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Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate medical record data from the 2018-2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race to examine injury patterns and risk factors for dogs competing in multi-day ultra-endurance events. Specifically, we summarized injuries and illnesses that resulted in canine athletes being removed ("dropped") from competition, and in orthopedic injuries diagnosed in both dropped and finished dogs. Methods: The records of 989 dogs that started the race were examined, but only records from dogs in teams that went on to finish the race were included, for a total of 711 records. Results and discussion: Three hundred and sixty five dogs (51.3%) were noted to have at least one abnormal finding in their veterinary medical record during the race. Orthopedic injuries were most common, and 291 injuries were ultimately diagnosed in 234 dogs (32.9%). Ultimately, 206 dogs (29%) were dropped from competition, for any reason. The most common reasons for dropping dogs were orthopedic injuries (156 dogs; 188 injuries), gastrointestinal illness (22 dogs), and cardiorespiratory disease (7 dogs). Most orthopedic injuries in dropped dogs occurred in the thoracic limb (n = 121 dogs; 151 injuries). Of those, injuries to the shoulder were most common (n = 77), followed by injuries to the carpus (n = 59), and injury to the pelvic limb (n = 32). Carpal injuries were the most prevalent injury diagnosed in dogs that went on to finish the race (71 of 85 injuries). Carpal injuries were the most prevalent injuries overall in 2018 (51%) and 2019 (52%). In 2020, shoulder injuries were most prevalent (27%), suggesting that trail conditions may have differed between years. The majority of dogs with an orthopedic injury ultimately were removed from competition (156 of 234, or 66.6%), but the likelihood of finishing the race with an injury depended on the type of injury sustained; 71 of 130 dogs (54.6%) with a carpal injury went on to finish the race, whereas only 9 of 86 dogs with a shoulder injury (10.5%) went on to finish. The results of this study can assist mushers and veterinarians in preparing for races, and in decision making during endurance sled dog races. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Sport and the environment; politics and preferred futures" by Brian Wilson and Brad Millington explores the relationship between environmental issues and sports. It discusses how sports can impact the environment and how environmental problems can affect sports. The book provides insights into the positive and negative impacts of sports on the environment and highlights the need for discussions and studies on the future of sport and the environment. It also examines the environmental issues related to sports involving animals and discusses the ecological impacts of sports venue development. While the book has a broad scope, it provides in-depth research and scientific approaches that can be useful to students, academics, and the environmental community. However, it is suggested that future editions of the book include critical discussions from different academic disciplines and contributions from authors from different countries and phenomena to further enhance the knowledge of sports and environmental studies. [Extracted from the article]

We argue that extreme endurance sport can be valuable for some nonhuman animals. To make the case, we focus specifically on dogsled racing. We argue that, given certain views about the nature of self-affirmation, perceptual agency, and affordances, sled dogs are capable of realizing significant value through extreme endurance running. Because our focus is on the axiological question of the nature of the value of the sport for its participants, we do not claim that extreme dogsledding is ethical; indeed, we acknowledge the morally objectionable aspects of the practice in its current form. Still, we offer our argument as a critical step in providing an adequate moral justification for a reformed model of dogsled racing. If it is permissible, that is likely because it offers some significant benefits to sled dogs. Given some assumptions about sled dogs' capacity to be guided by both internal and external affordances, those benefits include self-affirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Exercise‐induced gastrointestinal syndrome occurs in dogs and people and might compromise athlete performance by increasing intestinal permeability and causing gastrointestinal erosions. Racing sled dogs often receive acid suppressant prophylaxis which decreases the incidence of gastric erosions induced by exercise. The objectives were to quantify intestinal injury by measuring serum pro‐inflammatory cytokine concentrations before and after exercise and to evaluate gastrointestinal mucosa using video capsule endoscopy after exercise. Materials and Methods: Prospective study of 12 racing Alaskan sled dogs receiving approximately 1 mg/kg omeprazole once daily from the day before the race until race completion. Blood was drawn before and 8 to 10 hours after an endurance race for the quantification of cytokines. Gastrointestinal tract mucosa was assessed with video capsule endoscopy immediately post‐race. Results: Eight of nine dogs (89%; 95% confidence interval 52 to 100%) had gastric erosions; all dogs (100%, 95% confidence interval 63 to 100%) had small intestinal erosions. Most of the dogs (seven of nine) had straw or foreign material present. Cytokine levels were not different from before to after the race. Clinical Significance: Video capsule endoscopy identified gastrointestinal tract mucosal erosions after exercise in all dogs receiving once‐daily omeprazole treatment, though other causes for the lesions besides exercise are possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athletic conditioning can increase the capacity for insulin-stimulated skeletal muscle glucose uptake through increased sarcolemmal expression of GLUT4 and potentially additional novel glucose transporters. We used a canine model that has previously demonstrated conditioning-induced increases in basal, insulin- and contraction-stimulated glucose uptake to identify whether expression of glucose transporters other than GLUT4 was upregulated by athletic conditioning. Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained from 12 adult Alaskan Husky racing sled dogs before and after a full season of conditioning and racing, and homogenates from those biopsies were assayed for expression of GLUT1, GLUT3, GLUT4, GLUT6, GLUT8, and GLUT12 using western blots. Athletic conditioning resulted in a 1.31 ± 0.70 fold increase in GLUT1 (p <0.0001), 1.80 ± 1.99 fold increase in GLUT4 (p = 0.005), and 2.46 ± 2.39 fold increase in GLUT12 (p = 0.002). The increased expression of GLUT1 helps explain the previous findings of conditioning-induced increases in basal glucose clearance in this model, and the increase in GLUT12 provides an alternative mechanism for insulin- and contraction-mediated glucose uptake and likely contributes to the substantial conditioning-induced increases in insulin sensitivity in highly trained athletic dogs. Furthermore, these results suggest that athletic dogs can serve as a valuable resource for the study of alternative glucose transport mechanisms in higher mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The current greater specialization in canine sports medicine enables a more in-depth exploration of the effects of participation in any sporting activity. One such area of interest is lumbar discomfort, which, as with humans, is not uncommon in dogs participating in running sports. In this study, the main objective was to compare two therapies for thoracolumbar back pain: massage and capacitive-resistive electrical transfer (CRet) in dogs competing in a middle-distance sled dog race (LekkarodTM-2021). The dogs participating in this clinical study were short-haired sled dogs known for their high performance in this canine sport. A total of 40 dogs were treated (20 with massage and 20 with CRet), and a reduction in discomfort was observed with both techniques. However, the improvement was much more evident with the use of CRet, suggesting that its use may be beneficial in reducing muscular pain in sled dogs. Achieving the successful recovery of sled dogs is one of the key tasks for veterinary teams involved in clinical care for middle-distance sled dog competitions. This study compares the efficacy of capacitive-resistive electrical transfer (CRet) with that of massage in the treatment of lower back pain in 40 short-haired sled dogs during a medium-distance snow sled race (LekkarodTM-2021). The dogs were divided into two groups: a CRet group (20 dogs) and a massage group (20 dogs). All subjects received a single 18 min treatment session and were evaluated one hour after the end of the treatment. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed in which pre- and post-treatment pain measures were evaluated in relation to age and type of treatment. Older dogs were found to have higher significant pain scores before starting treatment. Both treatments reduce pain short-term in all cases. However, post-treatment pain values were significantly lower in dogs treated with CRet when compared to dogs treated with massage. The results show that capacitive-resistive electrical transfer has better short-term results and is beneficial in both younger and older dogs, making this technique attractive to veterinary teams working in canine sporting competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unfortunately, values derived from calculating CII capacity by simple subtraction between CI capacity and CI+II capacity underestimate CII capacity assessed independently of CI substrates. For example, rotenone is a commonly used inhibitor of CI ([7]), which is often included in protocols that assess CI and CII sequentially to determine CII capacity independent of CI. This analytical limitation occurs because both CI and CII substrates are added at saturating nonphysiological concentrations during SUIT protocols, and the increase in flux resulting from sequential addition of CII substrates is limited by the Q-junction's ability to shuttle both CI and CII electrons. ATP synthase then phosphorylates adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to ATP. [Extracted from the article]

This paper draws from linguistic anthropological and ethnographic fieldwork to illustrate the role of award ceremonies in maintaining and creating affective orientations toward rivalry among Alaska dog mushers. It focuses on award speeches given by dog mushers and others involved in the Alaska dog mushing community and reveals a "need for narrative" that has characterized sled dog racing since its origin as an (inter)national sport. Mushing "stories" are constitutive of public talk about wins and losses in the sport, as well as about race events that take place far from view on distant trails. Specifically, "accounts," a humorous narrative genre that pivots upon unpredictable "instinct-driven" characteristics of canine athletes, serve as an important idiom for evoking chance in describing wins and losses. The performance and appreciation of these narratives constitute the intangible heritage of Alaska dog mushers, and accounts emerge as a semiotic resource for negotiating and downplaying rivalry through orchestration of embodied intersubjective sentiments, i.e. affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total energy expenditure of a racing sled dog can exceed 500 kcal/kg bodyweight during typical events spanning a week or more. Based on early research, as well as practical considerations, modern commercial diets are formulated to meet these energy requirements using fat and protein. However, more recent research provides a clear picture of a canine athlete with glucocentric metabolism, including many conditioning-induced adaptations oriented toward sustaining submaximal exercise with glucose as the primary metabolic fuel despite the consumption of fat as the primary dietary energy source. The specific strategies used by racing sled dogs to maintain a robust supply of glucose during exercise, as well as the possible role of fat in facilitating that metabolic priority, is the subject of ongoing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper describes the creation of an asynchronous on-line ethnographic field school experience for lower division undergraduate students. Our Virtual Field School course offers a field school experience that accommodates the unique make-up of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (where fifty-five percent of undergraduates are "nontraditional" students). Typical ethnographic field schools demand that students can spend four to six weeks in an international fieldsite. Alaska's geographic remoteness makes travel abroad prohibitively expensive for many students. Pedagogical and technological concerns are outlined, including the utilization of the SELIN distance delivery platform, coupled with Blackboard Learn. SELIN was created by anthropologists at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) as a means of teaching upper division anthropology majors inductive reasoning and observation skills. SELIN courses are centered on authentic multimedia documentation of fieldsites, rather than texts or lectures. The pedagogical merits of the choice of the ethnographic site--the Alaska dog mushing community of practice--are discussed in light of novice anthropology students' interests and abilities. The paper concludes by discussing the potential appeal of the virtual field school model to archaeology and the value of the unique type of multimedia materials created for the course for educational outreach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]