Evaluation of Xylazine, Acepromazine and Medetomidine with Ketamine for General Anaesthesia in Rabbits

A randomized, prospective, blinded experimental study was conducted in 32 rabbits of either sex to compare  the anaesthetic and physiological effects of ketamine with different pre-anaesthetics. Rabbits were  randomly divided into 4 equal groups. Xylazine 6 mg/kg in animals of group xylazine-ketamine (XK), acepromazine  2 mg/kg in animals of group acepromazine-ketamine (AK), medetomidine 125 μg/kg in group  medetomidine-ketamine 1 (MK1) or medetomidine 250 μg/kg in group medetomidine-ketamine 2 (MK2)  were administered by intramuscular injection (IM). Five minutes later, ketamine 60 mg/kg was administered  intramuscularly to all the groups. The rabbits were observed for the onset of weak time, down time,  the time to loss of righting reflex, pedal reflexes and response to surgical stimuli. Heart rate, respiratory  rate and rectal temperature and arterial oxygen saturation of haemoglobin (SpO2) were recorded up to 60  min. Weak time, down time and time to loss of righting reflex were the shortest in animals of group MK2  as compared to the other groups. Pedal reflexes remained intact in all the animals of XK group, but were  abolished in 50% of the AK group, 75% of the MK1 group and 100% of animals in the MK2 group. Pain  was evinced during surgery by all the animals in group XK, 5 animals in group AK and 4 animals in group  MK1. The best analgesia was achieved in the animals of group MK2, where none of the animals showed  pain on surgical stimulation. Heart rate and SpO2 decreased significantly (P<0.01) in the animals of groups  XK, MK1 and MK2 but respiratory rate and rectal temperature decreased significantly (P<0.01) in all the  groups. However, all the animals recovered from anaesthesia without complications. It was concluded that  medetomidine 250 µg/kg and ketamine 60 mg/kg produced excellent anaesthesia to allow pain free surgery  and may be considered suitable for anaesthesia in New Zealand White rabbits.

The roles of immune cells in bone healing; what we know, do not know and future perspectives

Key events occurring during the bone healing include well-orchestrated and complex interactions between immune cells, multipotential stromal cells (MSCs), osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Through three overlapping phases of this physiological process, innate and adaptive immune cells, cytokines and chemokines have a significant role to play. The aim of the escalating immune response is to achieve an osseous healing in the shortest time and with the least complications facilitating the restoration of function. The uninterrupted progression of these biological events in conjunction with a favourable mechanical environment (stable fracture fixation) remains the hallmark of successful fracture healing. When failure occurs, either the biological environment or the mechanical one could have been disrupted. Not infrequently both may be compromised. Consequently, regenerative treatments involving the use of bone autograft, allograft or synthetic matrices supplemented with MSCs are increasingly used. A better understanding of the bone biology and osteoimmunology can help to improve these evolving cell-therapy based strategies. Herein, an up to date status of the role of immune cells during the different phases of bone healing is presented. Additionally, the known and yet to know events about immune cell interactions with MSCs and osteoblasts and osteoclasts and the therapeutic implications are being discussed

Differential diagnosis and surgical management of cecal dilatation vis-a-vis cecal impaction in bovine

Aim: The present study was undertaken to study the clinical and hemato-biochemical alterations, ultrasonography, and surgical treatment of bovine suffering from cecal dilatation and cecal impaction. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 11 bovines (9 buffaloes and 2 cattle) suffering from cecal dilatation (n=6) and cecal impaction (n=5). The diagnosis of surgical affections of cecum was made on the basis of clinical examination, hematobiochemistry, ultrasonography, and exploratory laparotomy. Results: A marked decrease in serum total protein, albumin, chloride, potassium, and calcium levels while an increase in lactate concentrations was recorded. Peritoneal fluid examination revealed an increase in total protein concentration. Per rectal examination along with ultrasonography was used as a confirmatory diagnostic tool for cecal dilatation and cecal impaction. Ultrasonographic features of cecal dilatation and cecal impaction were recorded. Left flank laparorumenotomy was performed in six animals with dilated cecum along with colonic fecalith. Post-rumenotomy, these animals were treated with massage of cecum along with kneading of colonic fecalith. Right flank typhlotomy was done in the remaining five animals having impacted cecum for decompression of the dilated cecum. 9 of 11 animals survived which underwent surgery and remained healthy up to 3-month follow-up. Conclusion: Ultrasonography was reliable in the diagnosis of cecal dilatation and cecal impaction in bovine. Left flank exploration after laparorumenotomy is an ideal surgical technique for the management of cecal dilatation, while right flank typhlotomy is ideal for the management of cecal impaction in bovine

Border Theory: A New Point of Access into Literature. A border-theoretical reading of China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun, The City and the City and Embassytown

“Border Theory: A New Point of Access into Literature” seeks to explore the use of a border-theoretical approach to literature. Border theories by Johan Schimanski, Stephen Wolfe, David Newman, Homi Bhabha, and a set of different border planes – the symbolic, epistemological, topographic, temporal and textual border plane – provide the scholarly framework for this thesis. Border theory studies the notion of hybridity, diversity and doubling, discusses the border and the change between the visible and invisibility, reviews binary oppositions and goes on to explore how borders can move beyond binaries and create a new space – a third space. The thesis uses three novels by China Miéville to examine border theory: Un Lun Dun (2007), The City and the City (2009) and Embassytown (2011). Miéville is a science fiction writer that introduces the genre of weird fiction. The main idea is that border theory, as its own theoretical point of access into the field of literary studies, can contribute with a new aspect of literary analysis, and that China Miéville’s contemporary weird fiction invites and benefits from a border-theoretical analysis. Border theory creates a new access-point into the theoretical analysis of novels, and further explores and shows how borders are represented in literature. Un Lun Dun presents the reader with a city and its abcity where the border between the two is not easy to see and understand. In addition, the abcity UnLondon is filled with strange spaces and extraordinary characters that give no shortage of borders to explore. The City and the City is a detective story that crosses the border between two sister cities – Besźel and Ul Qoma – with an invisible law enforcement agency operating within the invisible border between the two cities. Embassytown uses language as a barrier and a border between species. Set in the far future, the novel describes and explores complex relations and divisions of space, time and people – and the complications surrounding the inability to communicate. These novels have been chosen because of their borders-inquisitive qualities, and together they can each be read as a piece of the puzzle to a more complex understanding of borders and border crossings – both in literature and in real life. “Border Theory: A New Point of Access into Literature – A border-theoretical reading of China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun, The City and the City and Embassytown” is a thesis with a theoretical approach to contemporary literature – exploring the literary field of border theory