Stability during cooking of anthelmintic veterinary drug residues in beef

Anthelmintic drugs are widely used for treatment of parasitic worms in livestock, but little is known about the stability of their residues in food under conventional cooking conditions. As part of the European Commissionfunded research project ProSafeBeef, cattle were medicated with commercially available anthelmintic preparations, comprising 11 active ingredients (corresponding to 21 marker residues). Incurred meat and liver were cooked by roasting (40 min at 190°C) or shallow frying (muscle 8-12 min, liver 14-19 min) in a domestic kitchen. Raw and cooked tissues and expressed juices were analysed using a novel multi-residue dispersive solid-phase extraction method (QuEChERS) coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. After correction for sample weight changes during cooking, no major losses were observed for residues of oxyclozanide, clorsulon, closantel, ivermectin, albendazole, mebendazole or fenbendazole. However, significant losses were observed for nitroxynil (78% in fried muscle, 96% in roast muscle), levamisole (11% in fried muscle, 42% in fried liver), rafoxanide (17% in fried muscle, 18% in roast muscle) and triclabendazole (23% in fried liver, 47% in roast muscle). Migration of residues from muscle into expressed cooking juices varied between drugs, constituting 0% to 17% (levamisole) of total residues remaining after cooking. With the exception of nitroxynil, residues of anthelmintic drugs were generally resistant to degradation during roasting and shallow frying. Conventional cooking cannot, therefore, be considered a safeguard against ingestion of residues of anthelmintic veterinary drugs in beef. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

The effects of climate change on ovine parasitic gastroenteritis determined using veterinary surveillance and meteorological data for Northern Ireland over the period 1999-2009

While the influence of temperature and moisture on the free-living stages of gastrointestinal nematodes have been described in detail, and evidence for global climate change is mounting, there have been only a few attempts to relate altered incidence or seasonal patterns of disease to climate change. Studies of this type have been completed for England Scotland and Wales, but not for Northern Ireland (NI). Here we present an analysis of veterinary diagnostic data that relates three categories of gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep to historical meteorological data for NI. The infections are: trichostrongylosis/teladorsagiosis (Teladorsagia/Trichostrongylus), strongyloidosis and nematodirosis. This study aims to provide a baseline for future climate change analyses and to provide basic information for the development of nematode control programmes. After identifying and evaluating possible sources of bias, climate change was found to be the most likely explanation for the observed patterns of change in parasite epidemiology, although other hypotheses could not be refuted. Seasonal rates of diagnosis showed a uniform year-round distribution for Teladorsagia and Trichostrongylus infections, suggesting consistent levels of larval survival throughout the year and extension of the traditionally expected seasonal transmission windows. Nematodirosis showed a higher level of autumn than Spring infection, suggesting that suitable conditions for egg and larval development occurred after the Spring infection period. Differences between regions within the Province were shown for strongyloidosis, with peaks of infection falling in the period September-November. For all three-infection categories (trichostrongylosis/teladorsagiosis, strongyloidosis and nematodirosis), significant differences in the rates of diagnosis, and in the seasonality of disease, were identified between regions. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Trip from a Tube to a Chip Applied Micro and Nanotechnology in Biotechnology, Veterinary and Life Sciences

More than 200 known diseases are transmitted via foods or food products. In the United States, food-borne diseases are responsible for 76 million cases of illness, 32,500 cases of hospitalisation and 5000 cases of death yearly. The ongoing increase in worldwide trade in livestock, food, and food products in combination with increase in human mobility (business- and leisure travel, emigration etc.) will increase the risk of emergence and spreading of such pathogens. There is therefore an urgent need for development of rapid, efficient and reliable methods for detection and identification of such pathogens.

Microchipfabrication has had a major impact on electronics and is expected to have an equally pronounced effect on life sciences. By combining micro-fluidics with micromechanics, micro-optics, and microelectronics, systems can be realized to perform complete chemical or biochemical analyses. These socalled ’Lab-on-a-Chip’ will completely change the face of laboratories in the future where smaller, fully automated devices will be able to perform assays faster, more accurately, and at a lower cost than equipment of today. A general introduction of food safety and applied micro-nanotechnology in life sciences will be given. In addition, examples of DNA micro arrays, micro fabricated integrated PCR chips and total integrated lab-on-achip systems from different National and EU research projects being carried out at the Laboratory of Applied Micro- Nanotechnology (LAMINATE) group at the National Veterinary Institute (DTU-Vet) Technical University of Denmark and the BioLabchip group at the Department of Micro and Nanotechnology (DTU-Nanotech), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Ikerlan-IK4 (Spain) and other 16 partners from different European countries will be presented.

