As part of the event at Illinois State University’s Turner Hall, 11 middle and high school students built wooden shelters for the Humane Society of Central Illinois. The students were taught by six ISU technology education students. 

Michael Cermak, an ISU faculty member who helped organize the event, said the program sought to showcase both the construction and veterinary fields through a fun activity.

 “There’s a lot of value in working with your hands and doing something you’ve never done. Some of these kids have never used power tools,” said Cermak. “And we’re helping a cause; animals need shelter. We’re trying to have a community aspect.”

Organizers plan to create an instructional video based on Saturday’s project that will aid other teachers in putting together a similar program, Cermak said.

Most of the younger students were from the Twin Cities, but a few from northern Illinois were also part of the project.

Jessica Currie, among three students who traveled to Normal from Rockford on Saturday, said she was drawn to the program because it incorporated the use of math.

“This is very interesting,” said the 16-year-old teen. “I learned how to use a drill and measure stuff.”

Shannon Godar, a senior technology education student at ISU, said the program gave her hands-on practice in teaching students.

Cermak said he hopes that all students gained valuable life skills, such as working in teams and communication with others, through the project.

After the shelters were stained and ready for use, the students delivered them to the humane society in Normal. They also toured Town Country Animal Hospital in Normal, where they learned about veterinary careers.

Kathy Schniedwind, board president for the humane society, said the shelters will make life easier for dogs as they wait to be adopted.

“We’re always in need for something like that, especially when (the dogs) are outside,” Schniedwind said. “Just having people want to do this is fantastic for us.”

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The visitors were trailing to Nicklas Bendtner’s 41st-minute header when the Frenchman launched himself into a two-footed tackle on Fraizer Campbell and was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Jones.

He will receive a four-match ban to add to the three he served following his dismissal against Wolves after what proved to be a costly fifth appearance for the club.

Cisse, who had a loan spell at the Stadium of Light earlier in his career, was not the only old boy to suffer on his return to Wearside with Nedum Onuoha’s error allowing James McClean to celebrate his new contract by adding a second 20 minutes from time.

Stephane Sessegnon made sure of the points six minutes later, and although defender Taye Taiwo pulled a goal back with a stunning late free-kick, the home side ran out comfortable winners in front of a crowd of 37,128.

Martin O’Neill’s joy will have been tempered, however, by the sight of defender John O’Shea limping off before the break with an injury which could jeopardise his chances of playing in Tuesday night’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against Everton.

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In the end, Kentucky was just too big, too quick, too good for Indiana.

The top-seeded Wildcats moved another step closer to the only goal that matters in the Bluegrass State, shaking off a rather quiet night from freshman star Anthony Davis to pull away from the Hoosiers 102-90 in the South Regional semifinals Friday.

“It was a war and Indiana played great,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “We just happened to play a little bit better.”

Kentucky (35-2) simply had too many weapons. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 24 points, Doron Lamb 21 and three of their teammates — not Davis, mind you — were in double figures. With that, the Wildcats dispatched the team that beat them back in early December and are off to a regional final for the third year in a row.

They’ll face Baylor on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. (CBS) for a trip to the Final Four.

“I feel like we did a pretty good job,” said Kentucky’s Darius Miller, who added 19 points. “So did Indiana. It was a very intense game. It was up and down for the most part. It was a fun game to be a part of, the way that both teams played.”

Davis wasn’t his usual dominating self after picking up two early fouls. He finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. So it was left to another of Kentucky’s super freshmen to take the starring role. Kidd-Gilchrist had a double-double, also snatching 10 rebounds.

“In the huddles during timeouts, Michael was the guy firing us up,” teammate Twany Beckham said. “It showed with his play.”

Marquis Teague chipped in with 14 points and Terrence Jones 12.

Christian Watford had 27 points to lead the Hoosiers (27-9), who beat Kentucky 73-72 before Christmas but ended a comeback season with a loss to their border rival. Still, there was nothing to ashamed of, coming up two victories shy of the Final Four after winning a total of 28 games the previous three seasons.

