Retrospective multicentre evaluation of common calcaneal tendon injuries in 66 cats. Part 1: study population, injury specification and classification

Objectives The objective of the first part of this retrospective multicentre study was to identify and classify common calcaneal tendon (CCT) injuries in a study population of 66 cats. Methods The medical records of five different small animal referral centres and veterinary teaching hospitals between 2010 and 2020 were reviewed. In addition to patient-specific data, CCT injuries were characterised in detail. Diagnostic modalities and further comorbidities were recorded. Results Sixty-six cats met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the cats was 7.5 years (range 0.5–16.3) and their mean body weight (BW) was 4.6 kg (range 1.5–9.0). Thirty-four spayed females (51.5%), five intact females (7.6%) and 27 castrated males (40.9%) were included. Most cases involved closed injuries of the CCT (69.7%). Twenty-one of 46 cats had closed atraumatic injuries (45.7%). Open injuries (30.3%) were most commonly lacerations (65%). Twenty-one injuries were classified as atraumatic (31.8%), whereas 25 were traumatic (37.9%). With every year of age, the odds of having an atraumatic injury increased by a factor of 1.021. Cats with atraumatic injuries had a higher mean BW than cats with traumatic injuries, but the difference was not statistically significant. Acute injuries were recorded in 40.9% of cases, whereas 51.5% of cats had a subacute CCT injury and 7.6% had chronic lesions. Most acute lesions were Meutstege type I injuries (55.6%). Subacute and chronic lesions were more commonly Meutstege type IIc injuries (58.8% and 60%, respectively). Considering all CCT injuries, a Meutstege type IIc injury was most common (53%). Conclusions and relevance The most common type of injury was Meutstege type IIc. Cats with atraumatic injuries had a higher mean BW than cats with traumatic injuries, but the difference was not statistically significant. Older cats more commonly presented with atraumatic CCT injuries

Retrospective multicentre evaluation of common calcaneal tendon injuries in 66 cats. Part 2: treatment, complications and outcomes

Objectives The aims of the second part of this retrospective multicentre study were to describe the surgical techniques used in the treatment of common calcaneal tendon (CCT) injuries, and evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes and complications. Methods The medical records of five different small animal referral centres and veterinary teaching hospitals between 2010 and 2020 were reviewed. Surgical vs conservative treatment was evaluated. Treatment type, type of postoperative immobilisation, and short- and long-term outcomes and complications were recorded. Minor complications were defined as not requiring surgical intervention. Long-term outcome was evaluated by an owner questionnaire. Results Sixty-six cats met the inclusion criteria. Mean time to surgery was 9.6 days (range 0–185). Most cats (83.3%) were treated surgically. Regardless of treatment modality, all limbs were immobilised for a mean time of 48.2 days (range 2–98). For 63 cats that had the temporary tarsal joint immobilisation technique recorded, a transarticular external skeletal fixator (ESF; 57.1%) or a calcaneotibial screw (33.3%) were used most commonly. The method of immobilisation had a notable, although non-significant, influence on the occurrence of short-term complications, with most complications being reported for the transarticular ESF group. The total short-term complication rate was 41.3%, the minor complication rate was 33.3% and the major complication rate was 7.9%, with pin tract infections being the most commonly occurring minor complication. Three cats (6%) had a total of four major complications over the long term. Most cats (86%) were free of lameness at the long-term evaluation, with an overall successful clinical long-term outcome of 84.9%, according to the owner questionnaire. Cats with traumatic injuries and injuries treated surgically had higher questionnaire scores than those with atraumatic injuries and those treated conservatively. Conclusions and relevance Outcome was generally good in cats with CCT injury, irrespective of the type of treatment. Complications included a high proportion of minor complications associated with the technique of tarsal joint immobilisation. ESF frames were more commonly involved in complications than other techniques. Surgically treated cats had a slightly better long-term outcomes