The anatomy of Last Glacial Maximum climate variations in south Westland, New Zealand, derived from pollen records

We present pollen records from three sites in south Westland, New Zealand, that document past vegetation and inferred climate change between approximately 30,000 and 15,000 cal. yr BP. Detailed radiocarbon dating of the enclosing sediments at one of those sites, Galway tarn, provides a more robust chronology for the structure and timing of climate-induced vegetation change than has previously been possible in this region. The Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra, a key isochronous marker, affords a precise stratigraphic link across all three pollen records, while other tie points are provided by key pollen-stratigraphic changes which appear to be synchronous across all three sites. Collectively, the records show three episodes in which grassland, interpreted as indicating mostly cold subalpine to alpine conditions, was prevalent in lowland south Westland, separated by phases dominated by subalpine shrubs and montane-lowland trees, indicating milder interstadial conditions. Dating, expressed as a Bayesian-estimated single 'best' age followed in parentheses by younger/older bounds of the 95% confidence modelled age range, indicates that a cold stadial episode, whose onset was marked by replacement of woodland by grassland, occurred between 28,730 (29,390-28,500) and 25,470 (26,090-25,270) cal. yr BP (years before AD, 1950), prior to the deposition of the Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra. Milder interstadial conditions prevailed between 25,470 (26,090-25,270) and 24,400 (24,840-24,120) cal. yr BP and between 22,630 (22,930-22,340) and 21,980 (22,210-21,580) cal. yr BP, separated by a return to cold stadial conditions between 24,400 and 22,630 cal. yr BP. A final episode of grass-dominated vegetation, indicating cold stadial conditions, occurred from 21,980 (22,210-21,580) to 18,490 (18,670-17,950) cal. yr BP. The decline in grass pollen, indicating progressive climate amelioration, was well advanced by 17,370 (17,730-17,110) cal. yr BP, indicating that the onset of the termination in south Westland occurred sometime between ca 18,490 and ca 17,370 cal. yr BP. A similar general pattern of stadials and interstadials is seen, to varying degrees of resolution but generally with lesser chronological control, in many other paleoclimate proxy records from the New Zealand region. This highly resolved chronology of vegetation changes from southwestern New Zealand contributes to the examination of past climate variations in the southwest Pacific region. The stadial and interstadial episodes defined by south Westland pollen records represent notable climate variability during the latter part of the Last Glaciation. Similar climatic patterns recorded farther afield, for example from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, imply that climate variations during the latter part of the Last Glaciation and the transition to the Holocene interglacial were inter-regionally extensive in the Southern Hemisphere and thus important to understand in detail and to place into a global context. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Book review of Atlas of Anatomy by Patrick W. Tank and Thomas R. Gest:Book review of Atlas of Anatomy

Book review of Atlas of Anatomy by Patrick W. Tank and Thomas R. Gest

Picture Quiz: Know your anatomy.

A 25 year old man was brought into the emergency
department by ambulance. He was involved in a road
traffic incident and had an obvious site of blood loss from
a fracture of an upper limb. On his arrival at the
emergency department, you are told that the ambulance
paramedic was unable to gain intravenous access and
are asked by the person in charge of resuscitation to try
to gain access. You are unable to find any peripheral
veins because he is hypovolemic. You attempt to put in a
central line via the femoral vein (fig 1).

Potential impacts of climate change on veterinary medicinal residues in livestock produce: An island of Ireland perspective

Residues of veterinary medicines are a food safety issue regulated by European legislation. The occurrence of animal diseases necessitating application of veterinary medicines is significantly affected by global and local climate changes. This review assesses potential impacts of climate change on residues in food produced on the island of Ireland. Use of various classes of veterinary drugs in light of predicted local climate change is reviewed with particular emphasis on anthelmintic drugs and consideration is given to residues accumulating in the environment. Veterinary medicine use is predicted to increase as disease burdens increase due to varied climate effects. Locally relevant mitigation and adaptation strategies are suggested to ensure climate change does not adversely affect food safety via increasing drug residues.