Clearly, Indiana has regained its usual place among the college basketball bluebloods under coach Tom Crean.

“There’s a lot of good things that have happened,” Crean said. “This team has a lot of tremendous character, there’s no doubt about that.”

But Big Blue is moving on.

“We scored 90 points,” Crean said. “They’re a really good team. They’ve got a lot of guys. They’ve got a guy coming off the bench (Miller) who’s going to be a first-round draft pick.”

Indiana’s freshman star, Cody Zeller, had 20 points, while Victor Oladipo provided a spark in the backcourt with 15 before fouling out. Kidd-Gilchrist just kept pounding the ball inside, drawing foul after foul on the Hoosiers, then knocking down the free throws. He went 10-for-10 at the line.

He wasn’t the only one making free throws. Kentucky was a dead-eye 35-of-37 at the line, compared to 13-of-17 for the Hoosiers.

“It’s not any big deal,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “We’re just taking our time with free throws.”

Jones, who had only four points in the December meeting, signaled this would be a different night by scoring Kentucky’s first five points in the rematch. That set the tone for a shootout, both teams running and gunning in an exhilarating display that kept fans in both blue and red on their feet most of the time.

There certainly wasn’t much to fear on the inside in the opening half, not with the two big men, Davis and Zeller, both spending much of the period on the bench, each saddled with two fouls.

Davis sat for the final 14:05 of the half, the Wildcats not wanting to take any chance on their best player picking up another foul. The 6-foot-10 center had two early blocks, but Indiana altered its offensive philosophy when he went to the bench. The Hoosiers started pounding the ball inside without fear of having it swatted away — especially Watford.

The hero of the first game — Watford made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer — had 17 points by halftime, including a short jumper with 3½ minutes left that capped a 21-10 stretch pushing the Hoosiers into the lead. Calipari quickly called a timeout with his team trailing 43-39, and Teague slammed the ball in frustration.

It was just a minor blip.

Miller hit a jumper, Indiana’s Tom Prichard botched a left-handed dunk, and the Wildcats raced the other way, tying it up just like that on Jones’ tip-in. They led 50-47 at the half and never surrendered their advantage the rest of the way.

Davis wasn’t completely out of the loop. He also had three blocks, including an emphatic stuffing of Zeller when the Indiana big man tried to go under the basket and flip it in backhanded. Davis reached out his right hand and squashed the ball out of bounds.

He looks to have an even bigger impact against Baylor.

“This game is over,” Davis said. “I have to just block it out and go on to Sunday’s game.”

Indiana had hoped for some more magic at the Georgia Dome, where they capped a surprising run to the championship game in 2002 before losing to Maryland.

After that, the Hoosiers fell on hard times. The scandalous regime of Kelvin Sampson left a massive rebuilding job for Crean, whose first three years were downright hideous — 28-66 overall, 8-46 in the Big Ten, a stunning fall for a program of Indiana’s stature.

This season, they turned it all around with a performance befitting the logo worn by many of their faithful who descended on Atlanta, “We’re Back.”

But this is “Cat-lanta,” a frequent site of the Southeastern Conference tournament and familiar surroundings for Kentucky and its fans. The Georgia Dome is hosting the Final Four in 2013, and the Wildcats view it as merely a stopping-off point this year on the way to their ultimate goal.

Calipari arrived in the Bluegrass State three years ago with a one-and-done philosophy — sign a bunch of the best high schools players every season, even if you know most of ‘em are bound for the NBA after their freshman year.

It produced a regional final in 2010 and a trip to the Final Four last year.

This time, nothing less than cutting down the nets after the last game will do.

“This,” Kidd-Gilchrist said, “is a good team.”

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slideshow

FAIRBANKS—The blade of a stick on Friday night helped the Fairbanks Ice Dogs clinch the North American Hockey League’s West Division regular-season title for the second straight year.

