Student perceptions of sectional CT/MRI use in teaching veterinary anatomy and the correlation with visual spatial ability:a student survey and mental rotations test

Diagnostic imaging technology is becoming more advanced and widely available to veterinary patients with the growing popularity of veterinary-specific computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Veterinary students must, therefore, be familiar with these technologies and understand the importance of sound anatomic knowledge for interpretation of the resultant images. Anatomy teaching relies heavily on visual perception of structures and their function. In addition, visual spatial ability (VSA) positively correlates with anatomy test scores. We sought to assess the impact of including more diagnostic imaging, particularly CT/MRI, in the teaching of veterinary anatomy on the students' perceived level of usefulness and ease of understanding content. Finally, we investigated survey answers' relationship to the students' inherent baseline VSA, measured by a standard Mental Rotations Test. Students viewed diagnostic imaging as a useful inclusion that provided clear links to clinical relevance, thus improving the students' perceived benefits in its use. Use of CT and MRI images was not viewed as more beneficial, more relevant, or more useful than the use of radiographs. Furthermore, students felt that the usefulness of CT/MRI inclusion was mitigated by the lack of prior formal instruction on the basics of CT/MRI image generation and interpretation. To be of significantly greater use, addition of learning resources labeling relevant anatomy in tomographical images would improve utility of this novel teaching resource. The present study failed to find any correlation between student perceptions of diagnostic imaging in anatomy teaching and their VSA. </jats:p

Canine olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory mucosa can be engineered to produce active chondroitinase ABC

A multitude of factors must be overcome following spinal cord injury (SCI) in order to achieve clinical improvement in patients. It is thought that by combining promising therapies these diverse factors could be combatted with the aim of producing an overall improvement in function. Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) present in the glial scar that forms following SCI present a significant block to axon regeneration. Digestion of CSPGs by chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) leads to axon regeneration, neuronal plasticity and functional improvement in preclinical models of SCI. However, the enzyme activity decays at body temperature within 24–72 h, limiting the translational potential of ChABC as a therapy. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) have shown huge promise as a cell transplant therapy in SCI. Their beneficial effects have been demonstrated in multiple small animal SCI models as well as in naturally occurring SCI in canine patients. In the present study, we have genetically modified canine OECs from the mucosa to constitutively produce enzymatically active ChABC. We have developed a lentiviral vector that can deliver a mammalian modified version of the ChABC gene to mammalian cells, including OECs. Enzyme production was quantified using the Morgan-Elson assay that detects the breakdown products of CSPG digestion in cell supernatants. We confirmed our findings by immunolabelling cell supernatant samples using Western blotting. OECs normal cell function was unaffected by genetic modification as demonstrated by normal microscopic morphology and the presence of the low affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75NGF) following viral transduction. We have developed the means to allow production of active ChABC in combination with a promising cell transplant therapy for SCI repair

Effectiveness of manual bladder expression in paraplegic dogs

Abstract OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of manual bladder expression in paraplegic dogs by comparing urine volumes measured by use of intermittent catheterization and ultrasonography. ANIMALS 36 paraplegic dogs. PROCEDURES 93 measurements of bladder volume were collected for the 36 dogs. Residual urine volume was determined by use of intermittent urethral catheterization and estimated by use of ultrasonography. RESULTS Manual bladder expression voided a mean of 49% of urine from the bladder in this population of dogs. There was no correlation (R2, 0.06) between the effectiveness of manual bladder expression and body weight. Ultrasonographic estimation of bladder volume had good correlation (R2, 0.62) with bladder volume determined by use of intermittent bladder catheterization, but clinically unacceptable variation for predicting actual bladder volume (mean difference, 22 mL; 95% confidence interval, −96 to 139 mL). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Manual bladder expression was ineffective at completely emptying urine from the bladder of paraplegic dogs, but the effectiveness of the procedure was not affected by body weight. Manual bladder expression would likely be a useful procedure to prevent increases in pressure within the bladder. Ultrasonographic estimation of bladder volume could be a useful predictor of actual bladder volume, but it was susceptible to wide variations among dogs, and results should therefore be interpreted with caution.</jats:p

