MAGNETIC RESONANCE, ULTRASOUND AND HISTOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATION OF ACUTE AND HEALING EQUINE TENDON INJURIES

Ultrasonography and MRI have become valuable tools for imaging of tendon injuries. The current study examines the histopathologic basis for the imaging abnormalities. Five injured equine forelimbs and two normal contralateral limbs were studied with high resolution real time ultrasound and MRI. Histologic sections were made and correlated with the diagnostic images. All lesions were readily seen by both modalities. Lesions characterized by hemorrhage, edma, and cellular infiltration were sonolucent on ultrasound and bright on MRI images. MRI returned to normal as fibrogenesis ensued. Ultrasound images remained abnormal until fibrillar reallgnment occured with completion of the healing process. High resolution real time ultrasound and MRI both accurately reflect the tissue abnormalities in acute tendon injuries. The injured horse does appear to be an effective model for correlative imaging studies of tendon injuries.     

Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae: use of coagglutination and complement fixation to determine the relationship between presence of organism and antibody titer in slaughterhouse pigs

The conventional culture method was compared to coagglutination for detection of Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae in 425 sets of pig lungs. Sera from the same animals were evaluated for antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae by the complement fixation (CF) test. All samples were collected at 2 packing plants in Iowa. In 2 nonvaccinated herds with no history of respiratory disease, the difference between standard culture results and coagglutination was highly significant (P less than 0.001). None of the 57 pigs in this group were positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by conventional culture, but 7 were positive by the coagglutination test. There were 15 animals with CF titers between 1:8 and 1:32. Animals from 6 herds vaccinated for A. pleuropneumoniae and without recent respiratory problems were evaluated. One out of 118 animals tested was positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by standard culture as compared to 9 positive by coagglutination. The difference in positive results between culture and coagglutination was highly significant (P less than 0.001). Twenty-eight animals had CF titers to A. pleuropneumoniae (1:4 to greater than or equal to 1:128). Two hundred fifty lungs and sera samples were collected from 7 herds which had recently experienced varying degrees of respiratory disease. Thirty-nine lungs were positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by culture and 182 were positive by coagglutination. The number of positives detected by coagglutination was significantly different (P less than 0.001) from the number positive by culture. There were 172 animals with antibody titers ranging from suspect to greater than or equal to 1:128. There were significantly fewer positive animals detected by standard culture than with the CF test (P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Potential of a recombinant antigen as a prophylactic vaccine for day-old broiler chickens against Eimeria acervulina and Eimeria tenella infections.

A genetically engineered Eimeria tenella antigen (GX3262), produced as a fusion protein with beta-galactosidase and identified with a monoclonal antibody, induced partial but significant protection in young broiler chickens against experimental E. tenella and Eimeria acervulina infections. The antigen appears to share a T-helper cell epitope with the parasite as evidenced by (a) booster inoculation with either the recombinant antigen or with a small number of live oocysts enhanced the protective immunity in GX3262 primed chickens, and (b) ability of the antigen to induce in vitro stimulation of T-cells from chickens immunized with antigen or parasite. These observations suggest the feasibility of a single vaccination of 1 or 2-day-old broilers with GX3262 to induce an acceptable degree of protective immunity. The implications of the observations reported here are far reaching in terms of a practical coccidiosis vaccine for poultry, and show for the first time that 1-day-old broiler chickens can be efficiently vaccinated with a recombinant antigen against one or more species of Eimeria.     

Behavioral and physiological effects of freeze or hot-iron branding on crossbred cattle.

