Investigation into the use of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) and oxytocin for the induction of farrowing

This experiment was conducted in order to compare the effects of injecting PGF2 alpha alone, PGF2 alpha with oxytocin and placebo on the induction of farrowing in swine and to compare the relative effects of 3 different dosages of oxytocin (10, 20 and 30 iu per animal) when combined with PGF2 alpha (10 mg). The findings revealed that animals treated with 30 iu oxytocin farrowed within 10.6 h which was similar to those receiving PGF2 alpha only (9.4 h), but shorter than control animals (53.6 h). Animals receiving 20 and 10 iu of oxytocin farrowed within 1.4 and 1.7 h, respectively. Difficult farrowings requiring manual assistance occurred in 30%, 30%, 50% and 10% of sows given 30 iu, 20 iu and 10 iu of oxytocin and in the control group, respectively. Thirteen of 73 sows treated with PGF2 alpha farrowed within 12.6 +/- 5.3 h. Stillbirths were highest (10.2%) in the control animals whilst in the others it was under 7%. Oxytocin at dosages of 20 and 10 iu, seemed most promising in terms of synchronising farrowing following PGF2 alpha treatment in swine. However, farrowing complications were more common in these groups.     

Management of twin pregnancy and perinatal concerns in a Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)

A 22-yr-old multiparous beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, with consistently elevated serum progesterone concentrations post-artificial insemination was diagnosed with viable twins at 149 days postconception. Twins were of similar size at least until day 264, the last point when ultrasound measurements of both twins were made. However, ultrasound was used to determine the viability of both fetuses on days 365, 393, and 400. After 90% of normal gestation, or 434 days, steroids were administered to encourage fetal lung maturation. Seven days later a 40.9-kg live female calf was delivered headfirst. A second 22.7-kg stillborn calf was delivered in fluke-first presentation 8 hr later. Immediately after birth, the live calf was administered surfactant intratracheally. The next day, it was given beluga immunoglobulin intramuscularly, and started on oral antibiotics and provided nutritional support via an oral gastric tube. The calf started nursing voluntarily on day 3. Antibiotic and nutritional support was discontinued on day 10. Bimonthly weight and length measurements demonstrated that after an initial increased growth rate, the calf has grown within normal parameters after birth. This calf represents the first known successful surviving twin of any cetacean species and sets an important precedent for treatment modalities that may be available to assist the premature cetacean neonate.     

The effect of dose and concentration on D-xylose absorption in healthy,immature dogs

Nine combinations of dosages and concentrations of D-xylose were given orally to eight clinically normal, immature dogs. The concentrations and dosages of D-xylose consisted of 5%, 10%, and 20% at 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg, and 750 mg/kg. Serum samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes. Serum xylose was quantitated using the phloroglucinol microassay technique. A peak in serum xylose concentration was seen for each treatment combination at 60 or 90 minutes after dosing. The dosage effect was important in influencing serum xylose values (P < 0.0001). As the test solution dosages increased from 250 mg/kg to 500 mg/kg and 750 mg/kg, serum xylose values (when dosage was analyzed over the length of the entire test) rose linearly (R(2) = 0.98). The treatment combinations of 5% and 20% xylose solutions dosed at 750 mg/kg produced the highest serum xylose values at the 60- and 90-minute peak intervals. The independent effect of concentration was significant (p < 0.001) but was overridden by the stronger dosage effect. Serum xylose concentrations varied little statistically (p > 0.05) when the 5%, 10%, and 20% solutions were compared at a specific dosage.     

Prevalence of antibodies against feline panleukopenia virus in client-owned cats in Southern Germany

Feline panleukopenia is a frequent and commonly fatal disease of cats. Recent published studies have raised suspicions that some cats fail to develop antibodies after vaccination. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of antibodies against feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) in cats in Southern Germany, and to identify factors that are associated with a lack of antibodies. In total, 350 cats presented to the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet were randomly included in the study. Information regarding signalment, origin, environment, lifestyle, housing conditions, health status, chronic diseases, glucocorticoid therapy, and vaccination status were collected. Antibodies were detected by haemagglutination inhibition test. Asymptomatic chi-squared tests and univariable logistic regression were used to investigate associations between a lack of antibodies and the different variables. Associations determined to be statistically significant at P < 0.1 were verified by a multivariable logistic regression analysis.Of the 350 cats, 103 (29.4%) had no antibodies against FPV. Chronic kidney disease, neoplasia, glucocorticoid therapy, and vaccination status were significantly associated with a lack of antibodies. The cats with no antibodies were likely to have inadequate immunity against panleukopenia and those with chronic diseases or receiving glucocorticoids were less likely to be protected.     

