Animal handling as an integrated component of animal and veterinary science programs at the University of Queensland.

Students in animal science and veterinary science at the University of Queensland (UQ) have similar introductory courses in animal handling in year 1 of their degree programs. Veterinary students take animal-handling instruction in farm and companion animals, whereas animal science students are instructed in handling farm animals, horses, and rodents. Veterinary students are introduced to rodents, and animal science students to dogs and cats, in subsequent years of the curriculum. Both cohorts receive additional training, with clinical emphasis for veterinary students in years 3, 4, and 5 of their five-year curriculum. The introductory course is well received by students; both student cohorts appreciate the opportunity provided and the effort that goes into the animal-handling classes. Undergraduates realize that acquiring animal-handling skills will increase their proficiency in their subsequent careers; veterinary graduates recognize that their handling prowess will give their clients confidence in their abilities. Most clients cannot judge the competence of a veterinarian's diagnosis or treatment but will judge their ability based on their handling skills. Ongoing practice allows students to become competent in animal handling.     

An ethical viewpoint: the role of veterinarians and behaviourists in ensuring good husbandry for cats

Cat owners commonly consider their pets to be members of their families, and many factors contribute to a high level of owner attachment to their cats. Suppression of a cat's emotional needs in favour of the emotional requirements of the owner may produce a less satisfactory relationship for the owner, and usually for the cat as well. Owners' failure to comprehend their cat's true demands of life, and their false expectation of their ability to fulfil human psychological demands lies at the heart of many feline behaviour problems.     

Experiences of University of Liverpool veterinary students during the 2001 epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease

The 2001 epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease disrupted the teaching of practical farm animal work for much of that year. Many students in their clinical years in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, went to help to control the disease, both in place of some normal term-time activities and as part of their extramural studies out of term time. This paper, which is based on a questionnaire survey of the students, describes their experiences, the types of work they did, the skills they acquired and their views on the effects of the epidemic on their studies. The vast majority of students felt they had benefited from their experiences and had contributed to combating the epidemic.     

Behaviour and personality of pet rabbits and their interactions with their owners

The behaviour and personality of 102 pet rabbits and their interactions with their owners were assessed in their home environment. Information was obtained by interviews with the owner and by direct observation, and the owners were asked to describe the personality of their rabbit. A 10-minute assessment of the rabbit's behaviour in its normal environment was then carried out. Owners who were confident in handling their rabbit handled them more frequently and rabbits that were handled more frequently struggled less when they were being handled. Rabbits observed with a companion spent the largest proportion of their time engaged in social behaviour, and rabbits observed out of a hutch spent significantly more time grazing, hopping and playing. Owners used a wide range of adjectives to describe their rabbits' personalities with the most common term being ;friendly'.     

当代大学新生挫折承受力及应对研究

人的一生会遇到很多挫折,怎样面对挫折将直接影响其身心发展。大学新生作为一个特殊群体,普遍自我评价高,期望值高。但由于社会经历浅,理想色彩浓,事实上他们的心理状况却不容乐观,他们常常会遇到各种各样的矛盾与挫折、出现诸多心理问题。在矛盾和挫折面前如何面对,将直接影响他们的身心发展。笔者就大学新生的挫折承受力状况、特征、因素进行了研究并提出了应对措施。     

荷斯坦供体母牛及其女儿超排效果的比较分析

本文分析比较了165头超排荷斯坦母牛及其184头女儿的超排反应。从所有母女的整体看,在不同超排反应组,有一种趋势,即在不同反应分组中,母亲与女儿之间,似乎存在一种弱相关(r=0.20)。但在母女不同超排反应的组间,并没有这种相关,即在同一超排反应的母亲组,其相应的女儿组并不存在这种趋势。同一头母亲的2头或3头女儿,似乎母亲超排效果差,女儿的超排效果反而好,而母亲超排反应好,女儿的反应却有降低的趋势。由此得出结论,不能将母亲的超排反应结果作为选择其女儿超排反应的依据。     

Research Training of Surgical Residents as Studied from the Resident''s Forum

Participants in the Resident's Forum were surveyed to gain an appreciation of their impression of their research training. The vast majority believed that adequate resources and supervision had been available for their research. The resident generally was the principal investigator, the primary writer of the grant to fund the study, and developed the experimental design. Supervision was usually by a diplomate who took an active role in the project. Projects were funded by several different sources for widely varying amounts. The most common duration of the studies was more than 4 months, and most residents conducted at least one other study during their residency. Ninety per cent stated that the study and its presentation at the Resident's Forum increased their enthusiasm for research, in contrast to the less than one half who, at the start of their residency, were planning on doing research during their career.     