Twenty-seven crossbred calves (1/2 Simmental, 1/4 Hereford, 1/4 Brahman) averaging 257 +/- 11 d of age were either hot-iron-branded (H), freeze-branded (F), or sham-branded (S). Calves were blocked for temperament, weight, and sex and were randomly assigned to day and order in which treatments were applied. To reduce stress from handling at treatment time, each calf was herded through the squeeze chute daily for 5 d before the experiment. Jugular cannulas were inserted in each calf 1 d before application of treatment. Blood samples and heart rate measures were obtained at -5, -3, 0, .5, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min after application of the treatments. Mean concentrations of plasma epinephrine (EPI) were higher for H calves at time .5 min than for either S or F calves (P = .10). To account for individual differences, prebranding heart rates and hormone concentrations were subtracted from subsequent samples and were also used to calculate a proportion for each subsequent sample. Analyses of subtracted values found that EPI concentrations were greater for H calves than for either S or F calves (P = .007) at .5 min postbranding. No other differences were found for the subtracted analyses. Analyses of proportion data also revealed that H calves had greater EPI than did either S or F calves (P = .027) at .5 min postbranding. Only three animals vocalized during branding, one H calf and two F calves. Despite the 5-d acclimation period, handling and restraint elevated plasma cortisol concentrations and heart rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of initial restraint, weaning, and transport stress on baseline and ACTH-stimulated cortisol responses in beef calves of different genotypes.

The productivity and well-being of animals can be substantially affected by stress. This is particularly true in the case of beef calves that are subjected to a multitude of stressors over a short period during the first year of life. Perhaps the most often studied stress-responsive variable has been blood corticosteroid concentrations. Factors such as age, gender, genetics, and degree of prior experience, can influence how an animal perceives and responds to a given stressor. Few studies have tried to control these variables, and accordingly, many conflicting results have been published regarding the impact of various stressors on cortisol response. We measured baseline plasma cortisol concentration over a 44-day study in Bos indicus and Bos taurus calves. Plasma cortisol values in Bos indicus calves were higher (32.60 +/- 0.66 ng/ml) than values in calves of Bos taurus (25.81 +/- 0.76) breeding. A precipitous decrease in cortisol concentration was observed 7 days after transport stress in all calves. Baseline cortisol concentration did not provide any indication of the intensity of the various stressors. However, significant differences were readily observed after ACTH administration. On the basis of cortisol secretion, stresses of transport and weaning were similar and were the most stressful to calves, regardless of genotype.     

Use of a shrub (Medicago arborea) to control water erosion on steep slopes

Abstract. The effect of Medicago arborea on erosion on a burnt area was studied in experimental plots near Valencia, Spain, between 1989 and 1992. Its growth and development was studied, and its effect was compared with the natural vegetation (matorral) and bare soil. Medicago decreased soil loss by 41.7% and runoff by 25.7% compared with bare soil. However, under natural vegetation soil loss was 27.5% less than under Medicago.     

Spring Barley Responses to Row Spacing and Fungicide Triadimefon in Regions with a Short Crop-growing Season

Aspects of intensive management practices such as high-yielding cultivars, narrow-row spacings and fungicide treatments could potentially increase cereal yields in regions with a short crop-growing season and occasionally dry and hot weather. A field experiment was carried out at McGill University, Canada for three years (1987 to 1989) to test the effects of triadimefon (1-[4-chlorophenoxy]-3,3-dimethyl-1-[1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl]-2-butanone, or Bayleton, a trade name) fungicide (0 vs. 140 g a.i. ha⁻¹) and row spacing (10 vs. 20 cm) on the yield components, yield and other agronomic traits (spike emergence, days to maturity, leaf disease and plant height) of spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) cv. Cadette, Laurier and Leger. A cultivar by row spacing interaction resulted in a 11 to 13.5 % increase in grain yield due to narrow rows for Laurier in two out of the three years and up to 16 % for Leger in one year. Over the three years grain yields were on average increased 6 to 12 % due to use of the narrower row spacing. Fungicide application to barley at the early heading stage effectively controlled leaf diseases without influence on yield components or grain yield. Our results indicate that some components of intensive management such as narrow row spacing can be applicable in regions with a short crop-growing season.     

Thermal injury by in vitro incision of equine skin with electrosurgery, radiosurgery, and a carbon dioxide laser.

Freshly harvested equine skin incised with an electrosurgical unit, a radiosurgical device, or a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser was examined by light microscopy to determine the extent of thermal injury caused by each instrument. There was no significant difference between the thermal injury caused by the electrosurgical unit in the pure-cut mode and the CO2 laser in the superpulse mode, or between the electrosurgical unit and the radiosurgical device in the fully filtered cut mode. However, thermal injury caused by the CO2 laser was significantly less than that caused by the radiosurgical device. The amount of thermal injury in this in vitro study was similar to that found in vivo with other species.