Jeff Earnest’s redirected goal in the third period gave the eventual division titlists a 2-2 tie against the third-place Alaska Avalanche and forced overtime in the second game of the three-game series at the Big Dipper Ice Arena.

In the NAHL, each team gains a point when a game goes into overtime. The Ice Dogs were helped by forcing the 5-minute OT period and their title achievement got an assist from the fourth-place Fresno Monsters shutting out the second-place Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild 3-0 in Fresno, Calif., Friday night.

The Ice Dogs, with a 37-12-8 record and 82 points in the standings, are eight points ahead of the Wild and each team has three games left in the regular season. The Wild can do no better than finish with six more points in the standings.

Friday night, though, proved to be bittersweet for the Ice Dogs. While Fairbanks clinched the division title, it lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Avalanche of Palmer.

“We’re definitely happy to clinch the division, but we never like to lose,” said defenseman Doug Rose, who assisted on Earnest’s goal and produced the Ice Dogs’ first marker of the game. “That’s not what we want to do, so we’re going to come back tomorrow and battle again, get the win and win the series.”

Amid the enjoyment of their title-clinching night, the Ice Dogs got a reality check from head coach Trevor Stewart.

“It’s bittersweet,” Stewart said. “We know we’re going to be hopefully playing two (playoff) series at home, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.

“They know this is a game we should have won but we didn’t,” he continued. “We’ve got to get better in both the defensive end and offensive end, and in front of the net. We’ve got to bear down on our chances because we had plenty of chances, like last night, but not enough went in.”

The Ice Dogs won 4-3 in Thursday’s opener, and on Friday, they sent 24 shots in the direction of Avalanche goaltender and Fairbanks native Nick Kulmanovsky while Ice Dogs netminder Steve Perry faced 22 shots.

The Ice Dogs, after trailing 2-0 in the first period, made it 2-2 at 5:40 into the third period. Rose fired a shot from the top of the slot that Earnest redirected it in between Kulmanovsky and the left post.

Earnest said the goal started with hard work.

“My line did really well and we kept it in the corner,” he said. “We kept all the pressure down in their zone. We got a D-to-D cross and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Defenseman Sean O’Rourke had the other assist and it was the second time Friday that Rose was productive from the top of the right circle.

He cut Alaska’s lead to 2-1 at 7:47 of the first period, taking Alec Hajdukovich’s crossing pass and lining a shot through traffic and between Kulmanovsky’s pads.

“I call it a little luck maybe; maybe a little skill,” Rose said of providing two points from the same spot. “I don’t know … just put the puck to the net and good things happen.”

The shootout didn’t happen the way the Ice Dogs had hoped.

Alaska’s Wehebe Darge, Tanner Fahlstedt and Mitch Kontny had missed on their attempts and so did Fairbanks’ JT Osborn and Hajdukovich.

Gabe Levin gave the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead in the shootout with a snap shot over Kulmanovsky’s helmet and in to the ceiling of the net. Brandon Brossoit made it 1-1 for the Alaska with a backhand.

The Ice Dogs’ Rudy Sulmonte missed on a snap shot and Avalanche defenseman Patrick Kinkopf delivered the game-winner with a backhand that deflected in off Perry’s stick.

The series ends with tonight’s game, starting at 7:30.

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.

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PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Dogs treated with platelet therapy from a unique filter-based process
showed significant improvement from osteoarthritis-related pain and
lameness according to a new study commissioned by Pall Corporation
(NYSE: PLL).
Results from the study, a two-center, prospective randomized controlled
clinical trial, were revealed last night at the 39^th
Veterinary Orthopedic Society (VOS) Meeting in Crested Butte,
Colorado.

“This study is the first to provide evidence in support of platelet
therapy for canine osteoarthritis,” said Dr. Alicia L. Bertone, DVM,
Ph.D, Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (DACVS),
Professor and Director of the Comparative Orthopedic Research Laboratory
at The Ohio State University, and senior author of the study.

