Incidence of alcohol-related deaths in the veterinary profession in England and Wales, 1993-2005

It has recently been shown that the proportional mortality ratio for suicide by veterinarians is one of the highest of all occupational groups. The reasons for this alarming statistic are unclear although it has been postulated that alcohol or drug misuse may be significant risk factors which contribute towards the high incidence of suicide within the profession. However, there have been few studies on alcohol misuse by veterinarians and so the aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of alcohol-related deaths in the veterinary profession in England and Wales between 1993 and 2005. The proportional mortality ratio for alcohol-related deaths for veterinarians was not significantly higher than the general population during this time period. Future studies should focus on establishing the incidence of sub-lethal alcohol misuse within the veterinary profession.     

营养和安全因素对北京消费者牛奶产品选购的影响

目的:研究营养和安全因素对牛奶产品选购种类的影响.方法:以自填式问卷调查北京市713名消费者牛奶产品的选购行为,采用SPSS 18.0进行数据分析.结果:购买牛奶的消费者看重其中的营养益处,乳糖不耐和不喜欢牛奶味道是最大的障碍.对健康相关障碍因素的认知虽然抑制了全脂奶的选购意图,但是有利于各类营养成分调整牛奶产品或有机产品的选购.结论:对营养和安全因素的关注促进消费者对多样化健康宣称产品的接受度.     

生物与非生物因素对共生固氮的影响

豆科植物根系分泌物、结瘤因子、根瘤菌与其他具有竞争性的土壤微生物等生物因子,以及土壤水分、酸碱性和矿质营养等非生物因子均是影响根瘤菌-豆科植物共生固氮体系结构和功能的重要因素,其中生物因素的影响更为复杂和深远,在共生体的构建中起主导作用,深入地研究这些因素对根瘤菌-豆科植物侵染结瘤能力和固氮效率的影响,对促进环境保护和农业可持续发展具有极其重要的意义。从生物与非生物因素两方面着手,主要介绍了宿主植物、根瘤菌及环境因子对根瘤菌-豆科植物共生固氮的影响,并浅析了目前国内外在该方面研究中存在的一些主要问题及发展趋势。     

Colicin production in relation to pathogenicity factors in strains of Escherichia coli isolated from the intestinal tract of piglets

Three hundred and fifteen E. coli strains isolated from piglets dead due to neonatal E. coli diarrhea or traumatic lesions, were examined for presence of enterotoxin production, K-antigens 88 and 99, antibiotic resistance and colicin-production.Almost 100 % of the E. coli strains positive on enterotoxin production produced colicin, while approx. 17 % of the non-enterotoxigenic strains did so.Ninety-nine % of the E. coli strains harbouring K-antigens were found to produce colicin, while approx. 23 % of the strains without detectable K-antigens did so.In strains where neither K-antigens nor enterotoxin production was found, resistance against tetracycline, neomycin and ampicillin, and sensitivity against streptomycin, was more commonly found among colicin-producing strains, than among strains without colicin production.     

Environmental and maternal factors associated with gross placental morphology in dairy cattle

This article reports on a study of gross placental morphology of 282 expelled placentas from 89 primi‐ and 193 multiparous Holstein dams immediately after calving and examines associations with environmental factors such as typical herd features and season of calving, and maternal factors such as age at calving, level of milk yield at conception and cumulative amount of milk produced during gestation. The highest correlation between calf measurements and placental characteristics was found between the weight of the calf and the total cotyledonary surface (r = .643; p < .001), confirming the high importance of the cotyledonary surface available for nutrient transfer to the developing foetus. Younger age in adolescent and smaller heart girth in multiparous dams were associated with a higher cotyledon number, suggesting placental compensation in dams with lower capacities in terms of dry matter intake. No significant association between milk yield during gestation in multiparous animals and gross placental morphometrics could be detected, indicating that factors such as the amount of milk produced during gestation affect placental development less than foetal weight close to term. Therefore, placental growth may be sustained at the expense of other tissues in an attempt to maintain pregnancy and minimize the adverse consequences for the foetus. This study offers evidence concerning factors affecting the placental surface size for nutrient transfer from dam to calf in dairy cattle based on gross morphometrics, but needs confirmation from studies in which this surface size is more profoundly assessed by measuring the branches present in the cotyledonary villi.     

