Christmas for Dually

Patricia Wonder, Texas A&M University

Life as a Vet Student, Honorable Mention

    One Christmas, about ten years ago, my mom decided to forego the usual Christmas turkey and prepare a prime rib instead.  Needless to say, since we are always tired of turkey by Christmas time, the Christmas prime rib became a tradition in our household.  One year, my mother was very sick and I had to prepare Christmas dinner on my own.  After all the stress and worry, I was amazed at how smoothly everything went.  Our family and guests loved the meal and we were all retiring to the living room to chat and watch TV for a bit.  I just wanted a half hour of sitting before I got up to put everything in containers and clean the kitchen, but that was not to be.  After about ten minutes of rest and relaxation, I heard a clatter coming from the kitchen and my Great Dane, Dually, came running out with the five pounds of prime rib which was left over from dinner. 

    As if it wasn't bad enough he stole our dinner for the next few days, Dually went to town on that beautiful, juicy, medium rare prime rib right on the living room couch.  We all immediately jumped into action to get the dog, and the prime rib, off the couch.  Dually was having none of it.  We all know Great Danes are usually very docile and quiet creatures.  However, all bets are off when there is a prime rib on the line.  After a large to-do, the prime rib was quickly scooped off the couch with a flat shovel and heaved out the back door with Dually, and four other dogs, chasing it down.  Dually enjoyed his prime rib immensely and came back in the house, ready for bed, about an hour later.

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Stemness and the Post-Injection Response of the Equine Joint to MSC Injection

Jessica Xu, Texas A&M University

Cases/Abstracts, Honorable Mention

Jiajie Jessica Xu, Amanda-Jo Joswig, Ashlee Watts
Comparative Orthopedics and Regenerative Medicine Lab, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University
Merial Veterinary Scholars Program and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University
Link Equine Research Endowment

Stemness and the Post-Injection Response of the Equine Joint to MSC Injection

A mesynchymal stem cell (MSC)’s ability to undergo trilineage differentiation into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondroblasts in vitro is one of the defining characteristics of MSC stemness. This quality allows MSCs to be used as a source of cells in tissue engineering and cell therapy. In addition to cellular differentiation, MSCs also play a role in modulating inflammatory responses by releasing anti-inflammatory factors during tissue repair. Though traditional stemness has been associated with effective tissue repair, the relationship between MSC stemness and immunomodulatory function is unknown. To study this, bone marrow derived MSCs were collected from 6 horses, and injected autologously. The same MSCs were also injected allogeneically into 6 separate horses. Joint fluid cytologic analysis was performed on injected joints to assess the inflammatory response. Stem cells from the donor horses were then cultured in vitro and tested for their ability to undergo trilineage differentiation using visual grading systems. By comparing MSC inflammatory response with stemness qualities, this study re-examines the criteria of what it means to be an effective stem cell. 

The One That Got Away

Stephanie Massey, Texas A&M University

Experiences, Honorable Mention

Feverishly squirming with no other objective but freedom. Flailing arms with dangerous, dragon like claws and beady eyes sizing up his captors. 

“Let’s just put him back in the cage,” the grad student in our group suggested.

Our victim: a white lab rat, at the mercy of a group of first year veterinary students simply trying to learn about the effects of hormones on the body during their weekly physiology lab.

His captor started edging towards the box, his prison. His senses heightened, the rat began struggling, going into an alligator like roll clawing mercilessly at the first year’s bare hands. She managed to drop him in his box and was beginning to close the lid when the rat quickly took his opportunity for escape, making an incredible leap out of the box and off the table. He rapidly scurried along the floor from one cubicle area into another group’s. Over eight veterinary students hot on his trail, we surely had the rat surrounded.

He was cornered, with only a cabinet at his back, nowhere for him to go. Trapped like the rat he was. The eight veterinary students began closing in on him slowly from every angle. And suddenly, POOF! As if by magic, the rat was gone.

We ran to the cabinet at this point and frantically tried to open it, hoping to recover our lost prisoner, but the cabinet was securely fastened. Upon closer inspection a small hole was noted going from the floor into the cabinet. One of my classmates quickly contacted a technician to unlock the cabinet. We were on hot pursuit of our prey, we had him now. How could he escape the cabinet?

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Mineshaft Story

Meaghan Ryan - Texas A&M

Experiences - Winner

It was the year before I got into vet school, my sister had just rescued a black pit bull/ lab mix and I was back home in Arizona with the family for the holidays. Arizona’s weather is usually the best in the winter so as a pretty active family we try to take full advantage of that, and do as many outdoor activities as possible, including hiking. One hike will always be instilled in my memory.

It wasn’t a very difficulty hike, just long and hard to get to, but what made it exciting were the old abandoned mines that you could explore up the mountain. We were ready for the adventure; setting out early it was my 2 brothers, sister, and her dog, Boogie. We were probably about two hours in, when we came across the first mine. We turned on our headlamps and proceeded to follow my oldest brother, David, as he led the way. The mine was structurally sound and went deep into the mountain. We finally got to a caved-in area that stopped any further progress. David was looking through a hole at the top of the caved-in area when we heard a distant low growl coming from the other wall. We all looked at each other and took off running. In this area, coyotes are not a rare thing, and we all thought it had to have been a coyotes den, and getting out of there was the best way to resolve that, especially with Boogie nearby.

Once back out of the mine, we followed the trail as it climbed the mountain. Switching back and forth along the way we came across a few more mines that were unsafe, with missing wooden planks framing the inside. One was particularly scary with a giant hole that just dropped straight down and a few wooden planks that lay over it. We decided to play it safe and continue up the mountain.

After a few minutes taking in the beautiful Arizona view of the Colorado River and the Mohave Mountains, we began our descent down. We passed all the same mines, Boogie getting a little tired kept close to our group. We passed the entrance of one of the mines and for no reason, Boogie decided to go into one. We called

for her, but she did not come back out. Panic came across me, as I came to the realization that, this was the mine with the giant whole that dropped straight down. I ran into the mine and shouted for her, my brothers bravely walked across the plank over the hole and ran to the end of the mine to see if she was on the other side.

Nothing.

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"Head Trainer" & "Tuckered Out"

Stacy 'Hondo' Caffey - Texas A&M

Creative Corner - Winner

"Head Trainer"

"Tuckered Out"

"Floatin' With Mom"