Restoring habitat for fire-impacted species' across degraded Australian landscapes

In the summer of 2019-2020, southern Australia experienced the largest fires on record, detrimentally impacting the habitat of native species, many of which were already threatened by past and current anthropogenic land use. A large-scale restoration effort to improve degraded species habitat would provide fire-affected species with the chance to recover and persist in burnt and unburnt habitat. To facilitate this, decision-makers require information on priority species needs for restoration intervention, the suite of potential restoration interventions, and the priority locations for applying these interventions. We prioritize actions in areas where restoration would most likely provide cost-effective benefits to priority species (defined by each species proportion of habitat burned, threat status, and vulnerability to fires), by integrating current and future species habitat suitability maps with spatially modelled costs of restoration interventions such as replanting, removing invasive species, and implementing ecologically appropriate fire management. We show that restoring the top similar to 69% (112 million hectares) of the study region (current and future distributions of priority species) accounts for, on average, 95% of current and future habitat for every priority species and costs similar to AUD$73 billion yr(-1) (AUD$650 hectare(-1) yr(-1)) annualized over 30 years. This effort would include restoration actions over 6 million hectares of fire-impacted habitat, costing similar to AUD$8.8 billion/year. Large scale restoration efforts are often costly but can have significant societal co-benefits beyond biodiversity conservation. We also show that up to 291 MtCO2 (similar to 150 Mt DM) of carbon could be sequestered by restoration efforts, resulting in approximately AUD$253 million yr(-1) in carbon market revenue if all carbon was remunerated. Our approach highlights the scale, costs, and benefits of targeted restoration activities both inside and outside of the immediate bushfire footprint over vast areas of different land tenures

A fusion of minicircle DNA and nanoparticle delivery technologies facilitates therapeutic genetic engineering of autologous canine olfactory mucosal cells

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) promote axonal regeneration and improve locomotor function when transplanted into the injured spinal cord. A recent clinical trial demonstrated improved motor function in domestic dogs with spinal injury following autologous OEC transplantation. Their utility in canines offers promise for human translation, as dogs are comparable to humans in terms of clinical management and genetic/environmental variation. Moreover, the autologous, minimally invasive derivation of OECs makes them viable for human spinal injury investigation. Genetic engineering of transplant populations may augment their therapeutic potential, but relies heavily on viral methods which have several drawbacks for clinical translation. We present here the first proof that magnetic particles deployed with applied magnetic fields and advanced DNA minicircle vectors can safely bioengineer OECs to secrete a key neurotrophic factor, with an efficiency approaching that of viral vectors. We suggest that our alternative approach offers high translational potential for the delivery of augmented clinical cell therapies

Transplantation of canine olfactory ensheathing cells producing chondroitinase ABC promotes chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan digestion and axonal sprouting following spinal cord injury

Olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation is a promising strategy for treating spinal cord injury (SCI), as has been demonstrated in experimental SCI models and naturally occurring SCI in dogs. However, the presence of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans within the extracellular matrix of the glial scar can inhibit efficient axonal repair and limit the therapeutic potential of OECs. Here we have used lentiviral vectors to genetically modify canine OECs to continuously deliver mammalian chondroitinase ABC at the lesion site in order to degrade the inhibitory chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in a rodent model of spinal cord injury. We demonstrate that these chondroitinase producing canine OECs survived at 4 weeks following transplantation into the spinal cord lesion and effectively digested chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans at the site of injury. There was evidence of sprouting within the corticospinal tract rostral to the lesion and an increase in the number of corticospinal axons caudal to the lesion, suggestive of axonal regeneration. Our results indicate that delivery of the chondroitinase enzyme can be achieved with the genetically modified OECs to increase axon growth following SCI. The combination of these two promising approaches is a potential strategy for promoting neural regeneration following SCI in veterinary practice and human patients