IslandScholar
Not a member yet
16367 research outputs found
Sort by
Point‐of‐care N‐terminal pro B‐type natriuretic peptide assay to screen apparently healthy cats for cardiac disease in general practice
No full textBackground: Point‐of‐care (POC) N‐terminal pro B‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) ELISA test has been evaluated for screening cats for cardiac disease in the referral veterinary setting but less is known about its use in general practice (GP). Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of a POC NT‐proBNP ELISA in cats seen in GPs. Animals: Two hundred and seventeen apparently healthy cats from 21 GPs. Methods: This was a prospective, cross‐sectional study. Cardiac auscultation and POC NT‐proBNP ELISA were done by veterinarians at their GPs. After enrollment at GPs, cats were sent to a cardiology referral hospital for cardiac auscultation and echocardiographic diagnosis. Results were interpreted based on whether cats had normal or abnormal echocardiographic findings. Results: Point‐of‐care NT‐proBNP ELISA results differentiated cats in the abnormal group from those in the normal group with a sensitivity of 43%, specificity of 96%. In cats with a heart murmur at GPs, POC NT‐proBNP ELISA results differentiated cats in the abnormal group from those in the normal group with a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 92%. Conclusion and Clinical Importance: In apparently healthy cats in GPs, positive POC NT‐proBNP results are associated with heart disease, warranting an echocardiogram, but negative results do not reliably exclude heart disease. These results suggest POC NT‐proBNP is not an effective screening test for apparently healthy cats in GPs, although its performance is improved if it is used only in cats that have a heart murmur.IDEXX Laboratorie
Estimating the dispersal of Lepeophtheirus salmonis sea lice within and among Atlantic salmon sites of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick
No full textThe objective of this study was to estimate the impact of infestation pressures on the abundance of the parasitic sea louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick (NB), Canada, using the Fish‐iTrends database for the years 2009–2018. Infestation pressures were calculated as time‐lagged weighted averages of the abundance of adult female (AF) sea lice within a site (internal infestation pressure: IIP) and among sites (external infestation pressure: EIP). The EIP weights were calculated from seaway distances among sites and a Gaussian kernel density for bandwidths of 5 to 60 km. The EIP with a bandwidth of 10 km had the best fit, as determined with Akaike's information criterion, and historical AF sea lice abundance. This estimated dispersal distance of 10 km was similar to previous studies in Norway, Scotland and in New Brunswick. The infestation pressures estimated from empirical AF sea lice abundance within and among sites significantly increased the abundance of AF sea lice (p < .001). This study concludes that sea lice burdens within Atlantic salmon farms in the Bay of Fundy, NB, are affected by within site management and could be improved by synchronizing treatments between sites.Ocean Frontier Institut
Case management file review and study: Understanding complexity and the stratification of case managed clients at Veterans Affairs Canada
No full textPrescreening and treatment of aortic dissection through an analysis of infinite-dimension data
No full textBackground
Aortic dissection (AD) is one of the most catastrophic aortic diseases associated with a high mortality rate. In contrast to the advances in most cardiovascular diseases, both the incidence and in-hospital mortality rate of AD have experienced deviant increases over the past 20 years, highlighting the need for fresh prospects on the prescreening and in-hospital treatment strategies.
Methods
Through two cross-sectional studies, we adopt image recognition techniques to identify pre-disease aortic morphology for prior diagnoses; assuming that AD has occurred, we employ functional data analysis to determine the optimal timing for BP and HR interventions to offer the highest possible survival rate.
Results
Compared with the healthy control group, the aortic centerline is significantly more slumped for the AD group. Further, controlling patients’ blood pressure and heart rate according to the likelihood of adverse events can offer the highest possible survival probability.
Conclusions
The degree of slumpness is introduced to depict aortic morphological changes comprehensively. The morphology-based prediction model is associated with an improvement in the predictive accuracy of the prescreening of AD. The dynamic model reveals that blood pressure and heart rate variations have a strong predictive power for adverse events, confirming this model’s ability to improve AD management.National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaSouthwest HospitalScience and Technology Commission of Shanghai MunicipalityShanghai Ninth People's HospitalShanghai Jiao Tong Universit
The use of the roter interaction analysis system in assessing veterinary student clinical communication skills during equine wellness examinations in rural Kentucky, USA: A pilot study
No full textBackground
Effective clinical communication can aid veterinarians in building good client relationships, increase adherence to recommendations and, ultimately, improve patient health and welfare. However, available information on veterinary communication in the equine context is limited. The objective of this study was to describe the communication of veterinary students in the equine environment who had previous communication training. Additionally, we assessed the suitability of the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) for the analysis of audio-video recordings of equine wellness consultations.
Methods
Twenty-seven equine wellness consultations performed by second-year Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine students were recorded in rural Kentucky, United States of America. Recordings were submitted to a professional coder who applied the RIAS to the equine context by expanding or adjusting code definitions.
Results
A substantial amount of utterances (i.e. segments of speech) were allocated to core communication skills including building rapport (30%), facilitation and client activation (24%) and education and counselling (23%). There was a large variation in utterances used among consultations of the same veterinary student and students; they did not appear anxious or nervous.
