g wet feces provided a wide metabolite coverage with optimal balance between signal intensity and saturation for both fresh frozen and lyophilized samples. Lyophilization did not affect SCFA and is recommended because of convenience in normalizing to dry matter. Conclusion: The suggested sample preparation is simple, efficient and suitable for large-scale human fecal metabolomics

Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System

The flow of subtropical waters carried into the northern North Atlantic Ocean by the North Atlantic Current– subpolar front system (NAC–SPF) is an important component of the meridional overturning circulation. These waters become colder and denser as they flow through the subpolar region, both by mixing with the colder subpolar waters and by atmospheric cooling. The relative roles of these two processes remain to be quantified, and the mechanisms driving lateral mixing need to be better understood. To address those questions, a new methodology is developed to estimate the mean absolute transports of mass and heat for the top 1000 dbar in the region of the NAC–SPF for the time period 1993–2000. The transports are obtained by combining historical hydrography with isopycnal RAFOS float data from the area. The mean absolute transport potential field shows an NAC–SPF “pipe,” defined by two bounding transport potential contours. This pipe transports 10.0 ± 3.5 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) (top 1000 dbar) from the subtropics into the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. In contrast to earlier studies, the northward-flowing NAC follows a distinct meandering path, with no evidence of permanent branches peeling off the current before reaching the “Northwest Corner.” As the current enters the Northwest Corner, it loses its tight structure and maybe splits into two or more branches, which together constitute the eastward flow along the SPF. The eastward flow between the Northwest Corner and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is not as tightly defined because of the meandering and/or eddy shedding of the branches constituing the SPF. As the flow approaches the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it converges to cross above the Charlie–Gibbs and Faraday Fracture Zones. The mean absolute temperature transport (top 1000 dbar) by the 10-Sv pipe was estimated across 10 transects crossing the NAC–SPF. Because the mean mass flux is constant in the pipe, variations in the mean temperature transports result from lateral exchange and mixing across the pipe\u27s side walls and from air–sea fluxes across the surface of the pipe. The NAC–SPF current loses 0.18 ± 0.05 PW on its transit through the region, most of the loss occuring upstream of the Northwest Corner. The heat loss is 10 times the corresponding heat lost to the atmosphere. We conclude that cross-frontal exchange induced by the steep meanders of the northward-flowing NAC is the main mechanism by which heat is lost along the current in the region between the “Tail of the Grand Banks” and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Comparison of upwelling indices off Baja California derived from three different wind data sources

This report is not copyrighted. The definitive version was published in California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports 48 (2007): 204-214.We compared the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s Environmental Research Division (formerly Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory: PFEL) coastal upwelling indices along the northern Baja California coast with those derived from winds measured by coastal meteorological stations and estimated by the QuikSCAT satellite. With the exception of the PFEL series at 33°N, the three data sets compare reasonably well, having similar typical year patterns, correlations >0.6, and significant coherences for periods three to five days or longer. By contrast, the seasonal variations, the timing and magnitude of maximum upwelling, and the variability of the PFEL indices at 33°N are significantly different compared to all the other time series, including QuikSCAT at that location. The performance of the QuikSCAT winds close to shore was evaluated using the coastal meteorological station data. Although large root-meansquare (RMS) errors in direction were found for the QuikSCAT winds, both datasets have properties similar to the variance ellipses, and show reasonable coherences for frequencies in the weather band and lower, particularly south of 33°N.This project was partially funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation through grants to J. P. and M. L

Serum metabolites associated with wholegrain consumption using nontargeted metabolic profiling: a discovery and reproducibility study

Purpose: To identify fasting serum metabolites associated with WG intake in a free-living population adjusted for potential confounders. Methods: We selected fasting serum samples at baseline from a subset (n = 364) of the prospective population-based Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) cohort. The samples were analyzed using nontargeted metabolomics with liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Association with WG intake was investigated using both random forest followed by linear regression adjusted for age, BMI, smoking, physical activity, energy and alcohol consumption, and partial Spearman correlation adjusted for the same covariates. Features selected by any of these models were shortlisted for annotation. We then checked if we could replicate the findings in an independent subset from the same cohort (n = 200). Results: Direct associations were observed between WG intake and pipecolic acid betaine, tetradecanedioic acid, four glucuronidated alkylresorcinols (ARs), and an unknown metabolite both in discovery and replication cohorts. The associations remained significant (FDR<0.05) even after adjustment for the confounders in both cohorts. Sinapyl alcohol was positively correlated with WG intake in both cohorts after adjustment for the confounders but not in linear models in the replication cohort. Some microbial metabolites, such as indolepropionic acid, were positively correlated with WG intake in the discovery cohort, but the correlations were not replicated in the replication cohort. Conclusions: The identified associations between WG intake and the seven metabolites after adjusting for confounders in both discovery and replication cohorts suggest the potential of these metabolites as robust biomarkers of WG consumption