Publications by authors named "Tracy H Vemulapalli"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated the prevalence of zoonotic protozoal pathogens in kennel-housed laboratory dogs in Texas, focusing on two specific pathogens and their associations with demographic factors and fecal health.
  • Results indicated that younger dogs (18 months and under) were three times more likely to have one of the infections compared to older dogs, while the fecal consistency also influenced the likelihood of testing positive.
  • The researchers emphasized the importance of considering age and fecal scores in screening dogs for these infections, suggesting that further research with larger groups is needed to fully understand these relationships.
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  • Current sterilization protocols for rodent surgical instruments contaminated with cecal contents are insufficient, motivating the exploration of effective pretreatment solutions.
  • The study tested various pretreatment agents (multienzyme detergent, neutral pH detergent, or chlorhexidine scrub) before glass bead sterilization, followed by thorough brushing to improve debris removal.
  • Results showed that using a pretreatment agent combined with brushing significantly reduced bacterial growth and organic contamination levels, highlighting their importance in achieving effective sterilization.
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  • A team found infections in puppies and needed a fast, cost-effective test to screen asymptomatic dogs for two specific organisms, aiming to prevent outbreaks and protect staff.
  • They tested dog feces using three diagnostic methods: a lateral-flow assay (QC), a direct fluorescent assay (DFA), and an in-house PCR test, comparing results through different analytical methods.
  • The QC test showed good specificity for detecting the organisms (95-98%), but its sensitivity was lower (38-48% for one organism and 25-40% for the other), indicating that while positive results are reliable, negative results need further confirmation.
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Reports of compound odontomas in rats are very rare. A 14-month-old adult male Sprague Dawley rat was found to have a hard mass associated with the caudal aspect of the left mandible. After 2 weeks of observation, the rat was euthanized due to the mass growing significantly in size and the rat losing >20% of its body weight.

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Often few alternative anesthetics for exotic species are available, due to the small numbers of these animals used in research. In this study, we evaluated the depth and duration of anesthesia in Xenopus laevis after their immersion in 3 doses of etomidate (15, 22.5, and 30 mg/L) and in 3 doses of benzocaine (0.

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The targeted use of animals in teaching at institutions of higher learning is fundamental to educating the next generation of professionals in the biologic and animal sciences. As with animal research, universities and colleges that use animals in teaching are subject to regulatory oversight. Instructors must receive approval from their IACUC before using animals in their teaching.

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Currently, human cancer genomics is making great progress, and many mutations of new cancer driver genes have been detected at an unprecedented rate in a variety of human cancers. Many details of the genetic alterations in cancer cell genomes have been revealed by the massively parallel sequencing. Long-lasting aneuploidy caused large-scale somatic copy number alterations remains a difficulty as there are too many genes located on such big chromosomal fragments, and this cannot simply be solved by increasing sequencing depth and tumor sample numbers.

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During a triinstitutional study to test whether individually ventilated caging systems impaired welfare and reproduction relative to static housing systems, varying numbers (2 to 7) of discoid-shaped, fleshy structures were found in utero of 17 postpartum female mice on study. Further investigation revealed these structures to be retained fetal membranes (RFM). A point prevalence of 24.

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Brucella abortus is a facultative, intracellular zoonotic pathogen which can cause undulant fever in humans and abortions in cattle. A 14-kDa protein of B. abortus was previously identified to be immunogenic in animals infected with Brucella spp.

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