Evaluation of dog-appeasing pheromone as a potential treatment for dogs fearful of fireworks

Thirty dogs that showed signs of fear in response to fireworks participated in an open clinical trial to assess the potential value of dog-appeasing pheromone for the alleviation of their behavioural signs. The treatment was delivered continuously into the atmosphere of each dog's home with an electrically heated diffuser. At the baseline assessments, the owners identified the behavioural signs of fear that their dogs normally displayed in response to fireworks, rated their frequency and assessed the overall severity of their responses. These measures were repeated at the final assessment and the owners also rated the change in their dogs' responses. There were significant improvements in the owners' rating of nine of the 14 behavioural signs of fear that were examined, and in their ratings of the overall severity of the responses. The treatment was generally associated with a reduction in the intensity of fear but there were variations in the responses of individual dogs.     

The diet of adult psittacids: veterinarian and ethological approaches

Parrots species are kept as pets because of their colours, their vocal abilities, their longevity and also their behaviours. Nevertheless, many owners do not know how to feed their bird in a healthy way and sometimes veterinarians and ethologists are confronted to dramatic situations. Diet is a key factor to prevent and reduce health and psychogenic disorders. Imbalance can lead to physical, physiological and behavioural modifications that can weaken the owner–bird relationship, cause bird discomfort and sometimes threaten its survival. Psittacids are known for their complex cognitive and communicative abilities. They are social animals and need many interactions. Kept in captivity, they could suffer from boredom because of lack of stimulations and also because of lack of possibility to explore and to forage, which could represent up to 70% of their day time in the wild. Indeed, humans control every parameter in the environment of pet psittacids. They provide a highly digestible diet. In captivity, foraging is not mandatory, and the bird can get bored. Here, we present a review of the literature regarding the quality of the diet and health disorders on one hand and the interaction between foraging opportunities and psychogenic disorders in adult psittacids on the other hand.     

Biofilms and their relevance to veterinary medicine

Bacteria are renowned for their ability to tolerate and adapt to a wide range of adverse environmental conditions. The primary mechanism that facilitates these adaptations is thought to be the capacity to form and maintain biofilms. Within a biofilm, bacteria become attached to a surface where they exist in complex communities which are able to interact with each other through intracellular communication and thus rapidly adapt to changing environments. The organisms within biofilms are notorious for their resistance towards the host immune response and antibacterial agents compared to their free-living planktonic counterparts. Consequently, biofilms are of significant importance to both clinical and veterinary science. However, although bacterial infections are widely reported in animals their association with biofilms is rarely discussed. The aim of this review is to look at the characteristics of biofilm infections in humans and to relate this knowledge to veterinary science in order to assess their relevance in this area.     

对高校《计算机应用基础》教学成效的评价

教学成效的评价是教学过程的重要环节，教师通过反馈的信息可以跟踪学生的学习进度以便掌握情况，修订教学内容，改进教学方法，促进学生自觉学习，提高学习效果。文中结合高校计算机基础教育的课程特点和学生的实际情况，探讨了贯穿整个教学过程的教学评价。对学生的评价可以由教师、同伴及学生自己进行，但最终要靠学习者的自我评价；对教师的教学工作、教学内容和系统的评价则需要教师、学生以及系统或教务管理员共同参与，根据上述评价要素所提供的信息进行分析，将评价结果反馈给评价对象，并提出改进意见。     

消费异化的哲学反思

消费是人类为了自身的生存而不得不从事的物质实践活动。但是,随着人们征服自然和改造自然的能力不断增强,在个体本位思想意识的驱使下,人们为了炫耀自己的地位,满足自己的虚荣心而大肆进行挥霍性的消费,导致消费异化的产生。消费异化的实质是人自身本质的异化。个体主体的过分张扬是消费异化产生的根源,类主体的实现是消费异化解决的有效途径。     

Importance of newly detected staphylococcal enterotoxins for food safety

Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are emetic toxins causing food poisoning in humans, because of their biological activity and structural relatedness They have been classified as members of the pyrogenic exotoxin superantigen family Among them nine major antigenic types of emetic enterotoxins were recognized In recent years several newly detected SEs were also discriminated, but their occurrence and role in human and animal diseases are not fully understood Neverthless, evidences of their pathogenic role and broad distribution in staphylococcal strains cumulate Therefore their importance as potential risk factor for food safety becomes essential For this reason their properties, genetic determinants and supposed mechanisms of the pathogenic activity are discussed in respect of their potential hazard to human health.     

