Prevalence of incidental humeral intracondylar fissures in brachycephalic breed dogs in CT studies

Humeral intracondylar fissures (HIF) have been predominantly reported in spaniel breeds and proposed to be possible risk factors for humeral condyle fractures (HCF). We hypothesized that the prevalence of incidental HIF in French Bulldogs may be greater than that of other brachycephalic breeds. A retrospective, observational, prevalence study was performed using CT examinations of French bulldogs and other brachycephalic breed dogs presenting for an unrelated condition. Two European College of Veterinary Diagnostic and Imaging-certified radiologists reviewed the images of the humeral condyles of these dogs. A classification system was devised to grade the findings. We considered a Score 1 to be normal, Score 2 to have centralised sclerosis, Score 3 to have a partial fissure and Score 4 to have a complete fissure. A total of 228 elbows were reviewed from 122 dogs. Of this population, 145 elbows were from French Bulldogs, 54 were from Pugs, and the remainder were from a mix of other brachycephalic breeds. The prevalence of HIF (score 3 or 4) in elbows of the French bulldog, pug and other breed groups was 6.9% (CI 2.8–11%), 5.6% (CI 0–11.7%), and 3.4% (CI 0–10.15%), respectively. At a dog level, the prevalence of HIF (score 3 or 4 present in at least one elbow) was found to be 11.8% (CI 4.6–19%) in French Bulldogs, 11.1% (CI 0–22.9%) in Pugs, and 5.26% (CI 0–15%) in the other breed group. There was no significant difference between the breed groups. The inter-reviewer reliability for CT scoring of HIF based on Cohen's weighted kappa was low at 0.19.     

Biochemical markers of bone metabolism in growing thoroughbreds: a longitudinal study

This study describes longitudinal changes in serum levels of biochemical markers of bone cell activity in a group of 24 thoroughbred foals from birth to 18 months of age. The markers of bone formation included the type I collagen carboxy-terminal propeptide (PICP), the bone-specific isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (BAP), and osteocalcin (OC). Levels of the cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), a marker of bone resorption, and the N-terminal propeptide of type III collagen (PNIIIP), a marker of soft tissue turnover, were also measured. Levels of all markers fell significantly between birth and 18 months of age (70-80 per cent); this decrease being most marked between 0 and 6 months. However, a transient increase in levels of the markers then occurred between 6 and 14 months of age. The timing of this increase was specific for each parameter. ICTP and OC concentrations increased between October and December. PICP concentrations increased between December and April whereas the increase in PIIINP was coincident with the peak in weight gain between April and June. Changes in BAP concentration were less distinct at this time. Season was shown to have significant effects on the biochemical markers independent from the effect of age. Concentrations of all markers decreased with increasing body weight and at any given age heavier horses had lower marker levels. These results show that biochemical markers of bone cell activity and soft tissue turnover follow characteristic patterns of change in growing thoroughbreds influenced by age, season and bodyweight. The demonstration that the reference ranges for the biochemical markers change from month to month means that single samples from individuals are of little value for monitoring bone cell activity in growing thoroughbreds.     

Pyrethroid insecticide residues on vegetable crops

Pyrethroid insecticides were applied on various vegetable crops as foliar treatments to determine dissipation rates. On Chinese broccoli (Guy Lon), Chinese mustard (Pak Choi) and Chinese cabbage (Kasumi, napa), fenvalerate was persistent with residues of 0.10, 0.14 and 0.11 mg kg-1, respectively, by day 21. Cypermethrin residues on head lettuce were below 0.1 mg kg-1 by day 10 but on the leafier romaine and endive varieties it was more persistent and required 14-19 days to dissipate below this concentration. After three applications, residues of cypermethrin in harvested carrots and of permethrin in eggplant were not detected on the day of application. On asparagus, deltamethrin and cypermethrin residues declined to less than 0.1 mg kg-1 by days 1 and 2, respectively; permethrin was more persistent, requiring more than 2 days to decline to less than 0.1 mg kg-1. Deltamethrin on dry (cooking) and Spanish onions was not detected on the day of application. On tomatoes, the concentration of permethrin was 0.093 mg kg-1 on the day of application and declined to about 0.05 mg kg-1 after 2-4 days. In general, permethrin, cypermethrin and deltamethrin residues declined to acceptable concentrations within an acceptable pre-harvest interval. Fenvalerate may be too persistent on these speciality crops unless a maximum residue limit > 0.1 mg kg-1 is permitted.     