Diseases in neonatal foals. Part 2: Potential risk factors for a higher incidence of infectious diseases during the first 30 days post partum

Reason for performing study: The development of clinical illness in foals is usually predetermined by perinatal history, management or stressful environmental conditions. Objectives: To determine potential risk factors for an increased incidence of infectious diseases during the first 30 days post partum. Methods: The population consisted of Thoroughbred foals born on stud farms in the Newmarket (UK) area in 2005 (n = 1031). They were followed for their first 30 days. Factors suspected to influence the incidence of infectious neonatal diseases were examined in a logistic regression approach for each of the 3 outcomes (total infectious diseases, systemic disease with diarrhoea and total infectious diseases excluding diarrhoea). All 28 factors were either foal or mare or stud farm related. Results: Several significant risk factors for a higher disease incidence, such as birth complications, colostrum intake by stomach tube and leucocytosis 12–48 h post partum were identified. The factor ‘boarding stud’ seemed to be protective against disease. Conclusion: Some factors, such as the mare's time at stud before foaling, the mare's rotavirus vaccination schedule and fibrinogen‐values that empirically had been linked to the outcome previously were not confirmed as relevant. This included the reported useful prophylactic treatment with antimicrobial drugs. Potential relevance: Factors to be considered when evaluating newborn foals include: stud management, the birth process, route of colostrum intake, white and red blood cells, and the date of birth. These may help to detect foals at risk to develop an infection so that targeted prophylactic measures can be initiated.     

生肌调节因子及肌生成调控因素研究进展

生肌调节因子(myogenic regulatory factors,MRFs)是调控肌肉生成的重要基因,家族中包括MyoD、MyoG、Myf5和Myf6。MyoD能把多种类型细胞转化为成肌细胞,在肌肉特异基因转录调控中起着总开关作用;MyoG的表达能够控制成肌细胞融合的起始,促使成肌细胞增殖;Myf5协同MyoD在肌肉形成过程中发挥作用,而Myf6与MyoG共同控制肌肉分化。研究表明,MRFs家族基因的表达与肉用动物的产肉性能和肉质性状密切相关,遗传、营养和环境等因素对该家族基因的表达水平有显著影响。作者综述了MRFs家族的结构与功能、基因表达与活性调节以及营养、光照、温度、运动和活性物质等因素对该家族成员基因活性和肌生成的调控作用,以期为建立动物肌肉发育调控技术奠定理论基础。     

Flock-level case-control study of slaughter-lamb pneumonia in New Zealand

Subclinical pneumonia is common in production lambs, and causes reductions in growth rate. We selected farms from meat-inspection records of three New Zealand abattoirs from December 2000 to May 2001 to study risk factors for flocks having ≥3% of their lambs with ≥10% of the lung surface with lesions, compared to flocks with a zero lamb-level prevalence of such pneumonia. A questionnaire of management practices was mailed to participating managers of case and control farms and we received responses from 132/192 (69%) cases and 181/300 (60%) in control farms. Risk factors for case farms were shearing lambs on the day of weaning (OR 6.4), breeding ewe replacements on-farm (OR 4.0), and the percentage of lambs sold between March and May (OR 1.0 for <23% sold (reference category), OR 3.9 for 23–42% sold, OR 2.7 for 43–64% sold, OR 4.3 for >64% sold). Protective factors included: grazing lambs at a fixed stocking rate after weaning (OR 0.4), injecting lambs with vitamin B12 at the time of docking (OR 0.4), and at the time of weaning (OR 0.3). Path analysis was used to show important associations between risk and protective factors differentiated according to time (e.g. before and after birth, at weaning and during growth on pasture). Flocks breeding their own ewe replacements were more likely to shear lambs at weaning, were less likely to buy lambs post-weaning and more likely to have ill-thrift present in >5% of lambs post-weaning. The purchase of lambs post-weaning was indirectly associated with greater odds of pneumonia at slaughter.     

Risk factors of colic in horses in Austria

A hospital‐based case study was conducted at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna for a 1‐year period. The purpose of this study was to determine possible alterable and non‐alterable risk factors of equine colic in Austria. The investigated parameters were obtained from hospital medical records (individual factors, duty of the horse, deworming, change in diet and water intake), from questionnaires (feed intake, watering types, housing and pasture practices) and from http://www.orf.at (weather‐related factors). Moreover, 221 collected feed samples were investigated through hygienic quality sensory evaluation and mould, yeast and bacteria presumptive samples were confirmed by microbiological investigation. Variables that were observed from the hospital medical records and found to be significantly associated with colic in a univariate analysis were included in multivariate analysis and the only remaining risk factor was decreased water consumption (p < 0.001, OR = 5.025). Consequently, a total of 2743 horses and 366 cases of colic were observed during the study period. The risk factors for colic in Austria were identified for the first time in this study and these increased risk factors were decreased water consumption, high amount of concentrate intake (p = 0.037), low hygienic quality of hay (p = 0.027) and high temperature on the arrival date (p = 0.003). Results suggest that the occurence of colic may not stop, but may decrease with better feed management practices in Austria.     

