Perceptions of veterinarians and clients to expressions of clinical uncertainty     

Mellanby RJ  Crisp J  De Palma G  Spratt DP  Urwin D  Wright MJ  Zago S 《The Journal of small animal practice》2007,48(1):26-31

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of veterinarians and clients towards expressions of clinical uncertainty. METHODS: Questionnaires that assessed the respondent's attitudes towards expressions of clinical uncertainty were completed by clients at six small animal practices. In addition, questionnaires that evaluated what veterinarians thought their client's attitudes would be towards expressions of clinical uncertainty were completed by veterinarians. The responses from clients and veterinarians were statistically compared. RESULTS: Veterinarians significantly underestimated the desire of clients to be told about uncertainties in treatment and significantly overestimated how the expression of uncertainty would generally reduce client confidence. Veterinarians significantly overestimated the loss of client confidence resulting from saying "I am not sure about this" and from asking a nurse for advice. Both clients and veterinarians considered that verbal expressions of uncertainty would lead to a greater reduction in client confidence than behavioural expressions of uncertainty. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests that most clients want to be told about their veterinarian's clinical uncertainties, and how this uncertainty is expressed can markedly influence client confidence.  相似文献   

Comparative cell kinetics of avian growth plates   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

N F Kember  J K Kirkwood  P J Duignan  D Godfrey  D J Spratt 《Research in veterinary science》1990,49(3):283-288

New data on the cell kinetics of the cartilage growth plates in the chicken, budgerigar and rhea derived from studies with tritiated thymidine labelling are given. Quantitative histological measurements on growth plates from leg bones (tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus and a phalangeal bone) in a further five species of birds are presented. Counts of flat cells and measurements of the average diameter of hypertrophic cells were made for each growth plate. These data are compared with values for the overall growth rates of the bones. The variation in sizes of hypertrophic cells was small and it is concluded that the largest factor in determining the growth rate of an avian bone is the size of the zone of flat cells.  相似文献   

Acanthocephalan infection and sparganosis in a green tree snake (Dendrelaphis punctulata)     

AG Hill  PW Ladds  DM Spratt 《Australian veterinary journal》2014,92(9):362-364

Acanthocephalan and spargana parasites were identified within a body wall mass during exploratory surgery in a wild green tree snake. Acanthocephalan parasites have not previously been reported in this species. Surgical excision, the treatment of choice, could not be achieved because of the extensive infiltration of the coelomic cavity.  相似文献   

Development and evaluation of a rapid absorbed enzyme immunoassay test for the diagnosis of Johne''s disease in cattle   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

JC COX  DP DRANE  SL JONES  S. RIDGE†  AR MILNER† 《Australian veterinary journal》1991,68(5):157-160

An absorbed enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test for Johne's disease in cattle was developed in which absorption of cross-reacting antibodies occurred as a rapid reaction in solution rather than overnight with whole organisms and a subsequent centrifugation step. Total test time was reduced to less than 2 h with a minimum of manipulations. The test was evaluated in cattle herds from Johne's disease-endemic and Johne's disease-free regions of Australia. Specificity was 99.8%. Calculations of sensitivity were affected by the history of the herd under test. However, the EIA detected in excess of 80% of animals before onset of clinical disease and 65% of faecal shedders were EIA positive on, or before, first detection of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in their faeces. The test should aid epidemiological studies and be a useful tool in the management and control of Johne's disease.  相似文献   

Undergraduate research. Genomics Education Partnership     

Lopatto D  Alvarez C  Barnard D  Chandrasekaran C  Chung HM  Du C  Eckdahl T  Goodman AL  Hauser C  Jones CJ  Kopp OR  Kuleck GA  McNeil G  Morris R  Myka JL  Nagengast A  Overvoorde PJ  Poet JL  Reed K  Regisford G  Revie D  Rosenwald A  Saville K  Shaw M  Skuse GR  Smith C  Smith M  Spratt M  Stamm J  Thompson JS  Wilson BA  Witkowski C  Youngblom J  Leung W  Shaffer CD  Buhler J  Mardis E  Elgin SC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,322(5902):684-685

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A High-Temperature Electrical Conduction Mechanism in the Lower Mantle Phase (Mg,Fe)1-xO     

DP Dobson  NC Richmond  JP Brodholt 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1997,275(5307):1779-1781

Measurements of electrical conductivity at high pressure and temperature were taken on the lower mantle phase magnesiowustite with varying Fe3+ content. Although previous measurements at atmospheric pressure suggest Fe2+-Fe3+ hopping (small polaron) as the dominant conductivity mechanism, the present experiments show a change in charge transport mechanism with temperature. The lower temperature measurements are consistent with small polaron conduction, but at higher temperatures, which are more applicable to the lower mantle, a large polaron mechanism is suggested. Because these mechanisms have different temperature and compositional dependencies, this transition has important implications for extrapolation to mantle conditions.  相似文献   

Synthesis of Novel Thin-Film Materials by Pulsed Laser Deposition     

DH Lowndes  DB Geohegan  AA Puretzky  DP Norton  CM Rouleau 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1996,273(5277):898-903

