An investigation into the effectiveness of collagenase for the percutaneous discolysis of thoracolumbar intervertebral discs in the dog : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Veterinary Science at Massey University

This investigation compared the effectiveness of chemonucleolysis with 500 units of collagenase, to lateral fenestration of the thoracolumbar intervertebral discs of the non-chondrodystrophoid dog. Effectiveness was based on the amount of nuclear material removed from the disc and the associated modifications to intervertebral disc structure, as determined by histological examination. The object was to determine whether the percutaneous injection of collagenase enzyme could be an alternative to fenestration as a prophylaxis against herniation of a degenerate intervertebral disc. Eight one year old, non-chondrodystrophoid mongrel dogs were used in the experiment. Apart from two dogs which remained untreated, the remaining six dogs were from two litters which had been sired by the same animal. Two of these dogs had six intervertebral discs (T10/11 to L2/3) injected with 500 units of collagnease VIIs delivered percutaneously. Another two dogs had their equivalent discs surgically fenestrated by the lateral approach as described by Flo and Brinker. The remaining two dogs were subjected to a placebo injection of physiological saline. The animals were examined clinically, neurologically and radiologically before treatment and at regular intervals following treatment. Six months following treatment, the dogs were euthanased. The results showed that collagenase caused almost complete removal of normal nuclear material from within the disc. The centre of the disc was replaced by a variable combination of fibrocartilage and hyaline cartilage, which appeared to develop from the collapsed inner lamellae of the annulus fibrosus. Complications were recorded in only one dog, who suffered a transient hind limb paralysis in the two days immediately following injection. A massive dorsal extrusion of nuclear material was observed in one disc at post-mortem in this dog and was believed to be the cause of the paralysis. The dog recovered without treatment and remained normal on clinical, neurological and radiological examination six months after injection. The annulus fibrosus, dorsal and ventral longitudinal ligaments remained intact in all other dogs. Fenestration was found to cause a variable disruption to the normal architecture of the nucleus pulposus. In most discs, cellular aggregations from the normal nucleus pulposus were undergoing a transformation to fibrocartilage. These cell groups were separated by an increased amount of amorphous matrix material which stained moderately with alcian blue. In the remaining discs (3/12), an increased fibrosus of the nucleus pulposus was seen, but no other disruption to the normal architecture was recorded. No complications occurred in these dogs. The injection of the discs with physiological saline caused remarkably similar histological effects to the disc as did fenestration. The investigators concluded that collagenase appeared to be an attractive alternative to fenestration for the prophylaxis of intervertebral disc herniation, on the basis of its completeness of removal of nuclear tissue, and its simplicity, cheapness, non-invasiveness and the lack of medium and short term complications. Since intervertebral disc protrusions occur more commonly in chondrodystrophoid breeds of dog, the effect of collagenase should be studied in degenerate disc of these breeds before it can be recommended for clinical use

Wounded Heroes and Heroic Vocations: Heroism and the Storied Lives of Therapists

For many the world can be a dangerous place. Life is random. Survival is conditional, and individuals inevitably sustain physical and psychological wounds along the way. Challenged by change, human beings seek meaning in the making and remaking of personal myths that acknowledge both failure and the heroic achievement to endure and flourish. Revealing the heroic character of their creators, this impulse to make and share stories also elevates prosaic, day-to-day struggles into inspirational tales that can transcend context and speak into others’ lives. The sharing of stories permits others to purposefully consider their own struggles and can inspires them to make changes in the world. By applying the narratives of heroism science and humanistic psychology to the vocational and personal lives of therapists, this article suggests that they are heroic, not least because many may have discovered their vocations by transforming their personal wounds into healing for others. It is suggested that, by using critical autoethnography to capture and analyse therapists’ personal and vocational journeys, the phenomenon of the story and the heroic role that it plays in changing and directing therapists’ lives may be more thoroughly acknowledged

Reviewing the Heroic Experience: A Humanistic and Existential Counselling Perspective

Taking a humanistic and existential counselling stance, this brief review of heroism and the heroic experience begins by discussing the utility and structure of Joseph Campbell’s (1949) monomythic narrative of the hero’s journey, whilst considering the Jungian conceptualisation of the archetype and the collective unconscious. With their shared assumptions about transformation and growth, modern psychology and the therapeutic practice of counselling and psychotherapy are reviewed in terms of their utilisation of the hero-journey as a developmental metaphor for clients, particularly in trauma recovery. It is also suggested that, as a metaphor for transformation, Campbell’s hero-narrative may also have the potential to assist practitioners and clients to gain a clearer understanding of the inherently chaotic process and journey through psychosis. The article concludes with an overview of heroism science which includes a discussion on this emerging field’s claim, as a ‘deviant interdisciplinary’, to have the capacity to bring together disparate areas of academic endeavour. The division between humanistic and positive psychologies is given as an example of such disparity, and the potential for heroism science to play a role in bridging this particular gap is examined