Ultrasonographic and Gross Pathological Findings in the Mammary Glands of Weaned Sows Having Suffered Recidiving Mastitis Metritis Agalactia

In a large pig breeding herd with high prevalence of post-parturient diseases of the sows, weaned sows of different parity groups with (n = 663) or without (n = 1125) recidiving mastitis metritis agalactia (MMA) in their previous history were subjected to ultrasonography. A total of 114 of 663 sows with recidiving MMA in their previous history and with ultrasonographic visible mammary gland changes, and 157 of sows without recidiving MMA in their previous history were culled and subjected to gross pathological and bacteriological examination of their mammary glands. The sows having suffered MMA had more (p < 0.001) hyperechogenic images in their mammary glands compared with the sow having suffered no recidiving MMA. Abdominal glands were more (p < 0.01) prone to pathological changes compared with the pectoral ones. Sows of high parity had more hyperechogenic images and gross pathological changes in their mammary glands compared with the sows of low parity.     

Defining and Dealin with Emergencies

Over the years the meaning and definition of what constitutes an emergency have evolved but still an emergency is very much in the eye of the beholder. Certainly, clients view clinical emergencies in various ways and their expectation of care for their pets has risen with advancements in emergency and critical care medicine. The emergency clinic practitioner has the challenge of satisfying their customers, both client and referring veterinarian while striving to provide the appropriate care to their ultimate customer, the patient.     

From the practice, for the practice: Swiss veterinarians invent surgical instruments

Sometimes the name of instruments in veterinary text books and catalogs of medical suppliers points to their origin. Between 1850 and 1950 quite a number of veterinarians in Switzerland invented various instruments. They passed their ideas on or produced and distributed their inventions. The ideas originated from their daily work, such as surgery and treatments in the field of diseases in obstetrics and reproduction, udder diseases and digestive system.     

Behavioral differences between pit-building antlions and wormlions suggest limits to convergent evolution

Antlions and wormlions are distantly related insect taxa, both digging pits in loose soil and ambushing arthropod prey. Their hunting method, which is rare in the animal kingdom, is a clear example of convergent evolution. There is little research directly comparing the 2 pit-building taxa. Using the same experimental platform to investigate how they respond to biotic and abiotic environmental factors enables an examination of their convergence and its limits. We investigated the response of antlions and wormlions to 3 factors common in their daily life: disturbance to the pits, prey arrival, and conspecific competitors. Although both increased the pit size following disturbance, wormlions increased it faster than antlions. Antlions responded to prey faster than wormlions, but wormlions improved their response time over days. The most diverging response was toward conspecifics. Whereas antlions relocated their pits fast in response to increasing conspecific density, wormlions never relocated. We suggest explanations for the behavioral differences between the taxa. Our results imply that despite the similar hunting method of the 2 taxa they may differ greatly in their behavior, which in turn might have consequences for their habitat use and population dynamics.     

Reaction of the Captive Infant Baboon to a Surrogate Mother

Baboon infants were captured with their mothers in the Loskopdam area. The infants were separated from their mothers and raised in a laboratory. Each infant was placed with a surrogate mother. The infants accepted their surrogate mothers immediately. The very young infants spent most of their time with the mother where they suckled and slept for long periods. The older infants spent less time with their mothers. They only returned to the mother to be fed, to sleep or when frightened. The surrogate mothers that we have designed satisfied the needs of the infant. Thus infants were raised successfully in the laboratory.     

Hydrophobic surface properties of Bordetella bronchiseptica X-mode cells and their possible role in adherence to porcine nasal mucosa.

Bordetella bronchiseptica strains were examined to determine whether the surface hydrophobicity of the bacteria correlates with their adherence to porcine nasal epithelial cells. The relative hydrophobicity of the bacteria, measured by their retention to a column of hydrophobic phenyl-Sepharose gel and their aggregation in ammonium sulfate solution, correlated well with their adhesive properties. Phase I cells in X-mode, which adhered well to the epithelial cells, were conspicuously hydrophobic. The cells in C-mode and degraded phases, which adhered poorly to the epithelial cells, were relatively hydrophilic. These observations provide evidence for the suspected role of hydrophobic interactions in the adherence of B. bronchiseptica to porcine nasal mucosa.     

金融危机背景下我国返乡农民工再就业扶持体系的探析

金融危机对我国中小型企业产生了巨大冲击,企业的经营困顿造成了一大批失业返乡的农民工,如何解决他们的再就业问题成为当今社会关注的热点。通过对金融危机给农村务工人员带来的困境（困窘）和他们返乡后再就业所面临障碍的分析,提出了全方位建立其再就业扶持体系的思路,即以政府为责任主体、返乡农民工为受助对象、社会第三方为辅助支持三个层面共同构建其再就业扶持体系。