Granzyme B Contributes to Choroidal Neovascularization and Age-Related Macular Degeneration Through Proteolysis of Thrombospondin-1.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible central vision loss in the elderly. The pathology of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), also known as wet AMD, is associated with an abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye and involves an imbalance of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors. Thrombospondin (TSP)-1 and TSP-2 are endogenous matricellular proteins that inhibit angiogenesis.

Assessment and Revision of the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program Standardized Letter of Reference.

The Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP) recently revised its electronic standardized letter of reference (SLOR) to improve the quality and usefulness of the data obtained from it and to enhance the relevance of non-cognitive and cognitive candidate attributes assessed. We used a stepwise process including a broad survey of SLOR readers and writers, analysis of past SLORs, and a multi-wave iterative revision that included key stakeholders, such as residency and internship program directors from academia and private practice. Data from the SLOR survey and analysis of past SLOR responses identified opportunities to improve applicant differentiation, mitigate positive bias, and encourage response consistency.

Spectrum of Trained Innate Immunity Induced by Low-Virulence Species against Lethal Polymicrobial Intra-abdominal Infection.

Polymicrobial intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are clinically prevalent and cause significant morbidity and mortality, especially those involving fungi. Our laboratory developed a mouse model of polymicrobial IAI and demonstrated that coinfection with and (/) results in 80 to 90% mortality in 48 to 72 h due to robust local and systemic inflammation. Surprisingly, inoculation with and resulted in minimal mortality, and rechallenge of mice with lethal / conferred >90% protection up to 60 days postinoculation.

Impact of Team Communication Training on Performance and Self-Assessment of Team Functioning during Sophomore Surgery.

Collaboration and teamwork are important skills for veterinary professionals that affect relationship development, health and well-being, financial success, and clinical outcomes. This study explores the impact of team communication training on performance and assessment of team functioning during second-year surgery by comparing two different classes. The class of 2017 (control group) received no formal training in team communication before their participation in surgery, and the class of 2018 (treatment group) participated in training offered through a dedicated team communication course.

Feline musculoskeletal pain index: responsiveness and testing of criterion validity.

Background: Progress in establishing if therapies provide relief to cats with degenerative joint disease (DJD)-associated pain is hampered by a lack of validated owner-administered assessment methods.

Hypothesis: That an appropriately developed subjective owner-completed instrument (Feline Musculoskeletal Pain Index-FMPI) to assess DJD-associated impairment would have responsiveness and criterion validity.

Animals: Twenty-five client-owned cats with DJD-associated pain.

Reliability and discriminatory testing of a client-based metrology instrument, feline musculoskeletal pain index (FMPI) for the evaluation of degenerative joint disease-associated pain in cats.

The objective of this study was to test the readability, reliability, repeatability and discriminatory ability of an owner-completed instrument to assess feline degenerative joint disease (DJD)-associated pain (feline musculoskeletal pain index, FMPI). Readability was explored using four different formulas (Flesch, Fry, SMOG and FOG) and the final FMPI instrument was produced. To assess the instrument, client-owned cats that were defined as normal (normal group) or as having DJD-associated pain and mobility impairment (pain-DJD group) were recruited.

Examining the psychological pathways to behavior change in a group-based lifestyle program to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To examine the psychological process of lifestyle change among adults at risk for type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: A randomized control trial in which 307 volunteers (intervention, n = 208; wait control, n = 99) diagnosed with prediabetes completed a six-session group-based intervention to promote healthier living. Participants' motivation to change, diet and exercise self-efficacy, mood, knowledge about diabetes, activity levels, healthy eating, waist circumference, and weight were assessed before and after the program.

Chronic hepatitis B - a clinical audit of GP management.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a growing health burden in Australia. This clinical audit aimed to enhance general practitioner awareness of the recommended management for patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Objective: This article describes a clinical two-phase audit of 119 Australian GPs who contributed records retrospectively of patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Evaluation of intermittent infusion of bupivacaine into surgical wounds of dogs postoperatively.