Leadership in a Quality School

Education in Western countries has been under attack in recent years. Numerous individuals and groups have made attempts to reform or restructure the system in which students are schooled. Such change is difficult and on many occasions the attempts at reform resulted in very superficial modifications. Significant change can come from a complex interaction of people where leaders and collaborators work interactively to achieve common purposes. This research examined one school, which is part of William Glasser\u27s consortium of Quality Schools, where significant changes took place. Glasser\u27s control theory has played an important role in the change process. The challenge was to determine the nature of leadership in the school as the changes unfolded and so the focus was on the leadership processes that occurred. The study examined the various ways in which people used influence and how they established and sustained influence relationships to make substantive changes in the education processes at the school. The researcher used a qualitative case study methodology to examine the school in rural California. Through this methodology it was possible to provide an outline of the range of strategies that people used to entice others to enter into relationships with them, relationships that brought about significant change that reflected the mutual purposes of the people concerned. The findings of the study indicate that for significant change to occur adults in the school must change their beliefs about the nature of the school, about their relationships with one another and about their relationships with the students. Leaders and collaborators can best achieve changes that reflected their mutual purposes when they confront the beliefs they have brought with them from their past and take steps to change those beliefs through enabling and encouraging noncoercive influence relationships to exist between them. Changing beliefs is assisted by changing the language that is used in the school, particularly changing the metaphors used to speak about the school and the relationships that exist there

Assessing the economic impact of an emissions trading scheme on agroforestry in Australia’s northern grazing systems

Although agriculture generates a significant portion of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the potential to sequester large quantities of emissions through changed land use management such as agroforestry. Whilst there is an extensive amount of agroforestry literature, little has been written on the economic consequences of adopting silvopastoral systems in northern Australia. This paper reports the economic feasibility of adopting complimentary agroforestry systems in the low rainfall region of northern Australia. The analysis incorporates the dynamic tradeoffs between tree and pasture growth, carbon sequestration, cleared regrowth decomposition rates and livestock methane emissions in a bioeconomic model. The results suggest there are financial benefits for landholders who integrate complimentary agroforestry activities into existing grazing operations depending on the rules of the carbon accounting framework used.carbon sequestration, financial analysis, carbon accounting framework, Agroforestry, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The galactic center black hole as a possible retro-lens for the S2 orbiting star

Holz & Wheeler (\cite{hw}) have recently proposed that a Schwarzschild black hole may act as a retro-lens which, if illuminated by a powerful light source, deflects light ray paths to large bending angles and a series of luminous arcs (or rings in the case of aligned objects) centered on the black hole may form. Obviously, the most convenient geometry to get retro-lensing images would be that of a very bright star close to a massive black hole, say the putative $\sim 4\times 10^6$ M$_{\odot}$ black hole at the galactic center. Recent observations of the galactic center region in the $K$-band have revealed the presence of a very bright main sequence star (labelled S2) with mass $\sim 15$ M$_{\odot}$ orbiting at close distance (130-1900 AU) from Sgr A$^*$. The relatively vicinity of S2 to the central massive black hole may offer a unique laboratory to test the formation of retro-lensing images. The next generation of space-based telescopes in the $K$-band (like NGST) may have high enough limiting magnitude necessary to observe such retro-lensing images.Comment: 4 pages, 2 Postscript figures, accepted for pubblications on Astronomy and Astrophysic

Is a focus on ‘recycling’ useful? A wider look at metal mutability and the chemical character of copper‐alloys

Recycling is increasingly visible in archaeological descriptions of technology. This has a range of benefits as we attempt to engage with the full complexity of the material past. However, this paper examines in more detail whether a singular focus on recycling is positive for archaeological science. It considers the historical relationship between recycling and the chemical analysis of early copper alloys, the constraints of the different conceptual and statistical techniques that can be employed, and broader ideas of metal mutability and the characterisation hypothesis. Overall, anything that widens our conceptual toolkit should be welcomed. However, it is most helpful to have recycling emerge from case study data as part of a broader approach, rather than to focus on it as a sole aim. Similarly, the prioritisation of provenance has sometimes not helped the field. Engaging with a wider ‘characterisation hypothesis’ would bring several benefits, and help build collaborations with other areas of archaeology

The domestication of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus

Lactobacillus acidophilus is a Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium that has had widespread historical use in the dairy industry and more recently as a probiotic. Although L. acidophilus has been designated as safe for human consumption, increasing commercial regulation and clinical demands for probiotic validation has resulted in a need to understand its genetic diversity. By drawing on large, well-characterised collections of lactic acid bacteria, we examined L. acidophilus isolates spanning 92 years and including multiple strains in current commercial use. Analysis of the whole genome sequence data set (34 isolate genomes) demonstrated L. acidophilus was a low diversity, monophyletic species with commercial isolates essentially identical at the sequence level. Our results indicate that commercial use has domesticated L. acidophilus with genetically stable, invariant strains being consumed globally by the human population