The findings were presented by the study’s co-author, Dr. Maria Fahie,
DVM, DACVS and Professor of Small Animal Surgery at Western University
of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Osteoarthritis, a progressive chronic degenerative joint disease
characterized by pain and stiffness in the joints, is a major concern
for owners of the more than 72 million pet dogs¹ in the
United States. Approximately one in five adult dogs in the U.S.²
suffers from osteoarthritis. Common canine treatment methods can range
from weight control and exercise to the administration of nutraceuticals
and anti-inflammatory drugs. In an effort to treat the condition rather
than just the symptoms, many veterinarians have begun offering
alternatives like minimally-invasive cell therapy. Typically offered in
conjunction with some of the more traditional methods, cell therapy can
help accelerate healing and lead to longer-term relief.

SECUROS canine platelet enhancement therapy (C-PET) from MWI is a
filter-based system that relies on Pall’s unique technology to
concentrate platelets and their associated growth factors – which
reportedly enhances wound healing and induces tissue regeneration – from
a small volume of a dog’s own blood. The C-PET system involves a simple
process. It includes sedating the dog, drawing blood, filtering the
blood, recovering the platelet concentrate, and delivering the cell
therapy. In most instances, the C-PET process can be completed in 30
minutes or less. Additionally, the SECUROS C-PET system does not require
a centrifuge or power supply, a significant advantage over other
platelet enrichment techniques.

“This study employed both subjective questionnaires and objective
measures of lameness with improvement demonstrable within C-PET treated
animals that was not seen in the control groups,” said Michael P.
Kowaleski, DVM, DACVS/ECVS, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at
Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, who reviewed
the data.

Both centers in the trial (Western University and The Ohio State
University) enrolled 10 dogs with radiographic evidence of
osteoarthritis, for a total study size of 20 dogs. All dogs were
randomized to receive either saline or platelet therapy produced with
the C-PET product. They were evaluated prior to treatment and again
three months after treatment. The dogs were withdrawn from medication
for pain one week prior to each evaluation and allowed to continue
medication as needed between evaluations. At the end of the 3-month
period, the treatments were un-blinded and owners of dogs who received
saline were given the option to cross over to C-PET treatment and be
re-evaluated again 3 months later.

Dogs were assessed for pain and lameness using two visual analog scale
questionnaires³ completed by the dog owners. Dogs enrolled at
The Ohio State University were also subjected to testing by force plate
kinetics, an objective measure of lameness. In all three assessment
methods, dogs treated with their own blood platelets obtained using
SECUROS C-PET demonstrated significant improvement in pain and lameness.

“The data were convincing because animals randomly assigned to saline
control treatment did not improve. Conversely, dogs treated with C-PET,
as well as those that elected to cross over to C-PET treatment, did
improve, thereby demonstrating a level of efficacy,” commented Dr. Fahie.

For more information on how to obtain a SECUROS C-PET kit, visit: www.securos.com.

About the Trial Methodology and Platelet Therapy

Study results demonstrated that, on average, animals given C-PET but not
saline alone showed statistically significant improvement in measures of
pain and lameness whether using questionnaires or force plate kinetics
measurements. Saline treated animals showed no improvements and there
was an indication that some may have gotten worse. When those dogs
crossed over to the treatment arm, they too improved significantly by
all measurement instruments: the Canine Brief Pain Index and the Hudson
visual analog scale for lameness as well as force plate kinetics
measurement of peak vertical force (PVF). PVF measures the amount of
weight the animal can place on their legs. This is the first study of
intra-articularly administered platelet therapy for osteoarthritis in
dogs that demonstrates significant improvement of a magnitude that
rivals that seen with pain killers using both questionnaires and
objective measures of lameness.