Thirty-one dogs were randomised to receive intermittent wound infusion of bupivacaine or saline after surgery. Wound pressure sensitivity, pain scores, body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, analgesic drugs administered, time to walking and time to eating after surgery were recorded. Plasma bupivacaine concentrations were measured.

Item generation and design testing of a questionnaire to assess degenerative joint disease-associated pain in cats.

Objective: To determine the items (question topics) for a subjective instrument to assess degenerative joint disease (DJD)-associated chronic pain in cats and determine the instrument design most appropriate for use by cat owners.

Animals: 100 randomly selected client-owned cats from 6 months to 20 years old.

Procedures: Cats were evaluated to determine degree of radiographic DJD and signs of pain throughout the skeletal system.

Can the onset of type 2 diabetes be delayed by a group-based lifestyle intervention? A randomised control trial.

This study was a randomised control trial with a waiting control group. It was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-month, group-based diabetes prevention programme, The Healthy Living Course and assess whether participation in the programme led to changes in modifiable risk factors for type 2 diabetes among an already at-risk pre-diabetic population. Individuals designated at risk for diabetes by their general practitioners (GPs) were screened using an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.

The influence of depression and anxiety on outcomes after an intervention for prediabetes.

Objectives: To conduct initial analyses and examine ways in which depression and anxiety are associated with outcomes after participation in the Healthy Living Course (HLC), an early-intervention diabetes prevention program for adults with prediabetes.

Design: Randomised controlled study using pre-intervention and postintervention measures to examine relationships between depression, anxiety and diabetes-related program outcomes.

Participants And Setting: 185 adults from urban and rural Victoria with prediabetes who had completed the HLC program and for whom postintervention measure data were available.

Outcome of permanent tracheostomy for treatment of upper airway obstruction in cats: 21 cases (1990-2007).

Objective: To determine clinical outcome of permanent tracheostomy in cats with upper airway obstruction.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 21 cats.

Aural cholesteatoma in twenty dogs.

Objective: To determine the clinical course in dogs with aural cholesteatoma.

Study Design: Case series.

Animals: Dogs (n=20) with aural cholesteatoma.

Current methods in use for assessing clinical competencies: what works?

An online survey was used to capture qualitative descriptions of methods used by a veterinary college to assess clinical competencies in its students. Each college was specifically asked about use of the methods detailed in the Toolbox of Assessment Methods developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties. Additionally, each college was asked to detail the methods used to ensure competency in each of the nine areas specified by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education.

Computed tomographic assessment of vascular invasion and resectability of mediastinal masses in dogs and a cat.

Aims: To assess the sensitivity of non-angiographic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) to determine the presence of vascular invasion of cranial mediastinal masses in dogs and a cat, and to evaluate the association between vascular invasion and peri-operative mortality.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 25 dogs and one cat. CT scans were completed with slices ranging from 2 to 10 mm.

Public perceptions of Australia's doctors, hospitals and health care systems.

Objective: To assess public perceptions of Australia's doctors, hospitals and health care systems.

Design And Participants: A cross-sectional national telephone survey of a random sample of 800 Australian adults in August 2007.

Main Outcome Measures: Ratings of subjective trust in health care providers, public and private hospitals, private health insurers and Medicare; attitudinal ratings for the current health care system, and public and private health care systems.

Feline fibrosarcoma: perioperative management.

Aggressive and complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice for fibrosarcomas in cats. Thorough preoperative planning and meticulous surgical technique are necessary for optimal cosmetic, functional, and oncologic outcome. Perioperative pain management with an emphasis on preemptive analgesia and multimodal analgesia is essential to minimize patient morbidity.

Surgical and interventional radiographic treatment of dogs with hepatic arteriovenous fistulae.

Objective: To report outcome after surgical and interventional radiographic treatment of hepatic arteriovenous fistulae (HAVF) in dogs.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Animals: Dogs (n=20) with HAVF.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in cats: a review.

Objective: To review the evidence regarding the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in cats.

Databases Used: PubMed, CAB abstracts.

Conclusions: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be used with caution in cats because of their low capacity for hepatic glucuronidation, which is the major mechanism of metabolism and excretion for this category of drugs.