Yield and Price Forecasting for Stochastic Crop Decision Planning

The primary objective of this paper is to develop yield and price forecasting models employed in informed crop decision planning—a key aspect of effective farm management. For yearly yield prediction, we introduce a weather-based regression model with time-dependent varying coefficients. In order to allow for within-year climate variations, we predict yearly crop yield using weekly temperature and rainfall summaries resulting in a large number of correlated predictors. To overcome this difficulty, we reduce the space of predictors to a small number of uncorrelated predictors using Functional Principal Component Analysis (FPCA). For detailed price forecasting, we develop a futures-based model for long-range cash price prediction. In this model, the cash price is predicted as a sum of the nearby settlement futures price and the predicted commodity basis. We predict the one-year commodity basis as a mixture of historical basis data using a functional model-based approach. In both forecasting models, we estimate approximate prediction confidence intervals that are further integrated in a decision planning model. We applied our methods to corn yield and price forecasting for Hancock County in Illinois. Our forecasting results are more accurate in comparison to predictions based on existing methods. The methods introduced in this paper generally apply to other locations in the US and other crop types. The supplemental materials for this article are available online.     

Validation of a FAO land evaluation method by comparison of observed and predicted yields of five food crops in Burundi

Abstract. A land evaluation using unsophisticated data successfully predicted yield ranges of various crops in Burundi. Yields of wheat, pea, bean, maize and potato predicted from data for climate, soil and land use technology were compared with observed yields from farm trials and from seed station and research station trials. The predicted range of yield for each crop suitability class enclosed the mean farm yields 13 times out of 16 and yields on seed stations and research stations 10 times out of 15 and 14 times out of 21 respectively. The variability of the observed yields exceeded the predicted range of yields. The method is considered as validated. The method appears to be applicable for multi-year studies at a broad scale, but yield variation according to the weather from year to year is not accounted for. The variances of the yields on farms are greater than the variances in seed station and research station trials.
Since the method predicts correctly the mean regional farm yields, it could be useful for land use planning, research into optimal regional cropping specialisation, studies on food policy, and for evaluation of economic return and sustainability of different crops.     

Saksenaea vasiformis and Apophysomyces elegans zygomycotic infections in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), a killer whale (Orcinus orca), and pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens).

During a 10-yr period, a killer whale (Orcinus orca), two Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and two bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), all housed at SeaWorld of Texas from 1991 to 2001, were infected with fungi from the class Zygomycetes. In four out of five cases, the fungi were identified as either Saksenaea vasiformis or Apophysomyces elegans. All fungi in the class Zygomycetes aggressively invade the vascular system. Death occurred within 23 days after the initial clinical signs. The primary site of infection involved the s.c. tissue and skeletal musculature. In one case, infection originated in the placenta and uterus of a periparturient animal. All cases exhibited systemic spread of the organisms, including two to the central nervous system. The fifth and most recent case, a bottlenose dolphin, was treated with liposomal nystatin, an antifungal formulation with reduced nephrotoxicity. This animal initially responded to therapy; however, 14 days after cessation of therapy, fungal growth reoccurred. Thus, the animal was euthanatized 39 days after the initial clinical signs. This drug represents a promising treatment option if combined with early disease detection and aggressive tissue resection.     

Soil penetrometer resistance spatial variability in a Ferralsol at several soil moisture conditions

The penetrometer resistance (PR) spatial variability in a Ferralsol under different soil moisture conditions was characterized through statistical and geostatistical methods. PR measurements were made in a 10-row, 10-columns, 3-m spacing grid at 20–30 cm depth using a hand-pushing penetrometer. Measurements were made for dry soil conditions (before irrigation) as well as 2 and 24 h after irrigation. The soil bulk density (BD) and the relative topographical altitudes (RT) were measured at the same locations. The PR spatial variability is normally distributed for dry soil conditions and after irrigation-water redistribution. A normal distribution fits also to the BD spatial variability. PR mean and coefficients of variations are lower for wet soil conditions and vary notably according to the soil moisture condition. The PR semivariance values are much higher for dry soil conditions than those found for wet soil conditions. However, the semivariogram of PR before irrigation shows almost a pure nugget effect. Irrigation yields a spatial structure in PR measurements. Despite the differences in the shown spatial structure, the range of the PR semivariograms before and 24 h after irrigation is about 8–10 m, which is very similar to the range of the BD semivariogram. The correlation coefficients between PR and the other measured variables are very small before and after irrigation, which could lead to the conclusion that those variables are not related at all. However, according to the co-dispersion coefficients plotted as a function of the separation lag, the correlation between those variables changes according to the separation distance. Particularly, PR and the RT show correlation 24 h after irrigation only for lags between 5 and 12 m. The results pointed out that PR spatial variability depends on soil moisture condition, soil BD and on several local features as microtopography.