Platelet therapy technology is derived from the patient’s own blood. The
prevailing mechanism of action of platelet therapy stems from the belief
that the growth factors they secrete serve as a homing signal for the
recruitment of stem cells from other parts of the patient’s body to the
site of application of the platelets.⁴ Stem cells are defined
by their ability to self replicate and differentiate into the cells of
various lineages including collagen-producing chondrocytes and
bone-producing osteocytes, both of which play a role in maintaining
healthy, and repairing, defective joints.

About Pall Corporation

Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL)
is a filtration, separation and purification leader providing solutions
to meet the critical fluid management needs of customers across the
broad spectrum of life sciences and industry. Pall works with customers
to advance health, safety and environmentally responsible technologies.
The company’s engineered products enable process and product innovation
and minimize emissions and waste. Pall Corporation, with total revenues
of $2.7 billion for fiscal year 2011, is an SP 500 company with almost
11,000 employees serving customers worldwide. Pall has been named a “top
green company” by Newsweek magazine. To see how Pall is helping
enable a greener, safer, more sustainable future, follow us on Twitter @PallCorporation
or visit www.pall.com/green.

About MWI

MWI is a leading distributor of animal health products across the United
States of America and United Kingdom. MWI sells both companion animal
and production animal products including pharmaceuticals, vaccines,
parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, supplies, pet food,
capital equipment and nutritional products. MWI also is a leading
innovator and provider of value-added services and technologies used by
veterinarians and producers. For more information about MWI, please
visit our website at www.mwivet.com.

¹ U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook (2007
Edition). n.p., n.pag. Web. 9 Jan. 2012. ‹http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/sourcebook.asp›.

² Fox SM, Millis D. Multimodal
Management of Canine Osteoarthritis. Manson Publishing Ltd. 2010,
p. 24.

³ Hudson et al. Assessing repeatability and validity
of a visual analogue scale questionnaire for use in assessing pain and
lameness in dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2004 Dec;65(12):1634-43.

Drown et al. Ability of the canine brief pain inventory to detect
response to treatment in dogs with osteoarthritis. JAVMA. 2008
Oct; 233(8): 1278-83.

⁴Baek SJ, Kang SK, Ra JC. In vitro migration capacity of
human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells reflects their
expression of receptors for chemokines and growth factors. Exp Mol Med.
2011 Oct 31;43(10):596-603.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50196349lang=en

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE:http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50196349lang=en

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HOULTON, Maine — When Lorraine Monfils opened the Ark Animal Sanctuary in 2009 to provide loving homes for animals in the southern Aroostook County area, she didn’t place any restrictions on where the animals came from.

So when she received a letter from a no-kill shelter in Arkansas saying that they might be forced to euthanize animals after their pet population grew to more than triple its capacity, Monfils knew she had to help.

“It was not a hard decision,” she said recently. “They needed help.”

That is why Monfils and others at the nonprofit, all-volunteer facility, were headed to New Hampshire Saturday to pick up 10 dogs that need homes.

Ark Animal Sanctuary is a no-kill facility for homeless animals. Monfils said that they only had one dog in residence when she got a letter from the Jackson County Humane Society in Newport, Ark.

A number of factors, including flooding that caused millions of dollars in damage last year, left a shelter that has a capacity for 20 dogs sheltering 78. They recently sent out a letter to other facilities across the nation asking for help.

“They are a no-kill facility like we are, but they were desperate,” said Monfils. “They did not want to euthanize any of their animals, but they were afraid they would have to if they could not find other people to help.”

Monfils said that she immediately agreed to take 10 dogs. She has found foster homes for them while she finds permanent placement.

“The oldest is five years old and the others are younger than that,” she said, adding that Alpha Dog Transport, an agency that takes rescue dogs to their new homes, will bring the dogs as far as Hudson, N.H. The sanctuary is spending its own time and money to bring the dogs to Maine.