Case report: A severe case of generalized tetanus in a young cat

A 10-month-old, 3 kg, female spayed Domestic Shorthair cat was presented with a chronic, infected wound at the level of the proximo-lateral left pelvic limb. General physical examination revealed a weight-bearing lameness of the left pelvic limb, which was moderately and circumferentially swollen and edematous proximal to the tarsal joint. On the lateral aspect of the proximal thigh, there was a chronic wound of 1 cm in diameter and an additional exudative skin lesion was present throughout the whole length of the caudo-lateral thigh. Complete blood count and serum biochemistry profile revealed mild anemia, increased serum amyloid A, hyponatraemia, hypochloraemia, hypocalcaemia, hyperkalaemia, hypermagnesaemia, hyperglycaemia, increased creatine kinase, and increased liver parameters. Surgical exploration of the wound was performed, and necrotizing fasciitis was suspected. The affected limb was amputated and swabs for bacterial culture were taken from both the skin lesions and surgical site before wound closure. One day after surgery, mild muscular contractions on the forehead and an increased muscle tone of the right pelvic limb were evident. One day later, the cat developed a generalized increase in extensor tone, with intermittent opisthotonos, resulting in lateral recumbency. Based on these clinical signs, a diagnosis of generalized tetanus was made and treatment with midazolam, methocarbamol, and metronidazole was started. Despite an improvement of all blood parameters, the cat progressively deteriorated and 4 days after surgery, it developed episodes of tetanic convulsions, associated with hyperthermia and ventricular arrhythmias. Despite intensive care and medical management, the cat died following a cardio-respiratory arrest 3 days later. This case report describes a rare case of severe generalized tetanus in a young cat

Galaxy Zoo: CANDELS barred discs and bar fractions

The formation of bars in disc galaxies is a tracer of the dynamical maturity of the population. Previous studies have found that the incidence of bars in discs decreases from the local Universe to z ~ 1, and by z > 1 simulations predict that bar features in dynamically mature discs should be extremely rare. Here, we report the discovery of strong barred structures in massive disc galaxies at z ~ 1.5 in deep rest-frame optical images from the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. From within a sample of 876 disc galaxies identified by visual classification in Galaxy Zoo, we identify 123 barred galaxies. Selecting a subsample within the same region of the evolving galaxy luminosity function (brighter than L*), we find that the bar fraction across the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2 (fbar = 10.7+6.3 -3.5 per cent after correcting for incompleteness) does not significantly evolve.We discuss the implications of this discovery in the context of existing simulations and our current understanding of the way disc galaxies have evolved over the last 11 billion yearsPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Galaxy Zoo: CANDELS barred discs and bar fractions

The formation of bars in disc galaxies is a tracer of the dynamical maturity of the population. Previous studies have found that the incidence of bars in discs decreases from the local Universe to z ∼ 1, and by z>1 simulations predict that bar features in dynamically mature discs should be extremely rare. Here, we report the discovery of strong barred structures in massive disc galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 in deep rest-frame optical images from the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. From within a sample of 876 disc galaxies identified by visual classification in Galaxy Zoo, we identify 123 barred galaxies. Selecting a subsample within the same region of the evolving galaxy luminosity function (brighter than L*), we find that the bar fraction across the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2 ( $f_{{\rm bar}} = 10.7^{+6.3}_{-3.5}$ per cent after correcting for incompleteness) does not significantly evolve. We discuss the implications of this discovery in the context of existing simulations and our current understanding of the way disc galaxies have evolved over the last 11 billion year

Platelet Lysate for Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Culture in the Canine and Equine Species: Analogous but Not the Same

