Egg drift and hatching success in European river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis: is egg deposition in gravel vital to spawning success?

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Modeling of tomato fruits into nine shape categories using elliptic fourier shape modeling and Bayesian classification of contour morphometric data

Classification and characterization of the shape of plant organs are important tools for plant biologists, breeders and growers. Here we use boundary measurements, i.e. contour morphometric data, of scanned tomato fruits in conjunction with elliptic Fourier shape modeling and Bayesian classification techniques to find the optimum number of shape categories. Our findings show that there are nine computationally and visually distinct tomato shape categories: ellipsoid, flat, heart, long, long rectangular, rectangular, round, obovoid, and oxheart. Analyses of fruits from a diverse set of tomato accessions demonstrate that some varieties carry fruits that conform to predominantly one shape category while others carry fruits that conform to multiple shape categories. In particular the categories oxheart and long rectangular feature fruit that tend to equivalently fit several categories of shape, while the flat and obovoid categories contain fruit that consistently conform exclusively to a single category. The findings show that elliptic Fourier shape modeling and Bayesian classification provide an excellent tool for further in depth analyses of fruit shape variation that may occur across varieties and/or result from growth under different environmental conditions.     

Antimicrobial peptides: agents of border protection for companion animals

Over the past 20 years, there have been significant inroads into understanding the roles of antimicrobial peptides in homeostatic functions and their involvement in disease pathogenesis. In addition to direct antimicrobial activity, these peptides participate in many cellular functions, including chemotaxis, wound healing and even determination of canine coat colour. Various biological and genetic approaches have helped to elucidate the role of antimicrobial peptides with respect to innate immunity and host defense. Associations of antimicrobial peptides with various skin diseases, including psoriasis, rosacea and atopic dermatitis, have been documented in humans. In the longer term, therapeutic modulation of antimicrobial peptide expression may provide effective new treatments for disease. This review highlights current knowledge about antimicrobial peptides of the skin and circulating leukocytes, with particular focus on relevance to physiology and disease in companion animals.     

MRI of a split cord malformation in a german shepherd dog

A 9 yr old spayed female German shepherd dog was referred for MRI of the thoracic and lumbar spine because she had clinical signs of chronic neurogenic bladder dysfunction of an unknown cause. Transverse T2-weighted images identified a type II split cord malformation (i.e., diastematomyelia) in the thoracic spine. Split cord malformations are forms of spinal dysraphism where the abnormal development of spinal cord results in sagittal splitting of a portion of the cord into two hemicords. The location of the lesion in the thoracic spine was consistent with the dog's clinical signs of an upper motor neuron bladder. Split cord malformations that occur in humans have similar MRI characteristics and can result in similar clinical signs as those identified in the dog described in this report.     

Feline postvaccinal sarcoma: 20 years later

Comparison of the annual prevalence of feline postvaccinal sarcomas among 11 609 feline skin mass submissions from 1992 to 2010 revealed no decrease in disease prevalence or increase in the age of affected cats in response to changes in vaccine formulation or recommended changes in feline vaccination protocols.     

Comparison of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium for the treatment of relapse of undifferentiated fever/bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle

This commercial field trial compared the efficacy of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium in beef cattle at high risk of developing undifferentiated fever (UF), also known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD) that received tilmicosin at feedlot arrival, were diagnosed and initially treated for UF with tilmicosin, and subsequently required a second UF treatment (first relapse). Feedlot cattle (n = 463) were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups: ENRO or CEF. Second UF relapse, 3rd UF relapse, overall case fatality and BRD case fatality rates were lower in the ENRO group than in the CEF group (P < 0.05). There were no differences in average daily gain (allocation to re-implant date), chronicity, histophilosis case fatality or miscellaneous case fatality rates between the groups (P ≥ 0.05). A per-animal economic advantage of Can$57.08 was calculated for the ENRO group versus the CEF group. In feedlot cattle in western Canada at high risk of developing UF, it was more cost effective to administer enrofloxacin than ceftiofur sodium for treatment of UF relapse.