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a conceptually and experimentally simple yet highly versatile tool for thin-film and multilayer research. Its advantages for the film growth of oxides and other chemically complex materials include stoichiometric transfer, growth from an energetic beam, reactive deposition, and inherent simplicity for the growth of multilayered structures. With the use of PLD, artificially layered materials and metastable phases have been created and their properties varied by control of the layer thicknesses. In situ monitoring techniques have provided information about the role of energetic species in the formation of ultrahard phases and in the doping of semiconductors. Cluster-assembled nanocrystalline and composite films offer opportunities to control and produce new combinations of properties with PLD.  相似文献   

Validation of a bulk tank milk antibody ELISA to detect dairy herds likely infected with bovine viral diarrhoea virus in New Zealand     

G Thobokwe  C Heuer  DP Hayes 《New Zealand veterinary journal》2013,61(6):394-400

AIMS: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of a bulk tank milk (BTM) antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect likely infection of a dairy herd with bovine vi- ral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). The ELISA was subsequently used to estimate the prevalence of likely infected herds in parts of the North Island of New Zealand.

METHODS: BTM samples from 724 randomly selected dairy herds in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland regions of New Zealand were tested for BVDV antibodies. From this group, 20 herds were again randomly selected from each of the quartiles of the ELISA percentage inhibition (%INH) result. From each participant herd, serum from 15 randomly selected calves aged 6–18 months and 15 cows was collected and tested using an indirect blocking ELISA for BVDV antibodies.

RESULTS: Among serum results from calves from 50 herds available for analysis, 34 (68%) herds were classified as likely non-infected (0-3 seropositive among 15 calves) and 16 (32%) as likely infected (5–15 seropositive among 15 calves). Receiver- operator characteristic (ROC) analysis identified an optimal cut-off for BTM of 80%INH associated with 81% sensitivity and 91% specificity for likely herd infection. The prevalence of BVDV antibodies in cows within herds and %INH for BVDV in bulk milk were positively correlated (p<0.01). The association between bulk milk %INH and the prevalence of BVDV antibodies in calves was stronger than the same association in cows. Based on the threshold of 80%INH, the 95% confidence interval (CI) for prevalence of likely infection in the 724 herds in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland regions of New Zealand was 12–17%. Vaccination against BVDV was not significantly associated with the likely infection status of the herd based on prevalence of BVDV antibodies among calves.

CONCLUSION: An ELISA test result for BVDV antibodies in BTM ≥80%INH can be used as a threshold to indicate the presence of likely infection with BVDV in dairy herds in New Zealand, with 81% sensitivity and 91% specificity.  相似文献   

Long-term apparent survival of translocated gopher tortoises: A comparison of newly released and previously established animals     

Tracey D. Tuberville  Terry M. Norton  Jeffrey S. Spratt 《Biological conservation》2008,141(11):2690-2697

Most turtle species require high adult survivorship to maintain stable populations. Translocations are often implemented to conserve turtle populations but may cause demographic disturbance as a result of increased mortality or dispersal of released animals. The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is one of the most frequently translocated turtle species. Short-term monitoring indicates that dispersal by released tortoises is common, but few long-term data are available to determine if losses of translocated animals continue for multiple years. We used 12 years of mark-recapture data to investigate long-term apparent survival of two groups of gopher tortoises translocated during separate periods to St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA. We analyzed capture histories in program MARK to compare apparent survival of newly released tortoises and previously established translocated tortoises and also to determine whether apparent survival varied with sex or maturity. Apparent annual survival did not vary between adult males and females (0.98 ± 0.01), but was lower in sexually immature tortoises (0.84 ± 0.05). We documented a temporary reduction in apparent survival of newly released adult (0.75 ± 0.06) and immature tortoises (0.45 ± 0.26) during the first year after release that may be attributed in part to permanent dispersal. However, for both maturity classes, apparent survival of newly released tortoises was consistently high and matched that of previously established animals during the remainder of the study. Additional long-term studies of both translocated and naturally-occurring populations are needed to improve management of remaining tortoise populations.  相似文献   

Genetic‐Quantitative Study of the First‐Service Pregnancy Probability of Murrah Heifers          下载免费PDF全文

PB Fernandes  KO Marques  FR de Araujo Neto  DP de Oliveira  NA Hurtado‐Lugo  RR Aspilcueta‐Borquis  H Tonhati 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2016,51(3):428-434

Because of the importance of reproduction in stock breeding systems, it is necessary to find selection criteria that increase reproductive efficiency. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for the probability of conception on first service (PROB) in Murrah heifers, and its association with other traits of economic interest [age at first calving (AFC), service period, calving interval and milk yield at 270 days], with the purpose of evaluating their use as selection criteria. Reproductive information and first lactation records of 1200 Murrah heifers were used to perform two‐trait analyses between PROB and the other characteristics. Bayesian inference was used to estimate the variance components, considering PROB as threshold and the other as linear factors. The results demonstrate that this trait has heritability of 0.15, indicating the possibility of a genetic gain by using it for selection. With respect to the genetic correlation estimates, the only high‐magnitude association was with AFC (?0.899), which is the current criterion indicating sexual precocity of females. In the light of the parameters estimated, the first‐service pregnancy rate is an alternative for indication of sexual precocity, although presenting a smaller genetic gain than the current standard AFC. Nevertheless, additional research should be conducted regarding this trait to assess the economic importance of its use in dairy buffalo production systems.  相似文献