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[Conférence. 2019-03-22], Collection : Conférences de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Collection : Conférences de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Enregistrement : (France) Paris, BnF, 22-03-2019, Durée : 00:43:21

Pattern recognition receptors (e.g., S100A12 or S100A8/A9) hold promise as inflammatory biomarkers. We prospectively determined and compared serum S100A12 and S100A8/A9 concentrations in dogs with sepsis (n = 11) or systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS; n = 8) over a 3-d period with each other, healthy controls (n = 50), and other clinical and clinicopathologic variables. Serum S100A12 and S100A8/A9 concentrations were significantly higher in dogs with sepsis or SIRS (all p < 0.05) at the time of hospital admission (day 1) compared to healthy controls, with no differences between patient groups. However, septic dogs had significantly lower serum S100A12 concentrations on day 2 and day 3 (both p < 0.05) compared to dogs with SIRS. Likewise, dogs with sepsis had significantly lower S100A8/A9 concentrations on day 2 (p < 0.05). Neither serum S100A12 nor S100A8/A9 concentrations were associated with survival to discharge. Our results suggest a differential expression of the S100/calgranulins between dogs with sepsis and those with SIRS. Serum S100A12 or S100A8/A9 concentration at the time of hospital admission did not differentiate dogs with sepsis from those with SIRS, but the trend of S100/calgranulin concentrations during the following 24–48 h may be a useful surrogate marker for differentiating sepsis from SIRS.

Roads present unavoidable challenges to wildlife, both in populated and in more remote regions. Both traffic infrastructure and road vehicles can have a detrimental impact on natural ecosystems and wildlife populations. This study aimed to gain a broad overview of the impacts of a stretch of road on native herpetofauna in north-Western Australia. Reptile roadkill was surveyed along a 31-km stretch of the main road in Broome, Western Australia for eight months, during both the wet and dry seasons. There was a significantly higher rate of road mortality in the wet season despite a decrease in traffic intensity. Incidence of roadkill varied between reptile clades, with varanids being the mostly frequently recorded as roadkill. Carcass persistence experiments, however, highlighted a potential significant underestimation in roadkill due to an extremely high rate of carcass removal, emphasising the need to consider this variable when using roadkill as a survey method. We recommend that carcass persistence should be further investigated in order to accurately assess extent of reptile roadkill in the region, and how roads and traffic may impact at-risk species and populations.

Australian Ravens Corvus coronoides, although primarily scavengers, are known to prey on large vertebrates, which can detrimentally affect the prey populations. This paper describes an Australian Raven attacking and killing a Buffbanded Rail Hypotaenidia philippensis on Penguin Island, Western Australia, in the presence of several other Ravens.

Caudal autotomy is an adaptive, but costly, anti-predation strategy used by many lizard species. As predation risk varies with ontogenetic life stage, it can be predicted that the use of costly anti-predation mechanisms would also change if they are no longer required. Here we assess ontogenetic change in relative tail length and degree of caudal autotomy in the King's skink (Egernia kingii), a large skink endemic to Western Australia. We found that younger individuals invested more in relative tail length compared to older individuals, with younger individuals also having a higher degree of their tail consisting of regenerated tissue. This appears to reflect an ontogenetic shift in the risk of predation for this species, with larger, more mature individuals capable of actively defending themselves against certain predator types and therefore decreasing their reliance on a costly anti-predation strategy compared to juveniles.

© 2019, The Author(s). Many species of lizard use caudal autotomy, the ability to self-amputate a portion of their tail, regenerated over time, as an effective anti-predation mechanism. The importance of this tactic for survival depends on the degree of predation risk. There are, however, negative trade-offs to losing a tail, such as loss of further autotomy opportunities with the regenerated tail vertebrae being replaced by a continuous cartilaginous rod. The common consensus has been that once a tail has been autotomised and regenerated it can only be autotomised proximal to the last vertebral autotomy point, as the cartilage rod lacks autotomy planes. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that although the regenerated portion of the tail is unable to autotomise, it can re-regenerate following a physical shearing event. We assessed re-regeneration in three populations of the King’s skink (Egernia kingii), a large lizard endemic to south-west Western Australia and surrounding islands. We show that re-regeneration is present at an average of 17.2% across the three populations, and re-regenerated tissue can comprise up to 23.3% of an individual’s total tail length. The ability to re-regenerate may minimise the costs to an individual’s fitness associated with tail loss, efficiently restoring ecological functions of the tail.

Jean V Rubanick, Medora B Pashmakova, Micah A Bishop, James W Barr Department of Veterinary Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Abstract: A hospital-based, prospective cross-sectional study was used to compare kaolin-activated thromboelastography (TEG) parameters with traditional coagulation tests in 29 hospitalized dogs. Cases were included if the attending clinician requested coagulation testing. Blood was obtained from each dog and coagulation (prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, antithrombin activity, d-dimer concentration, and fibrinogen concentration) and TEG analyses were performed. Hematocrit (Hct) was also measured. Traditional coagulation results were evaluated for correlation with those from kaolin-activated TEG. Spearman’s correlation was used to calculate correlation coefficients. Fibrinogen was positively correlated with maximum amplitude (Pearson r=0.72, P<0.001) and global clot strength (Pearson r=0.72, P<0.001). There was no correlation between any of the remaining coagulation variables, TEG parameters, or Hct. Results of kaolin-activated TEG and traditional coagulation tests are not interchangeable means of monitoring coagulation derangements in this intensive care unit patient population. Determination of a true outcome measure is necessary to establish TEG’s clinical relevance to veterinary medicine. Keywords: TEG, thromboelastography, coagulation, hemostasis