Simple Summary Regenerative medicine using platelet-based blood products or adult stem cells offers the prospect of better clinical outcomes with many diseases. In veterinary medicine, most progress has been made with the development and therapeutic use of these regenerative therapeutics in horses, but the clinical need is given in dogs as well. Our aim was to transfer previous advances in the development of horse regenerative therapeutics, specifically the use of platelet lysate for feeding stem cell cultures, to the dog. Here, we describe the scalable production of canine platelet lysate, which could be used in regenerative biological therapies. We also evaluated the canine platelet lysate for its suitability in feeding canine stem cell cultures in comparison to equine platelet lysate used for equine stem cell cultures. Platelet lysate production from canine blood was successful, but the platelet lysate did not support stem cell culture in dogs in the same beneficial way observed with the equine platelet lysate and stem cells. In conclusion, canine platelet lysate can be produced in large scales as described here, but further research is needed to improve the cultivation of canine stem cells. Abstract Platelet lysate (PL) is an attractive platelet-based therapeutic tool and has shown promise as xeno-free replacement for fetal bovine serum (FBS) in human and equine mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) culture. Here, we established a scalable buffy-coat-based protocol for canine PL (cPL) production (n = 12). The cPL was tested in canine adipose MSC (n = 5) culture compared to FBS. For further comparison, equine adipose MSC (n = 5) were cultured with analogous equine PL (ePL) or FBS. During canine blood processing, platelet and transforming growth factor-β1 concentrations increased (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001), while white blood cell concentrations decreased (p < 0.05). However, while equine MSC showed good results when cultured with 10% ePL, canine MSC cultured with 2.5% or 10% cPL changed their morphology and showed decreased metabolic activity (p < 0.05). Apoptosis and necrosis in canine MSC were increased with 2.5% cPL (p < 0.05). Surprisingly, passage 5 canine MSC showed less genetic aberrations after culture with 10% cPL than with FBS. Our data reveal that using analogous canine and equine biologicals does not entail the same results. The buffy-coat-based cPL was not adequate for canine MSC culture, but may still be useful for therapeutic applications

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): spectroscopic analysis

The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey is a multiwavelength photometric and spectroscopic survey, using the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain spectra for up to ∼300 000 galaxies over 280 deg2, to a limiting magnitude of rpet < 19.8 mag. The target galaxies are distributed over 0 < z ≲ 0.5 with a median redshift of z ≈ 0.2, although the redshift distribution includes a small number of systems, primarily quasars, at higher redshifts, up to and beyond z = 1. The redshift accuracy ranges from σv ≈ 50 km s−1 to σv ≈ 100 km s−1 depending on the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrum. Here we describe the GAMA spectroscopic reduction and analysis pipeline. We present the steps involved in taking the raw two-dimensional spectroscopic images through to flux-calibrated one-dimensional spectra. The resulting GAMA spectra cover an observed wavelength range of 3750 ≲ λ ≲ 8850 Å at a resolution of R ≈ 1300. The final flux calibration is typically accurate to 10–20 per cent, although the reliability is worse at the extreme wavelength ends, and poorer in the blue than the red. We present details of the measurement of emission and absorption features in the GAMA spectra. These measurements are characterized through a variety of quality control analyses detailing the robustness and reliability of the measurements. We illustrate the quality of the measurements with a brief exploration of elementary emission line properties of the galaxies in the GAMA sample. We demonstrate the luminosity dependence of the Balmer decrement, consistent with previously published results, and explore further how Balmer decrement varies with galaxy mass and redshift. We also investigate the mass and redshift dependencies of the [N II]/Hα versus [O III]/Hβ spectral diagnostic diagram, commonly used to discriminate between star forming and nuclear activity in galaxies

Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation: the second round of challenges.

Evaluating metagenomic software is key for optimizing metagenome interpretation and focus of the Initiative for the Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation (CAMI). The CAMI II challenge engaged the community to assess methods on realistic and complex datasets with long- and short-read sequences, created computationally from around 1,700 new and known genomes, as well as 600 new plasmids and viruses. Here we analyze 5,002 results by 76 program versions. Substantial improvements were seen in assembly, some due to long-read data. Related strains still were challenging for assembly and genome recovery through binning, as was assembly quality for the latter. Profilers markedly matured, with taxon profilers and binners excelling at higher bacterial ranks, but underperforming for viruses and Archaea. Clinical pathogen detection results revealed a need to improve reproducibility. Runtime and memory usage analyses identified efficient programs, including top performers with other metrics. The results identify challenges and guide researchers in selecting methods for analyses