Anatomy and Neurophysiology of Coughing: CHEST Guideline and Expert Panel Report

Bronchopulmonary C-fibers and a subset of mechanically sensitive, acid-sensitive myelinated sensory nerves play essential roles in regulating cough. These vagal sensory nerves terminate primarily in the larynx, trachea, carina and large intrapulmonary bronchi. Other bronchopulmonary sensory nerves, sensory nerves innervating other viscera as well as somatosensory nerves innervating the chest wall, diaphragm and abdominal musculature regulate cough patterning and cough sensitivity. The responsiveness and morphology of the airway vagal sensory nerve subtypes and the extrapulmonary sensory nerves that regulate coughing are described. The brainstem and higher brain control systems that process this sensory information are complex, but our current understanding of them is considerable and increasing. The relevance of these neural systems to clinical phenomena, such as urge to cough and psychological methods for treatment of dystussia, is high and modern imaging methods have revealed potential neural substrates for some features of cough in the human.

Cultivating creative learners in higher education: Engaging students in anatomy through art

Introduction
Nursing and midwifery students often struggle to engage with bioscience modules because they lack confidence in their ability to study science (Fell et al., 2012). Consequently many have difficulty applying anatomical and physiological information, essential to providing safe and effective patient care (Rogers, 2014; Rogers and Sterling, 2012); therefore a need exists for nurse educators to explore different methods of delivery of these important topics to enhance current curricula (Johnston, 2010). Inspired by the reported success of creative methods to enhance the teaching and learning of anatomy in medical education (Noel, 2013; Finn and McLachlan, 2010), this pilot study engaged nursing students in anatomy through the art of felt. The project was underpinned by the principles of good practice in undergraduate education, staff-student engagement, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on task, high expectations and respect for diverse learning styles (Chickering and Gamson, 1987).

Method
Undergraduate student nurses from Queen’s University, Belfast, enrolled in the year one ‘Health and Wellbeing’ model were invited to participate in the project. Over a six week period the student volunteers worked in partnership with teaching staff to construct individual, unique, three dimensional felt models of the upper body. Students researched the agreed topic for each week in terms of anatomical structure, location, tissue composition and vascular access. Creativity was encouraged in relation to the colour and texture of materials used. The evaluation of the project was based on the four level model detailed by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006) and included both quantitative and qualitative analysis:• pre and post knowledge scores• self-rated confidence• student reflections on the application of learning to practice.

Results
At the end of the project students had created felt pieces reflective of their learning throughout the project and ‘memorable’ three dimensional mental maps of the human anatomy. Evaluation revealed not only acquisition of anatomical knowledge, but the wider benefits of actively engaging in creative learning with other students and faculty teaching staff.

The project has enabled nurse educators to assess the impact of innovative methods for delivery of these important topics.

Evaluation of Video Presentation to Deliver Surgical Anatomy Teaching

Title Evaluation of Video Presentation to Deliver Surgical Anatomy Teaching

Authors Walsh I.K., Boohan M., Dorman A.

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of newly introduced video presentation to deliver Surgical Anatomy teaching to undergraduate medical students.

Design and Setting Qualitative and quantitative study using questionnaires and focus groups, employing students undertaking the perioperative medicine module of the phase 4 undergraduate medical curriculum at Queen’s University Belfast.

Outcome Measures To determine:
(1) if video presentation is effective in delivering surgical anatomy teaching,
(2) student’s learning preferences regarding this teaching method.
Results The questionnaire response rate was 89% (216 of 244 students; female: male ratio 1.25) and 42 students participated in 6 focus groups. Mean questionnaire responses indicated a favourable opinion on quality assurance items, with a mixed response to video presentation as a learning method. 71% of students preferred to receive a lecture in person, rather than via video presentation. There were no statistically significant differences between genders regarding learning preferences in general and regarding video versus live presentation in particular. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that favourable responses to video presentation were strongly associated with perceived audiovisual quality and learning preferences (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient 0.77), with 72% of students considering video presentation worthwhile. Positive perception of overall quality was strongly associated with learning preferences as well as more generic quality assurance issues (80% students; alpha coefficient 0.83).
The results were supported by triangulation of the above quantitative data with qualitative data generated by the focus groups. Students further articulated the view that video presentation may be more appropriate and effective in a mixed method setting.

Reference Basu Roy R, McMahon GT. Video-based cases disrupt deep critical thinking in problem-based learning. Med Educ 2012 Apr;46(4):426-435.