The Emirates Mars Mission.

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) was launched to Mars in the summer of 2020, and is the first interplanetary spacecraft mission undertaken by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The mission has multiple programmatic and scientific objectives, including the return of scientifically useful information about Mars. Three science instruments on the mission's Hope Probe will make global remote sensing measurements of the Martian atmosphere from a large low-inclination orbit that will advance our understanding of atmospheric variability on daily and seasonal timescales, as well as vertical atmospheric transport and escape.

Field based lower limb strength tests provide insight into sprint and change of direction ability in academy footballers.

Conducting field-based strength assessments is embedded within football academy development processes. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how hip and groin strength assessments relate to vital game-based tasks such as sprinting and change of direction (COD) performance. Our aim was to explore field-based strength assessments and their relationships with both sprint and COD performance in male academy footballers.

Emergency department presentations in the Southern District of New Zealand during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Objective: To assess changes in presentations to EDs during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the Southern Region of New Zealand.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective audit of patients attending EDs in the Southern District Health Board (SDHB), from 1 March to 13 May 2020. We made comparisons with attendances during the same period in 2019.

Strength development and non-contact lower limb injury in academy footballers across age groups.

Non-contact lower limb injuries are common in academy football. Yet, the impact these injuries have on strength development in academy footballers remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of non-contact lower limb injury on hip, groin, and knee flexor strength development in male academy youth footballers.

Growth attenuation therapy for children with severe physical and cognitive disability: Practice and perspectives of New Zealand paediatricians.

Aim: There are currently no clinical guidelines concerning the administration of growth attenuation therapy (GAT) for children (regardless of gender) with both severe physical and cognitive disability in New Zealand (NZ). This survey aimed to explore the attitudes of paediatricians towards GAT and the frequency of requests and initiation of GAT in NZ.

Methods: An online survey of paediatricians in NZ was undertaken.

Long-term soccer-specific training enhances the rate of physical development of academy soccer players independent of maturation status.

The aim of the study was to compare 3-year changes in physical performance between junior soccer players selected for an elite academy and age-matched controls. The 3-year changes in indicators of the physical performance were quantified in 12-16-year-old Premier League Academy (n=27) and non-academy soccer players (n=18). Data were analysed with an age-group×competitive level general linear model, covariate-adjusted for initial performance level and change in maturation.

Quantification of the typical weekly in-season training load in elite junior soccer players.

We examined the typical weekly training load experienced by elite junior soccer players during the in-season competitive period. Altogether, eight under-14 (U14), eight under-16 (U16) and eight under-18 (U18) players were monitored over a 2-week period during the first month of the 2010-11 competitive season. This time period included one competitive match per week.

Effects of FSH and LH on ovarian and follicular blood flow, follicular growth and oocyte developmental competence in young and old mares.

Objectives of the experiment were to determine the effects of mare age and gonadotropin treatments on dominant follicle vascularity, ovarian blood flow and dominant follicle growth and to associate follicular vascularity with oocyte developmental capacity. Growing follicles >30 mm from young (4-9 years) and old (>20 years) mares were assessed for blood flow using color Doppler ultrasonography before maturation induction with recombinant equine LH (eLH) and immediately prior to oocyte collection at 20-24 h after eLH. Pulsed Doppler was used to obtain resistance indices of ovarian arteries ipsilateral to preovulatory follicles.

Ultrasonographic identification of vascular invasion by adrenal tumors in dogs.

Adrenalectomy is the treatment of choice for adrenal tumors that are producing adverse clinical signs. Surgical planning prior to adrenalectomy is aided by identifying tumors with invasion into adjacent vessels or the presence of a tumor thrombus extending into the caudal vena cava. In this paper, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound in determining if vascular invasion or tumor thrombus is present.

Long-term survival and risk factors associated with biliary surgery in dogs: 34 cases (1994-2004).

Objective: To determine factors associated with long-term survival after biliary surgery in dogs.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 34 dogs that underwent biliary surgery.

Fat is responsible for an intramural radiolucent band in the feline stomach wall.

An intramural radiolucent band in the stomach wall can be seen on abdominal radiographs of cats without concurrent clinical gastrointestinal signs. A retrospective study of cats with normal abdominal radiographs and computed tomography (CT) was performed to determine the prevalence of this finding. This gastric radiolucent band was seen in 13 of 37 (35%) radiographs.

