Escherichia coli O157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot cattle is common and is a public health concern due to the risk of foodborne transmission that can result in severe, or even fatal, disease in people. Despite a large body of research, few practical and cost-effective farm-level interventions have been identified. In this study, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of reducing the level of water in automatically refilling water-troughs on fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle. Pens in a feedlot in the Texas Panhandle were randomly allocated as control (total number: 17) or intervention (total number: 18) pens. Fecal samples (2,759 in total) were collected both at baseline and three weeks after the intervention, and tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7 using immunomagnetic bead separation and selective culture. There was a strong statistical association between sampling date and the likelihood of a fecal sample testing positive for E. coli O157:H7. Pen was also a strong predictor of fecal prevalence. Despite accounting for this high level of clustering, a statistically significant association between reduced water levels in the trough and increased prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces was observed (Odds Ratio = 1.6; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.2–2.0; Likelihood Ratio Test: p = 0.02). This is the first time that such an association has been reported, and suggests that increasing water-trough levels may be effective in reducing shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle feces, although further work would be needed to test this hypothesis. Controlling E. coli O157:H7 fecal shedding at the pre-harvest level may lead to a reduced burden of human foodborne illness attributed to this pathogen in beef.

WITH ' 7 FIQTJBES AND 18 TABLES.Several years ago Hitzrot made a study of the axillary artery based upon records made in the Anatomical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. To supplement this, the following study of the subclavian artery was made at the suggestion of Dr. Harrison. The clinical features relating to the artery are given in another article.'That there is need for further data concerning the ramifications of this artery is apparent when the accompanying figures, taken from a number of universally recognized authorities, are compared. From them it is seen, that, while certain branches such as the vertebral and internal mammary are represented in the same manner by all, there is the widest divergence with regard to the other branches.The records which underlie the present study were made by myself, from the dissections 'by students of anatomy, upon Bmdeen's char@.' Dissections from 129 subjects are recorded, 60 from the left side of the body and 69 from the right side. Some of these records are complete t o the minutest detail; nearly all give the origin .of the main branches; while a few are incomplete, giving only the subclavian artery and some of its branches, or only a few branches without the subclavian artery. The distribution of the vertebral artery inside the skull was not worked out, because many of the cadavers were not obtained until after the brain had been removed. The distribution of the internal mammary artery was worked out completely in but 28 caaes because of the removal of the sternum at the autopsy in the others.

An elite level fencer sustained a penetrating wound to the upper arm after his opponent's blade broke. Standard care for a deep puncture wound was given but it was some time before the athlete presented symptoms of a pneumothorax, which was confirmed by radiograph. Although resolution of this case was unremarkable, the possibility of penetrating thoracic injury, even when the point of entry is well outside the thorax and the athlete is not immediately symptomatic, should be born in mind by medical personnel working with fencers.

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