新型蛋白质饲料资源——麻疯树籽实的研究进展

麻疯树是一种高产量的油料植物.目前,麻疯树饼粕蛋白质的研究已成为麻疯树研究领域的热点问题.麻疯树脱脂脱毒后的种仁粕蛋白质高达60%,是一种优质的植物蛋白质饲料,开发其资源对养殖业发展具有重大的意义.本文主要介绍麻疯树资源特点,营养价值及其对动物毒性和饲养试验的研究进展.     

锡林郭勒草原地下生产力对生物量及环境因子的响应

在内蒙古锡林郭勒草原沿生境水热变化梯度布设样点,利用内生长法获取地下生产力,同时获取生物量和土壤环境因子的数据。采用回归分析法探讨草原植被地下生产力与地下生物量、地上生物量、气候因子以及环境因子的关系;运用相关分析,阐明生物量和环境因子之间的内在关系。结果表明:(1)地下生产力与地下生物量和年降水量之间存在显著正响应,与年均温和土壤pH值之间存在显著负响应;(2)降水是导致锡林郭勒草原地下生产力变化的主导因子;(3)气候因子尤其是年降水量的梯度变化,是引起草原生物量差异的主要原因,并在一定程度上影响着土壤因子。     

植物根系分解及其对生物和非生物因素的响应机理研究进展

植物根系在生态系统物质循环和能量流动过程中具有重要意义,其分解是固定于植物体内的物质返回土壤和大气环境的重要过程,受生物和非生物等多重因子影响。其中:生物因素方面,根系化学特征是影响根分解的主要因素,根系寿命、直径、菌根及物种差异等生物因素主要是通过改变根系化学性质产生作用,根系分泌物、土壤微生物等主要通过改变分解者的数量和活性影响根系分解。非生物因素方面,水热因子是影响根分解的关键。另外,在全球变化背景下,大气氮沉降、CO₂浓度增加等因素也对植物根系分解产生影响。本文从植物根系分解过程和影响根分解的因素两方面,综述了植物根系分解过程中物质释放规律,总结和归纳了主要生物和非生物因素对植物根系分解的影响机理,并对根系分解的研究进行展望。     

羊草品质与气象因子和土壤因子的相关性研究

运用逐步回归分析方法对我国不同区域的开花期羊草(Leymus chinensis)品质与环境因子的相关性进行研究,以期了解影响羊草品质的主要环境因子。结果表明:羊草粗蛋白(CP)、中性洗涤纤维(NDF)和酸性洗涤纤维(ADF)含量在地区间存在着显著差异。土壤中碱解氮含量与羊草CP,NDF和ADF含量相关性最大,土壤有机质、全磷含量以及pH与羊草品质的相关性较小;平均有效积温、平均降水、相对湿度、日照长度与上述3项指标都极显著相关,而日较差与NDF和ADF显著相关;气象因子对羊草品质影响大于土壤环境,平均有效积温对开花期羊草CP含量贡献最大(复相关系数为0.940),湿度和日照长度对NDF含量作用明显(R_14,3>R_13,4, R₁₍₄₎²>R₁₍₃₎²),相对湿度对羊草ADF含量贡献最大(复相关系数为0.941),平均有效积温低、相对湿度小的地区品质较好。因此,羊草品质主要受到气象因子综合影响。     

植物氮同位素组成与其影响因子的关系研究进展

植物氮同位素组成(δ¹⁵N)能够综合反映氮循环特征,研究植物δ¹⁵N与其影响因子的关系,有助于理解气候变化对生态系统氮循环的影响。通过概述菌根类型、叶片N含量、氮源、温度、降水、大气CO₂浓度、土壤N有效性等生物和非生物因素对植物氮同位素组成(δ¹⁵N)的影响以及植物δ¹⁵N随海拔的变化趋势,指出目前研究中存在的不足,提出在群落水平上,采用野外调查和控制试验相结合的方法,研究环境因素(尤其是大气CO₂浓度)对植物δ¹⁵N的影响规律及机理将是今后该领域的研究重点。     

工蜂寿命研究进展

蜜蜂是完全社会化的昆虫,有2种不同的雌性级型,它们在寿命方面表现了显著的级型差异。蜂王的平均寿命是1～2 a,而工蜂在繁殖季节平均寿命是30～40 d,越冬季节平均寿命是90～200 d。显然工蜂寿命有可塑性,受各种因素控制。综述了近年来对工蜂寿命的研究,阐述了影响工蜂寿命的几种因素。     

影响卵母细胞体外成熟的因素

卵母细胞是胚胎工程技术研究中最为重要的一种试验材料,卵母细胞的体外成熟(maturation in vitro,IVM)可以为用体细胞核移植的方法生产大型转基因动物的研究提供大量MⅡ期卵母细胞，同样也是动物体外受精技术的关键环节。作者就卵母细胞体外成熟的影响因素做了简要的论述，主要介绍了卵母细胞来源、其培养系统、激素和生长因子等因素对卵母细胞体外成熟的影响。