“My board of directors agreed right away,” she said. “It took a month and a half to finalize everything. There are two big dogs and the others are 30- to 35-pound dogs. We are very grateful because Tractor Supply Co. [in Houlton] donated a huge amount of dog food. That has helped a lot.”

Monfils said that she is not sure if any other shelters volunteered to take the dogs, but she hopes so.

“I could tell how relieved they were that we stepped up,” she said. “I really hope that other facilities did as well.”

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Against the conventional wisdom that music is a uniquely human phenomenon, ongoing research shows that animals actually do have the capacity for music. But rather than liking classical or rock, Snowdon, an animal psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has discovered that animals march to the beat of a different drum altogether. They enjoy what he calls “species-specific music”: tunes specially designed using the pitches, tones and tempos that are familiar to their particular species.

With no pun intended, music is all about scale: Humans like music that falls within our acoustic and vocal range, uses tones we understand, and progresses at a tempo similar to that of our heartbeats. A tune pitched too high or low sounds grating or ungraspable, and music too fast or slow is unrecognizable as such.

To animals, human music falls into that grating, unrecognizable category. With vocal ranges and heart rates very different from ours, they simply aren’t wired to enjoy songs that are tailored for our ears. Studies show that animals generally respond to human music with a total lack of interest. With this general rule in mind, Snowdon has worked with cellist and composer David Teie to compose music that is tailored to suitthem.

Back in 2009, the researchers composed two songs for tamarins — monkeys with vocalizations three octaves higher than our own and heart rates twice as fast. The songs sound shrill and unpleasant to us, but they seem to be music to the monkeys’ ears. The song modeled on excited monkey tones and a fast tempo made the tamarins visibly agitated and active. By contrast, they calmed down and became unusually social in response to a “tamarin ballad,” which incorporated happy monkey tones and a slower tempo.

Snowdon and Teie have moved on to composing music for cats, and studying how they respond to it.

“We have some work-in-progress where we’ve transposed music and put it in the frequency range for cat vocalizations, and have used their resting heart rate, which is faster than ours,” he told Life’s Little Mysteries. “We find that cats prefer to listen to the music composed in their frequency range and tempo rather than human music.”

On the basis of their results, Teie has started selling cat songs online (at $1.99 per song) through a company called “Music for Cats.”

Dogs are tougher nuts to crack, mostly because breeds vary widely in size, vocal range and heart rate. However, large dogs such as Labradors or mastiffs have vocal ranges that are quite similar to those of adult male humans. “So, it is possible that they might be responsive to music in our frequency range. My prediction is that a big dog might be more responsive to human music than a smaller dog such as a Chihuahua,” Snowdon said. [Dogs Play the Piano in New Video]

Indeed, some dogs do appear to respond emotionally to human music. Research led by Deborah Wells, a psychologist at Queen’s University Belfast, shows that dogs can discern between human music of different genres. “Our own research has shown that dogs certainly behave differently in response to different types of music, e.g., showing behaviors more suggestive of relaxation in response to classical music and behaviors more suggestive of agitation in response to heavy metal music,” Wells wrote in an email.

Considering the great demand for new ways to please our pets, more progress is likely to be made in the field of animal music. But no matter how well composers perfect their dog, cat and monkey songs, the animals will probably never appreciate their species-specific music quite as much as humans appreciate ours. According to Snowdon, they lack an important musical ability that we possess: relative pitch.

“We can recognize that a sequence of notes is the same whether it’s in the key of F or A flat,” he said. “I have found that animals have very good absolute pitch, but they don’t have relative pitch. They can learn to recognize a sequence of notes, but if you transpose the notes to a different key, so that the sequence uses the same relative notes but the key is different, they can’t recognize the relationships between the notes anymore.”

He added, “To that extent, we understand music in a different way than animals do.”

Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover. Follow Life’s Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on Facebook.

• The 6 Craziest Animal Experiments
• Do Animals Know Right from Wrong? New Clues Point to ‘Yes’
• Why Do We Love Music?

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