Sonographic features of histiocytic neoplasms in the canine abdomen.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the ultrasonographic features of malignant histiocytosis (MH), malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and histiocytic sarcoma in abdominal organs of dogs. The medical records of 18 dogs that had undergone abdominal sonography and had a histopathologic diagnosis of abdominal MH, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and histiocytic sarcoma were reviewed. The organ most commonly affected was the spleen.

Ultrasonography of the acute abdomen.

For many years, ultrasonography has been considered to be one of the most valuable imaging techniques for evaluation of the abdominal cavity and its organs. In most cases, abdominal ultrasonography helps obtain information that leads to a definitive diagnosis. Ultrasonography is also valuable to narrow the list of differential diagnoses obtained with other diagnostic techniques.

Pyometra in a Siberian Polecat (Mustela eversmanni).

A 2-year-old Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmanni) from a breeding colony presented for ultrasound evaluation for pregnancy. It was paired with a male for 2.75 months and had remained absent of pregnancy signs when it was anesthetized and clinically evaluated.

Radiographic interpretation of normal skeletal variations and pseudolesions in the equine foot.

Effective radiographic interpretation requires a veterinarian who is knowledgeable of equine limb anatomy and the various principles that affect the resulting image. The normal and its variations must be recognized and understood before the abnormal can be confidently identified as pathologic. Proper patient positioning and sound radiographic technique are mandatory if reliable diagnostic radiographs are to be produced.

The effect of raloxifene on coronary arteries in aged ovariectomized ewes.

Background: Ovariectomized sheep are a useful model of postmenopausal osteoporosis and other postmenopausal conditions. Estrogen may have a protective effect on the coronary arteries in postmenopausal women. The effects of raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, on coronary arteries in aged ovariectomized ewes was investigated.

Ultrasonographic appearance and clinical findings in 14 dogs with gallbladder mucocele.

Fourteen dogs with enlarged gallbladders and immobile stellate or finely striated bile patterns on ultrasound are described. Smaller breeds and older dogs were overrepresented, with 4/14 Cocker Spaniels. Most dogs presented for nonspecific clinical signs such as vomiting, anorexia and lethargy.

Malignant versus nonmalignant bone disease.

Diagnosis of bone lesions other than fractures is difficult from radiographs alone because mixed patterns of lysis and bone proliferation are frequently observed. It is important to evaluate whether the lesion is single (monostotic) or involving multiple bones (polyostotic). Correlation of additional information such as the patient signalment, sex, geographic habitat, history, clinical findings, and prior therapy is useful to help establish the most accurate differential diagnosis.

Quantitative evaluation of imagent as an abdominal ultrasound contrast medium in dogs.

Diagnostic ultrasound currently provides a noninvasive, economical means to evaluate internal organ structure. Methods to increase the amount of diagnostic information obtained from the sonographic examination are being explored. A new area of research has recently focused on the ability of microbubble contrast agents to help provide additional information.

Desmotomy of the accessory ligament of the superficial digital flexor tendon in the horse with use of a tenoscopic approach to the carpal sheath.

Objective: To describe a tenoscopic approach to the carpal sheath for desmotomy of the accessory ligament of the superficial digital flexor tendon.

Study Design: The surgical procedure was developed with use of normal forelimbs from equine cadavers and experimental horses.

Animals Or Sample Population: Twelve equine cadaveric forelimbs, 4 forelimbs from 2 horses anesthetized for terminal surgical laboratories, and 10 forelimbs from five experimental horses were used.

Noninvasive monitoring of fetal growth and development in the Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmanni).

The Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmanni) is the preferred species to assess procedures and establish normative values for application in the related and endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). This study was undertaken to physically, ultrasonographically, and radiographically evaluate fetal development in a spontaneously breeding captive Siberian polecat population. Ultrasonographically, fetal sac enlargement allowed presumptive pregnancy detection as early as 12 days of gestation, the fetal pole was the first definitive sign of pregnancy at about 18 days of gestation, when the fetal heart beat also appeared, and definitive pregnancy detection by ultrasound was essentially 100% accurate after 18 days.

Comparison of gonioscopy and ultrasound biomicroscopy for evaluating the iridocorneal angle in dogs.

Objective: To compare iridocorneal angle grading systems on the basis of gonioscopy and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM).

Design: Original cross-sectional observational study.

Animals: 22 dogs.