Evaluation of uncalibrated preferential flow models against data for isoproturon movement to drains through a heavy clay soil

The uncalibrated predictive ability of four preferential flow models (CRACK‐NP, MACRO/MACRO_DB, PLM, SWAT) has been evaluated against point rates of drainflow and associated concentrations of isoproturon from a highly structured and heterogeneous clay soil in the south of England. Data were available for four plots for a number of storm events in each of three successive growing seasons. The mechanistic models CRACK‐NP and MACRO generally gave reasonable estimates of drainflow over the three seasons, but under‐estimated concentrations of isoproturon over a prolonged period in the first season and over‐estimated them in the two remaining seasons. CRACK‐NP simulated maximum concentrations of isoproturon over the first two events of each of the three seasons of 156, 527 and 24.4 µg litre^?1, respectively, and matched the observed data (465, 65.1 and 0.65 µg litre^?1) slightly better than MACRO (69.1, 566 and 58.5 µg litre^?1). Automatic selection of parameters from soils information within MACRO_DB reduced the emphasis on preferential flow relative to the stand‐alone version of MACRO. This gave a poor simulation of isoproturon breakthrough and simulated maximum concentrations were 0, 50.1 and 35.1 µg litre^?1, respectively. The capacity model PLM gave the best overall simulation of total drainflow for the first two events in each season, but over‐estimated concentrations of isoproturon (967, 808 and 51.3 µg litre^?1). The simple model SWAT represented total drainflow reasonably well and gave the best simulation of maximum isoproturon concentrations (140, 80.2 and 8.2 µg litre^?1). There was no clear advantage here in using the mechanistic models rather than the simpler models. None of the models tested was able to simulate consistently the data set, and uncalibrated modelling cannot be recommended for such artificially drained heavy clay soils. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of sodium bicarbonate and sodium bentonite on digestion, solid and liquid flow, and ruminal fermentation characteristics of forage sorghum silage-based diets fed to steers

Six ruminally cannulated steers, five Holsteins and one Hereford (250 to 295 kg), were fed 84% forage sorghum silage plus 16% supplement or 50% forage sorghum silage plus concentrate and supplement diets containing either no addition (controls), 1% sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or 2% sodium bentonite in a 2 X 3 factorial arrangement of treatments in a 6 X 6 Latin-square experiment with 3-wk periods. Sodium bicarbonate increased dry matter (DM) intake when concentrate was included, but neither compound affected intake of the 84% silage diet. Bentonite lowered DM, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibilities, but NDF disappearance from nylon bags was unchanged. Ruminal pH, osmolality and L(+) and D(-) lactate were not affected by treatment. Both NaHCO3 and bentonite tended to lower ruminal NH3-N concentrations. Bentonite lowered the molar proportion of isobutyrate in ruminal fluid relative to controls, but proportions of other volatile fatty acids (VFA) and total VFA concentrations were unchanged. Neither NaHCO3 nor bentonite affected ruminal liquid or solid volumes, dilution rate constants or ruminal outflow rates. Markers overestimated volumes, but correction with measured volumes did not change interpretation of treatment effects. It was concluded that control diets had sufficiently high baseline values of pH, dilution rate and acetate proportion to preclude changes induced by either compound, especially at 1 or 2% of DM intake. An effect on palatibility through neutralization of silage acids may have been responsible for the intake response to NaHCO3.     

Effects of chilling on the formation of secondary growing-centres in flowers of the glasshouse carnation

The incidence of secondary growing-centres within the flowers of carnation was increased when plants were chilled at 5°C for 1–3 weeks during flower development. Application of GA₃ to shoots in the early stages of flower formation also caused an increase in the number of secondary growing-centres formed. Shoot tips excised from plants that had been chilled yielded greater amounts of diffusible gibberellin-like substances than shoot tips excised from plants that had been grown at normal glasshouse temperatures. It is suggested that endogenous gibberellins have a role in controlling the formation of secondary growing-centres within the flower.     

Visual detection of line segments: an object-superiority effect

Observers identified a briefly flashed line segment more accurately when it was part of a drawing that looked unitary and three-dimensional than when the line was in one of several less coherent flat designs.