Conclusions
Students made use of core communication skills, indicating that experiences from pre-clinical training could be transferred to equine practice. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the RIAS could be considered for consecutive studies aiming to provide observational data on clinical communication in the equine context
Understanding farmers' behavior and their decision-making process in the context of cattle diseases: A review of theories and approaches
No full textUnderstanding farmers' behavior regarding disease control is essential to successfully implement behavior change interventions that improve uptake of best practices. A literature review was conducted to identify theoretical underpinnings, analytical methodologies, and key behavioral determinants that have been described to understand farmers' behavior in disease control and prevention on cattle farms. Overall, 166 peer-reviewed manuscripts from studies conducted in 27 countries were identified. In the past decade, there were increasing reports on farmers' motivators and barriers, but no indication of application of appropriate social science methods. Furthermore, the majority (58%) of reviewed studies lacked a theoretical framework in their study design. However, when a theoretical underpinning was applied, the Theory of Planned Behavior was most commonly used (14% of total). The complexity of factors impacting farmers' behavior was illustrated when mapping all described key constructs of the reviewed papers in behavior change frameworks, such as the socioecological framework and the Capability, Opportunity and Motivation Behavior (COM-B) model. Constructs related to personal influences and relationships between farmers and veterinarians were overrepresented, whereas constructs related to other interpersonal and contextual environments were not extensively studied. There was a general lack of use of validated scales to measure constructs and empirically validated theoretical frameworks to understand and predict farmers' behavior. Furthermore, studies mainly focused on measurements of intention of stakeholder behavior rather than actual behavior, although the former is a poor predictor of the latter. Finally, there is still a lack of robust evidence of behavior change interventions or techniques that result in a successful change in farmers' behavior. We concluded that for a sustainable behavior change, studies should include wider constructs at individual, interpersonal, and contextual levels. Furthermore, the use of empirically validated constructs and theoretical frameworks is encouraged. By using coherent frameworks, researchers could link constructs to design interventions, and thereby take the first step toward theory-driven, evidence-based interventions to influence farmers' behavior for disease control
Review of epidemiological, pathological, genetic, and epigenetic factors that may contribute to the development of separation anxiety in dogs
No full textDexmedetomidine oromucosal gel reduces fear and anxiety in dogs during veterinary visits: A randomised, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical pilot study
No full textIntroduction
Many dogs are anxious and/or fearful in veterinary clinics and exhibit avoidant and/or defensive behaviour. The purpose of pharmacological interventions is to reduce anxiety and to enable patient-friendly, low stress physical examination and procedures.
Materials and methods
This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicentre, clinical-field study. The eligible dogs (n = 76) were randomly assigned to receive dexmedetomidine 0.1 mg/g oromucosal gel at a dose of 125 μg/m2 (n = 27) or 250 μg/m2 (n = 24), or an equivalent volume of placebo gel (n = 23).
Results
The investigator's ability to perform the intended procedure (physical examination and 1 short minor veterinary or husbandry procedure) was excellent for 40.7% of the dogs that received dexmedetomidine 125 μg/m2 and 33.3% of those that received dexmedetomidine 250 μg/m2 compared to only 4.3% of the placebo dogs. The overall treatment effect was statistically significant (p = 0.03). In addition, the investigators subjective stress level assessments revealed that dexmedetomidine treated dogs showed significantly more commonly relaxed body posture (p < 0.01) and more relaxed behaviour when entering the examination room (p = 0.02). There were very few adverse events, and treated animals were not sedated.
Conclusions
This study indicated a beneficial treatment effect of dexmedetomidine gel in alleviation of canine fear and anxiety during minor veterinary or husbandry procedures in the clinic environment in dogs previously reported to suffer from fear and anxiety during veterinary visits. Both dexmedetomidine gel doses studied were effective, and no clinical safety concerns were noticed for either dose
From Sherbrooke to Stratford and back again: Team teaching and experiential learning through “Shakesperience”
No full textAttempting to teach theater in an English Literature course is a daunting prospect. A far cry from the highly individual experience of reading a novel or poem, theater is both a visual and communal kind of engagement. It is a challenge to capture this medium in a traditional lecture-based classroom and harder still to convey its three-dimensionality to undergraduate students. In this paper, we argue that experiential learning and team teaching are especially resonant in the exploration of Shakespearean studies because of the active and collaborative nature of his theater and plays. This paper draws out avenues for experiential learning in the humanities that should have broad applicability and interest a wide range of readers. Framing our design, implementation, and critical reflection in the relevant research, we provide an example of how to anchor experiential learning in the humanities in practice. The case study outlines a compact spring session course on Shakespeare’s plays and performance that includes in-class, online, and field study components. Our research reveals that this approach mirrors in several key ways the collaborative work at the heart of Shakespearean drama and of theater more generally: students are exposed to the plays on the page, on the stage, and behind the scenes; they are offered a model of collaborative knowledge-making both in the theater and in the team-based course design and delivery; and, with these examples before them, they are encouraged to take risks, to collaborate, and to form communities of their own in their learning. In the conclusion we devote attention to funding and the cost associated with experiential learning and field courses. This paper explores experiential learning and field-based immersive learning into the context of disciplinary-specific humanities classrooms with the goal of increasing interaction among students and enhancing students’ learning (Béchard and Pelletier, 2001)